December 11, 2024 • 29 mins
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, what's up?
Free Church hey, you look goodman, you sounded so good man, I
could have just sat in thatmoment of worship for Amen.
There are just moments thatsometimes, when you just get in
(00:34):
God's presence, you're like youknow what Nothing else matters.
Take the whole world, but giveme Jesus and I can promise you
whatever you've been goingthrough this week, no matter how
difficult it may have seemed,what God has been doing in these
(00:57):
last few moments is enough toset it straight.
And I believe that you knowwe've had quite a week around
here.
We've had some ups and downsand some sicknesses, but here we
are, standing in the presenceof God and we know that man,
(01:19):
just one moment in God'spresence can turn it all around.
In God's presence can turn itall around.
Just one touch from a healercan change it, just one word
(01:40):
from the creator can set it inorder.
And I just believe God is up tosomething so special.
And I just want to encourageyou just keep pressing in, keep
pressing in, don't push back,but press in, because God is
about to do something in ourlives.
But listen, I'm ready to preachGod's word.
Are you ready to receive ittoday?
The year was 1993, and it was mybirth year.
(02:05):
That was when you were born.
1993 was the year that Ershonand I got married, I think right
, yeah, I'm joking, it was ajoke, I just want to see how you
would respond to that.
So 1993,.
We were married in February andin June we moved to Dallas,
(02:26):
texas, and then it becameDecember and it was going to be
our first Christmas together.
So we went Christmas treeshopping and we went to the
local grocery store to buy ourfirst tree.
And it wasn't the tree wewanted, it was the tree we could
(02:48):
afford.
And then we went and I rememberUrshana saying well, now we
need lights and we need thingsto decorate it with.
And so we went and I was justwatching money, just, I was just
watching money, just for decor.
And then we got to buy oneanother.
(03:11):
We had to go shoppingseparately to buy our first
Christmas presents for eachother that year.
I think I always win when itcomes to what I get compared to
what I give.
I need to learn to do betterafter all these years.
But maybe, guys, can you relate.
(03:32):
It's like we go in, we make ourgift purchase and we're out of
there as quick as we can.
And then our girl shows up andit's like, oh man, I should have
put some more time into this.
But it was our first Christmas.
And then we had our firstChristmas meal together and we
have pictures from from ourfirst Christmas morning and it
was just the two of us.
It was so sweet.
And then you can fast forward afew years and we started adding
kids and then preparation andgetting ready for Christmas
(03:55):
changed.
It wasn't like you go to thegrocery store and buy whichever
tree you can afford.
You have multiple trees in thehouse you got to have.
And then you don't just buy afew gifts, you buy what seems
like the entire store out andit's so much fun and so much
excitement.
But those are the years that Ilearned that there is something
(04:17):
really special about gettingready for Christmas, for
Christmas, and that when you doget ready for Christmas, the
gift is almost greater ofgetting ready than what we
receive.
But what we receive is great.
Or you might say it this waywhen I do what I'm supposed to
do, god will always do what hecan only do.
(04:38):
Why don't you turn to yourneighbor and say we're getting
ready for Christmas, yep.
Why don't you turn to yourneighbor and say we're getting
ready for Christmas, yep, andjust lean over and tell your
neighbor you need this more thanI need this.
It's the Christmas season.
(05:02):
I'm certain I bet I could askthe question how many of you are
finished Christmas shopping?
Just raise your hand.
Five of you I hate.
I pray for you, but I hate you.
It's just not right.
I don't really hate you.
That's a bad word, strong word,wrong word.
I don't really hate you.
That's a bad word, strong word,wrong word.
(05:25):
How about how many of you wentout on Black Friday, crazy Day
Friday?
How many A couple of you wentout early?
It's kind of changed right.
Like we do it all online CyberMonday.
Oh, by the way, let me justbrag on you, church, for Giving
Tuesday over $7,000 given in oneday, giving Tuesday to advance
the vision of the church convoyof hope, doing some great things
(05:53):
with them.
So you'll hear more about thatlater.
So just the whole process ofthis Christmas season.
There is these two things.
There is the busyness and thebusiness of Christmas.
The business is something else.
If you ever pay attention tothe business of Christmas, I was
studying this week beforeThursday and I told the twins.
(06:13):
I was like, can you guysbelieve that 30 million
Christmas trees will be soldthis year?
30 million Christmas trees,that's a lot of Christmas trees
Somebody who's like us?
They put more than one tree up.
That's a lot of trees.
And I read this that last year950-something billion dollars
(06:37):
was spent in the US just forChristmas.
That was with a B billion andif the trend continues, that's
about a 5.3% increase.
That would mean this year UScitizens will spend over a
trillion dollars getting readyfor Christmas.
Come on, somebody.
(06:58):
That is crazy.
That's the business ofChristmas.
It's become quite a business.
But then there's also thebusyness of Christmas and it's
this everybody has a Christmasparty they have to go to and
everybody has a Christmas partythey have to host.
