Mount Isa Baptist Church

Which Christmas Character are you?

Matthew 2:1-23

Which of the Christmas characters do you find yourself relating to the most?

Maybe Joseph? Mary? The shepherds? The wise men? The angels? How about King Herod? King Herod, now there's a possibility because we're going to see this morning, there may just be a little bit of Herod in each one of us.

So, who was Herod? Herod was the king of Judea. He'd been placed there by the powerful Roman Empire. He was a very smart, very powerful, a very ambitious man in fact his nickname in those days was Herod the builder because he built port cities, he built aqueducts, he was famous for building all kinds of things across the Roman Empire but in the end Herod’s personal ambition got the better of him and he's trying to consolidate his power, trying to preserve his legacy. He receives disturbing news: just down the road in the insignificant town of Bethlehem, a rival king has just been born. Now, for Herod, this is the worst news possible. He's focused on his legacy, building his kingdom, consolidating his power. He's old, he's sick, and now another rival king has been born. What does he do in response to this news? In vs.7-vs.8 we read:

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

This is deception on another level, as we'll discover Herod’s got no intention of worshipping Jesus.

vs.11: “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Jesus with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

What an amazing contrast.

The wise men are worshipping King Jesus, while Herod is worrying about who this King was who had been born. The wise men are captivated by Jesus; Herod is captivated by his own self-grandeur, his own self-importance. For Herod, he's not about to bow down or to worship anyone or anything other than himself. Now, I want us to push pause here for a minute and just to be ruthlessly honest with ourselves this morning; maybe some of us can in some way relate to Herod. The thought of surrendering our lives, the thought of handing over control to somebody else, especially a God we can't see, is sometimes very difficult to comprehend. But you know, there's a choice that all of us, like Herod, will be faced with. Jesus Christ demands a response from every one of our lives, and either this Christmas, like the wise men, you will bow down and worship Jesus. You will surrender the control of your life to Jesus.

Or like Herod, you will pursue a different route where you remain king of your castle, king of your life, so to speak, seemingly in control of your own life and destiny. He's got no intention of worshipping Jesus; he wants the rival king dead.

16 When Herod realised that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.”

So, Herod is absolutely livid, he's furious, he's out of control, give me this rival king, he says, but if not, I’m going to kill all the little boys in Bethlehem and the surrounding areas, and that's exactly what he did. All because he wanted to be number one. Well, not long after this, Herod died a slow and a painful death. He died a lonely old man. The amazing irony is that Herod the Great, as he was known, became a mere footnote in the story of Jesus. I can imagine Herod’s advisors sitting down with him before he passed away and saying, " Herod, we've got some good news and some bad news to share with you. Well, give me the good news first, you may have said. Well, the good news is that two thousand years down the line, even in small places like Mount Isa, Herod, people will still be reading about you and speaking about you. Herod may have responded, “Well, that's the good news, what's the bad news?” Well, the bad news is you'll be a mere footnote in the story of Jesus. You were king, but Jesus is the King of the kings. You may have been a lord, but Jesus Christ is the Lord of the lords. He went on to become the Saviour of the world, and every single year on the 25th of December in every country on every continent, billions of people from every generation bow down and worship this Jesus as God, Saviour, Christ and King. He changed the course of world history. This is truly breathtaking. Herod was just eight kilometres away from the birth of the Son of God, and he missed his opportunity, so near and yet so far. I encourage you this morning, Jesus Christ is still not far away. Jesus Christ is still available; do not miss out on your opportunity to love Him, to worship Him, to serve Him, to live for Him, to surrender to Him. We've looked at Herod’s story, but we need to wrap it up on a more personal note.

