1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,240 So as we start our Christmas Day message, as we conclude a sermon series on the mess 2 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:20,440 and the miracle, I'm going to read an account of Christ's birth. 3 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:24,720 And I guarantee you it's not one that you're expecting. 4 00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:32,680 A great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet 5 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:36,660 and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 6 00:00:36,660 --> 00:00:42,020 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and giving agony, with the agony of 7 00:00:42,020 --> 00:00:43,640 giving birth. 8 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:49,760 And another sign appeared in heaven, behold a great red dragon with seven heads and ten 9 00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:53,280 horns and on each of his head seven diadems. 10 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:58,400 His tail swept down a third of the stars in heaven and cast them to the earth. 11 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:03,520 And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth so that when she bore 12 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:07,520 her child he might devour it. 13 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:12,640 She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule over all the nations with a rod of 14 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:13,640 iron. 15 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:19,480 But her child was caught up to God and to his throne. 16 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:22,080 Merry Christmas. 17 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:26,920 So that is the Christmas story in the book of Revelation. 18 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:29,280 That is the end game. 19 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:33,640 Where we are in the beginning that is the end. 20 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:39,480 And we're going to break down that text but I didn't want to just give you that version 21 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:45,920 of the Christmas story because that one graphic, right, vivid, somewhat terrifying, probably 22 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:52,360 one you're not going to read on Christmas Eve if you hope your kids want to sleep. 23 00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:55,520 But for a lot of us we do better with this one. 24 00:01:55,520 --> 00:02:00,160 And Joseph went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, the city of David, which 25 00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:05,480 is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered 26 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:08,900 with Mary his betrothed who was with child. 27 00:02:08,900 --> 00:02:12,640 And while they were there the time came for her to give birth. 28 00:02:12,640 --> 00:02:16,960 She gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a 29 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:21,280 manger because there was no place for them in the inn. 30 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:23,360 All right. 31 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:25,160 That's the one we're used to. 32 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:27,880 That's the one that we like. 33 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:32,040 And we like that because it's Christmassy, right? 34 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:37,840 It reads very much like a Hallmark movie and it reads very much about the traditions that 35 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:44,880 we've come to know, the traditions we've come to have as believers of this is being Christ's 36 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:45,880 birth. 37 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:52,480 But as believers we know that Christ came, He lived, He died, we'll celebrate that at 38 00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:57,680 Lent, and then He rose again, we'll celebrate that in Easter. 39 00:02:57,680 --> 00:03:03,280 Then He ascends, but then we know that He's going to come back. 40 00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:08,320 And all the while in there we have been given a job to do. 41 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:12,880 That we have been given the authority of Christ, all authority on heaven and earth been given 42 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:13,880 to me. 43 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:14,880 Now you go. 44 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:16,280 That is derived authority. 45 00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:18,160 That's not authority intrinsic in you. 46 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:19,920 You didn't grow up with that authority. 47 00:03:19,920 --> 00:03:21,480 You didn't earn that authority. 48 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:23,840 Jesus says, God the Father gave it to me. 49 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:24,920 Now I'm giving it to you. 50 00:03:24,920 --> 00:03:26,920 Now you go. 51 00:03:26,920 --> 00:03:33,640 That baby Jesus grown up now, Savior of the world, conquers death itself, is now giving 52 00:03:33,640 --> 00:03:37,040 us a job to do. 53 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:41,280 But we really like to start it with Christmas. 54 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:46,760 We really like to start it with Christmas songs. 55 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:50,400 I was going to look around to see if anyone was doing the hand motions too away in the 56 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:52,280 manger. 57 00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:53,400 We like that. 58 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:56,680 It's comfortable. 