Key points
12020 exposed the lie that we ever had control
Pastor Bill uses the disastrous, bald-spotted Rockefeller Plaza Christmas tree as a picture of the year, and shares his own embarrassing story of getting sick on stage mid-sermon despite trying to do the right thing. He argues the year revealed we believed a lie that we have control, and when that control is stripped away, we panic.
2The first Christmas was full of powerless, poor people
He points out that Mary was a peasant woman and the shepherds were distrusted outcasts living under Roman domination with no power or say. Yet it was into that very powerlessness that something — not their circumstances — changed everything.
3Emmanuel means God walks with us, not just watches over us
Pastor Bill contrasts a distant, Santa-Claus-like god who merely tracks naughty and nice with the true meaning of Emmanuel: God dove into the darkness and joined humanity rather than staying at a distance. This, he says, is what the Jews had been waiting for in the Old Testament prophecies.
doesn't just watch over us, he walks with us. He doesn't just stay at a distance, he dove into the darkness. He
instead of focusing on what life presents, focus on the presence of the one who gives us life
4Focus on the presence of the One who gives life, not on what life presents
He walks through Luke 2 and the shepherds' story, noting that after the angels appeared and the shepherds saw the baby in the manger, nothing about their actual circumstances changed — they went right back to the dark fields. The only difference was that they now went back praising and glorifying God, because they had seen Jesus.
5Jesus doesn't lift us out of deep water, He dives in with us
Using Isaiah 43:2, Pastor Bill explains that the promise isn't rescue from the deep water but companionship in it — Jesus joins us in the mess rather than removing us from it. He ties this to the gospel: Jesus was born at Christmas but came for Easter, dying to correct the lie that fulfillment comes from what life gives us.
It's not about where you are, it's about who you're with
Jesus was born on Christmas but he came for Easter
Illustration
A baby owl named Rockefeller was found alive in the battered 2020 Rockefeller Plaza Christmas tree after surviving its transport, nursed back to health, and released — used to illustrate how God brings life out of difficult circumstances
A story from life
A childhood Christmas photo of the preacher fixated on a toy while his now-deceased father stood nearby holding socks, used to illustrate choosing presence over presents
6Chasing what life presents, even good gifts, leaves you frustrated and afraid
He tells the story of the baby owl found stuck in the battered Rockefeller tree, saved only because of the tree's brokenness, and then a personal story of a childhood Christmas photo where he ignored his father to stare at a gift he can no longer even remember. Looking back now, with his father having died in 2003, he says what mattered was never the gift but the presence of the one who gave it.
Application
Just turn your head to Jesus.
Stop focusing on what life presents
Whether this year has been good or bad for you, stop looking for your fulfillment, identity, and contentment in your circumstances — that's not where they're found.
Turn your head to Jesus
Like the shepherds who went back to the same dark fields but now praising God, simply look to Jesus in the middle of your unchanged circumstances instead of chasing what you want from life.
Ask what you've been fixated on instead of Him
If you already know Jesus, consider honestly what present-life thing has made you turn your head away from Him, and turn back.
Put your faith in Jesus for the first time
If you've never trusted Jesus as Savior, pray now to turn to Him, receive His forgiveness, and find eternal life in this moment.
Take it into your week
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
