1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:17,920 Hey, good morning everyone. 2 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:21,720 Now that you're all entertained and feel good, welcome to HCV. 3 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:25,280 If you're joining us from home, thank you for welcoming us into your space. 4 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:27,160 Shout out to our friends at HHC. 5 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:29,540 We love you guys so much. 6 00:00:29,540 --> 00:00:34,600 You know, just as you heard in the announcements there, Aaron shared our Christmas Eve gatherings 7 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:35,980 are Tuesday, right? 8 00:00:35,980 --> 00:00:37,320 We have three different options. 9 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:42,080 If you have kids, come show up to our family Christmas Eve service at four. 10 00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:45,680 And then we have two candlelight gatherings, 530 and seven. 11 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:50,560 Invite your friends, invite your family, fill the house, pack it out because God is going 12 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:52,480 to be moving and changing lives. 13 00:00:52,480 --> 00:00:56,280 And then for all of you that are looking for something to do on Christmas morning, right? 14 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:57,280 Wear your PJs. 15 00:00:57,280 --> 00:00:59,240 You don't have to make your hair straight. 16 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:00,800 No deodorant required. 17 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:02,080 Just show up. 18 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:07,240 We're going to get real and worship Jesus at 10 a.m. 19 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:11,400 Jess will be sharing a kid's story and then talking about some stumps. 20 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:14,040 So the perfect topic for Christmas. 21 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:16,560 You'll want to be here at 10 a.m. Christmas morning. 22 00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:20,320 I also want to reiterate, you may have missed it. 23 00:01:20,320 --> 00:01:25,280 Next Sunday, next Sunday, there will be no in-person gatherings. 24 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:27,120 It's our weekend of rest. 25 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:29,120 So we are encouraging you. 26 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:34,680 Take next weekend, Sabbath, rest, spend time with your family and friends. 27 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:39,520 We want to give all those people that serve in HCV, we want to give you a Sunday off, 28 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:40,520 right? 29 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:41,560 And just say, we appreciate you. 30 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:42,560 We love you. 31 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:43,560 There will be. 32 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:44,560 That's right. 33 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:45,560 We do. 34 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:46,560 We do. 35 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:47,560 We love you guys. 36 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:49,680 We have over four or 500 volunteers, you know, so we appreciate you. 37 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:53,120 That's how this church operates and how we make things happen Sunday morning. 38 00:01:53,120 --> 00:02:00,320 There will be an online end of the year weekend of Reflections devotional that will happen 39 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:01,680 Sunday morning. 40 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:04,480 You can tune in on our YouTube channel. 41 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:08,720 I will be sharing a simple five to 10 minute devotional that will challenge you to look 42 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:10,240 forward to the new year. 43 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:13,880 So be sure to tune in for that. 44 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:18,920 Now we are closing out our series, Ghosts of Christmas here this morning. 45 00:02:18,920 --> 00:02:20,200 And this has been a great series. 46 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:25,320 If you missed any of our talks, we basically put ourselves in Elbin years or Scrooge's 47 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:29,440 shoes and we looked at the ghosts of past, present and future and we challenged ourselves 48 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:30,760 to grow and change. 49 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:35,940 And I want to close out this series by throwing out a question. 50 00:02:35,940 --> 00:02:44,080 Why is it for the last 2000 years, people have gathered to worship and adore a baby 51 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:45,080 born in Bethlehem? 52 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:46,080 Why? 53 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:51,560 You know, because so often we go through the Christmas motions, we check some boxes, we 54 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:54,120 celebrate when Santa shows up. 55 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:57,360 We may or may not go to Christmas Eve gatherings. 56 00:02:57,360 --> 00:02:58,660 And why is that? 57 00:02:58,660 --> 00:03:00,680 Why does it happen each and every year? 58 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:04,360 So to answer that question, I want to begin by painting a picture of the different things 59 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:08,120 we do in our society that we don't even think about. 60 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:09,120 Right? 61 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:14,480 It's just kind of how Americans operate, how we function in society on a normal given day. 62 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:18,920 Now please understand these are shared experiences that we have all had just this past week. 63 00:03:18,920 --> 00:03:24,280 For example, all of us have flushed our toilets and expected the waste to leave our house. 64 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:25,520 True or false? 65 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:26,520 True. 66 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:27,520 You're right. 67 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:28,520 We don't want to back up toilet. 68 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:29,520 Right? 69 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:34,680 Many of us in the past week have given out our credit card number either over phone or 70 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:38,520 on our computer without even talking to a person on the other side of it. 71 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:39,520 Right? 72 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:44,000 We did this willingly without anyone making a threat or accusations against us. 73 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:49,160 And we expected over the course of the next 48 hours to see a van pull up in our driveway 74 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:52,640 with an A on it and deliver the stuff we just ordered. 75 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:53,640 Right? 76 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:55,960 It's basically Santa without the sleigh. 77 00:03:55,960 --> 00:03:56,960 Okay? 78 00:03:56,960 --> 00:03:59,680 We do these things without even thinking about it. 79 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:04,000 We just assume that everything is going to work out for us. 80 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:07,760 Think about the last time you went through a fast food drive-through line. 81 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:10,120 You order your food into a speaker. 82 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:12,280 You pull up to the first window. 83 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:15,600 Pay a person the money for the food you just ordered. 84 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:17,320 Don't get any food. 85 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:23,120 And then drive another 20 feet expecting for the food to be put into your car. 86 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:24,560 Right? 