We welcome you to Stone's Hill today!

A typical Stone's Hill service has:

* music (so feel free to sing out);

* some announcements (things that are upcoming that you can be a part of);

* a message out of the Bible (God speaks to us through his Word);

* and an opportunity for you to respond to the message (either immediately in the case of a decision that needs to be made OR in the future as you live out the message in your daily life.)

So relax and enjoy your morning! We're so glad you are here!

MESSAGE TEXT
Matthew 2:1-12
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INTRODUCTION
Matthew’s gospel is very Jewish in that it references things that only Jews would know about without a serious attempt to explain them. But yet, Matthew includes information that proves that his story could not be contained by Judaism. And in this Jewish story, no one’s going to expect a non-Jewish star-gazer to enter the sacred Christmas story as a major character and give a gift to the Jewish Messiah. After all, they’re not Jews. But that’s exactly what happened which tells us the story isn’t made up. The Magi have no vested interest in this baby, the prophecies related to him, or to the religion in which he was born into. And yet, they find themselves in the story.
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PROPOSITION
There are TWO KEY QUESTIONS, ONE HUGE CONCLUSION: The key question that everyone is asking in our passage is “Where is Jesus?” The other key question is not so obvious, but it must be answered: “Where are you?” As people are trying to answer the first question, three great IRONIES show up. As we try to answer the second question, three main RESPONSES become clear.
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The star gets a lot of attention in this passage. But remember this: Stars don’t care about you, but the one who made them does. If the Wise Men can find Jesus, then so can you.
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CONCLUSION
Have you subscribed to the notion that the heart of all reality is impersonal? You speak no one hears. You listen no one speaks. An unblinking, cosmic stare? This passage says the heart of all reality is a true and living God who interjected Himself into our story so that we would know His love for us.
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This spiritual journey made by the magi is a journey that is required of anyone who is to enter the kingdom of God. God resists the proud, the Bible says, but gives grace to the humble. Regardless of who you are, where you grew up, whether you are wealthy or poor - to know Jesus is to bow and become low, to recognize your sinfulness and your helplessness, and to receive God’s grace. These men and their entourage rode, walked, and climbed their way from their home to a place completely foreign to them.
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And yet the journey which they made did not even compare to the One made by the child that they worshiped. Jesus had the longer trip, leaving the throne of heaven and coming to live among His people. Gold was a gift fit for a king, and Matthew’s Gospel introduced his Jewish audience to a king who would rule with love instead of hate; peace instead of violence; sacrifice instead of power. Frankincense is a gift for a priest. Jesus ministers to God on behalf of men. Myrrh is a gift for someone who is about to die. Jesus came to die for us on the cross. This is the Season… This is the Reason.