After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stood over the place where the Child was.They, having heard the king, went their way; and behold, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them until it came and stood over where the young child was.When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.And they, having heard the king, went their way; and lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
6 sermons cite this verse
I'd like you to have a seat. So I grew up, this is the, here we are, the last Sunday in Christmas season. It reminds me of this, this is the whole thing. I grew up in Brainerd, Minnesota, which is the vacation area of, one of the vacation areas of Minnesota. and one of the things we have, our claim to fame is that Brainerd is the quote-unquote birthplace or the home of Paul Bunyan. So if you know the tall tale of Paul Bunyan, tall tale, we recognized that we had a thing called Paul Bunyan Amusement Park and it was in my hometown, in town basically, kind of right on the outskirts of town, Paul Bunyan Amusement Park and we begged our parents to be able to, that we could go to Paul Bunyan. They never took us, never, the only time we ever got to go to Paul Bunyan amusement park was when the cousins came to visit, which was relatively rare. And they would say, okay, now we can go to the amusement park. It was one of those situations where I'm like, but we live here. We should be able to go here all the time. Now, obviously, if you've ever been to Paul Bunyan amusement park, you know that it's not, as an adult, it's not that big. It's kind of a small thing. But as a kid, it was the place I wanted to go more than anything. But it seemed like one of those situations where it was so, so close to home that it was too close to home, …
… and the scribes of the people, and he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They said, well, dummy in Bethlehem of Judea, for so it's written by the Old Testament prophet Micah, the Christ child will be born in Bethlehem. Now, there's a profound symbolism at work in this also. Stars and signs and spiritual questions are never in themselves enough to bring you fully to God. They can get you looking the right direction, but only the scriptures can complete your journey. This book, friend, this, this is the gateway to God. And that is why at this church every single week, somebody like me stands up here, opens this book, reads from it and teaches straight out of it. I am not up here telling you about my relationship with God or giving you my insights into spiritual life. I am attempting to open up to you the scriptures week by week, which are God's guide to salvation, regardless of who you are or where you're coming from. …
… And when you have found him, bring back word to me that I may come and worship him also. When they heard the king, they departed. Listen, and behold the star. There it is again. Keeps showing up. Which they had seen in the east went before them. Till it came and stood over where the young child was. And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. Notice this. That was outside. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and fell down and worshiped him. And when they opened their treasures, they presented gifts to him, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then being divinely warned in a dream, they would not return to Herod. They departed to their own country another way. So I want to talk to you about this star. The star of the story is Jesus. It's not the star, but the star plays an important part in your life, whether you recognize it or not. …
… As soon as you find him, report to me so that I too may go and worship him. After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star that they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warmed in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. Let's talk about a few good men as we look at the wise men. I think I can say without fear of debate or denial that the wise men are critical to the account of the birth of Jesus Christ. You've never been to a Christmas play and there were no wise men. You've never seen a manger setting outside of a church or on your neighbor's lawn, and there'd be no wise men. …
… Bethlehem and said go and search carefully for the child as soon as you find him report to me so that I too may go and worship him after they heard the king they went on their way and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was when they saw the star they were overjoyed on coming to the house they saw the child with his mother Mary and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they were turned to their country by another route. You may be seated in God's presence. I want to put a tag on this text and for a few moments with your prayers, I want to raise the question, do you need directions? Do you need directions? Erykah Badu in Didn't You Know has a luminous line about direction. …
… Verse 9. When they heard the king, they departed. Behold, a star which they had seen in the east went before them. That's got to be... I got to watch the video on that one. a star went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. The verse I want is verse 10. When they saw him, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. You know, I love the language of scripture. I love how the Bible describes things. have you ever noticed the Bible can especially the old English can make horrible things just sound wonderful behold he stinketh things of that it just almost sounds proper and here it has exceedingly great joy it just sounds like a proper joy exceedingly great this word exceedingly actually is a word that means violent the word means violent Thank you. that's joy that is scary. It's so extreme. That's joy at another level. I've been in the service where everybody around me got that kind of joy. …