Thesis
Drawing from Romans 1:16–32, Pastor Bill Bush argues that the world's deepening confusion, moral distortion, and relational brokenness are not random — they are the present-tense judgment of a holy God against humanity's twin charges of godlessness (living as though God does not exist) and wickedness (living as though we are God). The only rescue from this downward spiral is the gospel: the good news that Jesus came — which is Christmas — and that through faith in Him we are made right before God and find the life, identity, and joy we have been searching for everywhere else.
Key points
- 1
The gospel — the good news of Christ's coming — is the power of God that saves everyone who believes, and it is the true meaning of Christmas.
- 2
Charge one against humanity is godlessness: though creation makes God's eternal power and divine nature obvious, people suppress that truth and live as though He does not exist.
- 3
Suppressing truth leads to rejecting God and then replacing Him with idols — because we are built to worship, and if we will not worship God we will worship something else.
- 4
Charge two is wickedness: living as though we are God, following the heart's broken desires, which distorts everything God created — including sex, marriage, and identity — away from its intended purpose.
- 5
God's present-tense judgment for sin is more sin — He gives people over to their chosen path — and the full list of that sin (greed, gossip, envy, quarreling) indicts religious people just as much as anyone else.
- 6
No one is exempt: those who judge others commit the very same sins, so the only right response is to recognize our shared guilt and our shared need for the Savior.
- 7
There is real hope on the other side of trusting Jesus — whatever we are trying to find in sin, identity, or ideology, it is found only in Him.
Outline
Introduction: We Need a Savior, Not a Season
Pastor Bill introduces the series theme — we all need Christmas, but what we truly need is the Savior Christmas points to, not the season itself. The series will approach this from Romans rather than the nativity narrative.
The Bad News Must Come First
Using the sinking Titanic as an illustration, Pastor Bill argues that you will never grasp how good the good news is until you understand how bad the bad news is — the ship is already sinking.
Charge One — Godlessness (Romans 1:18–23)
God's controlled, judicial anger is already being poured out against people who live as though He does not exist. Creation leaves everyone without excuse, yet humanity suppresses the truth, rejects God, and ultimately replaces Him with idols — including the idolatry of self.
Charge Two — Wickedness and Distorted Desires (Romans 1:24–27)
God actively 'gave them over' to their shameful desires — a present judgment, not a future one. Pastor Bill unpacks how broken heart-desires distort sex, marriage, and identity, using homosexuality as Paul's clearest example of inverting the created order, while stressing pastoral care for those who struggle.
The Full List — Nobody Is Off the Hook (Romans 1:28–2:1)
The vice list — greed, gossip, envy, quarreling, deception — implicates the church just as much as culture. Judging others for 'ickier' sins while ignoring our own is the same problem in a different wrapper.
Application: Sipping on the World vs. Trusting the Savior
Using a personal story from a bowling trip to Hawaii, Pastor Bill illustrates that what looked like fun on the sin side left him empty, while trusting God opened up real life. He calls everyone — regardless of what they are struggling with — to stop sipping on the world and trust that joy is found only in Jesus.
Closing Hope — Romans 1:16–17
Pastor Bill returns to the gospel summary in Romans 1:16–17: the good news of Christ is the power of God for salvation, righteousness by faith from start to finish — and that is why we celebrate Christmas.
Memorable moments
we need a savior, not a season
you'll never get the joy of why you need Jesus. You will never understand how awesome the good news is if you do not understand how bad the news was
You never are truly godless. You just worship a god that's not god. That's what idolatry is. We will worship something
The current judgment for sin is more sin
your sexuality and your gender is not your identity. It's not who you are. Matter of fact, if you run down that road, you're gonna lose your identity, and you're never gonna find it
I'm telling you, there is a hope, especially even the the deepest thing I talked about. I want I don't wanna beat it to death, but if you struggle with your gender, you struggle with your sexuality, you struggle with that, You feel like if I do what God says, I'm not gonna fit in. I'm gonna be alone my whole life, and there's no hope. But you're actually going to find life
Application
Pastor Bill closes with a pointed but compassionate call to honesty: every person in the room — regardless of which sins feel most familiar — is guilty of the same root problem of living for self rather than for God. The invitation is not to clean yourself up first but to stop pretending the ship is not sinking. For those wrestling with sexuality, gender, addiction, greed, pride, or any other broken desire, he urges trust that life and real identity are found in Jesus alone, not in the thing that feels most urgent. For those tempted toward self-righteousness, he urges humility — because sipping on the world while judging those drunk on it is still drinking. The 'so what' of Christmas is simple: we all need the Savior, and the joy we are chasing everywhere else is waiting for us in Him.
