Go Tell It | Week 1 | Sermon

I don't know if any of you were like me, but when I was a kid, did Christmas ever confuse you? I I I don't know. Now now when I was a kid, it confused me. But, really, it didn't actually confuse me up front. It's my mom that made it confusing for me. See,

I understood how Christmas worked. I understood the contractual relationship way I had with Santa. I understood as long as I was nice and not naughty, and I did good things, I had earned the gifts. And that was great. I unlike my sister who deserved coal every year, I actually would do it, and then I would get really excited about my list of what I wanted for Christmas. And I started going, I wanna Stretch Armstrong.

I want the Death Star. I want the BB the the the the Rough Rider BB gun. I want and and and and she would get mad when I get this mode that I'm acting all this entitled kid that all I care about is toys.

And so she'd get so frustrated that since she grew up in church, and my dad too is but we weren't really going to church at this point, she would randomly just start throwing some of the spiritual stuff in there with it with no context.

So I'm sitting there going up, but I want this and this. She's like, hey. You know what? It's not just about you. And I go, no. Yeah. It is. It's be good. Get presents. That's the whole that's the deal. This is and she goes, no. It's also Jesus' birthday. And I'm like, who is Jesus? I've never been to his birthday party. Are you telling me I have to take a present? What's going on? And who is he? She goes, it's the son of God. And he came and that's what Christmas is actually, his birthday. He was born in a manger. Now I'm confused. I'm like, a manger? I don't get it. What's going on? Who's this Jesus guy? How does he fit into the system? Does does Jesus work for Santa?

Does Santa work for Jesus? Who's the real guy with the power? Because that's the one I need to talk to. And and and and I would get so I would get so frustrated trying to figure it all I looked like this guy from this TV show here on this picture here. Bam. This guy. There you go.

The red strings of the where does how does it all work? How does it all fit? Well, now that seems weird because I'm gonna dawl down, and you Christmas shouldn't be confusing. Some of you are like, yeah. Still confusing. But but some of us, I think we still get into confusion because some of us

struggle in a world where we still actually are trying to experience Christmas as a Christian, but we're stuck in the ways of the world of how they look at it. In other words, the world's way of celebrating Christmas is disconnected from the cross. It's I'll celebrate Christmas with no understanding or belief in Jesus.

Well, we come to church, so we think we've gotta figure it out. And we can say it, but is it kind of this disjointed connection, and we miss out on the joy we've missed out on that joy of what's supposed to happen? I mean, something's going wrong because Christmas,

which is this time that's supposed to be so joy filled, you have all those Hallmark movies. They always end well. You know, there's always the joy. There's always the good thing. There's the Charlie Brown Christmas. There's Rudolph the red nosed reindeer, two things you can count on every year, claymation and cartoons.

And and you look for all this, and yet Christmas is still the number one from from about last week until the first of the year is the highest season of depression and suicide, and that is amongst Christians as well. Why? Because I think we're confused about Christmas and what it really means.

Because here, it's supposed to be a time of joy. But what if you're not feeling joy? What if your life, what you're experiencing right now, doesn't produce any joy? What am I supposed to do? And that's what I wanna talk about. I I the big idea I wanna talk about today is simply this. The joy of the manger

is found in the gift on the cross. In other words, I joke about being Christers, Christmas and Easter only people. Today, we need to think as a Christer. Come to church more often, but we need to understand that Christmas and Easter are the same story.

They're two sides of the same coin, and the only way we can truly experience the joy in Christmas and the rest of the days of the year is by connecting it back to the cross,

that it is the full story that matters, that we need to understand that. We need to be a part of that, and that's where we'll find the joy in the manger. So how are we gonna look at that? Because I what I wanna do is I wanna do something odd and different. We've been in the book of Matthew forever. We're in the last chapter of Matthew. That's why within this next two weeks, and then it's Christmas, by the way, It's go tell it because we're looking at the two parts of Matthew 28,

and they both say go tell, go tell. And and and and what that's about is this first part is the resurrection story. So I'm gonna do Easter at Christmas,

just like breakfast for dinner, which is amazing. So I think this will be the same thing. Easter for Christmas will be the same as breakfast for dinner because they're the same story. And and so what we're gonna do is we're gonna look at the story of the resurrection,

but then I'm gonna jump back and read part of the Christmas story, the part where right after Jesus is born, an angel and then a then it turns into a whole Broadway show shows up with these shepherds.

And what we're gonna see is they're the same story. Matter of fact, the plot line is the same. As I read both, notice the same kind of things tick off the list. The same things happen. Angel shows up. People are scared. You know? They get told to go do something. They go tell.

And then I wanna draw out of this three things we can do. Three things we can embrace. Three things that we can understand. That means if I am going to experience that joy at Christmas season despite what I'm going through. If I grab a hold of this, I won't be confused about Christmas anymore.

