Amelia Church of Christ - Christian Church in Amelia, OH near Cincinnati in Clermont County

Welcome to the third week in our series called Searching. We are spending this Christmas season talking about things that everyone is searching for. And it is all based in Isaiah 9:6.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6, NIV)

Isaiah prophesied about the birth of Jesus 700 years before He was born in Bethlehem. Isaiah said that Jesus would be Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace.

In each week in this series were talking about one of these four titles. In the first week of the series, we talked about Jesus as our Wonderful Counselor. Jesus is the answer to our search for direction. God really does have dreams and desires for our lives, and because of Jesus, we can hear and understand His will.

Then last week we moved on to the second title that Isaiah gave to the Messiah. Jesus is Mighty God. He is the answer to our search for hope.

Last week was really raw and intense. There was a lot of emotion. There were a lot of conversations and prayers that happened in this place last week as we committed ourselves to live in the hope of God.

God is God. God is good. God is with us. And God is victorious. How can we do anything but live with hope?

Today were moving on to the third title that Isaiah gave to the coming Messiah. The Messiah would be our Everlasting Father, meaning that Jesus is the answer to our search for acceptance.

When I was in Jr. High, I wanted what every other Jr. Higher wants. I wanted to be accepted. I wanted to be accepted by the kids that I thought were cool. So I started with the most obvious difference between me and them…clothes.

I looked at the way I dressed compared to the way other kids dressed. I determined that I didn’t have the right stuff in my closet. It was getting close to Christmas, so I thought, “This will work out perfectly.”

That Christmas, the only thing on my list was clothes made by Bugle Boy. Anybody remember Bugle Boy? Anybody used to wear Bugle Boy?

This was THE brand when I was in Jr. High, so I thought that was the answer. Bugle Boy was my ticket to acceptance. And on Christmas morning, I opened box after box of Bugle Boy clothes. It was awesome!

For once, I couldn’t wait to get back to school after Christmas break, because I was going to be accepted. I had my first back-to-school shirt picked out. It was neon green. It had some kind of ocean, surfer, beach print on the back…even though I was a southern Ohio redneck, not a California kid. It didn’t matter that these clothes didn’t represent who I really was, because these clothes were the right clothes. I was ready to strut into school and be surrounded by the popular kids. All the popular guys would want to be my friend. All the hot girls would want to be my girlfriend. I was going to be accepted. I knew it.

So imagine my surprise when nothing changed. When school started in January, I walked in with brand new clothes. I had changed my entire look in an effort to be accepted. But nothing changed.

I didn’t move up even one rung on the social ladder. I still didn’t feel accepted by the kids that I was trying to impress. I had a closetful of the right clothes. I looked the part. But I still didn’t feel accepted.

A lot of us haven’t progressed much from Jr. High. We’re still trying to look the part. We’re still trying to do whatever it takes to feel accepted…but nothing has changed. We have the right look on the outside, but nothing has changed on the inside.

The Bible tells us that Jesus is our Everlasting Father. He is the answer to our search for acceptance.

In Ephesians 2, the Bible says, “For [Jesus] himself is our peace…and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility…” (Ephesians 2:14, NIV)

Because of Jesus…because of His death for your sins and His resurrection for your new life…there is no wall between you and God. There is no wall between you and forgiveness. There is no wall between you and the church. There is no wall between you and a new life.

In fact, the exact opposite is true. Instead of walls to keep you out, Jesus is the door to let you in. Because of Jesus, you have a place to belong. You are accepted.

In Isaiah 9, the prophet said the coming Messiah would be our Everlasting Father.

Father is the most common title for God in the entire Bible. But for some of us, that’s not a comforting thought. In fact, it’s really difficult.

Maybe you grew up with a father who was anything but a good father. Maybe he was absent. Maybe he was negligent. Maybe he was abusive and so when you hear God referred to as Father, that's not a good connection in your mind. As hard as it is, you can't judge the fatherhood of God based on your earthly father.

Even if you grew up with a great dad, you still can't judge the fatherhood of God based on your earthly father. God transcends any human comparison.

Regardless of the kind of earthly father you had, you have a good and kind and loving Heavenly Father. He is the answer to one of the deepest searches that any of us will ever have: the search for acceptance.

In Romans 8, we find some of the most amazing words in all of Scripture. Starting in verse 14, the Bible says, “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.” (Romans 8:14-15a, NIV)

These verses tell us that we are the children of God. But look at the kind of children we are. We are adopted children.

