1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,000 We've all been hurt. 2 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:05,500 We all carry scars. 3 00:00:05,500 --> 00:00:11,380 We can all overcome these things and be healed through a relationship with Jesus Christ. 4 00:00:11,380 --> 00:00:15,500 Let's build that relationship together right here. 5 00:00:15,500 --> 00:00:18,820 Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton. 6 00:00:18,820 --> 00:00:24,060 That said, let's go ahead and let's hop into our message for today. 7 00:00:24,060 --> 00:00:27,440 Of course, we've already opened up in prayer. 8 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:30,840 So let me just say good morning, everybody. 9 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:31,840 Welcome. 10 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:32,840 Welcome to Sanctuary. 11 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:35,280 Welcome everybody joining us online. 12 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:40,460 Those people who follow in on the podcast. 13 00:00:40,460 --> 00:00:41,460 Maybe we'll have slides today. 14 00:00:41,460 --> 00:00:42,460 I don't know. 15 00:00:42,460 --> 00:00:45,460 Give me a second here. 16 00:00:45,460 --> 00:00:53,760 Oh, that's fine by me. 17 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:57,200 Okay, that works. 18 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:00,160 Apparently, the system is not working. 19 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:02,800 Stitch has a glitch. 20 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:07,240 So unfortunately, we're not going to have PowerPoint slides, but that's okay. 21 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:10,000 That's what we have our Bibles and our apps for, right? 22 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:15,120 So maybe we can get a nice background going up there then at least, you know, or something. 23 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:16,120 I don't know. 24 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:20,920 Darren, I'll let you work on that so we don't just have like a black abyss behind me. 25 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:22,560 So anyway, yeah. 26 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:23,560 So welcome, everybody. 27 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:24,560 Good morning. 28 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:25,560 Welcome to everybody online. 29 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:26,560 Everybody following on the stream. 30 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:28,880 Of course, it was great to have everybody with us. 31 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:31,640 As I said, this is our last Sunday before Christmas. 32 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:35,560 Of course, we'll be meeting back up here Tuesday night. 33 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:45,280 Staying in tune with the season, you know, we're going to take a look today at how God 34 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:50,240 can use evil and all the bad things going on in the world for good. 35 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:53,980 You know, I've been speaking about it the last few weeks. 36 00:01:53,980 --> 00:01:57,640 This is a time of year, people get very hung up, you know, depression, illness, loss of 37 00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:01,280 loved ones, you know, troubles going on with jobs, and so on and so forth. 38 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:06,560 There's so many things going on that it really, you know, it deters people and people are 39 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:07,560 like, man, what's going on? 40 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:08,560 Where's God? 41 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:10,080 So we're going to be looking at it. 42 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:14,200 So you know, the overall thought here, of course, you know, comes from Genesis 50 verse 43 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:18,240 20, you know, and that God can use all things to his good. 44 00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:23,480 And so I want everybody to keep that in the back of their mind as we go through here today. 45 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:33,920 And with that said, everybody, let's go ahead and open our Bibles or our Bible apps to Matthew 46 00:02:33,920 --> 00:02:34,920 chapter two. 47 00:02:34,920 --> 00:02:36,920 So Matthew chapter two. 48 00:02:36,920 --> 00:02:42,320 And since we don't have our slides today, this is where I'm really glad I put everything 49 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:45,320 down here in my notes. 50 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:48,140 I don't have my Bible up here with me, I just have my tablet. 51 00:02:48,140 --> 00:02:53,200 So Matthew chapter two, verses one through five, the word tells us. 52 00:02:53,200 --> 00:03:00,240 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise 53 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:08,040 men, or Magi, from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he who has been born king 54 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:09,920 of the Jews? 55 00:03:09,920 --> 00:03:16,440 For we have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him. 56 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:23,520 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. 57 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:28,840 And when he gathered all of the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired 58 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:33,040 of them where the Christ was to be born. 59 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:41,380 So they said to him, in Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophets. 60 00:03:41,380 --> 00:03:45,560 So when you're looking at you go into verse six there, you can actually see what it's 61 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:50,560 referring to, because it actually has the prophecy written right there. 62 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:57,840 So Herod, of course, he was king at this time, but he was really acting king. 63 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:01,000 He was not the actual heir to the throne. 64 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:02,560 All right? 65 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:07,720 And with that said, he was also very paranoid because of that, that somebody was going to 66 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:10,040 come and kick him off the throne. 67 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:12,440 He didn't want to give up that power. 68 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:17,920 So he was very scared, he was watching those dark corners, watching shadows, all that kind 69 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:18,920 of thing. 70 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:23,440 And not only that, but in general, people did not like him. 71 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:27,160 They didn't like him even a little. 72 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:29,600 He was not a good dude. 73 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:35,120 Most people, they saw him as a usurper to the throne. 74 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:37,360 Not the kind of guy you want out there in the first place. 75 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:45,200 So of course, when you come the wise men, the magi, and they're like, hey, where's the 76 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:46,200 Messiah? 77 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:47,200 Where's he at? 78 00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:48,200 Where's the king? 79 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:49,200 Let's put him on high alert. 