The real question is, what will your story be in relation to Jesus Christ, the Light of the world? Will it be a story like Herod’s? Your life spent trying to build your kingdom, living life your way rather than accepting an invitation to participate in the eternal the everlasting, powerful Kingdom of God. Will your story be a Herod's story of doing things your way, or will you be like the Magi, doing things God's way? Saying my will be done or getting on your knees and saying your will be done, Jesus. The truth is, as with Herod, somebody will tell your story. The only question is what story will they tell for those of you who've never met Jesus? You've never encountered the Light of the World. My encouragement to you is to make a decision to take one small step towards the light. One small step towards Jesus, whatever that means for you. You'll quickly discover that Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, will take a thousand giant steps towards. The Bible says: “You draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” If you've already engaged with the Light of the World, if you're already a Christ follower then I encourage your like the Magi again this Christmas, worship Jesus, love Jesus, give to Jesus, surrender to Jesus, and then take it one step further in a dark and difficult world make yourself available to be used by Jesus, to be a carry of hope and lights from Mount Isa to the ends of the earth. May the Light of God flow in you, may the Light of God flow through you. As Mother Teresa famously said, “I’m just a little pencil in the hand of a great God that he's using to write a love letter to the world.” King Herod or King Jesus, my way or God's way, I encourage you this Christmas to choose the road of worship, choose the road of surrender and choose the road of commitment to the King of all kings and to the Lord of all lords.

Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.

Below is a letter from Pastor Morgan Slykerman with all the details. If you would like to contribute financially, you can do so in three ways:

1. Add your Donation to the Offering Bag in an envelope clearly marked for Cooktown Baptist Church Roofing Fund

2. You can deposit into the MIBC bank account electronically. Please state in the description what the offering is for so all donations are easily identifiable for their intended purpose (Bank account details are toward the bottom of this Newsletter).

3. You can give directly to Cooktown Baptist Church's own Bank Account. The details are at the end of the letter.

To our Brothers and Sisters in Christ

I am writing to make known a need we have for our fellowship. We are in a position where we need to replace our leaking roof and are presently $20,000 short of the funds required. We are reaching out to see if there are any congregations or individuals who may be able to assist us in meeting this shortfall of funds.

The fellowship of Cooktown Baptist Church is the Northernmost Baptist Church in Queensland, Australia. We are comprised of a small group of families who love Jesus and are actively engaged in sharing the gospel in our community. Many within the fellowship are teachers or other staff members of the local Christian School, as well as some retired folk who bless us with their wisdom and experience.

As a group of Christ followers, we are passionate about sharing the gospel, loving God, and loving others. We focus on being genuine in our individual walks with the Lord, and have seen new believers find a home amongst us where they feel valued and safe to grow in their faith as well. Our building is in a central location next to the only grocery store in town and is highly visible to the wider community. We see this as a good thing, as the witness of Jesus is shining boldly into the community.

However, we are currently faced with a challenging situation. We have been blessed with a turn of the 20th Century wooden building as our place of worship. However, maintaining a 120-year-old building comes with many challenges.

2 years ago, we worked together as a congregation and painted the inside of the church. This year in June, we painted the outside of the building. We are now facing a further significant challenge in that our roof also needs replacing. About 12 months ago, we patched lower portions of the roof that were leaking. However, the repairs were not completely successful. Water is still leaking in and causing damage to the building interior. The roof needs a complete replacement to ensure that it is both leak-proof and cyclone-proof.

This year, we have learnt that due to the roof pitch, not all roofing contractors have the capacity to do the job. We had a local contractor organised for the job, but it turns out the scope of the job is beyond his capacity. The materials were purchased at the time and are ready and waiting in the church yard. We have made enquiries with a number of roofing contractors but have so far been unsuccessful in locating a company either locally or further afield with capacity to complete the job.

The wet season is now fast approaching. This week, in faith, we laid hands on the roofing material and asked God to provide. At 0730 the next morning a Cairns based roofing company walked into the local hardware where I work as a bi-vocational job. Upon explaining the situation and on their inspection of the roof, they have returned with a quote and the ability to complete the work before Christmas, which importantly is before the start of our wet season. We rejoice in Gods provision of this contractor; however, their quote is substantially higher than the initial local quote. We now understand that due to the specialist nature of the roof, the installation costs will be charged accordingly.

Our small fellowship gives generously and faithfully; however, the quote for the roof installation is almost the same as our annual income. If others within the church community were able to support us at this time of need, we would be greatly appreciative.

Yours in Christ
Morgan Slykerman
Pastor
Cooktown Baptist Church

Bank Account Details

Cooktown Baptist Fellowship

BSB 014-303 (ANZ)

ACC 2954-26307