1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,400 four stories of the life of Jesus, the good news, the gospel. 2 00:00:04,860 --> 00:00:08,140 We're not going to look at all of the stories today, but I just want to 3 00:00:08,860 --> 00:00:11,540 as we get started here, think about how they start. 4 00:00:11,540 --> 00:00:17,100 Now, the Gospel of Mark starts with the story of Jesus's baptism. 5 00:00:17,140 --> 00:00:20,720 That's where the Gospel of Mark begins, when Jesus is getting baptized. 6 00:00:21,380 --> 00:00:26,080 There's two of the Gospels, which talk about what we traditionally say 7 00:00:26,080 --> 00:00:30,400 is the Christmas story in the Gospel of Luke. 8 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:34,460 It actually starts talking about the birth of John the Baptist. 9 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:39,540 And then it gets to Mary and Joseph making their way to Bethlehem. 10 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:43,940 And then it talks about the birth of Jesus and the shepherds. 11 00:00:43,980 --> 00:00:46,740 The shepherds see the angels on the on the mountainside, 12 00:00:46,740 --> 00:00:48,840 and they come and see the baby Jesus. 13 00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:50,880 So that is in Luke. 14 00:00:51,140 --> 00:00:54,140 Now, Matthew starts a little differently. 15 00:00:54,140 --> 00:00:57,600 It's got a very long genealogy about people who were born 16 00:00:57,600 --> 00:00:59,740 to different Bible characters. 17 00:00:59,880 --> 00:01:03,640 And then it eventually gets to in Matthew chapter two, 18 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:07,480 it talks about the story of the Magi or the wise men. 19 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:11,660 And it actually says that the wise men come to a house. 20 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:14,920 So they probably weren't there on that first day. 21 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:18,920 But, you know, it looks good in our Christmas plays and our Christmas stories. 22 00:01:19,260 --> 00:01:23,240 But I want to read one or two verses in Matthew. 23 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:26,280 And then we're going to settle into the Gospel of John. 24 00:01:26,780 --> 00:01:29,080 But in Matthew chapter one, 25 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:33,920 we read a couple of verses here in verse 22. 26 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:37,780 It says so all actually, let's go back to 21. 27 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:43,120 It says, she will bring forth a son and you shall call his name Jesus, 28 00:01:43,420 --> 00:01:46,700 for he will save his people from their sins. 29 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:51,160 That's why Jesus came to save his people from their sins. 30 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:54,240 And then in verse 22, it says, all this was done 31 00:01:54,540 --> 00:01:58,880 that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet. 32 00:01:59,180 --> 00:02:01,780 And then it quotes from the prophet Isaiah. 33 00:02:02,380 --> 00:02:03,840 We read this a couple of weeks ago. 34 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:07,380 You probably read it last week as well during the great Christmas program. 35 00:02:07,380 --> 00:02:08,820 Thank you. I watched that online. 36 00:02:08,820 --> 00:02:10,180 That was very well done. 37 00:02:10,780 --> 00:02:16,020 Behold, the Virgin shall be with child and bear a son, 38 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:19,860 and they shall call his name Emmanuel. 39 00:02:19,860 --> 00:02:25,760 Emmanuel, which is translated God with us. 40 00:02:26,060 --> 00:02:29,640 Now, we sung, Oh, come, oh, come, Emmanuel this morning. 41 00:02:29,640 --> 00:02:34,940 And that was a perfect song for this sermon, for this thought today. 42 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:38,380 And so Matthew begins talking about this idea, 43 00:02:38,380 --> 00:02:44,280 which was quoting from the Old Testament, Emmanuel, God with us. 44 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:47,180 What does that mean? God with us. 45 00:02:47,180 --> 00:02:50,180 It's just what I always wanted. 46 00:02:50,180 --> 00:02:52,860 But what is it? What does that mean? 47 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:57,020 With that in mind, let's turn over to the Gospel of John, 48 00:02:57,700 --> 00:03:02,400 because the Gospel of John does not begin with the baptism of Jesus. 49 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:05,800 It doesn't talk about the wise men or the shepherds. 50 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:08,100 It goes back even further. 51 00:03:08,100 --> 00:03:15,280 The Gospel of John begins with the same words that the entire Bible begins with. 52 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:17,180 You remember John 1, 1? 53 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:20,080 It says, what is John 1, 1? Excuse me. 54 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:23,120 Genesis 1, 1, the very opening verse of the Bible. 55 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:25,120 What does Genesis 1, 1 say? 56 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:29,860 In the beginning, God created the heaven and earth. 57 00:03:29,860 --> 00:03:35,760 Well, in John 1, it echoes that thought, and it begins with those same three words. 58 00:03:36,300 --> 00:03:44,000 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 59 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:47,240 He was in the beginning with God. 60 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:51,240 And so the Gospel of John goes back even further. 61 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:56,020 Before the shepherds, before the wise men, it goes back even further. 62 00:03:56,020 --> 00:04:01,020 And we see in this verse here, there are three different phrases, 63 00:04:01,020 --> 00:04:04,020 which if you kind of took them by themselves, 64 00:04:04,020 --> 00:04:11,020 you could maybe get a skewed picture of this Word, of what this is all about. 