Christmas At Rock Point 2020

classic 2020 right now. You guys know what this is. Right? Don't say a tree. Does anybody know what tree this is? The Rockefeller tree, this is the Rockefeller

Plaza tree that they picked, know they put the giant Christmas tree in New York every year, this is the one that was chosen this year. This is what it looked like when they got ready to cut it down and then this next picture I want to show you is that's what it looked like when it finally showed up.

It's a mess. This was a disaster. It looks like the world giantess Charlie Brown Christmas tree right there. Matter of fact, one Twitter person tweeted that this tree looks like the tree version of your kid that cut his own hair. And

it it has all these dead spots and the needles and bald spots and smashed spots. This is the kind of tree that if you bought one like you went late to get a tree, you just said does it have one good side? Because if it does, just put the rest of it into the corner, right? Well, you can't do that at Rockefeller Plaza.

So look what happened. This is this that that kind of defines this year. January and February,

great. This year looked awesome especially for me. I thought it was going to be a a great year then all of sudden everything kind of went the other way and everything went to where it just got worse and worse and kind of out of control and crazy and and and it felt like I'm powerless. We're powerless to fix that.

If anything, it makes you feel like, you know what? I I just don't have any control.

And the more we get out of control, the more we try to control everything around us, and the more we try to control everything around us, usually everything around us is people and thoughts and all that, so then we start fighting and then we become contentious and there you have twenty twenty.

We are that version of the Rockefeller tree

And and and what's funny is the more you feel powerless, the more you feel you struggle and I I I had a perfect example of how weird this year is. Like imagine if even you're you're trying to do what God wanted you to do and you're feeling like, wait, what's going on God? When is this gonna turn? What's going

what's happening? On on Monday night, in between the two services, I I went out and ate too fast a food truck and I can get some acid reflux, and it came on like no other time ever.

And in the back, we're sitting there, can you go out and preach? Yeah. I think it's I think it's I think it's okay. I'm gonna do it. So I came out here, started preaching because I figured, you know, God will protect me. God wants me to talk about Jesus. I mean, I'm serving God. Wouldn't there is no in thirty years, I've never had a problem on stage and had to stop preaching

until 2020 on Monday night. I got two minutes away from ending my sermon, and it started the rumbly. I was like, you

know, that acid foamy started coming up, and I couldn't keep it down. I was hiccuping and trying to will it down. God, come on, God. I can do this thing. And and and it went I finally went to myself. I go, I gotta go. And and I went to go off stage and and they didn't turn my mic off fast enough. And

everybody in that service got a Christmas present you should never get from your pastor when you're at church. You heard noises that you should not have heard.

That's all I'm gonna say. And when I went in the back, I was like, I cannot believe this just happened. Oh, actually, it's 2020. I can believe this just happened. But, man, god, I actually felt disappointed. I'm like, god, really? I was doing the right thing, and I still had no control over it.

That's what it's felt like this year. I feel like powerless. No control. You know what? If you feel that way, then this is the perfect time to celebrate Christmas because that's exactly how the people in the first Christmas felt, powerless and out of control. And I think if anything, 2020 shows us that we believe a lie.

The lie said that we actually have control. We never did. And then when we're faced with it, we freak out. Well, that first Christmas, a couple thousand years ago, the Jews were dominated by the

Roman empire. They had no power. They had no say. They were poor. They're powerless. And in this story of Christmas, the people that were involved were poor powers. Jesus' mom, peasant woman.

These shepherds were gonna look at a minute. Shepherds were outcast in their culture. They were poor. They probably they weren't trusted. I don't know why, but for some reason this culture, didn't trust shepherds. Probably because they smelled weird and they worked weird hours.

But this whole story is about powerless people. But something changes. Not their environment, not what's happening, but but something comes into it. And that's what Christmas is. That's where you can find real hope and joy and peace, contentment, fulfillment,

not in what life presents you, but in the very presence of the one who gives life. You see, Christmas is when Emmanuel

showed up. Song we just sang. They said there's prophecies in the old testament that these Jews were waiting. They were like, God, come on. Just like I was. Well, I can't believe when are your promises gonna happen? When is this gonna happen? We're we're poor. We're powerless. All this stuff and they didn't understand but they were looking forward to this messiah coming that god would show up and in the old testament said, you will call him Emmanuel. His name would be Jesus. What do you call him? It's more like a title And Emmanuel means god is with us. So what it's saying is that Christmas represents is we have a god that made us and loves us that doesn't just watch over us. Jesus

is not Jesus' claws. He doesn't just watch over us from heaven, keeping a track of who's naughty and nice, and then once a year breaking into our house without our permission, eating our cookies and drinking our milk, and then deciding whether he's gonna leave you something good or a lump of coal.