87 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:27,200 We drive up to a stop sign. 88 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:32,440 And we expect and assume that the other cars coming to said stop sign are going to stop. 89 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:33,680 And it's not just a stop sign. 90 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:34,960 It's a red light. 91 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:40,280 We assume that the other people around us are going to do just as we've done. 92 00:04:40,280 --> 00:04:43,080 Because that's the normalcy of life. 93 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:48,520 While in other parts of the world, people driving, they don't obey stop signs or red 94 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:49,520 lights. 95 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:51,760 They just move and operate and do whatever they want. 96 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:57,260 But as Americans, we operate with unspoken agreements of trust. 97 00:04:57,260 --> 00:05:01,600 We just assume that there's certain things that are going to happen in our life. 98 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:05,680 And there's an unspoken agreement between us and the other people in society that we 99 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:07,240 never talk to. 100 00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:09,240 But we simply trust that it's going to happen. 101 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:12,680 For example, we trust that we're going to connect to the internet because the Wi-Fi 102 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:15,200 single signal works. 103 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:19,200 We trust that the holiday pictures that we're going to take over the next few days are going 104 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:22,760 to be saved on a cloud somewhere out there. 105 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:23,840 Right? 106 00:05:23,840 --> 00:05:26,360 Because there's enough room to save those memories. 107 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:31,800 We trust that when we're waiting to see the doctor in the waiting room that eventually 108 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:34,000 we will be seen by said doctor. 109 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:35,000 Right? 110 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:36,000 We just believe. 111 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:37,000 We trust. 112 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:42,520 That certain parts of life are going to happen for us within our society and we don't even 113 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:43,520 think about it. 114 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:44,620 That is. 115 00:05:44,620 --> 00:05:49,640 That is until someone uses the phrase, I promise. 116 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:52,080 I promise. 117 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:58,480 See when someone says those two words, suddenly there's these expectations. 118 00:05:58,480 --> 00:05:59,480 Right? 119 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:06,040 The stakes have been raised and people expect whatever was said to happen. 120 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:07,040 A simple example. 121 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:11,800 If I say to my children who play sports, hey, tonight I'll be at your game. 122 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:13,700 I'll be there. 123 00:06:13,700 --> 00:06:15,800 They assume I'm going to show up. 124 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:23,880 But if I look at my kids in the eyes and I say, I promise you tonight I will be at your 125 00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:31,040 game, suddenly everything changes because I put a guarantee on said statement. 126 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:39,180 And all of us understand that truth because our first thought, promises have power. 127 00:06:39,180 --> 00:06:45,160 Promises have power because they bring expectations and anticipation along with them. 128 00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:46,160 Right? 129 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:50,520 We get frustrated when the unspoken agreements of trust get broken. 130 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:51,520 Right? 131 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:52,640 You come to a four way stop. 132 00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:53,800 You're waiting your turn. 133 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:54,800 Right? 134 00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:55,800 It's your turn. 135 00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:58,480 And then suddenly the person that just went, someone else goes. 136 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:00,600 That's frustrating. 137 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:07,760 But we get devastated when promises aren't kept or fulfilled because promises have power. 138 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:11,240 And that's why we read in Ecclesiastes chapter five, verses four through five. 139 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:16,080 When you make a promise to God, don't delay in following through for God takes no pleasure 140 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:17,080 in fools. 141 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:21,040 In other words, if you break a promise, you're a fool. 142 00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:23,560 Keep all the promises you make to him. 143 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:27,400 It is better to say nothing than to make a promise and not keep it. 144 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:32,720 Promises, see they come in all shapes and sizes and they affect us in different levels 145 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:36,840 depending on how old we are and what has been promised to us. 146 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:42,560 I will never forget a promise that was made to me when I was 12 years old from my father. 147 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:45,880 My dad was a lifelong smoker of cigarettes. 148 00:07:45,880 --> 00:07:50,000 And as a kid growing up, that was one of the most frustrating things for me. 149 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:55,640 I could not stand the way the cigarettes made my house, my car and my clothes smell. 150 00:07:55,640 --> 00:07:58,720 I absolutely hated it. 151 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:02,720 I was a good student in school, but I never really put in any effort. 152 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:04,840 It just kind of came naturally to me. 153 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:06,800 So I didn't have to study much. 154 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:10,600 But it was in the fall of my seventh grade year while I was at Northern Middle School 155 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:15,520 that I overheard my dad mention that he was trying to quit smoking, but couldn't. 156 00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:16,900 He was addicted. 157 00:08:16,900 --> 00:08:19,240 So I went to my dad and made him a deal. 158 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:24,360 I said, if I get straight A's for the rest of my seventh grade year in middle school, 159 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:26,840 will you quit smoking? 160 00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:28,360 I'll never forget. 161 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:29,640 He looks back at me. 162 00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:36,320 He makes eye contact and he says, I promise if you get straight A's for the rest of the 163 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:39,400 year, I will quit smoking. 164 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:41,120 I got straight A's. 165 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:46,620 And sure enough, my dad never smoked another cigarette in his life. 166 00:08:46,620 --> 00:08:53,240 Now he chewed on a lot of toothpicks, but there was no more cigarettes. 167 00:08:53,240 --> 00:08:56,800 Promises have power. 168 00:08:56,800 --> 00:09:00,640 And all of us feel them as we walk through life. 169 00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:06,120 I had a coach say to me once, I promise I will take care of your daughter. 