And you have your work party,your neighborhood party, you
(07:22):
have your friends party, youhave the youth party, the
witness party, the monasteryparty, the church party.
There's so much going on.
There's just our schedules getjust they go in overboard.
Then there's all the schoolplays that you got to go to and
not to discount.
All the time you're going tospend Christmas shopping.
(07:44):
And then it's like duringChristmas season I've said this
before I don't understand it,but it's like everybody who has
a license gets in their car anddrives.
In the month of December it'snot busy normally driving here
or there, but over the next twoweeks it's going to be the
busiest traffic we've seen allyear long.
(08:06):
And then after Christmaseverybody's going to put their
keys away and go back.
We don't know where theydisappeared to, but just in
December, because it's thebusyness of Christmas.
And let me just give you onemore thing.
That's not busy and notbusiness, but next week you want
(08:27):
to be sure to be here forfamily Christmas.
It's going to be incredibleworship the team has been
preparing.
There's some beautiful songs,the choir our biggest choir ever
.
I think it's a massive choirand you're not going to want to
miss it.
So that's all the business andthe busyness of Christmas.
(08:49):
But I want to just tell you, godknows about the business and
the busyness of Christmas and Iwant to frame this idea for you
over the next few weeks ofgetting ready for Christmas.
This idea for you over the nextfew weeks of getting ready for
Christmas, and today it's goingto seem really, really, really
(09:10):
like entry level, but I thinkit's important for us to
understand it on this level sothat we can build a foundation
and maybe have a Christmas likewe've never had before.
That's kind of my goal at theend of this month as we make
this journey together.
But God is aware of thebusyness and the business of
Christmas and I want to justframe this to you in this
(09:32):
question and I want to just makesure that I get it right.
Did you ever consider what Godhad to do to orchestrate or
prepare or to get ready for thefirst Christmas?
So when we think about thebusiness and all the things that
we're spending and when wethink about the busyness and all
(09:55):
the time we're expending butGod knows all about that,
because he was involved in theprocess for the very first
Christmas, because he wasinvolved in the process for the
very first Christmas.
And the Bible says that we servea God who neither slumbers nor
sleeps and if you've had a fewof those on Christmas Eve, you
know.
But God understands the entireprocess of getting ready for
(10:17):
Christmas.
In fact, it starts 700 years inadvance of the arrival of Jesus
when Isaiah records this inIsaiah 7 and 14.
And I think we have it in ournotes.
Isaiah 7 and 14 says Therefore,the Lord himself shall give you
(10:40):
a sign.
Behold, a virgin shall conceiveand bear a son and shall call
his a sign.
Behold a virgin shall conceiveand bear a son and shall call
his name Emmanuel.
That prophecy was 700 yearsbefore the arrival of Jesus.
God didn't just wake up onChristmas Eve and think, oh, I
better go get some presents, oh,I better go make everything
right.
No, god, for 700 years heannounced his plan that there
(11:04):
would be a Savior, an Emmanuel,god with us, jesus the Messiah,
for 700 years.
And then he continued toorchestrate.
And it began with the uprisingof Alexander the Great.
And Alexander the Great broughtin this new culture and
(11:26):
language, and it was the Greeklanguage, and that would become
the language that the very firstBible of the New Testament, the
New Testament, would be alltranslated in Greek because that
was the language of the day.
And then, after Alexander theGreat, then the Roman Empire
rose to prominence, and we knowthe Roman Empire.
(11:47):
One of the things they werereally good at, for some reason,
was crucifixion, and we allknow the story of where Jesus is
heading.
But it was the Romans who firstcategorized this phrase don't
forget the tree for thecrucifixion.
And here we are.
(12:10):
Don't forget the tree forChristmas.
So it's God orchestrating allthat.
So it starts with Alexander theGreat, the Roman Empire.
Well then there's the censusthat is required and there's a
demand for everyone to becounted back in your hometown
and everybody has to return.
So Joseph and Mary have toreturn back to Bethlehem, where
(12:33):
Joseph is from, and the city toreturn.
So Joseph and Mary have toreturn back to Bethlehem, where
Joseph is from, and the city ofDavid, and that is where Jesus
would be born, church.
Can I show you that God tooktime to prepare the business and
the busyness and get ready forthe very first Christmas and did
you know that, even before theangel, and get ready for the
(12:55):
very first Christmas?
And did you know that, evenbefore the angel showed up to
speak to Mary, that really, godhad been silent for 400 years?
God did not speak for nearly400 years until the angel
appeared before Mary and saidMary, you're highly favored and
you're gonna have a son and hisname shall be called Jesus.
And you know what's amazingabout that is?
(13:16):
I've showed you already inadvance that God, even though he
was silent, it didn't mean hewasn't working, and even though
you couldn't see what washappening doesn't mean he's not
doing something good.
Doing something good even whenyou can't see it.
He's working for you.
So God understands that, andGod has showed us how to get
(13:44):
ready for Christmas.
And then I would continue to gomoving in this direction.
Galatians 4.4,.
