Christmas at Rock Point 2023 | Sermon

Pastor Bill Bush · Dec 25, 2023

Big Idea

Christmas isn't about decorating our chaos with lights to distract from it — it's about the Light of the World stepping into our chaos to save us.

Christmas offers real hope: God didn't just shine light on our darkness from a distance, He dove into it by becoming a baby in a manger. We can't earn our way onto God's "nice list" by fixing ourselves up, but Jesus lived the life we couldn't live and died the death we deserved so we could have life we could never earn. The point isn't decorating our lives to look better — it's turning to the presence of Jesus, whatever is in our present.

Key points

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1We decorate our chaos instead of dealing with it.
Pastor Bill opens with funny, real examples of people putting Christmas lights on dump trucks, toilets, and even a rented porta potty, joking that we'll call anything festive once we string lights on it. He turns this into a picture of how we treat our own lives and even our faith — dressing up the darkness instead of addressing it, and finding that when the lights come down, we're right back where we started.
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2The real Christmas is about direction, not distraction — the Light of the World came to fix what's underneath.
Pastor Bill draws the contrast between Christmas lights, which only cover chaos, and the light of Christmas, which is Jesus Himself entering the chaos to rescue us. He walks through Luke's account of the shepherds and the angels, noting that the dazzling light show wasn't the point — it only pointed toward a baby lying in a manger.
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3All of us are on the 'naughty list,' and none of us can earn our way onto the 'nice list.'
Pastor Bill contrasts the popular idea of God as a Santa-like figure keeping a naughty and nice list with what the Bible actually says — that all have sinned and fall short of God's perfect standard. He challenges listeners to test this by their own broken New Year's resolutions: if we can't even live up to our own standards, how could we live up to God's?
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4Jesus came into the chaos with us, lived the perfect life we couldn't live, and died the death we deserved.
Pastor Bill explains that God stayed true to His own justice and holiness while still making a way for us — Jesus took the penalty for sin so that by faith, simply admitting we're sinners and turning to Him, we can be made right with God. He states plainly that Jesus was born on Christmas but came for Easter, to go to the cross and pay for our sin and darkness.
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5We miss Jesus because we're fixated on our 'present' instead of His presence.
Pastor Bill tells a personal story of a childhood Christmas photo where he's intently staring at a wrapped present just out of frame, oblivious to his father sitting right beside him — a father who died 20 years ago. He uses this to show how good or bad circumstances (a longed-for gift, a life that feels empty) can distract us from the presence of Jesus that's been there all along, all we have to do is turn our head.

Application

Pastor Bill's charge is to stop decorating the chaos and turn instead to the presence of Jesus, whatever is in your present.

Stop just putting lights on your chaos
Quit trying to look better or act more spiritual as a cover for what's really going on underneath; that only distracts, it never changes anything.
Admit you can't earn your way onto the nice list
Be honest that you're a sinner who has fallen short, even by your own standards, and stop pretending a good-enough life will make you right with God.
Turn to Jesus in faith right now
Confess that you can't fix yourself and profess that Jesus is Lord, believing He died and rose again to give you life, following the simple prayer Pastor Bill led.
Notice what you're fixated on this Christmas
Whether your 'present' looks good or empty, turn your head from it toward the presence of Jesus, who has been there all along.

Take it into your week

7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

Day 1

Related passage

There is something deeply human about wanting to make things look better than they are. We hang the lights, fill the calendar, and keep moving — because slowing down might mean facing what is actually going on underneath. Pastor Bill put it plainly: we throw Christmas lights on a porta potty and call it decorating. The image is funny until it hits close to home. Most of us know exactly what we have been covering up. What is remarkable about the Christmas story is that God did not wait for us to clean things up before He showed up. The angels appeared to shepherds — working men, out in the dark, nowhere near a sanctuary — and the light that filled the sky was not the point. It was a sign. An arrow. It pointed the shepherds somewhere specific: to a manger, to a baby, to Jesus. The spectacular did not ask them to linger and enjoy the show. It sent them toward the presence of the One who actually changes things. That is still the movement Christmas asks of us. Not to manage our chaos more creatively, but to let the light direct us to Jesus — the only One who can deal with what is underneath.

For reflection

What have you been decorating lately instead of bringing it honestly before Jesus?

Pray

Pray for the honesty to stop covering your chaos and the courage to bring it to Jesus instead.

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

Think about the last time you tried to make something look better than it was — a quick cleanup before guests arrived, a smile when things were hard. This message asks what happens when we bring that same instinct to the biggest questions of our lives.

Discussion questions

1
Pastor Bill used the image of throwing Christmas lights on a porta potty to describe how people handle the hard or broken parts of life. What are some of the ways people — in general — tend to decorate over chaos rather than confront it?
2
In Luke 2:8–20, the angels put on a spectacular light show for the shepherds — but then immediately directed them away from the spectacle and toward a manger. What do you think the shepherds expected to find, and what does it tell us about how God tends to show up?
Related passage
3
Romans 3:23 says 'all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.' Pastor Bill made the point that this puts everyone on the naughty list — no exceptions. What does that do to the idea that we can earn our way into a right relationship with God?
4
Pastor Bill drew a distinction between God shining a light down from above to expose our problem and God actually coming down into our chaos as Emmanuel — God with us. Why does that difference matter for how we understand what Jesus came to do?
5
Pastor Bill described two kinds of people who can miss Jesus at Christmas: those whose lives are full of good things that crowd God out, and those in real pain who can't see why God is relevant. In both cases, he said the invitation is the same — stop staring at the 'present' and turn toward the presence of Jesus beside you. What makes that a hard turn for people to make in either situation?
6
The shepherds went back to their everyday lives after the nativity — but Luke says they went back 'glorifying and praising God.' How might ordinary daily life look different for someone who is living from Jesus's love rather than trying to earn it?
Related passage

Pray together

Emmanuel — God with us — entering our chaos and giving us what we could never earn for ourselves

Topics

Christmas: The True Meaning Confronting Our Brokenness Emmanuel: God With Us Salvation Through Faith Turning From Distraction to Jesus

Christmas at Rock Point 2023 | Sermon

Big Idea

Key points

Application

Take it into your week

Scripture in this message

7-day devotional

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Small-group discussion guide

Open

Discussion questions

Pray together