Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #20231224 - Something Great About Christmas - John 10:10 & Psalms 144:15

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#20231224 - Something Great About Christmas - John 10:10 & Psalms 144:15 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

• 0:04
  Welcome to the Study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
• 0:08
  Taylor recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co To learn
• 0:12
  more about the many resources available through Abounding
• 0:15
  Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services, visit us
• 0:19
  online at Calvary, Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
• 0:24
  Church app. Now here's Pastor Ed to take us
• 0:27
  into our study. Amen.
• 0:30
  Take your Bibles if you have them.
• 0:32
  And would you open to Psalm 144? We're going to get there
• 0:35
  eventually, but you can open to get ahead Psalm 144.
• 0:43
  You know, there's just something great about Christmas.
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  It's a wonderful time of year. It's a joy to worship Jesus with
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  you today. And you know, it's definitely
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  Christmas. We probably realized Christmas
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  was coming six or eight years ago as lights were being put on,
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  the houses and trees were going up and the Manger scenes are
• 1:01
  there and cookies being baked and gingerbread houses being
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  built. All sorts of wonderful things
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  that surround Christmas, like the songs.
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  You know, there's a lot of songs going on, playing everywhere, in
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  the malls and the markets and the homes.
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  And whether people realize it or not, Christmas proves that God
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  is in control of human history, that Christmas makes us realize
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  that history is really his story as it's unfolded through lives.
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  That God interrupted the flow of events with the birth, the birth
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  of a child. Not a normal birth, not an
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  ordinary birth, but a miraculous birth of a baby that God
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  interrupted human history to give us a Savior.
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  He stepped out of heaven to pay for our sins, and He promises to
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  return to rule and reign with those of us who have surrendered
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  our lives to Him. It's an exciting time to
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  consider all that comes with the birth of a baby.
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  And so yes, you got to love hearing the name of Jesus being
• 1:59
  sung in places that it isn't normally sung.
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  Like you're you're in the market and music overhead.
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  You just hear it. It's like, hey, I know that song
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  or that's a beautiful rendition of of this worship of Jesus
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  because it's hard. Even though there is this
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  pushback in the world, you know, Christmas has become very
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  secular, very consumer. There's this push in the world
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  to eliminate. I mean, imagine that you
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  eliminate Jesus from his own birthday, but that's what they
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  try to do. And you can't help it because
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  he's permeating every aspect of Christmas.
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  So you hear the songs being sung, but it can be a little
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  confusing around Christmas because even as the name of
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  Jesus is being sung, there are also songs about good old Saint
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  Nick. Then there's Mom got caught
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  kissing Santa Claus and that poor Grandma man.
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  She didn't make it with that little encounter with the
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  reindeer and Elvis belting out Blue Christmas.
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  But hey, you take the good with the bad and some of the
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  classics. It just hit me this year, like
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  some of the classic songs reminded me of my mom and just
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  have brought this memory back where every Christmas on our own
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  traditions, she would take out the vinyl records that she had.
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  She'd stack them on our record player so they could just be
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  when they're done remembering the record players when they
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  were done, they would go Dun Dun and fall and Dun Dun and my mom
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  would do that every year as she was baking and cooking.
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  And so you know, Christmas is a fun time.
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  We all have even our own Christmas traditions.
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  When we moved here Now, I guess I back up a little bit.
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  Growing up, my family celebrated Christmas with the same exact
• 3:31
  tree every single year. The same tree, the same lights,
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  even the same ornaments that went into the box and came
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  out-of-the-box. And that poor plastic tree was
• 3:41
  beat up as I was getting older. So something clicked in me that
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  made a decision When I was getting when I got married and I
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  had my own kids, we would have a fresh tree.
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  So early on in our marriage, we did different things, Marie and
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  I, about our trees, and we would make different trees and have
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  different trees. But when we moved to Colorado,
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  we found out that you can actually go to the mountains and
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  cut your own tree down legally. And we're like, hey, that's
• 4:09
  something we could do with the kids.
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  And so we started that many years ago when we moved here.
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  Fast forward to this year, they predict, they predicted that it
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  was going to be super snowy. And for us it's the day after
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  Thanksgiving. We'd go up into the mountains.
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  It was going to be super snowy the day after Thanksgiving.
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  And I see on the roads and we're listening to the weather.
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  And I sit down with Marie that evening on Thanksgiving eve and
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  I say, yeah, you know, honey, I don't really want to go drive in
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  the ice and I don't really want to trudge 1,000,000 miles in the
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  in the because it takes forever to cut a tree.
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  So you got to. And here's the thing.
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  The farther you walk to find a tree is the farther you have to
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  come back with it on your shoulders.
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  And so we're, we do that every year.
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  And I'm like, we just decide we're not going to do it this
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  year. And then the tone of our home
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  changed a little bit because we we did agree on it.