65 00:04:11,020 --> 00:04:17,040 But when you put them all together, it kind of gives a more complete picture, a more full picture. 66 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:19,040 Now, I'm going to give a little spoiler here. 67 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:26,040 We're going to read it in a couple other verses a little bit later, but who is the Word? 68 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:29,040 Jesus. That's a spoiler. We're going to get to that. 69 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:32,040 We're going to show that from Scripture in just a little bit, 70 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:36,060 but I just want to tell you that ahead of time, because that will make more sense. 71 00:04:36,060 --> 00:04:39,060 So, in the beginning was the Word. 72 00:04:39,060 --> 00:04:42,060 The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 73 00:04:42,060 --> 00:04:46,060 Three different things there. In the beginning was the Word. 74 00:04:46,060 --> 00:04:53,060 Now, that kind of reminds us, as we take this picture of the Word, this picture of Jesus, 75 00:04:53,060 --> 00:04:57,080 that this Word was already there in the beginning. 76 00:04:57,080 --> 00:05:02,080 As far back as we can go in the beginning, Jesus was already there. 77 00:05:02,080 --> 00:05:11,080 Jesus was there in existence, in continuous existence from before what we would call the beginning. 78 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:17,080 This is kind of hard for me to grasp as a human to fully understand this. 79 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:22,080 And then it says, and the Word was with God. 80 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:26,080 So, there's some sort of separateness. 81 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:31,080 But then it says, the Word was God. 82 00:05:31,080 --> 00:05:39,080 Again, my mind is human, so I can't quite comprehend how one equals three. 83 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:43,080 We talk about one God, and we talk about a Godhead. 84 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:49,080 And yet, as we put these verses together, it says, the Word, Jesus was there, 85 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:55,080 already there in the beginning. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 86 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:59,080 And so, that gives us a little bit of a picture of who Jesus was. 87 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:06,080 Jesus was not created. Jesus is eternal. Jesus was always there. 88 00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:12,080 And as we read down a few more verses here in the first chapter of John, 89 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:16,080 we're going to see three different miracles that are recorded. 90 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:21,080 And we may say, oh, those were miracles way back when, way back then. 91 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:24,080 Who cares? Why are we talking about this? 92 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:28,080 But these miracles actually still are important for us today. 93 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:31,080 And they still resonate with us today. 94 00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:34,080 So, we're going to look at verse 3 here. 95 00:06:34,080 --> 00:06:40,080 John 1 and verse 3. It says, all things were made through Him. 96 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:43,080 Now, remember, we're talking about the Word in the beginning. 97 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:47,080 Was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 98 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:54,080 All things were made through Him, and without Him, nothing was made that was made. 99 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:59,080 And so, we see here a miracle of creation. 100 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:03,080 The Bible opens with this infinite power of God. 101 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:07,080 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 102 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:14,080 And in Genesis chapter 1, when the voice of God spoke, things happened. 103 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:18,080 God said, let there be light. And there was light. 104 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:22,080 God said, let the air and the water separate, and it was done. 105 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:28,080 And then as you read through Genesis 1, it talks about, and it was good. 106 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:36,080 When the Word of God spoke, this infinite power caused things to come out of nothing. 107 00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:41,080 That's what God could do. That's what the power of God could do. 108 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:43,080 That's this miracle that we see here. 109 00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:47,080 All things were made through the Word, through Jesus. 110 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:51,080 And without Him, nothing was made that was made. 111 00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:55,080 Now, we know and realize that in our society today, 112 00:07:55,080 --> 00:08:01,080 there are many who are either turning their back on creation, 113 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:04,080 or maybe not even thinking about creation at all. 114 00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:06,080 Oh, it doesn't even matter. 