From

the Crib To the Cross

Valley Center Seventh-day Adventist Church

Written By: Pastor John T. Anderson

Delivered On December 21, 2013

This Sermon is available in audio format for listening or downloading on our Audio Sermons web page.

We have gathered here today to celebrate the birth of our dear Messiah, Jesus. With songs and
Scripture we are being reminded of His nativity some 2,000 years ago. What strikes me about our
program today is that our church doesnt look exactly like it did just a few weeks ago, and there
are some relevant thoughts we can consider in relation to that this morning. Jesus birth and our
flood damage; what do they have in common?
Some time between 10 p.m. Thursday December 12 and the next morning, Friday about 9:30 a.m.
a fitting on a water supply in the mens restroom dismantled. It literally came unglued, releasing
a huge amount of water, resulting in massive flooding throughout approximately 75% of our
facility. What a blessing it was that Brother Charlie just happened (does anything just
happen?) to check the inside of the church that morning and found water everywhere! Ive tried
to imagine the chaos if he hadnt discovered it Friday morning, and we came Sabbath morning to
find that out. Of course, much more water would have been released by that time, causing even
more damage. It must have been that God impressed Charlie to look inside the church that Friday
morning.
Of course, immediately we began the work of preparing for restoration. The water was shut off,
furniture was moved, carpets were pulled up and removed, drywall was cut out, vacuum
machines were brought in, and fans and dryers began their work. Thanks to the many who
responded to the call and came to help do all this! We didnt hold church here last week because
in the immediacy of the moment, so many things had to be brought into the sanctuary (which was
about the only dry place in the facility). But the floors having dried out and the furniture having
been relocated in a more organized way, were glad to be able to worship in our church here
today.
We believe that the devil is the one who causes bad things to happen, and he doesnt like it when
Gods message, the truth especially for these times is preached. Nevertheless, we also believe
that God has a wonderful way of turning bad into good, and that our church will be blessed by this
event, and it will turn out that it will be even better than it was before. Praise God for that! Weve
thought that this is the time to address a few other needs, and that may mean that our putting

things back together will take a little longer than just slapping some new floor coverings down and
calling it done. For this, we beg your patience.
With all of this in mind, allow me to share two thoughts briefly with you today as we think about
the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. First, we worship today in a building that isnt in the best of
conditions. There are no floor coverings in the fellowship hall, the foyer and quite a bit of the
sanctuary. Theres stuff placed where it normally isnt, because of the emergency situation we
found ourselves in. We wish it were better, and hope that it will be someday soon. But the church
board voted, rather than to close the church until the work of restoration was completely done,
to go ahead and hold services here, despite the less than ideal conditions that exist.
Our worship environment may be less than perfect, but we believe that God can meet with us
here and give us a blessing. Do you see where this is leading? Can you see where were going with
this? Wasnt it similar to this when Jesus came 2,000 years ago? It wasnt a sanctuary but a stable
in which He was born. There was no carpet on the floor there either. But the important thing was
that He was there, and that made it a temple. That made it holy. So it is that in faith, we look
for a blessing here today, notwithstanding our present condition.
We are reminded that others around the world this Sabbath are worshiping under a tree or in
facilities much less posh than what were accustomed to here in America. Yes, we should do our
best to make Gods house attractive and comfortable, and by Gods grace we will be taking steps
in that direction as a result of the water damage, but at the same time we can be confident that
the One Who was born in a barn is happy to meet with us here this morning.
The second thought I would share with you today is related also to our present situation here.
When the insurance adjustor called me up and arranged to meet here to assess the damages, he
suggested that he bring along a person who was well acquainted with situations like ours. He is a
building contractor with specialized experience in repairing structures that have undergone
damages by water, fire or other cause. He was introduced to me as a restoration contractor.
Hmmm. A restoration contractor. The more I thought about that, the more I was intrigued. Is
that a title that could apply to our Savior Who came and was born 2,000 years ago? Isnt He the
greatest, the grandest Restoration Contractor in the entire universe?
The adjustor gave to me a sheet of paper, on which he had copied a number of business cards of
those who have the same specialty. Almost every one of them contained the word restoration
on it. Silverstone Flood and Restoration. ESN Restoration Services. Premier Restoration
Services. Servpro Fire and Water Cleanup & Restoration. One card read across the top,
Mission Restoration.

I believe that there is something to think about here also, isnt there! There was an event which
caused great damage years ago, wasnt there. In a spiritual sense something broke. It wasnt a
supply fitting; it was the relationship between mankind and God, but this breakage released a
flood of woe and tragedy. A flood of sin erupted upon this world when Adam and Eve disobeyed
God, resulting in damages beyond calculation.
What did our God do when that happened? Did He walk away and say, Youve made your mess,
now you live in it! No. He took immediate steps to bring repair, didnt He. The work, the mission
of restoration began when Jesus pledged Himself to be our Redeemer there in the Garden of
Eden, and then made good on His pledge by coming to die for our sins on the cross of Calvary.
We wish Adam and Eve hadnt sinned. We wish the water supply hadnt broken. But in some
strange and mysteriously divine way, God has the ability to bring good out of bad. Our church is
going to have new carpet and fresh paint. Along with that, were working on having major work
on the sound and lighting systems done, which will be appropriate at this time because of
trenching in the concrete that will have to be done before the new carpet goes down.
Will our church be better when this work is done? Yes, we believe so. Are we glad that the
water damage occurred? No, it wouldnt be proper to say that. It cost time, effort and a lot of
money paid by our insurance carrier. But God has a way of bringing good from bad. In a similar
sense, sin isnt a good thing, and it wouldnt be proper to even think of it in that way. And yet
because of what has happened, Gods love has shown brighter than it ever did before. Gods
restoration mission has resulted in His agape love beaming more brightly than it was ever seen
before.
His work of restoration may require our patience, just as were asking for yours as we undertake
our project here. But we can trust that when He is done, all things will be perfect. His Restoration
Mission will have been accomplished. The physical world will be restored to beauty. Our physical
bodies will be restored to strength and energy. Our natures will be restored so that the leaning to
sin will be gone. Our relationship with Him will be restored to the face to face communion that
existed before sin brought the curtain down.
A bad thing happened a little more than a week ago. A breakage caused great damage to
something that belonged to God. Work is being done to restore and improve what was damaged.
In a similar way, a bad thing happened 6,000 years ago, but the greatest Restoration Contractor
ever went to work and is working now on bringing a complete restoration, including our
characters, so that we can become like Him. We know that He wasnt born December 25th, but He
was born, and that great event we celebrate! He is bringing good from bad.

On one of the business cards given to me by the adjustor it has the subtitle, promoting how
effective their work is, Like it never even happened. Gods solution is going to be the best ever.
The Restoration Contractor seeks admission to your heart today. Will you let Him in?