Matthew 2:2-11

and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” ³ When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵ “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: ⁶ “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.” ⁷ Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸ He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” ⁹ After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹ On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 

Not only does a journey of worship involve faith but a:

2. Journey of worship always involves Seeking Jesus Vs 2

Worship always involves finding Jesus it’s not just a moment in time but a journey of seeking the King. What are you searching for this Christmas who are you seeking? We see in verses 4-6 that Herod knew who to seek to get the answer to find  Jesus the Priests, the priests knew where to seek the bible, but neither of them went to seek  Jesus. Herod pretended to be a worshiper of Jesus, but he was a worshipper of self! it’s not knowing about Jesus its Knowing Jesus and that comes as you seek Him. Matthew 7:7 tells us to seek and you will find!

3. Journey of worship always involves Determination and diligence in the search. Vs 7

We don’t know the distance of the journey, but we know it took time In Matthew 2:16 we are told that Herod decided to kill all boy children 2 years old and younger so apparently from the time the star first appeared it took them almost two years to locate where Christ was. There search was a long & diligent one. That just means they were determined to search until they found the answer. Did they ever grow tired? Were there times of sickness? Did they ever get discouraged? Did they ever feel like quitting? I suspect the answer to all these questions is “yes” – but they persevered. This wasn’t a religious fad. Nor was it a whim of the moment. They would see their search through to the end. Are you determined like that in your spiritual search? Even when their reference point was gone they kept searching. God can use anything to show you the way, He used an ungodly King and uncaring religious priests. Sometimes we get comfortable following our star and when we get in a rut, we forget others need to know about Jesus. When the star disappeared, it allowed for others to hear and decide if they would go to worship. Your journey of worship will be noticed by others some will hate it like Herod some will not care like the religious but keep living it anyway journey on!

4. Journey of worship is intentional  vs 11.

 A wise man’s journey is one of WORSHIP. When the wise men came on their journey it was for the purpose of worship. They brought with them gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They came prepared to worship, they were intentional. We want worship to just be spontaneous and emotional. Where I can show up when it’s convenient and there is an experience provided for me. But the question shuld be what am I bringing? These gifts have a lot of symbolism associated with them. Gold represents wealth. It is a gift fit for a king. (Jesus was the King of Kings) Frankincense is the sap of a tree that was dried and hardened and used as incense to worship God. Thus, we see a gift for his deity. (Jesus was the Son of God) Myrrh is a fragrant perfume that was used to anoint the dead – to embalm and preserve them. (Jesus was The Sacrificial Lamb). 

So let me ask you, who are you seeking this Christmas, are you determined and diligent in your search, how intentional is your worship?

Matthew 2:1-2

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem ² and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

The question has been posed: “What would have happened if there had been Three Wise Women instead of Three Wise Men?” The answer: They would have asked for directions immediately commencing their trip, which would have allowed them to arrive on time; they would have helped deliver the baby, cleaned the stable, made a casserole and brought cute little outfits that baby Jesus could have worn on his trip home. But as it happened, they were wise men (not wise women) – and while we think of these men as part of the Christmas story, they were not present at the birth of Christ. Yet even though the story of the wise men is shrouded in mystery leaving us with a lot of unanswered questions I want us to focus on what we do know. These were men who recognized God at work in the world surrounding them. 

Psalm 19

The heavens declare the glory of God; 

   the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 

2 Day after day they pour forth speech; 

   night after night they display knowledge. 

3 There is no speech or language 

   where their voice is not heard.[a] 

4 Their voice[b] goes out into all the earth, 

   their words to the ends of the world.

This was the perfect sign that the light of the world had been born, a light in the darkness. 

The wise men, these men of science and the stars came to a decision to seek out and find “the King of the Jews”. They didn’t have all the facts when they started, but they had enough to know they needed to search. God gives men enough light that they might search for more. Sometimes we get the idea that the only place God can speak to us is in church. That is not true. God works through the many circumstances of our life to direct our attention to him; and quite often those circumstances involve our place of employment. 

• Moses – was tending sheep.

• Gideon – was harvesting wheat

• Peter – was cleaning nets after a night of fishing

• Matthew – was at his table collecting taxes

• Wise Men – were in their study of the stars

The first thing that we see in the Wise Men’s journey of worship a:

1. Journey of worship always involves FAITH.

“Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East.”

What would prompt someone to leave the comfort of their homes to go on a dangerous journey? Romance? Yes. Wealth? Most definitely. But faith? Yes – faith. “Where is He who has been born the King of the Jews?” What a probing question – there is no doubt in their language that He had been born – the question is “Where is He?” They had seen the star – the evidence was real – now where is He? They had faith that He was alive – that He existed – now all they needed to do was to find Him. Their purpose was established – find Him. And so, they were willing to risk everything to find Him. They were willing to leave the safety of their homes – to risk a pearliest journey to seek a King. Can you imagine their neighbor’s reaction? “Are you going on a journey?” “Yes.” “Where are you going?” “We don’t know for sure.” “How far is it?” “Well, we don’t know that either.” How long are you going to be gone?” Well, were not quite sure on that either.” “Boy for wise men you sure don’t much do you?” But I’m sure they said the same things to Abraham when he left his home for the Promised Land. They must have said the same things to Noah who was building an ark. They must have said the same kind of things to Peter, Andrew, John and James when they left the fishing nets to become fishers of men. What are you crazy? Are you insane? Are you out of your minds? No not crazy – not insane – not out of their minds – men of faith. Today are we shying away from faith because we are afraid of what others will think and say? Are we more motivated by faith or by our fear of appearing foolish? Faith is not motivated because it know all the answers instead it’s because it knows the Author. Scripture reminds us that God’s journeys always involve FAITH. For it is impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him Hebrews 11:6. People of faith have been willing to respond to the challenges of the unknown over and over again down through history. William Cary was a shoemaker when one day he heard of the millions of people in India who had not heard the Good News of Jesus Christ. He believed the great commission to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel.” He believed that that verse was speaking directly to him. So he volunteered to go to India but was told “Young man, sit down. When God wants to convert the heathen, He will do it without your help.” Cary went anyway – supporting himself. For seven years he worked without seeing a single convert – but by the end of his life he saw hundreds of churches and thousands of converts. Today he is known as the “Father of Modern Missions.” Why because he stepped out in faith. Where in your Journey of worship do you need to step out in Faith?