115 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:15,080 But this fact that Jesus is our Creator, this miracle that Jesus is our Creator, 116 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:19,080 it brings, I think, some meaning and value to our life. 117 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:25,080 When we think about Jesus as our Creator, it tells us about our past. 118 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:34,080 It reminds you and me and all of humanity that we are not some collection of amino acids 119 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:40,080 that somehow boiled together back in some primordial soup or swamp 120 00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:46,080 or however you want to describe it, that somehow these cells came together 121 00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:51,080 and somehow miraculously, boom, life appeared. 122 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:59,080 It tells us about our past that we are of value, that you are of value, 123 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:03,080 that you are created in the very image of God. 124 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:09,080 And that's something that can make us feel important because we are. 125 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:16,080 It reminds us of our past, but it also informs us about our present, 126 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:22,080 that each one of us here today was created for a reason. 127 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:26,080 We were created for a purpose. 128 00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:31,080 In the Psalm, it talks about how we were knit together in our mother's womb, 129 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:36,080 that God created us, and that even here, 130 00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:43,080 this last week of 2023, that you've got a purpose for being. 131 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:46,080 You were created for something. 132 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:49,080 And when we remember this miracle of creation, 133 00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:53,080 I think it can also give us a hope for the future, 134 00:09:53,080 --> 00:10:00,080 that God created this world, and the entirety of the Bible is God's quest 135 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:03,080 to bring us back to this place of perfection, 136 00:10:03,080 --> 00:10:09,080 to bring us back to the perfect world that He created for us. 137 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:16,080 So you may be thinking about 2023, here we are, seven days from the end of it, 138 00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:21,080 and maybe you've had some rough times over the past year. 139 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:26,080 Maybe there's been some heartaches, some challenges, medical challenges, 140 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:31,080 financial challenges, relationship issues, whatever it happened to be, 141 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:36,080 and you may be feeling that it was all for nothing, but guess what? 142 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:40,080 God gives you hope for the future. 143 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:46,080 Because if Jesus created us, we have a promise that Jesus is coming back, 144 00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:50,080 that He loves us enough to come and get His creation. 145 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:55,080 No matter what your 2023 was like, you are important to God. 146 00:10:55,080 --> 00:10:59,080 So that's a miracle that we can remember of creation. 147 00:10:59,080 --> 00:11:04,080 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made. 148 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:09,080 Let's turn over to Colossians chapter 1. 149 00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:13,080 Colossians chapter 1 and verse 16. 150 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:18,080 So Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians chapter 1, 151 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:22,080 it tells us a little bit more about this idea of creation. 152 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:23,080 It says, 153 00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:29,080 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, 154 00:11:29,080 --> 00:11:35,080 visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. 155 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:40,080 We can watch the news and see all these different things happening in the world, 156 00:11:40,080 --> 00:11:44,080 but we remember that God is over and above that. 157 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:50,080 All things were created through Him and for Him. 158 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:55,080 He is before all things and in Him all things consist. 159 00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:59,080 That means that we are created for God and by God, 160 00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:04,080 and that God is coming back to take us to heaven with Him. 161 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:06,080 So we have a miracle of creation. 162 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:09,080 Go back to John chapter 1. 163 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:12,080 We're going to read that spoiler verse now. 164 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:15,080 John chapter 1 and verse 14. 165 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:25,080 It says, Remember the word in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. 166 00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:28,080 Well now in verse 14, it says, 167 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:35,080 The word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, 168 00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:41,080 the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 169 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:44,080 The word became flesh. 170 00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:47,080 That's what the Christmas story is all about. 171 00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:50,080 That's why we put up nativity scenes. 172 00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:53,080 That's why we sing songs about a baby Jesus. 