1 00:00:09,400 --> 00:00:11,960 You have your copy of God's We're going to Make your way to 2 00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:15,200 Luke chapter 2, where we have been last week and now this week 3 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:20,160 as we walk through portions of the Christmas story, remembering 4 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:25,040 the greatest gift that's ever been given, Jesus taking on 5 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:30,000 human flesh, living among us. Live, die and defeat death on 6 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:32,640 our behalf. By the way, I've been meaning to 7 00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:36,920 make a comment on all of you who served so hard and worked so 8 00:00:37,160 --> 00:00:39,840 diligently to make our place of worship and just our entire 9 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:42,920 church beautiful this time of year as we celebrate Christmas. 10 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:46,080 So thank all of you who've gone above and beyond to make that 11 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:48,160 possible. I don't know if you've ever 12 00:00:48,160 --> 00:00:52,480 asked yourself this question or not, but why do we say Merry 13 00:00:52,480 --> 00:00:55,520 Christmas instead of Happy Christmas? 14 00:00:56,440 --> 00:00:59,960 Anybody else ever wondered that? I guess not. 15 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:05,239 Maybe it's just me. Why don't we say happy Easter, 16 00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:09,280 happy birthday? We don't say happy Christmas, do 17 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:10,320 we? I mean, that just sounds weird. 18 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:14,760 Well, going all the way back in history, some of the first 19 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:18,720 appearances of Merry Christmas, you can trace back to a couple 20 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:20,920 instances. Number one, it was used in a 21 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:26,560 letter documented in 1534 from the Bishop John Fisher to Henry 22 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:29,240 the Eighth chief minister, Thomas Cromwell. 23 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:34,560 And then it was also heard and popularized in the 1500s with 24 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:39,560 the English Carol. We wish you a Merry Christmas. 25 00:01:39,960 --> 00:01:43,680 So why Mary instead of happy? Well, we don't exactly know. 26 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:47,600 Perhaps we never will know. Grammarians simply think it 27 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:50,840 might come down to a difference in the words and the intention, 28 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:53,040 right? Happy, they say, describes an 29 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:57,720 inner emotional condition, while Mary is more of a descriptor of 30 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:01,000 outward behavior, something that's active or spirited, maybe 31 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:04,520 even a little rowdy. We may never know the answer of 32 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:05,480 why. And you know what? 33 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:08,000 It really doesn't matter because did you realize the Bible 34 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:11,840 doesn't use either word, does it? 35 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:16,040 It doesn't use happy and it doesn't use Mary. 36 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:18,520 It uses a different word. We've already read it. 37 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:21,160 We're going to read it again as we read through the Christmas 38 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:25,120 story again and kind of focus in on this word out of verse 10. 39 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:27,480 You can be looking for it. Follow along in your copy of 40 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:30,760 God's Word. The Bible says this Luke 2 verse 41 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:34,440 one. In those days a decree went out 42 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:38,000 from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 43 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:42,440 This is the first registration, registration when Coronius was 44 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:45,840 governor of Syria and all went to be registered, each to his 45 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:48,760 own town. And Joseph also went up from 46 00:02:48,760 --> 00:02:52,240 Galilee, from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city 47 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:55,560 of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was at the 48 00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:59,280 house and lineage of David to be registered with Mary, his 49 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:02,920 betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time 50 00:03:02,920 --> 00:03:05,960 came for her to give birth. She gave birth to her first born 51 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:09,800 son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a Manger 52 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:13,080 because there was no place for them in the end. 53 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:17,080 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field 54 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:20,560 keeping watch over their flock by night, and an Angel of the 55 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:23,000 Lord appeared to them in the glory of the Lord, shone around 56 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:25,160 them, and they were filled with great fear. 57 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:29,080 And the Angel said to them, fear not, for behold, I bring you 58 00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:31,320 good news of here it is you ready. 59 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:32,800 Great. Say it with me. 60 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:36,120 Joy that will be for all the people. 61 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:40,920 For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior who 62 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:44,960 is Christ the Lord. The word is not happy, it's not 63 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:50,400 Mary, it is say it again, joy. It's joy for God sent the 64 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:54,880 messenger, the Angel to say, behold good news of great joy. 65 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:59,080 That's praise God, for how many people, for all people, for unto 66 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:01,520 you, that's including you this morning under the sound of my 67 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:03,120 voice. Every single human being who's 68 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:09,480 ever breathed a breath for you is born this day in the city of 69 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:12,200 David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord. 70 00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:14,560 What is? Let's recall what we covered 71 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:18,240 last week. What is truly the good news of 72 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:20,760 Christmas? It is this announcement that 73 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:24,360 unto you, unto me, under every, under every man, woman, boy and 74 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:29,720 girl, for all people, unto you unto us is born a Savior who is 75 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:33,000 Christ the Lord. If you've ever wondered man, is 76 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:36,760 there just one sentence, one verse in the Bible that captures 77 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:39,160 everything. Then if I had to reduce it all 78 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:41,440 down and say what it's all about, if there was one verse 79 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:44,880 that explained Genesis to Revelation, if there was a story 80 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:47,920 in the in a sentence the of the whole Bible, what would it be? 81 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:50,080 This is a verse you need to know. 82 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:53,600 Romans 623. It says everything the Bible 83 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:56,320 says in a sentence. It says everything you need to 84 00:04:56,320 --> 00:04:58,320 say in an elevator before someone gets off that you'll 85 00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:03,560 never see again. For the wages of sin is but the 86 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:09,440 free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. 