We welcome you to Stone's Hill today!

A typical Stone's Hill service has:

* music (so feel free to sing out);

* some announcements (things that are upcoming that you can be a part of);

* a message out of the Bible (God speaks to us through his Word);

* and an opportunity for you to respond to the message (either immediately in the case of a decision that needs to be made OR in the future as you live out the message in your daily life.)

So relax and enjoy your morning! We're so glad you are here!

Message Text: John 1:14
God became flesh. The implications of this greatest of all miracles are astounding. The rest of John's Gospel, in fact, is spent trying to unfold the significance of what we have just considered here.

1. Salvation: Our sin and estrangement from God has made it impossible for us to save ourselves. History is littered with man's futile efforts to reach God. In the incarnation, we see God writing himself into our history so that we could be saved by simply believing the message of the incarnation, the cross, and the resurrection of Jesus.

2. Affirmation: The incarnation is an affirmation of the value of human existence. We're valuable to God. Jesus never despised the virgin's womb; he never was angry over the fact that he had to set aside a previous existence that dwarfs our little puny concepts of reality and life. Instead, he affirmed the humanity that was home to him by coming as one of us and loving us.

3. Identification: He identifies with our weaknesses and sufferings. He shares our human struggles. He is not aloof or distant. What's amazing is that when Jesus became a man, he became a man for all eternity. He has forever committed himself to understanding and loving us.

4. Adoration: The greatness of what God has done for us in the incarnation drives us to our knees in worship. Barclay has commented that a lifetime of study and thought could not exhaust the truth. It's true because in the incarnation we have the union of divine and human natures coming together in such a way that neither is diminished.

5. Separation: This is what the incarnation meant to Jesus personally. He was separated from his Heavenly Father for over 30 years! And there were several reasons He did it. To reaffirm some of what we've already covered: To reveal more about who God is and what He’s like; To show us who human beings really are; To deliver all of the fallen creation from the curse; To restrain and eventually destroy Satan; To lead Israel to her true calling as a nation; To reign and rule over all the earth. To say “I love you” in a way that we wouldn’t miss it.

The Incarnation tells us that God is a Person to be known and loved and worshiped and enjoyed, and if you have him you have everything. Do you have Him?