WEBVTT 00:00:57.320 --> 00:00:58.859 what those Christmas songs, some of them are 00:00:58.859 --> 00:01:02.880 really hard to sing, but it helps when you have 00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:05.079 a great pianist. We thank the Lord that we do 00:01:05.079 --> 00:01:07.219 have a good pianist. I don't tell her that enough, 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:10.780 but we are certainly proud to have Macy. If you 00:01:10.780 --> 00:01:14.799 have your Bible today, you can turn to Isaiah 00:01:14.799 --> 00:01:25.549 chapter 9, Isaiah chapter 9, verse 6. That's 00:01:25.549 --> 00:01:27.650 in the Old Testament, kind of toward the middle 00:01:27.650 --> 00:01:30.090 of your Bible, a little past the middle. If you 00:01:30.090 --> 00:01:32.650 open up Psalms, just keep on turning, you'll 00:01:32.650 --> 00:01:39.530 eventually get there. Isaiah chapter 9, verse 00:01:39.530 --> 00:01:44.170 6. We'll get there in a second, but we're going 00:01:44.170 --> 00:01:46.870 to pray. We're going to pray, and then we're 00:01:46.870 --> 00:01:50.709 going to get started. Dear Lord, I thank you 00:01:50.709 --> 00:01:54.099 for being good to us. I thank you for these people 00:01:54.099 --> 00:01:55.920 that are in this place today. I thank you for 00:01:55.920 --> 00:02:00.219 the love and the smiles and just the joy that 00:02:00.219 --> 00:02:02.180 there is. There's a lot of joy in here today, 00:02:02.260 --> 00:02:04.780 but maybe there's some today, God, that this 00:02:04.780 --> 00:02:07.099 is a tough season for them, that this is a tough 00:02:07.099 --> 00:02:10.539 day. Maybe they just got a lot of stress with 00:02:10.539 --> 00:02:13.780 work or life or Christmas shopping or whatever 00:02:13.780 --> 00:02:17.000 it is, dear Lord. I pray that we would all leave 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:19.900 here. rejoicing in you this morning, dear Lord. 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:21.919 I pray that you'd free us from the distractions 00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:24.500 and the worries of the world, God. And I pray 00:02:24.500 --> 00:02:28.120 that in these next few moments that we can just 00:02:28.120 --> 00:02:31.020 be reminded of what matters, dear Lord. We need 00:02:31.020 --> 00:02:34.580 that often because as humans, dear Lord, we just 00:02:34.580 --> 00:02:39.599 get caught up in the world and we just need help. 00:02:39.699 --> 00:02:41.680 And so I pray, God, that today you would just 00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:47.060 help us to reset our focus on what matters. And 00:02:47.060 --> 00:02:49.379 that's Jesus Christ. And I pray that in these 00:02:49.379 --> 00:02:52.699 next few minutes that your Holy Spirit would 00:02:52.699 --> 00:02:54.780 be with this service and everything it has said. 00:02:54.979 --> 00:02:58.360 All for your glory and your kingdom. In Jesus' 00:02:58.479 --> 00:03:04.000 name I pray it. Amen. It is Christmas time and 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:08.099 it is one of my favorite times. of the year. 00:03:08.280 --> 00:03:10.860 Now, some people love Christmas. Some people 00:03:10.860 --> 00:03:13.120 don't like Christmas. Some people think it's 00:03:13.120 --> 00:03:16.520 a Christian holiday. Some say it's not. We won't 00:03:16.520 --> 00:03:18.919 get into all that. There's a lot of stuff that 00:03:18.919 --> 00:03:21.620 goes on at Christmas, and yeah, I'll admit to 00:03:21.620 --> 00:03:24.159 you, there's no command in Scripture to celebrate 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:26.620 the birth of Jesus or do any of the things that 00:03:26.620 --> 00:03:29.580 we do, but that doesn't mean that some of our 00:03:29.580 --> 00:03:32.659 traditions and things that we do at Christmas 00:03:32.659 --> 00:03:35.550 are bad. There are plenty of great things that 00:03:35.550 --> 00:03:38.569 we do at Christmas that I love, that I look forward 00:03:38.569 --> 00:03:40.550 to every year, one of which is sausage balls. 