The Church of Eleven22 - Christmas Eve

Episode Date: December 24, 2020

Amen and amen. Merry Christmas church, and we do just join me and welcoming Mr. Noah and Ms. Pat. They are here right now. Brother, I'm glad that you are here. And not just here, but here. Love you, man. Well, Merry Christmas 1122. We are one church in many locations, and I used to say all over Jacksonville, but with online now, it's really all over the world. In fact, right now to our Christmas Eve service, currently, there are 33 states represented and people joining from five different countries. Amen? places like Spain and Denmark, which is kind of cool, because I think that's probably where Santa Claus is from, maybe. It ain't Florida, I can guarantee you that. So we have been in a teaching series here at the church called How to Christmas, because my goal is for you to have the best Christmas that you've ever had. And I think up to this year, we haven't been doing it right.

And I have been anticipating this Christmas because we talked about don't spend dumb money, spend wisely, and we sponsored over 1,600 Compassion Kids Way to Go. The second week, we talked about getting in rhythm. with God and finding rest in him not being so busy. Last week we talked about forgiveness, so all of you family members that came in out of town, we are ready for you to be here because we know how to forgive. And the most important thing to have your best Christmas ever is this. Whatever you do, don't miss Jesus.

And there will be so many people this Christmas that will be so busy doing all the Christmas stuff and you'll miss the whole thing, you'll miss Jesus. So I want you to have the best Christmas ever. to ask you to describe to me your best Christmas, where does your mind go? I'll tell you my mind immediately up until just a couple of years ago if you asked me what was my best Christmas ever. My mind would go back to when I was a kid. Because no matter what was going on in our house and our family and the situation in the world, my dad would conspire with Santa Claus and we had some great, great Christmases. And I've told you about a hundred times, the time where I got a

dirt bike. By the way, my dad is sitting right over here in the second row. And I don't know if you cheering him or me or him because of me, I'm not sure, but whatever. And I got a dirt bike. I've told you this. I crunk it up in the living room. It filled up with smoke. My grandma came out. It was awesome, okay? Now, Jesus says in the book of Acts, it's better to give than to receive. And it's true, because that was my best Christmas until I had kids, and I got to be on the giving end of Christmas instead of the receiving end. And the only Christmas that has ever surpassed that Christmas when I got a dirt bite was a couple of years ago, and we were able to give these gifts to our children. Take just a second and check this out. So I'm not sure what happened to the

audio. Maybe there was a reindeer on top of our house, but they were puppies, okay? And they didn't know they were getting puppies, and at one point Reagan begins to cry, and she says, like to keep? as if I was going to say, nah, we rented them for the weekend and enjoy, but you've got to take them back. And then our dogs came with names. We named one Georgia, for obvious reasons, and one Dooley, like Coach Dooley.

And the reason we did that is because if we left it up to our kids, one of them would have been named like sparkly princess unicorn or something like that. And there's no telling what Reagan would have named hers. So they came there. Witness. So, and we broke our own tradition a couple of years ago because in my house we don't do

presents on Christmas Eve okay that's some kind of socialist communist communist Marxist infiltration because Jesus was born on Christmas Day and that's what Santa Claus comes and that's when we did presents but last year I broke my own rule and the reason I broke my own rule is because we went to get the puppies that morning and one we couldn't figure out what to do with them for 24 hours and secondly all Ultimately, the reason we went a day early is because I love to share good news. And I knew what our kids were getting, and I knew how excited they were going to be. And so I just couldn't hold it in any longer.

And so I made up new rules, and we gave presents on Christmas Eve. Now, the reason I bring this up is that the passages that we have been looking at in Luke chapter 2, I began to think this week as I was getting ready for this sermon, and I wonder what it must have felt like to the angels to be able to finally bring this announcement that God was going to show up on the earth. I mean, they had to know, right? The entire Old Testament, they are waiting on this.

And prophecy is awesome, but an announcement is better. You get that? Prophecy is looking forward to something coming, an announcement is, here it is. And at some point in heaven, God leans over to the angels and says, boys and girls, it's time. Prophecy is clicking the link on Amazon. An announcement is when the truck pulls up in your driveway.

It's better. And so the angels, the angels are finally told, go and give the announcement. And we've read this already, but I just want to go over it. It says, and in the same region, there were shepherds. I need you to know this. I know you've seen the Christmas pageant before, and maybe your children have even been shepherds in a Christmas pageant.