87 00:05:09,640 --> 00:05:11,720 Ladies and gentlemen, that is the good news. 88 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:15,760 That is the story of Christmas being explained, that the wages 89 00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:18,160 of our sin is death. The world suffering under the 90 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:21,000 curse of sin and death and darkness and despair. 91 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:24,000 And yet God did what He promised He would do by sending his one 92 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:26,760 and only Son, the one and only one who could be a Savior, the 93 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:30,520 Savior, Jesus Christ, the Son of God who made it all literally 94 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:34,880 becoming a man, remaining fully God, becoming fully man and 95 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:36,840 dwelling among us. This is why he was called 96 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:40,560 Emmanuel, which means God with us. 97 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:42,360 Y'all. It's been said by theologians 98 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:45,120 through the centuries. The incarnation, that is the 99 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:48,440 becoming man while remaining fully God is the greatest 100 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:51,520 miracle. It is the central miracle of our 101 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:57,920 fate that God became a man. For unto you is born this day a 102 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:00,160 Savior. There's not another Savior. 103 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:02,600 There's not many. There's one, and his name is 104 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:04,760 Jesus. This is the good news of 105 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:06,680 Christmas, y'all. This is not good news. 106 00:06:06,840 --> 00:06:09,920 This is the best news. There's no greater news. 107 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:12,240 There's no more ultimate. You're not going to hear better 108 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:15,960 news on the planet during your lifetime or 1000 lifetimes. 109 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:20,200 And a Savior has been born for you for the wages of sin. 110 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:24,600 That was your sin. That was my sin is what is death 111 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:28,840 but the free gift of God. How does Jesus provide that free 112 00:06:28,840 --> 00:06:31,200 gift? I say this repeatedly about 113 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:34,320 every Sunday so that you could say it too if someone asked you 114 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:37,080 for a reason for the hope you have because Jesus has done 115 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:39,440 three things for you. Those three things, Number one 116 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:41,480 is he has lived a sinless life for you. 117 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:46,280 The life that you and I couldn't live, Jesus lived so he could #2 118 00:06:46,280 --> 00:06:49,400 be a sinless substitute sacrifice for you on the cross, 119 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:54,280 paying the debt of your sin, which was death, so that 120 00:06:54,280 --> 00:06:57,440 thirdly, he could defeat death for you. 121 00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:00,680 Jesus has lived for you. He has died for you. 122 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:04,200 He has defeated death for you. This is the news that changes 123 00:07:04,200 --> 00:07:07,840 everything. For unto you, born this day, is 124 00:07:07,840 --> 00:07:13,080 a Savior who is Christ the Lord. And this greatest of all news, 125 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:17,720 friends, gives us something no other gift can give. 126 00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:19,720 And we've said it already, and it starts with AJ. 127 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:21,560 And it's not Mary, and it's not happy. 128 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:25,960 It's it's joy. It is joy, y'all. 129 00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:28,680 The world is desperately looking for joy, is it not? 130 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:33,800 They may not realize it, really. Their pursuit really gets some 131 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:36,800 really gets after chasing happiness because they don't 132 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:40,040 really know anything about joy. So the world is constantly and 133 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:44,000 desperately looking for joy. All they know how to chase is 134 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:48,320 happiness, though. I picture the world's pursuit of 135 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:51,360 joy and something that I've participated in. 136 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:54,040 It's something you've participated in Whenever I've 137 00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:57,280 gotten distracted from Jesus as my joy and finding my 138 00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:00,280 satisfaction in him, I picture the world's constant pursuit of 139 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:02,400 happiness. Kind of like the carnival game. 140 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:04,720 You know, you go to a carnival kind of one of those classic 141 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:07,000 games is I didn't know what this was called so I had to look it 142 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:09,760 up, but I could picture it. It's the hammer game or what's 143 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:12,640 called the high striker game. It's when you take that hammer 144 00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:16,040 and you try to pound some bullseye or a pad at the bottom 145 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:19,160 to make something go up really hard and strike the bell at the 146 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:20,280 top. You know what I'm talking about. 147 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:23,960 If you've ever played that kind of game, you know how 148 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:27,120 frustrating it can be. I mean, all the games are rigged 149 00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:28,440 out of carnival, by the way, anyway. 150 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:31,480 But they make it this way so that it is. 151 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:34,159 It's just not as straightforward as it should be, right? 152 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:37,400 I mean, sometimes the strongest of men can walk up and swing the 153 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:39,280 hammer with all of his might. And guess what? 154 00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:43,240 The thing just like barely moves. 