And so here we go. So in Matthew 28, starts off, Jesus has died on the cross, been buried. Third day comes. It's Sunday morning. And it says in verse one, early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb. Suddenly, there was a great earthquake

for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it. His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint. Then the angel spoke to the women. Don't be afraid, he said. I know you were looking for Jesus.

He was crucified. He isn't here. He is risen from the dead just as he said it would happen. Come see where his body was lying, and now go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead. Go and tell. And he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I've told you.

The women ran quickly from the tomb. They were very frightened, but also filled with great joy, And they rushed to give the disciples the angel's message. And as they went, Jesus met them and greeted them.

And they ran to him. They grasped his feet, and they worshiped him. Then they Jesus said to him, don't be afraid. Go tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there. Jesus resurrected, and angel's there, terrifies them. Don't be afraid. They go. Do what he says. On the way, they see Jesus. They're overjoyed,

and then they go. That's the story. Powerful. But now let's turn to Luke chapter two. And Jesus has been born, and starting in verse eight, there's these shepherds sitting out in a field at night watching their sheep, and something amazing happens. It says,

that night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them. They were terrified.

I don't know what angels really look like, but they must be some beefed up CrossFit dude, Navy Seal looking guys with swords or something. But whatever. Or they just have horrible warts on their forehead or something that scares people. I don't know. But they they're scary.

And and it says, 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, and you will recognize him by this sign. You'll find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth lying in a manger. Suddenly,

the angel was joined by a vast host of others. The armies of heaven praising God. The armies of it implies, like, this might be everyone.

It might have been, here we go, guys. Here's our big number. It's all of us. Let's go. So now these these shepherds not only get one angel. This is the difference in the story. Resurrection, Mary, the Marys get one. They get this angel, then he goes, hit it, boys, and bam.

The vast armies and hosts. Who knows? This could have been a million angels. Could have been more. Says glory to God in the highest, of heaven and peace on earth to those whom God has pleased. When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, let's go to Bethlehem.

Let's see this thing that has happened which the Lord has told us about. They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph, and there was the baby lying in the manger after seeing him. The shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said in the about child. This is interesting.

The Marys had to get told twice, go tell. The only difference here is we'll talk about in a few minutes when we bury digging this. The shepherds didn't have to get told to go tell. They just do it. Wonder why. Dun dun dun. After this commercial break, you'll find out.

All who heard the shepherd's story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.

Same plot line. Same story. Matter of fact, it's interesting. If you look at a couple of these words, what did the angel say to them at first? Said the savior. Yes. The messiah, the lord. Savior, messiah.

Those are Easter words, aren't they? It's funny how we in culture have separated and almost made these two different things. It's the same story. That's why they're singing and why these shepherds were so excited to see a snuggle baby. Because you had to understand what was going on.

You see, if you accepted if you were expecting the Lord to be the Messiah that just brings you what you want right now, the toy you want. You wanted I want our government to be better like they did. They didn't want Rome anymore.

I want I want our economy to be better. I want this problem to go away. I don't wanna be this way. I don't wanna be that way. If you thought it was more like this contractual thing, I've been good. Now God's gonna send me

this messiah that's gonna do all that. You would look at a baby in a manger and not go tell everybody and be excited about it. You'd be like, what's a baby gonna do? And and and and and let's see what that means. Hold on.

So same story, same thing. But it came back to you have to view Christmas through the lens of the cross. It's one story. Two sides of the same coin. And in order to experience the joy of manger, we have to embrace this. And there's three things. Like I said, these aren't hugely deep concepts, but they are deep when you really think about them. And the first one is we have to accept the gift.

You have to accept that gift that's on the cross that comes through that resurrection. That gift is Jesus. And the gift he brings is grace. He brings redemption. He brings forgiveness. He brings love. He brings atonement. In other words, why did these shepherds both get it and rejoice when they saw a baby?

Why did the what the why did they not get have to be told to go tell people? What was different about these shepherds? What was going on? And what was different about Jesus to accept the gift? Jesus was the lamb that was born to die.

If you understood this, you need to know. Matter of fact, John one twenty nine says it this way. How to experience the next day, John saw Jesus coming towards him and said, look,

The lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. See, John was there to prepare the will of Lord. He goes, he's the lamb of the God. He's the lamb of God. He takes away the sin. He understood who Jesus was so that these shepherds accepted this gift quickly. Why?

First of all, why did God choose to send them an entire choir of angel when they're just these shepherds out in the fields at night? Why them? What you gotta understand and and why did they understand?

Them being able to understand is probably why he sent this choir to begin with. You see, I've been to this spot. I've stood in these hills where they would have watched over these sheep. It's right in between. Bethlehem, by today's standard, is not that far. It's just a few miles.

