He Shall be Called... | Pastor Jerry Lawson | Christmas at Daystar Church

Devotional

Day 1: God uses ordinary moments to reach people

A coffee drive-thru and a simple card can become holy ground. You don’t have to be the most spiritual person; you just have to listen for God’s nudge and trust that He can use even you. He does the heavy lifting—the heart-lifting, the supernatural coordination, placing you in the right line at the right time. Sometimes there aren’t even words to say; the Spirit can lead you to a quiet act of kindness that opens a door for someone’s next step. This week, be intentional where you live; be a missionary in your own community and watch what God does. He delights to meet people through your simple yes. [02:20]

Luke 12:12 — When the moment comes and you’re put on the spot, the Holy Spirit Himself will coach you in that very hour with the words you need.

Reflection: Who is one person God might be placing in your path this week, and what simple act (a paid order, a text, an invitation) could you offer as your quiet yes?

Day 2: A great light in our deep darkness

The season can be bright on the outside and heavy on the inside. Isaiah first spoke the promise of Christmas into a dark hour, and that same promise meets you now. Where anxiety crowds your heart, the Child who carries real authority still breaks in with light. His names are not slogans; they are God’s answers for your real problems. Let the dawn of Christ rise over the places that feel like midnight, because light has already started to shine. You are not abandoned in the land of deep darkness. [13:05]

Isaiah 9:2 — People who have been trudging through darkness will see a blazing light; for those dwelling in a shadowed land, dawn breaks at last.

Reflection: Where do you feel the “land of deep darkness” most acutely right now, and how could you welcome Jesus’ light there this week (a prayer, a phone call, a boundary, or a rest)?

Day 3: Listening to the Wonderful Counselor’s wisdom daily

Jesus is your miraculous strategist, the royal advisor who knows everything about everything. Before asking everyone else or scrolling for answers, pause and begin with Him. Make room for silence; slow down, breathe, and listen for His counsel. He wants what is best for you and will guide decisions you cannot untangle on your own. Start your day in quiet with the Counselor and receive the wisdom you actually need. His voice brings clarity where confusion has lived. [16:23]

Isaiah 9:6 — A child is given for our good; the weight of rule rests on his shoulders; his name will be Miracle-Working Counselor, Champion God, Forever Father, and the Ruler who brings peace.

Reflection: Name one decision you’re facing; when and where will you set aside ten unhurried minutes today to sit in silence and ask the Wonderful Counselor for direction?

Day 4: Welcomed by the Everlasting Father’s unending love

Jesus shows you the Father’s heart—a perfect Father no human could ever be. If the word father stirs pain, hear this: He doesn’t age out, burn out, or tap out on you. His house still has room, and His patience doesn’t wear thin. He knew every failure before He first said “I love you,” and He has not changed His mind. Let Him re-father your soul with a love that stays. [26:55]

John 14:9 — If you have seen me, you have seen what the Father is like; in me the Father’s heart is made visible.

Reflection: What is one specific memory or belief about fatherhood that makes trust hard, and how could you invite Jesus this week to reinterpret it with the Father’s heart?

Day 5: Living under the Prince of Peace, not anxiety

You may feel powerless over the diagnosis, the relationship, or the deadline, but your God isn’t powerless. The Mighty God chose humility—cradle, cross, and empty tomb—to meet you in your powerless places. Peace is not the absence of problems; it’s the presence of a Person. Name the anxiety, hand it to Jesus, and choose not to pick it back up. Let His rule—not fear’s rule—guard your heart and mind today. [30:43]

Philippians 4:6–7 — Instead of letting worry eat you alive, bring every situation to God with prayer and grateful thanks, and God’s peace—beyond figuring out—will stand guard over your heart and thoughts in Christ Jesus.

Reflection: What single worry tends to rule your thoughts by mid-day, and what practical handoff to Jesus will you practice when it rises (a breath prayer, a Scripture card, a five-minute walk)?

Sermon Summary

This week I reminded us how simply God moves through our obedience. A stranger in a white truck paid for four coffees and left a Christmas invite card; a couple longing for a church and newly pregnant took it as God’s nudge. That’s how the Spirit works—He does the heavy lifting while we take the next faithful step. From there we turned to Isaiah 9, a promise first spoken into a season of deep darkness. I traced the costly path by which that promise reached us: Isaiah’s fearless witness and martyrdom, the Essenes’ painstaking copying and hiding of Scripture in caves, and the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered by a bored shepherd boy. God went to extraordinary lengths so you could hold this living Word today.