00:03:41.129 --> 00:03:43.430 It's the only time I get sausage balls is at 00:03:43.430 --> 00:03:49.030 Christmas. I love to get presents. I love to 00:03:49.030 --> 00:03:53.050 give presents. I love family. I love to be able 00:03:53.050 --> 00:03:56.289 to get together. I love church family. I love 00:03:56.289 --> 00:03:58.449 that we can get together and have hot chocolate 00:03:58.449 --> 00:04:00.349 and light up lights on the church. And some people 00:04:00.349 --> 00:04:01.789 would say, you shouldn't put Christmas lights 00:04:01.789 --> 00:04:05.430 on the church. Well... I don't know about all 00:04:05.430 --> 00:04:09.509 that. But I know that love is good. And I know 00:04:09.509 --> 00:04:12.210 we love each other. I hope we do. But what I 00:04:12.210 --> 00:04:14.330 know more than anything is that God looks at 00:04:14.330 --> 00:04:17.329 the heart. And so maybe it's not always about 00:04:17.329 --> 00:04:19.790 the actions that we're doing as much as the heart 00:04:19.790 --> 00:04:23.529 as we're doing them with. And so while there's 00:04:23.529 --> 00:04:25.829 no command in Scripture for us to put up trees 00:04:25.829 --> 00:04:29.430 or lights or get together with family, I don't 00:04:29.430 --> 00:04:31.509 know that all those things are necessarily bad. 00:04:32.329 --> 00:04:34.850 I think it's a good season when we can come together 00:04:34.850 --> 00:04:38.550 and love one another and eat good food and exchange 00:04:38.550 --> 00:04:42.009 gifts with one another. It's a good, warm, fuzzy 00:04:42.009 --> 00:04:46.850 feeling, and I enjoy this time of the year. But 00:04:46.850 --> 00:04:49.310 we also have to realize that maybe sometimes 00:04:49.310 --> 00:04:53.949 we kind of blend our praise of Jesus and our 00:04:53.949 --> 00:04:57.889 celebration of Christmas in ways that maybe aren't 00:04:57.889 --> 00:05:00.910 always healthy. And sometimes I think we just 00:05:00.910 --> 00:05:02.790 have to take a step back and we have to realize 00:05:02.790 --> 00:05:05.269 it's okay for us to do some of the things that 00:05:05.269 --> 00:05:08.310 we do, but we never want the things that we do 00:05:08.310 --> 00:05:11.350 to overshadow Jesus Christ. And that's not only 00:05:11.350 --> 00:05:13.970 true at Christmas. That's true all the time. 00:05:14.110 --> 00:05:17.149 There are constantly things in our lives throughout 00:05:17.149 --> 00:05:20.230 the year that we can get too caught up in that 00:05:20.230 --> 00:05:24.050 can kind of overshadow what is most important. 00:05:24.670 --> 00:05:28.060 And that is Jesus Christ. And so Christmas in 00:05:28.060 --> 00:05:31.939 some way is just another reminder that we need 00:05:31.939 --> 00:05:36.079 to praise Jesus. We see that all throughout the 00:05:36.079 --> 00:05:38.560 scriptures that talk about Jesus' birth. We see 00:05:38.560 --> 00:05:41.699 a lot of praising. We see Mary praising the Lord. 00:05:41.819 --> 00:05:44.699 We see the shepherds, they're rejoicing. We see 00:05:44.699 --> 00:05:47.439 the wise men come to praise Jesus. There's a 00:05:47.439 --> 00:05:50.579 lot of praise that goes on throughout these characters 00:05:50.579 --> 00:05:55.139 in the Christmas story. Simeon and Anna. And 00:05:55.139 --> 00:05:58.740 those stories are a reminder to us, not just 00:05:58.740 --> 00:06:02.160 at Christmas, but always, that when we recognize 00:06:02.160 --> 00:06:06.319 the greatness of Jesus, that we should be those 00:06:06.319 --> 00:06:09.680 who praise him. I'll tell you one of my favorite 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:11.920 things, and I probably shouldn't say this, this 00:06:11.920 --> 00:06:15.160 probably sounds bad, but one of my favorite worldly 00:06:15.160 --> 00:06:18.240 traditions that I like about Christmas, I like 00:06:18.240 --> 00:06:19.899 getting gifts, I'll just be honest with you. 00:06:20.600 --> 00:06:22.879 The Bible says it's more blessed to give than 00:06:22.879 --> 00:06:25.699 to receive, and I like to give, but I sure do 00:06:25.699 --> 00:06:27.699 like to get. I'll tell you, I got a gift this 00:06:27.699 --> 00:06:29.819 morning. I got this this morning. This was a 00:06:29.819 --> 00:06:32.939 gift to me. This is a tiny Jesus. Yeah, little 00:06:32.939 --> 00:06:35.339 Gordon girls gave me this. I've seen these all 00:06:35.339 --> 00:06:37.959 over, and I wanted one, and I never had one, 00:06:38.060 --> 00:06:40.540 