80 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:53,720 It's like, whoa, say what? 81 00:04:53,720 --> 00:04:55,840 So in the back of his head, he's already on high alert. 82 00:04:55,840 --> 00:04:59,280 A little perturbed to say the least, right? 83 00:04:59,280 --> 00:05:03,880 Because if what he's being told is true, then he knows trouble is coming. 84 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:06,480 Not only that, but you have the three wise men here. 85 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:07,960 Well, it says the wise men. 86 00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:08,960 We assume it's three. 87 00:05:08,960 --> 00:05:14,360 We don't know the number because later on, we relate three to the number of gifts. 88 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:16,560 And we'll get into that in a minute. 89 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:25,600 But these are magi, and they came from a region right there next to Rome called Parthia. 90 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:28,920 This is a very powerful region. 91 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:39,840 And this is a region that would very happily cheer on a Jewish king for a number of reasons. 92 00:05:39,840 --> 00:05:46,480 But the number one reason for them was because it would actually swing the power of the region 93 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:52,620 their way and away from Rome. 94 00:05:52,620 --> 00:05:55,040 So it changed things drastically for the people. 95 00:05:55,040 --> 00:06:04,160 Like I said, traditionally, we say, you know, wise men, because depending on what text you're 96 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:05,800 reading, that's how it reads. 97 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:07,840 But these were magi. 98 00:06:07,840 --> 00:06:11,200 They could have been astronomers. 99 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:14,000 They could have been princes. 100 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:17,760 We don't get the specifics, and unfortunately, history doesn't give us a whole lot there. 101 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:20,880 There's a lot of speculation out there, but it's nothing to get hung up on. 102 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:26,200 Needless to say, these were people who were prominent enough in their position that they 103 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:30,480 were being guided out for this purpose. 104 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:35,840 And not only that, well, we'll get to the gifts here in a minute. 105 00:06:35,840 --> 00:06:38,720 But you know, they didn't just come a short distance. 106 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:44,800 This wasn't like, hey, let's grab the donkey or whatever, hop up on the horse, the camel, 107 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:48,160 and you know, take a couple hours stroll down the road. 108 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:54,000 These guys traveled for days and days on end, and they carried a lot of things with them 109 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:58,440 that were very valuable to actually pay for this trip. 110 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:02,600 So it tells you a little bit how prominent they are and what they're passing with them 111 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:05,840 to establish their importance, right? 112 00:07:05,840 --> 00:07:09,680 So going back into the reading, we're going to skip right over to verses seven through 113 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:10,680 12 now. 114 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:13,800 So Matthew two, verses seven through 12. 115 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:19,640 The word tells us, then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from 116 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:23,220 them what time the star appeared. 117 00:07:23,220 --> 00:07:30,320 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, go and search carefully for the young child. 118 00:07:30,320 --> 00:07:39,680 For when you have found him, bring back word to me that I may come and worship him also. 119 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:44,760 When they heard the king, they departed and behold, the star which they had seen in the 120 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:47,240 east went before them. 121 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:52,800 So it came and stood over where the young child was. 122 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:58,360 When they saw the star, they rejoiced and exceeding with exceedingly great joy. 123 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:04,840 And when they had come to the house, they saw the young child with Mary, his mother, 124 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:08,940 and fell down and worshiped him. 125 00:08:08,940 --> 00:08:14,480 And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to him, gold, frankincense, 126 00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:15,480 and myrrh. 127 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:22,560 Then being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed 128 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:24,680 for their own country another way. 129 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:28,720 Now reading through here, one thing I'd like to point out, depending on the translation 130 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:36,680 you're reading, you'll notice that it says him and child, but capitalized a lot as a 131 00:08:36,680 --> 00:08:40,600 title denoting his importance, his greatness. 132 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:43,800 We are talking about God being born man here. 133 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:44,800 That's why it's capitalized. 134 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:45,800 It's establishing. 135 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:47,680 We're not just talking about any child. 136 00:08:47,680 --> 00:08:51,880 We're talking the child. 137 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:56,600 And with that said, as I started to mention before, going into the gifts, frankincense, 138 00:08:56,600 --> 00:09:01,880 gold, myrrh, even today, gold is a very valuable commodity. 139 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:06,720 It doesn't really lose its value or its worth. 140 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:11,080 Even when you look at fashion, people go out and they want the gold chains and all the 141 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:16,600 cool stuff, the gold tooth and everything. 142 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:18,800 It's a pretty prominent thing. 143 00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:23,080 Even back then, these were not cheap things to carry around with you. 144 00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:29,720 Matter of fact, even more so back then, their value was huge, which is why actually calling 145 00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:34,560 out what these gifts were by name is so important. 146 00:09:34,560 --> 00:09:38,080 These weren't just cheap things that you go to the market, pick up and be like, hey, you 147 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:39,560 know, it's a gift for a baby. 148 00:09:39,560 --> 00:09:45,160 No, what they were doing was they were acknowledging here's the future king and they were giving 149 00:09:45,160 --> 00:09:51,240 gifts that notated that. 150 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:56,100 The very things that they could have used to fund their trip home, they were giving 151 00:09:56,100 --> 00:10:00,160 up to the new king. 152 00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:03,240 They're already setting him apart from others. 153 00:10:03,240 --> 00:10:05,720 They knew how important he was. 154 00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:10,880 They were worshiping him already. 155 00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:12,360 That's a big thing. 