But shepherds were not considered. of high standard in the first century. They were literally considered robbers. Their testimony was not admissible in a court of law in the first century. These were the lowest of the low, and they are in the field, keeping watch over their flock, and an angel of the Lord appeared to them. So you've got the lowest of the low, and you've got the most glorious of all of God's creation, and they come together in this field, which by the law.

way is really good news for us. So whether this Christmas is the lowest of your lows or the highest of your highs, the good news is that God meets us right where we are. And then they make the announcements of all announcements. It says, an angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people for unto you was born this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord.

I want to spend a little bit of time just looking at the announcement itself that the angels make to the shepherds and the reason I want to make this announcement is because just as true as it was for the shepherds two thousand years ago, it is true for you and I today. the first thing the angels say is this fear not fear not did you know as you read through the new testament and the old testament every single time angels showed up they always had to start out this way

don't be afraid why because apparently angels are these pretty beastly creatures from god they're not skinny chicks in their underwear walking around looking for something to eat that is not what angels are They show up these heavenly messengers with a message. And not only that, think about it, all these shepherds are just hanging out, camping by themselves. If God sent a messenger for you just showing up at your fraternity house, you might be a little afraid too because you're thinking, uh-oh, we're busted.

And they show up and the first thing they say is this, fear not. Did you know that that phrase, fear not, is the most commanded thing in all of the Bible? that I've heard and read that 366 times in the Bible we are commanded this, fear not, or don't be afraid or be anxious for nothing, or don't worry. Why? I think because every single day of our life, including leap year, we need to wake up and hear that from God. It is the most commanded thing.

And I think also part of the reason that's the most commanded thing is because fear is actually the opposite of faith. Did you know that doubts are not the opposite of faith? If you read through the New Testament, the disciples had all kind of doubts. They had all kind of unanswered questions. And if you've got a lot of doubts and you've got a lot of unanswered questions, I've got really good news for you. You could make a great disciple. You see, what Jesus tells us in the New Testament is if you've got a bunch of unanswered

questions and he don't know why God would do this and not that, no problem. Or it might be a problem, but it will not disqualify you from walking with him, just pick up your doubts and follow after him. Eventually one day, all your doubts will go away. Maybe not here on earth, but one day, when you get to heaven because you put your faith in him, you will have no more doubt. Nobody's going to come up to you in heaven and say, do you believe in Jesus? You'll just say, he's sitting right there.

You can ask him for yourself. But the opposite of faith is fear, because faith produces action and fear paralyzes. And I know many of you watching online are here with us at one of our campus. this year has been a year of fear and I have good news for you for those who put their faith in Jesus Christ we can trust we don't have to be afraid and put our trust and faith in the circumstances that surround us we can put our faith and our hope and our trust in the sovereign king of the universe and he is at work in all things for the good of those that love him and are called according to his purpose they say fear not for behold we bring you good news

This phrase, good news, is where we get the term the gospel from. That the gospel is good news. First of all, in order for news to be good, it has to enter into bad places. And you may look around the circumstances of your life and you say they're not good. Or what's even more difficult to deal with sometimes is the circumstances of your life are fine, but the internal circumstances of your heart are not good. And the angels show up and say, we bring you good news. And in order for news to be news, two things have to be true about it.

It has to actually happen, and it has to be heralded. And I am here to tell you that Jesus Christ actually was born in a manger. He lived a perfect life. He died a sinner's death. He was buried in a grave, and three days later, the tomb was empty. And if the tomb is empty, then anything is possible. And the angels heralded that news, and I am sharing that news with you. and they say we bring you good news of great joy.

A part of the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that he brings us great joy. And all that this world can offer you is temporary happiness. Now call me a prophet, but pay attention to this. Tomorrow afternoon, your disappointment level is going to be so extremely high. Trust me on this one.

You see, you already forgot last year. you forgot because of the eggnog and the Christmas movies and the time. But it happens every single year. We try to just, we try to, we try to satisfy ourselves with a whole bunch of stuff, and I'm not anti-stuff. I hope you get all the stuff you ask Santa Claus 4. I hope all your hopes and dreams come through. I'm just telling you, your hopes and dreams are not found in a present that is unwrapped. And then some of you will be disappointed because you thought that you were finally going to erupt this,

this spirit of gratitude in your nine-year-old. Good luck, Mama. You're going to be disappointed. And the reason that we're disappointed is this. It's the best this world can offer is happiness. And I hope you're happy. Happy's better than unhappy. But happy is so temporary.