173 00:12:53,080 --> 00:13:00,080 That's why we remember all of these things because God, the creator of the universe, came to earth. 174 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:05,080 The word became flesh and dwelt among us. 175 00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:12,080 Now that word dwelt is an interesting word because that can also kind of be translated 176 00:13:12,080 --> 00:13:17,080 tabernacled or pitched a tent among us. 177 00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:26,080 So God, the creator of the world, came and tabernacled with humanity, with the people on earth. 178 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:29,080 You may remember as you read through the Old Testament, 179 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:33,080 the children of Israel were making their way out of the land of Egypt. 180 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:34,080 They were in the wilderness. 181 00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:42,080 And it was during that time that God said, Let them make a sanctuary. 182 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:44,080 Do you remember how the rest of that phrase went? 183 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:49,080 Let them make a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. 184 00:13:49,080 --> 00:13:52,080 God wanted to be close to his people. 185 00:13:52,080 --> 00:13:55,080 He wanted to be in the midst of his people. 186 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:59,080 He wanted to tabernacle with them. 187 00:13:59,080 --> 00:14:01,080 And here we have in the New Testament, 188 00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:06,080 the word became flesh and tabernacled or dwelt among them. 189 00:14:06,080 --> 00:14:11,080 God continued to want to be close to his people. 190 00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:14,080 Think back to that tabernacle. 191 00:14:14,080 --> 00:14:15,080 You've got the courtyard. 192 00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:19,080 You've got the sacrifices which pointed forward to Jesus. 193 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:25,080 You've got a cleansing laver there which represents sins being taken away and so forth. 194 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:28,080 And you go into that first room. 195 00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:29,080 What's that called? 196 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:31,080 Not the first one. 197 00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:33,080 The Holy Place. 198 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:34,080 The Holy Place. 199 00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:41,080 And there's candlesticks and tables of bread and altars of incense which are our prayers. 200 00:14:41,080 --> 00:14:44,080 And then the next room through that curtain, what is it? 201 00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:46,080 The Most Holy Place. 202 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:48,080 And what was in there? 203 00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:50,080 The Ark. 204 00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:53,080 And there was something else above the Ark. 205 00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:56,080 Angels and what was between the angels? 206 00:14:56,080 --> 00:15:00,080 The Mercy Seat and even above that? 207 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:03,080 Okay, there we finally got to it. 208 00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:12,080 The glory of God, the Shekinah glory of God was there in that Most Holy Place in the midst of his people. 209 00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:17,080 God said, let them make a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. 210 00:15:17,080 --> 00:15:20,080 And the glory of God was there. 211 00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:26,080 It was on Mount Sinai that Moses was receiving the Ten Commandments. 212 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:29,080 Let's turn back to Exodus chapter 34. 213 00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:31,080 Exodus chapter 34. 214 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:38,080 In Exodus 33, Moses asked God, he's like, show me your glory. 215 00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:40,080 Show me your glory. 216 00:15:40,080 --> 00:15:43,080 And God won't quite do that. 217 00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:47,080 And it says that God took Moses and he put him in the cleft of the rock. 218 00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:52,080 He put him in a cave or somewhere and he said, I'm going to show you my back. 219 00:15:52,080 --> 00:15:54,080 That's all you can handle of my glory. 220 00:15:54,080 --> 00:16:00,080 And even that, if you remember when Moses came down, he was glowing from the glory of God. 221 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:14,080 But in Exodus 34, as God begins to show Moses a little portion of the glory, notice in Exodus 34 and verse 6, 222 00:16:14,080 --> 00:16:19,080 it says, the Lord passed before him and proclaimed. 223 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:28,080 It seems like the glory of God isn't just a brightness, but the glory of God is a character that is revealed. 224 00:16:28,080 --> 00:16:31,080 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed. 225 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:37,080 And this is what he said, the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, 226 00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:45,080 long suffering and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, 227 00:16:45,080 --> 00:16:49,080 forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. 228 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:51,080 That's the glory of God. 229 00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:56,080 That there's a character of love and truth and forgiveness. 230 00:16:56,080 --> 00:16:59,080 And it goes on and talks about his justice as well. 231 00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:05,080 But there's this forgiveness and mercy and patience and long suffering. 