The Bible says that when thetime, when the right time I was
going to say when the time wasjust right, but when the right
time came God sent his son, bornof a woman subject to the law.
At just the right time, godsent his son.
So how do you get ready forChristmas?
(14:08):
How do you get ready forChristmas?
Well, here's the introduction,right here.
The book of Mark, chapter 1,beginning with verse one, says
this Mark one, verse one.
This is the good news.
Oh, we sang that song today.
Isn't that crazy how the HolySpirit works.
We sing songs that actually endup in the message without any
(14:31):
communication or talk back onthat.
That's all the Holy Spirit.
This is the good news aboutJesus, the Messiah, the Son of
God.
It began just as the prophetIsaiah had written oh, did we
already read that passage?
Look, I'm sending you mymessenger ahead and he will
prepare your way, okay.
He is a voice shouting in thewilderness prepare the way for
(14:54):
the Lord's coming.
Clear the road for him.
The messenger was John theBaptist.
He was in the wilderness andpreached that people should be
baptized to show they hadrepented of their sins and
turned to God to be forgiven.
What a powerful image.
As we talk about preparing forChristmas, the very thing that
(15:16):
happens is John is sent as amessenger in front of Jesus, and
John is there to show us, toshow us who Jesus is.
John is the one that saidbehold the Lamb of God who takes
away the sins of the world.
So John shows us.
John actually shows us, andthen he also shakes us.
(15:39):
John was the one who preached apretty strong message.
He called a group of people abrood of vipers.
He didn't back down fromdeclaring that there was coming
a day when people were gonnahave to turn from their wicked
ways, that they needed to repent.
(16:00):
That was a new message topeople who thought they had it
all together, people who weresitting in the pews and in the
seats on Sunday thinkingeverything's okay.
And here comes this guy who hasjust crazy hair and eats
locusts and honey, and then he'stelling you repent, that
(16:21):
there's a better way, that he'sbaptizing in water, but there's
one who's gonna baptize in fire.
And John is the one who showsus who Jesus is, and John is the
one who shakes us that we needa savior.
And then John is the one whoshows us who Jesus is, and John
is the one who shakes us that weneed a Savior.
And then John is the one whosends us, he points us, he's
making a way, he's preparing away for Jesus.
(16:42):
What were the two things thatJohn wanted us to know?
Number one John preachedrepentance, repentance.
John preached repentance,repentance, repentance of sin.
You know, I've thought about itover this week Sin I've said
this over and over again sin isnot just something that we do,
(17:04):
although sin, it forms itself inaction, it just shows itself,
it displays itself in action.
But sin is really, really aboutlocation.
It's about where I am comparedto where God is, and sin is that
gap that is between me and myheavenly father.
And what I can tell you is, aslong as my habits continue in a
(17:29):
certain direction, continue in acertain direction, as I'm going
in this sinful path that we'reall born into, as long as my
habits continue in that samedirection.
The gap is widening and sin issuch that it cannot be satisfied
.
Sin is such that it just itkind of it's like a snowball.
(17:53):
You roll a little snowball downa hill and it begins to get
bigger and bigger and bigger.
And sin is like that.
Sin is something that mightstart out small, but the more
that you hide it and you coverit up, it does greater damage.
The more you try to keep it inthe background, it does greater
damage, the more you try to keepit in the background.
(18:14):
And man, my mom, my mom was asaint.
My mom and Mary probably arelike side by side in heaven.
But my mom used to say this andI think it's because she knew I
probably had done somethingwrong through the day and she'd
say but remember, your sins willalways find you out, like you
(18:41):
cannot hide it, becauseeventually it's going to come
out in the open, and that thereis a space, a gap between you
and your heavenly father.
And John came to preach thisidea of repentance.
And repentance is notnecessarily being sorry for your
sin, although godly sorrowleads to repentance but the fact
is that there's this idea thatrepentance is all about turning.
(19:03):
So, instead of continuing onthe same path that I'm in, that
keeps getting me in more troubleand extends the hole in my
heart and the gap between me andGod, repentance is stopping and
turning.
It's a 180.
I'll never forget as a youthpastor I was so fired up
(19:23):
preaching and I think I saidturn the 360 turn.
Well, that's not, that wouldn'tbe a turn at all, that would
just be a circle.
And then you keep going.
But it is a 180 turn from howyou're headed and what you're
doing, to turn towards a Saviorwho is the only one who spans
(19:44):
the gap between our sin and ourheavenly Father, our sin and our
heavenly father.
It's a picture of him on thecross that should forever be
etched into our mind.
That his arms stretch so widefor us is really what closes the
(20:07):
gap between us and our heavenlyfather.
And so John preaches this wildmessage but repentance,
repentance, repentance andchurch.
I'm telling you today that youknow what we all, we all must
come to a reasoning.
The Old Testament says come,let us reason together.
(20:28):
Though our sins be as crimson,they shall be washed white as
snow.
And the fact is that we have tocome to a realization that we
need a Savior and the onlySavior.
The only name on earth, underthe heaven, that men must be
saved by is the name of Jesus.