170 00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:10,600 Our employers promise us that we will have a job next year. 171 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:15,240 Doctors promise us that the treatment will work and our health will return. 172 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:22,040 A friend may say, I promise you that I will never talk to you that way again. 173 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:26,960 And at the altar, we promise for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer and sickness 174 00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:33,040 and health, that I am committed to you until death do us part. 175 00:09:33,040 --> 00:09:35,080 Promises have power. 176 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:41,280 And that is why Jesus said in Matthew five, just a simple yes, I will, or no, I won't. 177 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:44,640 Anything beyond this is from the evil one. 178 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:46,560 Now think about that. 179 00:09:46,560 --> 00:09:51,960 Any promise is broken means that we're not walking or standing by our word. 180 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:56,640 Now some of the greatest joys in our life have been on the opposite side of a promise 181 00:09:56,640 --> 00:09:58,120 that was fulfilled. 182 00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:05,280 While some of the most devastating times and scars in our life come from unfulfilled promises. 183 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:11,760 And see, I would go as far to say that unfulfilled promises devastate us even more than the fulfilled 184 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:14,840 promises encourage us to make us happy. 185 00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:16,440 So what is a promise? 186 00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:21,720 A promise simply stated by definition is a declaration or assurance that one will do 187 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:25,440 a particular thing or that particular thing will happen. 188 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:33,400 So in other words, there's a situation with a pledge that ends in a result or lack thereof. 189 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:37,720 It's a guarantee that we look for in the promise. 190 00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:39,520 You heard it in my example. 191 00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:43,520 My father quit smoking because he promised. 192 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:48,160 Now some of you are sitting there thinking, Chris, why all this talk about promises? 193 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:52,160 Why are we discussing the definition, the truth that they have power? 194 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:54,920 What does a promise have to do with Christmas? 195 00:10:54,920 --> 00:10:59,080 Well, it actually has everything to do with Christmas. 196 00:10:59,080 --> 00:11:00,080 Everything. 197 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:05,200 But see, many people believe that the idea of God and man interacting, reconnecting with 198 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:07,580 one another begins at Christmas. 199 00:11:07,580 --> 00:11:11,960 We think that Christmas is the beginning of God and his story of connection with humanity. 200 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:14,680 And friends, that simply is not true. 201 00:11:14,680 --> 00:11:19,760 In fact, Christmas actually find itself in a larger story of God that begins way before 202 00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:22,880 Christmas even became a reality. 203 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:30,120 In fact, this story begins with God, just God and no one else. 204 00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:39,000 Now imagine just for a second, God, no creation, no matter, no earth, only God, the God who 205 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:43,440 has always been, always was and always will be the Alpha and the Omega. 206 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:45,540 There's only one God. 207 00:11:45,540 --> 00:11:52,080 And I can't explain to you why, but God, the father decided in his will, in his desire, 208 00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:56,860 in his providence to create all things, including you and me. 209 00:11:56,860 --> 00:12:00,520 And we read this in Genesis one verses 26 and 27 and 31. 210 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:05,440 Then God said, let us make human beings in our image to be like us. 211 00:12:05,440 --> 00:12:08,040 So God created human beings in his own image. 212 00:12:08,040 --> 00:12:10,720 In the image of God, he created them, male and female. 213 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:16,520 God created them, then God looked over all he had made and he saw it was very good. 214 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:21,480 So not only was creation very good, it was perfect. 215 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:27,920 I mean, think about this, the relationship between a man and a woman was perfect. 216 00:12:27,920 --> 00:12:31,560 Just imagine that for a second, you married couples. 217 00:12:31,560 --> 00:12:34,320 It was perfect. 218 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:38,080 But it's not just that, the relationship between people and God was perfect. 219 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:43,480 The relationship between people and his creation was perfect. 220 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:47,600 There was no thorns, there was no thistles, there was no hurricanes, no tornadoes, there 221 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:50,880 was no mosquitoes. 222 00:12:50,880 --> 00:12:51,880 Everything was great. 223 00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:55,520 Rest was great, play was great, fun was great. 224 00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:58,040 Everything in creation was perfect. 225 00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:04,200 Now theologians refer to this state of perfection as shalom, meaning that everything was the 226 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:06,920 way God intended it to be. 227 00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:09,000 And this was the story. 228 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:11,760 This was the way it was supposed to go. 229 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:16,220 But humanity said to God, we don't need you anymore. 230 00:13:16,220 --> 00:13:18,800 We don't trust you. 231 00:13:18,800 --> 00:13:24,280 They rebelled against God saying, we want more. 232 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:26,840 We want it our way. 233 00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:33,200 And humanity rejected God's original plan for us, committing cosmic treason. 234 00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:39,080 See sin released brokenness into the world, Genesis 3. 235 00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:42,440 You won't die, the serpent replied to the woman. 236 00:13:42,440 --> 00:13:46,840 God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it and you will be like God 237 00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:50,000 knowing both good and evil. 238 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:51,800 The woman was convinced. 239 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:57,440 So she saw the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious and she wanted the 240 00:13:57,440 --> 00:13:59,820 wisdom it would give her. 241 00:13:59,820 --> 00:14:03,400 So she took some of the fruit and ate it, then she gave some to her husband, noticed 242 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:05,220 who was with her. 243 00:14:05,220 --> 00:14:06,480 He was there. 244 00:14:06,480 --> 00:14:11,200 Man, watching the whole conversation, didn't step in, didn't say anything, just was kind 245 00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:14,120 of listening. 246 00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:16,640 Bystander. 247 00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:23,160 And at that moment, their eyes were opened and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness 248 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:25,840 so they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. 249 00:14:25,840 --> 00:14:29,120 Listen, everything that has brought us pain. 250 00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:31,320 Everything that has created tears. 