1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,280 Well, good morning again, everybody. 2 00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:14,400 You know, just one, one Clemson lost to South Carolina and Alex is suddenly sick. 3 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:17,160 It's the weirdest thing. 4 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:19,240 I told him I would say it. 5 00:00:19,240 --> 00:00:21,120 Love you, Alex. 6 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:26,000 We are going to be passing around sympathy cards for all the Clemson fans at the end 7 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:27,880 of the day. 8 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:32,080 Now I say that, now anyone who knows me, I'm from North Carolina though, so I'm actually 9 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:36,880 wearing this color for NC State because they won their rivalry game against UNC. 10 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:43,320 So more than South Carolina, I know Jessica's family, but NC State fan, go pack. 11 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:45,080 Here's the thing though about football. 12 00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:49,600 I know Alex is taking notes about how much he's going to talk to me about that later, 13 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:50,600 but it's fine. 14 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:52,200 I have the microphone, I have the power. 15 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:58,960 Speaking of football, yesterday was an exciting day for a lot of people, unless you're an 16 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:01,280 Ohio State fan. 17 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:05,360 But with it being rivalry Saturday, it really made me think though, it was funny watching 18 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:11,160 the people on social media, seeing people with banners of football teams everywhere. 19 00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:15,640 We even took my parents and Daniel to spare time to have a fun afternoon yesterday. 20 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:21,320 And oddly enough, in the middle of Greenville, they were having a walk party for Ohio State. 21 00:01:21,320 --> 00:01:22,320 Whatever. 22 00:01:22,320 --> 00:01:24,960 And they had had a big tailgating party. 23 00:01:24,960 --> 00:01:33,120 It just made me think of how much energy and effort football fans pour into, especially 24 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:38,600 those rivalry games, really any game, but especially rivalry weekend. 25 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:43,760 And as fun as it is to play fun at the different teams, it's fun to have those rivalry games, 26 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:44,760 right? 27 00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:48,320 And it's fun to watch people pour their energy into those things. 28 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:51,600 Fans get crazy over their teams. 29 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:57,040 If you want a real fun time, if you have ever wondered what it's like to see Sandra Berryhill 30 00:01:57,040 --> 00:01:59,320 raise her voice. 31 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:03,480 Watch, she is so embarrassed. 32 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:07,520 Watch her watch the Clemson in South Carolina game. 33 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:10,640 We couldn't even have a phone conversation with her as she was just screaming. 34 00:02:10,640 --> 00:02:14,840 We were trying to ask her a question and she's going, run, run, run, run. 35 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:16,480 It was incredible. 36 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:25,400 But it's really funny and when you watch people get so into these teams and into these games, 37 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:29,480 it's almost as if, and not that this people here are because I know the hearts of people 38 00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:34,680 like Sandra, Alex, and the people who watch these things, but for some of these fans, 39 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:37,880 it's almost an air of worship at these teams. 40 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:38,880 Would you agree? 41 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:46,440 When you see the way that some people pour all of their effort, their time, their energy, 42 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:52,440 their money into going and supporting these teams, and especially here as we kick off 43 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:58,480 the Christmas season, I think that's a good reminder for us when we think about what we 44 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:03,480 pour into our time at church. 45 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:09,680 See the wise men in this story, it was very clear that when they came to Jerusalem, they 46 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:15,680 came for one ultimate purpose and that purpose was for worship. 47 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:20,640 They said we are here to worship the one who is born, King of the Jews. 48 00:03:20,640 --> 00:03:23,320 And once they found him, what did they do? 49 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:25,680 They bowed down and they worshiped him. 50 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:32,680 Well, my question for us to start off this morning is why are we here at church today? 51 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:37,760 There's a lot of different reasons that we could be here or listening online or wherever 52 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:39,720 we're watching this. 53 00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:44,280 Are we here only because our family wanted us here? 54 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:47,880 Are we here because a friend invited us here? 55 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:51,800 Are we here just because we work here? 56 00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:57,000 Are we here because church is just where you go in the Christmas season? 