155 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:46,000 The bell doesn't ring. Then this little girl come over 156 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:48,040 here and barely lifting the hammer and maybe taps it, all 157 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:49,360 the sudden Ding, Ding, Ding, right. 158 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:51,640 And you're like, what? How does that happen? 159 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:55,920 You know, I picture our pursuit of joy like trying to pick up 160 00:08:55,920 --> 00:08:58,560 that hammer every day and we try to swing at what we think would 161 00:08:58,560 --> 00:09:01,960 make us happy. We try to hit, try to win, try 162 00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:04,080 to crush it, try to get ahead, trying to finally get it in. 163 00:09:04,080 --> 00:09:06,560 Some days, some days, maybe the bell rings. 164 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:10,240 Some days it doesn't. Sometimes we think, man, we 165 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:12,000 finally got it all together. Finally today it's going to 166 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:13,160 ring. We swing, it doesn't ring. 167 00:09:13,280 --> 00:09:15,240 Then somebody else walks up and swings a hammer that doesn't 168 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:16,600 look like the bell should ring, and it rings. 169 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:18,840 And you're like, this doesn't make sense. 170 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:22,720 What's going on? And even when it does ring, it 171 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:25,360 might make us temporarily happy, but one day it rings, the next 172 00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:27,120 day it doesn't. Even when it does ring, the 173 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:34,480 happiness doesn't doesn't last. The new this, the new that, this 174 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:38,200 accomplishment, dispossession, whatever circumstance, it 175 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:43,120 doesn't bring us lasting, final, ultimate, all the way deep down 176 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:47,840 in our soul fulfilment. And yet this is what we 177 00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:49,440 constantly chase. What is happiness? 178 00:09:49,720 --> 00:09:52,520 Happiness is a temporary emotional high. 179 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:55,800 Happiness y'all is a positive excitement based on our 180 00:09:55,800 --> 00:09:58,320 circumstances. Happiness is an emotional 181 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:01,360 reaction that's dependent on external factors. 182 00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:03,320 But what is joy? What's the difference? 183 00:10:03,320 --> 00:10:07,040 Joy is a contentment and satisfaction of soul. 184 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:09,640 It is a positive state of mind, heart. 185 00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:13,280 And so that's possible. Watch this Regardless of 1's 186 00:10:13,280 --> 00:10:18,320 circumstances, joy is dependent on the internal factor of the 187 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:21,400 Holy Spirit. Finally, joy is a spiritual 188 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:26,760 choice. The Bible mentions happiness two 189 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:32,160 to three dozen times. The Bible speaks of joy hundreds 190 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:34,960 of times. You can think about it like 191 00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:36,280 this. Temporary happiness. 192 00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:40,760 Temporary can come from almost anything but true, lasting, 193 00:10:40,760 --> 00:10:45,040 ultimate, genuine joy only comes from one thing. 194 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:50,320 His name is Jesus for unto you is born this day a savior is 195 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:55,720 Christ the Lord good news of great joy, not happy, not merry, 196 00:10:56,080 --> 00:11:00,920 but true lasting, genuine now and forever joy Jesus and Jesus 197 00:11:00,920 --> 00:11:02,600 alone brings. If you're following Taking 198 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:06,000 Notes, I just simply want to explain to you from portions of 199 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:09,240 the Christmas story that Jesus and Jesus alone is joy. 200 00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:12,560 And then we're going to pick up reading in Luke chapter 2, 201 00:11:12,560 --> 00:11:15,600 beginning verse 22. In a portion of the Christmas 202 00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:18,920 story, we're going to draw out some of the reasons that Jesus 203 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:23,360 is and Jesus alone is joy. This is Luke 2 beginning in 204 00:11:23,360 --> 00:11:27,160 verse 22. And when the time came for their 205 00:11:27,160 --> 00:11:31,080 purification, according to the law of Moses, they brought him 206 00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:33,120 up. That's Jesus to Jerusalem to 207 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:36,680 present him to the Lord. As it is written in the law of 208 00:11:36,680 --> 00:11:40,320 the Lord, every male who first opens the womb shall be called 209 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:44,040 holy to the Lord, and to offer a sacrifice according to what is 210 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:47,560 said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtle doves, or two 211 00:11:47,560 --> 00:11:50,720 young pigeons. Now there was a man in Jerusalem 212 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:54,000 whose name was Simeon. And this man was righteous and 213 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:58,120 devout, waiting, waiting for the consolation of Israel. 214 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:00,480 And the Holy Spirit was upon him. 215 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:03,040 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would 216 00:12:03,040 --> 00:12:06,000 not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 217 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:08,440 And he came in the Spirit into the temple. 218 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:11,840 And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him 219 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:15,120 according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms 220 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:19,320 and blessed God and said, Lord, now you're letting your servant 221 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:21,800 depart in peace according to your word. 222 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:24,240 From my eyes have seen your, Don't miss this word. 223 00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:28,720 My eyes have seen your salvation that you've prepared in the 224 00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:32,720 presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles 225 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:35,920 and glory for your or to your people Israel. 226 00:12:36,200 --> 00:12:38,720 And his father and mother marveled at what was said about 227 00:12:38,720 --> 00:12:40,840 him. And Simeon blessed him and said 228 00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:44,400 to Mary his mother, Behold, this child is appointed for the fall 229 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:47,880 and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed. 230 00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:51,680 And a sword will Pierce through your own soul also, so that 231 00:12:51,680 --> 00:12:54,000 thoughts from many hearts may be revealed. 232 00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:57,320 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter Ephanuel of 233 00:12:57,320 --> 00:13:00,080 the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, 234 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:03,120 having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a 235 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:06,480 virgin and then as a widow until she was 84. 