Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton. Here you'll find practical, relevant, biblical information.
The Bible will be broken down verse by verse so that you get the full context of the scripture to better grow in your relationship with Jesus.
Good morning everybody. Welcome. It's good to see everybody here. It's great to, you know, also, well, I should, I should,
I'd be remiss if I didn't say, excuse me, got trip hazards here, my lovely dog.
I'd be remiss if I didn't welcome everybody who's joining us online as well and those who listen to us on the podcast and everything as well.
So welcome, welcome to our sanctuary. Thank you for joining us.
With that said, let us pray.
Lord, we thank you for bringing us together here today and for this time with you as we grow in your word.
We ask that you help us to open our hearts and our minds to what you have to tell us.
And we ask that you show us how to apply it in our daily lives. Amen.
Alright, so as you enter today, I'm sure you noticed we have some decorations up. We've got a little nativity going on.
So thank you to everybody that helped out with that.
Veterans Ministry helped out with pulling stuff out and then, of course, you know, a little bit of help last night as well.
You know, my lovely wife over there with her attention to detail and everything, because, well, let's face it, I'm a guy other than stapling things in and doing
brute damage. I don't always have the keenest eye for some of the stuff.
So rearranging some of the plants and stuff, too, is always a good thing. So, you know, thank you to everybody, though, who helped out with that.
It's very nice.
With that said, you know, we don't have a whole lot of decorations on our tree over here.
We do have lots of lyes and some garland. There's only a few ornaments.
So I bring that up because I would like to encourage everybody, if you have an ornament or some kind of decoration that you would like to bring for our
church family tree, please bring it in and feel free to just go ahead and throw it up on there.
Also, as you came in, I'm sure you noticed we have a very nice new rug out here in our coffee bar area that was donated by the Criley family.
So, you know, we definitely thank them for that generous donation as well.
You know, Lord knows we've needed that for a long time.
So good things are happening. A lot of wonderful things.
The giving season is definitely hitting its stride.
All right. Now, of course, we're off and running. We're going through December now.
You know, this is a period that the Christian community refers to as Advent.
All right. Now, if you're not familiar with this term, simple as definition, it's a Christian season in which we gather and prepare
and we celebrate the coming of Christ.
All right. And needless to say, various denominations and everything have different traditions that fall in as well.
Remember last week, we started talking a little bit about traditions.
And, you know, just like everybody else, like I was already talking about, you know, decorations, clothing, music, food,
this general change is an attitude. You know, it's just that time of year. A lot of people tend to be a little bit more chipper.
They tend to be nicer than they are the rest of the year.
You know, people travel, you know, friends, family, all that kind of stuff.
You know, and this is all a good thing. It should be a good thing. These are things that we should be doing.
Absolutely. In our preparations, however, we need to be mindful.
Right? Should always be mindful anyway.
But, you know, to start with, though, we're going to kind of reflect here a little bit.
Just a couple weeks ago, we were talking about Mary and Martha.
So at this point, I'd encourage everybody to go ahead and open up our Bibles or Bible app, whatever it is that you use.
Let's turn to Luke chapter 10 verse 40. All right. So Luke 10 verse 40.
All right. And like I said, it's just kind of a little refresher, a little flashback, if you will.
The word says, But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached him and said,
Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?
Therefore, tell her to help me.
See, what happened to Martha and what happens to a lot of us is we get so tied up in the decorations and the pomp and the circumstance
and doing this and doing that, that we lose track of what Christmas is really about.
Right? What the season is really about.
We're so focused on this to-do list that we have in front of us that we change from being a worshiper
to a legalist caught up in the hurricane and what the world says we need to be doing.
And it's really not what we should be doing.
You know, we get caught up in that storm.
Our eyes come off of Jesus and we forget the most important thing.
Right. The reason for the season, the reason, of course, is Jesus.
You know, and because of that, we lose that that joy that comes from knowing that the King is coming.
Right. Last week even, we looked at John the Baptist and his actions were actually prophesied hundreds of years earlier in Isaiah chapter 40, verse 3.
