Latest / Max Lucado Daily Sermons / What I Learned from Holiday Road Rage - Minister Max Lucado

Transcript

What I Learned from Holiday Road Rage - Minister Max Lucado · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Hi friends, I'm Max Locato and welcome to Fresh Hope.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: I'm really glad you joined me for this series that's
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: based on my book, Because of Bethlehem. A miracle occurred
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: over 2,000 years ago when Christ was born in a
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: quiet village. Today Christmas has become, well, loud and sometimes stressful.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: So may today's message quiet your spirit and remind you
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: who is at the heart of this season. I tried
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: to blame my behavior on the holiday traffic. The Thanksgiving
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: weekend had turned the streets near the shopping mall into
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: controlled chaos. I tried to blame my misdeeds on my
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: state of mind. I was driving to my in-law's house,
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: having spent most of the day helping plan a funeral
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: for my wife's ever-weakening mother. I tried to blame my
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: poor reaction on the reckless U-turn made by the teenager.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: He nearly clipped my bumper. The traffic arrow invited me
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: to make a right turn onto the busy avenue, and
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: as I did, The teenager made a sudden, unexpected, hairpin
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: turn around the median. We nearly shared paint. I honked
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: at him. I confess. It wasn't a polite, excuse me,
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: I'm over here. It was more of a long, strong,
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: do you know what you almost did? He drove a low-riding, wide-wheeled,
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: exhaust-puffing beater that dated back to the 80s. It needed
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: a muffler. It also needed a more mature passenger. As
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: the car accelerated, a long arm came out of the
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: passenger side window and gave me a backhanded, one-fingered wave.
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: I sped up. Thanks to a traffic light, I was
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: soon side by side with the perpetrator. He still had
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: his window down. I lowered mine. He looked up and smirked.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: You need to watch that wave, son, I said. In
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: an ideal world, he would have apologized. And I would
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: have wished him a Merry Christmas, and I wouldn't be
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: telling you this story. But the world is not ideal anymore.
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: And when I told him to watch that wave, he
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: smirked even more and demanded, make me. Make me? When
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: was the last time I heard someone say, make me?
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: Middle school? High school? Make me. That's what teens say.
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: Of course, he was a teen. He didn't have a
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: whisker on him. He was a skinny, floppy-haired, testosterone-laden adolescent
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: who was feeling invincible riding shotgun in his buddy's muscle car.
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: As for me, I was a 60-year-old pastor who writes
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: Christian books and speaks at conferences and feels a call
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: to make the world a better place. I should have
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: raised my window, but I didn't. I looked down at him, literally,
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: and metaphorically and said with my own version of a smirk,
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: now what did you say? Make me, he repeated. The
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: saints in heaven were saying, drive away, Lakedo. Common sense
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: was urging, drive away, Lakedo. I didn't listen. The dare
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: of the punk activated the punk inside me that I
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: hadn't seen in decades. I snarled and asked, okay, where
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: do you want to go? Well, his eyes widened. He
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: couldn't believe I'd said that. I couldn't believe I'd said that.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: You can't believe I said that. And when he realized
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: I was serious, he became the same. Let's settle this
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: at the shopping mall, he shouted. Are you kidding? I
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: told him. There are too many people in a shopping mall.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: Follow me. What? All of a sudden, I was the
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: expert on where to go to duke it out. The
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: light turned and I accelerated. In my side view mirror,
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: I could see the two boys were in a heated exchange.
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: What do you think? I don't know. What do you think? Well,
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: by the time I I drove the rest of the
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: way to my in-law's house asking myself, did you really
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: just dare a kid to fight? Are you crazy? Well,
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: I'd like to blame my behavior on my state of mind,
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: the driver who nearly hit my car, or the passenger
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: who pushed my buttons. But I can blame my bizarre
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: behavior on only one thing, the punk inside me. And
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: for a few minutes at a stoplight near a shopping mall,
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: I forgot who I was. And I forgot who the
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: teenager was in that heated moment. He wasn't someone's son.
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: He wasn't fearfully and wonderfully made. He was a disrespectful jerk,
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: and I'll let him bring out the disrespectful jerk in me. Now,
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: the Bible has a name for this punkish tendency, sin.
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: The sinful nature is the stubborn, self-centered attitude that says,
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: my way or the highway. Sin is selfish. I have
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: a sin nature. So do you. Merry Christmas. Under the
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: right circumstances, you'll do the wrong thing. You won't want to.
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: You'll try not to, but you will. Why? You have
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: a sin nature. You were born with it. We all were.
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: Our parents didn't teach us how to throw temper tantrums.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: No one showed us how to steal a cookie from
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: our sibling. We just knew. The heart of the human
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: problem is the problem of the human heart. Each one
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: of us entered the world with a sin nature. And
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: God entered the world to take it away. Christmas commemorates
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: the day and the way God saved us from ourselves.
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: Look carefully at the words the angel spoke to Joseph.
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: in Matthew 1, 20 and 21. Joseph, son of David,
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife,
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: She will give birth to a son, and you are
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: to give him the name Jesus, because he will save
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: his people from their sins. Now we may not see
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: the connection between the name Jesus and the phrase save
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: his people from their sins, but Joseph would have. He
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: was familiar with the Hebrew language. The English name Jesus
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: traces its origin to the Hebrew word Yeshua. Yeshua is
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: a shortening of Yahashua, which means Yahweh saves. Who is Jesus?
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: God saves. And what did Jesus come to do? God saves.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: You see, Jesus was not just godly or godlike. He
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: was God and God saves. Specifically, as Matthew 121 says,
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: he will save his people from their sins. Jesus came
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: to save us, not just from politics or enemies or challenges.