57 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:03,040 And while none of those reasons are bad in and of themselves or as added on reasons, 58 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:09,000 ultimately if we are here for anything other than the purpose of worshiping Jesus, then 59 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:11,480 we're missing the point. 60 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:13,400 That's why we should be here. 61 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:17,880 The really good news is if you came in here this morning for any other reason, you can 62 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:20,360 leave here worshiping Jesus. 63 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:22,080 You can leave here for the right reasons. 64 00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:26,680 And I pray that that's what happens for each of us this morning. 65 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:33,080 Because it is actually shockingly easy to fake our worship, right? 66 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:38,560 Even the wicked King Herod fooled these wise men when they came to ask of him. 67 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:41,000 At first they didn't know that he was faking it. 68 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:46,280 So he tells them, hey, listen, when you go and find this baby, come back and tell me. 69 00:04:46,280 --> 00:04:48,440 Because I want to worship him too. 70 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:53,240 And the wise men had no reason to doubt this King of the Jews at the time. 71 00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:57,080 And it can be really easy to be like Herod and fake our worship. 72 00:04:57,080 --> 00:05:02,400 And so we want to make sure that we're not offering fake worship to God because we might 73 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:07,560 not even be intending to offer inauthentic worship to God. 74 00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:10,960 But that might be what's happening to us. 75 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:16,120 We might not be actually antagonistic like Herod was, but we might not have our hearts 76 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:17,640 truly in the right place. 77 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:23,760 And I really believe that looking at the way that the wise men came and what they did when 78 00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:30,240 they met Jesus really shows us a way to worship God with our whole hearts. 79 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:31,240 And that's what we're supposed to do. 80 00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:33,160 Our worship is supposed to be true. 81 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:38,240 Look at what the Bible says in John chapter 4 verses 23 and 24. 82 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:39,960 This is what it's supposed to look like. 83 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:45,440 But the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the Father 84 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:47,800 and Spirit and truth. 85 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:51,520 The Father is seeking such people to worship Him. 86 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:52,640 God is Spirit. 87 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:57,440 And those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth. 88 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:01,040 It's not enough just to say we worship Him. 89 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:05,880 We've all seen people that can stand and worship through a song, but it's nowhere on their 90 00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:07,560 face, right? 91 00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:09,400 And sure, not everybody is expressive. 92 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:10,400 I understand that. 93 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:14,640 But there's a difference in just not being an expressive person and standing up and singing 94 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:19,520 an incredible song about the coming of our Savior like to the world. 95 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:21,720 The name of the song is Joy. 96 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:27,400 And you're just singing of Joy to the world, the Lord is come. 97 00:06:27,400 --> 00:06:29,760 When are we going to lunch? 98 00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:31,000 And we can... 99 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:34,240 It's really different when that's the case. 100 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:38,760 So here's the question I really want us to consider this morning. 101 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:42,640 How do we worship with our whole hearts? 102 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:48,000 And I don't have a handout for you, but if you can find some space on your bullets, and 103 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:50,040 I want you to write down some of the points from this morning. 104 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:52,960 And this is the question that I want us to consider. 105 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:55,760 How do we worship with our whole hearts? 106 00:06:55,760 --> 00:07:00,280 And we're going to examine what these wise men did to see how to do that this morning. 107 00:07:00,280 --> 00:07:07,000 The first way that the wise men worshiped was the wise men worship Jesus with their 108 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:11,080 comfort, or you could say their comfort level. 109 00:07:11,080 --> 00:07:13,760 I want us to look at the way that they arrived here. 110 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:21,160 The Bible says that there were these wise men or Magi who came from the east. 111 00:07:21,160 --> 00:07:24,120 Now we don't know exactly where they came from. 112 00:07:24,120 --> 00:07:28,480 Many scholars believe it was the area of Persia or Babylon, probably Persia based on that 113 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:31,880 time period that they would have come from. 114 00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:35,600 And that would not have been an easy journey for these wise men to make. 115 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:37,000 We have to remember the time period. 