So Isaiah 40, verse 3, the Bible says,
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
This is also the same thing that's being referred to in the first few verses of Mark in chapter 1.
If we go to Mark chapter 1, specifically, if we just glance at verses 2 and 3, the word says,
As it is written in the prophets, behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.
The voice of the one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
This is a, you know, it's a big thing coming from Isaiah and even being repeated in Mark.
Because for hundreds of years, people found great comfort and great joy as they looked to the coming of the Messiah.
They knew he was coming and it was a good, you know, our great comforter at work, right?
And not only that, but knowing that God keeps his promises that there's salvation for those who trust in him.
Now, in both these places, you know, it's saying make his paths straight.
Not crooked, not crisscross, no ups and downs, straight.
This is an early rally cry to the people to change their ways, to repent of all the stuff that they're doing wrong.
All these places where they've fallen short, right?
This isn't, you know, one of those like, oh, it's going to be okay, God forgives.
You know, people like to say that today, oh, God forgives.
Yeah, God forgives, but you know what?
It's not an excuse or a hall pass to just go out and do what you want.
It doesn't work that way.
That's why we're told, repent, change your ways.
When John went out, repent, change your ways.
The Lord is coming, right?
And that's exactly what's going on here.
Instead, you know, what we need to be focused on is establishing that relationship with God,
seeking his forgiveness for all of those shortcomings.
You know, that's what they needed to do then and it's no different today.
It's no different today at all.
You know, it's the Christmas season.
We should be happy.
We should be rejoicing.
We should be joyful, right?
You know, the Christmas carols, joyful and triumphant and all that, you know, right?
This is a season of good cheer.
And you know, we should be preparing, absolutely.
You know, bring out the decor.
Bring out the music.
Bring out the sweaters, ugly and otherwise.
You know, depending on the colors, it might be pretty on somebody and ugly on somebody else.
Who knows?
You know, but you know, bring it all out.
You know, it's Christmas.
And Christmas itself, it's not just about the birth of Christ.
It's not.
That's what we focus on.
And don't get me wrong, I mean, the holiday season, it's here and yes, it is about his birth,
but that's not all it's about.
Because it's just as much about his birth and humble beginnings as it is about his second coming,
his return.
We get so caught up in one thing, we get hyper focused and we forget about that.
That tunnel vision sets in.
We get so caught up in, oh, baby Jesus, right?
What was that?
Was that Wolf Farrow movie?
It's like, oh, I like the baby Jesus.
This is my favorite, right?
Everybody's just like, oh, it's adorable, it's cute.
And we take our eyes off the ball.
We forget.
There's so much more to it.
It's not just this one little piece.
Turn with me to Luke 12, verses 37 and 38.
So we're going to go to Luke chapter 12, verses 37 and 38.
And Jesus tells us, blessed will be those servants.
The master finds alert when he comes.
Truly, I tell you, he will get ready, have them recline at the table, then come and serve them.
If he comes in the middle of night or even near dawn and finds them alert, blessed are those servants.
So we're making that straight path, right?
We're laying that foundation for his path through this world.
Everything we say, everything that we do, our interactions with people, the way we live our lives,
these are all things that are used to point the way to Jesus, the path of light.
Remember I was using that analogy the other day about moving and reflecting those mirrors and everything,
and how light just kind of bounces through?
Come on in, guys.
But the light kind of bounces through the tunnels and the caves and illuminates things and everything, right?
Do those lights today zigzag as they're going from point A to point B or any of that kind of stuff?
No.
They go straight, boom, boom, boom, boom, right?
It's a straight path everywhere it goes, and we're doing the same thing.
Remember, we reflect that light, you know?
And these are all things that are used by him, for him, because all things are by him and for him.
So we're celebrating the birth of Christ, but we're also celebrating the fact that he is going to return.
It's promised. It's been foretold.
We know it's going to happen.
So with that said, you think about it.
You have people all around the world.
They're looking the part.
They're talking the part.
All the outward appearance are there, the pomp and the circumstances there, but are they walking the part?