Nicki and I have some friends who have adopted two children. This is in addition to their two biological children. Last month, Jason and Kelly traveled to Tennessee to pick up their new little girl named Khloe. Their family is incredibly beautiful because their two adoptions cross the line of race. That’s because love is colorblind. They have two awesome biological sons, and they have two beautiful daughters by adoption.

The Bible tells us that we are all God's children by adoption. The adoption relationship is something really, really special because it's a love that is totally based on choice. The adoptive parent chooses the adopted child. They choose this child as their son. They choose this child as their daughter. They choose to love them.

And that's the kind of love that God has for us. It is a choosing love. It's a love of choice. God chose me. God chose you.

And look at what the Bible says in the next verses of Romans 8. “And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” (Romans 8:15b-16, NIV)

Because of God's love of choice, we know we are accepted. And now we have a God who loves us so much that we call him father. In fact, we call him Abba.

Abba is a word in the Aramaic language. It is a term of endearment for a father. It is like the word “Daddy” in our language.

My boys are still young enough that they call me daddy. They haven't gotten too old or too cool to call me daddy and I love that. I know it won’t last forever. I know one day I won't be daddy anymore. I'll be Dad or Pop or Pa or The Old Man. But right now, I'm still daddy because they're still kids.

Here's the thing…we’re all God’s kids. And we’re always supposed to be God’s kids. We’re called to have the faith of a child.

In Mark 10, the Bible says, “People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.” (Mark 10:13-16, NIV)

Anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. When I think about my two kids, I think of their love for me. I think of their total trust in me. I think of their complete reliance on me.

If we don't love and trust and rely on our Heavenly Father like little children, then Jesus said we will never enter the kingdom of God.

But the reason we do love and trust and rely on our Heavenly Father is because we know He accepts us.

There is no barrier between my two sons and myself. There is a total acceptance there. I accept them completely. Unreservedly. Wholeheartedly. And that's the way our Heavenly Father accepts us.

But a lot of us still feel like there's no way. There's no way God can accept me after what I've done. There's no way God could ever love me after the sins I've committed. There's no way I will ever fit in with God's people. There's no way I could ever belong in a church. In other words, we feel a lot like Joseph and Mary in the Christmas story.

In Luke 2, the Bible says, “So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:4-7, NIV)

This little town of Bethlehem was buzzing with hundreds and hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people who traveled there for the census. Now you've got to understand that in this time period, Bethlehem was a little dot-on-the-map kind of town. Ancient Bethlehem wasn’t the big city that it is today. In the first century, Bethlehem was the home to dozens of people. Not thousands. Not hundreds. Dozens.

But now this tiny little town was busting at the seams with people because everyone had to travel to their ancestral town to register for the census. By the time Joseph and Mary got there, the “Ya’ll Come Back Now Hotel” was full. There were no rooms available. Not even for a woman who was pregnant and who was very close to not being pregnant anymore.

How did Joseph and Mary feel? They're in the town that is supposed to be their hometown…yet there's no room for them. That's how a lot of us feel in the church. We’re supposed to feel at home. We're supposed to feel accepted. But it just feels like there's no room for us.

Nicki and I have been embroiled in a battle with a local store recently. I won’t say the name of the store. I’ll just say that it’s a big warehouse store where you have to be a member to shop there? You with me?

The battle has been about our membership. Nicki and I are members. In fact, we’ve got the cards to prove that we’re members. We should be allowed in. We should be allowed to shop. We should be allowed to buy anything we want. We’re members. We belong there.

But apparently this store sees things differently. Even though our cards say that we’re members, their computers say that we’re not. We should feel right at home in this store. We should feel like we belong there. But the store management keeps telling us that we don’t.

Some of you have been to churches that told you that you didn’t belong. You’re supposed to be welcomed. You’re supposed to be accepted. But that church told you that you didn’t belong there. And now you’ve come to believe that’s true. You’ve come to believe that you really don’t belong in the church.

But the message of Christmas says differently. When God sent His Son into this world, it was so He could destroy the wall that existed between us and Himself. It was so He could bring us to Himself.

The message of Christmas is a message of adoption. We are adopted children, chosen by our Heavenly Father. And that means that He always accepts us. And there's always a place for us in His church.

In Romans 15, the Bible says, “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” (Romans 15:7, NIV)

Jesus came on a mission of adoption and acceptance. That means that there is a place for you. You belong in Christ and you belong in His church.