59 00:03:56,680 --> 00:03:58,600 Let me ask you a question. 60 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:03,560 Is it really comfortable or have we made it comfortable? 61 00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:06,960 We talked a little bit yesterday about Jesus coming. 62 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:15,200 Why He came, the way He came, understanding that He just in being born had a title, had 63 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:18,880 many titles, had a job to do, had a duty, right? 64 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:24,200 He had a call on His life. 65 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:26,040 He was given many titles. 66 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:31,680 He was going to establish many things. 67 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:35,720 Now for some of you, and I have never owned my own business, but for some of you that 68 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:37,800 do, okay, Scott, you're easy. 69 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:38,800 I'll pick on you. 70 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:42,280 Well, so I will do the vrices. 71 00:04:42,280 --> 00:04:43,720 I know. 72 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:45,240 Mike was just going to take it, but he pointed to you. 73 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:47,760 Just so you know, Mike pointed to you, Randy. 74 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:53,240 When you had your children born, did you hold them up, maybe like Lion King, maybe not, 75 00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:58,760 and just say, you will be great at site services? 76 00:04:58,760 --> 00:04:59,760 You did. 77 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:00,760 Okay. 78 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:04,680 I didn't think you were going to answer that way, so I got to bring this back. 79 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:08,560 But we don't have a lot of that when we're born, right? 80 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:12,000 The scut boys are up there shaking, just going, oh no. 81 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:13,480 But we don't really do that. 82 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:22,040 When my three sons were born, I didn't try to imprint on them anything, because we don't 83 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:24,480 do that to a baby. 84 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:30,760 A baby is meant to be utterly dependent on mom and dad, right? 85 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:32,120 Dads can still get up, right? 86 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:35,480 They can still get up in the middle of the night and all those kind of things. 87 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:41,180 All of our pregnant women right now have just elbowed their soon to be dads. 88 00:05:41,180 --> 00:05:43,900 And understanding that we don't put any pressure on a baby. 89 00:05:43,900 --> 00:05:44,900 We don't. 90 00:05:44,900 --> 00:05:48,720 The only pressure, if we're being honest, is at some point it's going to eat solid food, 91 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:49,720 right? 92 00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:52,020 And at some point it's going to sleep longer than three hours. 93 00:05:52,020 --> 00:05:55,120 That's really the only expectations we put on. 94 00:05:55,120 --> 00:05:58,000 When do the expectations start coming? 95 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:02,280 For all of those that have been parents, aunts, uncles, or grandparents, when do the expectations 96 00:06:02,280 --> 00:06:07,740 on kids start to come? 97 00:06:07,740 --> 00:06:08,740 High school. 98 00:06:08,740 --> 00:06:11,240 Man, I would have loved to live in that house. 99 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:12,240 High school. 100 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:15,700 Thirteen and younger, you get to do whatever you want. 101 00:06:15,700 --> 00:06:16,700 It's party time. 102 00:06:16,700 --> 00:06:17,700 Who said that? 103 00:06:17,700 --> 00:06:19,000 No, I'm not going to ask you to raise your hand. 104 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:21,320 But when do we start putting expectation? 105 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:23,480 Kindergarten. 106 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:26,420 So that's very different than high school, right? 107 00:06:26,420 --> 00:06:27,420 Anywhere else? 108 00:06:27,420 --> 00:06:30,720 When do we put expectations on our kids? 109 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:31,720 Party training. 110 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:33,960 That's a big one. 111 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:34,960 Year one. 112 00:06:34,960 --> 00:06:35,960 Walk. 113 00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:36,960 Oh, when they're walking. 114 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:37,960 Okay. 115 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:40,180 You went, Vandervoet House, you can walk. 116 00:06:40,180 --> 00:06:41,180 Go get a job. 117 00:06:41,180 --> 00:06:42,180 Right? 118 00:06:42,180 --> 00:06:43,180 That's exactly, right? 119 00:06:43,180 --> 00:06:46,480 That's exactly what I hear Larry saying. 120 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:51,240 Say that again? 121 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:58,480 As soon as we know about them, leave it to Mike to drop a deep truth there. 122 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:00,480 Anyone else? 123 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:04,600 Well, that is an expectation that you give, right? 124 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:07,360 But when do you start giving that? 125 00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:09,840 Is that still, is that for Ryan as well? 126 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:12,280 Yeah, okay. 127 00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:15,360 Someone was going to answer. 