116 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:38,800 There were no cars. 117 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:43,000 At best they had camels that they were traveling and riding on. 118 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:48,280 But they would have made the long, hard trek to Jerusalem. 119 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:53,600 But to these men, doing that journey was a joy because they were going to see this newborn 120 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:55,080 king. 121 00:07:55,080 --> 00:07:58,760 They went miles and miles, probably on camels, sleeping in tents. 122 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:02,880 They were at risk of being attacked by animals and thieves. 123 00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:08,280 And seeing this newborn baby was worth it to them. 124 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:13,800 Now how many of us on a Sunday morning as we wake up have actually, truly questioned 125 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:17,080 whether or not to go to church because it was raining outside? 126 00:08:17,080 --> 00:08:21,040 Let's be real honest with ourselves, right? 127 00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:26,560 We ask questions or make statements like, well, I stayed up really late last night, maybe 128 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:30,440 watching a game, and I really need to rest at home. 129 00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:34,720 Or it's too muggy and I just had my hair done. 130 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:38,520 Sorry, someone can hurt me later with that one. 131 00:08:38,520 --> 00:08:43,200 We are really quick to make excuses when our comfort is threatened in the slightest. 132 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:46,600 I really wish we were like the wise men in the story, right? 133 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:50,400 Well, again, we don't know exactly where they came from in the east. 134 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:57,000 They could have traveled anywhere from 400 to 700 miles, depending upon about where they 135 00:08:57,000 --> 00:08:58,680 would have been. 136 00:08:58,680 --> 00:09:01,960 Now this would have been with a large entourage of people. 137 00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:06,760 We need to remember this was not just three wise men as that beautiful Christmas hymn 138 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:08,160 says. 139 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:12,520 This was a large enough group of people that the Bible says the entirety of Jerusalem was 140 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:14,760 troubled when they showed up. 141 00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:19,480 People saw a bunch of probably Persians march into this place and they're like, hey, this 142 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:23,280 is, last time this happened, this wasn't good. 143 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:24,280 Okay? 144 00:09:24,280 --> 00:09:28,640 We kind of got attacked last time a whole bunch of Persians came into town, right? 145 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:35,120 This isn't good because these wise men were high ranking officials in their kingdom. 146 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:36,760 They would have had guards. 147 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:38,200 They would have had protectors. 148 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:44,280 They would have had servants coming in and they're traveling this extremely long distance 149 00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:48,920 all to come and meet with Jesus. 150 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:50,680 So why? 151 00:09:50,680 --> 00:09:55,120 Why did these Magi, these wise men, go to such great lengths? 152 00:09:55,120 --> 00:09:57,160 Well, they told us. 153 00:09:57,160 --> 00:10:01,560 We have come to worship the one who's been born king of the Jews. 154 00:10:01,560 --> 00:10:07,360 The only reason they were willing to make that trip to go outside of their cozy, comfortable, 155 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:15,640 highly appointed palace position in their kingdom was to come and worship a baby. 156 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:21,440 And the crazy thing about that is, these Magi wouldn't have even understood the whole truth 157 00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:24,680 of who it is that they were going to see. 158 00:10:24,680 --> 00:10:27,800 Please make sure you understand these were not men, well they wouldn't have used the 159 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:34,040 word Christian yet then, these weren't Christian men, these weren't Jewish men coming to understand 160 00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:36,880 this is the Messiah, the Savior of the world. 161 00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:42,600 No, these were men who all they understood was that a Jewish prophecy had come true, 162 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:48,640 that this new king of the Jews was born, so we want to go and honor this brand new king. 163 00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:51,160 They didn't even know the whole story. 164 00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:55,600 They didn't know that Jesus would one day die for their sins and rise from the dead. 165 00:10:55,600 --> 00:10:59,920 They didn't know that this newborn king of the Jews was also the king of kings and the 166 00:10:59,920 --> 00:11:01,520 son of the living God. 167 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:07,720 They didn't know any of that and yet they still came. 168 00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:11,520 So what about us today Christians? 169 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:14,200 Because it gets flipped on the other side for that, right? 170 00:11:14,200 --> 00:11:17,400 You see, we do know the whole story. 