And and and and so these hills where they were, the shepherds that were there, you know what flock they were watching? They were the lambs that were gonna be used to be sacrifices at the temple. That was their job.

That's these particular shepherds. So they spent their life. Their career was watching over the sacrificial lambs. Just like John said, Jesus is the lamb that was born to die. You see, in their system, the Old Testament, they got off. They they got the Santa theology into them versus what God really intended.

The sacrificial system in the temple was never to be this legalistic thing. I go do this. Now I'm a good boy or girl, and now God owes me that.

It was meant to point them to their need for the savior. The law everything was to point them to the need of savior. The whole idea of a sacrificial lamb was a symbolic thing to give them the understanding of what was gonna come. It was their ability to look

forward to what we look back at. Like, now we take communion. We talk about the death and the sacrifice of Jesus and look back. They had the sacrificial system to believe in God's grace and look forward to it. It was always about grace, but most people misunderstood it.

And these shepherds would have understood that system and not be confused by a baby because they understood the lamb had to be perfect. It had to be unblemished. It had to be not of any injuries, not any disease or sickness. In other words, it symbolized purity.

And so that's why a a lamb you had to sacrifice and offer had to be one of those. And so they raise these ones and find the ones that were, and they would go get sacrificed. They understood the system. They understood that there was this lamb that takes the place of our sin.

What God was trying to teach us is the depth of what sin is.

Sin is not making mistakes. God is righteous, holy, and just, and the only way you can earn his presence he can't just say don't worry about it because I'm cool. He will judge sin. He will judge rebellion, and he is perfect and holy and righteous and just. Justice will happen. Amen. So here's the problem.

Every one of us is a sinner. Every one of us is a blemished lamb. We can't die for our own sin because we're gonna die in our sin.

But you know what? Just like our current justice system, if someone gets committed of a crime, they they've done it, they have this huge penalty or whatever, someone can choose to say, I will take that for from them. I'll pay the debt. And

that's the only thing that happened because that is just that God says, okay. So the lamb represented this innocent blood is spilt to save you.

The shepherds that raised these lambs understood that. I think they understood who Jesus was there to be and what he was gonna do way before the disciples ever figured that out. They still weren't figuring it out right to the end.

I think they had no problem seeing a baby, and why they didn't have to get told to tell is, like, it's finally happening. When they saw that baby, they saw a lamb. They saw God who chose to be a baby to die for their sin. That's what we need to accept.

But you know what? We can say we believe that when we come to church, but do we really? Or do we subtly get that other philosophy? The one that most of Israel did that they turned it into a system. I do the system. I get the reward.

It's Santa theology all over again. See, look at this picture of of Santa here I got. Santa works one day a year and spends the rest of the time judging you. I mean, sing the songs. They're kinda dark. You better watch out. I mean, that sounds like a threat. Is Santa some kinda a mobster? Is he the godfather? You know,

you better watch out

because I got a list, and I check it twice. I know if you've been naughty or nice, so you better watch out because I'm coming to town. Jeez. You could turn the story of Santa into a godfather movie.

And here's the problem. It because it is. This is contrast like, think about it. I'll come and bring gifts, but you better watch out because the rest of the year, I'm evaluating and judging you. But if you're good, you get what you want. If you're bad, you don't. Well, here's the problem. That system,

they've even had movies about, like, someone's been good, and they feel like Santa failed them. Isn't that now apply that to your faith. The problem with that system is if you don't get what you wanted, you either feel totally defeated, like, I can't be good enough. There's something wrong with me.

Or if you think you've been good and you're arrogant enough to think you got it right, then there's something wrong with Santa.

Well, let's take Santa out it and talk about, do you come to church? And you've been a good boy. You you come, you're trying to be faithful, and life is still hard.

And then you hear me say, hey. Here's what God wants us to do. Get involved. Jump in. Serve. Give. You're like, oh, must be nice. I've tried that, and it didn't get easier. God did not come through and give me the blessing when I did what he wanted. You're in one or two places. You're either mad at God.

By extension, you get mad when I say, here's what God's asked us to do Because you're thinking like Santa. It's Jesus Claus is your savior. And you said, I was good boy, you gave me coal. So there's either you hate me or I should hate you. We do this all. That's why it's called legalism, self righteousness.

Self righteousness isn't always that you think you got it right. It's just you think it's on yourself to be righteous. The problem is that leads to arrogance or hopelessness. Because you either think you are pretty righteous, and then that makes you arrogant. And then you look down on people who are worse sinners than you,

and you don't ever point them to Jesus. You point Jesus at them because you think you're better, or you feel hopeless. It doesn't work. And I think that's where we get confused about Christmas.