Happiness is based on our happenings. Happy is so circumstantial. Come on, we all know this. We live at the beach, right? You go out to the beach, you set your chair down, the sun's shining, you're watching the waves. Everybody's happy. And then those idiots from Ohio show up, start feeding the seagulls.

There goes happy. It's just true. But in Jesus, he offers joy, which is different. That is no matter what the circumstance, you could say it is well with my soul. The angels say, fear not. For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. all the people. It doesn't just say all people, but all the people. In other words, Jesus did not just come for the Jewish people 2,000 years ago that worshipped at the temple, but Jesus came for

all image bearers. Jesus came for all people, no matter your color, ethnicity, no matter where you're from, no matter what you've done, no matter how long you have been doing it, that Jesus came for all people. Everybody from shepherds to kings and all of us in between, Jesus, Jesus came for you. Then they go on to say, for unto you was born this day, in the city of David, the reason this matters for all you Bible people here is that all of the first part of the Bible, the Old Testament, the Old Covenant, was pointing to this very day when God would be with us.

In fact, all of the scriptures could be summed up with those words, God with us. if you look in the garden when God creates humankind and then he walks around in the garden with us it was God with us and then sin separates man and so he creates the temple system and ultimately the temple system was that the people

would make sacrifices so that God could be with his people and then on Christmas day this is what we celebrate that God himself sent his son steps off of the throne in heaven wraps himself in flesh and is born as a baby in a manger God with us that

anyone who would believe or put their faith in him for all of eternity, we would be with Him in heaven, God with us. In the city of David is born a Savior. This is a really big deal. Not a life coach. Not a therapist. Not someone that you can just help you be a better version of you. You see, because ultimately, ultimately, you are not a mistakeer in need of a life coach.

You and I are sinners in need of a Savior. Now, if that offends you a little bit, it's because you're a sinner and you're prideful. Let me just love you enough to melt your snowflake or skittal or whatever you are. Just a second, okay? Think about this, okay? Think about this.

You and I, you and I are born pretty selfish individuals, right? I mean, we come out of the womb like the seagulls from Nemo just crying, mine, mine, mine, mine, mind mind. Do I have to convince any parents that have ever parented a toddler that sin is an inside out thing, not a learned behavior? Can I get an amen? All the mammas especially, right? You see, the reality is, for just a second, forget God's perfect law. We can't even keep our own laws. We can't even keep our own commandments. How many times have you told you that you we're never going to do that thing again.

Lest I remind you, January's coming up. Can you even remember the promises that you made last year about a year ago next week? I mean, do you weigh? How much less do you weigh? Let's just be honest, okay? Anybody who got an unused gym membership? How many times have you promised, God,

if you get me out of this one, I'll never do this again? Listen, nobody's lied to you more than you. Nobody's broken more promises to you. than you. Nobody has spoken more ill words about you than you. You and I ultimately are not just poor decision makers. Ultimately, you and I are rule breakers, sinners, deep down, idol worshippers, where we want to sit on the throne of our own life. And let me just ask you this, how's that working out for you? Not too good. And if God is a holy God and then God requires holiness us from his people. Let me ask you this. How in the world is our sin going to be forgiven?

How in the world is sinful man are you and I going to be made right with God? Now every other world religion says, here's how you do it. Listen, the one thing we can all agree on is something's gone wrong. And every other world philosophy, every other world religion is this. It basically says you have to be a better version of you. And if you do more than good than bad or some kind of version of that, then you will be okay. Are you really hanging your eternity on the fact that there may be a naughty and nice list? I hope not, because I've seen some of your Facebooks. Your naughty is so bad for so long, especially some of you older guys, you might not have

enough time left in the semester to make up for the previous part of the year. Anybody know what I'm talking about? You remember that sophomore year of college when you were doing the math to see what you need to make on the final exam in order to pass the class. And you were like, uh-oh, I need 176 on this last one to pull off a C. Now, you millennials just took an incomplete. We didn't have a, we didn't have that. We just had to fail. You see, and not only that, how do you know where you are? How do you even know what the grading system is? You see, the reality is we're not just a bunch of mistakeers that need a life coach. You and I are sinners that need