(20:51):
So John preaches repentance ofsin, and what I know is
typically the greatest enemy ofour own lives is our very own
self.
This happens in two ways.
We know what we've done, andsometimes the idea of avoidance
is that, since I know what we'vedone, and sometimes the idea of
(21:13):
avoidance is that, since I knowwhat I've done and how bad I am
, it's just never gonna get anybetter.
So why change now?
And that is the greatest liethat we fight against.
It mirrors the lie of decidingthat you'll settle to become
what everybody else wants you tobe rather than what you were
(21:35):
created to be, and so sin issuch that it places us in that
space.
And I just wanna tell you likelisten, we all come to the cross
on level ground and we all comewith.
The very first step, for everysingle one of us, is to repent.
Even the greatest message thatwas preached on the day of
(21:58):
Pentecost, peter, said repent.
Every one of you Repent, turnaround, turn away.
Don't go the direction of thepopular culture, don't go the
direction that everybody elsesays is the easy way Turn around
and follow Jesus.
So John talked about repentance, and then John talked about
(22:20):
baptism and he he declared topeople you should repent.
And then he baptized people.
He even baptized Jesus.
And when Jesus walked in thewater to be baptized by John,
john was like listen, you shouldbe baptizing me.
But Jesus said, let this be,because this is what has to
(22:42):
happen.
I need this to happen tofulfill what I've been called to
do.
And it's at that moment theHoly Spirit was poured out from
heaven and Jesus is standingthere coming out of the water
and God says this is my son,whom I'm well pleased.
You know what's amazing?
The cross was the publicspectacle that Jesus endured for
(23:03):
our salvation.
And you know what Baptism isthe public spectacle that you
activate your decision to followJesus in it's baptism is this
outward display of this inwarddecision.
And you're like PC how doesrepentance and baptism get us
(23:24):
ready for Christmas?
Well, didn't you know thatChristmas is all about the
arrival of Jesus?
And what I'm declaring to you,church, is that we want to go to
the very foundational level ofour experience in following
Jesus and know that.
Hey, listen, I'm gonna makesure.
Every single one of you know wemust repent and every single
(23:47):
one of you know we must bebaptized.
And here's what I know thatwhen we do this public spectacle
two words in one there, thispublic spectacle of baptism, it
(24:11):
actually is so symbolic becauseit was on the third day they put
Jesus in the tomb, or it was inthe tomb and it was on the
third day that he came out ofthe tomb.
And that is the same when we godown into the water.
All of the sin that was laid onJesus on the cross was no
longer evident when he came withdeath, the keys to death, hell
(24:34):
and to the grave.
And when we go down in thewater, the Bible says that we
leave our sins there.
We come out as new creatures.
So let me just show you thisquickly and then we'll be
wrapping up.
Galatians 3.22,.
But the scriptures declare thatwe all are prisoners of sin.
So we receive God's promise offreedom only by believing in
(24:56):
Jesus Christ, in verse 27,.
And all who have been unitedwith Christ in baptism have put
on Christ like putting on newclothes.
The first step to get ready forChristmas is to make room for a
Savior.
(25:30):
And the reason why I spent thistime to do this message like
this is because it's so easy forus to get caught up in the
hustle and the bustle ofeverything else and overlook the
most important thing I thinkabout, I think about, I think
(25:58):
about this so often that what if?
What if we really startedliving our lives with our minds
on the end?
I was listening to a pastorshare a message and he had
(26:24):
planted a church before churchplanting was popular.
And through his writings anddifferent seminars I've listened
to and books that I've read, healways mentioned this that he
told the congregation on thatfirst Sunday I'm gonna preach a
(26:46):
message that says where we'll bein 40 years and if you'll stick
with me for 40 years, we'll getthere.
And it wasn't until that 40years came.
When he shared a message and heactually said this and I don't
know if he said it in theoriginal message, but he said
(27:07):
this.
He said there's something sopowerful about beginning with
the end in mind.
End in mind and that's what thereal first Christmas was all
about was.
It was a beginning with an endin mind.
It was the beginning of anarrival and a ministry and a
(27:33):
person God, 100% God, 100% man,who would take away the sins of
the world, but the end in mindwas that you would spend
eternity in heaven.
So if today were your last dayand you breathed your last
breath today, where would youspend eternity?
And if today were your last day, would anybody have known that
(28:02):
you ever made that inwarddecision to follow Jesus?
It's just simple.
It's repentance, turning fromyour own way.
But then it's baptism, and wehave baptisms coming up on
January 26th again.
Last time we baptized, how manydid we baptize last?
19?
(28:22):
I'm going to say like so manymore.
It's like did we baptize 59?
I've been a little lightheadedthe last few days, but I would
say, how will you get ready forChristmas this year?
And maybe this is going to be,in ways, a first Christmas for
(28:43):
you, because it'd be a firstChristmas of you making the
decision to follow Jesus and foryou to make a decision that
you're going to be baptized for,declaring that decision that
you've made.
I just have every eye closedand every head bowed right now.