251 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:35,360 Everything that brings us frustration began in that moment. 252 00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:40,960 When sin, separation from God entered our world, everything changes, defining moment 253 00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:44,280 in human history and in this story. 254 00:14:44,280 --> 00:14:47,720 Which leads us to, you know, what happens next? 255 00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:49,520 What is God going to do? 256 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:53,520 And by the way, listen, God doesn't have to do anything. 257 00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:55,200 He is God. 258 00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:56,880 He doesn't have to step in and act. 259 00:14:56,880 --> 00:14:58,280 He doesn't have to assist. 260 00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:00,040 He can do nothing. 261 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:04,800 But God walks into the bomb that just went off in his creation. 262 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:11,240 He walks into the wreckage that humanity made, humanity made, that we have made and leads 263 00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:13,080 us to our next song. 264 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:19,120 God promised, he made a promise to restore the relationship between he and humanity. 265 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:24,460 See, God promises to restore the relationship between he and us. 266 00:15:24,460 --> 00:15:27,800 He steps in and says, I'm going to make a way. 267 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:29,520 The world is broken. 268 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:34,600 And now that world is moving in trajectory away from me. 269 00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:38,520 Sin was getting worse and worse, but I pledge that I will make a way. 270 00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:40,560 I will restore Shalom to all creation. 271 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:45,440 There will be a day when there will be no more pain, no more suffering or crying or 272 00:15:45,440 --> 00:15:46,440 shame. 273 00:15:46,440 --> 00:15:52,100 There will be a day when all of humanity has restored relationships with one another. 274 00:15:52,100 --> 00:15:56,040 There will be a day when humanity can once again reconnect with me. 275 00:15:56,040 --> 00:16:01,280 God promises that what had been broken, what had been lost will be restored. 276 00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:05,080 And he begins those promises right after sin came into the world. 277 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:07,840 He says these words in Genesis 3, 15. 278 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:11,160 I will make you and the woman hate each other. 279 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:14,240 Her offspring and yours will always be enemies. 280 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:17,160 Her offspring will crush your head. 281 00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:23,440 And he looks at Satan and says, there will be a day when you will be defeated. 282 00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:25,760 Your head will be crushed. 283 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:32,360 And then a large portion of the Bible throughout the Old Testament is humanity searching, hoping 284 00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:35,920 that this promise comes into fulfillment. 285 00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:37,360 Would God fulfill the promise? 286 00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:41,280 Would humanity be restored to connection with his creator? 287 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:45,800 And it begins with God going to Abraham and sharing these words in Genesis 12. 288 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:51,040 The Lord said to Abram, leave your native country, your relatives and your father's 289 00:16:51,040 --> 00:16:53,440 family and go to the land that I will show you. 290 00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:55,800 I will make you into a great nation. 291 00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:59,520 I will bless you and make you famous and you will be a blessing to others. 292 00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:03,840 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. 293 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:06,120 All the families on earth will be blessed through you. 294 00:17:06,120 --> 00:17:10,360 So Israel, God's chosen people is born. 295 00:17:10,360 --> 00:17:15,480 But it quickly ends up in slavery because they could not follow God's commandments. 296 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:18,560 It doesn't look like this promise is going to work. 297 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:20,360 Then Exodus happens. 298 00:17:20,360 --> 00:17:26,520 The sea is parted and it brings some hope, which is quickly followed by war after war 299 00:17:26,520 --> 00:17:27,520 after war. 300 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:29,880 Oh, they need better leadership. 301 00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:31,900 So Israel appoints judges. 302 00:17:31,900 --> 00:17:33,280 That doesn't work. 303 00:17:33,280 --> 00:17:37,960 What they really need, what we need, God is a king and it doesn't seem to be working. 304 00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:43,840 Then David comes along and there's a little bit of hope, but then he quickly falls into 305 00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:44,840 sin. 306 00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:51,080 And on the day he is about to die, God makes another promise, second Samuel seven. 307 00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:56,080 Furthermore, the Lord declares that he will make a house for you, a dynasty of Kings for 308 00:17:56,080 --> 00:18:00,800 when you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will raise up one of your descendants, your 309 00:18:00,800 --> 00:18:04,720 own offspring, and I will make his kingdom strong. 310 00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:10,520 He is the one who will build a house, a temple for my name and I will secure his royal throne 311 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:11,520 forever. 312 00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:14,640 I will be his father and he will be my son. 313 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:22,360 Then as Israel, God's chosen people continue to fall further and further away from God, 314 00:18:22,360 --> 00:18:24,800 not following his commandments, right? 315 00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:27,360 They received these words from the prophet Jeremiah. 316 00:18:27,360 --> 00:18:31,760 Now much of the prophets were challenging them to change, calling them out on their 317 00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:32,940 sin. 318 00:18:32,940 --> 00:18:37,720 But notice what Jeremiah writes, but this is the new covenant I will make with the people 319 00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:41,880 of Israel after those days says the Lord, I will put my instructions deep within them 320 00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:43,960 and I will write them on their hearts. 321 00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:49,240 I will be their God and they will be my people for everyone from least to greatest will know 322 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:54,700 me already says the Lord and I will forgive their wickedness and I will never again remember 323 00:18:54,700 --> 00:18:56,600 their sins. 324 00:18:56,600 --> 00:19:04,200 However, after those words are spoken, civilizations go by the Babylonians, the Assyrians, the 325 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:13,940 Persians, ultimately the Romans and the Greeks while God's people sit and wait for 400 years 326 00:19:13,940 --> 00:19:17,440 in silence. 327 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:24,440 No words are spoken, no prophecies given, just complete silence. 328 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:30,880 And all the people began to question, is God going to fulfill the promise? 329 00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:33,400 He told us a Messiah was coming. 330 00:19:33,400 --> 00:19:35,000 He told us he would put it back together. 