The problem is that we've come to view the church as something that it’s not. We’ve come to see it as a museum for saints, when in reality it’s a hospital for sinners. We have forgotten the terms of acceptance into the church. The terms for our acceptance into the church are not our own righteousness. It's the righteousness of Christ. The basis for our acceptance in God's church is not our own goodness, but God's grace.

In Romans 4, the Bible says, “But you cannot make God accept you because of something you do. God accepts sinners only because they have faith in him.” (Romans 4:5, CEV)

The terms for our acceptance are not based on anything we can do. It’s based on what Jesus has done.

When Isaiah prophesied about the coming of Christ, he said that this coming Messiah would be our Everlasting Father. It's a message of love. It's a message of adoption. It's a message of acceptance. And here at ACC, we live it out.

You are welcome here. Regardless of your past. Regardless of your mistakes. Regardless of your shortcomings. Regardless of your sins. You are welcome here.

Our church doesn't look like a lot of other churches. We have become a church of misfits. And that’s just how we like it.

There are so many people who have come to ACC and have told us that this is the first church that ever accepted them. They've experienced rejection in a lot of other churches, but here at ACC they have been loved. They have been welcomed. They have been accepted. And that's just the way we like it because that's exactly how Jesus has treated us.

It's kind of like the Rudolph TV special. Remember Rudolph and Hermie? Rudolph didn't fit in with the other reindeer because of his glowing red nose. Hermie didn't fit in with the other elves because instead of making toys he wanted to be a dentist. So they both teamed up and ran away from Christmastown. And remember that song but they both sang? They both sang the song is simply said, “Why don't I fit in?”

They were misfits. They didn't fit in with the establishment, so they ran away. Some of you have run away from the church because you don't feel like you fit in with the establishment. But in so many churches, the establishment is wrong.

The church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints. The church preaches the gospel of Christ, which is a message of adoption and acceptance. You are not accepted on your own merits. You are accepted on the merits of the One who gave His life for you.

Nicki and I have a mutual friend who has really wrestled with these misfit feelings. We’ll call her Katherine. A few years ago, Katherine finally told her story at her church. I asked her permission to share a little bit of her talk with you this morning. Here’s a little bit of what she said.

Life is like a box of chocolates. A lot of us look really good from the outside, but you never know what others are carrying around on the inside. It could be some of that nasty orange cream, but they are trying to look like everybody else from the outside. People in churches do that a lot. For fear of judgment and exclusion, they carry around that orange cream because they know nobody likes it.

About 10 years ago, I was trying really hard to fit in with the other pieces of chocolates in my box. I had a group of young mothers from church over at my house. We were just chatting while we let the kids play. I don’t recall how, but the topic of abortion came up. I concentrated on not visibly squirming. One of the young mothers announced that she believed that any woman who had done that in the past should not be allowed to have children and if they do they should be taken away. I glanced around for others’ reactions. No one else seemed too opposed to the idea so I nodded in agreement.

That’s when I knew I had been right to never tell my secret. This was the attitude of the church and me and my orange cream filling would be kicked right of this group of chocolate covered cherries. It was business for only me and God. He loved me so much and had forgiven me and He would never require me to speak of it again. For 10 years.

Then through a series of sermons, encounters with people and much prayer, God made it clear that it was time to share. That if I were sitting in this church, there had to be more. I questioned Him so many times. “Are you sure God, because You know, nobody likes that orange cream filling.”

Thankfully God did give Katherine the courage to share her story. And Katherine ministered to a whole lot of people when she did.

In fact, Katherine told me, “After I spoke that night, a woman I had never met came up and introduced herself to me with tears in her eyes and hesitantly said, ‘I have orange cream filling.’

But it doesn’t stop there. The woman who had made the hurtful remark 10 years earlier about women that had had an abortion was not there on the evening that Katherine spoke, but a friend of hers was. The friend told the woman about Katherine’s talk. She immediately knew it was her that had made the statement. A week later, she came to Katherine and offered a tearful apology. Both women cried together as they healed together.

Maybe you’re a Katherine. You’re beautiful chocolate on the outside but there is orange cream filling on the inside. You’ve got the right look on the outside, but you’re dying on the inside. You’re carrying secrets because if anyone knew you are such a misfit, you’d never fit into the church.

That is a lie from the very pit of hell. The church is a place for misfits. In fact, the church is THE place for misfits.

You belong in the family of God. Your seat at the table is saved. It's got your name on it. You belong. Even with your checkered past. Even with the sins you struggle with today. Even with your orange cream filling. You belong because the price of your sins has been paid.

