Sunday Rewind 11.30.08

Advent is a special time of year. It’s a time of looking forward to the annual celebration of Christ’s coming to reconcile humanity to God. But it’s more than that. Advent challenges us to keep looking forward to Christ’s return, not as a baby… but as conquering King.

Our theme through this Advent series is “He Will Be Called”. We’re going to be looking at the prophetic names Isaiah spoke 700 years before Jesus' birth, recorded in Isaiah 9:6. This week we explored the name “Wonderful Counselor”.

Those English words come from the Hebrew words, pele’ (meaning too wonderful for words) and ya’ats (meaning to guide). In an era of confusion, turmoil, and pain, Isaiah essentially proclaimed, “One day…a child will be born who is too wonderful for words…to guide us.”

People have always been confused about why Jesus came. Some think he came to establish a religion…some a moral code…some to condemn sinners to hell…lots of ideas…what did Jesus say about it? Check it out in Luke 5:31-32. Jesus came for the sick.

So I’m curious, where are you sick? Where are you hurting? The truth is that we all get sick sometimes. Depression… fear… stress…financial strain…loneliness…Family Problems…we all battle with weaknesses. Where are you sick?

Here's the good news, we have a wonderful counselor. His name is Jesus, and he came for the sick. So let's look at some biblical principles that deal with finding healing with the wonderful counselor.

• Be brutally honest with the counselor. We're so good at wearing masks. We know all the answers. We're so good at hiding what's real, that sometimes we fool ourselves. The problem is that we'll never find healing behind the mask. But if we'll drop the mask, taking the risk of being real with our Wonderful Counselor, we'll begin finding healing in His grace.
• Listen to the counselor’s voice. Our lives are filled with so much noise that we can hardly hear ourselves think. So it's really hard to hear God's "still, small voice". He's speaking all the time...through the Bible… sermons… conversations… songs… devotions…the list goes on and on. So, if we'll train ourselves to recognize the Wonderful Counselor's voice, we'll hear His advice on finding healing in His grace.
• Do what the counselor tells you to do. Listening isn't enough. When he speaks, we must do what he tells us to do…even when we don’t feel like it…even when we don’t understand. Let's face it, if we don’t do what God tells us to do, we’re a joke…fakes…frauds. But if we'll do what the Wonderful Counselor tells us to do, we'll find healing in His grace.

Where are you sick? I can be of some help. Friends can be of some help. But ultimately, your help will come from one place. His name is Jesus… the mighty God… the everlasting father… the prince of peace… the pele yaatz… the mighty counselor… the counselor so great that there are no words to describe him.

Be honest with him…listen to him…do exactly what he tells you to do...and you will find healing in His grace.