Well, what's up?
Free Church hey, you look goodman, you sounded so good man, I
could have just sat in thatmoment of worship for Amen.
There are just moments thatsometimes, when you just get in
(00:34):
God's presence, you're like youknow what Nothing else matters.
Take the whole world, but giveme Jesus and I can promise you
whatever you've been goingthrough this week, no matter how
difficult it may have seemed,what God has been doing in these
(00:57):
last few moments is enough toset it straight.
And I believe that you knowwe've had quite a week around
here.
We've had some ups and downsand some sicknesses, but here we
are, standing in the presenceof God and we know that man,
(01:19):
just one moment in God'spresence can turn it all around.
In God's presence can turn itall around.
Just one touch from a healercan change it, just one word
(01:40):
from the creator can set it inorder.
And I just believe God is up tosomething so special.
And I just want to encourageyou just keep pressing in, keep
pressing in, don't push back,but press in, because God is
about to do something in ourlives.
But listen, I'm ready to preachGod's word.
Are you ready to receive ittoday?
The year was 1993, and it was mybirth year.
(02:05):
That was when you were born.
1993 was the year that Ershonand I got married, I think right
, yeah, I'm joking, it was ajoke, I just want to see how you
would respond to that.
So 1993,.
We were married in February andin June we moved to Dallas,
(02:26):
texas, and then it becameDecember and it was going to be
our first Christmas together.
So we went Christmas treeshopping and we went to the
local grocery store to buy ourfirst tree.
And it wasn't the tree wewanted, it was the tree we could
(02:48):
afford.
And then we went and I rememberUrshana saying well, now we
need lights and we need thingsto decorate it with.
And so we went and I was justwatching money, just, I was just
watching money, just for decor.
And then we got to buy oneanother.
(03:11):
We had to go shoppingseparately to buy our first
Christmas presents for eachother that year.
I think I always win when itcomes to what I get compared to
what I give.
I need to learn to do betterafter all these years.
But maybe, guys, can you relate.
(03:32):
It's like we go in, we make ourgift purchase and we're out of
there as quick as we can.
And then our girl shows up andit's like, oh man, I should have
put some more time into this.
But it was our first Christmas.
And then we had our firstChristmas meal together and we
have pictures from from ourfirst Christmas morning and it
was just the two of us.
It was so sweet.
And then you can fast forward afew years and we started adding
kids and then preparation andgetting ready for Christmas
(03:55):
changed.
It wasn't like you go to thegrocery store and buy whichever
tree you can afford.
You have multiple trees in thehouse you got to have.
And then you don't just buy afew gifts, you buy what seems
like the entire store out andit's so much fun and so much
excitement.
But those are the years that Ilearned that there is something
(04:17):
really special about gettingready for Christmas, for
Christmas, and that when you doget ready for Christmas, the
gift is almost greater ofgetting ready than what we
receive.
But what we receive is great.
Or you might say it this waywhen I do what I'm supposed to
do, god will always do what hecan only do.
(04:38):
Why don't you turn to yourneighbor and say we're getting
ready for Christmas, yep.
Why don't you turn to yourneighbor and say we're getting
ready for Christmas, yep, andjust lean over and tell your
neighbor you need this more thanI need this.
It's the Christmas season.
(05:02):
I'm certain I bet I could askthe question how many of you are
finished Christmas shopping?
Just raise your hand.
Five of you I hate.
I pray for you, but I hate you.
It's just not right.
I don't really hate you.
That's a bad word, strong word,wrong word.
I don't really hate you.
That's a bad word, strong word,wrong word.
(05:25):
How about how many of you wentout on Black Friday, crazy Day
Friday?
How many A couple of you wentout early?
It's kind of changed right.
Like we do it all online CyberMonday.
Oh, by the way, let me justbrag on you, church, for Giving
Tuesday over $7,000 given in oneday, giving Tuesday to advance
the vision of the church convoyof hope, doing some great things
(05:53):
with them.
So you'll hear more about thatlater.
So just the whole process ofthis Christmas season.
There is these two things.
There is the busyness and thebusiness of Christmas.
The business is something else.
If you ever pay attention tothe business of Christmas, I was
studying this week beforeThursday and I told the twins.
(06:13):
I was like, can you guysbelieve that 30 million
Christmas trees will be soldthis year?
30 million Christmas trees,that's a lot of Christmas trees
Somebody who's like us?
They put more than one tree up.
That's a lot of trees.
And I read this that last year950-something billion dollars
(06:37):
was spent in the US just forChristmas.
That was with a B billion andif the trend continues, that's
about a 5.3% increase.
That would mean this year UScitizens will spend over a
trillion dollars getting readyfor Christmas.
Come on, somebody.
(06:58):
That is crazy.
That's the business ofChristmas.
It's become quite a business.
But then there's also thebusyness of Christmas and it's
this everybody has a Christmasparty they have to go to and
everybody has a Christmas partythey have to host.
And you have your work party,your neighborhood party, you
(07:22):
have your friends party, youhave the youth party, the
witness party, the monasteryparty, the church party.