128 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:17,000 The day they're born. 129 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:18,000 Okay. 130 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:19,320 So, isn't it funny? 131 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:22,440 There is no set standard here. 132 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:26,580 So we have at birth, we have when they can walk, when we know about them, when they're 133 00:07:26,580 --> 00:07:28,760 in high school. 134 00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:30,480 Kindergarten. 135 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:32,600 In the back, was that a hand up or were you just waving? 136 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:35,680 Hi, good to see you. 137 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:40,600 Understanding that we don't put these expectations on kids because they don't really do much 138 00:07:40,600 --> 00:07:42,760 as babies. 139 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:48,760 And I think that that's one of the most interesting things about the Christmas story is that Jesus 140 00:07:48,760 --> 00:07:50,920 had all these expectations on him. 141 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:53,160 We don't know a lot about him as a baby. 142 00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:57,160 We have that one, we hear that they go to Egypt but he's still a baby. 143 00:07:57,160 --> 00:07:59,760 And we have that one when he's juvenile, right? 144 00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:04,120 At a certain age, he stays in the temple when mom and dad's caravan goes. 145 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:05,600 They ask him why he wasn't with them. 146 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:08,080 He says, I should be in my father's house. 147 00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:12,420 There's a recognition that Jesus had very early on that he was different. 148 00:08:12,420 --> 00:08:14,240 He had these expectations. 149 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:23,960 But what Revelation tells us is not only did he have expectations, but this baby had enemies 150 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:26,960 the day it was born. 151 00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:30,640 I don't think that's anything we ever have encountered. 152 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:36,880 Now maybe if you have older siblings, right, the day the younger sibling's born, maybe 153 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:39,240 that's a very small case of that. 154 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:41,760 Scott Boyd, stop looking at each other. 155 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:44,000 That now all of a sudden you have competition, right? 156 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:45,000 I get that. 157 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:47,600 I was the competition for my sister Lynn, right? 158 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:50,000 It wasn't much of a competition, but I was. 159 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:55,200 And understand that that's really, it has nothing to do with what we just read in Revelation. 160 00:08:55,200 --> 00:08:58,600 That Jesus, when he was born, had enemies. 161 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:03,980 When Jesus, when he was born, had a force that really wished he wasn't. 162 00:09:03,980 --> 00:09:10,040 That we read in Revelation that there is this dragon, right, this dragon representing Satan, 163 00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:11,120 representing the evilness. 164 00:09:11,120 --> 00:09:13,600 Now there are many ways to read the book of Revelation. 165 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:15,280 We're gonna get to that in the fall. 166 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:20,200 We're gonna do the whole book, 10,000 foot view, starting after Labor Day. 167 00:09:20,200 --> 00:09:26,200 But in this kind of illustration, we're going to use the great dragon as sin and Satan and 168 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:27,200 death itself. 169 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:33,000 So have you ever thought about that, about the little baby Jesus, that the enemy of this 170 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:36,720 baby was death itself? 171 00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:41,080 We have to understand it at this stage of his life because it helps us understand it 172 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:43,480 when he conquers death itself. 173 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:45,000 That he beats death. 174 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:48,560 This baby is going to beat death itself. 175 00:09:48,560 --> 00:09:54,400 That this baby's gonna offer everlasting life in great juxtaposition of what the dragon 176 00:09:54,400 --> 00:09:55,400 wanted to happen. 177 00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:57,040 The dragon wanted to devour it. 178 00:09:57,040 --> 00:09:58,880 The dragon wanted it to be done. 179 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:03,960 The dragon thought that he was going to win. 180 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:06,560 As we know in the book of Revelation, he doesn't. 181 00:10:06,560 --> 00:10:12,600 We know in the book of Revelation that Jesus came, right, the 12 symbols in that book of 182 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:18,760 Revelation, the 12 tribes of Israel, that Jesus came to redeem the 12 tribes of Israel. 183 00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:23,500 But then as we go further, those diadems, because Revelation is all about imagery and 184 00:10:23,500 --> 00:10:28,840 trying to understand that and unpack that, those diadems are the Gentiles. 