And then when you hear a message saying, trust God with this. Trust well, what about this? Because we have this idea that it's a contractual thing, that if I do what God wants, I show him the love,

then he will give me the love I want back. And usually when we say love, we mean blessing. We what usually when we say blessing is I wanna stretch Armstrong. I want a tie fighter that's Darth Vader's.

I want you're basically saying, I want a better job. I want a spouse. I want them to love me. I want my kids to act this way. I wanna buy this. I wanna get this. I wanna do that. I wanna feel this way. I wanna experience that. That's what you think blessing is. And God never promised that.

He promised us a joy in life that we could go right back through the dark things. Like, think about it. What did these shepherds do right after they experienced Jesus and started telling everybody? They went right back out in those fields and spent the rest of their lives doing the same job. The joy didn't come

from the circumstance. The joy came into their circumstance. That's really what it means to accept and and and and trust the Lord and accept that gift is to just instead of I'm gonna do the work to get the rest from God, I need to rest in the completed work of the Lord. The Christer story. And then that helps you relax.

See, then now I can live from his love, not for it. I can honor him. I'll trust him. I'll trust him. He's because I I I get it. I have the joy. I understand what it because you know why? You rest in his work instead of trying to do it for your own thing and getting confused about the Santa theology of all this and have real theology of really understanding who he is, and then you relax. In the great words of that theologian football

player, Aaron Rogers, when he was a good quarterback, he said in the midst of a bad start to a season, he just said, relax. What he meant is it's not good now, but we're a good team. So if it's not good now, in the end, it'll be good. So if it's not good, it ain't the end.

And if it's not good for you now, you trust God. In the end, it will be. But that comes

from accepting the gift. That's what truly being a Christian is. It's it's not about what you do. It's about what Jesus did, and let that unlock everything. And guess what? A lot of people say every religion leads to the same place. That's only true of this every other religion other than orthodox

biblical Christianity, the way I just described the real Christmas Easter story, what the Bible says of who Jesus is, that is the only one that is different than every religion. You don't believe me? Go chat GPT at AI won't lie. It'll

search all of the World Wide Web. I did this. I've done a guy nice, and I was really prudent. Is there any religion? Well, there's kind of this. I go, no. No. No. That's saints. I go, is there any other religion that's ever existed in man that teaches this,

that that comes from this point of view? And I just put in, you are saved and made right with God by grace alone through what Jesus did by in faith alone, and that is it. And then everything else is you follow-up and you trust him with your life and you live from it. And when I put in all those parameters, it says, nope.

Christianity and that story is the only faith that has ever existed since human beings have had faith that tells that story. Every other one is lying and taking you down to Santa. Why do you think Santa's the way he is? Our natural tendency is there's a God, and I there's someone with something I want,

power that's better than me and has control. I appease them, and now they owe me something. That will fail you every time.

And if you happen to be lucky and God's blessed because he says he makes it rain and shine on the wicked and the righteous alike, you might be using that system, and you're doing well. And you are so cocky that you think it's because God loves you more and you're better.

And you might be the furthest away of God of the person in this room. And some of y'all might be faithful to God and you love him desperately, and you are faithful to him and you know he's true, and you are going through the deepest, darkest valley of your life.

And you're holding on because you're listening to that wrong teaching that's making you wanna doubt and say, maybe God's not real or maybe he hates me. That's not true. I mean, think about it. The most popular passage in all of scripture that people love, Psalms 23,

and we love it. We faint. It's so encouraging. We love it, but you don't actually listen to what it says. It says, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. We like that part. I shall not want. Because we think what that means is anything I want, he'll take care of. No. He's calling us sheep. You realize sheep are stupid.

Sheep are clueless. Sheep don't really know. Sheep will take the way that leads to death 99%

of the time. They wander away. That's why you gotta keep an eye on them. They will want you're taking them to food. You're taking them to this, and they're gonna walk over there and walk right off of a cliff. That happens all the time with sheep. They will walk right over towards where the animals will devour them. They don't know it. They think this seems good. This is where I'm gonna what God, when he calls his sheep, is saying, don't be stupid.

And that's why you have me as a shepherd. You shall not want, meaning I will take you to where you need. Because he even says it. He doesn't say, and I'll give you everything you want. He says, he maketh me. That's what I love about that's one passage that's so good in the King James. Because maketh sounds a lot better than he he takes me to. It says, he maketh me lie down. You know what that means? When you take a sheep, they will, like you have to get them and make them rest. You they get skittish on everything. They have to you have to take them to where the food is because they'll just sit there and stay in the same spot, eat all the grass, and be like

and either die or wander over a cliff. He forces them to go where it's good. He says, he lakes me lie in green pastures beside still waters. You know what that means to you know why he has to make take you to still waters? Sheep are so freaked out, they will not drink out of any water that's moving and makes noise.