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: He came to save us from our own sins. Here's why.
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: God has high plans for you and me. He is
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: recruiting for Himself a people who will populate heaven. And
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: God will restore this planet and His children to their
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: Garden of Eden splendor. It will be perfect. Perfect in righteousness.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: Perfect in harmony. One word describes heaven. Perfect. One word
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: describes us. imperfect. God's kingdom is perfect, but His children
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: are not. So what is He to do? Abandon us?
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: Start over? Well, He loves us too much to do that.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: Will He populate heaven with rebellious, self-centered citizens? Well, if so,
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: how could heaven be heaven? He had a greater plan.
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: Colossians 1.19 says, God was pleased for all of Himself.
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: to live in Christ. All the love of God was
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: in Jesus. All the strength, compassion, and power of God were,
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: for a time, in the earthly body of a carpenter.
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: No wonder the winds obeyed Jesus when he spoke. He
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: was God-speaking. No wonder the bacteria fled when Jesus touched
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: the wounds. He was God-touching. And no wonder 10,000 angels
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: stood in rapt attention as Jesus was nailed to the cross.
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: He was God-dying. He let people crucify Him for goodness sake.
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: He became sin for our sake. 2 Corinthians 5.21 says,
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: He made Him who knew no sin to be sin
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: for us. And what started in the Bethlehem cradle culminated
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: on the Jerusalem cross. But that's not all. Jesus not
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: only did a work for us, He does a work
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: within us. Colossians 1.27 explains, The mystery in a nutshell
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: is just this, Christ is in you. He commandeers our
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: hands and feet, infiltrates our minds and tongues. Paul writes
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: in Romans 8, 29, He decided from the outset to
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: shape the lives of those who love Him along the
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: same lines as the life of His Son. Having paid
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: sin's penalty, Christ diffuses sin's power, and the punk within
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: diminishes sin. And the Christ within flourishes. God changes us
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: day by day. We'll never be sinless, but we will
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: sin less. And when we do sin, we have this assurance.
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: The grace that saved us also preserves us. We may
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: lose our tempers and lose our self-control, but we never
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: lose our hope. Why? because God has His hold on us.
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: As verse 24 in Jude says, He is able to
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. The believer
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: has been saved from the guilt of sin, is being
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: saved from the problems of sin, and And upon the
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: return of Christ will be saved from the punishment for sin. Complete,
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: full service salvation. God saves. And only God saves. If
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: we could save ourselves, why would we need a Savior?
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: Jesus did not enter the world to help us save ourselves.
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: He entered the world to save us from ourselves. As
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: a Boy Scout, I earned a life-saving merit badge. I
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: never actually saved anyone. The only people I saved were
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: other Boy Scouts who didn't need to be saved during
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: our training sessions at the local pool. Since we weren't
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: really drowning, we resisted being rescued. Stop kicking and let
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: me save you, I'd yell at my fellow non-drowning Scout.
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: It's impossible to save those who are trying to save themselves.
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: You might save yourself from a broken heart or running
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: out of gas, but you aren't good enough to save
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: yourself from sin or death. You need a Savior, and
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: because of Bethlehem, you have one. And Jesus will change
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: your sin nature into His nature. Good to know, especially
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: in holiday traffic. If these words find their way to
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: a couple of young adults who recognize this story, to
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: you I say, I'm sorry. Your actions were wrong, but
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: my reaction was worse. God is working on us all.
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: I hope you'll join us again, my friend, as we
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: continue to explore the promise of Christ this Christmas. And
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: if you want to learn more, pick up my book,
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: Because of Bethlehem. The stories and scripture I share will
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: help keep Jesus at the center of this special season.
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: Because of Bethlehem, every day is Christmas and every heart
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: is a manger.
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: I'll be all right.
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: You don't have to stay.
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: If you've already chosen, I.
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: Won't stand in your way.
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: I can feel it in your distance, in the way
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: you barely speak. Like your heart is somewhere else now,
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: somewhere I can't reach. I was trying just to hold
• 15:39
  Speaker 3: us While you slowly slipped away Now I'm left with
• 15:45
  Speaker 3: all the silence You didn't wanna say Maybe I just
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: held on To something.
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: Already gone.
• 16:06
  Speaker 4: I'll be fine You can leave You don't owe me
• 16:12
  Speaker 4: anything If your heart is found away Out of what
• 16:18
  Speaker 4: we used to be. I'll be fine.
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: Don't look back.
• 16:25
  Speaker 4: I'll survive this empty space.
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: Not tonight.
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: Maybe not soon.
• 16:32
  Speaker 3: But I'll learn to be okay. We don't need to
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: fake the feeling.
• 16:43
  Speaker 4: I can see it in your eyes.
• 16:47
  Speaker 3: There's no reason left for staying When.
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: The love already died.
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: Through the quiet in your voice.
• 17:03
  Speaker 4: I can hear your choice I'll be fine, you.
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: Can leave You.
• 17:13
  Speaker 4: Don't owe me anything If.
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: Your heart has found a way Out of what we
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: used to be I'll be fine, don't look back I'll
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: survive this empty space Not tonight, maybe not soon But
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: I'll learn to be okay I don't need a reason why.
• 17:43
  Speaker 4: I can see it in goodbye.
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: And it breaks me, it does.
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: But I won't ask you to stay.
• 17:57
  Speaker 4: I'll be fine.
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: You can't leave.
• 18:00
  Speaker 4: You don't owe me anything.
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: If your heart is found away. I'll be fine Don't
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: look back I'll survive this empty space Not tonight, maybe
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: not soon But I'll learn to.
• 18:25
  Speaker 4: Be okay I'll
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: Be alright