but I've got one now, so thank you, girls, for 00:06:40.540 --> 00:06:44.920 that. I got my own little tiny Jesus. I brought 00:06:44.920 --> 00:06:47.120 another gift. I've been holding on to this one. 00:06:47.870 --> 00:06:51.769 for about 35 years now. I still got it. I got 00:06:51.769 --> 00:06:54.370 this gift when I was probably about seven years 00:06:54.370 --> 00:06:57.689 old. Now, I longed for this gift. I'm telling 00:06:57.689 --> 00:06:59.829 you, I couldn't wait to get this gift. I don't 00:06:59.829 --> 00:07:02.569 know how it was at your house, but on Christmas 00:07:02.569 --> 00:07:05.149 Eve nights, all our gifts would be placed out 00:07:05.149 --> 00:07:08.649 on the couch. My sister had a couch that her 00:07:08.649 --> 00:07:10.930 gifts would be on, and I had a couch that mine 00:07:10.930 --> 00:07:15.889 would be on. And there was one year that I asked 00:07:15.889 --> 00:07:19.430 for Double Dragon 2. And some of you are saying, 00:07:19.529 --> 00:07:23.290 what in the world is a Double Dragon 2? Well, 00:07:23.329 --> 00:07:25.449 I'm going to tell you what it was. It was a video 00:07:25.449 --> 00:07:28.850 game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. This 00:07:28.850 --> 00:07:32.509 is it. This is it right here. This is my copy 00:07:32.509 --> 00:07:35.629 that I got in 1990. Christmas of 1990. You cannot 00:07:35.629 --> 00:07:37.269 have it, by the way. It still works. You can 00:07:37.269 --> 00:07:38.910 come to my house and play it. My Nintendo is 00:07:38.910 --> 00:07:40.990 still hooked up. You can play it. But you can't 00:07:40.990 --> 00:07:45.699 have it. But I wanted this. So, so bad. I never 00:07:45.699 --> 00:07:48.379 had wanted anything worse. If I could only get 00:07:48.379 --> 00:07:50.759 Double Dragon 2, then I would never want anything 00:07:50.759 --> 00:07:53.620 else in my life. Right? Y 'all have probably 00:07:53.620 --> 00:07:57.360 never felt that way about anything, right? And 00:07:57.360 --> 00:07:59.939 so I remember, I would always wake up at 3 o 00:07:59.939 --> 00:08:02.600 'clock in the morning, and then I'd ease in there. 00:08:03.319 --> 00:08:05.180 And I didn't want to turn the lights on and wake 00:08:05.180 --> 00:08:07.860 anybody up and get in trouble. So I eased in 00:08:07.860 --> 00:08:10.759 that living room. And I knew the shape of a Nintendo 00:08:10.759 --> 00:08:13.819 game box. And so in the darkness, I'm feeling 00:08:13.819 --> 00:08:17.040 around. And I feel it, and I said, wait a minute. 00:08:17.240 --> 00:08:20.519 I think this might be it. And so I get that box, 00:08:20.540 --> 00:08:23.439 and I ease over to the window with the moonlight 00:08:23.439 --> 00:08:28.680 coming through. And I look, and I see his Double 00:08:28.680 --> 00:08:31.839 Dragon 2. I'm like, yes, I've got Double Dragon 00:08:31.839 --> 00:08:34.919 2. And I went, and I placed it back on the couch, 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:36.379 and I went and got back into bed, and I just 00:08:36.379 --> 00:08:38.100 laid there. And I was like, is it time to get 00:08:38.100 --> 00:08:41.850 up yet? And I could not wait to get up. and play 00:08:41.850 --> 00:08:44.470 Double Dragon 2. We get excited about gifts. 00:08:45.210 --> 00:08:47.330 Some of you probably have gifts under your tree 00:08:47.330 --> 00:08:50.129 right now. As a matter of fact, we actually have 00:08:50.129 --> 00:08:53.029 a few gifts here this morning. Some of you may 00:08:53.029 --> 00:08:55.090 have noticed this, is these stockings were hung 00:08:55.090 --> 00:08:58.389 with care, and there are some gifts this morning 00:08:58.389 --> 00:09:02.049 that I would like to share with some of our church 00:09:02.049 --> 00:09:04.929 members. Now, the first stocking that we have 00:09:04.929 --> 00:09:09.649 here, it's got, that's Mr. Fred. Mr. Fred's got 00:09:09.649 --> 00:09:12.200 a gift in this stocking. Let's see what's in 00:09:12.200 --> 00:09:17.059 here. Oh, yeah, well, I don't know about this 00:09:17.059 --> 00:09:22.360 one. I'll say this. Sometimes you get gifts you 00:09:22.360 --> 00:09:26.259 don't ask for. But nonetheless, you've got to 00:09:26.259 --> 00:09:28.539 accept them. And Mr. Fred's talking this year. 