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  But then, you know, now we don't have a tree and what are we
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  going to do? And we missed our tradition.
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  So we picked it back up again and we found this one morning,
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  we both had a couple of hours because I had appointments.
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  She had appointments and we were able to rush up into the.
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  The weather was amazing, by the way.
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  We were able to knock it out in just a couple of hours, which is
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  what I was telling Marie all these years.
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  We can do this in a couple hours and you know, even if it's a
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  tree on the side of the road, like that is fine.
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  It's a tree cut down and that's a Christmas tradition that we
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  have. That just brings back really
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  neat memories. Especially when our son Eddie
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  was around and he would go up with us and we'd have a lot of
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  fun. Take our family pictures up
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  there. Traditions are important.
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  Christmas is fun. There's just something great,
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  something special about the Christmas season.
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  There's a tendency toward peace and joy and happiness, and for
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  good reason. For good reason.
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  Pastor Ian had read it earlier. But in Isaiah Chapter 9, it says
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  for a child is born to us, a son is given.
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  The government will rest on his shoulders.
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  He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
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  Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
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  His government and its peace will never end.
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  He'll rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his
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  ancestor David for all eternity. It's like one of the songs that
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  we sing the thrill of hope. The weary world rejoices.
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  It's a season of hope among a weary world.
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  And I know many of you are here today by invitation.
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  You're a guest. You're visiting for the first
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  time and we're really glad that you're here.
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  We're glad that you took someone up on their invitation.
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  Maybe they bribed you, but that's fine.
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  Let's take the bribe. Come to church.
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  Enjoy our time together so that you can be reminded.
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  And in a weary world, there is hope.
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  Because you know sometimes and I don't know, maybe it's you,
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  maybe it's not. But there are those looking at
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  the church from the outside that would approach us and think,
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  well, you know, the church kind of lives in in a in a world of
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  their own. You know, those Christians, they
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  don't really take into account that the difficulties of the
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  world or the hardships of the world or they're not really
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  living in reality. And maybe you feel that way
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  toward us, like we're not really living in reality, but that
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  wouldn't be true. We're really living in a the
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  most real reality that is possible because we're able to
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  see the world from the perspective of God and the world
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  is difficult. The culture, the things that
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  we're we're living through right now, this generation like it, it
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  is of you might even hear it on the news sometimes they'll say
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  of biblical proportions, seeing that things happen on a global
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  scale, like there is, there is a lot that the Bible even has to
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  say about the days in which we live.
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  But you go man, how can you guys be filled with hope?
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  How can you be filled with happiness?
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  Well, it's because we know God. That's because we understand how
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  it's going to end. We understand by faith that God
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  has it all under control. And as wild as it is, God is
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  going to accomplish his purposes.
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  I mean, think about it. You came in, you grabbed a
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  parking spot, walked into the room.
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  If you walked in a little bit late, maybe you heard the music
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  playing. You walk into a room with a
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  group that seems to be genuinely happy.
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  The church has a tendency toward genuine happiness.
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  And you're right. And the reason is right here in
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  Psalm 144, verse 15. If you don't have a Bible, I'll
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  just read it to you. I love this verse because you're
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  right. There is a general happiness
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  about us. We are happy that Jesus was
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  born, and the Bible says happy are the people who are in such a
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  state. Happy are the people whose God
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  is the Lord. We're happy because we know God
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  personally, and there is true happiness and joy among us.
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  Yes, I know you see the stories, and you you see it happening.
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  There are probably people in Walmart right now ripping them
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  off and stealing around Christmas time.
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  There's always the stories about people fighting over things.
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  Or I don't know if you saw the news recently, but there's a guy
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  walking through neighborhoods with a knife.
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  Like stabbing all of your inflatables in your frontline.
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  You go, wow, Merry Christmas to you, bro.
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  But that's what he wants to do. I know the world is in a
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  cultural crisis right now, but God is on the throne.
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  And that's why we're a happy people, because we trust God.
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  And out of our faith in God, listen, it helps us to be better
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  people in the world. That's our desire.
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  Our desire is to be a help to the world, to represent Jesus in
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  such a way where he's honored and where you can come to know
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  him personally. The season of hope still
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  remains, however. Over the years, you know, I
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  have, I've had the privilege of pastoring now here in Colorado,
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  24 years. I was a pastor in California for
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  many years before that, and even in leadership before that.
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  And one of the advantages of longevity and one of the
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  advantages of sticking with something for a long time,
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  especially as a pastor, is you learn, you grow.
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  And I look back and I've learned and grown quite a bit what God
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  has called me to do and me to be.
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  And one of the things I've learned as I've grown as a
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  pastor is that the holidays aren't always tremendously
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  happy. They're they're often
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  bittersweet. And what I mean by bitter, I'm
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  not speaking about like the anger of bitterness or anything
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  like that. I'm I'm more than using that
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  word like taste. You know, there's a sweetness to
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  the holidays. We're happy, we're excited.