Where are they inside?
What's that inward part? Where are their hearts at?
Where are their minds truly at?
We see this so much.
People say one thing, but their intention and where their hearts are is somewhere else.
It's not where it should be.
It's not on the goal.
Everything's right in front of us.
Yet so many people, they turn into Clark Griswold.
I think most of us are familiar with that movie.
It comes on every year.
It's probably already been on cable once or twice already.
They're already talking about it at work.
But what do we have here?
We have the whole family gathered together.
It's supposed to be this joyful, happy thing, and things start happening.
Things aren't perfect.
So there's some little bickering.
Go out to get a Christmas tree.
What happens? Oh, we forgot to saw.
Let's just uproot it.
We have squirrels.
We have animals chasing each other around the house.
The post on the landing at the top of the stairs isn't just right.
So what happens?
He gets his chainsaw.
Cuts that sucker down.
Or at least the loose part.
He cuts the head of it off.
Just going up.
Everything's building and building and building.
The tension is building and building and building.
Here's the family.
They're all going out.
They're going shopping or something.
And what happens?
Clark is so focused on what he needs to get done.
This needs to be done and this needs to be done.
What happens?
He gets locked up in the attic, right?
Can't even get out.
Starts freezing to death.
So he's pulling out his mom's and his wife's old clothing and bundling up and all this stuff,
trying to stay warm, looking goofy.
And he comes across an old video.
Kind of reminds me of the old days.
Brings a smile to his face.
And then he falls right back into it.
And that tension builds and builds and builds.
And then comes the final straw that breaks the camel's back.
And what happens?
He unleashes a tirade.
A profanity ridden vulgar tirade.
Throwing things.
Kicking things.
The whole bit.
Granted, it gave one relative a great idea for a gift, right?
Brought the police out.
But, you know.
For us, it's a movie.
It's humor.
And unfortunately, this is what happens in real life, too.
I think of my dad losing his temper.
Oh, here's somebody's mug.
Oh, out the window it goes.
Right?
You know, matter of fact, just the other day, somebody posted a picture up.
Of a brand new hole in their wall.
Somebody thought that they were Mike Tyson and their prime.
And I'd venture to say that as much as the wall lost, their hand probably lost more.
But it happens.
The focus is gone.
Instead of being focused on where it should be and all the joyful things and the things that should be bringing us happiness,
it's somewhere else.
And odds are, it's happened to people in this room.
At least once.
Not necessarily during the holiday season.
But it's happened, right?
Things happen, we lose control.
We don't act the way that we should.
We don't act the way Jesus has told us to.
We're not preparing the way.
We're not making that path straight.
Instead, we're throwing obstacles in it.
We're making things hard.
So in this season especially, this is a time that we need to step back and recalibrate.
We need to make sure that the reason for this season is what comes first.
Remember we were talking about the analogy of the cook and the rabbit.
First things first, get the rabbit.
Same thing.
First things first, Jesus.
Jesus, are we living in such a way?
Are we talking in such a way?
Are we treating people in such a way that all reflect Christ in our lives?
Are we putting him first?
The first thing is, was and always will be Jesus.
If you would, turn with me to 1 Peter chapter 2.
So 1 Peter chapter 2 verses 4 and 5.
The word tells us, come to him as a living stone, rejected indeed by men,
but chosen by God and precious.
You also as living stones are being built up in a spiritual house,
a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Christ, our cornerstone.
You hear this in a lot of songs.
Christ, my cornerstone.
The one who's our foundation, our rock, the one that we are built up on.
First things first, Jesus.
And then we're built up through him in the Holy Spirit.
So it's paramount that we keep him at the forefront,
that we make sure that he is the base of everything and never take our focus off of that.
Once he's there, then we can start building up.
There we can go into the world.
But what good is a house without a foundation?
First time a storm comes through, the winds pick up.
It's not going to last very long, is it?
I kind of get this picture in my head.
I got red fox going over and leaning on it.
This thing is collapsing.
I might have dated myself a little bit there.
Just a little.
So we've got to keep that in mind.
