Monologue for
December 18 … Power Point presentation
I remember when I first
made man…the first one…I really enjoyed the talks that we shared together in
the Garden…
But he seemed a little
lonely. I felt he desired someone more like he was, so I made a companion for
him…out of a rib I took from his side, so that they would have a unique
connection to each other…
They seemed so happy together…I
enjoyed the talking with both of them…But as time went on they seemed to get so
wrapped up in their own interests, in each other to the point of avoiding me…
They started doing their
own thing and ignored me…even to the point of doing something I asked them not
to do. The ONLY thing I asked them not
to do.
I really hated to kick them
out of the Garden, but I just can’t live in the same place with disobedience,
with sin….
These people that I made
turning against me and deliberately doing something that they knew I said was
wrong. They chose their own way over
mine.
Over time the earth started
filling up with their children. But
these children had inherited this same attitude that their parents had…that of
disobedience.
But then there was Noah…He
really listened to me…even when he didn’t fully understand…He built a boat in
the middle of the desert when there hadn’t even been any rain. You see, he believed me when I told him that
I was going to destroy the earth with a flood.
He took two of each of the
animals that I had made and put them on the boat that he had built…He had such
an obedient spirit…but he was the only one.
That’s why I decided to start over…
Sometime after the earth
had recovered from the flood and the population was built back up…Abraham came
along….He too, loved me. He too, believed me and was eager to do what I asked
of him…
Even to the point of
offering his own son as a sacrifice to me…but when I saw his willingness to
obey, I stopped him…I couldn’t bear to see him go through that agony…I saw his
heart, his faith and his trust in me… and I was deeply moved. If only all the people had his heart.
But that was not the
case. There was still so much
wickedness…People wanting to hurt each other, to please themselves more than
pleasing me…I even had to destroy a couple of cities.
You may remember hearing
their names,
People seemed to remember
me in the tough times…like when Jacob needed food for his family. I had already put Jacob’s youngest son Joseph
in a position to help. But it wasn’t
long before they forgot me again and started worshiping the idols of that
foreign land.
So I let them go on trying
it their way...until they finally ended up being slaves to Pharaoh in
He forced them to build
pyramids and statues…hard, hard labor. I
began to feel sorry for them again, even though they didn’t seem to remember me
very often. But I just couldn’t stand
seeing them suffer so much. I thought,
perhaps they have learned their lesson.
As time went on I found a
deliverer among my chosen people. His
name was Moses. He was a strapping young
fellow, but a bit shy. I enlisted him to
lead my people out of
But even after having
parted the
And supplying them with
food and water in desert…they still complained…There seemed to be no pleasing
them. Their hearts appeared unchanged.
They seemed so
undisciplined and unorganized. I decided
to give them some rules to live by.
There were only ten. I wrote them
onto two stone tablets and gave them to Moses to present to the people.
But they couldn’t even wait
for him to come down off the mountain before they started rebelling against
me…they even made a golden calf to worship.
They’d rather worship a statue than me, the one that made them and
delivered them from the hands of the Egyptians?
Well, it wasn’t very long
before I saw they couldn’t even keep those ten rules that I had given
them! They wanted somebody to rule them
other than me so I let them have judges from among their own people…but those
judges were human too. They weren’t
perfect. And the people only listened to
them when it suited them.
Then they decided that they
wanted a king. They were such a fickle
people. But no matter how I tried to
help them, even when I gave them what they asked for…they still didn’t want to
listen to me…they still were disobedient to me.
O, there were some that tried...
I remember David….his
courage in defending my honor when he went out to fight that giant Goliath…His
faith in me, that I would give victory…no, he wasn’t perfect but his heart was
right.
He had a hard life…but he
always turned to me for help. When he
messed up he felt bad and cried out to me for forgiveness.
There were others that I
sent to share my thoughts with my people…prophets like Ezekiel, Isaiah,
Jeremiah and Micah…all of them spoke the words that I gave to them…but the
people ignored them too…
They even killed some of
them. So, I thought to myself...they didn’t respect the prophets…they didn’t
listen to the judges and they didn’t honor the kings I sent to help them. I think I’ll send someone that is just like
them; someone they can identify with.
So I sent my only son…I
sent Him as the son of a carpenter to a small town called
Even then, when Joseph and
Mary went to
A few people had studied my
Word enough to know what my plan was.