171 00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:22,840 We do know that that baby is the incarnated son of God, the Messiah, the Savior of the 172 00:11:22,840 --> 00:11:25,660 world, Emmanuel, God with us. 173 00:11:25,660 --> 00:11:30,560 We know that Jesus died on the cross, took the wrath of God that we deserve to offer 174 00:11:30,560 --> 00:11:33,120 us salvation and peace with God. 175 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:37,880 And we know that Jesus rose from the dead to offer us the gift of eternal life with 176 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:38,880 him. 177 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:45,040 We know all of this, so why is it so hard for some of us to make the effort to gather 178 00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:47,240 and worship him? 179 00:11:47,240 --> 00:11:52,000 If these magi who didn't even know the whole story just knew the prophecy that there's 180 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:57,640 a newborn king, so let's travel miles and miles and miles and miles at much risk and 181 00:11:57,640 --> 00:12:01,560 cost to ourselves to go and worship him. 182 00:12:01,560 --> 00:12:09,080 And then when the slightest inconvenience pops up in our morning, we go, there's always 183 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:11,240 next week. 184 00:12:11,240 --> 00:12:13,440 We don't have to go every week, right? 185 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:17,680 We go most of the time. 186 00:12:17,680 --> 00:12:23,120 It's really sad when we're the ones, just like the people in Jerusalem, the Jewish people 187 00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:29,720 there in that time, are the ones shamed by these pagans, these foreigners, these Gentiles 188 00:12:29,720 --> 00:12:32,520 who come and get it right. 189 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:35,080 I want you to write this down. 190 00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:42,520 Our comforts become our captors when they keep us from worshiping God. 191 00:12:42,520 --> 00:12:48,440 Our comforts become our captors when they keep us from worshiping God. 192 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:52,240 Listen, we are blessed to have the comforts that we have today. 193 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:53,400 We truly are. 194 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:59,000 We are blessed to live in a country where we can freely and easily gather as a church, 195 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:03,280 but I fear that that has made us complacent. 196 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:08,680 The early church would have been appalled at the modern church's apathy for worship. 197 00:13:08,680 --> 00:13:11,640 They would be shocked when they look at how we act. 198 00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:15,600 They had no comforts when they gathered the worship. 199 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:23,680 They gathered secretly in houses and basements in fear of being arrested, tortured, or executed. 200 00:13:23,680 --> 00:13:28,560 Missionaries in some places today work in secret or else they'll still be arrested. 201 00:13:28,560 --> 00:13:35,000 Jesus himself said of his own time here in Matthew 8.20, 202 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:43,240 The boxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. 203 00:13:43,240 --> 00:13:46,240 The Bible says we're called to be like Jesus. 204 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:51,400 Jesus himself, when he was gathering, the Son of God on earth didn't go out of his way 205 00:13:51,400 --> 00:13:55,040 to be comfortable to serve the Father. 206 00:13:55,040 --> 00:13:57,960 So why are we so caught up with it? 207 00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:04,080 We just came out of Thanksgiving where we offer up to God our thankfulness for the things 208 00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:05,440 he's blessed us with. 209 00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:09,280 And again, I don't want you to feel bad about the comforts you have. 210 00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:11,280 Thank God for those. 211 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:12,640 Bless God for those. 212 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:15,360 He's blessed you with those things. 213 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:22,000 But don't let those comforts hold you back from actually going and work up in God in 214 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:23,920 the first place. 215 00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:27,000 Because that's what those blessings can inadvertently do. 216 00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:32,120 We cling on so tightly to the things that make us comfortable, like that blanket that's 217 00:14:32,120 --> 00:14:36,840 holding you in the nice warm bed and you don't want to get out and start the morning and 218 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:39,720 go to church in the first place. 219 00:14:39,720 --> 00:14:41,680 Those things can hold us down. 220 00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:47,160 They can go from being a blessing of God to something holding us captive from going and 221 00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:48,160 worshiping him. 222 00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:52,360 I mean, that never be the case with us. 223 00:14:52,360 --> 00:14:57,320 Which really leads us into the second way that the wise men worshiped Jesus. 224 00:14:57,320 --> 00:15:03,560 They worshiped him with their comforts, but they also worshiped Jesus with their money. 225 00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:06,320 They worshiped Jesus with their money. 226 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:08,880 Look at what it says the gifts that they gave him. 227 00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:10,040 It says this. 228 00:15:10,040 --> 00:15:14,040 It says that when they arrived at the house, they opened their treasures, they offered 229 00:15:14,040 --> 00:15:18,160 him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 230 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:24,420 Many people have talked about in tradition holds these really like special prophetic 231 00:15:24,420 --> 00:15:27,240 ideas of these gifts. 232 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:30,520 And that's not what we're going to talk about today because honestly what it boils down 233 00:15:30,520 --> 00:15:38,160 to is all three of those gifts were extremely expensive and very hard to find. 234 00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:40,440 Gold obviously makes sense, right? 