That's scary water. Guess what? The water of life that flows through the God challenges to be a part of is loud, and that's why many of you won't step into it. You're afraid of this loud, scary water, but that's where life is found. He maketh me.

And then it says the part that we gloss over. We think it's awesome, but we don't think about what it really says. Even though I think you guys know this verse. I walk through the valley of the shadow of I will fear no Fear no. For thou art That's what I'm saying.

That's the difference between Santa theology and what what Jesus really says. He didn't say, I will take you around the valley of the shadow of death.

He actually guarantees you're going through it, and he's ultimately saying there will come a shadow of death that is real, and some of you are facing it. We're all facing it. We just don't know when. Literal death. The difference

in the joy of the manger seen by accepting the gift on the cross is that he promises to hold your hand and walk you through it. That's the difference. And so if you can't find joy in the valley, it's because you ain't holding Jesus' hand. And you have this idea that said, if Jesus really loved me, I wouldn't be here.

That's a lie. Santa must be up there. You can take me out because I called him the godfather. So we need to accept the gift,

and I think some of us have never done that. You can go to church your whole life and have Santa theology. That's the biggest thing the New Testament talks about. Paul talks more about legalism and getting stuck on I did the rule, now God owes me something, and thinking you're right. Or thinking

God hates me now because it's not working. So what I wanna do is do something weird. I did Easter at Christmas, and now I'm gonna do a thing where I'm gonna invite some people to put their faith in Christ now. And point one,

rather than having the nice song at the end and landing with that heartfelt story, because I think the Holy Spirit's good. Hundreds of people have already done this this weekend. And

and and and what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna pray. I'm gonna have us bow our heads, close our eyes, and I'm gonna invite some of you to pray with me. And some of you are thinking, you know what? I've never done that. And what does it mean to accept the gift? It means that you're honest with God, and you do two things. You confess that you're a sinner,

and sinner's not a mistaker. It means I am far away. It means I take my own route. That's all it means. You can even be trying to do the right thing in the wrong way in a sin. That

word sin comes from the King James version of the bible, and we just kept that English word because it's really a translation from a Greek word that's Hamarsha. So, like, Hamarsha, Hamarsha, Hamarsha. That's always the problem. Oh, gosh. Finally, people that watch Brady Bunch. That's why I love this service.

And and and all it means, why they translate in the English word sin, sin is an archery term. So as you know, back in the sixteen hundreds that archery is a big deal. And and then if you shot and you missed the bull's eye, you sinned. And so to sin means

I'm not gonna trust God. I'm gonna make it work myself. I'm gonna go my own way. And we all are sinners, which separates us from a righteous holy God. And Jesus came because he's the answer. God himself says, I will take the penalty. I will take the justice to be consistent with myself to love you.

And so what I gotta do when I accept the gift is I need to confess that I'm a sinner. Because here's the deal. If you don't think you have to confess that much sin, you're self righteous, and the grace of God doesn't mean that much to you. It's more like, hey. Thanks for the solid, Jesus. I'll catch you next time. It's more like you think it's more like, well, I forgot my wallet, and he bought lunch this time. It

means I have to own that I am far from God.

But Jesus was born to die for me. And you can profess that it's him. Death, burial, and resurrection is what saves me. So let's pray.

Let's close our eyes. And if you've heard this and you think I've never done that and you just wanna confess and profess for the first time and invite him in and experience this eternal life and this gift from the cross. And maybe this would be the greatest Christmas gift you've ever gotten right now.

I'm just gonna ask you to do one thing as we pray. Just hold your hands up. Or hand. Not hold. I'm not robbing you. Just just put a hand up. I see those hands. Just hold them up nice and high. Imagine your head. You're reaching up like you're in the valley, and Jesus has taken your hand.

There you go. Man, there are hands all over the place. Well, pray with me, but make it your own words as as as as as we pray here with that hand held up. And just pray something like this. Thank you, God.

Lord, I admit and confess right now that I have not gone your way. I've I've even tried to do the right thing in my own way. And right now, in the best way I know how, I wanna turn from that and turn to you. And I put my faith

in you, that you came, you were born into this world, you walked through this world with one goal, to go to the cross, to take my sin, to die for it, but then to beat death by coming back to life to show me the way to be able to take my hand through the valley of death and bring me to eternal life. Thank you for that.

And help me from this moment to learn what it means to live for from that love, not for it. Help me to understand how to apply that and have the joy in my life even when there's not much light that I see in my life.

I thank you, and I pray this in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen. Hey, how about that? There was probably over a 100 hands in this room just now. And you know why? Because I'm a professional, so I am that good at this. No. It's the Holy Spirit. It's God. See, God found you. All you had to do was surrender.