331 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:37,020 He promised us. 332 00:19:37,020 --> 00:19:41,160 Is God trustworthy or not? 333 00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:46,240 And it's in that context that the Christmas story shows up. 334 00:19:46,240 --> 00:19:53,240 It's in that context that we find ourselves in a random city 2000 years ago in the Middle 335 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:54,240 East. 336 00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:58,280 Now I'm going to look at the gospel of Luke chapter two for just a few moments and please 337 00:19:58,280 --> 00:20:03,400 understand that Luke was a doctor who had been hired to go and record an account of 338 00:20:03,400 --> 00:20:05,800 the story of Christmas. 339 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:11,640 So he goes out and he interviews witnesses and he does a journalistic expose on who was 340 00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:15,640 there, what they saw and what had happened and it begins this way. 341 00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:17,640 Luke two one through four. 342 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:22,720 At that time, the Roman Emperor Augustus decreed that a census should be taken throughout the 343 00:20:22,720 --> 00:20:24,200 Roman Empire. 344 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:27,280 This was the first census when Quirinius, the governor of Syria. 345 00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:33,600 Now I just want to pause there a second and if we're honest when we read this, we question 346 00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:36,640 what's this have to do with Christmas? 347 00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:39,600 You know, why are you giving us this information? 348 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:41,280 Who cares who the governor is? 349 00:20:41,280 --> 00:20:43,040 Who cares about a census? 350 00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:44,960 What about the Messiah? 351 00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:51,760 Well, we should care because Luke is saying to his audience, including us, if you don't 352 00:20:51,760 --> 00:20:56,000 believe this is real, go and fact check me. 353 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:58,420 Go and do the research and guess what? 354 00:20:58,420 --> 00:21:04,080 We're going to discover that all this actually happened, that this was the governor at this 355 00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:06,400 time the census was taken. 356 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:09,000 Go ahead and investigate it because I did. 357 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:11,760 And he's trying to get us to see that this is not a story. 358 00:21:11,760 --> 00:21:15,160 This isn't a fairy tale in a land far, far away. 359 00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:17,720 This is actual history. 360 00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:19,800 So he continues. 361 00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:23,080 All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for the census. 362 00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:27,200 And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem and Judea, 363 00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:28,800 Jude's ancient home. 364 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:33,360 And this is a Joseph that had been promised to a wife who was a virgin, then suddenly 365 00:21:33,360 --> 00:21:39,000 became pregnant and he wrestled with whether he was going to divorce her or not quietly 366 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:45,120 only to be visited by an angel who told him to marry Mary because the child she was carrying 367 00:21:45,120 --> 00:21:47,840 was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 368 00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:53,360 So they traveled in verse five from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. 369 00:21:53,360 --> 00:21:56,960 He took with him Mary to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child. 370 00:21:56,960 --> 00:22:00,280 And while they were there, the time had come for the baby to be born. 371 00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:02,220 She gave birth to her firstborn son. 372 00:22:02,220 --> 00:22:06,080 She wrapped him in snuggling in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger because there 373 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:07,760 was no lodging available for them. 374 00:22:07,760 --> 00:22:12,100 The town was completely filled because of the census. 375 00:22:12,100 --> 00:22:16,960 So they placed this baby in a feeding trough for horses. 376 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:20,400 And while all this is happening, that night there were shepherds. 377 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:24,960 Shepherds remember outcasts forgotten of society in fields nearby guarding their flocks of 378 00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:28,580 sheep and suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared among them and the radiance of the Lord's 379 00:22:28,580 --> 00:22:30,120 glory surrounded them. 380 00:22:30,120 --> 00:22:31,120 They were terrified. 381 00:22:31,120 --> 00:22:34,120 But the angel reassured them. 382 00:22:34,120 --> 00:22:37,760 And so many people like, well, why would they be so afraid? 383 00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:41,760 Remember God had not spoken to his people for how long? 384 00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:44,240 400 years. 385 00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:46,040 They were terrified. 386 00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:47,440 Right? 387 00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:50,960 They were terrified. 388 00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:51,960 Don't be afraid. 389 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:58,600 I'm telling you good news that will be great joy for all people. 390 00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:03,040 See promises have a when and aware to them. 391 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:13,880 And basically Luke is saying, Hey people, listen, today, the savior, the Messiah, the 392 00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:18,260 Lord has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David. 393 00:23:18,260 --> 00:23:19,800 And you will recognize him by this sign. 394 00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:25,560 You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth lying in a manger. 395 00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:32,640 And the shepherds, they realized that they had to find the one that was lying in the 396 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:34,520 horse's trough. 397 00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:36,720 That's who we need to look for. 398 00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:42,760 And this story when it's played out is more than just an incredible, weird, unique story. 399 00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:46,080 It's more than that, which leads us to our final thought. 400 00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:49,640 Christmas is the fulfillment of a promise. 401 00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:56,240 Christmas tells us that we can trust God because of all his promises to his people. 402 00:23:56,240 --> 00:24:02,320 He kept the most important one that he would restore connection with his creation, with 403 00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:04,560 humanity, with you and with me. 404 00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:07,640 Second Corinthians 1 20 for all of God's promises. 405 00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:08,640 Look at this. 406 00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:14,400 They've been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding yes. 407 00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:18,760 And through Christ our amen, which means we are going to be able to live in Christ's 408 00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:19,760 power. 409 00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:20,760 Amen. 410 00:24:20,760 --> 00:24:23,720 Which means yes, the sense to God for his glory. 411 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:26,420 God said, I will make a way. 412 00:24:26,420 --> 00:24:29,120 And he provided the way maker. 413 00:24:29,120 --> 00:24:30,600 God said, I will provide a king. 414 00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:31,800 And he sent the Messiah. 