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  We're excited with the kids and the kids light up.
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  That's one of the neat things. Just even this weekend talking
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  to all the kids that are in the sanctuary, hearing how they view
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  the world, how they view Chris, it's just really, really cool.
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  There's a happiness how can you not be happy with kiddos that
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  are happy? But there's also there's also a
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  a, an after taste, you know, a bitterness to the holidays.
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  Because I know for some of you this is going to be your first
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  holiday where someone that you love very, very much isn't going
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  to be here with you and you're walking in and you're you're
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  you're taking it. But there's a there's a chair
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  open at the table. Or maybe it's not a grief or
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  loss that's new. Maybe it's an old one.
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  Where, again, you know, if I get memories about my son or my
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  parents, they've gone home to be with the Lord, and they were not
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  able to enjoy the holidays with them like we used to.
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  So you bring that into the holidays.
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  It's bittersweet. Maybe it has nothing to do with
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  loss. Perhaps the holidays remind you
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  of family difficulties, of a divorce.
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  It reminds you that you're separated from your family or
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  you've got that wayward prodigal kid or, you know, it's
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  bittersweet and we acknowledge that.
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  Listen, if you're looking at the church from the outside, I just
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  want to assure you we're not living life with our eyes closed
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  or our head in the sand. That there is that, that ability
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  to go through very difficult times and yet experience hope
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  and joy in the Lord. And it might be foreign to you
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  because you don't know Jesus personally.
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  So many walk into the room with all kinds of why questions, you
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  know, why. And one of them is why so very,
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  so happy with the way the world is going?
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  Or why, on a personal level, did God allow this?
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  And why me? And why now?
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  And why? There's so many why questions
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  that are even in this room right now, and I wish I could answer
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  to them for you. I wish I could answer your why
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  questions with some kind of satisfaction on your side.
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  But I'm unable to do that. I mean, I could take the why
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  questions that I could give you a Bible answer for sure.
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  I live in the Bible, and so I can explain things to you.
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  Why is there so much evil in the world if God is good?
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  I can give you the Bible answer to that.
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  I can explain to you how God has revealed himself and why there's
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  evil. I mean, on a simple scale, I
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  could tell you right now, there's so much evil in the
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  world with a good God is because of sin.
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  And the evil you're experiencing doesn't come from God, It comes
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  from other people and their rebellion against God.
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  But you know, even that answer, as accurate as it is, it doesn't
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  satisfy. Like it still hurts and it's
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  still difficult. And as a pastor and as a friend,
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  I need to let you know to be careful with the why questions.
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  Because you we have more why questions than answers.
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  And part of the difficulty is, is that even if you got the
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  answers that you were looking for, you wouldn't be satisfied.
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  I mean, think about the the big thing that you walked in here
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  today with or maybe you're listening on the radio right
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  now. And that by the way, if you're
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  listening on the radio right now, this is a live broadcast.
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  So like, you are in the room with us.
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  And just to think of how much God loves you to bring the
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  radio, to bring the Bible study to wherever you are in a jail
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  cell or in a hospital room or a kitchen, I mean a car.
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  It's unbelievable watching online as well.
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  I want you to listen carefully because when it comes to why
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  questions, even if you were to get the answer it would still
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  leave you wanting. Like the thing you won't came in
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  here with if you were say, you know, if God just answered this
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  for me, then I would follow him. But you know if God did answer
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  the question, he explained it to you completely of what's
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  happening, what's going to happen, why it happened, all of
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  things. Even from when you know the
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  family you were born into or the abuse you experience or all of
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  the pain and trauma that you carry.
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  And God was able to say this is exactly why it happened.
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  You know what would happen with you.
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  You'd ask more questions because sin doesn't make sense.
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  And the answers to describe it they they it shouldn't have
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  happened. You you shouldn't have had to
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  experience that. You see why?
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  Questions. You can take them to to the
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  Lord. You can ask God.
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  It's not like you should hold them in.
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  You can express them to God. You can.
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  The Bible even records God of inviting you.
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  He says come, let us reason together.
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  So don't hold anything back, but come with the right
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  expectations. And when you're asking a few why
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  questions, it may be better to add a few questions.
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  Like who questions. Who do you trust with your life?
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  Who is in control of your life? Who do you worship as God?
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  That would be great questions to ask.
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  And not only The Who questions, but how about a few?
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  What questions? Especially for those of us that
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  know Jesus personally, What questions like God?
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  What are you going to do with this?
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  What are you trying to accomplish through this?
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  What do you want me to see? What do you want me to learn?
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  Those questions are easily answered and they're much easier
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  than the why questions. However, with all that in mind,
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  there is a why question that I can answer for you today.