185 00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:35,640 That Jesus came to not only save the Israelites and be the Masha'iah or the Messiah, he was 186 00:10:35,640 --> 00:10:42,880 also going to come and make a way for everybody to come to the Father in salvation. 187 00:10:42,880 --> 00:10:50,080 When my boys were born, I just hoped they didn't get detentions. 188 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:52,880 That's the perspective I had as a new parent. 189 00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:55,320 Not really know what I'm doing, and none of us really do. 190 00:10:55,320 --> 00:11:00,160 Whether you took parenting classes or Lamaze classes or whatever those are, nothing will 191 00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:02,960 ever prepare you for when those kids are there. 192 00:11:02,960 --> 00:11:08,000 And if we're being honest, all we do is really mimic those that have come before us. 193 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:13,520 Because the generations before us, we learned things of what to do and what not to do. 194 00:11:13,520 --> 00:11:20,000 But I always find it funny talking with parents when kids get to be about 5, 6, 7. 195 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:24,180 Here it goes, I thought I'd never be like my parents, but last week I had a conversation 196 00:11:24,180 --> 00:11:29,400 with my kid and I just went back to that exact conversation I had with my parents. 197 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:32,680 The apples don't fall far from trees. 198 00:11:32,680 --> 00:11:37,560 So what we have to understand is that not only is this expectation, this enemy of death 199 00:11:37,560 --> 00:11:42,600 itself is on Jesus, and we celebrate this Christmas as Jesus going in. 200 00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:50,000 What we have to recognize in this, Jesus has all of this because of us. 201 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:55,040 That Jesus has to come into a world of struggle in order to save it. 202 00:11:55,040 --> 00:11:57,160 Yes, that's the first century. 203 00:11:57,160 --> 00:12:01,820 And he goes through 33 and a half years, he dies, he rises again from the dead. 204 00:12:01,820 --> 00:12:05,920 We know that, we'll get to that in Lent and Easter. 205 00:12:05,920 --> 00:12:09,600 But the mess of all of it is exactly what he was born into. 206 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:13,760 He was born into our mess. 207 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:20,480 He was born into all of the junk that we struggle with today. 208 00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:29,920 This little baby being born so you will not die to whatever sin you are struggling with 209 00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:33,040 today. 210 00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:36,040 Now that doesn't give us allowance to sin, right? 211 00:12:36,040 --> 00:12:38,800 That doesn't say, oh, well, God's going to forgive us so I'm going to sin. 212 00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:42,920 Paul calls that cheap grace and we don't want to be about that. 213 00:12:42,920 --> 00:12:50,440 But we understand that the struggle, the mess is exactly what Jesus came to solve. 214 00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:52,120 What he came to clean. 215 00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:54,720 All of those kind of idioms you want to use. 216 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:59,320 Jesus came in for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son. 217 00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:02,040 And whoever believes in him will have everlasting life. 218 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:06,320 While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 219 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:08,560 It's not like the plate was great. 220 00:13:08,560 --> 00:13:12,060 He was born in a manger. 221 00:13:12,060 --> 00:13:14,280 He was born into struggle. 222 00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:17,420 He was born into a world of sin. 223 00:13:17,420 --> 00:13:21,880 He was born through the sin of his parents, right? 224 00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:24,720 Not born into the sin of his parents, but his parents were not perfect. 225 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:28,560 It's one of the things we differ with our Catholic brothers and sisters. 226 00:13:28,560 --> 00:13:33,420 We do not believe that Mary was perfect because she was an Israelite. 227 00:13:33,420 --> 00:13:35,120 She was born of Adam and Eve. 228 00:13:35,120 --> 00:13:36,960 Sin was in her DNA. 229 00:13:36,960 --> 00:13:44,160 Fully God, fully man, born on this day to conquer our DNA. 230 00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:46,720 To conquer who we really are. 231 00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:52,080 And I don't know about you, but that really throws me for a loop. 232 00:13:52,080 --> 00:13:58,720 That this beautiful baby, the closest thing we have to perfection, if you will, in our 233 00:13:58,720 --> 00:14:04,180 lives, he himself actually is. 234 00:14:04,180 --> 00:14:13,560 He was born to make sense and help me in the messes I find myself. 235 00:14:13,560 --> 00:14:17,440 And babies though, they don't really go through that. 236 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:21,600 We don't say when, and maybe you did, maybe you're uber spiritual and you did that, that 237 00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:27,560 after just the third time of getting up at night, you go, man, this baby is so sinful. 238 00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:29,040 It won't sleep. 239 00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:31,120 If that's you, that's fine. 240 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:32,120 That's between you and Jesus. 241 00:14:32,120 --> 00:14:36,400 I don't think that's accurate, but it is what it is. 242 00:14:36,400 --> 00:14:38,760 We don't put those things on the baby. 243 00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:40,780 We don't put them on babies. 