There's so much going on.
There's just our schedules getjust they go in overboard.
Then there's all the schoolplays that you got to go to and
not to discount.
All the time you're going tospend Christmas shopping.
(07:44):
And then it's like duringChristmas season I've said this
before I don't understand it,but it's like everybody who has
a license gets in their car anddrives.
In the month of December it'snot busy normally driving here
or there, but over the next twoweeks it's going to be the
busiest traffic we've seen allyear long.
(08:06):
And then after Christmaseverybody's going to put their
keys away and go back.
We don't know where theydisappeared to, but just in
December, because it's thebusyness of Christmas.
And let me just give you onemore thing.
That's not busy and notbusiness, but next week you want
(08:27):
to be sure to be here forfamily Christmas.
It's going to be incredibleworship the team has been
preparing.
There's some beautiful songs,the choir our biggest choir ever
.
I think it's a massive choirand you're not going to want to
miss it.
So that's all the business andthe busyness of Christmas.
(08:49):
But I want to just tell you, godknows about the business and
the busyness of Christmas and Iwant to frame this idea for you
over the next few weeks ofgetting ready for Christmas.
This idea for you over the nextfew weeks of getting ready for
Christmas, and today it's goingto seem really, really, really
(09:10):
like entry level, but I thinkit's important for us to
understand it on this level sothat we can build a foundation
and maybe have a Christmas likewe've never had before.
That's kind of my goal at theend of this month as we make
this journey together.
But God is aware of thebusyness and the business of
Christmas and I want to justframe this to you in this
(09:32):
question and I want to just makesure that I get it right.
Did you ever consider what Godhad to do to orchestrate or
prepare or to get ready for thefirst Christmas?
So when we think about thebusiness and all the things that
we're spending and when wethink about the busyness and all
(09:55):
the time we're expending butGod knows all about that,
because he was involved in theprocess for the very first
Christmas, because he wasinvolved in the process for the
very first Christmas.
And the Bible says that we servea God who neither slumbers nor
sleeps and if you've had a fewof those on Christmas Eve, you
know.
But God understands the entireprocess of getting ready for
(10:17):
Christmas.
In fact, it starts 700 years inadvance of the arrival of Jesus
when Isaiah records this inIsaiah 7 and 14.
And I think we have it in ournotes.
Isaiah 7 and 14 says Therefore,the Lord himself shall give you
(10:40):
a sign.
Behold, a virgin shall conceiveand bear a son and shall call
his a sign.
Behold a virgin shall conceiveand bear a son and shall call
his name Emmanuel.
That prophecy was 700 yearsbefore the arrival of Jesus.
God didn't just wake up onChristmas Eve and think, oh, I
better go get some presents, oh,I better go make everything
right.
No, god, for 700 years heannounced his plan that there
(11:04):
would be a Savior, an Emmanuel,god with us, jesus the Messiah,
for 700 years.
And then he continued toorchestrate.
And it began with the uprisingof Alexander the Great.
And Alexander the Great broughtin this new culture and
(11:26):
language, and it was the Greeklanguage, and that would become
the language that the very firstBible of the New Testament, the
New Testament, would be alltranslated in Greek because that
was the language of the day.
And then, after Alexander theGreat, then the Roman Empire
rose to prominence, and we knowthe Roman Empire.
(11:47):
One of the things they werereally good at, for some reason,
was crucifixion, and we allknow the story of where Jesus is
heading.
But it was the Romans who firstcategorized this phrase don't
forget the tree for thecrucifixion.
And here we are.
(12:10):
Don't forget the tree forChristmas.
So it's God orchestrating allthat.
So it starts with Alexander theGreat, the Roman Empire.
Well then there's the censusthat is required and there's a
demand for everyone to becounted back in your hometown
and everybody has to return.
So Joseph and Mary have toreturn back to Bethlehem, where
(12:33):
Joseph is from, and the city toreturn.
So Joseph and Mary have toreturn back to Bethlehem, where
Joseph is from, and the city ofDavid, and that is where Jesus
would be born, church.
Can I show you that God tooktime to prepare the business and
the busyness and get ready forthe very first Christmas and did
you know that, even before theangel, and get ready for the
(12:55):
very first Christmas?
And did you know that, evenbefore the angel showed up to
speak to Mary, that really, godhad been silent for 400 years?
God did not speak for nearly400 years until the angel
appeared before Mary and saidMary, you're highly favored and
you're gonna have a son and hisname shall be called Jesus.
And you know what's amazingabout that is?
(13:16):
I've showed you already inadvance that God, even though he
was silent, it didn't mean hewasn't working, and even though
you couldn't see what washappening doesn't mean he's not
doing something good.
Doing something good even whenyou can't see it.
He's working for you.
So God understands that, andGod has showed us how to get
(13:44):
ready for Christmas.
And then I would continue to gomoving in this direction.
Galatians 4.4,.