a savior. You see, what Noah said in that video was absolutely right. See, in the beginning, God, one God in three persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, out of an overflow of God's love for God's self, decided to create image bearers, sons and daughters. And he creates the very first man, Adam. The Hebrew word Aram means dirt. So he fashions together the dust of the earth. And the Bible says he's not yet a living being. And then, God breathed the ruah or breath of life into the nostrils of Adam and he becomes a living creature and he opens his eyes and think about this the Bible wants you to know that he's nostril and nostril to nostril face to face and he breathes the breath of life into the very first man and he opens

his eyes and the first thing he sees is his heavenly father and it was imprinted upon his soul and that's what every single one of us were created for is that moment to have a face-to-face relationship with God. And then sin under the world. And not only did it fracture all of the world, so we had things like sin and cancer and COVID and hurricanes and all of that, but it also fractured, more importantly, it fractured our relationship with God. And at Christmas, what we celebrate is the fact that God had a plan and God had a way. And the way for us to be with God was that he would not wait for us to get our act together and somehow earn his approval, but he would send his only begotten son.

Fully God and fully man, wrapped in swaddling clothes laying in a manger. And he lived the perfect life, the life that we could not live. And he went to the cross, and he died in our place. We owe God a sin debt that we could not pay. And you see, anytime we sin against an almighty everlasting God, it requires an eternal punishment. You already know this. You already understand that it's not just what you do, but who you do it against that determines the punishment, right? If you walk out of here and you're angry and you kick your car, that's not that great, but you're okay.

If you get home and kick your wife, no bueno. You kick the president, you're going to jail. You kick your dog, that's not good. Kick a cat. It's not even a sin, okay? It's not. We know this. So when we sin against an everlasting almighty sovereign king, it requires an everlasting punishment.

And Jesus says, I will take your place. And upon the cross, God made Him who was without sin to be sin for us that we could be made the righteousness of God. And he pushes up on his nail-pierced feet and he says these words, it is finished. In Greek, that word is to telestine. It means paid in full, that our sin debt is paid, that he has saved us for anyone that would believe that when Jesus died on the cross, somehow that counted for me, then your sin is wiped away. The righteousness of Christ is credited to your account. He doesn't stop there. Then you are adopted into the very family of God.

and you can know Jesus as Christ the Lord. This was the message that the angel shared. They said, fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people, for unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord. What it means for Christ be your Lord is simply this. It's as simple, I'm not saying it's easy to live out, but it's simple to believe in.

It's as simple as this. It's as simple as A, B, C. The A means this, that I admit it. I admit it. My way is not working. I admit it. I'm not just a mistakeer that needs a life coach, but somehow I understand that I am a sinner in need of a Savior.

I admit it. I am a sinner. And the B means believe. Now, there's a difference between believing in and believing that. The Greek word is Pestuo. And it doesn't just mean like mental consent, like you believe in Santa Claus or you believe that Abraham Lincoln was a president one day. But to believe in, to trust in, to commit your whole life into, to admit, to believe, and then the C stands for confess.

That you believe in your heart and you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. You essentially say, all right, Lord, I give up, I surrender. That's the language we use here at 1122. I surrender my life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. My question for you is this. Do you believe? Do you believe that when Jesus Christ died on the cross and he said, it is finished, that somehow that counted for you?

Do you believe that when he, on the third day, resurrected from the grave, if he conquered sin and death, if you will put your faith in him, if you will believe that when he died on the cross, that that counted for you, then somehow you too can also conquer the grave. You see, there's a lot of people in the South that believe, that go to church, that know the Christmas story. I mean, heck, you come to church every Christmas. But do you believe?

Do you trust? See, there's a big difference between trust and just believe that. Now, I wasn't planning on sharing this, but my dad's here, so I'll share it. You see, here's the difference. When I was a kid, I grew up in this little town called Dillon, South Carolina. Okay. It's on the way to Myrtle Beach, the Redneck Riviera, in case you're not familiar with Myrtle Beach. Daddy used to say the best thing ever come out of Dillon's I-95. That's a fact, okay? And so that's where we're from. And Daddy, before I could swim, we didn't do like lessons where I'm from. The weak kids just drowned.