00:09:28.600 --> 00:09:32.700 Let's see what he got. Mr. Fred, now let me tell 00:09:32.700 --> 00:09:34.759 you this. He was a professor at LSU for many 00:09:34.759 --> 00:09:38.039 years, a big fan of LSU. And for Christmas this 00:09:38.039 --> 00:09:42.220 year, he got a Lane Kiffin. Mr. Fred got a Lane 00:09:42.220 --> 00:09:46.360 Kiffin. Yeah, I'm going to tell you, getting 00:09:46.360 --> 00:09:50.480 a Lane Kiffin, it's kind of like when you do 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:52.659 a pirate Christmas. You know, you might get the 00:09:52.659 --> 00:09:54.299 present. You might get him for a little while, 00:09:54.340 --> 00:09:55.860 but pretty soon somebody else is going to come 00:09:55.860 --> 00:09:58.639 steal him. Well, that's going to be Mr. Fred's 00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:01.919 gift. So Merry Christmas. You can pick up your 00:10:01.919 --> 00:10:04.799 Lane Kiffin on the way out. But that's not all. 00:10:04.899 --> 00:10:08.289 We have more gifts. We got another one here. 00:10:08.350 --> 00:10:11.870 This one says Randy Wall. Now, if y 'all don't 00:10:11.870 --> 00:10:14.850 know this, Randy, he does a great job keeping 00:10:14.850 --> 00:10:18.610 our grass cut. I don't thank him enough. And 00:10:18.610 --> 00:10:20.649 we don't ever acknowledge that, but he does such 00:10:20.649 --> 00:10:23.029 a good job. He was up here this morning when 00:10:23.029 --> 00:10:25.309 we got here about 8 o 'clock, 7 .30, 8 o 'clock, 00:10:25.370 --> 00:10:28.889 blowing leaves off. He came. And he's always 00:10:28.889 --> 00:10:32.330 keeping things looking pretty. And so for that, 00:10:32.409 --> 00:10:35.570 you're going to get a gift. So we are going to 00:10:35.570 --> 00:10:40.370 look. Oh, yeah, he's going to like this. Randy 00:10:40.370 --> 00:10:49.269 is going to get some jalapeno puff. I know he 00:10:49.269 --> 00:10:50.850 likes these. I saw him get them at the dollar 00:10:50.850 --> 00:10:54.389 store one day. Thank you all very much. Now, 00:10:54.389 --> 00:10:57.649 one bag is not enough to thank you for all the 00:10:57.649 --> 00:10:59.149 work you do, but that's all that would fit in 00:10:59.149 --> 00:11:02.769 this stocking. So make sure to get your present 00:11:02.769 --> 00:11:06.759 before you leave. Thank you all very much. And 00:11:06.759 --> 00:11:09.159 we got one more present. There's another one 00:11:09.159 --> 00:11:11.080 here, and this one says it's for Jerry Toler. 00:11:12.019 --> 00:11:15.399 Now, Jerry Toler is an important part of this 00:11:15.399 --> 00:11:18.720 church, and we are glad to have him for all that 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:20.860 he's done through the years and continues to 00:11:20.860 --> 00:11:27.019 do. And so he's got a gift, too. Would y 'all 00:11:27.019 --> 00:11:29.980 believe it if I told you there's keys to a new 00:11:29.980 --> 00:11:35.460 truck in here? Let's see what's in here. Oh, 00:11:35.460 --> 00:11:49.519 dear. A lump of coal. Wait a minute. There's 00:11:49.519 --> 00:11:51.539 something else. There's something else in here. 00:11:52.960 --> 00:11:54.940 Oh, never mind. It's just another lump of coal. 00:12:00.879 --> 00:12:05.559 We like the stuff that goes on at Christmas. 00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:09.200 We like the gifts. We like to laugh and we like 00:12:09.200 --> 00:12:12.679 the fellowship. We like the fun. We like all 00:12:12.679 --> 00:12:15.500 of these things. And all of those things are 00:12:15.500 --> 00:12:20.639 well enough. But what we have to remember is 00:12:20.639 --> 00:12:24.080 that there's something more than Nintendo games 00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:28.759 and all the other junk in this world. And what's 00:12:28.759 --> 00:12:31.340 most important and what needs to be most important 00:12:31.340 --> 00:12:35.860 every day of our life needs to be Jesus Christ. 