And that's what's awesome. The Holy Spirit still really still does his job, and Christmas still has meaning, and it's all in light of the cross.

So hey. Now what do we do? The reason I took the most time on this is because the next two is like, hey. You just raise your hand. Welcome to the family. Welcome to real holy real life and what it means. But now what are supposed to do with that? These next two points are the best way to start. And and and it's also a good way for all of us to come back to this.

Remember your gift. And the first thing you do after that is live in the resurrection hope. Meaning, live use the gift.

Use the understanding of how you are made right with God. And he sees you as loved and holy. And, yeah, we still struggle with sin. We still forget. We still mistake, but we just turn back to him. We can live out that hope. And that hope, like I already said, it's found in the valleys. You it's a it's a it's a hope you can have even in the dark moment because it transcends what you're going through now. That's better than a God who just gives you the things you want in the moment. He's gonna give you what you need. He's gonna maketh you, and he's also gonna taketh you. I've made up my own, King James of kind of words there.

But I have to live in that. How do I live in that? Like I said, you you just gotta understand that Christmas celebrates the beginning of the mission of what Jesus came to do. Easter declares it's finished. When Jesus hung on the cross and said, it is finished, what do you think he was talking about?

The casserole he had in the oven? No. It's finished, and I'm stuck up here. He was saying, Christmas is finished.

What he was born to do, finished. Our separation from God through our sin is finished

once we accept that gift. But now you gotta use it. See, sometimes we accept it. I believe it, but we don't live in that hope. And the first time things are going bad, we start doubting again. You know what that's like? That's like the gifts you get from people that you put in a closet and don't use.

Or worse, you get those gift cards for a restaurant you don't even like. You're like, that's aunt Betty's

birthday next week. Now I'm gonna look like a cool guy giving her this biscuit, and I understood her favorite place because you know it's her favorite place. And now you try to look cool. You pass it on as how great you are. But the reality is just live in that hope. Like these like I said, the shepherds did.

Nothing changed about their life other than the fact that they knew that this story of God coming to die and rescue them is real, and it's happening. They were looking forward to that moment. We get to look back on it. We've seen the whole thing. So live in it. Choose that joy.

In other words, I love this this what you gotta understand is this quote from Max Lucado is awesome. It says this, the cradle without the cross is just a story. The cross without the resurrection is just a tragedy. Let's not live like Christmas is just a story,

and let's not live like Jesus dying on the cross didn't do anything.

We can believe in Jesus, but still live like atheists, and that's where we lose the hope. The hope is not found in making your life going your way. It's found in resting in the love of God. That means Jesus live as if Jesus is the answer. Because as far as I can tell, he is the only answer.

Matter of fact, people go, how do you think of what to preach on? I go, well, there's lots of stories in the Bible, but there's only one thing I gotta preach on. I go, Jesus. It's easy to be a pastor. Hey, pastor. What's the answer? Jesus. But I had nope. Nope.

I mean, I get it. I'm not saying you some of us don't need counseling. Some of us don't need to go to recovery. Some of us, you know, we need community. God uses people in our lives. There's pathways he wants to take us to help us get through that brokenness. But you know why we needed the recovery and the counseling and all that? Because we didn't have Jesus.

So the way you avoid it and the way you get to true healing is Jesus. You need his love, you need his grace, and you need to live in that reality. Live your life that you believe in. Jesus is the answer. Say it. Jesus is the answer. Jesus. Alright. Knock knock. Jesus. There you go. Jesus is the answer.

And we have to remember that and know that he's the hope and live it. And when we embrace that and understand it and you know that what a wretch we were in sin and brokenness,

even though I hadn't go murder anyone, but you know what? We've murdered them in our hearts a million times. We've done so many things. And to just own that makes you see the incredible grace. God's grace in light of if you know how far we are from his perfect holiness and how often we avoid his love and run away from his plan, when you really get it, you're gonna not get it because you're gonna be like, I can't fathom if you can fathom God's grace for you, then you don't even know how far you from God you are.

When you start to understand, that's that's that that's that weird twist of things with being a Christian. The longer I've been to grips, the more the more guilty I feel when I get up to preach, the more struggle I feel. But that's not a bad thing. It just reminds me of I go, wow. I cannot believe God's grace is so

big. I'm never gonna understand it. It's beyond our comprehension, and that's awesome. So we should do the last thing is go tell it joyfully. That's what everyone in the story did.

And you know what? The cool thing is the shepherds didn't even have to be told to do that because I think they understood it the more. The more you understand, the more you understand how far from you got and what Jesus actually did, the more joy you're gonna have.

