When I was growing up, we had a bully in our neighborhood. Maybe every neighborhood has a bully. I don't know. Ours was named Boomer! Nobody knew what his real name was, and if we did we probably would know why he was called Boomer. It kind of sounds like a neighborhood bully doesn't it? He intimidated us little kids, I mean. I think it was his hobby, and honestly we were pretty scared of him. He'd come and take our baseball paraphernalia and call us names and threaten to beat us up.
One day, like a lot of other days, he started after me and started to threaten and make noises like he wanted to hurt me. And all of a sudden there was a voice behind him saying, "Boomer, go home" and he did. It wasn't me. No, my Dad had arrived on the scene. And you know what? He was bigger than Boomer, even though Boomer was bigger than I was. Now, Boomer was the same bully, and I was the same shrimp, but the difference was somebody bigger was with me.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Somebody Bigger."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 1:23. And if this sounds like a part of the Christmas Story, it is. But the Christmas Story isn't just for Christmas. This is all about when God came to earth, which is the beginning of the greatest news of all time. The angel is talking to Joseph and says, "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel - which means 'God with us'."
Whoa! Hold that thought for just a minute. There was a survey a few years ago that mapped the position of hundreds of millions of galaxies. The survey revealed the large scale structure of this universe and it uncovered this giant string of galaxies that they now call the The Sloan Great Wall. They say it's 1.4 billion light years across, which makes it the largest structure in the universe. I can't even begin to comprehend it! Why don't we just laugh? There's no point in trying to understand this. I mean, it's huge!
The astronomers said it has raised such profound questions about the origin and the structure of the universe that we actually need a major national observatory just to study it. They say and I quote, "The size of the structure indicates that in present theories of the universe, something is really wrong. That makes a big difference." The astronomer said. "No known force could produce a structure this big in the time since the universe was formed." And I just want to say, "Oh yeah?"
Well, it is that God who is with us because Jesus came. The Creator of something that's 1.4 billion light years across (and that's just a few of the galaxies) - where is He now? Well, He came into this world and looked helpless as a little baby. He wasn't even able to grab His mama's finger, but those are the hands that created the world. He created the tree He died on. And now, that God is with you right where you are. He's there with all the power that made galaxies that big, and that power is available for your life.
There's no excuse for an ordinary life if God is with you. There's no excuse for having small goals, for being embarrassed about your relationship with Him. That God is with you now. There's no excuse for being afraid of anything that God is calling you to do, because that God will be with you.
Maybe you've felt like a victim most of your life, but that's changed now because God is with you. You're alone, you're worried about the future, or you're facing Mission Impossible. God with us! The excitement of life is in looking for that God where He is in your everyday life today. And, by the way, if you've never begun a personal relationship made possible with Him by the death of His Son, Jesus, on the cross for you, why would you wait another day to get started? Would you come to our website and let me show you how to begin that relationship? Just go to ANewStory.com.
The angel said on that Christmas announcement, "This is good news to all people - God is with us." It doesn't matter how big the bully is. He's nothing! Because somebody bigger is with you, so let Him intimidate your bully."