So there's no problem. That's, you know. So he took us to the Dillon Pool and he just would take me up to the diving board. And again, I couldn't swim yet. And he's like, you get to the end of the board and I'll get in the water. And so Daddy gets in the water and he swims out to the deep end and I'm standing on the diving board. And he says, all right, buddy, come on, jump. Okay. Now, in that moment, standing on the edge of the diving board, by the way, with a long line of elementary-aged children behind me, not the most encouraging group. And I'm standing there and I have a decision to make. And there's my dad.

And he goes, come on, buddy, jump. I got you. Holding his arms out. Come on. I got you. Now, in that moment, I believe that that's my dad. I'm like, I recognize this man. The magnum PI mustache, the cigarette hanging out of his lip in the deep end.

He came here with my mom, there she is over there, drinking a tab with baby oil all over. That'd be good for you, right? That's my life. That's different than trusting that he is who he says he is, and he'll keep his promise. See, there's a whole bunch of people that will be in a whole bunch of churches, especially in the South, all over the United States this day. And they believe in the Christmas story about like I believe in that moment. But what the angels are talking about

and the invitation of Jesus is this. Come on, jump. Come on. To put your faith in Jesus, to admit it, I'm a sinner, to believe that when he died on the cross that counted for me, the confession is simply taking a step off of the diving board. That's what it means to trust.

That not only do I believe you are who you say you are, but I believe if I no longer hold up my own life, because I know if you don't catch me, I'm going to drown, I can't swim, but I am going to put the totality of my life into my father's hands and trust that when Jesus died on the cross, that counted for me. You want the best Christmas ever? Let me ask you. Have you ever done that? Have you ever gotten to the place where you admit it? I'm a sinner in need of a Savior. And in this very moment, maybe something is happening. Maybe you've heard this 100 million times, but for the very first time, it just seems to make sense at a different level. And today, this Christmas Eve, in 2020 of all years, this could be the best Christmas ever if then you would confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

I want to give you the opportunity to do that right now. The ultimate eternal gift. Would you bow your heads and would you close your eyes? And if you would say, Pastor, that's me, I admit it. I admit it. My way is not working. I am a sinner in need of a Savior. and I believe, I trust, I am ready to take that step of faith off of the diving board

that when Christ died on the cross, somehow that counted for me. In this moment, I am ready to confess Jesus Christ, I'm my Lord and Savior. If that's you, if that's the step you're ready to take in this moment right now, would you please raise your hand? Would you say, Father, here I am. I trust that you are who you say you are and you always keep your promise. And as your hand is in the air, would you just confess him as Lord? Would you confess, I'm a sinner, I believe, and do you.

Jesus, I confess you as my Lord and Savior. Our good and gracious Heavenly Father, God, we love you more than anything. And God, we thank you, we thank you, that in you, we need not have any fear. We thank you that you offer us joy that can never be taken away. God, we thank you that you did everything in accordance with the scriptures. God, we thank you that you are a savior. And Lord, I thank you that for everyone who puts their faith in you, that you are our Lord. God, we thank you this Christmas season. God, that you sit your son to become a man so that

men and women who put their faith in you could be sons and daughters of God. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen. Church, would you please stand as we respond? Here at 1122, every week, we respond to the gospel. We do that in a few different ways. We bring our tithes and offerings. We bring our tithes and offering, if this is the first time here, and you notice that we didn't pass an offering plate, and you lean over, and you're like, Martha, this is my new favorite church, because we don't do that, okay? So you have to bring it. The Bible never says, take up an offering.

It says that we bring to God what is his, his first and best. And so, we most of us do that electronically, and there's some giving boxes around. And then we also pray. We would love to invite you because of what Christ did on the cross. We get to enter into the throne room of God because we are his sons and daughters. We have some kneelers and carpets up here. if you would want to come and pray, we would invite you to do that. And then almost every single week, we join our voices together and sing.

And so maybe you've been to a candlelight service before, but there's no way I'm letting you drink candle wax on our new seats, okay? Look like a flock of seagulls have been here, and we ain't doing it, all right? So we're going to do the next best thing. And if you've got a smartphone, some of you, your flashlight's been on the whole time, but your granddaughter didn't want to tell you. So instead of lighting candles, when you're ready, as we sing silent night, you can just turn on your flashlight and we'll have our own version of a candlelight service.

So let us pray, let us sing, let us bring, let us respond.