244 00:14:40,780 --> 00:14:46,400 And however you kind of grew up in your family, at some point expectations were put on you 245 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:53,400 and the choice to disobey was officially given. 246 00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:58,200 Anyone want to tell us how early it was when you started disobeying? 247 00:14:58,200 --> 00:14:59,560 Go ahead, Joey. 248 00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:01,260 Two years old. 249 00:15:01,260 --> 00:15:02,840 That tracks. 250 00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:03,840 Anyone else? 251 00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:04,840 One. 252 00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:08,600 Thank you, Holland owner boys. 253 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:13,060 You guys notice no one else is answering, so props to you. 254 00:15:13,060 --> 00:15:18,560 The minute we are given an expectation, hence why I asked, right? 255 00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:23,240 So whoever said high school, you got to do all the crazy stuff because there was no expectations 256 00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:24,240 on you. 257 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:30,080 But in the Holland owner house, kindergarten, you are told this is what I want you to do. 258 00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:33,200 And we all know what the options are. 259 00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:36,760 You can do it and you cannot do it. 260 00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:39,360 And there are consequences for those actions. 261 00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:44,220 We started this Advent journey in the Garden of Eden. 262 00:15:44,220 --> 00:15:50,600 We started with Jesus or God creating everything and telling Adam and Eve, you can do all of 263 00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:53,760 these things, but here is the one thing you can't do. 264 00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:56,080 Do not eat of this tree. 265 00:15:56,080 --> 00:16:00,700 You can eat everything else. 266 00:16:00,700 --> 00:16:07,680 The first expectation, they were grown people, if you will, was given an expectation. 267 00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:11,520 They chose to disobey. 268 00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:19,720 So this Christmas, this baby has come to help us obey. 269 00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:27,000 This baby has come to engage a world that wants to radically disobey. 270 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:30,760 Whether it is in our families, whether it is in our jobs, whether it is in the society, 271 00:16:30,760 --> 00:16:38,800 in our politics, in the world we live in, we love to disobey. 272 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:40,840 It is in our nature. 273 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:42,960 It wasn't in his. 274 00:16:42,960 --> 00:16:46,760 And he came to give us a better way. 275 00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:53,840 And so this Christmas, as we walk through this version of the Christmas story that Jesus 276 00:16:53,840 --> 00:17:00,420 has come to conquer, he has come to save, he has come to lift up, he has come to see, 277 00:17:00,420 --> 00:17:03,440 he has come to notice those that don't think they are noticed. 278 00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:08,680 He's come to love all of us that need that kind of love, which is all of us. 279 00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:11,080 He's come to give us a better way. 280 00:17:11,080 --> 00:17:18,360 He's come to remind us that the biggest, greatest thing in your life is to love God with everything 281 00:17:18,360 --> 00:17:19,360 you are. 282 00:17:19,360 --> 00:17:23,360 Let's start there. 283 00:17:23,360 --> 00:17:25,280 I don't know about you, but that's convicting. 284 00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:27,040 Wait a minute. 285 00:17:27,040 --> 00:17:33,440 I have to love God with all of my heart, all of my soul, all of my mind, and all of my 286 00:17:33,440 --> 00:17:34,520 strength. 287 00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:37,760 That pretty much encapsulates everything. 288 00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:41,440 The only thing, I mean, it's your body, maybe your appetite, but that's a weird thing, and 289 00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:42,960 we don't have to dissect it that way. 290 00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:47,560 But understand that Jesus says this is it. 291 00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:49,840 Be a good worker. 292 00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:54,640 Be a great wife, a great husband, be a superior athlete. 293 00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:56,400 Do whatever I've gifted you to do. 294 00:17:56,400 --> 00:17:59,660 But this is the number one most important thing. 295 00:17:59,660 --> 00:18:07,040 This is the Christmas gift every day that we know what we are called to do is to love 296 00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:11,760 God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. 297 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:14,480 You do that, you are an excellent Jew. 298 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:16,400 You are an excellent Israelite. 299 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:21,540 That's exactly what the Torah was founded on, and that is exactly what you memorized. 300 00:18:21,540 --> 00:18:23,200 That's exactly what you talked about. 301 00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:28,280 Jesus comes to say, and I'm going to show you how to do it. 302 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:30,060 The Word became flesh. 