00:12:36.920 --> 00:12:40.480 That's where our real hope comes from. And we 00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:42.559 get stuff like this and we think it's going to 00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:45.659 fulfill us. And we think if I could just have 00:12:45.659 --> 00:12:48.960 that thing I want, if my team could just get 00:12:48.960 --> 00:12:52.360 the big win, if I could just have this, if I 00:12:52.360 --> 00:12:54.299 could just have that, if I could just do this, 00:12:54.340 --> 00:12:56.460 if I could just do that, everything would be 00:12:56.460 --> 00:13:00.440 great. But the fact of the matter is, is that 00:13:00.440 --> 00:13:04.080 the only thing that's going to make us... The 00:13:04.080 --> 00:13:06.519 only thing that's going to fulfill us, the only 00:13:06.519 --> 00:13:09.980 thing that's going to bring us joy is Jesus Christ. 00:13:11.340 --> 00:13:14.919 And in the scriptures, this gift was looked forward 00:13:14.919 --> 00:13:19.519 to for many years before Jesus ever came onto 00:13:19.519 --> 00:13:25.559 the scene. Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6 reads, For 00:13:25.559 --> 00:13:31.320 unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. 00:13:31.899 --> 00:13:35.299 and the government shall be upon his shoulders. 00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:39.759 Now, Isaiah penned these words hundreds of years 00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:43.179 before Jesus Christ would ever come onto the 00:13:43.179 --> 00:13:47.919 scene, but he spoke of a precious gift, far greater 00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:50.080 than anything that had ever been given before 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:53.659 or anything that would ever be given after. He 00:13:53.659 --> 00:13:57.360 spoke of a day that a child would be born that 00:13:57.360 --> 00:14:00.980 was going to be the savior of the world. The 00:14:00.980 --> 00:14:05.759 Messiah of the world. The one thing that we needed 00:14:05.759 --> 00:14:09.039 more than anything. Someone to save us from our 00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:12.860 sins. Someone to forgive us. The weight of our 00:14:12.860 --> 00:14:18.559 sin is so heavy. And we feel that. Some of you 00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:21.379 may feel it today. You may have felt it in the 00:14:21.379 --> 00:14:23.659 past. You may feel it in the future. The weight 00:14:23.659 --> 00:14:27.720 of our sin is so heavy. But we praise the Lord 00:14:27.720 --> 00:14:30.179 that the words that the prophet Isaiah spoke 00:14:30.179 --> 00:14:34.259 have come true. And we remember that this Christmas 00:14:34.259 --> 00:14:37.659 season and every Christmas season and a lot of 00:14:37.659 --> 00:14:41.980 days in between. We know that the Messiah was 00:14:41.980 --> 00:14:47.740 born, that a son was born, and his name was Jesus 00:14:47.740 --> 00:14:51.340 Christ. When the angel appeared to Joseph, he 00:14:51.340 --> 00:14:56.240 said, you're going to name him Jesus. The Lord 00:14:56.240 --> 00:15:01.200 saves. And so many words we see throughout Scripture 00:15:01.200 --> 00:15:06.259 describe who Jesus is and what Jesus does and 00:15:06.259 --> 00:15:11.379 what he accomplishes. Jesus was his name, but 00:15:11.379 --> 00:15:14.779 he is God with us. He is the Lord who saves us. 00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:18.539 We see in Isaiah some of these words that describe 00:15:18.539 --> 00:15:23.379 the Messiah. And his name shall be called Wonderful. 00:15:25.250 --> 00:15:29.250 counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting father, 00:15:29.309 --> 00:15:36.990 the prince of peace. Isn't Jesus wonderful? The 00:15:36.990 --> 00:15:39.750 words of Isaiah 2, Jesus is wonderful and the 00:15:39.750 --> 00:15:41.769 only way you will ever know that is when you 00:15:41.769 --> 00:15:45.250 follow him. If you don't know Jesus today, you 00:15:45.250 --> 00:15:49.169 don't have a clue of how wonderful he is. But 00:15:49.169 --> 00:15:51.210 the moment you realize that you are a sinner 00:15:51.210 --> 00:15:54.590 in need of a savior, The moment that you ask 00:15:54.590 --> 00:15:57.110 Jesus to forgive you of your sins, the moment 00:15:57.110 --> 00:16:00.049 that you trust in him, the moment that you realize 00:16:00.049 --> 00:16:02.889 that the Messiah has been born, and not only 00:16:02.889 --> 00:16:05.309 was he born for you, but he