415 00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:34,080 God said, I will set you free. 416 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:36,680 And he sent us Jesus. 417 00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:40,880 The baby would grow up to be the man hanging on a cross. 418 00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:46,960 The baby would grow up to live a sinless, perfect life and die in our place. 419 00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:52,280 The baby would prove that not only would he set us free on the cross, but that he would 420 00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:56,880 save us from the power of sin when he rose from the dead on the third day. 421 00:24:56,880 --> 00:25:02,480 The baby was the fulfillment of a promise that God made in the Garden of Eden when everything 422 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:04,000 blew up. 423 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:11,320 And he told Adam and Eve that their offspring would crush the head of a serpent. 424 00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:17,200 And Jesus makes us a promise that is living, that are living right now. 425 00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:18,200 Luke 24. 426 00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:24,400 And now I will send the Holy Spirit just as my father promised. 427 00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:29,160 But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with the power of heaven. 428 00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:37,600 Christmas screams to all of us that we can trust God because he kept his promise to all 429 00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:38,840 of us. 430 00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:39,840 And what are those promises? 431 00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:46,520 Well, those promises reveal three simple truths that all of us can walk in this morning. 432 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:50,280 Three promises from God for us this Christmas. 433 00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:52,680 God is waiting for us to open and realize. 434 00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:56,760 And the first is this, hey, church, God is near. 435 00:25:56,760 --> 00:26:01,880 There's so many people that believe that God is off somewhere in the distance in some unknown 436 00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:07,000 galaxy up there in heaven waiting for us to mess up so he can slap us around. 437 00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:13,440 Or he's just up there blessing people with riches and fame, but it's not me. 438 00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:18,880 And that God, uninterested or unengaged with us, I don't know about you, I'm not interested 439 00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:20,720 in that kind of God. 440 00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:25,280 I don't want to know that kind of God because if God is distant and not in my space and 441 00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:29,040 not in my life, I don't want to be a part of it. 442 00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:35,040 But Christmas tells us that God is, that Jesus is, Emmanuel. 443 00:26:35,040 --> 00:26:36,040 Matthew 1. 444 00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:37,760 The Virgin will conceive a child. 445 00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:42,680 She will give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel, which means God is with 446 00:26:42,680 --> 00:26:43,680 us. 447 00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:50,440 I love the way Eugene Peterson writes in the message paraphrased in John 1.14, the word 448 00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:55,140 became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood. 449 00:26:55,140 --> 00:26:58,240 God moves into our neighborhood. 450 00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:02,920 He took on flesh and became a part of our space, of our life. 451 00:27:02,920 --> 00:27:08,200 And we all know what it's like to have someone meaningful walk into our space. 452 00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:10,520 Even if it's superficial, meaningful, right? 453 00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:15,440 Even if it's just superficial, things change in our life and how we respond. 454 00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:17,920 And you say, how do you know that? 455 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:20,440 All right, you ready? 456 00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:27,000 Think about eighth grade or freshman year of high school when you had your first crush 457 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:28,720 on him or her. 458 00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:30,000 Remember that? 459 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:33,400 Some of you think back a little way far. 460 00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:34,400 It's there. 461 00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:35,400 It's in there. 462 00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:41,200 And it's funny, back then, anytime you would see them, your demeanor would change. 463 00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:43,960 You'd have these butterflies in your stomach. 464 00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:47,140 Then you find yourself at the first dance. 465 00:27:47,140 --> 00:27:49,840 You're there with your friends only to see them walk in. 466 00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:51,840 You whisper to your friends, he is here. 467 00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:52,840 He's here. 468 00:27:52,840 --> 00:27:53,840 He's here. 469 00:27:53,840 --> 00:27:54,840 Don't look up. 470 00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:55,840 Don't look up. 471 00:27:55,840 --> 00:27:57,400 Don't make eye contact. 472 00:27:57,400 --> 00:28:00,680 Just the fact that they walked in the room, you became nervous. 473 00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:01,680 You were uneasy. 474 00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:04,400 You know, you're like, we didn't have phones back then. 475 00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:05,400 Is my hair right? 476 00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:06,400 Right? 477 00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:07,400 Do I smell? 478 00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:14,440 Then he or she begins to walk over towards you and you see them coming out of the corner 479 00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:18,400 of your eye and your mouth's getting dry, your heart's beating faster. 480 00:28:18,400 --> 00:28:22,200 You begin to sweat and you're worried because your armpits are all wet. 481 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:24,320 You ask your friend, what should I do? 482 00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:25,320 What should I do? 483 00:28:25,320 --> 00:28:26,320 They're coming here. 484 00:28:26,320 --> 00:28:27,320 They're coming here. 485 00:28:27,320 --> 00:28:28,320 Don't make eye contact. 486 00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:29,320 Don't make eye contact. 487 00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:34,600 Then she's so close, she looks up and says, hi, Rudy. 488 00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:38,960 Because we know how handsome Rudy was in eighth grade. 489 00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:43,520 We all saw that picture. 490 00:28:43,520 --> 00:28:46,740 And at that second, you find yourself speechless. 491 00:28:46,740 --> 00:28:52,980 You can't even say a word because some random girl, boy, who you had a crush on simply walked 492 00:28:52,980 --> 00:28:53,980 in the room. 493 00:28:53,980 --> 00:28:59,920 Now, if this is true, that God is Emmanuel, that God is with us and that he walked into 494 00:28:59,920 --> 00:29:03,920 our neighborhood, you know what that means? 495 00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:09,280 This means that there's not a single situation that we will ever face in this life that God 496 00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:11,200 is not there. 497 00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:14,480 It means that we should never be afraid because God is with us. 498 00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:19,040 It means that if we lack wisdom or question life, we should ask God because he is with 499 00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:20,040 us. 500 00:29:20,040 --> 00:29:25,040 It means that if we need peace and we're frustrated and stressed out, he's the prince of peace 501 00:29:25,040 --> 00:29:26,880 and he's right there with us. 502 00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:29,140 And it doesn't matter if we win or we lose. 503 00:29:29,140 --> 00:29:32,120 It doesn't matter if we're rich and famous. 