Emmanuel means Jesus doesn't just watch over us, he walks with us. He doesn't just stay at a distance, he dove into the darkness. He came in. That's what they were looking forward to and that's what Christmas is.

And I think this year could be the greatest Christmas ever despite what's going on around us because we're we're in the moment just like they were. They were in a much darker time, a much more fearful time, a much more powerless time, a much more hopeless time.

And yet they can embrace it because of what Christmas really is. So I wanna look at the the the classic Christmas story, but I want us to think about this one phrase, this one statement here. And if you're new to church, think about it, mull it over, leave,

been here a while, just I just just would you consider this on this night? And that is this, instead of focusing on what life presents, focus on the presence of the one who gives us life.

You see what we tend to do is we focus on anything that we're getting like, like here's what life has been presenting me this year, this is where I've been, and what we look at it and a lot of us, 2020 hasn't been very nice.

We're like, I don't like this. This has been a lump of coal. This is what life has presented to me right now. I'm struggling

and we hope to get something else. But this statement is not just about don't focus on the bad stuff, focus on the presence of God, of Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. This means even on the good stuff. Some of you had a great year. Some of you things are great.

Because there's a problem when you focus this way. Now what we're supposed to when life presents us stuff, here's life and what it presents.

This is stuff that God built us to go through, and when it's good, that's a blessing. When it's bad, it's a challenge to grow. We have to deal with it. We do live in it. I'm not saying it doesn't exist. What I'm saying is don't make this where you find the meaning of life. This isn't where you get your fulfillment,

your meaning, your identity. This is not where you find it. This is just where you live it out. And the problem is if I focus on this, I'm gonna be very frustrated. I'm gonna be frustrated.

It's going good. I'll have moments of feeling really good when I get what I want, when life presents what I want. But here's the problem, if I focus on what life presents, good or bad, I will always live with a little bit of fear and tension in my life. You know why? Like this year, when everything's going bad,

we're like, when is this going to end? You can't wait to get out of it. But what happens when things are going good? You know what you're afraid of? When is this gonna end? It's the same thing. We need to focus on the presence, Emmanuel. God came for us for a reason because he's the one that gives us life. He created life.

And only through him is where you will really find what you're looking for. Contentment, fulfillment, peace. It's not about what's happening around you. It's about who you're with. And if you keep trying to find those things to what life presents, you're gonna live a really up and down frustrated life. Let me show you.

And it's about the presence of the one who loves us and gives life. Luke chapter two starting in verse eight, Christmas story.

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby guiding their flocks of sheep. This would have been dads. This would have been sons at a very kind of a young age. They started early. They would have their sons up. You want to talk about being powerless?

If you were the son of a shepherd, guess what you were going to do the rest of your life? Be a shepherd. They didn't have a culture like in culture.

If you were a shepherd son, you learned to be a shepherd. There wasn't I'm going to slave away at being a shepherd so you can go off to college, mess around for three years, take one year serious, and then move on with your life and move out of here and barely bring the grandkids around anymore. That's not how it's gonna work. If you were the son of a shepherd, that's your life. You were now a shepherd.

You wanna talk about being stuck

in a in a powerless system. So they're all sitting out there guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the lord appeared among them, and the radiance of lord's glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them, don't be afraid. He said, I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The savior, yes, the messiah, the lord has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David. So we got this incredible news. An angel just busts in the light, bright. And he says, this is the most amazing news.