So going into the next point here now.
So let's turn now to 1 Peter chapter 3.
So we're just going to go back one chapter.
So 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 15.
So in 1 Peter 3, 15, the word says,
But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.
As Christians, it's on us to tell the world about our hope.
We shouldn't be afraid.
In fact, if we've truly opened our hearts to Jesus, we're not afraid.
Because that place that's in us, that hole, where that spirit of fear goes and hides and tugs at our little heartstrings, isn't filled with fear.
It can't be filled with fear because it's filled with the Holy Spirit.
And where the Holy Spirit resides, the enemy and his tools cannot be.
They can't coexist together.
God can't be where sin is.
What's fear?
When we look at it in this context, it's looking at life without looking at God in the picture.
Losing sight of the most precious person that we should have in our lives.
So when we're focused on Christ, it becomes a whole lot easier to tell others about him.
We don't have that fear amongst us anymore.
There's a stark difference between being afraid of something and having nerves.
I'm pretty sure everybody in here has gone swimming.
The first time you get in that pool, you're scared, but after a while, you learn how to swim.
The first time you go off the diving board, it's a little scary, but then after that, you're like, oh, this isn't so bad.
Let me go again and again and again.
And then you go up on that high dive.
You're like, OK, the story's changed again.
I'll heck with it.
I'm going.
I can fly!
Cannonball!
Right?
It's not so scary anymore.
It's like now you're up there and that board might be a little wobbly.
A little breeze comes along.
It's like, OK, not so easy to keep my balance.
It might make you a little nervous, right?
Because nobody wants to fall and look like a clown, right?
You want to go up there and have that perfect dive.
Go running off and do that macho man elbow.
Try to land on our brother.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, right?
But it's the same thing.
It's so much easier to talk to people about Christ because then we go out and it's like, you know what?
Let me tell you about Jesus.
Let me tell you what he has done in my life and how that's given me hope, how that has healed me, right?
How that has changed me and how that's changed my life and how I know he's done all this for me.
I know he can do things for you as well.
Right?
It's why we have that unexplainable peace in our hearts when everybody else around us is going around pulling out hair, you know, just absolutely going bonkers.
We're able to rest like, you know what?
It's in God's hands.
It's going to be OK.
I'm going to go take a nap.
Whereas these guys, they're trying to sleep with one eye open.
They're waiting for that other shoe to drop.
Like, ah, it's coming.
Something bad is coming.
I don't know what it is, but it's coming.
The difference is literally because we are filled with the Holy Spirit and no longer have that spirit of fear within us.
Instead, because we have this Holy Spirit, we are wrapped up in the warmth of his love and his caring about how we go through our lives and guiding our steps.
And so we were able to draw comfort from the fact that we know we're safe in his loving hands.
You know, John the Baptist, he had a mission.
What was it?
Go out and preach repentance and that the Lord is coming.
It was a mission.
It was his purpose.
Missions and purpose never take a break.
And you know what?
We have the same mission.
We have the exact same mission.
This is one of those places called the Great Commission.
It's one of those terms that's thrown out, people don't explain what it is.
They're just like, oh, you're a new Christian.
Guess what?
You should know the Great Commission.
Moving on.
No.
It doesn't work that way.
We need to train people up.
People need to understand what's going on here.
Right?
The Great Commission, it didn't just fall on him.
It falls on us as well.
We as believers, as Christians, as followers of Christ, should be going out and telling people, hey, no, that's wrong.
You need to repent from your sin.
You need to turn away.
You need to change the way you're doing things.
You need to change the way you're going through life.
You need to do things differently.
And here's why.
And Christ is coming again.
Christ came.
He died.
He rose again.
He ascended and he is returning.
It's that little piece of the gospel a lot of people forget about.
Right?
The Christmas story.
He came.
He died.
He rose again.
He ascended and he is returning.
So we're not just preparing to celebrate the birth of Christ.
We're also celebrating his return.
You know, it's when it comes to this season, this isn't just yes, it's joyful, it's cheerful, it should be.