236 00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:09,720 She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting 237 00:13:09,720 --> 00:13:13,400 and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour, 238 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:17,760 she began to give thanks to God and to speak of Him to all who 239 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:21,680 were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. 240 00:13:21,960 --> 00:13:25,640 The first thing I want you to see about the joy that is Jesus 241 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:30,840 is simply this great joy begins this joy I'm Speaking of begins 242 00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:36,000 by faith in Jesus. Great joy begins by faith in 243 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:37,320 Jesus. I want you to look at that verse 244 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:41,880 30 where Simeon says from my eyes have seen your say it out 245 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:45,560 loud salvation. He says when he sees the baby 246 00:13:45,560 --> 00:13:48,640 Jesus the Christ shot he literally my eyes have seen this 247 00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:51,880 child is unto you. I Savior has been born. 248 00:13:51,880 --> 00:13:54,480 Simeon says my eyes have seen your salvation. 249 00:13:54,480 --> 00:14:00,040 Y'all Jesus is joy because Jesus and Jesus alone is salvation and 250 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:03,720 there is no joy like the joy of salvation. 251 00:14:04,120 --> 00:14:06,680 Do you remember and do you realize that the world's 252 00:14:06,680 --> 00:14:15,640 greatest problem is lostness and the only solution, the only 253 00:14:15,640 --> 00:14:22,480 solution is the salvation that Jesus and Jesus alone offers. 254 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:25,960 Let me just remind us to be spiritually lost is to be 255 00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:28,560 unsaved. What does it mean to be unsaved? 256 00:14:28,560 --> 00:14:34,200 It means to be dead in our sin. The wages of sin is death. 257 00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:38,760 Death means spiritual separation from God now and forever. 258 00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:42,840 If nothing changes, this means we are destined, destined to be 259 00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:46,680 separated from God under the just punishment of our sins 260 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:48,560 forever. This is what it means to be 261 00:14:48,560 --> 00:14:52,440 unsaved, to be lost. And the further problem is, the 262 00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:54,480 majority of people who are lost, guess what? 263 00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:58,920 They don't realize that they're that they're lost. 264 00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:08,160 They don't see their need for Jesus and for salvation because 265 00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:14,720 they can't see their problem. Do you realize it is impossible 266 00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:19,320 to truly appreciate a gift unless you understand how much 267 00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:24,800 you need that gift? My wife one time gave me a gift. 268 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:29,440 She's given me more than one. But I remember one time, I think 269 00:15:29,440 --> 00:15:31,080 it was birthday or Christmas. I don't remember. 270 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:33,520 I think it was birthday and we've not talked about this 271 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:35,120 right here. So this is just processing in 272 00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:39,960 the moment. And this gift was something I 273 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:45,600 did not know existed. This gift was an Ember coffee 274 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:48,280 mug. Do I have any owners of an Ember 275 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:50,200 coffee mug among us? I see one. 276 00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:51,240 You're like half a shame. Come on now. 277 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:52,240 Let's put that. There you go. 278 00:15:52,560 --> 00:15:54,440 Anybody else? I see a proud one over here. 279 00:15:54,640 --> 00:15:55,160 Yeah. OK. 280 00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:56,640 I see a few. All right. 281 00:15:56,640 --> 00:15:57,680 Some of y'all don't know what you're missing. 282 00:15:57,680 --> 00:15:59,360 There we go, Joe back there. All right. 283 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:03,560 So I open up this gift and see this Ember. 284 00:16:03,560 --> 00:16:06,120 If you don't know the Ember coffee mug is it is a 285 00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:10,480 rechargeable built in battery heated coffee mug. 286 00:16:11,040 --> 00:16:13,960 We're talking you can Bluetooth your phone to it to tell it the 287 00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:15,960 exact temperature you prefer your coffee. 288 00:16:16,200 --> 00:16:18,240 All right now don't look at me like that. 289 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:21,560 I'm not usually like that, all right, but I didn't pick this 290 00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:23,920 out. My wife did for me, but she 291 00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:26,680 witnessed me constantly returning to the microwave to 292 00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:29,680 reheat my coffee because, you know, I get distracted studying 293 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:31,600 or working or something, and then all of a sudden it goes 294 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:33,800 cold and I go to the microwave. So open up this gift. 295 00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:35,280 Let me just give you a piece of advice here. 296 00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:38,800 You know when, well, let me just say what happened. 297 00:16:38,920 --> 00:16:42,360 I opened up the gift and my immediate thought was that this 298 00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:44,600 is what you don't say out loud. And I didn't say out loud. 299 00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:46,440 Hallelujah. My first thought was this is a 300 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:50,480 waste of money. This is by the way, you're going 301 00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:53,480 to get some gifts. Oh you she did get it on sale. 302 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:58,120 She said so a less a waste of less money. 303 00:16:58,120 --> 00:17:01,760 But anyway, so so you don't you don't say that out loud. 304 00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:04,760 I'm not that bad of a husband. So I'm thinking, OK, this is 305 00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:07,680 what they make a microwave for. But my wife obviously went to 306 00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:08,680 the effort to get this. Why not? 307 00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:12,000 Why not try it? Sure enough, I don't know how 308 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:14,040 long I've had it now, at least a year. 309 00:17:14,920 --> 00:17:19,400 It's like the only coffee mug I use literally. 310 00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:21,560 And I, I don't want anybody else using it and, and using the 311 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:24,079 charge. I mean, I, I use it all the 312 00:17:24,079 --> 00:17:27,760 time, right? I, I, I didn't know how much I'd 313 00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:30,080 use quote need. I know that's a long stretch 314 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:32,400 right there. I didn't know how much I needed 315 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:34,760 an ember coffee mug until I got one. 316 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:40,120 Let me just ask you a question. Has God-given the greatest gift 317 00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:45,400 you could ever receive and you've yet to realize how much 318 00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:49,520 you need it? Have you yet to realize how much 319 00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:53,040 you need it? For unto you is born this day a 320 00:17:53,040 --> 00:17:56,280 Savior, because the wages of sin, that's your sin is death, 321 00:17:56,280 --> 00:17:58,560 and my sin is death. There's only one and only 322 00:17:58,560 --> 00:18:00,160 salvation. His name is Jesus. 