died for you, the 00:16:05.309 --> 00:16:07.649 moment that you realize the truth of the gospel 00:16:07.649 --> 00:16:13.070 of Jesus Christ, what a wonderful moment that 00:16:13.070 --> 00:16:17.889 is. The Savior that has come shall be called 00:16:17.889 --> 00:16:22.429 wonderful. Counselor. He's going to be called 00:16:22.429 --> 00:16:25.649 counselor. He's going to be one who leads and 00:16:25.649 --> 00:16:28.809 who guides and instructs you in the way to go 00:16:28.809 --> 00:16:32.690 in life. And that is what we need because life 00:16:32.690 --> 00:16:35.870 pulls and tosses us and stretches us in so many 00:16:35.870 --> 00:16:38.450 different directions. And there are so many times 00:16:38.450 --> 00:16:41.929 we say, I don't know what to do. I don't know 00:16:41.929 --> 00:16:44.009 what to do. I don't know what decision to make. 00:16:44.379 --> 00:16:46.519 I don't know what to do about my family. I don't 00:16:46.519 --> 00:16:48.299 know what to do about my job. I don't know what 00:16:48.299 --> 00:16:50.399 to do about my church. I don't know what to do 00:16:50.399 --> 00:16:53.679 about my health. I don't know what to do, God. 00:16:56.259 --> 00:16:58.419 And the only way that we can know what to do 00:16:58.419 --> 00:17:03.159 is by seeking the Lord and by being reminded 00:17:03.159 --> 00:17:07.319 that Jesus is wonderful and he's our counselor. 00:17:07.789 --> 00:17:09.970 And through the Holy Spirit, God would guide 00:17:09.970 --> 00:17:12.529 us if we would seek the Word of God, if we would 00:17:12.529 --> 00:17:15.329 listen to the Spirit of God. He wants to instruct 00:17:15.329 --> 00:17:17.609 and guide us in our life. Maybe there are decisions 00:17:17.609 --> 00:17:20.250 that you need to make today, and maybe you need 00:17:20.250 --> 00:17:23.170 to realize that you're not going to know what 00:17:23.170 --> 00:17:26.430 to do until you start listening to the Lord. 00:17:27.509 --> 00:17:30.170 Maybe you've been listening to your own ideas 00:17:30.170 --> 00:17:32.650 and your own thoughts, and you've gone your own 00:17:32.650 --> 00:17:35.630 paths only to discover that they leave you in 00:17:35.630 --> 00:17:40.390 a bad place. But the child who was born to us, 00:17:40.529 --> 00:17:44.390 the wonderful, the counselor, is the one who 00:17:44.390 --> 00:17:48.930 will guide you on the right paths. His name will 00:17:48.930 --> 00:17:54.990 be called Mighty God, Eternal Father. Jesus is 00:17:54.990 --> 00:17:58.190 mighty. He is eternal. Everything was created 00:17:58.190 --> 00:18:01.809 through him, for him, by him, through him. He's 00:18:01.809 --> 00:18:04.829 the Alpha and Omega, another term, another title 00:18:04.829 --> 00:18:07.609 that we see applied to Jesus. He is the beginning, 00:18:07.910 --> 00:18:11.170 He is the end, and He is everything in between. 00:18:11.549 --> 00:18:16.089 He is eternal. He will never, ever disappear. 00:18:16.589 --> 00:18:22.569 He has always been, He will always be. That's 00:18:22.569 --> 00:18:25.009 the kind of person that we want to follow, right? 00:18:25.849 --> 00:18:28.269 Not somebody that's here today and gone tomorrow 00:18:28.269 --> 00:18:33.329 and there's only one. Who is eternal? God the 00:18:33.329 --> 00:18:37.490 Father and Jesus Christ the Son. That's who we 00:18:37.490 --> 00:18:42.970 need to follow in our life. He will be named 00:18:42.970 --> 00:18:48.390 the Prince of Peace. What a great promise. The 00:18:48.390 --> 00:18:51.630 Prince of Peace. Now you can speak that promise 00:18:51.630 --> 00:18:55.069 to any generation throughout any time in world 00:18:55.069 --> 00:18:57.859 history. And that would be something that people 00:18:57.859 --> 00:19:00.140 long for. There has never been a time in the 00:19:00.140 --> 00:19:03.339 history of the world that everyone has been at 00:19:03.339 --> 00:19:05.920 peace. Maybe sometimes they've been better than 00:19:05.920 --> 00:19:09.119 others. Boy, you look around our world today. 