156 00:10:12,360 --> 00:10:13,520 These were all three gifts. 157 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:19,840 These were all things that would benefit Jesus and his family at various points in his life 158 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:20,840 as well. 159 00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:23,840 Gold being gold. 160 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:31,400 But we think about some of these products, these are things that were used to prepare 161 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:35,040 someone after they died. 162 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:40,920 So this is, like I said, they're establishing from life to death, his whole life was being 163 00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:44,120 provided for right here. 164 00:10:44,120 --> 00:10:46,600 Not only that, they get this dream. 165 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:49,040 They were already, they weren't dummies going in. 166 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:53,560 Needless to say, they already had a good idea who they were dealing with when they went 167 00:10:53,560 --> 00:10:55,640 in front of Herod. 168 00:10:55,640 --> 00:11:00,080 And then they get the warning from God, hey, you don't want to go back that way, dudes. 169 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:01,080 Take another route. 170 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:03,000 Bye. 171 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:05,680 And they were very receptive to it. 172 00:11:05,680 --> 00:11:09,120 They knew Herod was liar. 173 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:11,840 He had ill will in his heart. 174 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:15,760 There's no good to come over going back to him and there's certainly not going to be 175 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:21,320 any good that would come of it if he found out where Jesus was. 176 00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:22,320 Right? 177 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:25,600 This is one of those areas where I say baby Jesus. 178 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:27,040 Just you know, you can say baby Jesus. 179 00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:28,040 That's fine. 180 00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:29,040 Just don't forget he grew up. 181 00:11:29,040 --> 00:11:32,040 He ain't a baby no more. 182 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:33,040 Right? 183 00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:37,880 So, but yeah, essentially though, Herod was trying to trick them and say, hey, where's 184 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:38,880 the baby? 185 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:39,880 Give me that baby. 186 00:11:39,880 --> 00:11:40,880 Give me that baby. 187 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:41,880 I don't know. 188 00:11:41,880 --> 00:11:49,680 I read this and it's just kind of like, he's a troll, wasn't he? 189 00:11:49,680 --> 00:11:52,800 But yeah, so they took a different route home. 190 00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:56,760 They weren't about to get caught up in this trap and tell him, hey, this is where he's 191 00:11:56,760 --> 00:11:57,760 at. 192 00:11:57,760 --> 00:12:02,880 When you go into verses 13 through 15, the word tells us not only that, Joseph also got 193 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:03,880 a warning. 194 00:12:03,880 --> 00:12:04,880 So he picked up baby Jesus. 195 00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:08,040 He picked up Mary and they fled to Egypt. 196 00:12:08,040 --> 00:12:09,040 Right? 197 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:10,040 Peace out. 198 00:12:10,040 --> 00:12:11,040 Bye. 199 00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:16,600 On a side note, you can research this yourself. 200 00:12:16,600 --> 00:12:19,600 Everybody has Google and Bing and all that stuff these days. 201 00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:23,520 The oldest known Bible actually came from Egypt. 202 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:26,240 A lot of people think Middle East, no. 203 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:30,320 It actually was found in Africa. 204 00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:31,480 I know I'm a nerd. 205 00:12:31,480 --> 00:12:33,600 That's okay because I'm going to get nerdtastic here in just a little bit. 206 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:34,600 You're going to love it. 207 00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:48,960 So the original words, correct, they were not in Greek at all. 208 00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:55,240 A lot of things out there were in the Hebrew. 209 00:12:55,240 --> 00:13:00,200 There are also other translations too because you also have to think about the different 210 00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:04,680 regions and everything that things went through with all the different scrolls and all that. 211 00:13:04,680 --> 00:13:08,000 But yeah, definitely that's a topic we get into. 212 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:09,000 We spend a lot of time on. 213 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:10,000 I'll tell you what. 214 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:14,360 Scholars themselves, that's kind of where some of the clashes and all that kind of stuff 215 00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:15,360 come from. 216 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:18,880 But yeah, a lot of Hebrew out there for sure. 217 00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:19,880 Oh no, that's okay. 218 00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:20,880 That's good stuff. 219 00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:25,880 The movement, they say the Bible is because it's written in Greek, but the Greeks got 220 00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:30,880 translated from the Hebrew language to Greek. 221 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:32,880 Yeah, there was a lot translated to Greek. 222 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:33,880 Absolutely. 223 00:13:33,880 --> 00:13:38,320 Well, I mean, it's kind of like, you know, me, I mean, neither one of us could pick up 224 00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:39,880 any of those and be like, what is this? 225 00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:42,280 And we're looking at the writing, like, huh? 226 00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:44,080 So yeah, a lot of things did have to get translated. 227 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:49,840 That's also, you know, remind you in those days, a lot of things, yeah, you had certain 228 00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:52,000 people who would take the time and they'd write things out. 229 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:56,880 You had your scribes that would just painstakingly word for word, dot for dot, T for T and all 230 00:13:56,880 --> 00:13:58,600 that. 231 00:13:58,600 --> 00:14:04,400 But you also, you know, a lot of people at that time would actually memorize things and 232 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:08,080 everything, you know, you think of like barge and that kind of stuff, because that's how 233 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:13,720 they shared was the verbal, you know, the old stuff, the old oral traditions. 234 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:17,760 So yeah, so that's where a lot of that comes in as well. 235 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:20,240 So yeah, no, that's that's good, brother. 236 00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:21,240 Absolutely. 237 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:26,240 I made it here again, but that was because he was a huge guy. 238 00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:27,240 He basically, they're losers. 