235 00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:42,080 That that was obviously for money. 236 00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:48,080 But frankincense and myrrh were difficult to find and very expensive to gather. 237 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:52,120 And one of the commentaries I was reading it said that the amount that they would usually 238 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:58,560 kind of give for a king of those kinds of spices in that big of a bottle, what most 239 00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:04,000 likely they would have given would have equated to around $10,000 in modern day money. 240 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:09,480 That's a lot of money that these people are bringing for a baby. 241 00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:12,400 Mary and Joseph themselves wouldn't have had much money. 242 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:16,240 So each of these gifts would have been extremely valuable to them. 243 00:16:16,240 --> 00:16:20,560 And see these wise men were more than happy to give these gifts to. 244 00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:24,480 King was all but required for special events in that time, especially if you're going 245 00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:25,480 to go honor a king. 246 00:16:25,480 --> 00:16:29,120 Sure, but not necessarily always at this value. 247 00:16:29,120 --> 00:16:34,920 But listen, we again, we have to make sure we look at the purpose these wise men came. 248 00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:41,800 We know in their hearts they weren't just here to come and bring attention to themselves. 249 00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:43,680 They were there to worship. 250 00:16:43,680 --> 00:16:48,760 And they gave of this money as an act of worship. 251 00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:52,400 I want you to write this down too as we think about this. 252 00:16:52,400 --> 00:16:59,320 We should give our money to God as an act of worship, not be. 253 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:04,240 We should give our money to God as an act of worship, not just duty. 254 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:07,640 And I know the pastor is going to talk about money. 255 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:09,120 And yes, yes I am. 256 00:17:09,120 --> 00:17:12,320 Because you know who else talked a lot about money? 257 00:17:12,320 --> 00:17:13,320 Jesus. 258 00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:15,360 I actually talked a lot about money. 259 00:17:15,360 --> 00:17:20,480 Jesus directly addressed finances across the four gospels about 29 times. 260 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:22,080 Here's some examples. 261 00:17:22,080 --> 00:17:27,600 From Matthew 19, it's incredibly hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 262 00:17:27,600 --> 00:17:33,000 In Luke 21, he raised a poor widow, or sorry, praised a poor widow who gave two small copper 263 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:38,000 coins worth about a penny of modern money as a gift in the temple commending her heart 264 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:39,400 of sacrifice. 265 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:44,280 In Matthew chapter 19, when a rich young ruler asked what he must do to have eternal life, 266 00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:48,760 Jesus told him to sell his possessions and give to the poor and follow him. 267 00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:50,760 That guy didn't like that answer very much. 268 00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:57,240 In Luke chapter 16, Jesus made clear that we cannot serve both money and God simultaneously. 269 00:17:57,240 --> 00:18:02,040 And then in 1 Timothy chapter 6, verse 10, Jesus noted how the love of money is the root 270 00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:04,480 of all kinds of evil. 271 00:18:04,480 --> 00:18:07,840 So why did Jesus talk about money so much? 272 00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:11,120 Well, it has to do with that last example. 273 00:18:11,120 --> 00:18:15,680 Yes, we need money to live our lives and provide for our families. 274 00:18:15,680 --> 00:18:16,880 We just do. 275 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:22,200 But it is so easy to fall in love with our money, is it not? 276 00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:26,920 We put the work in, we earn the paycheck, so it's ours to do it as we please. 277 00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:33,760 But listen, church, what we do with our money shows what we truly worship. 278 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:37,800 What we do with our money shows what we truly worship. 279 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:42,200 And especially talking about money in a church, it's basically impossible to bring it up 280 00:18:42,200 --> 00:18:46,000 without talking about tithing and the importance of that idea. 281 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:52,040 Now, I've heard and found a lot of misunderstanding about the teaching of tithing lately, and 282 00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:56,080 I believe it stems from having the wrong attitude about giving. 283 00:18:56,080 --> 00:19:02,760 See, it is actually true that in the New Testament, in the New Covenant, we are no longer actually 284 00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:06,560 technically under the command to tithe. 285 00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:10,920 That was an old covenant mosaic law type of thing. 286 00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:13,240 Here's my problem with that, though. 287 00:19:13,240 --> 00:19:17,560 If you have neglected to give financially to God simply because we are no longer commanded 288 00:19:17,560 --> 00:19:23,720 to by law, then we have missed the point of giving completely. 289 00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:27,920 I'm not commanded to do chores for Jessica at home, but I do them anyway because I want 290 00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:29,120 to sleep in my own bed. 291 00:19:29,120 --> 00:19:30,840 Oh, because I love. 292 00:19:30,840 --> 00:19:35,440 That's what I meant to say. 293 00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:41,280 There was no part of our wedding vows that actually said, I'm going to do these chores. 