But this is a ramp up for us as Christians in the spiritual war of good and evil.
It really is.
Because this time of year, this is where we ramp up and our voices really come out.
We get loud.
Love Jesus.
Jesus is the reason we're going out.
I'm hanging up my wreath.
I'm putting up my tree and I'm putting a big old cross up on top of it.
I'm putting lights up on my house and every time somebody drives past it, they're going to be reminded, hey, this is a Christmas season.
And when they think about it, they're going to realize, hey, it's Christmas.
What is Christmas?
Oh, yes, Jesus.
Period.
It is a frontal assault by us on the enemy.
We're putting the light into the world.
Even in the darkness, our Christmas lights are a light in the darkness.
Someone just has to drive by and they can see it.
Whether they're a believer or not, they think about it.
Deep down inside, they have conviction.
They know what's right.
They know what's going on.
They know what the truth is.
Whether they want to deny it or not, they can deny, deny, deny, but you know what?
It's still there.
They're still staring them in the eye going, ha, ha, ha, sucker, I'm not going nowhere.
Like it or not.
Love me.
Again, great commission.
We have a mission.
We have a purpose.
So let's take a little bit more of a look at that.
Let's go to Matthew 28 verses 16 through 20.
So Matthew 28, 16 through 20.
If you're not too familiar with the great commission, this right here, this is it.
So highlight it, underline it, put a bookmark, whatever.
The word tells us, then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.
When they saw him, they worshiped him.
But some doubted.
Then Jesus came to them and said, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
And teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.
This is great commission.
Our mission.
Commanded by Jesus.
Now this isn't one of those little recordings that's going to explode.
You're a mission, should you choose to accept it, no, you're a believer, you're a follower of Christ.
Guess what?
You're a mission.
Do it.
That's what it is.
And we notice here that Jesus tells them to go out to all nations, to go out to the whole world.
Not your back door, not to your neighbors, not just to work, over to your buddies.
Take it to everybody.
Part of the joy of this season, like I said, we're putting up lights, we're putting up decorations.
Guess what?
We're putting it in the world's face.
This is that one time when we're getting up close and personal and people don't even realize it.
You know, people wonder, you look at suicide statistics, especially this time of year.
One of the biggest reasons is people don't feel that they have a purpose.
And they don't feel like they have a purpose because they don't know Christ.
They don't know the Bible.
They haven't truly heard the testimony.
They've just heard, oh, this verse, this verse, this verse, and they've had it beaten in their head.
But they don't truly know.
And because they don't know, they don't know that we have this mission.
And so they go around and they feel empty.
They feel empty because the Holy Spirit's not there.
They haven't invited him in.
They haven't accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
But this is it right here.
This is our purpose, to go to the world and tell them Jesus died, rose again, ascended, and is returning.
Period.
He's returning for all those who believe and trust in him.
You know, with so much hurt in the world, with so much ugliness, so much pain, with so many lost in the world,
with the spiritual forces of darkness just closing in and putting the world in this chokehold, right?
You have to stop.
You have to ask yourself, what are you doing to tell others about Christ in you?
What are you doing to introduce people to Jesus?
What are you doing to shine his light so people could come to it?
Because his light, it's like a mosquito to a flame, right?
We as people are the same.
We see his light.
We know the truth.
We know that this is a welcoming, comforting place.
The difference is unlike a mosquito, we're not going to die.
We'll die here, but we're not going to die there.
You know, we're promised eternity.
Up until a few years ago, my personal phone, pull this out, if you were to pick it up, give me a call.
I had a ringback tone, a color tune, whatever you want to call it.
There's different names for it.
But if you called me, you knew that you had the right number because for what, almost 20 years, like two decades,
I had the same song as my little tune.
So instead of hearing the ring, ring, you got to hear Sam and Dave's, hold on, I'm coming.
All right, hold on, you know, get little Blues Brothers tune in there.
This is my go-to tune.
Unfortunately, that feature was retired by most companies just a couple years ago.
My company just last year, that went away.
So now if you call me, it's very boring.
It's ring, ring, ring, ring.