And then he says in verse 12, and you will recognize him by this sign. So here's this incredible sign. You will find a baby wrapped in snuggly strips of cloth lying in a manger. Snug wrapped in snuggly strips of cloth is basically the baby burritos we make. So

he says, here's this incredible sign. You're sitting out here in this hopeless dark night waiting for promises of God. You're you're kind of you're powerless,

you're poor, and and you're sitting there. And all a he goes, I got great news. And you know what you're gonna go see? You're gonna go see a baby burrito lying in a food trough for animals, which means he's in a barn. But back then, the barn the nativity scenes we show, not accurate. I've been to Bethlehem. They would actually the sides of the hills would have these little caves, and they would use these dark tank caves to put the animals in. So he's saying, you're gonna go find a baby burrito, sit in a food trough in a dark cave.

Isn't that amazing? And they would have known, if you're having a baby in a cave and laying it in in the baby burrito in a food truck, that means you're a peasant person. You got no you're nobody. You're beyond nobody. You don't even have a place to to birth a child. And the angels are like, this is not only so amazing,

it turns into a musical. Says suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of a host of others, the armies of heaven, praising God and saying glory to God in highest heaven and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.

When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, that was weird. No. They said to each other,

let's go to Bethlehem. Let's see this thing that has happened which the Lord has told us about. So they hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph, and there was the baby lying in the manger. So there it is, baby burrito, food trough, we're in a cave. After seeing them, they went, no.

They said after seeing them, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. What was so amazing about this that they go down, they see this this this this peasant child in a food trough in a cave, and then they go outside and go, guys, get I gotta tell you what I saw.

I saw this poor family have a baby and set it in a trough in a cave. You know what everyone said? It says all who heard it were astonished. What? So they heard it and went, no way. Like, that's astonished. What are you taught? That that that's amazing. Really? And if that's not bad enough, verse 19 says, but Mary, Jesus' mom,

kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.

That means, you know it, if you want, that's she treasured that moment in her heart. That was one of the moments that if you're making one of those little books of things that you put all it's like, oh, I'm gonna put the picture there and there. Oh, there was the trough.

Here's the dank cave. Here's these strange shepherds who we don't trust and they smell even worse than this cave. They're coming to visit. I mean, do you want strangers gathered around you right after you give birth? She has she she treasured that in her heart. Think about it if you've had a child in this room,

would you treasure in the heart if say your husband said when you're, like, nine months pregnant, we gotta travel across the country. There's this thing I gotta sign up for. You're like, what? Get in the old car. No heat. No AC.

Drive across the country, you get there, oh by the way I didn't bother getting us any hotel reservation, I didn't rent us an Airbnb, there is no place to stay, and you're like my water just broke, and he's like alright. So you go into an alley and the rats are, you know, keeping time.

And you're sitting there and all of sudden weird people that, you know, weird people that you see around alleys late at night, you always wonder, what do they do? And they start gathering around, and they're kinda sketched and they're like, yeah, an angel told us to come check this out.

And you give birth to a child there and wrap them in newspaper that you find and set them in a dumpster. Is that something you treasure in your heart? Is that something that says you it says you think about often?

You might think about often. You're not gonna treasure your heart. But you know what you're gonna think about often? Maybe my mom was right about this guy I married.

So what's so amazing about this story that made a choir of angels sing? Made a group of shepherds go find a baby burrito in a trough in a cave. Made everyone they told about it be astonished, and caused Mary to treasure this moment in her heart. There's only one thing about this story. It's nothing about their scenario,

about what's going on around them. It's simply this, the Messiah, Emmanuel, God is with us, has now entered us. Nothing else changed. Jesus just joined. That's it. Matter of fact, look at verse 20. The shepherds went back to their flocks.

They said, you know what? Our union appointed break time's over. We gotta get back to work. And the kid come on, kids. Let's go. And they went back and went right back into the darkness. There was no angel of the there was no angel of the Lord, glory of God shining anymore. It was dark. It was cold. It was smelly, and they went right back to what they were doing. Nothing else was changed.

Except one thing. They were. Says they went back to their flocks, but only now glorifying and praising God for all they heard and seen. They were glorifying and praising God for what had they heard and what they seen. God is with you. We've seen him.

They are now able to give glory to God and praise him. Praise means you have joy, and you have comfort, and you have confidence, and you trust, and there is peace, and there is contentment, and there is fulfillment. All these things

that they were powerless to just have in their regular life, they walked away with and the only thing that changed is they looked at Jesus. That's the Christmas story. That's it. That's what happened.