294 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:45,080 I'm going to do the dishes because she cooks so wonderfully, right? 295 00:19:45,080 --> 00:19:49,760 I do them out of love and service for my wife. 296 00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:56,560 Just because if you're not commanded by Scripture to give financially to God doesn't mean that 297 00:19:56,560 --> 00:19:58,000 we shouldn't do it. 298 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:07,080 You see, we have to see our money as a gift from God and giving it back to Him as a beautiful 299 00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:10,000 act of worship to Him. 300 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:12,280 A challenging one sometimes, yes. 301 00:20:12,280 --> 00:20:17,080 But what deeper act of worship than to give cheerfully to God even when it is difficult? 302 00:20:17,080 --> 00:20:23,960 That old widow gave or who only had two coins to God still gave it to her or Him. 303 00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:25,680 Long morning. 304 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:28,240 So that's all she had. 305 00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:29,720 She gave it anyway. 306 00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:33,520 She gave it cheerfully and Jesus praised her for it. 307 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:35,120 That's the kind of attitude we should have. 308 00:20:35,120 --> 00:20:39,960 Look at what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians chapter 9 verses 6 through 7. 309 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:46,040 He says, the point is this, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly and whoever sows 310 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:51,760 bountiful, wait, yeah, whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 311 00:20:51,760 --> 00:20:57,240 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, 312 00:20:57,240 --> 00:21:01,600 for God loves a cheerful giver. 313 00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:03,720 You hear that last part? 314 00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:08,280 Not under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 315 00:21:08,280 --> 00:21:11,680 Being a cheerful giver doesn't mean that the giving will always be easy, but a cheerful 316 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:17,520 giver gives as this passage describes one who is pleased to give of their finances to worship 317 00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:20,120 God despite their circumstances. 318 00:21:20,120 --> 00:21:25,280 My church growing up participated in what they called the faith promise missions offering. 319 00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:29,560 This was a special offering set aside for missions that was above and beyond their tide 320 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:30,920 that they would give. 321 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:34,960 They would make a pledge every single year that they would give a certain amount to go 322 00:21:34,960 --> 00:21:38,360 to the missionaries that that church specifically supported. 323 00:21:38,360 --> 00:21:42,680 And the gentleman who spearheaded that whole ministry there is Mr. Cahill Sr. 324 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:48,240 He travels to other churches and talks about this, and he has countless stories of months 325 00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:53,960 where he and his wife Vanessa had no idea if they were going to be able to do it. 326 00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:55,600 Finances were tight. 327 00:21:55,600 --> 00:22:00,400 They weren't sure, but Cahill said, we made this promise to God and we're going to do 328 00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:01,400 it. 329 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:09,520 And every single time God provided for them in miraculous ways sometimes, he came through 330 00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:14,680 for them because for Cahill, it wasn't about I'm commanded to do this. 331 00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:18,920 He loved giving his money to God. 332 00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:21,880 That was worship for Cahill Sr. 333 00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:26,560 And I've heard people argue, but I give my time and my talents to God. 334 00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:28,120 That's my offering to him. 335 00:22:28,120 --> 00:22:30,600 And that is a wonderful offering to God. 336 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:31,600 It is. 337 00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:32,920 But here's my question. 338 00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:38,000 If money is brought up and your first reaction is, but I do this, why are you defensive with 339 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:40,600 your money? 340 00:22:40,600 --> 00:22:46,440 Any parent knows as soon as the kid gets defensive, they've lost the argument, right? 341 00:22:46,440 --> 00:22:50,680 Because if at any point in this section of the sermon, in your mind, you were thinking, 342 00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:57,960 well, yeah, but, or, but I do this, we need to question our hearts, don't we? 343 00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:00,720 Why are we so defensive with our money? 344 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:06,040 And if that is what we're defensive with, we need to give it to God because it's become 345 00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:10,800 something more than just something we use, it's become something that's holding us back 346 00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:12,440 from worshiping God. 347 00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:20,000 And so be willing to give that money in an act of worship back to God. 348 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:24,960 So the wise men worship Jesus with their comfort, they worship Jesus with their money, but then 349 00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:29,560 they lastly worship Jesus in humility. 