He's here... He's here!

The David Alliance

Garth Heckman

The David Alliance [e-mail]

Matthew 1:23

18 This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.

20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus,[i] for he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:

23

“Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
She will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel,[j]
which means ‘God is with us.’”

Immanuel - God is with us… he is here!

Jan. 12th, 2007 - 7:51am - Morning rush hour in a New York subway

Joshua Bell played 6 masterpieces on his 3.5 million Dollar Stradivarius violin.

“Three minutes went by before something happened. Sixty-three people had already passed when, finally, there was a breakthrough of sorts. A middle-age man altered his gait for a split second, turning his head to notice that there seemed to be some guy playing music. Yes, the man kept walking, but it was something. A half-minute later, Bell got his first donation. A woman threw in a buck and scooted off. It was not until six minutes into the performance that someone actually stood against a wall, and listened. Things never got much better. In the three-quarters of an hour that Joshua Bell played, seven people stopped what they were doing to hang around and take in the performance, at least for a minute. Twenty-seven gave money, most of them on the run -- for a total of $32 and change. That leaves the 1,070 people who hurried by, oblivious, many only three feet away, few even turning to look. “

$20 of that $32 was from the one person who recognized Bell, and who had just seen him play the night before at the Library of Congress, so the 26 givers among the 1096 commuters pitched in a whopping $12, including a lot of pennies. There was never a crowd, and the fears never materialized that there might be a need for extra security. So the moral or message of the story seems to be simply that commuters might have walked by the Mona Lisa also, and that you can’t expect “random people” to notice and appreciate great art on their own without some kind of guidance, commentary or marketing. Even the title of the article hints at the expression “pearls before swine” that is the credo of elitism itself. It’s hard for people to believe there is something amazing going on when there is no crowd, and nothing telling you to pay attention.

The 6 people who stopped to listen to Bell just thought he was good, but when interviewed later they admitted that they didn't realize how good, they just liked it. Lots of people stood in line to buy lottery tickets nearby and did not even glance his way, and of course the music fans with their iPod earbuds missed everything. Would you have noticed? Would I? There was apparently one guy, named John Picarello, who really noticed, and who spent 9 minutes listening to Bell, realizing full well how good he was.

God actually had the same experiment… he sent his son to a world of millions…. Did anyone notice him?

HE’S HERE HE’S HERE HE’S HERE… DID YOU SEE HIM?

Immanuel -

to Isaiah

Isaiah 7:14

King Ahaz is sinful, evil King and he has reigned in Judah for his own desires. Now he is going to get crushed by the Syrian nation and Isaiah comes to him and says… where you are at right now… Don’t matter. This don’t matter. For in time there will be a virgin, who gives birth to the Messiah, and he will be with us”.

These Kings coming against you… they will be like cigarette butts in the gutter at the end of time… they will mean nothing.

Here is ONE way to put it: Is where you are at… is that what life is about?

Drug dealer… is this what life is about?

CEO Millionaire…is this what life is about?

Single Mom struggling… is this what life is about?

Prison inmate…

High School Vixen or the HS nobody

The Professor

The addict

The single adult

Is this what life is about….

None of this really matters - because Jesus is coming…

Back then it meant through a virgin, but now it means in the second coming.

PERSPECTIVE PEOPLE - Your life doesn’t really matter - but Gods agenda does.

Thats hard to hear… James 4:14 your life is a vapor!