232 00:17:05,080 --> 00:17:12,080 And that is a picture, I think, of the glory of God as revealed in his character. 233 00:17:12,080 --> 00:17:21,080 So John 1, 14, the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, 234 00:17:21,080 --> 00:17:25,080 the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. 235 00:17:25,080 --> 00:17:29,080 And then it says, full of grace and truth. 236 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:35,080 That's what Jesus revealed, this glory of God, this character of God. 237 00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:43,080 As you looked at the Old Testament sanctuary, it was a place where a lamb was slain, 238 00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:47,080 but it was also a place of blessing and grace. 239 00:17:47,080 --> 00:17:54,080 And it was a place where the glory of God came down and it filled that temple, that tabernacle. 240 00:17:54,080 --> 00:17:58,080 But now the word became flesh. 241 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:05,080 Now Jesus, the Lamb of God, comes to this earth as blessing and grace. 242 00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:11,080 And as incredible, as powerful, as wonderful as that sanctuary is, 243 00:18:11,080 --> 00:18:19,080 pointing forward to the plan of God, as great as the sanctuary was, Jesus is greater than that. 244 00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:27,080 Jesus is a greater revelation of the grace and the mercy and the forgiveness of God. 245 00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:30,080 Now back to John chapter 1. 246 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:33,080 We're going to go back to some verses that we skipped over. 247 00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:36,080 We've seen a miracle of creation. 248 00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:39,080 We've seen a miracle of the incarnation. 249 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:42,080 I don't know if I said that or not, but that's the second miracle. 250 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:46,080 The incarnation, the word becoming flesh. 251 00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:51,080 And then here's a third miracle, a miracle of salvation. 252 00:18:51,080 --> 00:19:06,080 In chapter 1 of John and verse 4, we're reminded that the Creator came to the creation, but He wasn't accepted. 253 00:19:06,080 --> 00:19:14,080 John 1, 4, In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 254 00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:22,080 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. 255 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:26,080 Jesus is the giver of light. He's the giver of life. 256 00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:33,080 He comes to this dark world, this spiritually dark world, and the people did not accept it. 257 00:19:33,080 --> 00:19:38,080 They did not recognize Him. They did not receive Him. 258 00:19:38,080 --> 00:19:43,080 But the fact is, if you go outside, it's a bright sunny day, and you close your eyes, 259 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:46,080 what is the sun doing? 260 00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:48,080 The sun is still shining. 261 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:53,080 Even if you close your eyes, the sun is still shining. 262 00:19:53,080 --> 00:20:02,080 I remember several years ago, I think it was 2017, I was down in Calhoun at Georgia Cumberland Academy, 263 00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:10,080 and they loaded up on this particular day, they loaded up all the buses, and they were taking all the kids on a field trip. 264 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:19,080 I know we've got a couple of GCA students here, and it's a very rare thing for the students to all go on a field trip at the same time. 265 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:26,080 Sometimes they may take the freshman class or the senior class, but on this day, all of the students got on the bus, 266 00:20:26,080 --> 00:20:29,080 and they left Calhoun, and they drove about an hour. 267 00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:31,080 They opened up the doors of the bus. 268 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:41,080 We all got off, and we were in a parking lot at the Bowman Hills Church in Cleveland, Tennessee. 269 00:20:41,080 --> 00:20:45,080 Doesn't that sound like a fun field trip for all the students? 270 00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:49,080 You see, on this particular day, they had to leave Calhoun. 271 00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:55,080 They couldn't come to Ringgold, because it wasn't here either, but they went to Cleveland, 272 00:20:55,080 --> 00:21:01,080 because on that particular day, if you were there in the right place at the right time, 273 00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:05,080 there was something happening called a solar eclipse. 274 00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:15,080 You had to be in the certain spot, and at the certain time of day, the moon would go between the sun and the earth. 275 00:21:15,080 --> 00:21:22,080 If you were there in the right place, you were in the path of totality. 276 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:28,080 For three minutes, there was going to be a total solar eclipse. 277 00:21:28,080 --> 00:21:31,080 We were there. They set up their little science experiments, 278 00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:37,080 so you could see the shape of the moon crossing through without going blind. 279 00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:43,080 They had the special goggles you could look at, but then that moment came. 280 00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:48,080 Did anybody see totality? Did anybody go to where a few people did? 281 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:53,080 It went totally dark. It was like the sun had gone down. 282 00:21:53,080 --> 00:22:02,080 The streetlights came on. All the things that usually happen at sundown happened in the middle of the day. 283 00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:08,080 But you know what? The sun was still shining. 