Isaiah writes as if the future has already dawned: a child is given, and on His shoulders rests real authority. The names are not decorations; they are solutions: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Wonderful Counselor (pele yoʿets) means a miraculous royal strategist. Before we ask everyone else, we listen—silence, attentiveness, and trust—because He knows everything about everything and desires our good. Mighty God (El Gibbor) is the warrior God who chose a manger and a cross to show that His strength works in our powerlessness. The scandal of Christmas is that omnipotence became an infant; the hope of Christmas is that our insufficiency is not the end of the story.

Everlasting Father is not a polished version of our earthly dads. Jesus reveals the Father who doesn’t age out, burn out, or tap out—there’s always room in His house. That’s why a foster family opening their door again and again sings the gospel without words. And Prince of Peace is not the absence of problems but the presence of a Person. Peace is what happens when control moves from our clenched hands to His pierced hands. So we named our anxieties before Him and laid them down. For any who are far from God, there is room in the Father’s house today. Grace meets you where you are, and Jesus is enough to lead you home.

Key Takeaways

1. Start with the Wonderful Counselor We default to podcasts, friends, and our own best guesses, but wisdom begins with silence and a surrendered ear. The Counselor is not a motivator but a royal strategist whose counsel forms us before it informs us. Start by listening, and make obedience your first move, not your last resort. He knows everything about everything—and He loves you. [15:56]
2. Powerlessness is where God works El Gibbor entered history as a baby to prove His power does not need our leverage. When the diagnosis, the prodigal, or the budget refuses to move, His strength is not stalled—ours is. Yield the illusion of control and ask what faithfulness looks like when you can’t fix it. The cross and the resurrection are the pattern: weakness offered, power revealed. [20:24]
3. Meet the Everlasting Father’s heart God is not a cleaned-up version of your dad; He is the Father every heart aches for. He doesn’t tire of you, change His mind, or ration space at His table. He loved you knowing the whole story, and He still says, “There’s room for you.” Receive the love that outlasts your failures and re-learns you into belonging. [26:41]
4. Let the Prince of Peace rule Peace is not achieved by removing problems but by recognizing Presence. Anxiety rules when we clutch outcomes; peace reigns when we entrust outcomes. Practice the exchange in prayer: name it, place it in His hands, and refuse to pick it back up. His nearness becomes the quiet center that steadies the storm. [29:35]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[01:01] - Coffee drive‑thru testimony
[02:20] - Everyday evangelism challenge
[03:34] - Holiday joy and hidden pain
[04:40] - The price behind Isaiah 9
[06:21] - Isaiah’s courage and martyrdom
[09:43] - The Dead Sea Scrolls discovered
[11:02] - You’re holding a miracle
[12:50] - Darkness meets a dawning Light
[14:33] - Wonderful Counselor: divine strategy
[18:49] - Mighty God in apparent weakness
[22:49] - The Everlasting Father’s heart
[24:30] - A foster home that says “room”
[29:35] - Prince of Peace: presence, not ease
[32:12] - Prayer, surrender, and invitation

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading
- Isaiah 9:2-7

Observation questions

In Isaiah 9:2, what words describe the people’s condition, and what action does God take toward them?
Isaiah 9:6 gives four names. According to the claim, “The names of Jesus are not just titles. They are solutions…” What problem does each name seem to meet? [13:34]
Trace the chain of events described that brought Isaiah 9 into our hands (prophet’s witness, preserving scrolls, discovery). What moments stand out and why? [10:28]
The phrase “Prince of Peace” is in Isaiah 9:6. How does the definition shared (“Peace is not the absence of problems but the presence of a person”) clarify what kind of peace is promised? [29:35]

Interpretation questions

“Start with the Wonderful Counselor” implies a posture before any decision. What does beginning with silence and a surrendered ear suggest about how God forms us through counsel? [15:56]
The “scandal of Christmas” is that Mighty God arrives as an infant. How does this reshape views of where God’s power is most at work—especially in moments that feel powerless? [18:49]
“God is not the polished version of your dad… He’s the perfect Father.” What does this mean for someone whose experience of fatherhood was absent, harsh, or unpredictable? [26:41]
If Jesus is the Prince of Peace, what does it practically look like for anxiety to stop ruling and for His peace to rule instead? [30:16]