303 00:18:30,060 --> 00:18:33,760 We read a couple weeks ago in John 1, 1, and dwelt among us. 304 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:39,200 He didn't dwell among us because Jerusalem or Nazareth or Capernaum or Bethlehem was 305 00:18:39,200 --> 00:18:42,640 better than heaven because it's not. 306 00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:50,040 But he came to dwell among us to show us the way because he knows we need it. 307 00:18:50,040 --> 00:18:56,480 Because he knows we will all go astray when given the opportunity. 308 00:18:56,480 --> 00:18:59,000 You can't deny that. 309 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:00,000 How do I know? 310 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:01,000 Because you are all sinners. 311 00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:04,200 If you weren't a sinner, friend, you wouldn't need to be here. 312 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:05,800 You would start parting way earlier. 313 00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:11,080 And it would probably be really lonely because no one can fit that bill. 314 00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:18,080 But understand that Jesus came to show us the way even though he knew the forces that 315 00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:22,180 were against him, but he knew what his expectations were. 316 00:19:22,180 --> 00:19:24,800 He knew the job that he had. 317 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:30,260 He knew the way he was supposed to do it because him and the Father were one. 318 00:19:30,260 --> 00:19:34,200 He understood the will of the Father and the will of the Father was to love the Lord your 319 00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:37,720 God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. 320 00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:38,720 Beautiful. 321 00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:39,720 Love it. 322 00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:40,720 Amen. 323 00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:48,560 And your neighbor as yourself. 324 00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:53,880 Wouldn't it be so much easier if he stopped and he put a period instead of a comma? 325 00:19:53,880 --> 00:19:56,160 For all of you grammar people, you might say, no, it's actually a period. 326 00:19:56,160 --> 00:19:58,080 It's a second clause, so it's a new sentence. 327 00:19:58,080 --> 00:19:59,080 Stop it. 328 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:01,840 For my purposes, it's a comma. 329 00:20:01,840 --> 00:20:05,160 Wouldn't it be easier? 330 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:07,720 Because I can love God with everything. 331 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:09,880 I can love God, right? 332 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:12,520 It might not be hard for you to love God. 333 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:16,720 Like if that was it, if that was what we had to do, Merry Christmas, hallelujah, we're 334 00:20:16,720 --> 00:20:21,240 going to love God with everything. 335 00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:27,880 And our vertical relationship, awesome. 336 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:32,160 But Jesus comes to remind us of how we do that. 337 00:20:32,160 --> 00:20:35,940 And not only remind us, but shows us how we do that. 338 00:20:35,940 --> 00:20:44,800 The greatest Christmas gift that you can ever give is loving God and loving others the way 339 00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:48,480 you love God, loving others the way you love yourself. 340 00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:52,880 Well, now we can get into some really awkward conversations. 341 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:58,520 Now, all of a sudden, some of us are starting to tighten because we came here with someone 342 00:20:58,520 --> 00:21:01,360 from our extended family we don't really like. 343 00:21:01,360 --> 00:21:02,360 But it's Christmas. 344 00:21:02,360 --> 00:21:03,360 This is what we do. 345 00:21:03,360 --> 00:21:09,760 And we're going to clench through dinner and we're going to see each other again next year. 346 00:21:09,760 --> 00:21:13,320 I don't think that's what we're called to do. 347 00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:17,760 Or maybe, you know what, you're setting aside the marital arguments because it's Christmas, 348 00:21:17,760 --> 00:21:20,560 but you'll pick it back up in the new year. 349 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:22,640 I don't think that's what we're called to do. 350 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:26,620 I don't think that's what that baby represents. 351 00:21:26,620 --> 00:21:31,520 Or maybe you're here and you're going, well, I'm not going to do that. 352 00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:35,320 I'm not going to do that sin this week because it was a holy night. 353 00:21:35,320 --> 00:21:36,320 We sang it. 354 00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:37,320 I feel good. 355 00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:38,320 I have that spiritual high. 356 00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:39,880 I can fight this sin on my own right now. 357 00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:43,080 But after the new year, yeah, I'm probably going to fall into it, but I'm going to try 358 00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:45,320 to hide it from God. 359 00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:48,000 I don't think that's what that baby represents. 360 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:53,920 I don't think this baby represented in front of the sin and death itself who wants to devour 361 00:21:53,920 --> 00:22:00,240 it so you can lie to God, so you can lie to your neighbor, so you can lie to yourself 362 00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:05,840 and believe you're living the best life. 363 00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:10,880 Now if you're here and you don't claim yourself as a believer, then that set of standards 364 00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:12,720 is different for you. 365 00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:20,980 But my hope and my prayer is that you do because there is this thing called grace. 