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  And that is why was Jesus born? That's crystal clear of why was
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  Jesus born? Let me give you a few answers.
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  Number one, why was Jesus born? God and human flesh #1 He was
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  born to seek and to save the lost.
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  He was born to seek and to save the lost.
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  Of all the encounters that Jesus had throughout his three years
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  of public ministry, we we read of one where he came across a
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  man by the name of Zacchaeus. True story.
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  Real person. He's a tax collector, a Jewish
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  man collecting taxes on behalf of the Roman government, which
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  made him a very unpopular man. It it put him in a category
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  where he was viewed as a traitor and as a thief.
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  So here's a man that got everything that he wanted, had
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  all the money he wanted, had all the power he wanted, had all the
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  possessions that he wanted. But he was incredibly lonely
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  because nobody liked him. Well, Jesus found him.
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  He comes into his house, invites himself over to his house.
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  Zacchaeus was up in a tree. You know those of you that know
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  the Bible story, he couldn't see.
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  So he climbed up into the tree to watch what Jesus was doing.
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  Jesus saw him, invited himself to his house.
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  And when he was in his house, Jesus said this.
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  Salvation has come to this home today.
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  For this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham.
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  For the Son of Man came to seek and to save those who are lost.
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  Jesus came into the world as that little baby.
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  To seek and to save those who are lost.
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  Now being lost is something that you have to admit.
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  You have to admit it when it happens.
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  And I know there's that age-old discussion between, you know,
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  men never want to admit when they're lost.
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  And and yet we admit when we're lost quite a bit.
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  Ladies, just so you understand. Like you need to come to the
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  place where you admit that you're lost.
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  First of all, before I even get into this, how many of you have
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  ever been lost in your life? Let me see.
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  Let me see. OK, so I'm talking to most of
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  you, those of you that haven't been lost, it's coming.
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  Don't worry about it. That's you'll catch up with us.
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  But you plug everything in. You're in another town, You're
• 17:45
  somewhere else. You plug every, you don't know
• 17:47
  the neighborhood, you put the address in, and then it takes
• 17:50
  you, Google, Waze, whatever takes you to a place.
• 17:52
  You're like, this is not the right place.
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  We are not in the right location.
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  And when that thing, I want you to take it back to that time you
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  were lost. I want you to take your mind
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  back, and I want you to understand the feelings that are
• 18:03
  associated with being lost. Because the very first thing
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  that has to happen when you are lost is you must admit it.
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  You're never going to get to where you need to go unless you
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  admit you don't know where you are.
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  And that's often what the purpose of teaching the Bible
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  is. It reminds us of where we are.
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  For most of us, we're reminded that we're in Christ.
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  We have a relationship with Jesus, and he has a direction
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  for our life. But for some, like some of you,
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  you need to be reminded of the fact that you're lost now.
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  It's one thing to be lost physically.
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  It's a whole other thing to be lost spiritually.
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  And until you admit that you're lost, you'll never get to where
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  you really want to go. You'll never really understand.
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  And even the acknowledgement, think of this.
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  Even the acknowledgement that you're lost would admit that you
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  know the destination. And you know, the Bible teaches
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  that the Bible teaches us that God has put eternity in the
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  hearts of every human being. And the lostness that we have is
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  not a matter of whether we know it, It's a matter of whether we
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  admit it. Jesus came to seek you out, to
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  save those of you that admit that you're lost.
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  Secondly, Jesus was born. And I love this.
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  This is so good. Jesus was born to secure our
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  friendship. God in human flesh, the creator
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  of the universe, wants our friendship.
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  Why? Because everyone living apart
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  from Jesus today are enemies of God.
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  Imagine that being an enemy of God at war with him, and you go,
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  whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute, pastor.
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  You're laying on a little thick. I'm not.
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  I'm not. I know you might take the
• 19:52
  posture of, well, you know I'm not against God.
• 19:54
  I'm not his enemy. But Jesus would say if you're
• 19:56
  not for me, you're against me. That's just your posture.
• 20:02
  The Bible would say the same thing in Romans chapter 5.
• 20:05
  You see, the birth of Jesus Christ was for the death of
• 20:08
  Jesus. His death and resurrection
• 20:11
  secures your opportunity to have your sins forgiven.
• 20:14
  I mean, we wake up this morning to snow and we look outside the
• 20:18
  window and we see the snow and we see the blanket of white.
• 20:21
  And how can you not be reminded? The Bible says.
• 20:24
  The Bible says though our sins were as scarlet, they'll be
• 20:28
  white as snow. But not only that, that you
• 20:31
  would enjoy it as a friend. You.
• 20:33
  We all have friends. We have different circles of
• 20:35
  friends. You know, if you were to take a
• 20:36
  piece of paper out and draw a bunch of concentric circles, the
• 20:40
  farther you know, if you take that in kind of like a target.