Now it's my ringtone, though.
So if you call me, everybody in the house is going to know it's my phone that someone's calling me because what are you going to hear?
That's right.
Hold on, I'm coming.
There's not a doubt.
In fact, sometimes people probably get kind of get tired of it.
It's you again.
Right.
But that was it.
You know, it's it's.
In fact, some of you, if you've been near me, you've heard my phone is going off.
You're going to hear the tune.
It happens.
Just not up here because I have my do not disturb turned on.
So no one's getting through.
Sometimes. Hey, I tried calling.
I tried texting.
Sorry.
Chirped it off.
I couldn't hear it.
It doesn't even vibrate.
Keep this in mind.
We're going to come back to it.
All right.
This I shared this for a purpose.
Well, you would turn with me to First John, Chapter two, verse 18.
So First John, Chapter two, verse 18, the word says, Dear children, this is the last hour.
And as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now, many Antichrist have come.
This is how we know it's the last hour.
So think about if it was the last hour, then with all the time that's gone by since.
We're minutes away, a minute seconds away.
We don't know, but we're certainly less than an hour away, aren't we?
The time has come, which, you know, this is this place is this is a warning right here that we need to be vigilant as Christians.
We have to be vigilant because there are and we already see false leaders, false Christians, and all these people who rise up and they're trying to lure away the weak Christians, people who are new in their walk.
You know, people sometimes refer to as baby Christians.
Right.
We've all been there.
We were new.
We didn't really know a whole lot.
So it's real easy to kind of pull us away because we were still learning.
And for us with ourselves, we still are.
It's a lifelong pursuit.
She won't truly know everything until we're there with the father.
But that's what you know, in this time, this is one of the biggest things Christians.
You know, are being pulled away.
They're being deceived.
And this veil is basically being put over their eyes to keep them from truly seeing Christ.
Instead, they're seeing the Antichrist.
And it sounds good and it feels good.
So I could it sounds good and it feels good.
They equate it to all of it looks like a duck.
And it walks like a duck.
It's a duck.
Not necessarily the case.
Now, you go to Pastor Mark's house, they have what was it called?
McKeezy some weird name.
It's not it's not a wascovy.
Not really a duck, but similar to a duck.
But you think about it, even at a small age, when you're a little, little kid and it happened to all of us.
Oh, look, it's a duck.
And we all heard the story of the ugly duckling, right?
And what did the ugly duckling turn out to be?
Not even a duck at all.
Yeah, what type of waterfowl, but not a duck.
Oh, big mistake.
Some people that's easier to learn than others.
And that's why it's so important that we go out and we talk to people and we tell them the truth.
We introduce them to the truth.
So people will stop putting their faith in men where it doesn't belong and governments where it doesn't belong and start putting their faith and their trust in Jesus.
The one person it truly does belong in.
You know, it's in the season.
It's not like I said, we don't just tell them it's about the birth of Jesus. It's also about his impending return. And it can be at any moment.
It can happen while we're here in the service. It can happen afterwards and we're on our way home.
It can happen a week or years from now. We don't know.
We all might be in the grave.
Buried, waking up to our creator before that day ever happens here.
We don't know.
So just like the song on my phone, Jesus is telling us the same thing.
Hold on. I'm coming.
There we go.
Just feeling it. I like it.
And we can see Jesus telling us the same thing when we turn to Revelation chapter 22.
We turn to Revelation chapter 22 verse 20.
It's one of the last verses in the Bible.
I believe it is the next to last verse in the Bible.
Where it says, he who testifies to these things says, surely I am coming quickly.
Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus.
Come Lord Jesus.
Hold on. I'm coming.
He's finishing up what he's doing. What's he doing?
For each believer, he's making a place for us, right?
Now, it's not going to be easy.
After all, we are on the front lines in the war of light and darkness.
We're putting on that armor of God.
We're reaching down and we're picking up that shield of faith.
And then we're reaching down over here and we're drawing out that sword of the spirit.
And we're walking over to the devil.
We're getting up in his face. I'm going to bring it.