284 00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:15,080 Even though there was something blocking it for just a few moments, the sun was still shining. 285 00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:22,080 It says, In him was life. The life was the light of men, and the light shines in the darkness. 286 00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:29,080 The darkness did not comprehend it, but the light was still shining, even though it was rejected. 287 00:22:29,080 --> 00:22:34,080 We can skip down to verse 10. It says, He was in the world. 288 00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:40,080 The world was made through him, and the world did not know him. 289 00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:47,080 He came to his own, and his own did not receive him. 290 00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:54,080 He came to his own, but his own did not receive him. 291 00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:57,080 There was rejection that took place. 292 00:22:57,080 --> 00:23:01,080 You know, we read about the Christmas story. 293 00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:09,080 We share the story. We sing the songs, and we read about Mary and Joseph accepting the messages of the angels. 294 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:15,080 The shepherds coming from the fields to seek out the baby Jesus. 295 00:23:15,080 --> 00:23:21,080 The Magi coming from afar, following the star to seek out this king. 296 00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:25,080 They even came bearing gifts. 297 00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:33,080 But even in that story, there were so many people that did not come to meet the Word that became flesh. 298 00:23:33,080 --> 00:23:36,080 There were the priests, and the leaders, and the king, and all these people. 299 00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:43,080 They knew the prophecies. They knew the stories, and they didn't even show up when they'd been told. 300 00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:46,080 Maybe there's something to come and see. 301 00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:53,080 Then, of course, we traced down the story later, and we recognized that more and more people, 302 00:23:53,080 --> 00:24:01,080 while crowds came to hear Jesus, when the time was right, maybe I should say the time was wrong, 303 00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:06,080 more and more people rejected Jesus. 304 00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:09,080 Because Jesus was born to die. 305 00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:16,080 Jesus was born with this knowledge that he was going to be rejected. 306 00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:19,080 We can look at Matthew 23, verse 37. 307 00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:23,080 In the last days of Jesus' life, he says, 308 00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:31,080 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her, 309 00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:37,080 how often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, 310 00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:39,080 but you were not willing. 311 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:42,080 That's the story of Jesus' ministry. 312 00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:49,080 He was here, living a perfect life, proclaiming the message of grace and truth, 313 00:24:49,080 --> 00:24:57,080 healing the sick, and yet people were rejecting him and turning away from him. 314 00:24:57,080 --> 00:25:00,080 Jesus was rejected. 315 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:04,080 But there's that promise, that miracle of salvation. 316 00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:08,080 John 1 and verse 12, we're carrying through this story. 317 00:25:08,080 --> 00:25:17,080 It says, As many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, 318 00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:21,080 to those who believe in his name. 319 00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:24,080 So, I know there's a few students here, 320 00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:27,080 there's a lot of people who are many years away from school, 321 00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:33,080 but a quick English grammar lesson here, received him. 322 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:35,080 When did that take place? 323 00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:38,080 It's got a D on the end. 324 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:40,080 That's past tense, right? 325 00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:44,080 As many as received him at some point. 326 00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:48,080 To them he gave the right to become children of God, 327 00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:51,080 to those who believe. 328 00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:54,080 When's that? 329 00:25:54,080 --> 00:25:56,080 That's present tense. 330 00:25:56,080 --> 00:26:01,080 So, you've kind of got two sides to the same equation here, 331 00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:06,080 this reminder that this is an ongoing journey that we have with Jesus. 332 00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:08,080 We have believed in him. 333 00:26:08,080 --> 00:26:12,080 Hopefully all of us here have believed in him at some point. 334 00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:16,080 Excuse me, I said that wrong, received him at some point in our life. 335 00:26:16,080 --> 00:26:22,080 We have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, that he died for our sins. 336 00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:24,080 We've done that. 337 00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:28,080 But then are we daily believing in him, 338 00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:32,080 recognizing that Jesus is our Lord and Savior, 339 00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:36,080 recognizing that Jesus did come to this earth, 340 00:26:36,080 --> 00:26:41,080 that he is God with us, Emmanuel, a daily abiding. 