00:19:09.720 --> 00:19:14.720 You see a lot of peace? Not at all. There's constantly 00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:19.099 conflict and disagreements and arguments. There's 00:19:19.099 --> 00:19:21.480 troubles that we have at work. There's troubles 00:19:21.480 --> 00:19:24.759 that we see on the news. There's... Sometimes 00:19:24.759 --> 00:19:28.099 chaos in our spirit. Not just externally, but 00:19:28.099 --> 00:19:30.980 internally we don't have peace. Because of our 00:19:30.980 --> 00:19:33.099 stresses and because of our sins and because 00:19:33.099 --> 00:19:35.059 of our worries and because of our struggles. 00:19:37.000 --> 00:19:39.940 But what we really need in our world, more than 00:19:39.940 --> 00:19:44.740 anything, is peace. What we need in our spirit 00:19:44.740 --> 00:19:50.299 is peace. And where does peace come from? It 00:19:50.299 --> 00:19:53.440 comes through Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. 00:19:54.640 --> 00:19:56.980 It doesn't come through our stockings filled 00:19:56.980 --> 00:20:01.599 with gifts. It doesn't come through our sausage 00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:04.039 balls and through our time with family and through 00:20:04.039 --> 00:20:06.099 all of the things that we have. It doesn't come 00:20:06.099 --> 00:20:10.180 through that. They may bring us some momentary 00:20:10.180 --> 00:20:13.819 enjoyment. Praise the Lord. That's great. But 00:20:13.819 --> 00:20:16.079 the real peace that we need, the real peace that 00:20:16.079 --> 00:20:18.279 we desire, the real peace that we seek today, 00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:22.940 it comes through Jesus Christ and Christ alone. 00:20:24.299 --> 00:20:27.740 The scripture refers to Jesus as the light of 00:20:27.740 --> 00:20:32.119 the world. So many times in our life, perhaps, 00:20:32.119 --> 00:20:35.819 we walk in darkness. Boy, it sure does seem like 00:20:35.819 --> 00:20:38.900 there's a lot of darkness in our world. But the 00:20:38.900 --> 00:20:42.460 darkness will not overcome the light. Maybe there's 00:20:42.460 --> 00:20:44.380 darkness in your life today, but I want to tell 00:20:44.380 --> 00:20:47.880 you that Jesus Christ wants to give you hope 00:20:47.880 --> 00:20:51.460 that he died on the cross so that your sins could 00:20:51.460 --> 00:20:55.769 be forgiven. And that is the gift of God. The 00:20:55.769 --> 00:20:59.349 wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is 00:20:59.349 --> 00:21:02.670 eternal life through Jesus Christ. And there 00:21:02.670 --> 00:21:06.410 is no greater gift. So this year, when you're 00:21:06.410 --> 00:21:11.369 opening up your gifts, let us remember what gift 00:21:11.369 --> 00:21:13.869 is more important than any gift that we have 00:21:13.869 --> 00:21:18.390 ever received, and that is Jesus Christ. The 00:21:18.390 --> 00:21:21.369 question you must answer is, have you received 00:21:21.369 --> 00:21:25.509 that gift? Now a gift is only good if you receive 00:21:25.509 --> 00:21:28.470 it. You can buy a gift. You can give a gift. 00:21:29.170 --> 00:21:33.210 You can leave a gift at someone's doorstep. But 00:21:33.210 --> 00:21:35.950 if they don't open it, what good is it to them? 00:21:37.589 --> 00:21:42.609 Jesus Christ has come. He was born unto us. He 00:21:42.609 --> 00:21:45.529 is the Prince of Peace that we seek today. He 00:21:45.529 --> 00:21:48.250 is the greatest gift that God could ever give. 00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:51.740 That Jesus would die on a cross so that our sins 00:21:51.740 --> 00:21:56.640 could be forgiven. It has been paid for through 00:21:56.640 --> 00:22:00.960 Jesus' blood. He didn't just give the gift, He 00:22:00.960 --> 00:22:05.680 is the gift. He gave Himself. It has been presented 00:22:05.680 --> 00:22:08.279 to you through the Word of God, through the Gospel 00:22:08.279 --> 00:22:10.920 of Jesus Christ, that you would know today that 00:22:10.920 --> 00:22:15.180 Jesus loves you. That He wants to forgive your 00:22:15.180 --> 00:22:21.019 sins. The gift is available. to you today? Have 00:22:21.019 --> 00:22:23.240 you received it? If so, then you need to rejoice 00:22:23.240 --> 00:22:28.099 in it. If you haven't received it, here's your 00:22:28.099 --> 00:22:32.559 invitation. Will you be like so many in Scripture 00:22:32.559 --> 00:22:36.059 that saw the gift of God and turned and went 00:22:36.059 --> 00:22:39.579 the other way? That rejected the truth of the 00:22:39.579 --> 00:22:43.900 Messiah? Will you follow the way of so many of 00:22:43.900 --> 00:22:48.880 these we see in the story of Jesus' birth? People 00:22:48.880 --> 00:22:52.319 who hear the Messiah has come and they rejoice. 