239 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:28,240 And he's this guy's good. 240 00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:29,240 And you know, you know, by the way, he just got off the bad ass. 241 00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:30,240 That was the most difficult, you know, because he remembers everything. 242 00:14:30,240 --> 00:14:31,240 So he really pushed his moves to shame, you know, by Jesus. 243 00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:32,240 I like watching him. 244 00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:33,240 He was a very good debater. 245 00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:34,240 Oh, yeah. 246 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:35,240 No, there's some out there. 247 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:36,240 I mean, I think he's a very good debater. 248 00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:37,240 I mean, I think he's a very good debater. 249 00:14:37,240 --> 00:14:38,240 I mean, I think he's a very good debater. 250 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:39,240 I mean, I think he's a very good debater. 251 00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:46,840 I like watching him. 252 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:49,680 The way that some people are able to commit things to memory is astonishing. 253 00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:53,520 You know, it's like even like we've had Dennis Cole here, the way like, you know, he has 254 00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:55,840 certain books that he could just verbatim work for work. 255 00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:58,840 And it's like, oh, my goodness. 256 00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:00,840 It's pretty incredible. 257 00:15:00,840 --> 00:15:10,520 Oh, yeah, there's a lot of there's a lot of study that goes there. 258 00:15:10,520 --> 00:15:12,120 It's actually pretty interesting when you go through. 259 00:15:12,120 --> 00:15:13,120 It really is. 260 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:14,120 It really is. 261 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:15,120 All right. 262 00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:25,760 Okay, if we go to the next verse, Matthew two, verse 16, basically, I'm going to kind 263 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:27,560 of summarize this here. 264 00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:31,120 This right here, this work King Herod, he basically loses his mind. 265 00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:32,120 Right? 266 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:33,720 Like, what? 267 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:34,720 He's angry. 268 00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:37,360 That's, that's kind of minimalizing it. 269 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:39,560 And he's furious. 270 00:15:39,560 --> 00:15:42,120 So furious effect that he actually issued an order. 271 00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:46,080 And this tells you how evil his heart was and what his intentions truly were. 272 00:15:46,080 --> 00:15:52,280 He sends out a decree saying that all male children, two years of age and younger are 273 00:15:52,280 --> 00:15:55,000 to be gathered up and put to death. 274 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:59,400 So kill the babies, kill the kiddos. 275 00:15:59,400 --> 00:16:02,680 He does not want anyone to take him off his throne. 276 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:06,200 He doesn't want to risk losing power or any of that kind of stuff. 277 00:16:06,200 --> 00:16:11,000 So he's just, you know, Alice in Wonderland style off with their heads. 278 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:12,000 Right? 279 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:14,920 He's not a good dude. 280 00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:22,120 You know, you know, thank God, you know, the Magi Joseph, you know, and of course, you 281 00:16:22,120 --> 00:16:25,840 know, there's people that they came in contact with, but you know, they're like, nope, I 282 00:16:25,840 --> 00:16:27,400 ain't telling you nothing. 283 00:16:27,400 --> 00:16:30,600 Bye exit stage left and they left. 284 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:31,680 Right? 285 00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:33,760 So King Herod did not know. 286 00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:34,760 He had an idea. 287 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:37,680 Okay, Bethlehem, I got this. 288 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:38,980 But he didn't have this. 289 00:16:38,980 --> 00:16:43,520 So he failed in his task. 290 00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:46,880 Right? 291 00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:53,600 And what's happening here, even from the birth of Jesus, there's foreshadowing to be had 292 00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:59,880 because from birth, just like with you and I, Satan was on the attack, but especially 293 00:16:59,880 --> 00:17:00,880 with Jesus. 294 00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:01,880 Oh, no. 295 00:17:01,880 --> 00:17:05,320 You know, it's like, I know who this demons know who Jesus is. 296 00:17:05,320 --> 00:17:06,320 Right? 297 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:11,600 It's like, ah, let's let's let's let's nip this in the bud before it gets any further. 298 00:17:11,600 --> 00:17:12,600 But you know, he failed. 299 00:17:12,600 --> 00:17:21,440 You know, Satan was on the attack and King Herod, he was, he was shouting essentially 300 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:28,360 the same thing that the crowds were with Jesus. 301 00:17:28,360 --> 00:17:29,680 Right? 302 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:34,920 When Jesus went before Pilate and everything, if we go to John chapter 19 verse 15 says 303 00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:42,320 right here, but they cried out away with him away with him, crucify him. 304 00:17:42,320 --> 00:17:51,480 An evil man with a hardened heart and a horrible agenda. 305 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:55,200 And he started a rally cry that has carried forth. 306 00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:56,200 Oh, beautiful. 307 00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:58,000 We've got our slides now. 308 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:04,080 But yeah, he started a rally cry that has burned in the hearts of evil men and people 309 00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:06,560 with hard hearts ever since. 310 00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:07,560 Right? 311 00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:11,640 Because when we turn from God and we sin, and we let ourselves get carried away by all 312 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:17,760 this stuff and the ways of the world, our actions are doing the exact same thing. 313 00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:19,760 Not only that, but then you have other people. 314 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:20,760 Right? 315 00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:24,920 You get people who even say, you know, oh, I'm a Jew and everything else. 316 00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:27,240 But then they say, no, Jesus has no partner courts. 317 00:18:27,240 --> 00:18:28,680 Jesus has no partner schools. 318 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:32,800 Jesus has no part in this or that separation of, you know, church and state. 319 00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:33,800 Well, guess what? 320 00:18:33,800 --> 00:18:38,520 They could say a separation all I want, but there is truly no way to separate the church 321 00:18:38,520 --> 00:18:40,800 and the state because God is everywhere. 322 00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:41,800 Period. 