The more if you go after the joy only comes when God solves my problem or puts me in a better scenario, you are never gonna experience the joy of the Lord. But once you've learned to experience it in the worst moments,

you're never gonna worry about the worst moments ever again. They're uncomfortable. You don't prefer them. You don't wanna look for them. You would you wouldn't mind if they would end. All that's true. But the joy will always be there, And that's the true gift. That's what it's all about. And we now to get away from Santa theology and back to sound theology

of who God really is. Go tell it joyfully. One of the ways you could do, invite someone to Christmas Eve service. Because you know what I'm gonna do at Christmas Eve? I'm simply gonna take this verse right here

of when he says that the the angel said they're terrified. He said, I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. That one line is my Christmas Eve message. I'm gonna tell a story.

I'm gonna tell that, and I'm gonna do exactly what I just did. I'm gonna invite people to put their faith in Christ. And guess what? You're afraid to bring your friend. You bet. You know what? It's not you. It's not me. It's not even the surrounding. We use the Christmas lights just to get people to be not afraid to just come with you. It gives you an easy excuse to invite them. But you know what's really gonna get them? The Holy Spirit is gonna do something.

And that's all we gotta do is go tell it. Just go bring them.

You right now can pray. Who in your life needs to know Jesus because you know the answer is Jesus? Quit being intimidated by their fear of Jesus and go tell it joyfully. I get it. It's hard. We can be intimidated. We can be bothered by it. And sometimes we just don't wanna tell it joyfully. I get it. We wanna point Jesus at people instead of point them to Jesus.

I do it. I've done it. Matter of fact, the time I've done it the most is when I'm traveling,

and I and I have to do it. Like, when I go to Africa, I have all these flights. I just don't like it. I like being places. I don't like getting there. And so when I when I get so tired on these flights that have been delayed, I finally get on a plane, it's the only time I'm done peopling. I don't need to talk anymore.

I actually wanna David Putty it from Seinfeld and just stare at the back of the seat. And and then the irony of ironies, God sits somebody next to me. That's like me, and they wanna talk to me.

And I'll be like, hey. That's I joke around a little bit, and then I do what I've seen other people do and ignored. And now I understand what they're doing. I've turned and go, great. That's And then I start trying to read something or do something or even kinda turn where I'm not even looking at them, and they keep talking to me. And I'm like, wow. This is what it's like to know me sometimes?

Now I understand my wife's frustration better, especially when she's trying to go to sleep. And you know what sometimes I'll do? I go, that's it. I know it'll make him shut up.

I turn and got and I work away as yeah. You know what? That's true because, you know, I'm a pastor and blah blah blah. And I start telling him about Jesus because it's joyful because I love him. No. That's a defensive aggressive strategy to get them to shut up.

Because nine times out of 10, people don't want it. If you say they're a pastor, you they they shut up. If you start talking about Jesus, they'll look away. And I'm like, great. I used their aversion to love of Christ to leave me alone. The gospel isn't the shield to protect your me time,

but I am willing to admit I have done that on many occasion. And here's the ironic punch in the throat twist. God has used me anyways. There has been multiple times that I had oh, great. I talked back to them, and now I have to pray with them and lead them to eternal life in Jesus Christ. And that has happened.

I pray with the person like, man, I just did this because I want them to shut up. Now they're going to heaven. I hope they don't sit next to me in heaven all have eternity.

God will use anybody. You don't have to be just do it. And and I don't even know why I told that story, but anyways, you got it. I told it joyfully. What I'm trying to say here, bottom line, is this. I love Charles Spurgeon says this. The first carol was sung by angels, and the last will be sung in heaven,

celebrating the lamb. It's Christer. It's all the same story. And this story can be boiled down. That gift on the cross that helps us bring the joy to the manger and the joy to our life every day can be summed up in one word,

grace. Grace.

There's a pastor from the seventeen hundreds who said this. You might have heard it before. He said he said, well, the whole quote is my memory is fading because it was when he's older. He says, but these two things I remember. I am a great sinner, and Christ is a greater savior. The guy was John Newton, pastor.

Who John Newton was, you know, he he he he died when he was 82 years old. He and he had been a pastor for many years, but he didn't start off that way. He grew up going to church like over in England, just like you would back in the seventeen hundreds, but he didn't really believe he walked away. He would he probably celebrated

Christmas not caring about the cross, but he loved the sea. He became a sailor, went off to sea, and he ended up rising through ranks and he ended up being a captain of a ship. And he he actually was very successful because the type of captain he was made him a lot of money. He was the captain of a slave ship,

which means he spent his career as his captain taking people from Africa, cramming them in like cargo in the most inhumane conditions. And they crammed so many in. They treated them terrible. And they figured if we cram this many in, we hope this many will survive. That's how they did the mathematics of it. And he

transported humans to be enslaved as if they're cargo, and he didn't think anything of it. He got to love the sea, and he got paid well. Until one night, they were out at sea, and a storm came so bad that he was convinced they're gonna die.