The Bible says that when thetime, when the right time I was
going to say when the time wasjust right, but when the right
time came God sent his son, bornof a woman subject to the law.
At just the right time, godsent his son.
So how do you get ready forChristmas?
(14:08):
How do you get ready forChristmas?
Well, here's the introduction,right here.
The book of Mark, chapter 1,beginning with verse one, says
this Mark one, verse one.
This is the good news.
Oh, we sang that song today.
Isn't that crazy how the HolySpirit works.
We sing songs that actually endup in the message without any
(14:31):
communication or talk back onthat.
That's all the Holy Spirit.
This is the good news aboutJesus, the Messiah, the Son of
God.
It began just as the prophetIsaiah had written oh, did we
already read that passage?
Look, I'm sending you mymessenger ahead and he will
prepare your way, okay.
He is a voice shouting in thewilderness prepare the way for
(14:54):
the Lord's coming.
Clear the road for him.
The messenger was John theBaptist.
He was in the wilderness andpreached that people should be
baptized to show they hadrepented of their sins and
turned to God to be forgiven.
What a powerful image.
As we talk about preparing forChristmas, the very thing that
(15:16):
happens is John is sent as amessenger in front of Jesus, and
John is there to show us, toshow us who Jesus is.
John is the one that saidbehold the Lamb of God who takes
away the sins of the world.
So John shows us.
John actually shows us, andthen he also shakes us.
(15:39):
John was the one who preached apretty strong message.
He called a group of people abrood of vipers.
He didn't back down fromdeclaring that there was coming
a day when people were gonnahave to turn from their wicked
ways, that they needed to repent.
(16:00):
That was a new message topeople who thought they had it
all together, people who weresitting in the pews and in the
seats on Sunday thinkingeverything's okay.
And here comes this guy who hasjust crazy hair and eats
locusts and honey, and then he'stelling you repent, that
(16:21):
there's a better way, that he'sbaptizing in water, but there's
one who's gonna baptize in fire.
And John is the one who showsus who Jesus is, and John is the
one who shakes us that we needa savior.
And then John is the one whoshows us who Jesus is, and John
is the one who shakes us that weneed a Savior.
And then John is the one whosends us, he points us, he's
making a way, he's preparing away for Jesus.
(16:42):
What were the two things thatJohn wanted us to know?
Number one John preachedrepentance, repentance.
John preached repentance,repentance, repentance of sin.
You know, I've thought about itover this week Sin I've said
this over and over again sin isnot just something that we do,
(17:04):
although sin, it forms itself inaction, it just shows itself,
it displays itself in action.
But sin is really, really aboutlocation.
It's about where I am comparedto where God is, and sin is that
gap that is between me and myheavenly father.
And what I can tell you is, aslong as my habits continue in a
(17:29):
certain direction, continue in acertain direction, as I'm going
in this sinful path that we'reall born into, as long as my
habits continue in that samedirection.
The gap is widening and sin issuch that it cannot be satisfied
.
Sin is such that it just itkind of it's like a snowball.
(17:53):
You roll a little snowball downa hill and it begins to get
bigger and bigger and bigger.
And sin is like that.
Sin is something that mightstart out small, but the more
that you hide it and you coverit up, it does greater damage.
The more you try to keep it inthe background, it does greater
damage, the more you try to keepit in the background.
(18:14):
And man, my mom, my mom was asaint.
My mom and Mary probably arelike side by side in heaven.
But my mom used to say this andI think it's because she knew I
probably had done somethingwrong through the day and she'd
say but remember, your sins willalways find you out, like you
(18:41):
cannot hide it, becauseeventually it's going to come
out in the open, and that thereis a space, a gap between you
and your heavenly father.
And John came to preach thisidea of repentance.
And repentance is notnecessarily being sorry for your
sin, although godly sorrowleads to repentance but the fact
is that there's this idea thatrepentance is all about turning.
(19:03):
So, instead of continuing onthe same path that I'm in, that
keeps getting me in more troubleand extends the hole in my
heart and the gap between me andGod, repentance is stopping and
turning.
It's a 180.
I'll never forget as a youthpastor I was so fired up
(19:23):
preaching and I think I saidturn the 360 turn.
Well, that's not, that wouldn'tbe a turn at all, that would
just be a circle.
And then you keep going.
But it is a 180 turn from howyou're headed and what you're
doing, to turn towards a Saviorwho is the only one who spans
(19:44):
the gap between our sin and ourheavenly Father, our sin and our
heavenly father.
It's a picture of him on thecross that should forever be
etched into our mind.
That his arms stretch so widefor us is really what closes the
(20:07):
gap between us and our heavenlyfather.
And so John preaches this wildmessage but repentance,
repentance, repentance andchurch.
I'm telling you today that youknow what we all, we all must
come to a reasoning.
The Old Testament says come,let us reason together.
(20:28):
Though our sins be as crimson,they shall be washed white as
snow.
And the fact is that we have tocome to a realization that we
need a Savior and the onlySavior.
The only name on earth, underthe heaven, that men must be
saved by is the name of Jesus.