Let's do this. Come on. I'm ready.
God's got my back. How about you?
I didn't think so. You're in trouble.
I'm bringing it.
We have to change our perspective. We have to remember that's what we're doing in this season.
Bring it! It's Christmas time.
My Lord's come and he's coming back.
You're not going to like it when he gets here.
When you see him riding in on that horse, it's going to be a bad day for you.
Unless you're on this side.
Right? That's what we're telling the devil.
The devil ain't coming over.
All the fallen angels, aka demons, all the non-believers, those who refuse to admit to the truth,
or even give it the time of day.
See, we need to be more like John, the Baptist.
John, if you think about it, very much like Mary.
We just talked about Mary and Martha, right?
Where was Mary? At the feet of Jesus.
Focused. I'm ready. Fill me up, Lord. I'm hungry.
Feed me with that word.
John was the same way. Hey, I got a mission. I got stuff to do.
Get out the way. I'm going to work.
There's stuff going on.
There's something much more important than all this nonsense, all this garbage that the news is putting up in front of us,
all this hogwash coming out in the movies or music or whatever, right?
It's like there's stuff to do, and that is to go out and get the word out to the people, to talk to the people,
let them know, hey, that's a sin.
There's a better way.
Remember, when we do it, we need to do so lovingly.
It's like, yeah, you're sinning. I've sinned. Guess what? There's a better way.
Not, you're going to hell.
Good way to turn people away.
There's a better way. You can do better. I believe in you. I know you got this.
Let me show you this.
Right? That's what John was doing. He was going out. He was telling people, hey, you're making a mistake.
There's a better way.
His name is Jesus, and he's coming.
And he's coming again.
We should all be Johns.
You know, the thing is, you know, as a church, we don't know when Jesus is coming back.
We just know that he's coming back, and that's enough.
We know it's going to be soon. How soon? Don't know. Doesn't matter. Soon enough.
Which means our mission, our purpose, it's not just a mission.
It's a rescue mission.
A rescue mission from God.
You know, joking around about the Blues Brothers a little bit. We're on a mission from God.
Well, guess what?
Strap in, because we're on a rescue mission from God, people.
Straight up. To bring his light out into the darkness.
To reach down and pull as many people up into his light as possible.
To introduce them to Jesus.
And to do so to be able to reach as many people as possible.
All the people that we possibly can that the Lord puts in front of us to reach out to.
So that they don't perish for all eternity.
So that they come into a relationship with him and know his love, his grace, and his mercy.
And to rejoin the family that Christ shed his blood for.
So this holiday season, we all need to stay focused.
Share the gospel with the world. And not just part of it, but the whole thing.
And remember that he's returning soon.
We have so much more than just a humble birth to remember.
Let us pray.
Lord, we thank you for being with us.
We thank you for all that you've done for us. All that you've promised.
And all that's to come.
We thank you for bringing us together as your bride, as your family.
And reminding us that this season is not just about what has happened.
But what is happening now and what is to come.
We ask that you continue to keep us, or help us to keep focused, I should say.
Oh yeah, help us to keep focused.
You know, as we go through life, we know we're going to have obstacles.
And we know we're going to need you to help us to get through, around, and over all those obstacles.
We need you to help us to be overcomers.
That you show us the best way to shine your light for others to see.
That when you put us in those places, and you put us in front of those people that need to hear about you.
That you're placing us, and we recognize that we're in the best place to share the testimony that you've placed within us.
For others to find you.
That we can share with others how to come to a relationship with you so that they can know your love, your forgiveness, your mercy, your grace.
And understand that all we need, all the everything that can be provisioned for us in life that truly matters, comes from you.
And we thank you for this season that demonstrates how the body should be coming together to reflect your light and your love.
While following you into the battle that's already been won against the darkness.
And just the same, help us to remain vigilant and steadfast, keeping in mind that while you have already won the battle,
we're still in the heat of it while we await your return.
And all his people said, Amen and Amen.
Thank you all for joining us here today at Healing Scars with Pastor Burton.
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We look forward to hearing from you all. God bless.