00:22:53.519 --> 00:22:59.099 People who seek the King and find him. The greatest 00:22:59.099 --> 00:23:01.119 gift that's ever been given is available today 00:23:01.119 --> 00:23:04.119 and I pray that you would seek him this morning. 00:23:04.460 --> 00:23:07.759 Let's pray. God, we come to you today. We thank 00:23:07.759 --> 00:23:10.900 you for your good word. I pray, dear Lord, that 00:23:10.900 --> 00:23:13.099 you would help us to enjoy our time that we have 00:23:13.099 --> 00:23:16.240 with family and friends this year. All the good 00:23:16.240 --> 00:23:18.319 food we'll eat and the good gifts that we get. 00:23:18.460 --> 00:23:21.140 And we thank you that we just are blessed in 00:23:21.140 --> 00:23:23.819 such ways that we can enjoy those things together. 00:23:25.259 --> 00:23:28.160 God, I pray for those that maybe this is a tough 00:23:28.160 --> 00:23:31.079 Christmas. Maybe they're memories of the past 00:23:31.079 --> 00:23:34.099 that bring sadness. I pray that you just bring 00:23:34.099 --> 00:23:37.480 comfort to the folks that may be struggling that 00:23:37.480 --> 00:23:42.109 way. But God, more than anything, I pray. that 00:23:42.109 --> 00:23:44.589 we always remember the greatest gift of Jesus 00:23:44.589 --> 00:23:48.829 Christ. Not just today, not just on Christmas, 00:23:48.930 --> 00:23:53.829 dear Lord, but that we recognize how wonderful 00:23:53.829 --> 00:23:58.650 of a gift Jesus is every day, dear Lord. That 00:23:58.650 --> 00:24:02.410 we are never allowed Jesus to be overshadowed 00:24:02.410 --> 00:24:06.990 by the things of this world. And there's lots 00:24:06.990 --> 00:24:10.710 of them, dear Lord. They are thrown at us every 00:24:10.710 --> 00:24:13.859 day. But I pray, God, that you would always help 00:24:13.859 --> 00:24:16.940 us to be grounded. Help us to know the days that 00:24:16.940 --> 00:24:19.099 we kind of start to stray and turn from you. 00:24:19.140 --> 00:24:23.519 That you'd grab a hold of us. That we would seek 00:24:23.519 --> 00:24:25.440 you. That we would come back to you, dear Lord. 00:24:26.519 --> 00:24:28.880 God, if there are some today that are already 00:24:28.880 --> 00:24:30.960 yours and they've received the gift of Jesus 00:24:30.960 --> 00:24:33.119 Christ, I pray that they would rejoice in that 00:24:33.119 --> 00:24:36.460 today. But maybe there are some in this room 00:24:36.460 --> 00:24:38.759 and maybe they've been to church a lot. Maybe 00:24:38.759 --> 00:24:40.940 they've heard the scriptures about Jesus a lot. 00:24:41.390 --> 00:24:44.329 Maybe they know all the stories and all the stuff, 00:24:44.329 --> 00:24:47.769 dear Lord, but maybe they've never accepted that 00:24:47.769 --> 00:24:51.450 gift of Jesus Christ. Maybe today they realize 00:24:51.450 --> 00:24:55.589 for the first time that they are a sinner and 00:24:55.589 --> 00:24:59.109 that their sins are just so heavy on them. And 00:24:59.109 --> 00:25:00.910 they just feel the weight of that. But God, I 00:25:00.910 --> 00:25:03.069 pray that you would help them to know today that 00:25:03.069 --> 00:25:07.069 there is peace in Jesus Christ, that the Prince 00:25:07.069 --> 00:25:10.849 of Peace has come. That he came, that he gave 00:25:10.849 --> 00:25:13.130 his life on a cross so that they could be forgiven. 00:25:14.309 --> 00:25:16.529 So God, I pray that if there are some that have 00:25:16.529 --> 00:25:19.609 not received the gift of love and of grace through 00:25:19.609 --> 00:25:21.789 Jesus, that the day that they would repent, that 00:25:21.789 --> 00:25:24.390 is turn from their ways that they're living, 00:25:24.490 --> 00:25:27.029 that they would turn to Jesus, that they would 00:25:27.029 --> 00:25:28.990 pray right now that you'd forgive them, dear 00:25:28.990 --> 00:25:32.289 Lord. They would accept Jesus as their Lord and 00:25:32.289 --> 00:25:35.529 Savior and receive the greatest gift ever given. 00:25:36.720 --> 00:25:38.960 And I ask these things in Jesus' name.