504 00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:37,160 God is right here in this room with us right now. 505 00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:39,360 And how do I know that? 506 00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:42,240 Because I see it on your face every Sunday. 507 00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:47,120 And for those of you who deny it, I see it in your tears as you walk past me. 508 00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:52,000 And for those of you who question it, I know it's real because you have said to me, it's 509 00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:59,080 like you have a camera in my house and you speak right to me every single Sunday. 510 00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:03,400 And to that I say, it's not me, God is in your house. 511 00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:10,240 And he knows everything that we do because he is near and God kept his promise. 512 00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:16,320 But Chris, it doesn't feel like God is with me after everything I went through last year. 513 00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:19,000 I get it, but here's one thing I've learned. 514 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:24,820 God doesn't always take us out of it, but he walks us through it and he's with us every 515 00:30:24,820 --> 00:30:26,680 step of the way. 516 00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:32,120 There is never a moment in your life without the presence of God because Christmas says 517 00:30:32,120 --> 00:30:35,880 that God kept his promise. 518 00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:37,440 Which leads us to our next truth. 519 00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:41,140 Hey, not only is God is nearest, but God forgives us. 520 00:30:41,140 --> 00:30:44,520 And this is the one that makes all of us a little uncomfortable because it means that 521 00:30:44,520 --> 00:30:46,880 you and I have a problem. 522 00:30:46,880 --> 00:30:51,840 And that problem is we're separated from God because of our sin. 523 00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:52,840 What is sin? 524 00:30:52,840 --> 00:30:55,640 It's a wrongdoing in our hearts that we have committed against God. 525 00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:59,320 It's us saying, God, hey, we don't need you in this space. 526 00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:01,760 We don't need you in this area of my life. 527 00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:06,360 It's the lies, it's the greed, it's the anger, it's the adultery, it's the stealing, it's 528 00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:12,280 the posture that we can be our own God and we have it all together. 529 00:31:12,280 --> 00:31:17,160 We are separated, disconnected from God when we sin. 530 00:31:17,160 --> 00:31:21,680 And if you have a problem with this reality, this is where I challenge you and anybody 531 00:31:21,680 --> 00:31:24,040 that says it, hey, guess what? 532 00:31:24,040 --> 00:31:27,680 We can't even live up to our own standards. 533 00:31:27,680 --> 00:31:33,520 In our own strength, we can't even live up to our own standards of morality, of humanity, 534 00:31:33,520 --> 00:31:34,980 of whatever you want to call it. 535 00:31:34,980 --> 00:31:36,760 We fail ourselves every day. 536 00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:39,760 We think lying is wrong and we do it anyway. 537 00:31:39,760 --> 00:31:46,280 We know we shouldn't get mad or angry at the TV during the big game, but we do it anyway. 538 00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:49,840 And that was a big game too. 539 00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:52,160 I'll just leave it at that. 540 00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:55,360 Stick my chest out a little bit more. 541 00:31:55,360 --> 00:32:01,280 So when we're separated from God, what should we do? 542 00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:03,080 This is what you don't want to do. 543 00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:05,800 Don't try to earn your way back into connection with Him. 544 00:32:05,800 --> 00:32:09,920 Don't try to be religious enough and play the part that God will accept you back. 545 00:32:09,920 --> 00:32:14,680 Christmas tells us that we will never be good enough, never be righteous enough to match 546 00:32:14,680 --> 00:32:16,480 the holiness of God. 547 00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:18,840 But here's the good news, Romans 3. 548 00:32:18,840 --> 00:32:22,360 But now God has shown us a way to be made right with Him. 549 00:32:22,360 --> 00:32:26,640 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. 550 00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:31,760 And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are, for everyone has sinned. 551 00:32:31,760 --> 00:32:34,120 We all fall short of God's glorious standard. 552 00:32:34,120 --> 00:32:37,880 And God, in His grace, freely makes us right in His sight. 553 00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:42,120 And He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty of our sins. 554 00:32:42,120 --> 00:32:45,840 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. 555 00:32:45,840 --> 00:32:50,880 People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrifices life, shedding His blood. 556 00:32:50,880 --> 00:32:54,120 Jesus did it for us. 557 00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:56,000 God has been so good. 558 00:32:56,000 --> 00:33:02,380 He's been so true to His promise that He sent His Son as a sacrifice for our sin. 559 00:33:02,380 --> 00:33:05,240 And there's nothing we can do to earn our way to heaven. 560 00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:06,740 There's only one way. 561 00:33:06,740 --> 00:33:10,320 And that is to believe that Jesus took on all of our sin. 562 00:33:10,320 --> 00:33:15,860 The lying, the lust, the stealing, the anger, so that we can be reconnected with God, which 563 00:33:15,860 --> 00:33:16,860 leads us to our final thought. 564 00:33:16,860 --> 00:33:20,000 I mean, the first two are good enough. 565 00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:23,200 But the third truth is God loves us. 566 00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:24,200 Don't be afraid, He said. 567 00:33:24,200 --> 00:33:27,520 I bring you good news or it will be great joy to all people. 568 00:33:27,520 --> 00:33:30,680 The Savior, that's the Messiah of the Lord, has been born today in the Bethlehem, the 569 00:33:30,680 --> 00:33:32,560 city of David. 570 00:33:32,560 --> 00:33:35,600 This is the good news that will bring great joy. 571 00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:41,400 And we currently live in a culture where everyone wants to be loved, wants to be cared for, 572 00:33:41,400 --> 00:33:43,920 wants to be appreciated, wants to be accepted. 573 00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:45,400 That's not a bad thing. 574 00:33:45,400 --> 00:33:47,920 It's the longing in our hearts. 575 00:33:47,920 --> 00:33:50,360 Like my Instagram post, follow me on TikTok. 576 00:33:50,360 --> 00:33:52,440 Love my image on Facebook. 577 00:33:52,440 --> 00:33:54,320 People want to be seen and heard. 578 00:33:54,320 --> 00:34:00,480 And how do we actually define, right, if we're favored and loved and seen? 579 00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:06,280 Because ultimately what that means is that we are valued, that someone is for us. 580 00:34:06,280 --> 00:34:09,120 How do we determine what value is? 581 00:34:09,120 --> 00:34:14,600 Well, I was thinking about that statement this week and this image popped into my head 582 00:34:14,600 --> 00:34:16,640 because I'm a baseball fan, right? 583 00:34:16,640 --> 00:34:18,000 Take a look at this image. 584 00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:23,960 This is a 1952 Topps Mickey Mano rookie card right there. 585 00:34:23,960 --> 00:34:25,280 All right. 586 00:34:25,280 --> 00:34:28,500 It's the baseball card of baseball cards. 587 00:34:28,500 --> 00:34:34,280 It's been bought and sold at the highest price in the history of trading. 588 00:34:34,280 --> 00:34:36,800 Someone paid, are you ready for this? 589 00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:43,880 $12.6 million for that baseball card. 590 00:34:43,880 --> 00:34:46,680 And it's a piece of cardboard with ink on it. 591 00:34:46,680 --> 00:34:49,900 True or false? 