• 20:44
  If you take the lines far from the target, you know, the
• 20:46
  outside circles there's or acquaintances, people that we
• 20:50
  know, people that maybe we say hi to there.
• 20:53
  And then you have then people that are closest to you, like
• 20:55
  the people you work with or the people that you might have met.
• 20:59
  And then there's another layer of church friends, and then
• 21:02
  there's another layer, maybe family.
• 21:04
  And then you get to the target, and you have friends that some
• 21:07
  of you. You have friends just like this,
• 21:08
  where you call them your best friends.
• 21:12
  And best friends have a very special it's a very unique place
• 21:15
  in our relationships. Not everybody's a best friend,
• 21:18
  and best friends have privileges.
• 21:20
  You share more with them, You share more time, You share more
• 21:23
  information. You're more vulnerable.
• 21:25
  You're more trustworthy. Jesus came in a very real way to
• 21:30
  be your best friend. He said this much.
• 21:35
  This isn't some pastor making it up.
• 21:38
  This is what the Bible says. Listen to his words.
• 21:41
  This is so good, he says. Greater love has no one than
• 21:47
  this than to lay down one's life for his friends.
• 21:52
  You are my friends if you do whatever I command you and no
• 21:56
  longer do, I call you servants, for a servant doesn't know what
• 21:59
  his master's doing, But I have called you friends.
• 22:05
  Jesus came to befriend you, to draw you close into that inner
• 22:11
  circle where he becomes your best friend. #3 Jesus, why was
• 22:16
  he born? Well, #3, he was born, and I
• 22:19
  love this one, to settle our anxious and worried worried
• 22:23
  hearts. And if anything has happened in
• 22:26
  the last few years, what's been going on in our world and our
• 22:29
  culture, it has tripped up anxiety and worry.
• 22:33
  And especially if you're prone to be more anxious and worried,
• 22:38
  then you can. You're living in a perpetual
• 22:39
  state of I don't know, and I'm not sure and I don't, I don't
• 22:42
  know what to do. Listen, real life and the
• 22:46
  meaning of life, the fullness of life, are only found through a
• 22:51
  relationship in Jesus. You want to know why he was
• 22:54
  born? To give you the fullness of
• 22:56
  life. He promised that You know
• 22:58
  medical science and I appreciate all of you that work in the
• 23:01
  Medical Sciences. You know you, you spend your
• 23:03
  life wanting to add years to someone's life and we say thank
• 23:08
  you for that. But you know Jesus, he alone is
• 23:11
  the one that can add life to your years.
• 23:15
  The fullness that's his is yours.
• 23:18
  By faith, Jesus would say it this way.
• 23:20
  He says I have come that they may have life, and that they may
• 23:25
  have it more abundantly because he came as a savior, A savior.
• 23:30
  By definition. He's one that rescues, and we
• 23:32
  need that one who redeems, one who preserves, one who protects.
• 23:37
  And God wants to rescue us from a meaningless existence, even
• 23:41
  today. But more importantly, when we
• 23:45
  ask the question of why Jesus was born, here's the most
• 23:49
  important answer. Jesus Christ was born to remove
• 23:53
  sin out of the Sinner. I've used the word sin quite a
• 23:57
  few times. It's a Bible word.
• 23:58
  You know, we don't really use it much outside of the church or
• 24:01
  outside of the Bible. So let me give you a frame of
• 24:03
  reference where you use the concept all the time.
• 24:06
  If you ever admit to making mistakes, then you're on the
• 24:08
  right track when it comes to sin.
• 24:10
  Like you, you know, you do something.
• 24:12
  Oh, I'm sorry, excuse me? I didn't mean to do that.
• 24:14
  You're admitting a mistake when you think of the word sin, I
• 24:17
  want you to think of mistake. Now, there is some gravity
• 24:20
  between the two. There's a big difference between
• 24:22
  mistakes we make with one another and mistakes we make
• 24:25
  toward God When we make a mistake toward God.
• 24:29
  The Bible calls that sin. Like the reality of sin is that
• 24:34
  it's separated us from God. That that's the weight of it.
• 24:37
  To to be able to you know again another another thought that to
• 24:40
  have towards sin, if you're still yet unconvinced, is that
• 24:43
  thought of you know, you do something, even something
• 24:45
  morally wrong. You say something wrong, you
• 24:48
  hurt someone's feelings and your response is, well, you know I'm
• 24:50
  not perfect. And we're like, yes, we know
• 24:53
  you're not perfect because you just hurt my feelings.
• 24:56
  Yes, yes, I know you're not perfect.
• 24:58
  But that thought in your mind, when you admit that is a
• 25:02
  reflection of God's truth about your life.
• 25:06
  You're so close. You admit you make mistakes, You
• 25:10
  acknowledge that you're not perfect.