Emmanuel, God was with them.

You know, there's a passage in the in the Old Testament, Isaiah. It's written hundreds and hundreds, thousands of years ago for us, but hundreds of years before Jesus, and they promised. It's basically a Christmas verse, and it says this. Isaiah forty three two says, when you go through deep waters, I will be with you.

It's Christmas. When you're in deep waters, I'll be with you. In the dark time, when they were waiting, Jesus dove into the water with them. He joined them. Think about this for us today. In 2020,

it's been a pretty deep water year, hasn't it? It's been a lot of deep scary waters. You don't know what's down there. You're like, what else can be down there? And something scary keeps coming up. When you go through deep waters, when you go through 2020, I will be with you. When you go through 2020,

I one, I will be with you. That's a powerful statement, And it's really powerful because what we don't understand is we see something else when we see that because that's what sin is. We buy into this lie that it's it's what life presents us. It's what we get. That's where we find the fulfillment. We just want God, if we believe in him, to give us the present life we want. And that's what we struggle. So some of us come to church and you show up, and you're like, I'll do the good things. I'll I'll be a good boy and girl because Jesus Claw's up there. If I do this, then I'll get the life I want. And and what you do is you don't even understand it. This is more powerful than what it doesn't say.

It doesn't say when you go through deep waters, I'm gonna show up in a cruise ship and pull you into the cruise ship, take you to the Lido Deck, and then we're gonna conga long all night. It doesn't say that. It doesn't even say he takes you out of the deep waters. At the end of this verse, guess where you still are?

In deep waters. But what it does say is Jesus dove in with you so you won't drown. It's not about where you are, it's about who you're with. That's Christmas. And see, sin is when we believe in this lie that said, you need more than that.

And if and and you need to not trust God if it's gonna keep you from trying to control and get what you want. And that darkness is in all of us. And that's why Jesus was born and dove into our darkness. You see Jesus was born on Christmas but he came for Easter. Was born on Christmas, but he came for Easter.

It's been like perfect. I show up at Christmas and Easter. I've got it. I don't need to be here the rest of the time because he came to die for us to correct that lie. And then when we buy into the lie, we focus on what life presents.

And here's the crazy thing. You could be a Christian. You come to church all the time. Say you you you put your faith, you say you believe in Jesus, but you still live by the lie. You still live that the lie is really I find happiness and faith and and confidence and contentment

in what life's presenting me, and so my relationship with God turns into this thing, how do I get him to give me what I want? And then when you don't get what want, you're confused. You're you're like, I had that moment when I walked backstage, and I'm like, wow. I just didn't finish that sermon.

God, why would you do that? Don't get it.

I'm glad I don't find my identity and my contentment, my peace, and everything in that. Just look to Jesus. That's where you find life. And you know what? Oftentimes, God has such a bigger perspective. Cruddy years like 2020, God has a way of coming into those moments and bringing life where there was death.

And sometimes without the craziness, without that darkness, you won't see it. You won't you won't have it. You won't find it. I was telling you about the the Rockefeller tree. Right? And how terrible it was? When they put it up, the one of the workers looked up and saw something moving in the tree.

So they climbed up there. You know what they found? A baby owl. There's a baby owl up there. Apparently, this owl just experienced the owl version of home alone.

The family said, it's time to get going. They chopped the tree down, they took off. They didn't count all the owlets or whatever. I don't know what they're called. Owlings. But and left. Oh, no. We left one behind. And and this baby owl somehow stayed in the tree through all of the abuse

that this tree went through and didn't die. And when they saw it, they climbed up and got it. It was severely dehydrated. They had to take it. Some experts took it. They nursed it back to health. It already got released into the wild in Upstate New York, and somebody already wrote a children's book about it.

I guess if you're stuck at home quarantined, I'm gonna write a book about that and you can buy it on Amazon. They gave the owl a name, Rockefeller. Look it up, Rockefeller the owl. And here's what the catch is, if that tree had not had all of that abuse and and those branches missing,

if it looked all pretty and beautiful like it started, they wouldn't have seen the owl and it would have died. Sometimes God allows us to be in those troubled deep waters

because that's when we'll see the light of life. And some of you here right now are Rockefeller the Alps. You're gonna walk into life here in a minute. But let me explain why and how. I have one more picture. This is a classic picture of Christmas in the 1970s.