323 00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:01,880 There's only one solution to lostness. 324 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:05,680 It's confessing by faith. Jesus says word, believing in 325 00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:07,080 your heart. God raised him from the dead. 326 00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:09,000 The Bible says you will be saved. 327 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:13,320 It's impossible to truly appreciate a gift unless you 328 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:16,400 realize how much you need it. But maybe you're thinking this. 329 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:18,720 Call Kyle. He's a baby. 330 00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:25,760 How much do I really need a savior born as a baby? 331 00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:30,680 No doubt it was the minority of people, Simeon and Anna. 332 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:34,720 The Bible mentions no one else who actually knew what to look 333 00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:38,200 for and how to appreciate God giving the greatest gift mankind 334 00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:41,640 could ever received. And their eyes were attuned to 335 00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:44,560 how it would come. But you see, most in Israel 336 00:18:44,800 --> 00:18:47,760 thought what they needed was very different from what they 337 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:49,480 actually needed. You see, what they thought they 338 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:51,040 needed was political deliverance. 339 00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:53,240 What they thought they needed was financial success. 340 00:18:53,320 --> 00:18:55,160 What they thought they needed was physical health. 341 00:18:55,160 --> 00:18:57,720 What they thought they needed was restored fortunes or 342 00:18:57,720 --> 00:19:00,920 restored and reunited families. But what they needed most, 343 00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:07,480 y'all, was God. What we need most, who we need 344 00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:10,840 most is the One who made us His Son. 345 00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:14,400 Jesus sent for us. Y'all John 17 three is an 346 00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:19,040 incredibly clear verse and it says this and this is eternal 347 00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:21,120 life. This is the opposite of 348 00:19:21,120 --> 00:19:23,560 lostness. This is the opposite of being 349 00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:25,480 separated from God because of your sin forever. 350 00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:32,600 This is eternal life, that they know you, that they know you, 351 00:19:33,480 --> 00:19:36,560 the only true God in Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 352 00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:41,280 Y'all real life, abundant life, fullness of joy is to know and 353 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:44,280 walk with God. Does that describe who you are? 354 00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:46,520 Do you know God and walk with Him? 355 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:49,960 If not, the greatest gift you could ever receive has been 356 00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:53,160 given to you, and you've yet to receive it by faith. 357 00:19:56,640 --> 00:20:01,720 Great joy begins by faith in Jesus. 358 00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:05,960 Do you realize the human heart? The human heart has a giant God 359 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:12,120 sized hole in it that can only be satisfied by design by God 360 00:20:12,120 --> 00:20:14,880 himself. You can try to stuff money in 361 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:17,600 it. You can try to stuff stuff in 362 00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:19,800 it. You can try to stuff romance in 363 00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:22,760 it, or physical pleasure in it, or financial career success in 364 00:20:22,760 --> 00:20:24,400 it. You can just keep stuff and it's 365 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:26,360 going to dissolve like cotton candy. 366 00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:30,080 It cannot satisfy you, only God can. 367 00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:33,680 Eternal life is that they know you, and we only know the Father 368 00:20:33,680 --> 00:20:36,360 through his Son, Jesus Christ. For unto you is born this day, a 369 00:20:36,360 --> 00:20:43,280 Savior, who is Christ the Lord. If you've been saved, if you've 370 00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:46,920 been saved and you know Jesus and the joy of salvation that 371 00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:49,560 begins with Him, do you realize every single day that you wake 372 00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:52,840 up, you have reason for joy? Not just because of your 373 00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:57,200 salvation, but because you are better every single day than you 374 00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:03,000 what, than you deserve because of what Jesus has done for you, 375 00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:07,520 saving you from your sin, giving you life and the hope of heaven 376 00:21:07,880 --> 00:21:10,520 forever? Y'all, Jesus is joy, and great 377 00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:15,720 joy begins by faith in Him. But #2 great joy continues as 378 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:18,160 believers. It continues in our lives by the 379 00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:22,760 good fight of faith in Jesus. Great joy continues every single 380 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:27,360 day as we fight the good fight of faith in Jesus. 381 00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:31,240 You know, there's a reason that both Simeon and Anna are 382 00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:32,520 mentioned in the Christmas story. 383 00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:35,080 There's actually multiple reasons, but I want to draw out 384 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:38,000 just one of them. What is it that both this man 385 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:41,800 and this woman have in common? It ends with ING and starts with 386 00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:43,240 AW. What are they both doing? 387 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:47,480 Waiting. And how long have they been 388 00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:53,280 waiting? Any idea? 389 00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:59,600 All their lives to Simeon, basically to his last breath. 