323 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:47,160 There is no foundation for what is right and what is wrong without God. 324 00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:51,520 There's no us without God. 325 00:18:51,520 --> 00:19:04,080 So again, going into Genesis 50 verse 20, but as for you, you meant evil against me, 326 00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:07,560 but God meant it for good. 327 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:17,560 In order to bring it about as it is this day to save many people alive. 328 00:19:17,560 --> 00:19:27,240 What the enemy meant for evil, God can take and use for good. 329 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:30,440 You know, it's our Lord and savior who's already come and done so much for us. 330 00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:32,440 Guys, you already got a sneak peek. 331 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:38,360 We're going to pull out our history books here. 332 00:19:38,360 --> 00:19:39,360 This is one of my favorite things. 333 00:19:39,360 --> 00:19:43,480 I like to, one of my favorite songs even actually talks about this very event that we're about 334 00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:44,480 to talk about. 335 00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:49,560 So Christmas, you pull out your history books and you go to the year 1914, Christmas time, 336 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:50,560 1914. 337 00:19:50,560 --> 00:19:53,800 Who remembers what was going on in 1914? 338 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:54,800 World War I. 339 00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:55,800 That's right. 340 00:19:55,800 --> 00:20:03,800 World War I and a time that came to be known as the Christmas Truce. 341 00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:12,920 475 ish miles of the Western front. 342 00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:17,760 One of the bloodiest fields of battle that have ever been fought on, on the face of this 343 00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:20,680 planet. 344 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:26,240 We're talking about one of the last truly hand to hand events, no man's land type things, 345 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:27,240 brutal. 346 00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:33,320 And going into the Christmas season, the Pope and various other religious leaders and other 347 00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:38,280 leaders and other groups and everything were trying to call for at least a ceasefire, a 348 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:40,880 time of peace in the Christmas season. 349 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:43,600 No, they're not the first ones. 350 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:47,520 Remember we talked about this, about the Civil War back around Thanksgiving time. 351 00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:51,040 It's kind of a common thing, right? 352 00:20:51,040 --> 00:20:56,240 But you have all these people, they're crying for peace, ceasefire at least, right? 353 00:20:56,240 --> 00:21:03,280 Let's lay down our arms, trying to establish something good for people, right? 354 00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:06,600 And the powers that be said, no, not having it. 355 00:21:06,600 --> 00:21:07,600 Let's get this done. 356 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:09,960 Take them out. 357 00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:14,160 You keep sending those rounds down range, keep stacking bodies. 358 00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:20,640 This is the way it was looked at. 359 00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:27,400 So a world at war officially ignoring these requests. 360 00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:32,820 Taking Christmas back, we're going to celebrate it over here, but death to them, right? 361 00:21:32,820 --> 00:21:34,720 Not very Christianly. 362 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:36,880 It's not the way we should look at things. 363 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:37,880 I mean, that's war though. 364 00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:39,880 It is war, unfortunately. 365 00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:47,560 If we're being real about it, when you're at war, you don't see the human side of people 366 00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:48,560 necessarily. 367 00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:55,440 More times than not, you see a target, you see an opportunity. 368 00:21:55,440 --> 00:21:56,440 That's just the way it is. 369 00:21:56,440 --> 00:22:00,400 And unfortunately, that's the way wars have to be fought. 370 00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:02,800 So that part was ignored. 371 00:22:02,800 --> 00:22:07,680 And the war was going to carry on business as usual. 372 00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:17,800 However, right around Christmas Eve in 1914, a miracle began to emerge. 373 00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:25,160 All up and down the Western Front, like I said, roughly 475 miles of territory, marks 374 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:27,680 between trenches and a no man's land. 375 00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:29,200 It's called no man's land for good reason. 376 00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:32,160 If you went out there, we weren't going to be around very much longer. 377 00:22:32,160 --> 00:22:33,560 It was brutal. 378 00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:41,000 But all up and down the front, troops started laying down their weapons. 379 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:49,760 The Germans, the French, the Brits, they're yelling Christmas greetings in their own language 380 00:22:49,760 --> 00:22:56,520 back and forth across the field, singing Christmas carols, Christmas hymns. 381 00:22:56,520 --> 00:23:02,400 And at first, some of the groups, even the Brits were the first to admit, like, ooh, 382 00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:03,400 this is a trap. 383 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:05,120 No, this is not going to be good. 384 00:23:05,120 --> 00:23:08,600 They're trying to lure us out. 385 00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:15,960 If we're honest, everybody in this room would be the same way, especially given those circumstances. 386 00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:24,640 But eventually, they see people taking a chance, and they're coming out. 387 00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:28,640 And the people across the field from them can see, hey, they're unarmed. 388 00:23:28,640 --> 00:23:31,400 I know, amen. 389 00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:39,200 But they're unarmed, and they're coming out in peace. 390 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:41,540 In peace. 391 00:23:41,540 --> 00:23:46,720 So eventually, you have troops on all sides coming out. 392 00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:49,560 And it's a beautiful thing, right? 393 00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:50,560 Everybody's kind of curious. 394 00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:51,560 It's like, what's going on? 395 00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:52,560 Well, they're unarmed. 396 00:23:52,560 --> 00:23:55,000 They meet halfway across the field. 397 00:23:55,000 --> 00:24:02,000 And it's one of the bloodiest battlefields ever on this planet, and a miracle is taking 398 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:03,000 place. 399 00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:07,760 And it truly is a miracle. 400 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:13,960 Prisoners were traded back to their own countries. 