366 00:22:20,980 --> 00:22:21,980 One of you said it. 367 00:22:21,980 --> 00:22:25,600 I think it was the youngest scut said grace. 368 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:31,120 That's what Christmas represents, that this is the birth of grace itself for that sin 369 00:22:31,120 --> 00:22:36,360 that you are struggling with, that mindset that you seem to have or fall into time to 370 00:22:36,360 --> 00:22:37,400 time. 371 00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:41,280 That mindset for all of us can be different, but I guarantee it's similar in the fact that 372 00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:46,560 you believe you're better than other people. 373 00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:53,920 That the baby represents grace from all of those things. 374 00:22:53,920 --> 00:22:58,200 So the perspective that I want all of us to have and friends, I am looking in the mirror 375 00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:02,240 before I say any of this to you. 376 00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:06,580 What is the dragon in my life that's trying to devour me? 377 00:23:06,580 --> 00:23:09,760 Is it the anxieties? 378 00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:11,900 Is it the greed? 379 00:23:11,900 --> 00:23:19,200 Is it, insert whatever here, the idolatry, the adultery, the stealing, the go through 380 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:23,240 the commandments, go through the 600 laws, whatever it is. 381 00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:28,480 You'll find something that you're struggling with here in 2023, about to be 2024. 382 00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:32,100 That is the dragon that wants to devour you. 383 00:23:32,100 --> 00:23:35,820 Because the dragon doesn't want a relationship with you, it doesn't want to be your pet, 384 00:23:35,820 --> 00:23:38,040 it wants to be your dominance. 385 00:23:38,040 --> 00:23:44,360 It wants to be the owner of your soul. 386 00:23:44,360 --> 00:23:49,420 And the baby comes to represent something very, very different. 387 00:23:49,420 --> 00:23:56,000 That this baby comes to represent life and life to the fullest. 388 00:23:56,000 --> 00:24:01,480 This baby comes to say, love God with all that you are, every day, every minute of every 389 00:24:01,480 --> 00:24:03,100 day. 390 00:24:03,100 --> 00:24:11,280 When you fall, seek that forgiveness, find that accountability and follow God. 391 00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:12,960 But how do you do that? 392 00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:15,040 By loving your neighbor as yourself. 393 00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:19,560 Well, I hate my neighbor, sorry. 394 00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:21,560 I hate my coworker, sorry. 395 00:24:21,560 --> 00:24:26,080 So you're like, I don't use the word hate. 396 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:27,400 Okay. 397 00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:29,120 I don't like my neighbor. 398 00:24:29,120 --> 00:24:30,480 Okay. 399 00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:31,720 Are you still gonna love him? 400 00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:34,560 Well, then you probably hate him. 401 00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:39,200 And again, that love looks very different for all of us. 402 00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:44,000 For some of us, that love looks a lot like tolerance, but we pray about it and we try 403 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:46,840 to be a good person in it. 404 00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:49,540 But that's the perspective of Christmas. 405 00:24:49,540 --> 00:24:55,280 The perspective of Christmas is that you actively love people the way you actively love God. 406 00:24:55,280 --> 00:25:02,480 Well, Pastor, I passively love God, so I'm gonna passively love people. 407 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:05,000 That's not how you do it. 408 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:10,020 He has come that we might have life and life to the fullest because as I'm gonna close, 409 00:25:10,020 --> 00:25:16,320 as I started, he then tells us, I have been given this authority, Jesus, I'm now giving 410 00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:17,320 it to you. 411 00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:22,460 So your Christmas gift that you can give the world, and friends, this doesn't get you out 412 00:25:22,460 --> 00:25:26,040 of giving your loved one a Christmas gift, especially if things bought as one of their 413 00:25:26,040 --> 00:25:29,620 love languages. 414 00:25:29,620 --> 00:25:33,680 The greatest gift you can give them is to actively love them. 415 00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:36,160 Well, Pastor, how do I do that? 416 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:40,320 Everybody meet their needs. 417 00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:41,320 How do I do that? 418 00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:45,380 Well, if they're in need of food, feed them. 419 00:25:45,380 --> 00:25:48,600 If they're in need of drink, give them something. 420 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:53,800 If they're in need of presence and community, offer it. 421 00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:58,120 But I don't really like them. 422 00:25:58,120 --> 00:26:02,440 I think the baby would say, get over yourself. 