Ugly Sweater | Week 2 · Rewind

Ugly Sweater | Week 2 · Rewind

Pastor Daniel Goulding · Dec 9, 2018

Big Idea

Christmas was never meant to be just a moment we celebrate once a year, but a mission that sends us to be the light of the world to people who are far from God.

Jesus came for the broken and the far-from-God, and He designed His house to welcome them, not shut them out. Pastor Daniel shows through Jesus clearing the temple that the church can unintentionally put up barriers that keep people from experiencing the good news, and this Christmas season is an opportunity to tear those barriers down and bring people to Jesus.

Key points

1
1Christmas is a mission, not just a moment, and this year's series looks at that mission through the Gospel of John rather than Luke.
Pastor Daniel explains that John's account of Jesus's life doesn't dwell on the birth narrative like Luke does but instead frames Christmas as a catalytic event that sent Jesus, and now us, on mission. He ties this to Bill's message the week before that Christmas was never meant to be about a moment but a mission.
2
2Passover in Jesus's day parallels Christmas today, drawing huge crowds who would not normally be at the temple.
He retells the Exodus background of Passover, the blood over the doorposts, and the plagues, then notes Jerusalem's population swelled from around 200,000-300,000 to as many as three million during Passover. He compares this crowd surge to Gilbert filling up in winter, setting up Passover as the best biblical parallel to the Christmas opportunity churches have today.
3
3Jesus drives out the money changers because the temple system was exploiting and disqualifying people rather than welcoming them.
Pastor Daniel walks through John 2:13-16, explaining how priests began rigging animal inspections so worshippers' own sacrifices were disqualified, forcing them to buy overpriced temple animals and exchange money at terrible rates. He illustrates this with his own story of losing money exchanging pesos in Mexico, showing how the temple system hosed people the same way.
4
4Jesus's anger was aimed at the barriers placed in the Court of the Gentiles, the one place non-Jews were allowed to worship.
Using a diagram of the temple, he shows that the exploitative marketplace was set up in the Court of the Gentiles, the largest section of the temple and the only place outsiders could go. He argues Jesus was upset because the very place designed to show the world that God pursues everyone had become the place where outsiders were told they didn't measure up.
5
5Churches today can unintentionally do the same thing, making people known for what they're against rather than what Jesus is for.
Pastor Daniel wonders aloud what a survey of the community would say Christians are known for, guessing it would be political issues, tattoos, and piercings rather than the good news that salvation is a free gift. He warns that the default posture of the heart, if unchecked, drifts into rebellion or religion, both of which put up walls to people far from God.
6
6The disciples eventually recognized Jesus's zeal for God's house as fulfillment of prophecy, and that same passion should drive us to bring people in.
He points to John 2:17, where the disciples remember the prophecy that passion for God's house will consume Him, drawing from Psalm 69. He applies this to leveraging relationships with neighbors and coworkers to bring them to Jesus, since the church is described as God's plan A with no plan B.

Application

Pastor Daniel's challenge is to see Christmas as a catalytic event that sends us on mission, not just a moment we enjoy for ourselves.

Search your heart for barriers
Ask God to reveal ways you or the church have unintentionally made people feel disqualified or unwelcome before they even hear about Jesus.
Invite someone specific this season
Think through relatives, coworkers, neighbors, and friends and invite them personally to the Christmas light show or Christmas Eve services using the candy cane invite cards.
Lead with what Jesus is for, not against
When talking with people far from God, emphasize that salvation is a free gift for anyone rather than the list of things Christians are known to oppose.
Let this season be missional, not just personal
Enjoy the light show and Christmas services with your family, but remember they exist to reach people who are hurting and far from God, not just for your own enjoyment.

Take it into your week

Sign in to ask Rewind about this sermon

7-day devotional

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

Sign in to track your progress through this devotional.

Day 1

It was almost time for the Jewish Passover celebration, so Jesus went to Jerusalem. That single detail — 'it was almost time' — is easy to skip over, but Pastor Daniel stopped there for a reason. Passover wasn't just a calendar date; it was the moment when the whole known world poured into Jerusalem. People who lived far from the temple, people who had grown distant from God, people who were spiritually restless — they all showed up at the same place at the same time. Jesus knew that. He didn't retreat from the crowd. He walked straight into it. Christmas is our Passover. The people in your life who rarely think about God, who carry quiet doubts, who are maybe just lonely this time of year — they're showing up too, in their own way. They're at your family table. They're in the next cubicle. They're your neighbor stringing lights in the cold. The season itself is already moving them toward something. The question Pastor Daniel's sermon leaves with us is simple: are we paying attention to what God may already be doing in the people around us? Advent isn't just a countdown to gifts. It's a window — and windows don't stay open forever.

For reflection

Who in your life right now seems to be in a season of searching, and what might it look like to simply be present with them this Christmas?

Pray

Pray for eyes to notice the people around you who are quietly searching this season.

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

Think about a time you walked into a room and immediately felt like you belonged — or didn't. This message explores what it looks like for the church to be a place where the people furthest from God feel the most welcomed in.

Discussion questions

1
In John 2:14-16, Jesus clears the Court of the Gentiles — the one section of the temple set aside for outsiders to seek God. What does it tell us about Jesus that this is the space He defends?
2
Pastor Daniel pointed out that the money changers weren't doing something inherently wrong — the problem was where they were doing it. What kinds of things, even good or neutral things, might a church do that unintentionally crowd out space for people who are still finding their way to God?
3
The temple's largest court was designed for the nations — people who were not yet insiders. What does that architectural choice suggest about what God has always wanted His people to be known for?
4
In John 2:17, the disciples respond to what Jesus does by remembering the line from Psalm 69: 'Passion for Your house will consume me.' Pastor Daniel held that up as the posture followers of Jesus should carry. How would you describe the difference between a passion that preserves insiders and a passion that reaches outsiders?
5
Pastor Daniel drew a parallel between Passover and Christmas — both are seasons when people who are spiritually searching draw near. What makes this particular season an opportunity that the rest of the year doesn't naturally provide?
6
Pastor Daniel challenged us to think about the specific neighbors, coworkers, relatives, and friends in our lives who need to hear that nothing disqualifies them from the grace of Jesus — and to take a real next step this Christmas. As a group, what are some practical, low-pressure ways we might actually do that with the people already around us?

Pray together

Ask God to give us eyes to see the people around us the way He sees them — and the courage to make room for them this season the way Jesus made room in the temple.

Sign in to save this message.

Topics

Christmas Outreach Grace Without Qualification Hospitality and Welcome Reaching the Unchurched Removing Barriers to Faith

Powered by Rewind · make your church's Rewind →