401 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:20,200 These troops of various countries worked together to collect the dead off the battlefield and 402 00:24:20,200 --> 00:24:25,200 give them proper burials or however they were going to treat their dead, depending, of course, 403 00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:28,160 on their background, their culture, their wishes, that kind of thing. 404 00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:33,880 And that right there is already amazing in itself, is it not? 405 00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:34,880 But the miracle doesn't stop. 406 00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:35,880 It keeps growing. 407 00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:44,720 Eventually, it grows to the point where men are seen up and down the line trading cigarettes, 408 00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:51,800 drinking cigars, trinkets from their uniforms, exchanges gifts, trying to communicate with 409 00:24:51,800 --> 00:25:02,280 each other in brotherly love, continuing to sing hymns, Christmas carols. 410 00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:09,080 Some of them even asking each other a really good question, why are we fighting each other? 411 00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:13,400 They're no longer seeing each other as the enemy, but realizing before me stands another 412 00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:17,080 man, another brother. 413 00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:25,560 And for a time, all the ugliness, all the evil, all the chaos, the hate and the discontent 414 00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:28,640 are set aside. 415 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:32,960 They're forgotten for a few hours. 416 00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:36,160 This is how jovial it became. 417 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:37,720 Thing of legends happens. 418 00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:41,240 And there's different stories saying how it occurred. 419 00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:43,240 But a football game broke out. 420 00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:47,160 Over here in America, we call it soccer. 421 00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:52,240 They played soccer like a bunch of kids just having a good old time. 422 00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:55,160 So we don't need guns. 423 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:56,640 We can settle this like this. 424 00:25:56,640 --> 00:25:57,960 Who's got the ball? 425 00:25:57,960 --> 00:25:59,600 Let's have a little footy. 426 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:00,600 Right? 427 00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:02,920 This is good stuff. 428 00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:03,920 Night starts to descend. 429 00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:06,000 It's getting dark. 430 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:08,840 It doesn't stop. 431 00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:10,880 Candles are lit. 432 00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:15,440 They're placed in trees like Christmas lights and in various other places. 433 00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:20,680 And the Western Front is still illuminated. 434 00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:31,920 All these war-torn warriors taking time, a brief moment of peace and joy and love for 435 00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:34,080 these exhausted men. 436 00:26:34,080 --> 00:26:39,480 A lot of war-torn war fighters. 437 00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:43,480 And a gift. 438 00:26:43,480 --> 00:26:49,880 Afterwards, once many of them start going back to their trenches, officers and enlisted, 439 00:26:49,880 --> 00:26:54,760 they would take time and they were right home expressing their shock and disbelief. 440 00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:55,960 Like you wouldn't believe it. 441 00:26:55,960 --> 00:27:00,000 One person even said, I wouldn't believe it if I wasn't here to witness it. 442 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:05,440 Because it's not the thing that you hear by like, yeah, right. 443 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:06,440 Come on, get real. 444 00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:07,440 No. 445 00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:08,440 It happened. 446 00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:09,440 Right? 447 00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:11,880 But it did. 448 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:15,640 It's unbelievable. 449 00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:20,800 German Lieutenant was quoted as saying how marvelously wonderful, yet how strange it 450 00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:27,200 was the English officers felt the same way about it. 451 00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:34,640 A Christmas celebration of love. 452 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:36,920 One-time enemies. 453 00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:44,000 Now brothers, mortal enemies, no more. 454 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:50,320 What's not spoken about is probably the heartache that these men had knowing that just a few 455 00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:53,840 hours they were going to have to resume fighting. 456 00:27:53,840 --> 00:27:58,600 It's no longer a stranger across from them either. 457 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:00,600 They know the person. 458 00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:08,360 It's a heavy weight. 459 00:28:08,360 --> 00:28:09,360 It's a heavy weight. 460 00:28:09,360 --> 00:28:11,760 But the example was set there. 461 00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:16,520 A miracle took place across the entire Western front in World War I. 462 00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:18,920 And there's only one person that has that power. 463 00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:23,840 One person and one person only, Jesus Christ. 464 00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:31,840 Our Lord and Savior who replaced the hate, the discontent, the fear with love. 465 00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:34,000 With love. 466 00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:40,040 And concern in the hearts of his children, of his family. 467 00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:46,680 No one, absolutely no one that's ever walked this earth beyond him could ever have done 468 00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:47,680 that. 469 00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:54,080 And there's no doubt that in that time of hate, discontent, Satan was hard at work. 470 00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:56,760 Up until this happened, you know, he was a happy dude. 471 00:28:56,760 --> 00:28:59,560 And that's his playground right there, isn't it? 472 00:28:59,560 --> 00:29:01,680 He's pulling on the heartstrings of men. 473 00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:09,080 And he's got them locked in a worldwide battle. 474 00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:18,320 And his battle, he uses fear and doubt to cast a shadow in an attempt to blot out the 475 00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:21,760 light of God. 476 00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:26,640 But again, God had other plans as we see here. 477 00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:29,720 Going back again, Genesis chapter 50 verse 20. 478 00:29:29,720 --> 00:29:32,840 But as for you, you meant evil against me. 479 00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:38,760 But God meant it for good in order to bring it about as it is this day, so many people 480 00:29:38,760 --> 00:29:41,540 alive. 481 00:29:41,540 --> 00:29:42,840 It was love, plain and simple. 