592 00:34:49,900 --> 00:34:52,880 It's a piece of cardboard with ink on it. 593 00:34:52,880 --> 00:34:57,640 See value is determined by how much someone is willing to pay for it. 594 00:34:57,640 --> 00:35:06,280 And you were worth so much to God that God paid for our sins with his son. 595 00:35:06,280 --> 00:35:08,840 How loved are you? 596 00:35:08,840 --> 00:35:10,480 I don't know if your parents love you. 597 00:35:10,480 --> 00:35:12,840 I don't know if your friends or family loves you. 598 00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:15,720 I don't know if your kids love you or your coworkers love you. 599 00:35:15,720 --> 00:35:18,160 I don't even know if your neighbors love you. 600 00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:20,720 But the one thing that I'm certain of is this. 601 00:35:20,720 --> 00:35:23,900 Jesus loves you. 602 00:35:23,900 --> 00:35:30,680 And God kept his promise and he showed up and sent his son to reconnect you to him. 603 00:35:30,680 --> 00:35:32,640 And God says you are loved. 604 00:35:32,640 --> 00:35:33,640 You have value. 605 00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:35,160 You are wonderfully created. 606 00:35:35,160 --> 00:35:39,120 In my image I know every single hair on your head. 607 00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:40,840 I know everything about you. 608 00:35:40,840 --> 00:35:41,840 The good and the bad. 609 00:35:41,840 --> 00:35:45,080 Remember a few weeks ago, right? 610 00:35:45,080 --> 00:35:49,920 Chris or God has a Chris Facts, right? 611 00:35:49,920 --> 00:35:53,720 Or God has a Ronnie Facts or a Patricia Facts. 612 00:35:53,720 --> 00:35:57,440 He knows everything we have done. 613 00:35:57,440 --> 00:36:01,160 Yet he says I'm all in for you to live abundant life. 614 00:36:01,160 --> 00:36:06,720 He looks at that car Facts, that Chris Facts, that Tom Facts, and he rips it up. 615 00:36:06,720 --> 00:36:11,880 And if you've wondered how much you were loved, listen to 1 John 4. 616 00:36:11,880 --> 00:36:16,800 God showed us how much he loved us by sending his one and only son into the world so that 617 00:36:16,800 --> 00:36:18,520 we might have eternal life through him. 618 00:36:18,520 --> 00:36:21,480 This is real love. 619 00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:25,920 Not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to sacrifice for our sins. 620 00:36:25,920 --> 00:36:29,160 Christmas says, church, that we are loved. 621 00:36:29,160 --> 00:36:32,840 And listen, I want to throw this out to some of you. 622 00:36:32,840 --> 00:36:38,680 Simply knowing the Christmas and Easter stories do not make you a follower of Jesus. 623 00:36:38,680 --> 00:36:39,680 It doesn't. 624 00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:44,520 It means that you have the same theology that the devil has and God says I'm inviting you 625 00:36:44,520 --> 00:36:46,400 to more this Christmas season. 626 00:36:46,400 --> 00:36:48,400 So I'm not giving you an action step. 627 00:36:48,400 --> 00:36:51,200 I'm giving you a reflection question. 628 00:36:51,200 --> 00:36:56,840 Has the promise of God giving a Christmas become personal? 629 00:36:56,840 --> 00:37:00,360 Has the promise of God become personal? 630 00:37:00,360 --> 00:37:03,600 Because notice the angels returned. 631 00:37:03,600 --> 00:37:06,360 What did the, what did the shepherds do? 632 00:37:06,360 --> 00:37:10,640 They ran to see the baby. 633 00:37:10,640 --> 00:37:12,360 They didn't wait. 634 00:37:12,360 --> 00:37:13,580 They didn't question. 635 00:37:13,580 --> 00:37:18,960 They ran and they found Mary and Joseph and there was a baby lying in the manger. 636 00:37:18,960 --> 00:37:25,280 And after seeing him, they knew and believed and they went and told everyone. 637 00:37:25,280 --> 00:37:27,480 You want to live for God? 638 00:37:27,480 --> 00:37:30,240 Do you want to experience the good news and great joy? 639 00:37:30,240 --> 00:37:32,320 Today here's the reality. 640 00:37:32,320 --> 00:37:37,080 The baby born 2000 years ago was not born to stay there. 641 00:37:37,080 --> 00:37:42,040 He was born so we could now have the Holy Spirit in us. 642 00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:44,080 And if you were questioning is Jesus for me? 643 00:37:44,080 --> 00:37:48,800 Listen, it doesn't matter what you've done, what you're doing or what you will do. 644 00:37:48,800 --> 00:37:52,200 That baby is for you. 645 00:37:52,200 --> 00:37:56,280 And it doesn't matter if your year was hard and difficult and it doesn't matter the challenges 646 00:37:56,280 --> 00:37:57,280 you have. 647 00:37:57,280 --> 00:38:00,720 I don't need to know your story to know that Jesus is for you. 648 00:38:00,720 --> 00:38:03,040 Now I want to close with this. 649 00:38:03,040 --> 00:38:07,720 There was a poll taken in society a number of years ago asking a simple question. 650 00:38:07,720 --> 00:38:11,320 What are the phrases you love to hear the most? 651 00:38:11,320 --> 00:38:13,280 And I want to share with you the top three. 652 00:38:13,280 --> 00:38:17,640 The number one phrase people wanted to hear was I love you. 653 00:38:17,640 --> 00:38:22,600 The second phrase that people wanted to hear was I forgive you. 654 00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:32,500 And the third phrase people wanted to hear the most was dinner is ready. 655 00:38:32,500 --> 00:38:40,120 And we laugh, but listen, God kept his promise and Jesus is saying to you this morning, I 656 00:38:40,120 --> 00:38:41,620 love you. 657 00:38:41,620 --> 00:38:43,980 You are forgiven. 658 00:38:43,980 --> 00:38:54,660 Now come and dine with me at my table. 659 00:38:54,660 --> 00:38:59,120 So this morning, let's stand together. 660 00:38:59,120 --> 00:39:02,520 You know we pray a simple prayer every single week because I believe God brings people into 661 00:39:02,520 --> 00:39:06,520 our midst that are distant, far from God, never been in that relationship or have walked 662 00:39:06,520 --> 00:39:07,780 away. 663 00:39:07,780 --> 00:39:11,840 We're going to pray a simple prayer and then listen church, I'm not going to give you an 664 00:39:11,840 --> 00:39:16,480 action step, I want you to declare that you're alive in the name of Jesus. 665 00:39:16,480 --> 00:39:17,920 Can you do that with me? 666 00:39:17,920 --> 00:39:20,720 So that's a prayer, a simple prayer. 667 00:39:20,720 --> 00:39:22,680 Jesus, I'm broken. 668 00:39:22,680 --> 00:39:27,760 I'm full of doubt, shame, regret, sin. 669 00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:28,760 Change me. 670 00:39:28,760 --> 00:39:31,520 I believe you're God's son. 671 00:39:31,520 --> 00:39:35,000 I believe you died for me. 672 00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:36,000 Make me new. 673 00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:38,400 Set me free. 674 00:39:38,400 --> 00:39:40,480 Fill me with your spirit. 675 00:39:40,480 --> 00:39:44,120 Help me to serve others in Jesus name. 676 00:39:44,120 --> 00:39:45,120 Amen. 677 00:39:45,120 --> 00:39:50,640 Now if you prayed that prayer for the first time, see me when you leave, text me, hug me, 678 00:39:50,640 --> 00:39:54,880 let me know you did it so I can tell you to get baptized on January 12th. 679 00:39:54,880 --> 00:39:57,080 Now there was listen, four words of knowledge. 680 00:39:57,080 --> 00:40:00,760 Our prayer team will be here on the right to pray with you. 681 00:40:00,760 --> 00:40:05,380 If you have pain on the right side of your throat, you need healing. 682 00:40:05,380 --> 00:40:09,480 If you have pain in your lower back, right side that shoots down through your buttocks, 683 00:40:09,480 --> 00:40:10,840 you need healing. 684 00:40:10,840 --> 00:40:15,040 If your right Achilles is hurting you and you're unable to walk correctly, you need 685 00:40:15,040 --> 00:40:16,040 healing. 686 00:40:16,040 --> 00:40:21,520 And if you're struggling with grief this Christmas, you need set free. 687 00:40:21,520 --> 00:40:24,360 Our prayer team will be here on my right to pray for you. 688 00:40:24,360 --> 00:40:27,200 And what I want you to do is real simple. 689 00:40:27,200 --> 00:40:31,800 I want you to declare that you're going to come alive in the name of Jesus this holiday 690 00:40:31,800 --> 00:40:32,800 season. 691 00:40:32,800 --> 00:40:33,800 Amen. 692 00:40:33,800 --> 00:40:37,160 And I want you to blow this roof off like you've never sung before. 693 00:40:37,160 --> 00:40:38,960 Can we do that? 694 00:40:38,960 --> 00:40:39,960 Let's go. 695 00:40:39,960 --> 00:40:49,200 I'm in the presence of being pure and learning that prayer is the only logical cure. 696 00:40:49,200 --> 00:40:58,520 And when the evil comes knocking at my door, I close my eyes and pray I won't hear those 697 00:40:58,520 --> 00:40:59,520 voices anymore. 698 00:40:59,520 --> 00:41:21,880 Amen.