Application questions

A simple, faithful step (like paying for coffee and leaving an invite) can open a door God has already prepared. What is one small, tangible act of obedience you can take this week, and who is it for? [01:01]
When facing a decision, what would it look like to “start with the Wonderful Counselor”? When and where will you practice silence and listening this week before you seek other input? Be specific. [15:56]
Where do you feel most powerless right now—diagnosis, relationship, budget, emotions? What would it mean to stop trying to leverage control and instead ask, “What does faithfulness look like when I can’t fix it?” [20:24]
Where does the word “father” still trigger ache or distance in you? What next step could help you receive the Everlasting Father’s steady love—naming a wound, inviting prayer, opening Scripture, or telling a trusted friend? [27:35]
Practice the peace exchange: name the specific worry, place it in His hands, and refuse to pick it back up. What is the worry you will name this week, and what will you do when you’re tempted to take it back? [31:28]
Considering the costly path by which Isaiah 9 reached us, what is one way you will treat Scripture as the miracle it is—daily reading plan, memorizing Isaiah 9:6, or bringing a physical Bible to group? [11:02]
“There’s room in my house” sounds like the Father’s heart. In your world, how can you make room—an extra chair at your table, a text to include someone, a ride, a gift, an invite to church? Choose one concrete way for this week. [24:30]

Sermon Clips

It's an incredible feat of miraculous stages that God goes through to get this book into your hands. Folks, this is not just some precious moments Christmas story. It's not just another Hallmark movie. This is the blood-stained, desert-preserved, spirit-guarded promise of God to your life today. You are holding a miracle in your hand when you hold the word of God. [00:11:15] (32 seconds) #TheWordIsAMiracle

This mighty God who holds the world in his hands was so small, he couldn't hold a pacifier if they had one. And the tiny little hands that reached up to the face of Mary would stretch out on a Roman cross to pay for your sins one day. And that those lungs that cried out for the first time in the night of Bethlehem would breathe their last breath on a rugged cross on a hill called Calvary. And then three days later, they would breathe back to life again as Jesus rose from the dead. [00:19:11] (40 seconds) #MightyGodInTinyHands

Maybe for you, your dad was absent or he was harsh or he was impossible to please. He was unpredictable. And maybe when you hear father, you know, you don't think safety, you think pain. You might not think home, you might think hurt when you hear the name or the word father. But that's why this is here, everlasting father. Because God knew what you would need in your life. And that's why he satisfies the need of your soul. He satisfies the need of your heart. [00:25:48] (33 seconds) #GodSatisfiesTheSoul

He doesn't get tired of you. He doesn't move away and forget about you. He doesn't change his mind about you. He is an everlasting father. And if you never had a father like that, that's why Jesus came. He came just for you. He's an everlasting father because he knew that's what your soul would need. And when everyone else's love runs out, he would keep loving on you. When everyone else's patience wears thin on you, he'd still be patient for you. And when other people say, we're full, you know, we're done. There's no more space. This father keeps saying, there is room for you in my house. [00:26:52] (38 seconds) #EverlastingFatherAlways

Here's the thing. You know, our human way of thinking is that I tried this and then I made this mistake and God loved me and forgave me. But then I did this. And we see it as a linear time restricted event. But God is not restricted by time. And what that means is the first time you heard God say, I love you, he knew about all the screw-ups you would ever do for your whole life. And he said, I love you anyways. And he's never going to change his mind about you. [00:27:38] (33 seconds) #LovedBeyondTime

Now, this doesn't just mean the absence of conflict in your life. It means the presence of wholeness, the presence of peace, harmony with God and others. About this time, the Roman Empire is surging and they had something they called the Pax Romana, which means strength through Roman swords and shields. It kind of reminded me of Ronald Reagan's foreign policy. He called it peace through strength. But see, Jesus' peace is completely different from that. Somebody say amen if you know him. It's not about circumstances around you. It's about what he's done inside of you. It's a peace that is purchased by the blood of Jesus. It's a peace that passes understanding. [00:28:34] (46 seconds) #PeaceThatPassesUnderstanding

With all the hurry and the noise and the distractions of life, some of you can't remember the last time you felt at peace. Stop right now and think about it. When's the last time you felt at peace? Peace is not the absence of problems. It's the presence of a person. Do you get that? The fact that he's there changes everything around you. Peace isn't something you find. It's someone you trust in. [00:29:20] (28 seconds) #PeaceIsHisPresence

If you're in a difficult place, you just cannot figure out which way is up, he's your wonderful counselor. If you are in a situation that you wish you could change, but you find yourself powerless, he is the mighty God. If you've been left alone, you feel like you've not been accepted or you feel alone, he's the everlasting father. And if there's chaos and turmoil in your life, he's the Prince of Peace. If he's the Prince of Peace, why would you let anxiety be your ruler? If he's the Prince of Peace, don't be ruled by anxiety. [00:30:01] (38 seconds) #PrinceOfPeaceNotAnxiety

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