482 00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:46,420 God's love for each and every one of us. 483 00:29:46,420 --> 00:29:53,680 And it shows as we go throughout time even, a prime example that he is still with us. 484 00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:58,600 No matter how ugly, no matter how hard, no matter how tormenting things get, no matter 485 00:29:58,600 --> 00:30:06,880 how hard and how furious the enemy comes at us, he's still there walking beside us. 486 00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:14,240 He's still there in the worst of circumstances. 487 00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:20,520 And as we celebrate the birth of Christ this week, we need to reflect on his life, what 488 00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:22,140 he's done for us. 489 00:30:22,140 --> 00:30:26,920 We need to reflect on his death, his resurrection, his ascension, and the fact that he's coming 490 00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:27,920 again. 491 00:30:27,920 --> 00:30:35,120 Because don't forget, as I say, over the last couple of weeks, it's not just about his birth, 492 00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:38,840 it's also about his return. 493 00:30:38,840 --> 00:30:45,400 The hope for all of us as Christians, as all of us as believers have, Jesus came to set 494 00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:50,080 us free so that we could be in fellowship with him, so we could be reunited with the 495 00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:54,200 Father, so we could be reunited with each other. 496 00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:58,320 It's a powerful gift. 497 00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:01,320 And in doing so, how do we honor him? 498 00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:06,440 How do we honor all those that have gone on to be with him and have also continued to 499 00:31:06,440 --> 00:31:12,040 share and set that example and introduce us to him so that we could be united as family? 500 00:31:12,040 --> 00:31:19,000 Well, it's really simple if you think about it. 501 00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:21,160 We continue to follow that example. 502 00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:31,640 We've followed that example and we use our lives as a response to the Great Commission. 503 00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:35,640 It's one of those things, if you haven't already done so, today's the day, this is the time 504 00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:37,440 you need to take Jesus into your heart. 505 00:31:37,440 --> 00:31:40,040 You need to say, hey, be the Lord and Savior. 506 00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:41,120 I can't do it without you. 507 00:31:41,120 --> 00:31:42,920 I need you. 508 00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:44,240 I need you to guide my steps. 509 00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:45,800 I need you to guide me. 510 00:31:45,800 --> 00:31:49,720 Take me out of the equation and let's make it about you. 511 00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:52,840 Let's make it about you. 512 00:31:52,840 --> 00:31:58,520 So Jesus came and he lived amongst us, setting a perfect example, the example for all of 513 00:31:58,520 --> 00:32:00,720 us to strive towards. 514 00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:02,200 Now are any of us going to get it all right? 515 00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:03,480 Is any of us going to be perfect? 516 00:32:03,480 --> 00:32:06,160 No, because he is the one and only perfect example. 517 00:32:06,160 --> 00:32:07,160 But you know what? 518 00:32:07,160 --> 00:32:10,040 We should strive for that every single day. 519 00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:15,880 Every time we wake up, we open our eyes, we take a breath. 520 00:32:15,880 --> 00:32:25,120 Thank you Lord for giving me a chance to do things right again, to correct my mistakes, 521 00:32:25,120 --> 00:32:31,440 to set a good example and to point the way to you. 522 00:32:31,440 --> 00:32:34,960 We do this because we're in a relationship with him. 523 00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:37,400 It sets the tone, it sets the example. 524 00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:43,440 It says what we truly believe and what kind of a relationship we have with him. 525 00:32:43,440 --> 00:32:49,320 We can't be the type of person as a believer who wakes up and goes, oh, let's get this 526 00:32:49,320 --> 00:32:54,720 done. 527 00:32:54,720 --> 00:32:59,480 And let's face it, we all have those days where we wake up and say, oh, I just want 528 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:01,600 to go back to bed. 529 00:33:01,600 --> 00:33:04,520 I'm not a morning person so I kind of sound like that frequently. 530 00:33:04,520 --> 00:33:05,520 It's not really that. 531 00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:06,920 It's just I have a hard time getting up in the morning. 532 00:33:06,920 --> 00:33:08,920 I'm a night owl. 533 00:33:08,920 --> 00:33:15,440 If I had my way as I work swing shifts at my day job and I'd be perfectly happy because 534 00:33:15,440 --> 00:33:16,440 that's just how I'm geared. 535 00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:17,440 Right? 536 00:33:17,440 --> 00:33:19,000 Unfortunately, I don't have that option. 537 00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:25,440 So this morning I wake up, I'm going in to take my shower and here comes my lovely wife. 538 00:33:25,440 --> 00:33:28,080 Here, drink this stat. 539 00:33:28,080 --> 00:33:30,520 She gives me a fresh cup of coffee. 540 00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:34,040 My wife's awesome. 541 00:33:34,040 --> 00:33:35,040 That's a gift in itself. 542 00:33:35,040 --> 00:33:36,040 You're welcome. 543 00:33:36,040 --> 00:33:37,040 Yes, thank you man. 544 00:33:37,040 --> 00:33:42,040 On a good day, yes. 545 00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:46,240 Absolutely, get that spoon standing. 546 00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:47,760 Throw some extra sugar in there. 547 00:33:47,760 --> 00:33:49,800 Let's get that boost going, overdrive. 548 00:33:49,800 --> 00:33:50,800 Boom. 549 00:33:50,800 --> 00:33:58,680 You know, but like I said, as the way we look at life though, as I digress, lucky man, as 550 00:33:58,680 --> 00:34:03,360 we look at life, we can't be the kind of people who get up like, oh boy me. 551 00:34:03,360 --> 00:34:07,320 Instead, even though we struggle waking up, that's okay because a lot of us do. 552 00:34:07,320 --> 00:34:12,000 Not all of us, like my lovely wife will wake up like, ah, let's attack the day. 553 00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:13,000 Ah. 554 00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:15,000 I can see you're doing that. 555 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:16,000 She is. 556 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:18,800 She's like a rabbit wolverine in the morning. 557 00:34:18,800 --> 00:34:19,800 She is a morning person. 558 00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:20,800 I'll tell you what. 559 00:34:20,800 --> 00:34:21,800 Talk about polar opposites. 560 00:34:21,800 --> 00:34:22,800 Opposites do attract here. 561 00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:23,800 You know? 562 00:34:23,800 --> 00:34:28,780 But I mean, that's the way we need to wake up. 563 00:34:28,780 --> 00:34:33,040 When we look at what we have to do, when we look at our jobs, right? 564 00:34:33,040 --> 00:34:37,220 When we look at the things that are in front of us and the opportunities that we have, 565 00:34:37,220 --> 00:34:41,220 the way we should be looking at is, how can I serve today? 566 00:34:41,220 --> 00:34:42,900 How can I serve you? 567 00:34:42,900 --> 00:34:45,120 How can I serve the people I'm interacting with? 568 00:34:45,120 --> 00:34:46,120 Right? 569 00:34:46,120 --> 00:34:47,120 Even you just look at married couples. 570 00:34:47,120 --> 00:34:53,720 You know, people always wonder, hey, how do these couples stay married 30, 40, 50 years? 