I know this because I'm in this picture and no, I'm not the older guy. That's my dad who ironically in this picture is the same age I am now. And then that's me behind him. And it's pretty classic. What's my dad holding? Socks. The classic dad present for Christmas. I think it's in the constitution.

Right to bear arms, freedom of speech, dads get socks. A matter of fact, think in that Christmas when the wise men showed up and brought Jesus, the baby, the kid, they he got frankincense gold and myrrh. What they don't write in the bible is they handed Joseph a package of Hanes socks. So there you go buddy.

So there it is. It's this classic picture. I remember being so excited on Christmas and opening presents. I remember how awesome it was. I remember this picture. I remember because look, what am I doing? I'm not even looking at the camera.

I remember my mom, look at the camera. I didn't want it. She goes, it's gonna ruin the picture. She took the picture. We didn't really even see it till after we got it the film developed. I should probably explain that to someone. You see there was a time when your phone didn't take pictures.

It was also the same time when your phone didn't leave your house. You know why? It was attached to your wall And you could only go as far away from the phone as was cool your dad was depending on which length of cord he would get you.

My dad said I want the shortest little cord. Our phone was on the wall. It was like one of those old timing phones almost. Mabel, give me 10210. I need to call the doctor. You know? And it was bad. So that's so so what you had to do if you wanna take a picture, you used this thing called a camera.

You bought this stuff. Was called film, and it wasn't cheap. And you snapped pictures without being able to see them and not knowing, and then you had to drop them off with somebody, pay them money, wait a few days, you got it back, you peeled that thing open, and you hoped to God at least one of them looked decent.

You couldn't just go bad, bad, bad, bad, bad. Didn't work that way. So I remember we got this back and my mom was like, oh, Bill, you wouldn't look. And I'm like, yeah, I know. And I go, because you know why?

I was so excited about the gift I have. That's what I'm looking at behind my dad's back. I've opened one of the presents. And I was so pumped. I probably had it in my arm like like like she was telling

And I it was that gift that you sleep with, that gift you can't wait to get, that gift that's number one. You could tell it was number one on my list. I just hit the lottery and opened it first because look, there's all these ones I'm I'm ignoring. Nobody does that. They're great.

Great. This was the one. This is the one you wanted. You guys remember being that way? That gift you really, really wanted and how you felt when you got it or how you felt if you didn't get it? You know, you kids, you excited? You excited for Christmas? You excited for what you're gonna get? Can you say, I'm excited.

Somebody say it. I'm excited. Alright. The parents are saying it. Alright. Kids, if you don't say I'm excited right now, your parents are giving your gifts away. I'm so sorry. There there you go. That's better.

I was so pumped. I used to get so excited. I knew what I wanted. I made the list. I gave it to my parents. I was a good boy. I wrote a letter to Santa. I wrote a letter to congress in case they wanted to give me a stimulus package for it. I did whatever it took to get that gift. I could not wait for that. That's why I'm staring at it. That's why I wouldn't look at my mom when she wanted to take the picture. I was right by my dad there ignoring them all, stuck, fixated on that present. Because you know why?

You know when your kid you know, when you get that thing, that changes your life.

You now have everything you wanted. You know how excited you are. You know how mad you are if your parents got the generic one or the wrong thing. And then you went outside and all your friends had the right thing. And you're like, where am I gonna bury their bodies? I am so mad. You know.

You know what that felt like. I was so excited. I could not wait for that thing. That was the greatest thing. That's what I needed in my life more than anything. That was everything. It was such a cool toy. You guys wanna know what it was?

You really do? You wanna know what it was? Raise your hand. You wanna know what it was? You do? So do I.

I don't remember. I mean, that's my sister. She said, are you kidding? I was on the other side of the room going through my presence. Why would I even look at yours? I do not remember what I was so fixated on as ignoring my dad. I wouldn't turn and look. But yet, I needed that. That was gonna make me so happy.

That was gonna complete my life. I don't even remember what it was. And if any of it still exists, it's buried deep in a landfill somewhere. But now at that moment, I needed that present in my life.