• 25:13
  But the question is, why are you holding back from admitting that
• 25:16
  toward God? That's the key.
• 25:19
  Because when it comes toward God, hey, we make mistakes, We
• 25:22
  sin. When it comes toward God, we
• 25:26
  aren't perfect. You know, another misconception
• 25:29
  I think about the church too sometimes is people walk in and
• 25:32
  go, you know, you Christians, you just look down on us.
• 25:34
  You think you're perfect and you know you, you talk about sin and
• 25:37
  you act like you don't have any. And you know, if anyone's ever
• 25:40
  given that vibe before, I'm sorry, because it's not true.
• 25:44
  We agree with what the Bible says.
• 25:45
  And you know what the Bible says?
• 25:47
  It's a pretty it's amazing. The Bible says we have all
• 25:52
  sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
• 25:55
  All of us, we're all equally guilty.
• 25:59
  And there is a distinction and a difference between a believer
• 26:02
  and Jesus and an unbeliever. And that's simply this.
• 26:06
  Believers have experienced the newness of life through the
• 26:09
  forgiveness of sin by the blood of Jesus Christ.
• 26:12
  And so forgive us, or Christians that represent us, that might
• 26:16
  look down on you. Nobody looks down on you.
• 26:18
  Do you know that Jesus doesn't even look down on you?
• 26:21
  The Bible, Jesus himself, when he comes into the world, he
• 26:23
  says, I didn't come into the world to condemn the world, but
• 26:27
  to save him. And you know, I speak from a
• 26:30
  place of experience myself. This is the meaningless
• 26:33
  existence that I was rescued from in my early 20s.
• 26:37
  And we could go on for another half hour today.
• 26:40
  We happen to not have a service later on.
• 26:42
  So we can literally go on for another half hour, but we can go
• 26:45
  on all morning sharing testimonies because that's
• 26:48
  that's something that the power of God to rescue a man and
• 26:51
  rescue a woman. That's why he was born.
• 26:54
  And he's ready to rescue you and he's ready to help you.
• 26:58
  But here's what happens. Here's what happens.
• 27:01
  You hear the message and you're kind of eager to hear it.
• 27:03
  You're in church. I mean, that's a big deal.
• 27:05
  You stepped into church. You turn on a Christian radio,
• 27:08
  or you're flipping through YouTube and you stopped here.
• 27:11
  And that's a big deal. But see, if you don't respond to
• 27:15
  what you hear, then what happens is what what, you know, the
• 27:18
  Bible kind of describes it like this.
• 27:20
  You have a soft heart. A soft heart that's tender and
• 27:23
  emotional and you're receptive. But each time you resist, it's
• 27:26
  like a layer of hardness over that soft heart.
• 27:30
  And when you add layer after layer, so you know, a pastor
• 27:34
  says something, I don't receive that.
• 27:36
  You hear something on the right. I don't receive that.
• 27:38
  Somebody gives you a book as a gift.
• 27:39
  I don't want that. You don't listen to mom anymore.
• 27:41
  You don't listen to grandma anymore.
• 27:43
  And before you know it, layer after layer after layer after
• 27:46
  layer takes a soft heart and makes it hard.
• 27:51
  And then you don't even hear anymore.
• 27:53
  Then you don't even want to hear anymore.
• 27:55
  And then you set, and this is a very predictive pattern.
• 27:59
  You set yourself in a way where you will not hear anymore
• 28:03
  because of the hardness of your heart.
• 28:06
  But we're here today, and I'm here today to remind you that
• 28:10
  God, in a very real way, is knocking on the door of your
• 28:14
  heart today. And he can remove those layers
• 28:17
  of hardness in an instant. I know you've heard this before.
• 28:22
  I know you've heard the message that Jesus loves you gave his
• 28:25
  life for you and I. What?
• 28:28
  I don't know. And again, you know, I it's
• 28:32
  like, if I ask the why question, let's say I have my own pastor
• 28:35
  why question today. And I say, why are you still
• 28:38
  resisting? Yeah, you know, I don't know.
• 28:41
  You can answer it 100 different ways, but it still doesn't make
• 28:45
  sense to me because I'm on the other side.
• 28:48
  Why is your heart so hard? Why have you not chosen to
• 28:52
  forgive or receive the forgiveness of Christ?
• 28:55
  Why? Well, if I ask those questions
• 28:57
  endlessly, it would put me in a perpetual state of difficulty
• 29:01
  and confusion. So rather than ask the question
• 29:04
  why, I'll just invite you to come receive the Lord Jesus
• 29:08
  Christ today for the forgiveness of your sins.
• 29:11
  Bring yourself you don't. You know you can bring your hard
• 29:14
  heart. You can bring your difficult
• 29:16
  past. You can bring your hurt and
• 29:19
  pain, because this Christmas we're reminded that God has a
• 29:23
  gift for you. He's offering you himself,
• 29:27
  Himself. It's never too late.