341 00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:46,080 But even this, even receiving him in the past, 342 00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:50,080 and believing him in our daily life, 343 00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:55,080 even this is not something that we have to do on our own. 344 00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:57,080 Notice the next verse, verse 13. 345 00:26:57,080 --> 00:26:59,080 Let's read this together. 346 00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:05,080 But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God. 347 00:27:05,080 --> 00:27:09,080 He gave the right to become a child of God, 348 00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:13,080 a child of the King, to those who believe in his name, 349 00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:18,080 who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, 350 00:27:18,080 --> 00:27:23,080 nor of the will of man, but are born of God. 351 00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:27,080 It's God who is giving us the right to be called his children. 352 00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:33,080 It's God's grace and God's power and God's patience and longsuffering, 353 00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:35,080 which is pulling us towards him. 354 00:27:35,080 --> 00:27:37,080 God, the creator of the universe. 355 00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:41,080 God, the tabernacle of grace and blessing. 356 00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:44,080 God, who joined us in humanity. 357 00:27:44,080 --> 00:27:51,080 God, who gives us salvation, also gives us the authority to be part of his family 358 00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:59,080 when we received him and when we continue to believe in him. 359 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:06,080 Jesus became human so that we can all be part of his family. 360 00:28:06,080 --> 00:28:10,080 I want to tell a story here about a gentleman named Roddy Edmonds. 361 00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:14,080 Now Roddy Edmonds, I didn't know about him until recently, 362 00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:17,080 but he actually grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee, which is where I grew up. 363 00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:22,080 And he was a sergeant during World War II. 364 00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:26,080 So he was a sergeant in the US military during World War II. 365 00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:33,080 He had joined the military and he went through all of his training, 366 00:28:33,080 --> 00:28:41,080 and he finally made it over to Europe in the winter of 1944. 367 00:28:41,080 --> 00:28:48,080 And about a week after he got there, to the front lines in Europe, 368 00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:52,080 the Germans, the Nazis, decided that they wanted one last chance 369 00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:55,080 to try to turn this thing around. 370 00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:58,080 And so they had this massive counterattack, 371 00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:01,080 which we refer to in history as the Battle of the Bulge. 372 00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:03,080 You may have heard of the Battle of the Bulge. 373 00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:07,080 It was about this time of year that it was happening in 1944. 374 00:29:07,080 --> 00:29:13,080 And it's called that because the line made a bulge. 375 00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:17,080 Their counterattack, they pushed the Allied forces back a little bit, 376 00:29:17,080 --> 00:29:19,080 and so there was a bulge in the front lines. 377 00:29:19,080 --> 00:29:23,080 They were trying to break through and fight back a little, 378 00:29:23,080 --> 00:29:26,080 but it didn't work for them, thankfully. 379 00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:29,080 But Roddy Edmonds had been over there about a week, 380 00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:35,080 and as this bulge took place, he and his men were captured. 381 00:29:35,080 --> 00:29:40,080 So he'd only been in battle for just a few days, and he was captured. 382 00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:43,080 And he was taken to Stalag IX. 383 00:29:43,080 --> 00:29:45,080 He was taken to Stalag IX. 384 00:29:45,080 --> 00:29:50,080 And he found himself as the ranking non-commissioned officer. 385 00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:54,080 So he was the highest rank in the camp that they were. 386 00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:56,080 They took the other officers somewhere else. 387 00:29:56,080 --> 00:29:59,080 So he'd been in the prison camp about a month, 388 00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:06,080 and on January 27, 1945, the Nazis said that tomorrow morning 389 00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:12,080 all of the Jewish-American POWs, all of the POWs who were Jewish, 390 00:30:12,080 --> 00:30:16,080 had to line up in front of their barracks first thing in the morning. 391 00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:18,080 Only the Jews were to line up. 392 00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:22,080 Now, Sergeant Edmonds, he was the ranking officer, 393 00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:24,080 so he gave a little different command. 394 00:30:24,080 --> 00:30:26,080 He said, we're all going to line up. 395 00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:30,080 All the Americans are going to line up first thing in the morning. 396 00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:32,080 And so that's what they did. 397 00:30:32,080 --> 00:30:35,080 All 1,000 soldiers were there. 