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1:40Well, let me show you what happened. They got a video of it, and it's a time-lapse. He spent a long time there, hours, playing. You'd be surprised at what happened. Not too many people recognized him, did they? One did, there at the end, recognized the talent and who he was. And what I want to do tonight is I want to talk about recognizing Emmanuel. Just as most people didn't recognize the greatest violinist, so most people didn't recognize God when he dwelt among us.

5:02We read Isaiah 7:14 just a little while ago. The virgin shall be with a child and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us. You see, the world missed God then, and the world continues to miss him today. You know, life's greatest tragedy is to pass through this earthly existence without recognizing this Emmanuel. It's one thing to have been here when he was on earth. Guess what? If you would have heard about him, you would have probably heard by way of the ear somebody telling you about this Jewish rabbi who was among us. You would have had to have listened and heard by ear to have sought him out and to hear his teaching.

6:02Life's greatest tragedy is to pass through this earthly existence as we have a record that who of all people that have come and gone on this earth, there's one that stands out, God with us. And the greatest tragedy in your life will be to pass through this earthly existence without recognizing Emmanuel. So, tonight, in the little time that I have, no, I'm not going to preach a full sermon, but I want you to see who Emmanuel is so that you'll recognize him today. So, you will not be like those who just, the multitudes that just went through the subway station while the finest music on the finest instrument was being played and not even recognize it.

7:03I want you to walk with Emmanuel. I want you to recognize Emmanuel. First of all, you need to recognize that he is your creator. He is your creator. Imagine with me for a moment a toy maker who can make his toys come to life. You know, a lot of Christmas themes have been, or a lot of Christmas stories have been based upon this theme and movies. You know, the story: the toy maker crafts a toy, fashioning it into his liking. And then by some sort of Christmas magic, it comes to life. It's a very intriguing story.

7:54And it often will focus on the relationship between the toy and its maker. But tonight, I don't want to talk to you about Christmas magic. I want to talk to you about Christmas reality. And I intend to be very personal. I want to talk to you specifically. I'm not addressing the world and its problems. I'm not trying to come up with the world solutions, although it's embedded in what will be communicated tonight. I want to address you personally. And every one of you, I want you that's listening to my voice, I want to ask you a question: Do you know your Creator?

8:40Do you hear your Creator's voice today? Let me remind you of the world that missed its Creator. In John chapter 1, verse 1, there was. A world that we're introduced to that completely missed its creator. John says it like this: in verse 1, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him, nothing came into being that has come into being. All things, that includes all things, including you and me. All things came into being through Him.

9:38And then, skipping down to verse 10, John makes this remarkable statement: He was in the world, the Creator, the one who had fashioned and had created every individual and had created the whole world and all that in it, and all that was in it. There He was in the midst of them. Verse 10, He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. Multitudes just passing by. And there's Emmanuel.

10:13You see, oftentimes we miss the extraordinary because it's too ordinary. We do not expect God to meet us in the everyday activities of life any more than we expect a great violinist to be. In a subway, we expect him to be in a concert hall. We expect him to be out there in a tuxedo and show and crowds. That's where we would expect a great violinist. And we certainly wouldn't expect God to be in the form of a peasant.

10:52We might expect to see God in a great cathedral, a great temple. We might even want God to pull back the sky and fill our eyes with some sort of wondrous sights, but we don't expect to see God in the daily provisions. We don't expect to see Him in the ordinary. We don't expect to see Him on the page-worn Bibles that we hold in our hands. It's too ordinary, too common. We don't expect him to show up in the word of encouragement from a friend or a brother. It's too ordinary. Or from a father or for a mother. We don't expect that. It's just too ordinary. It's too mundane. And so we go through life missing the extraordinary because of the ordinary.

11:52Do you recognize your brushes with your Creator today? They're all around us in abundance. And the Bible is very clear that God is our maker. He is your maker. Do you know him? He has given careful thought to each one of us. Psalm 103 says this. 100, verse 3 says this: Know that the Lord Himself is God. It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves. Somebody has made you. Somebody far more profound than a toy maker that makes a toy and gives it life.

12:46God considered you, thought about you, and in Psalm 139, 14 it says this, I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works, and my soul knows it very well. Each person fashioned, thought through, carefully considered, born in the mind of God. Psalm 119, I'll put this one up there, verse 73. Your hands made me and fashioned me. Do you really understand? Understand that he is your creator. Emmanuel is your creator, giving thought, consideration, desiring, opinion, fashioning, made and fashioned you.

13:48And it's not just our physical bodies, but our personalities. Listen to what Psalm 33:15 says: He who fashions the hearts of them all. Not only had He fashioned the when you would live, the where you would live, the how you would live, the body, but he also gave a personality and the heart. You see, he fashions. He's this master creator craftsman. Do you realize that your creator has given much thought to making you? Sadly, most people do not.

14:42Your creator is Emmanuel, God with us. Do you know his name? Most people do not. His name is Jesus. His name is Jesus. Look back at John chapter 1, verse 11. He came to his own. And those who were his own did not receive him. Even though he dwelt among us as one of us, most people never recognized him. Still don't. They missed the extraordinary because he was too ordinary. They didn't recognize Emmanuel because they wouldn't or couldn't see beyond his flesh and blood. Too ordinary.

15:53Well, do you know his name? His name is clearly Jesus. That's who John is introducing us to. And those who believe in his name, something has happened. They have come alive to God. A creation, alive to God. That's what happens when you believe, when you hear. You're like that piece of clay that comes to life and now able to interact and relate. To Emmanuel. John goes on in verse 12 of chapter 1 to show us this. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God.