Now that I'm this guy's age, different perspective, Looking back at this picture, you know what's everything to me in this picture? The guy holding the socks.

My dad. You and were really close. I know some of you, it's it's hard. You didn't have good parents. One of the blessings I got, this man was the type of man everyone in this room wished they could be. They make movies about guys like this, and he died in 2003.

So when I look at this picture, instead of when I was a kid going, oh, I remember that was so great. Now I look at it, and all I see is no more new stories. No more I don't get to sit that close to this man anymore.

I don't I'm not in his presence. No more throat punches. No more wisdom. No no no more talks. No more bad jokes. I've had to figure out every one of those on my own.

If I could go back in time and climb into my body right there, you know what I'd do? I wouldn't be looking at that. I wouldn't be focusing on that. I would enjoy that because it was a gift from my father, but I wouldn't make that the meaning of my life. You know what I would do? I would be climbing this man's lap, hugging him,

and telling him how much I appreciate him. Because he didn't just buy me that, he bought me that for him. He bought all of this, the tree, the drapes, the house, everything, and even brought me into existence. And yet I'm behind his back, I won't even look at him because I'm so fixated on what I wanted.

You know what? We think just because we grow up, we stop being that way. I think a lot of the fear, frustration, struggles, even the fighting you're having amongst your family, with your coworkers, and you're yelling at the screen, and you're watching social media and listening to it too much stems from the same problem,

that original lie.

You're focusing on what life's presenting versus what you want. The problem is when we do it as adults, it destroys relationships. And a lot of those toys we wanted so bad that once we can't remember what they were, we're still making monthly payments on them. How about you?

If you really want joy and peace, fulfillment and contentment, you can have it. And it doesn't matter if 2021 is just like 2020. Now I pray to God it's not, but you can have the peace despite it. How? This simple. Here's what you do. You're sitting here doing this. You just do this. You turn your head.

You do what those shepherds did. You go look at Jesus. That's it. That's what I wish I did in that picture. All I do is turn my head. There's my dad.

Emmanuel, God is with us. He came here for us. The question is, do you want to be with him? Just turn your head to Jesus. You don't try to impress him to get him to bless you. You embrace him. You embrace his love. You let him forgive you. And you remember that he died for you.

And through that love, you go out into his life and you can worship him. You can praise him, and you will have a peace that surpasses all understanding that only comes through him. That's what Christmas is. Plain and simple.

So, hey, I'm gonna pray right now. And if you already know Jesus, I'm gonna ask you to consider that phrase, what have I been looking at? What have I been focusing on that's present in this life that's made me turn my head from Jesus? And just right now, talk to him. Turn your head back. But some of you in this room,

you've never met Jesus. You've never put your faith in Jesus. You never turn to him to be your savior, to to to be the one that makes you right in this wrong world. And you can turn to him right now and find life, eternal life, right in this moment. I want to pray with you

so we can all close our eyes and if that's you, you're someone that needs to turn to Jesus for the first time and get life. You just need to talk to him. That's what prayer is. I'm going to ask you to just pray with me, but take my words in your own heart, make them a conversation with you and God.

But just pray something like this, Dear Jesus, thank you that you dove into this darkness for me. Thank you that you've lived that perfect life, that you died on the cross for me and you didn't stay dead, but you came back to life beating death so I can have life. So right now, I ask you to forgive me

for I've turned from you and tried to make life work on my own, tried to earn things or try to run,

But I thank you that you died to forgive me. And so right now, in the best way I know how I put my faith in you and you alone, I look to you and you alone. Thank you for being with me. Thank you for calling me to be with you, and thank you for allowing me to have this moment to receive life through you.

Now help me as I finish this prayer to be able to go from here in this moment like those shepherds did two thousand years ago, praising you, glorifying you, trusting you, and help me to walk back to my flocks, back into the darkness of the world out there, changed because I have life in you,

and help me to learn what that means to live that out every day in my life out there. I thank you, and I pray this in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen. If you just prayed with me, welcome to the family. What it means to be a Christian, Christ follower means you now have eternal life.

You now have a peace that can surpass all understanding, and you now have a life that means so much more than just what's going on around you because you have Emmanuel, God with you. And that's what Christmas is all about. Amen.