There were some wise men that had studied the prophecies and followed a
star to
Jesus grew up much like any
other child. Helping his mother and
father…learning from them. I thought
that would help people identify with him more.
He worked hard beside his
father Joseph, learning the carpenter’s trade.
Then, when he was about
thirty years old, He began letting people know who He was…that He was my
Son. He taught in the synagogues and
shared with the people about me, His father.
One time He healed a man
who had been born blind, and even though they saw this miracle with their own
eyes, they tried to have him arrested.
What’s wrong with people? Why
couldn’t they see that I was trying to help them?
The answer to all of their problems
was right in front of them, and still, they wanted to do things their way. My Son had so much love to give and yet they
didn’t seem to want it….they didn’t seem to care.
Another time, my Son,
Jesus, healed a man who hadn’t been able to walk for many years. And do you know what people said? He’s evil because he healed that man and made
him pick up his bed roll on the Sabbath!
What hypocrite’s! Their own law allowed them to pick their ox
up out of a ditch on the Sabbath…but to heal somebody? To let them pick up their mat? This they said was wrong. They were making up their own rules and
ignoring mine!
Later on Jesus fed 5,000
people with only five loaves of bread and a couple of fish. They even collected twelve baskets of
leftovers! Do you think that convinced
them that He was my Son? No, they still
tried to hunt him down.
The leaders of my people
seemed more concerned about their position in society, or the power that they
had, rather than accepting the gift that I had sent them. My Son!
I created them. Why couldn’t they
believe that I knew how to help them?
Even the demons knew who he
was! He was teaching in the temple one
time and this man who was possessed by a demon shouted “I know who you are –
the Holy One of God.” Jesus told the
demon to come out of the man, which he did and some
people were convinced of the truth, but not everyone.
Later He even brought His
friend Lazarus back to life after he had been dead and buried in the grave for
four days. Do you think that caused
everybody to turn to Him? No, the
leaders of the people decided to kill Him.
I sent Jesus so that people
could see my love for them. He helped
everyone He came into contact with. If
they needed food, He gave it to them.
If they needed to be
healed, He healed them. And the only
thing He asked of those people was that they would believe that He was my Son!
He tried to teach them how
to love each other. He tried to show
them that I don’t really care about animals being offered up as sacrifice…I
simply want their lives offered to me, out of love, out of loyalty to me, their
Creator.
But, while He was alive,
they just didn’t understand. My Son
willing offered His life up as the ultimate sacrifice…so that whoever believed
that He was my Son, would no longer be under the curse of death that those
first people I created were under.
They would no longer live
only a few years, but would live for ever and be able to fellowship with me as
I originally intended.
It hurt so much to watch
what they put Him through. The trial
itself was really not too big of a deal…
.but when they started
beating Him….the pain they inflicted on Him.
It grieved me so to see him suffer.
And then,
to watch Him as He dragged Himself along the path to that hill where they nailed
Him to the cross. A weaker man would have simply passed out,
but He was not just any man, He was my Son.
And, through all of that
pain and humiliation, He still managed to tell them that He forgave them for
what they were doing. Those were the
worst moments in human history. They
were the worst moments in all history.
But, despite all that hurt,
I still continued on with my plan to give people opportunity to believe what my
Son said. After He was in His tomb for
three days, I raised Him up.
When the women came to
Jesus’ tomb, they found it empty…I had sent an angel and he
told them that Jesus had risen from the dead…He had done just as He said…
Over the course of the next
forty days, Jesus appeared to several hundred people before He came home to be
with me in Heaven. I wanted there to be
no doubt that He was alive; that he had conquered death.
I wanted everyone to know
how much I love them. I still do. I want you to know how much I love you.
When my Son died on the
cross that day, he sacrificed his own life so that all who believe in Him,
including you…anyone and everyone who believes that He was and is my Son, and
that he died for the forgiveness of their sins, your sins, will have life
everlasting with me, and Him, here in heaven.
I wanted you to know all
this because I am sending Him back. He’s
going to come again to take full charge of those who believe in Him. I’m not going to tell you when, because I
don’t want you to make a decision to trust Him based only on fear.
But, if you trust Him
today, He won’t let you down. What
better time of the year could there be to trust Him, than at the time of the
celebration of His birth?