423 00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:06,480 I died for them as I died for you. 424 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:10,160 I have forgiven them, I have forgiven you. 425 00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:13,560 Now, I understand that you might not be BFFs. 426 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:15,720 I get that. 427 00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:21,920 The greatest Christmas gift we can give one another is to truly love them, to truly see 428 00:26:21,920 --> 00:26:27,400 them, because we have a world of people that wanna hide. 429 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:32,400 The church shouldn't be that giant heat lamp like we talked about, like the detective says, 430 00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:38,640 but it should be that warm fire in the fireplace that draws people to come to community. 431 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:43,240 Say, I don't have anybody in my life. 432 00:26:43,240 --> 00:26:45,760 You can have Munster Church. 433 00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:47,000 I don't know the way to life. 434 00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:51,280 I don't know what, I don't know the purpose or what I'm called to do in this life. 435 00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:54,920 Let's talk about it together. 436 00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:58,200 I'm not good enough to go to Munster Church. 437 00:26:58,200 --> 00:26:59,940 And I'm giving you this permission. 438 00:26:59,940 --> 00:27:01,760 We have Jim Holland on our as our pastor. 439 00:27:01,760 --> 00:27:04,680 We'll take anybody. 440 00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:07,240 Feel free. 441 00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:09,800 That's the greatest Christmas gift you can give. 442 00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:15,680 Yeah, the shiny things and the toys and the food and the, that's all well and good. 443 00:27:15,680 --> 00:27:18,680 But do you think the baby was born for all of that? 444 00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:23,640 You think the baby was born so we would celebrate today and maybe into tomorrow and then forget 445 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:25,640 about him on Wednesday? 446 00:27:25,640 --> 00:27:26,800 No. 447 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:33,080 He was born to make the ultimate eternal difference in our life. 448 00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:40,320 If he wasn't that important, death itself would not try to devour him. 449 00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:42,720 That's the power that he has. 450 00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:49,080 That's the love that he has for you. 451 00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:56,760 So as we walk through this today, as we walk through Christmas, may we not just keep 452 00:27:56,760 --> 00:28:05,400 it to this season, but may we actively love God and love people well as we finish up this 453 00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:06,880 year and guess what? 454 00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:10,880 Even better in 2024. 455 00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:18,720 Because when we get up there, when our time on this earth is passed, I'm going to use 456 00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:21,360 someone that most of us know. 457 00:28:21,360 --> 00:28:24,560 I would love to be a fly on, never mind, there's probably not flies in heaven. 458 00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:31,360 I'd rather be whatever on the wall in heaven when Archie Besine or Ellie Besine get up 459 00:28:31,360 --> 00:28:32,360 there. 460 00:28:32,360 --> 00:28:35,240 They're not perfect people. 461 00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:36,240 They're not. 462 00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:37,720 Are they held of high esteem? 463 00:28:37,720 --> 00:28:38,720 Sure. 464 00:28:38,720 --> 00:28:43,160 For the ministry they did for years and years and years. 465 00:28:43,160 --> 00:28:49,240 When Jesus looks at both of them and says, well done, good and faithful servant. 466 00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:55,400 Come into the kingdom prepared for you before the beginning of the world, friend, my number 467 00:28:55,400 --> 00:29:02,520 one goal for you, my number one hope for you as long as I get to be your pastor is that 468 00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:07,080 when you get up there, that's what you're going to hear as I hope you want that for 469 00:29:07,080 --> 00:29:09,080 me. 470 00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:15,920 Because that should give us the ultimate Christmas gift to give people, salvation. 471 00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:20,680 For a world that doesn't know Jesus, guess what, they're not going to hear that. 472 00:29:20,680 --> 00:29:27,080 As you walk through this with people, as you get into the mess of life with people, understand 473 00:29:27,080 --> 00:29:29,480 that mess has already been redeemed. 474 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:34,320 Again, it doesn't mean we get to continue in the mess for mess sake, no. 475 00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:42,640 It's already been redeemed because we know who entered it first. 476 00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:47,880 So enter that mess with the people in your life. 477 00:29:47,880 --> 00:29:52,040 Sit in the struggle that people have. 478 00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:53,160 Come with me, I'll do it with you. 479 00:29:53,160 --> 00:29:54,520 I'll sit with you. 480 00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:56,320 I'll sit with your friend. 481 00:29:56,320 --> 00:30:03,240 We can do this together because the one thing we have to remember this Christmas is A, we're 482 00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:04,320 all messy. 483 00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:10,280 B, Jesus was born in the mess and made sense of it. 484 00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:14,440 Reached it and gave us a better way. 485 00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:41,440 So may we give that to the world that so desperately needs it.