350 00:23:29,560 --> 00:23:31,240 They worshiped him in humility. 351 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:36,760 He says when they came to the house, they offered him these gifts and they bowed before 352 00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:40,520 Jesus in worship. 353 00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:47,960 As we said, these wise men were most likely from Persia and they, they were highly appointed 354 00:23:47,960 --> 00:23:49,920 men in that kingdom. 355 00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:53,880 And the jobs that they had are important for us to know because these wise men that came 356 00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:58,440 in this were, there was different versions of wise men. 357 00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:03,280 We actually know well a particular wise man from the Bible named Daniel. 358 00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:07,200 And many of them like Daniel were knowledge seekers. 359 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:12,200 They were gifted in doing specific things, whether it was stargazing for Daniel interpreting 360 00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:14,240 dreams that God gave him. 361 00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:18,680 He was extremely wise, obviously with the name of wise men. 362 00:24:18,680 --> 00:24:24,000 Some of these wise men, these magi though, would go into the act and the art of astrology. 363 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:32,320 Some of them would actually seek out answers to, or do magic, basically that kind of thing. 364 00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:36,800 I don't think that's where ours and this story kind of fall into, but what all of them were, 365 00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:38,920 were also stargazers. 366 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:45,520 They were ones staring into the sky, studying the stars to answer the mysteries of old. 367 00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:49,040 These wise men, as we said earlier, didn't know everything about Jesus when they came, 368 00:24:49,040 --> 00:24:54,720 but they knew enough about him to bow before him when they came to him. 369 00:24:54,720 --> 00:24:59,600 Here was a baby born to a poor family of no repute, yet they humbled themselves to bow 370 00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:01,400 down to him in reverence. 371 00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:06,040 But listen, the wise men, the visit of the wise men carries a much deeper and sweet relevance 372 00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:07,040 for us today. 373 00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:11,800 You see, the fact that they came at all is fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy that 374 00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:15,960 the nations of the world would come to worship God. 375 00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:20,520 Look at the prophecy from Isaiah chapter 60, verse 3 through 5. 376 00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:26,480 It says, and nations shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising. 377 00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:28,480 Lift up your eyes all around and see. 378 00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:29,840 They all gather together. 379 00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:31,120 They come to you. 380 00:25:31,120 --> 00:25:35,080 Your son shall come from afar and your daughter shall be carried on the hip. 381 00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:36,880 Then you shall see and be radiant. 382 00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:41,160 Your heart shall thrill and exult because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you. 383 00:25:41,160 --> 00:25:46,200 The wealth of the nations shall come to you. 384 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:51,680 It's not only an answer to that, but it's also a beautiful reminder of how God calls 385 00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:55,320 all kinds of people to himself. 386 00:25:55,320 --> 00:26:01,280 This prophecy is talking about people from all nations coming to worship God and even 387 00:26:01,280 --> 00:26:05,080 to bring him the riches and wealth of the nations. 388 00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:08,240 Think about these kind of men who came to see Jesus. 389 00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:10,680 These were not godly Jewish men. 390 00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:13,080 These were stargazing Gentiles. 391 00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:17,160 In fact, actually the Old Testament speaks out against astrology and particularly mocks 392 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:18,640 the act of stargazing. 393 00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:24,600 And yet these are the men that God invited to come and worship Jesus. 394 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:25,840 And I love this part. 395 00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:29,200 How did God reveal himself to these stargazing Gentiles? 396 00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:33,840 Did he do it by sending an angel to condemn them of their wickedness and command that 397 00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:35,960 they journey to worship the Messiah? 398 00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:37,080 No. 399 00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:44,200 God spoke to these stargazers by showing them a star, a really cool star. 400 00:26:44,200 --> 00:26:45,600 That's how he spoke to them. 401 00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:50,360 And then we remind all the Christians in here today that you did not come to God on your 402 00:26:50,360 --> 00:26:52,160 own. 403 00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:54,920 God drew you to himself. 404 00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:58,600 And he does that by speaking to us in a way that we understand. 405 00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:04,960 And then as we're drawn to him, we are changed by him to be or like him. 406 00:27:04,960 --> 00:27:07,520 And that's really beautiful news for us today, isn't it? 407 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:10,320 See this is what I mean by the wise men worshiping in humility. 