390 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:04,920 He's like, God, I can die now. I mean, he's an old man. 391 00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:09,000 How about Anna, 84 years old. She's outlived the normal life 392 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:11,280 expectancy. They've been waiting their whole 393 00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:14,640 lives. What does it mean to wait? 394 00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:17,720 Let me tell you what it means to wait. 395 00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:24,560 It means to live with hope and joy when everything is not OK. 396 00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:28,520 Let me say that again. You know what it means to wait. 397 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:33,120 They waited their whole lives. It means to live with hope and 398 00:22:33,120 --> 00:22:35,720 joy. And let me be specific in Jesus, 399 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:39,440 whom they were waiting for, who they knew would come but hadn't 400 00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:43,160 come yet. All their lives means to wait 401 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:47,200 with hope and joy, fighting the good fight of faith even when 402 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:49,720 everything's not. Oh, OK, it means to live when 403 00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:52,120 everything's not OK, but with faith that one day will all be 404 00:22:52,120 --> 00:22:55,600 made right. And this waiting well requires a 405 00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:58,800 spiritual fight of fate. This is how we wait. 406 00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:01,320 They waited their whole lives. What were they waiting for? 407 00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:05,480 The consolation of Israel, the redemption of Israel. 408 00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:08,680 You know, they were waiting for the day that God promised that 409 00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:11,160 one day He would send one who one day would make all things 410 00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:12,640 right. They didn't get to see the 411 00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:14,400 completion of it. They did get to see the 412 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:18,000 beginning of it. Their eyes beheld the salvation 413 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:20,600 that God promised He would send, and they got to see the 414 00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:23,520 beginning of it by seeing Jesus physically as they waited. 415 00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:25,000 You know what? By the good fight of faith. 416 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:27,120 You know what Simeon and Anna would have had to battle every 417 00:23:27,120 --> 00:23:34,680 day by faith? Doubt and unbelief, Fear and 418 00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:40,880 anxiety, worry and discouragement, insecurity, 419 00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:44,080 maybe depression. They had to fight all these 420 00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:47,520 things every day when everything wasn't OK, believing it was all 421 00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:51,040 going to be all right. As they look forward in faith, 422 00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:55,080 fighting the good fight of faith in Jesus, making taking their 423 00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:58,520 joy from him, knowing his promises. 424 00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:02,160 You see, if you've been saved, brother or sister, you've been 425 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:04,640 blessed by faith. No, not to see yet Jesus 426 00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:06,800 physically, but to see him spiritually. 427 00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:09,520 And now, like Simeon and Anna, we too are waiting. 428 00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:12,640 The full and final consolation or redemption or restoration 429 00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:16,160 that Jesus has promised us too is one day coming. 430 00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:19,320 When no, not all things are OK now, but one day all things will 431 00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:22,840 be all right. We too are called to fight the 432 00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:26,720 good fight of faith by waiting with joy and peace and hope in 433 00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:30,360 Jesus, knowing one day he who was in control and who came the 434 00:24:30,360 --> 00:24:36,440 first time is coming the second time to fulfill all the promises 435 00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:41,920 that started some of you. Some of you are in a posture of 436 00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:49,600 waiting more than others, maybe in a circumstance of longing for 437 00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:52,840 all things to be made right more than others. 438 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:58,680 Maybe this time of Christmas is a particularly difficult time to 439 00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:03,800 wait, gives us a time maybe that reminds you of some hurt. 440 00:25:05,120 --> 00:25:09,200 Maybe a time that makes you feel confused or isolated or alone or 441 00:25:09,200 --> 00:25:12,320 abandoned. A time that maybe feels dark to 442 00:25:12,320 --> 00:25:15,200 you instead of what you feel like you see all around. 443 00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:18,000 Are you in a season of longing and a season of waiting and a 444 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:20,720 season of hurting? Maybe life has not turned out 445 00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:23,480 the way that you expected it to go. 446 00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:27,480 Maybe longing for your family to be put back together again. 447 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:31,680 Maybe longing and wanting and hoping for and hurting because 448 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:33,080 you don't have a family of your own yet. 449 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:34,920 You've been waiting and seems like it will never come. 450 00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:38,120 Maybe grieving the death of a loved one, or processing and 451 00:25:38,120 --> 00:25:41,640 grieving A miscarriage, or waiting for a prodigal child to 452 00:25:41,640 --> 00:25:43,160 come home. It seems far from God and like 453 00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:45,160 they're never going to return. And you've waited and waited and 454 00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:47,920 prayed and prayed or whatever general circumstance you may be 455 00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:50,360 going through, wondering is God, are you in control? 456 00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:52,240 It's not OK. It doesn't seem like it's ever 457 00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:54,880 going to be OK. Are you waiting by fighting the 458 00:25:54,880 --> 00:26:01,600 good fight of faith in Jesus? Simeon and Anna's stories are 459 00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:04,920 reminders that when we wait and we're in postures or places of 460 00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:08,680 pain and when everything's not OK, God doesn't forget us. 461 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:10,760 He sees us. He remembers. 462 00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:16,480 And waiting doesn't mean you're doing something wrong. 463 00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:20,520 Waiting is actually an essential part of the Christian life. 464 00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:24,480 Gee, listen to some things the Bible says about waiting. 465 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:30,600 Lamentations 325 The Lord is good to those who What's that 466 00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:34,320 word wait for Him? Does God do everything right 467 00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:40,440 when we want him to do it? God is good to those who wait 468 00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:42,240 for him, to the soul who seeks Him. 469 00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:47,080 Isaiah 3018 Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and 470 00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:49,920 therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you, For the Lord 471 00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:53,000 is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait 472 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:56,560 for him. Isaiah 4923 Those who wait for 473 00:26:56,560 --> 00:26:59,760 me, God says, shall not be put to shame. 