• 29:29
  Listen, whether you're young or old, whether you're a kiddo
• 29:32
  today or you're well advanced in years, the offer of forgiveness
• 29:36
  is available to you that you might receive.
• 29:40
  You know that, like, it's it's it's easy to leave Jesus in the
• 29:43
  Manger because he's not really threatening, threatening to us
• 29:46
  in the Manger. He's just a little baby.
• 29:48
  We all love babies. I've been sitting around a bunch
• 29:50
  of babies today, just loving them, watching them enjoy the
• 29:54
  music and worship with their parents.
• 29:56
  It's beautiful and it's wonderful.
• 29:57
  But Jesus Christ grew up and became a man, and for three
• 30:03
  years of his adult life, he loved, he cared, he served.
• 30:07
  He He did nothing but good. And the reward the world gave
• 30:12
  him. And this is the kind of world
• 30:13
  when you choose the world, this is how it operates.
• 30:15
  The reward the world gave to Jesus was to torture him and to
• 30:21
  hang him on a Roman cross, which was an instrument of torture.
• 30:25
  The cross was invented by the Persians, but it was perfected
• 30:30
  by the Romans, and it was designed to prolong a incredibly
• 30:36
  painful death. And yet Jesus took that hit for
• 30:40
  you and for me. They took him down off the
• 30:43
  cross. They put him in a grave, rolled
• 30:45
  a stone to seal it. But the Bible declares, and many
• 30:49
  witnesses testify, that three days later Jesus Christ rose
• 30:53
  again from the dead, and he proved everything that he said
• 30:57
  and everything that he did. And here we are a couple
• 30:59
  thousand years later, and the message is still going forth.
• 31:03
  We know why Jesus was born, we know why he died, and we know
• 31:07
  why he rose again from the dead. Listen to this in in the Bible
• 31:11
  it says if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe
• 31:15
  in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be
• 31:17
  saved. For with the heart one believes
• 31:20
  unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto
• 31:23
  salvation, because the Bible says whoever believes on him
• 31:26
  will not be put to shame. For there's no distinction
• 31:30
  between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to
• 31:34
  all who call upon him. And I love this.
• 31:37
  Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
• 31:42
  And in another version of the Bible, what's commonly known as
• 31:44
  the old King James, it says, whosoever.
• 31:48
  And the room is filled with whosoever's.
• 31:52
  Why was Jesus born? Well, the answer to that
• 31:55
  question is already in your mind and your heart, You know.
• 31:59
  I'm going to answer it one more way.
• 32:01
  Why was Jesus born? When I begin to share the
• 32:04
  answer, it's automatically going to click with you because 99.9%
• 32:10
  of the world already knows this answer.
• 32:12
  Why was Jesus born? Because God so loved the world
• 32:17
  that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever would believe
• 32:20
  in him would not perish but have everlasting life.
• 32:25
  And that is what God the Father invites you into by faith in His
• 32:29
  Son Jesus Christ, much to celebrate and much to have joy
• 32:34
  over. Amen.
• 32:36
  So, Father, thank you for the privilege of being together and
• 32:39
  celebrating this wonderful season with friends and family
• 32:43
  and new friends and new folks that we get to meet and get to
• 32:47
  hear from. It's a it's a beautiful time and
• 32:52
  there is much celebration. I think of the sweet sister that
• 32:55
  was here celebrating the victories she's had with her
• 33:00
  cancer treatments and how she could smile and exhibit great
• 33:06
  joy in a very challenging season in her life.
• 33:09
  Bless her today, Lord, she continues to live her life and
• 33:13
  you're drawing her to you and that story.
• 33:15
  I can think of all the stories. I didn't get to hear them all,
• 33:18
  but we celebrate one year of salvation from a dear sister,
• 33:21
  they that came to know you on Christmas Day last year.
• 33:25
  And we say yes. We are so happy, so joy filled.
• 33:29
  Even in a hard year and a challenging year.
• 33:32
  I think of the sweet sister. This is the first year she'll
• 33:35
  celebrate Christmas without her husband and for many of us
• 33:39
  without a dear friend. And so God, we're we come to use
• 33:44
  broken and weary. We come to you beat up and you
• 33:48
  know there's all sorts of things happening but we come to you by
• 33:52
  faith. We trust there's meaning and
• 33:54
  purpose and all that we're going through.
• 33:57
  We surrender our lives. We we will not be defined by
• 33:59
  what's happened to us. We will not take on a new
• 34:02
  identity because we've been hurt or abused or or taken advantage
• 34:07
  of. But we will live, as your word
• 34:09
  says, as new creations in Christ.