408 00:27:10,320 --> 00:27:12,440 I want you to write this down. 409 00:27:12,440 --> 00:27:18,400 Humility is accepting that God is in control, not us. 410 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:22,440 Humility is accepting that God is in control and not us. 411 00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:25,120 And that's shown to us in a couple different ways. 412 00:27:25,120 --> 00:27:30,360 These magi had searched the stars for years for magic answers and mysteries, but only 413 00:27:30,360 --> 00:27:34,360 God himself could lead them to the greatest discovery of all. 414 00:27:34,360 --> 00:27:39,760 Yes, they were searching the sky, but without God placing that special star in the sky for 415 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:45,160 them to see, they never would have had the chance to worship Jesus. 416 00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:51,920 Also these wise men were not above bowing down to a baby. 417 00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:57,480 As I said, these were extremely powerful, highly appointed officials. 418 00:27:57,480 --> 00:28:01,000 And while we don't know exactly what they were expecting to find, we know they were 419 00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:07,960 looking for a baby, but they were probably expecting to not go into a poor family's house 420 00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:13,960 and see a lowly family with nothing special, with not much money to their name, instead 421 00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:18,200 of some highly exalted palace with people all around praising this child. 422 00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:24,280 And even though that's what they found, they still bowed before this baby and worshiped 423 00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:26,400 him. 424 00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:28,640 So what does all of this tell us today? 425 00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:33,120 Well, it reminds us of how we should view God compared to ourselves. 426 00:28:33,120 --> 00:28:38,280 You see, just as God was the one who reached out and drew the magi to himself, he does 427 00:28:38,280 --> 00:28:40,760 that for us as well. 428 00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:45,200 If you're a Christian already, remind yourself that God did that work in you. 429 00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:47,540 The Bible says that no one is good. 430 00:28:47,540 --> 00:28:50,280 No one seeks after God. 431 00:28:50,280 --> 00:28:52,840 That's an important reminder for us. 432 00:28:52,840 --> 00:29:01,200 I didn't get saved because young Jordan said, man, I really need to find God. 433 00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:08,640 It started because the Holy Spirit convicted me of my sin and pointed me to him. 434 00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:16,080 The wise men got to worship Jesus because God called them, not the other way around. 435 00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:19,260 And because of that, we should humble ourselves before God. 436 00:29:19,260 --> 00:29:23,800 We should remind ourselves that our goodness is not what saves us, rather it is Jesus' 437 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:26,560 perfect goodness that saves us. 438 00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:28,480 And without him, we are nothing. 439 00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:32,840 So we should adopt the posture of the wise men and bow before him. 440 00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:39,280 But it also gives incredible news to those who have not yet trusted Jesus. 441 00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:42,200 Salvation is for you as well. 442 00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:46,160 Salvation was not just for the Jews back then, and it's not just for good people today. 443 00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:49,240 In fact, it's not for any good people today. 444 00:29:49,240 --> 00:29:51,840 Salvation is for sinners. 445 00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:53,880 And that's good news, amen. 446 00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:57,200 Because that's every single one of us in this room. 447 00:29:57,200 --> 00:29:59,480 It was for the shepherds. 448 00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:03,200 It was for these Gentile, stargazing sinners. 449 00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:05,280 It's for the Samaritan woman. 450 00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:07,000 It's for the prostitutes. 451 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:08,640 It's for the homosexuals. 452 00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:16,960 It's for every single person who God calls to Himself to be changed by him. 453 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:19,760 That's who salvation is for. 454 00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:22,920 It's not just for church people. 455 00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:29,640 It's for people God wants to draw to His church and change to be more like Jesus, amen. 456 00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:32,320 And that's good news for us. 457 00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:39,720 Because if He can save us, if He can save me, He can save anybody. 458 00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:43,400 Maybe you're here today or you're listening online and you're wondering why you're here 459 00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:45,960 today or why this even matters. 460 00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:48,120 I can answer that for you. 461 00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:50,400 It's because God's calling you. 462 00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:55,400 He's calling you to repent of your sins, to follow Jesus with all of your heart. 463 00:30:55,400 --> 00:31:00,000 He is calling you to join us and the wise men in this story in doing the best thing you 464 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:04,640 could possibly do this Christmas season, worshiping Jesus Christ. 465 00:31:04,640 --> 00:31:05,640 Let's pray together. 466 00:31:05,640 --> 00:31:16,160 Amen.