571 00:34:53,720 --> 00:35:00,200 It's because they wake up and they're not thinking, hey, what did you make for breakfast? 572 00:35:00,200 --> 00:35:05,760 Instead, it's, what can I do to serve you? 573 00:35:05,760 --> 00:35:08,320 They take themselves out of the equation, right? 574 00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:11,000 Because it's no longer about them. 575 00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:13,680 It is about their spouse. 576 00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:17,440 Sometimes it's easier than others, right? 577 00:35:17,440 --> 00:35:21,600 Especially when you're waking up at 4 o'clock in the morning, right? 578 00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:24,240 2 o'clock, yeah. 579 00:35:24,240 --> 00:35:27,720 5, whatever, you know? 580 00:35:27,720 --> 00:35:33,880 But no, in general though, you know what I'm saying, is going through life with somebody, 581 00:35:33,880 --> 00:35:37,960 for somebody, not because you have to. 582 00:35:37,960 --> 00:35:40,660 Relationships are not supposed to be an obligation. 583 00:35:40,660 --> 00:35:47,020 When they become an obligation, you've already failed. 584 00:35:47,020 --> 00:35:50,760 My wife demonstrated that greatly this morning when she brought me that coffee. 585 00:35:50,760 --> 00:35:54,720 Also probably for her own sanity because she knew the bear was coming out of the cave. 586 00:35:54,720 --> 00:35:57,560 Oh, and breakfast, that's true. 587 00:35:57,560 --> 00:36:04,000 You know, but you know, with that said, this is what we need to do as the bride of Christ. 588 00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:12,040 When we wake up every day, like I said, thank you, Lord, for another opportunity to go out 589 00:36:12,040 --> 00:36:16,960 and point the way to you, to do things that point the way to you and share your light 590 00:36:16,960 --> 00:36:24,080 with the world that lets people see your Holy Spirit in me and what you've done for me so 591 00:36:24,080 --> 00:36:29,880 that they could come and know you, a life of service to him. 592 00:36:29,880 --> 00:36:34,960 Like I said earlier, it's so easy for us to get caught up in the bad things of life, that 593 00:36:34,960 --> 00:36:40,480 humdrum, that stuff that just really drags you down as you go. 594 00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:41,880 Right? 595 00:36:41,880 --> 00:36:46,800 Sorrow, depression, all these things ensue for a lot of us. 596 00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:50,840 This can be a tough season because we get wrapped up in these things. 597 00:36:50,840 --> 00:36:56,320 The people that we miss, both those that we're not connected to anymore and those that we've 598 00:36:56,320 --> 00:36:57,320 lost. 599 00:36:57,320 --> 00:37:00,640 Things are, you know, things are in a rush at work. 600 00:37:00,640 --> 00:37:04,800 And you figure, you know, some of us are traveling, some of us have lottery list chores to get 601 00:37:04,800 --> 00:37:05,800 done. 602 00:37:05,800 --> 00:37:11,200 You know, I myself this week, I felt some anxiety. 603 00:37:11,200 --> 00:37:14,480 I've been a lot of prayer on that. 604 00:37:14,480 --> 00:37:15,480 Right? 605 00:37:15,480 --> 00:37:19,640 However, we need to remember that with all this stuff that's troubling us, all this stuff 606 00:37:19,640 --> 00:37:27,000 that's weighing us down, no matter how bad it gets, God can use all these things to bring 607 00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:30,080 about good. 608 00:37:30,080 --> 00:37:33,440 Even though you're not seeing it necessarily at this moment, even though you're not necessarily 609 00:37:33,440 --> 00:37:35,760 feeling it, God's there. 610 00:37:35,760 --> 00:37:36,760 God's in the details. 611 00:37:36,760 --> 00:37:39,760 God's at work in the background. 612 00:37:39,760 --> 00:37:41,240 And he's not going to stop. 613 00:37:41,240 --> 00:37:50,160 If we go to Romans chapter 8 and verse 28, the word says, and we know that all things 614 00:37:50,160 --> 00:37:57,880 work together for the good of, to those who love God, to those who are the called according 615 00:37:57,880 --> 00:38:00,440 to his purpose. 616 00:38:00,440 --> 00:38:03,200 Because remember, it's about him, not us. 617 00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:06,080 His will, not ours. 618 00:38:06,080 --> 00:38:10,720 His time, his perfect time, not ours. 619 00:38:10,720 --> 00:38:21,040 Jeremiah 29 verse 11, for I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts 620 00:38:21,040 --> 00:38:29,920 of peace, not evil, to give you a future and a hope. 621 00:38:29,920 --> 00:38:32,040 That's a big one. 622 00:38:32,040 --> 00:38:35,220 It's Christmas season. 623 00:38:35,220 --> 00:38:39,400 This is a time that we need to step back and no matter what's going on around us, we need 624 00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:43,960 to remember Jesus is the reason for the season. 625 00:38:43,960 --> 00:38:48,960 He's at work on your behalf. 626 00:38:48,960 --> 00:38:55,440 So this is a season that we need to make sure that we're using as a time of renewal, a time 627 00:38:55,440 --> 00:38:56,760 of refreshment. 628 00:38:56,760 --> 00:39:00,600 So my wife was reminding me this morning of joy. 629 00:39:00,600 --> 00:39:03,040 Where's your joy? 630 00:39:03,040 --> 00:39:05,160 Right? 631 00:39:05,160 --> 00:39:09,720 Because God is saying, come to me. 632 00:39:09,720 --> 00:39:14,440 Rather, he's saying, I'm with you. 633 00:39:14,440 --> 00:39:17,680 I'm alongside you every step of the way. 634 00:39:17,680 --> 00:39:19,940 I'm not going to leave you. 635 00:39:19,940 --> 00:39:21,680 We're going through this together. 636 00:39:21,680 --> 00:39:28,600 And he doesn't watch us from a distance. 637 00:39:28,600 --> 00:39:29,600 He's right here with us. 638 00:39:29,600 --> 00:39:30,600 He's in the midst. 639 00:39:30,600 --> 00:39:33,840 He's walking among us. 640 00:39:33,840 --> 00:39:34,840 He's in our midst. 641 00:39:34,840 --> 00:39:38,360 He's alive and active. 642 00:39:38,360 --> 00:39:43,600 And it only takes a mustard grade of faith. 643 00:39:43,600 --> 00:39:47,080 That's all we need. 644 00:39:47,080 --> 00:39:49,840 Living a life for him and glorifying him. 645 00:39:49,840 --> 00:39:56,400 And it's the least that we can do because of his sacrifice for us. 646 00:39:56,400 --> 00:40:04,240 From the day Jesus was born to the day he went to the cross. 647 00:40:04,240 --> 00:40:12,440 The day he came back, ascended, and the day he's coming back for each and every one of 648 00:40:12,440 --> 00:40:14,480 us as his family. 649 00:40:14,480 --> 00:40:18,200 Let us pray. 650 00:40:18,200 --> 00:40:28,360 Lord, we thank you for speaking to our hearts and reminding us that you have been, you currently 651 00:40:28,360 --> 00:40:32,280 are, and you always will be in control. 652 00:40:32,280 --> 00:40:38,080 That regardless of all the stuff that's going on in the world, all the things that the enemy 653 00:40:38,080 --> 00:40:44,400 brings against us, that you're there with us. 654 00:40:44,400 --> 00:40:51,440 And you will ensure that everything that's going on will ultimately be used for good 655 00:40:51,440 --> 00:40:55,280 and for your kingdom. 656 00:40:55,280 --> 00:41:00,200 That you're looking out for our best interests. 657 00:41:00,200 --> 00:41:03,520 You won't be giving that up. 658 00:41:03,520 --> 00:41:09,240 We thank you for your sacrifice and we thank you for your love for each and every single 659 00:41:09,240 --> 00:41:10,240 one of us. 660 00:41:10,240 --> 00:41:17,760 And as we leave here today, please guide our steps, guide our words, guide our actions, 661 00:41:17,760 --> 00:41:23,880 guide us to those places that you've prepared for us, and guide us in reflecting your light 662 00:41:23,880 --> 00:41:27,400 and your love into the world. 663 00:41:27,400 --> 00:41:33,320 We thank you for the gift of Jesus and your Holy Spirit which resides in each and every 664 00:41:33,320 --> 00:41:34,800 single one of us. 665 00:41:34,800 --> 00:41:39,400 And all of these people said amen and amen. 666 00:41:39,400 --> 00:41:43,360 Remember when you leave here today, you're loved and you are blessed, so go and be the 667 00:41:43,360 --> 00:41:44,360 church. 668 00:41:44,360 --> 00:42:00,880 Look forward to seeing everybody on Tuesday evening, 6.30 p.m.