• 34:12
  Old things have passed away. Behold all things that become
• 34:15
  new. And this is the time where the
• 34:19
  church prays and the pastor, which happens.
• 34:22
  I have the privilege of doing that today, where I turn my
• 34:25
  attention to those of you that are here, that have never given
• 34:28
  your life to Jesus. I get to invite you on behalf of
• 34:31
  Jesus. I get to invite you to receive
• 34:34
  the gift of salvation. And that's what I want to do
• 34:37
  right now. If you're here and you would
• 34:40
  say, add, I want my sins forgiven and I want to follow
• 34:45
  Jesus Christ with my life, would you just stand to your feet
• 34:47
  right now? I'd like to pray with you.
• 34:49
  I want to help you with that verse that I just read to you.
• 34:53
  Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
• 34:57
  God bless you. Who else would say that's me?
• 35:00
  Today is the day. God bless you right here in the
• 35:02
  front. And by the way, as you respond,
• 35:05
  God bless you, there's going to be someone coming up next to
• 35:07
  you. Don't be startled by that.
• 35:09
  Those are pastors and leaders that are going to come up and
• 35:12
  come alongside of you and be able to stand with you and even
• 35:16
  follow up. So we have here and here, over
• 35:19
  here, anyone else you guys watching online or listening on
• 35:23
  the radio right now. Technology is amazing downstairs
• 35:27
  in the overflow, like God loves you whether we see you or not.
• 35:32
  But we have the privilege of being in a room together where
• 35:34
  we can celebrate publicly this public decision that you have
• 35:38
  made young and old. You're never too old and you're
• 35:41
  never too young. Because if you understand God's
• 35:44
  great love for you and you can respond, is there anyone else
• 35:49
  who would say that's me, today is the day, which is really a
• 35:54
  kind of a cool gift that's going to be associated this time of
• 35:58
  the year every year. And I remember I was in a room
• 36:02
  like this very similar pastor was given an invitation.
• 36:07
  And I remember just battling this one concept that how could
• 36:11
  God love me? Because I knew me and I knew
• 36:15
  what I was into. People didn't know it was on my
• 36:17
  mind. People didn't know what was on
• 36:19
  my heart. They didn't know what I was
• 36:20
  into. And there's a pastor up there
• 36:22
  talking about the love of God. And I'm like, I was like, you
• 36:24
  know, if he knew, really knew who I was, he would make sure
• 36:27
  he'd tell me. That doesn't apply to you.
• 36:29
  That one, that guy right there. But of course, he never did that
• 36:32
  because the love of God applies to everyone equally.
• 36:39
  And so let me help you in confessing this faith.
• 36:43
  It's a prayer, you know. Prayer is just talking to God.
• 36:48
  You don't need to learn any special technique or anything.
• 36:51
  You can talk in your own voice and your own way, talking
• 36:56
  directly to God through His Son Jesus Christ.
• 37:00
  I want to help you by sharing a prayer and you can repeat after
• 37:03
  me. You can use your own words, but
• 37:05
  let it be real and sincere because there's no need to go
• 37:07
  through all the emotions and all the motions.
• 37:10
  If it's not real, let it be real even.
• 37:13
  Bring your doubts. Bring your fears.
• 37:16
  Bring your concerns. But you could say something like
• 37:19
  this with God. You could say God.
• 37:21
  I admit that I've sinned against you, and I ask you to forgive me
• 37:26
  of all of my sins. I believe you sent Jesus into
• 37:31
  the world as a baby, and he lived and he died and he rose
• 37:40
  again from the dead to save my soul.
• 37:46
  And I'm asking God for you to help me, to follow you and leave
• 37:52
  my sinful past behind me all the days I have left.
• 38:00
  And Father, I pray for those near and far that would turn to
• 38:04
  you today. Your word says that if we come
• 38:07
  to you, you won't cast us out. And I know it's a barrier and a
• 38:12
  burden and a battle in their lives.
• 38:14
  But today there's response. And I pray it's real, genuine,
• 38:20
  and a glorious representation of your faithfulness.
• 38:24
  It's going to help us pray for our family.
• 38:26
  It's going to help us pray for our friends.
• 38:28
  We're going to leave here with faith, trusting you with the
• 38:32
  situations in our lives, with hope and happiness and peace and
• 38:37
  patience. They're all ours by faith.
• 38:41
  So bless those that responded today.
• 38:43
  In Jesus name, Amen. We pray that you've been
• 38:47
  encouraged by this Bible study delivered live from the
• 38:49
  sanctuary of Calvary Church. For prayer.
• 38:52
  Call us at 87730 Grace. That's 877-304-7223.
• 39:01
  To listen to this message in its entirety or to join us for our
• 39:04
  live stream services, visit us online at Calvary, Co dot Church
• 39:10
  or download our free Calvary Church app, Be Blessed as You
• 39:14
  Worship Jesus this week.