474 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:04,920 Do you realize no one who's ever waited on God has ever been let 475 00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:08,520 down? I didn't say God fulfilled 476 00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:10,480 everything, just the way we would have done it or how we 477 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:15,200 would have exactly. But God has never let down, let 478 00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:20,240 go or neglected or walked away from those who have waited on 479 00:27:20,240 --> 00:27:26,000 him. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German who 480 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:30,200 stood against the evil of the Nazi regime, said this the 481 00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:33,680 Advent Advent means coming. We call Christmas Advent coming 482 00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:36,880 of Christ the first time. The Advent season is a season of 483 00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:41,640 waiting, but our whole life is an Advent season, he says. 484 00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:45,480 That is a season of waiting for the last Advent, for the time 485 00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:47,920 when there will be a new heaven and a new earth. 486 00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:50,960 You see, Christmas reminds us that while we have so much to be 487 00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:54,680 thankful for now, we as Christians are still living life 488 00:27:54,680 --> 00:27:56,760 in a season of waiting. Waiting for the what? 489 00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:01,640 The second coming of Christ, waiting for a new heavens and a 490 00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:03,640 new earth. Waiting one day for the day when 491 00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:07,960 all wrong will be made right, when King Jesus reigns and death 492 00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:10,480 is no more in the curse of sin and struggle against. 493 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:13,440 It is not a daily fight. We have and we're perfectly made 494 00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:15,960 an image of Jesus, seeing him face to face and experiencing 495 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:20,080 his presence forever. What a day that will be. 496 00:28:20,880 --> 00:28:25,720 We're waiting, and that waiting requires fighting the good fight 497 00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:30,360 of faith in Jesus. And that's where joy is found. 498 00:28:30,360 --> 00:28:32,920 When days and times when everything's not OK, but we 499 00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:36,680 know. We know in him all will be made 500 00:28:36,680 --> 00:28:37,920 right. God has not forgotten. 501 00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:42,160 He sees and He knows. This is the joy and comfort of 502 00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:44,400 Christmas. His name is Jesus. 503 00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:48,960 Jesus is joy. And great joy begins by faith in 504 00:28:49,040 --> 00:28:51,920 Jesus. And great joy continues by 505 00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:56,080 fighting the good fight of faith in Jesus, even when all is not 506 00:28:56,080 --> 00:28:58,400 OK, but when we know all will be. 507 00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:01,200 All right. There is 1/3 and final point 508 00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:02,000 there. You're going to have to come 509 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:04,880 back on Christmas Eve and invite a friend to hear that one, all 510 00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:06,320 right. And by the way, that 511 00:29:06,320 --> 00:29:08,400 announcement video said 3:00 to 5:00 PM. 512 00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:11,320 It's 3:00 and 5:00 PM. So don't be scared, all right? 513 00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:17,080 Y'all want to share something to just I just this week, it's been 514 00:29:17,080 --> 00:29:19,400 on my heart so clear as it relates to what we've just 515 00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:22,520 talked about. Many of you know that we 516 00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:25,600 celebrated the life of Nancy Smith this past Thursday. 517 00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:29,680 Many of you are here. We prayed and thank God for her 518 00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:34,880 last Sunday. Many of you may not know her 519 00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:38,920 total story. I certainly didn't and it was 520 00:29:38,920 --> 00:29:42,000 learning it even in the process of preparing to celebrate her 521 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:48,400 life that God blessed me even more through her than I had been 522 00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:51,440 blessed previously. I just can't help but share it's 523 00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:53,280 I think it's it's one of those practical things that I could 524 00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:58,440 share at the close here. Nancy Smith was one of the most 525 00:29:58,440 --> 00:30:03,480 joyful people I've ever known. Would you say Amen to that? 526 00:30:05,640 --> 00:30:09,040 What I didn't know was that Nancy Smith was a woman who had 527 00:30:09,040 --> 00:30:13,480 faced more difficulty and hardship than anybody else about 528 00:30:13,520 --> 00:30:18,120 that I'd ever known. Without getting into all of 529 00:30:18,120 --> 00:30:21,360 that, Nancy Smith was a woman who had experienced betrayal. 530 00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:26,240 She's a woman who'd experienced physical abuse. 531 00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:32,400 She was a woman who raised three daughters as a single mom. 532 00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:36,720 She worked, started her own businesses. 533 00:30:36,840 --> 00:30:41,640 Some of them were she was undermined and lied about and 534 00:30:41,640 --> 00:30:45,280 cheated out of. Some of them stolen from. 535 00:30:48,280 --> 00:30:52,040 Not just recently. Nancy had a neighbor who was 536 00:30:52,040 --> 00:30:54,200 trying to, like, take part of her property, claiming it was 537 00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:57,160 his own, tearing down a fence that she had put up on her 538 00:30:57,160 --> 00:31:01,440 property. Nancy walked through cancer. 539 00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:05,720 And you think about more hardships to face. 540 00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:07,840 And I'm just giving you the tips of the iceberg. 541 00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:12,960 So how is it that Nancy was one of those joyful people we've 542 00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:15,600 ever known, but also someone who's walked through some of the 543 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:21,680 most difficult trials of life? How does that math work? 544 00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:25,240 What? How does that happen? 545 00:31:27,040 --> 00:31:31,280 What, what's going on in those circumstances to make this a 546 00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:36,840 reality? The truth is here is here, here 547 00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:40,520 it is. Bottom line, Jesus is either joy 548 00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:46,240 or he's not. He's either joy or is not. 549 00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:52,240 Nancy proved he was and you know how you know how she chose the 550 00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:54,520 joy of Jesus. If you got the scene of the 551 00:31:54,520 --> 00:31:57,040 videos we did as we celebrated her life or you heard her talk 552 00:31:57,040 --> 00:32:00,200 about this, she would come up on one of these difficulties. 553 00:32:01,080 --> 00:32:04,280 She'd be lied about. She'd be given a diagnosis. 