(20:51):
So John preaches repentance ofsin, and what I know is
typically the greatest enemy ofour own lives is our very own
self.
This happens in two ways.
We know what we've done, andsometimes the idea of avoidance
is that, since I know what we'vedone, and sometimes the idea of
(21:13):
avoidance is that, since I knowwhat I've done and how bad I am
, it's just never gonna get anybetter.
So why change now?
And that is the greatest liethat we fight against.
It mirrors the lie of decidingthat you'll settle to become
what everybody else wants you tobe rather than what you were
(21:35):
created to be, and so sin issuch that it places us in that
space.
And I just wanna tell you likelisten, we all come to the cross
on level ground and we all comewith.
The very first step, for everysingle one of us, is to repent.
Even the greatest message thatwas preached on the day of
(21:58):
Pentecost, peter, said repent.
Every one of you Repent, turnaround, turn away.
Don't go the direction of thepopular culture, don't go the
direction that everybody elsesays is the easy way Turn around
and follow Jesus.
So John talked about repentance, and then John talked about
(22:20):
baptism and he he declared topeople you should repent.
And then he baptized people.
He even baptized Jesus.
And when Jesus walked in thewater to be baptized by John,
john was like listen, you shouldbe baptizing me.
But Jesus said, let this be,because this is what has to
(22:42):
happen.
I need this to happen tofulfill what I've been called to
do.
And it's at that moment theHoly Spirit was poured out from
heaven and Jesus is standingthere coming out of the water
and God says this is my son,whom I'm well pleased.
You know what's amazing?
The cross was the publicspectacle that Jesus endured for
(23:03):
our salvation.
And you know what Baptism isthe public spectacle that you
activate your decision to followJesus in it's baptism is this
outward display of this inwarddecision.
And you're like PC how doesrepentance and baptism get us
(23:24):
ready for Christmas?
Well, didn't you know thatChristmas is all about the
arrival of Jesus?
And what I'm declaring to you,church, is that we want to go to
the very foundational level ofour experience in following
Jesus and know that.
Hey, listen, I'm gonna makesure.
Every single one of you know wemust repent and every single
(23:47):
one of you know we must bebaptized.
And here's what I know thatwhen we do this public spectacle
two words in one there, thispublic spectacle of baptism, it
(24:11):
actually is so symbolic becauseit was on the third day they put
Jesus in the tomb, or it was inthe tomb and it was on the
third day that he came out ofthe tomb.
And that is the same when we godown into the water.
All of the sin that was laid onJesus on the cross was no
longer evident when he came withdeath, the keys to death, hell
(24:34):
and to the grave.
And when we go down in thewater, the Bible says that we
leave our sins there.
We come out as new creatures.
So let me just show you thisquickly and then we'll be
wrapping up.
Galatians 3.22,.
But the scriptures declare thatwe all are prisoners of sin.
So we receive God's promise offreedom only by believing in
(24:56):
Jesus Christ, in verse 27,.
And all who have been unitedwith Christ in baptism have put
on Christ like putting on newclothes.
The first step to get ready forChristmas is to make room for a
Savior.
(25:30):
And the reason why I spent thistime to do this message like
this is because it's so easy forus to get caught up in the
hustle and the bustle ofeverything else and overlook the
most important thing I thinkabout, I think about, I think
(25:58):
about this so often that what if?
What if we really startedliving our lives with our minds
on the end?
I was listening to a pastorshare a message and he had
(26:24):
planted a church before churchplanting was popular.
And through his writings anddifferent seminars I've listened
to and books that I've read, healways mentioned this that he
told the congregation on thatfirst Sunday I'm gonna preach a
(26:46):
message that says where we'll bein 40 years and if you'll stick
with me for 40 years, we'll getthere.
And it wasn't until that 40years came.
When he shared a message and heactually said this and I don't
know if he said it in theoriginal message, but he said
(27:07):
this.
He said there's something sopowerful about beginning with
the end in mind.
End in mind and that's what thereal first Christmas was all
about was.
It was a beginning with an endin mind.
It was the beginning of anarrival and a ministry and a
(27:33):
person God, 100% God, 100% man,who would take away the sins of
the world, but the end in mindwas that you would spend
eternity in heaven.
So if today were your last dayand you breathed your last
breath today, where would youspend eternity?
And if today were your last day, would anybody have known that
(28:02):
you ever made that inwarddecision to follow Jesus?
It's just simple.
It's repentance, turning fromyour own way.
But then it's baptism, and wehave baptisms coming up on
January 26th again.
Last time we baptized, how manydid we baptize last?
19?
(28:22):
I'm going to say like so manymore.
It's like did we baptize 59?
I've been a little lightheadedthe last few days, but I would
say, how will you get ready forChristmas this year?
And maybe this is going to be,in ways, a first Christmas for
(28:43):
you, because it'd be a firstChristmas of you making the
decision to follow Jesus and foryou to make a decision that
you're going to be baptized for,declaring that decision that
you've made.
I just have every eye closedand every head bowed right now.
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