16:58And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. I've been reading Galatians 3 recently. You remember how the Christmas morning sermon started? O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? I would say that is the same about a society. O foolish society, who has bewitched you to think that there is no God or to think that your God, who fashioned you, who created you, doesn't want to interact with you. Oh, he is very mindful of you.

17:54He has given a lot of thought. He is not some. Deist God just out there, puts the world in motion and then takes off. No, there is a God who fashioned and made, and he's not disinterested, he is very interested and very dialed in. He can be known. In fact, he wants to be known, and he wants to be known by you. And this is evident in several roles that he plays. And we just read several of those roles that he plays in our life, this Emmanuel, this God with us. Number one, he is your Savior. Not only is He your Creator, and His name is Jesus, but He is your Savior. Luke 2:10.

18:54I bring you good news of great joy, which is for all the people, and that includes us and you. For today in the city of David, there has been born for you a Savior. A Savior. Now, why does a Savior come on the scene? Well, because somebody needs to be saved. We needed to be saved from our sin. You needed. You need to be saved from your sin. And what is your Savior? Sin, your disposition to shut God out of your life. That's sin.

19:38And so Emmanuel was born among us. Why? Well, to be a Savior. Why? Well, because we need to be saved. But why does he want to save us? Let's keep asking the question. But not only is he our Savior, Jesus is our Savior, it's also clear from these texts that Jesus is Christ the Lord. Keep reading, and we just read in Luke chapter 2 and verse 11: Good news, city of David, there has been born to you a Savior who is Christ the Lord. He is Lord.

20:22And as we read in Isaiah 9, 6 and 7 earlier, the government is upon him. The government of the world is upon him. And there will be no increase to the end of his government. To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this. So, why a Christ? Why do we need a Lord? Lord, Messiah, Lord. Why does humanity need a Christ figure over the whole? Well, because he wants righteous and justice. He wants righteous and good interaction between everything that goes on on planet Earth.

21:19Why does he want that? Why does he want such good and profitable interactions? It's an important question to ask. Why a Savior? We need to be saved. Why a Christ? Because we need someone to be Lord of all and to maintain and to govern this world. But it also says that the third thing about Christ is that Jesus is that he is the Lord of hosts. You know, after announcing the birth in Luke 2 of the Savior, of Christ the Lord, guess who shows up praising God? The hosts of heaven.

22:07Why? Because Emmanuel is the Lord of hosts. Lord of hosts. And that's why the praise from the hosts of heaven. Why? Why does the Lord of hosts stoop to save us? Why does the Lord of hosts stoop to govern us? The answer is in Amos 4.13. Amos 4.13, I'll read it to you. For behold, he who forms the mountains and creates the winds and declares to man what are his thoughts. The Lord God of hosts is his name. The Lord of hosts is his name. And he created mountains. He created winds. He's the Lord of hosts. He is Christ. There's going to be order. There's going to be justice. He is Christ the Savior. Why? Why?

23:16Because he likes to declare his thoughts to you and to me. He declares to man what are his thoughts. See, Jesus is the Lord of hosts, and yet he likes to share his thoughts with us. Imagine that. Emmanuel. Why did the Lord of hosts become Emmanuel? He likes to talk. Ever think about that? Yes, he likes to talk. He talks a lot. Information is pressing in on us from all sides. The creation declares his glory. He talks. He's a speaking God, and he speaks through his word, highly exalted, yet gentle and lowly of heart.

24:12And he likes to meet with us in the mundane and in the routine. It's in the ordinary that we get a walk with him and that we can interact with him in the way he wants to interact with us. Yes, all will see him in his glory one day, very soon. In fact, after a few years, people realizing that Joshua Bell had showed up in the subway, they decided to do it again. This time, they would let it be known that Joshua Bell was going to show up in the subway. A very different turnout.

25:06Something very different. He needed security. Crowd showed up, standing room only. This is the way it should have been at his first advent. Well, the world isn't going to miss him at his next coming. But tonight, though many still miss him today, don't let that be you. Recognize Emmanuel. He is your creator. His name is Jesus. And though bodily absent, he is still God with us today. He has promised never to leave us. And so may we walk with him today. He is present in all the daily provisions of life. He's present in the fellowship of believers. He's present in words, scripture.

26:19He's present in the meditations upon those scriptures and the applications and the carrying of those things out. You know, we need to see him in the ordinary because that's where we are. That's where we spend most of our lives. And we can relate to him there. He desires relationships with us. He isn't just interested in the lofty king to humble subject relationship. Oh, yes, he is very much that. But he desires the other interactions with us, like a father to a child, a shepherd to a sheep, a big brother to a little brother, a husband to a wife. A teacher to a student, a friend to a friend, and many other kinds. He is the God who loves to be with us in the ordinary.

27:13Listen, your Creator, Emmanuel, didn't create you to harm you, to torment you, or to neglect you, but to bless you, to comfort you, and to care for the life that He has made. You see, believing that God doesn't care for you, or is not mindful of you, or does not delight in you will take you to some very dark places. And if that's you tonight, I invite you to come to the manger. Come to the manger.

27:57And there we see Emmanuel. God born vulnerable. God depended upon God. And all of a sudden, you and I know that we can relate to him. We can relate to this. And that was his purpose. And he has showed us in his humiliation that God can be trusted. And that what was severed in the garden has been restored through the manger, the cross, the resurrection, and this coming again. Recognize Emmanuel. He is indeed with us. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we give you thanks. We give you thanks that you walked among us. You give us those eyes to see. Let us stop our journey and let us focus on you.

29:10May we cease and listen. May we pause and gaze and wonder upon who you are. Thank you, Father. Thank you for this time of celebration as we stop and reflect and remember your great humiliation. You indeed are Savior. You indeed are Christ. You are Creator. And yet you want to dwell with us in the ordinary, routine things of life. Thank you, Emmanuel. Amen.