554 00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:07,960 She'd be trying to walk through the situation of a neighbor 555 00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:10,080 trying to do something underhanded against her. 556 00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:13,240 Then she said when she walked through those times or when she 557 00:32:13,240 --> 00:32:18,320 was being abused, she, she said, Kyle, I, I, I would be, I would 558 00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:21,640 want to choose the downward spiral away from God. 559 00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:24,040 And you know what that downward spiral is? 560 00:32:24,040 --> 00:32:28,560 It's the spiral of choosing anger and unforgiveness. 561 00:32:29,960 --> 00:32:33,040 It's the spiral of saying, I'm going to be hard hearted and I'm 562 00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:35,800 going to grow bitter. I'm going to hang on to this and 563 00:32:35,800 --> 00:32:38,680 I'm going to not believe that Jesus is enough to give me joy 564 00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:40,520 through this. I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm 565 00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:42,360 going to play the victim in this. 566 00:32:44,680 --> 00:32:48,200 And she said, Kyle, there were times I took that spiral and it 567 00:32:48,200 --> 00:32:52,080 led me away from God and it robbed me of my joy that Jesus 568 00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:56,160 would have offered me had I chosen and praised God. 569 00:32:56,160 --> 00:33:01,080 She eventually learned how to choose the upward spiral, that 570 00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:04,160 upward spiral she described as choosing to forgive. 571 00:33:04,160 --> 00:33:10,080 If you think about it like this, if we've sinned against a holy 572 00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:15,000 God, how big of a deal if somebody has sinned against a 573 00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:20,880 lowly know nothing Sinner like me that we would be prideful 574 00:33:20,880 --> 00:33:24,400 enough to hold on to it and choose not to forgive when God 575 00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:27,600 has forgiven us. That upward spy was is chosen by 576 00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:30,720 choosing forgiveness, by letting go of anger, by saying no to 577 00:33:30,720 --> 00:33:35,040 bitterness, by saying Jesus, you can give me joy no matter what I 578 00:33:35,040 --> 00:33:36,920 walk through and no matter what I face. 579 00:33:37,400 --> 00:33:39,600 It says Jesus, your joy and I believe it. 580 00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:42,480 Life's not easy. Life's not all OK right now, but 581 00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:43,760 I know it's going to be all right. 582 00:33:44,040 --> 00:33:46,880 Jesus, I know you're with me. You see me, you know I'm waiting 583 00:33:46,880 --> 00:33:48,760 for you. I know no one's ever waited for 584 00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:51,560 you has ever been let down. So God, I can live with joy no 585 00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:55,680 matter the circumstances. If I just choose to trust you. 586 00:33:56,960 --> 00:34:01,680 You're in control, you're good. My circumstances aren't perfect, 587 00:34:01,680 --> 00:34:04,080 but I'm choosing Jesus, and Jesus is what? 588 00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:07,720 And Jesus is either joy or he's not. 589 00:34:09,840 --> 00:34:11,440 We just get to choose every time. 590 00:34:11,520 --> 00:34:14,800 Every time life throws something our way, we're either going to 591 00:34:14,800 --> 00:34:17,440 fight the good fight of faith, or we're going to fight it the 592 00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:22,440 way the devil wants us to fight. That always takes us out, which 593 00:34:22,440 --> 00:34:24,800 is the opposite of faith. It's unbelief, it's anger, it's 594 00:34:24,840 --> 00:34:26,480 bitterness, it's hardness of heart. 595 00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:33,800 I don't know which spiral you may be on. 596 00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:36,880 I don't know if you're on a spiral, you might be where 597 00:34:36,880 --> 00:34:39,880 you've never trusted Jesus for joy to begin with. 598 00:34:41,239 --> 00:34:43,120 And today's the day you've realized there's a gift that's 599 00:34:43,120 --> 00:34:45,560 been giving that you've never realized how much you need. 600 00:34:45,560 --> 00:34:48,320 I'm going to invite you to step out from where you are and come 601 00:34:48,320 --> 00:34:50,120 pray with me. Just say, Pastor Kyle, I need to 602 00:34:50,120 --> 00:34:53,280 receive the gift of Jesus for my salvation. 603 00:34:53,280 --> 00:34:55,600 Would you do that? You may be here and may be a 604 00:34:55,600 --> 00:34:59,880 believer, but right now you're on the downward spiral because 605 00:34:59,880 --> 00:35:02,960 you've just not trusted in the reality that Jesus is joy. 606 00:35:02,960 --> 00:35:07,640 No matter what you face, you're letting the world, the flesh, 607 00:35:07,640 --> 00:35:11,560 and the devil rob you of joy. And maybe you want to come get 608 00:35:11,560 --> 00:35:14,440 on your knees or come stand here, bring a friend or a spouse 609 00:35:14,440 --> 00:35:18,840 or a family and just say God. God, we got to change direction. 610 00:35:19,520 --> 00:35:21,960 We're choosing to trust you. All's not OK. 611 00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:24,880 It may not be OK tomorrow, but I'm trusting to believe it's all 612 00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:28,360 going to be all right. Maybe you're on the upper spouse 613 00:35:28,360 --> 00:35:30,440 will know somebody who's not. You want to come pray for them, 614 00:35:31,720 --> 00:35:34,840 but listen, you can walk through the hardest things life has to 615 00:35:34,840 --> 00:35:39,760 offer. But if you know the savior who 616 00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:46,200 is joy, you can walk. You can walk different than 617 00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:47,480 everybody else on the planet does. 618 00:35:47,480 --> 00:35:48,920 And you know when you do, they're going to look at you 619 00:35:48,920 --> 00:35:52,400 like you're weird because they don't know that math. 620 00:35:52,400 --> 00:35:55,120 They don't know how that works. They they don't know how you can 621 00:35:55,120 --> 00:35:57,760 be full of joy and yet be going through what you're going 622 00:35:57,760 --> 00:35:59,080 through. It doesn't make any sense and it 623 00:35:59,080 --> 00:36:01,840 doesn't. It's supernatural, but Jesus is 624 00:36:01,840 --> 00:36:05,400 either joy or He's or He's not. You just got to make up your 625 00:36:05,400 --> 00:36:07,240 mind. You got to decide who you're 626 00:36:07,240 --> 00:36:10,840 going to go to. So what's it going to be? 627 00:36:11,920 --> 00:36:14,520 It starts with Him. It continues by the good fight 628 00:36:14,520 --> 00:36:17,120 of faith in Him. Father, I pray that we would 629 00:36:17,120 --> 00:36:22,320 choose to believe that You are the joy that You offer the best 630 00:36:22,320 --> 00:36:25,120 news that's ever been given. We've heard it's the free gift 631 00:36:25,120 --> 00:36:26,360 to all who had received by faith. 632 00:36:26,360 --> 00:36:29,480 God, I pray for the person who's here today who's never received 633 00:36:29,480 --> 00:36:32,440 that gift, that by faith, today would be the day they'd have the 634 00:36:32,440 --> 00:36:35,440 boldness to step out and come. God, I pray for those who may be 635 00:36:35,440 --> 00:36:37,800 feeling far from you or wondering if waiting on you is 636 00:36:37,800 --> 00:36:39,160 worth it. Today would be the day they 637 00:36:39,160 --> 00:36:42,720 decide by faith that you are joy no matter what, and they are 638 00:36:42,720 --> 00:36:45,120 going to stand in that joy and fight. 639 00:36:45,120 --> 00:36:49,040 By faith, the good fight, they keep trusting you God, flip that 640 00:36:49,040 --> 00:36:52,600 switch in our lives by the Holy Spirit and let the world witness 641 00:36:52,600 --> 00:36:54,640 and watch the joy that's found in you. 642 00:36:54,640 --> 00:36:57,080 And it's in Jesus name I pray, Amen. 643 00:36:57,280 --> 00:36:59,560 Would you stand with me, church family, I'm going to invite you 644 00:36:59,560 --> 00:37:00,880 to come. You can get on your knees, you 645 00:37:00,880 --> 00:37:03,640 can come pray, you can stand. If you can't kneel, come talk to 646 00:37:03,640 --> 00:37:05,600 me. But you respond as Jesus leads 647 00:37:05,600 --> 00:37:06,160 you this morning.