Now that's gotta be a bad storm. If you're a captain that sailed DCs hundreds and hundreds of times, it's a bad storm.

And he just had this moment where he remembered being in church. He didn't even sure how this whole thing worked, but he just cried out to God. It was a prayer. It wasn't one confession of he just said, I'm a wretch,

but, God, don't let me die this way. He just cried, please save me. He wasn't even thinking about all of eternity. He was just thinking about this moment.

And God showed this this this grace to him in this moment, and that this storm in his description and even the cruise was almost supernatural in the way it cleared out. And he went. He went back to church.

He committed and truly accepted that gift of God's grace because he was blown away by it. He's like, if God would do that with with where I was, the wretch that I am, he did it. Now you'd think he would just stop

cabineting and slaveship, but that was his life. That's what he knew. That's how he made money. He loved the sea. So he still loved the Lord, but he kept going to work this way. But he saw it differently, and it started to eat at his soul. And he he made three more trips. And by the third one, he says, I can't do this anymore.

And so he walked away and became a pastor. And one of the things he did as a pastor was he wrote a pamphlet on the horrors of slavery from the firsthand account of a captain of a slave ship.

That was different than anybody had ever heard. He was honest and brutal about it and shared the hope, and he did that because he did not want to see this practice continue. He also spent the most of his day job was he he knew that everybody is a slave to sin and death, and he needed everyone to know God's grace.

So he was a faithful pastor till the end. He actually ended up blind his last couple years, and he says, hey. I may be blind, but I can still see. But as he was pastoring, he ended up mentoring a young man who was new to parliament. His name was William Wilberforce.

And as he wrote this pamphlet, the abolition movement grew and got strong. He mentored him in Christ and the love of Christ, and he went after it in in in parliament and fought. He even came back to his mentor and pastor and said, it's not going anywhere. I'm frustrated.

I think I'm gonna quit parliament. And John Newton was the one that says, you can't quit. And in eighteen o seven in March, when John Newton was 82, the slave trade act was passed in England, and it was outlawed and abolished. Just five, six months later in December, John Newton died,

having faithfully preached the gospel to thousands of people. And God even used his history, his past, the thing he was ashamed of the most to help end an evil practice because he poured into this guy William Wilberforce who made it happen. Now you might not have ever heard that story.

You might not have ever known who John Newton is, but I know one thing. I know you know the most famous song he wrote. It's titled Amazing Grace. Wow. History does have power to it. That song.

You know why that song has been so powerful? It's because it was simply him going and telling about God's amazing grace. The words of that song are his testimony. And that's why it's touched people, because he took his story and he owned the depth of his sin so he can see the grace of God,

and then he could show that to other people. That is the Christmas story. That's the that is amazing. He called it amazing grace. How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found. Was blind, but now I see.

But one of the most powerful lines of that song where he didn't think he was that deep. He was known as a pastor that just took the word of God, used practical real life stories to make it real to people. I aspire to be like that guy.

He wasn't the guy that's coming up with this deep quote that blows your brain away, but he has deeper than he thought. He gave himself credit for because he gives this line. It grace that taught my heart to fear, but grace the fears relieved. Think about that line. He was saying that the grace of God can scare you.

You know why? Because to really embrace and see the grace of God is you're gonna come face to face with how much of it you need. You're gonna come face to face with the reality that you are facing a holy, righteous God. But here's the catch 22.

You wanna run from it. You wanna hide. You wanna act like, no. I'm not that bad. I don't need to listen to God. I'm okay. You'll do a couple nice things. You try to be nice because you think it's Jesus' clause, and you try to do these things because you're afraid of really owning the depth of sin so you never can experience the depth and the height of how much he loves you.

That's the catch 22 he figured out. He ran from it. But in that moment when he was overwhelmed by the grace of God that taught him to fear the Lord, he realized leaning into the grace is how the fears are relieved. Are you facing fears this Christmas?

Are you afraid of what God's called you to? Are you maybe feeling like God's letting you down because you're in a valley? The answer is not to be afraid of the grace. The grace is the answer to the fears. Embrace it. So here's what we're gonna do. We're closing with this old school hymn. We're gonna sing it.

And for some of you, you're at a level that maybe what you need to do in this moment is stay seated and just let the words and the melody of this song and John Newton's story, a story of the gospel, the real story of what Christmas is, wash over your soul. Some

of us just need to sing this and embrace it and enjoy it and re embrace this because it's our story too. And some of y'all probably know this well enough that you can close your eyes and raise your hand and sing along as well because Christmas, Easter, it's all about God's amazing grace.

My fears

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