1 John 1:7 tells us, “If we live in the light, as God does, we share in life with each other. And the blood of his Son Jesus washes all our sins away.” (1 John 1:7, CEV)

All of us in God’s family can share life together because of one reason and one reason only: the blood of Jesus washes all our sins away.

There are no exceptions or exclusions. If your sins have been washed away by the blood of Christ, you are in God’s family. Your place at the dining room table is set. There’s a stocking with your name on it hung on the mantle. You belong. Every church building needs a sign hanging above the door that simply says, “Misfits welcome.” Because we’re all sinners. We’re all outcasts. We’re all misfits. And we all belong in God’s family.

God is our Father. In fact, according to Isaiah’s prophecy, He is our Everlasting Father.

The word everlasting means eternal. Forever. Never ending. God will always be your Father. Regardless of your sin. Regardless of how many times you fail. God will always be your father.

Now, that doesn't mean that we just say, “Okay, I'll do whatever I want now.” Not at all. God is a good Father, which means he will discipline us when we’re wrong. He will punish us when we're wrong. That is not something you want to be on the receiving end of.

God is always our Father, but that's not a license to sin. In fact it's just the opposite. It's the greatest motivation we have to live a life that honors God. God chose me. God chose you. How can we do anything but live a life that brings him glory and honor?

But it also means that when we stumble, when we fall, when we sin, God does not stop being our Father.

Remember the story of the prodigal son? It's one of the most famous parables that Jesus ever told. In this story, Jesus tells us about a man that had two sons. His younger son came to him one day and said, “Dad, on my inheritance now.” That was the same as saying, “Dad, I wish you were already dead so I could get my money.”

The father granted his request. He gave his younger son his share of the inheritance and the younger son left town. And for a while, this younger son lived the high life. Everybody wanted to be his friend. He was the guy that bought a round for everyone at the bar. He had his choice of women every night. He had the life that a lot of guys dream of.

But eventually the money ran out. And this kid was amazed that as soon as the money was gone, so were his friends. He was left homeless and penniless.

It got so bad that this kid hired himself out to a farmer to feed pigs. Now you’ve got understand that in the cultural context. This guy was a Jewish man. Jews were not supposed to have any contact with unclean animals, such as pigs. But things had gotten so bad that this Jewish boy hired himself out to a Gentile farmer to feed unclean pigs. This was as low as he could possibly go.

Let's pick up the story right there in Luke 15. Starting in verse 17, “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father.” (Luke 15:17-20a, NIV)

This kid came to his senses when he was out feeding these pigs one day. He thought about all his father's servants. They were doing a lot better than he was doing. So he decided to go back home. But did you see what he was going home to do?

He wasn't just going home to say, “Dad, I'm sorry.” He was going home to say, “Dad, I'm the longer worthy to be your son. What I've done is so bad…I have sinned so greatly…I'm no longer worthy to be your son. I am such a misfit that surely you don’t want to be my father anymore.”

A lot of us feel like that. “After everything I've done, there's no way. There is no way I can be a child of God. There's no way I can have any part of the church. There's no way that God can still be my Father.”

But the rest of Jesus’ story says differently. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.” (Luke 15:20b-24, NIV)

This kid gets home and he starts his speech. “Dad, I'm no longer worthy to be your son.”

And the father completely ignores him. Instead he tells his servants, “We're going to have a party!”

The father puts a ring on his son's finger. That ring signified that the son had been reinstated in the family. He also put sandals on his feet. Servants didn't wear shoes. But sons did. These are all signs of acceptance.

And then his dad orders that the servants killed the fattened calf. It's barbecue time. That doesn't sound like a really big deal to us because we eat meat all the time. Maybe you drove through the Wendy's drive-through and got a classic double with cheese last night. We eat meat all the time. But in this culture, meat was reserved for very special occasions. And to the father, this was the most special occasion. His son had returned home.

It didn't matter what the boy had done. What mattered was that he was home. He wasn’t welcomed back because of what he had done. He was welcomed because of who he was. Or rather, because of whose he was. He was still his father’s son.

That's the entire reason that we even have a Christmas season. Because our Heavenly Father gave up His own Son to pay the price for our sin so we could come home.

And when we come home, there is no condemnation. There is a celebration.

Mike Edmisten

Tags: acceptance, Christmas, church, grace, Isaiah 9, Jesus, Prodigal Son, Searching...