398 00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:41,080 And so the Nazis were not really happy about their commands not being followed. 399 00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:43,080 And so that morning they came out and said, 400 00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:47,080 okay, now you command all the Jews to step forward. 401 00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:51,080 You're all here. Just have the Jews step forward. 402 00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:54,080 And Sergeant Edmonds, he gave a different command. 403 00:30:54,080 --> 00:30:58,080 He ordered all 1,000 troops to step forward. 404 00:30:58,080 --> 00:31:02,080 And so as you can imagine, the Nazis were not very happy. 405 00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:04,080 They were getting upset. 406 00:31:04,080 --> 00:31:08,080 And the commanding officer said, you can't all be Jews. 407 00:31:08,080 --> 00:31:13,080 And Sergeant Edmonds said, sir, today we are all Jews. 408 00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:16,080 All of us are Jews here today. 409 00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:20,080 And they say they took out a gun and they held it to Roddy Edmonds' head, 410 00:31:20,080 --> 00:31:25,080 and said, you order the Jews to step forward or we're going to shoot you. 411 00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:28,080 And he said, well, today we're all Jews here, 412 00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:33,080 so you're going to have to shoot me and you're going to have to shoot all 1,000 of us. 413 00:31:33,080 --> 00:31:36,080 And then he said, and we all know this war is almost over, 414 00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:40,080 and if you do that, you're going to be charged with some serious war crimes, 415 00:31:40,080 --> 00:31:44,080 you know, for murdering all of these Americans in this spot. 416 00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:50,080 And so the Nazi commander turned around and walked away. 417 00:31:50,080 --> 00:31:55,080 And that day, Roddy Edmonds, because he was willing to stand up, 418 00:31:55,080 --> 00:32:01,080 turns out there were about 200 Jewish soldiers there in those ranks, 419 00:32:01,080 --> 00:32:06,080 and likely their lives were saved because Roddy Edmonds said, 420 00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:09,080 today we are all Jews. 421 00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:15,080 He saved the lives of the Jews by becoming Jewish. 422 00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:20,080 And years later he was awarded something called the Righteous Among the Nations. 423 00:32:20,080 --> 00:32:26,080 This is an award that Israel gives out to those people who risk their lives 424 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:29,080 in order to save Jews from the Holocaust. 425 00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:35,080 And he is one of only five Americans to receive this Righteous Among the Nations, 426 00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:40,080 and the only U.S. serviceman to receive this award. 427 00:32:40,080 --> 00:32:45,080 He saved those lives by becoming one of them. 428 00:32:45,080 --> 00:32:52,080 Jesus saved the lives of all humanity by becoming human. 429 00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:58,080 And he didn't just become human, but he went to the furthest extremes, 430 00:32:58,080 --> 00:33:00,080 and he sacrificed his life. 431 00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:04,080 He died so that we might live. 432 00:33:04,080 --> 00:33:08,080 And so as we sing, as we celebrate this Christmas season, 433 00:33:08,080 --> 00:33:11,080 as we remember angels we have heard in high, 434 00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:14,080 Gloria in Excelsis Deo. 435 00:33:14,080 --> 00:33:18,080 As we sing, Oh come, oh come, Emmanuel, God with us, 436 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:22,080 we can remember Jesus our Creator who reminds us of our past 437 00:33:22,080 --> 00:33:27,080 and informs us of our present and gives us hope for the future. 438 00:33:27,080 --> 00:33:34,080 We can remember that God became one of us to bear our sins so that we might live. 439 00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:40,080 And when you receive Jesus as your Savior, as you daily abide, 440 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:46,080 as you daily believe in him, you, we, have the power and the authority 441 00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:50,080 to be children of God. 442 00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:55,080 We're going to sing in just a moment, Joy to the World, The Lord is Come. 443 00:33:55,080 --> 00:34:00,080 The next line says, Let earth receive her King. 444 00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:03,080 I hope that you have received Jesus. 445 00:34:03,080 --> 00:34:05,080 Let's bow our heads as we pray. 446 00:34:05,080 --> 00:34:11,080 Dear God, thank you for this story that God became one with us, 447 00:34:11,080 --> 00:34:14,080 Emmanuel, God with us. 448 00:34:14,080 --> 00:34:17,080 The word became flesh. 449 00:34:17,080 --> 00:34:21,080 And Lord, it's my prayer that each one of us here can say that, 450 00:34:21,080 --> 00:34:23,080 yes, we've received you. 451 00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:27,080 And Lord, it's my prayer that we will daily believe in you. 452 00:34:27,080 --> 00:34:31,080 And forgive us for times when we have been distracted. 453 00:34:31,080 --> 00:34:36,080 Forgive us for times when we have gone in different directions. 454 00:34:36,080 --> 00:34:40,080 But Lord, thank you for your love and your grace and for giving us the authority, 455 00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:44,080 the power to be called a child of God. 456 00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:47,080 Be with each person here, with each family that's represented, 457 00:34:47,080 --> 00:34:53,080 and may we each day invite Jesus to be God with us. 458 00:34:53,080 --> 00:35:21,080 Amen.