1 00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:05,960 It makes sense because when you love 2 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:18,880 Good morning, church. So we've been doing pastoral 3 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:22,280 letters the whole Advent season, and I get the privilege to read 4 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:23,520 my letter to you all this morning. 5 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:28,000 So here we go. Frontier Church, Grace and peace 6 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:31,200 for my Lord Jesus Christ, who has been so gracious to call me 7 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:36,320 to pastor you out of all the responsibilities that I carry to 8 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:39,600 pastor you is among the most joyful. 9 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:44,840 Whenever I go before the Lord in prayer for you, one thing 10 00:00:45,160 --> 00:00:50,120 continues to come to mind as I sit across from you at cafes or 11 00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:52,760 in premarital counseling or listen to you over the phone. 12 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:58,280 One request from God continues to roll off of my lips, and it's 13 00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:01,920 this. Lord, don't let them get dulled 14 00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:06,640 even as I write those words. It seems pretty fitting given 15 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:10,360 what tomorrow is during the Advent season. 16 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:15,760 There's tons of anticipation, singing and lights, ugly 17 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:19,880 sweaters, great cocktails and amazing food. 18 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:21,800 And it all culminates on Christmas Day. 19 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:25,480 But something happens on the 26th. 20 00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:32,000 Lights, singing and celebration that made sense yesterday seems 21 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:37,640 too much for today. If you aren't careful, this 22 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:39,280 could be your experience with Jesus. 23 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:43,440 The things that seem to excite you about him could become 24 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:45,400 dulled or even seem irrelevant. Today. 25 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:49,880 The beauty of his words may become dulled by the business of 26 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:52,480 life. The comfort of being in his 27 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:56,200 presence could turn into, could turn boring by the amusement 28 00:01:56,200 --> 00:02:00,360 that the world offers. The great privilege of sharing 29 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:03,800 his good news and pursuing justice could become less urgent 30 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:06,400 as we become more consumed with our screens. 31 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:12,600 Lord, don't let them get dulled. The Lord has been really good to 32 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:14,920 us. He has. 33 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:18,840 He's grown our congregation. He's provided us with a good 34 00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:21,560 bank account. He's given us this building. 35 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:25,320 But my prayer and my encouragement is to not let our 36 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:27,840 growing stability coax us into comfort. 37 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:32,440 Don't allow yourself to drift into the sea of dullness. 38 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:39,000 Pursue Jesus in his word because there is treasures of joy hidden 39 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:43,440 for you to discover. Don't stop asking God how you 40 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:47,040 could be used because remember, your life is a holy and 41 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:50,440 sanctified sacrifice to God that brings a smile to his face. 42 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:55,520 Never become satisfied with who God has become to you. 43 00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:59,560 But like our forefather Abraham, wrestle with God until he 44 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:03,280 blesses you. Lord, don't let them get dulled. 45 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:09,320 This is my prayer for you, and I am confident that the Lord Jesus 46 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:12,960 won't answer that prayer. I'm confident because the work 47 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:17,440 to make all that and more and all that I've said possible has 48 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:19,240 been accomplished already for you. 49 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:22,200 This is the good news of the gospel. 50 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:27,440 It's not just that God will save you because He can and He will. 51 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:31,600 It's not just that God puts you in the right standing with Him 52 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:34,360 because you are justified in His sight. 53 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:38,960 It's not just that at the end of your life you you will be 54 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:43,480 glorified like He is because if you saw your future self, you'd 55 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:48,720 be tempted to worship yourself. No, the gospel is also the good 56 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:54,520 news that in the here and now, even after the lights go out and 57 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:58,640 the decorations come down and you find yourself in the daily 58 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:02,640 grind of following Jesus at work, at home, and in your 59 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:07,560 community, God is transforming you into the very image of Jesus 60 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:11,480 from the inside out. He won't let you get dulled. 61 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:15,800 I am confident in this because this is my experience too. 62 00:04:16,839 --> 00:04:20,079 I too am distracted. I too am way too busy. 63 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:23,240 I too at times yawn in the face of God. 64 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:27,080 I too find myself ignoring my neighbors from time to time. 65 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:34,240 But if there's been one consistency in my life, it's 66 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:39,160 that God is fully committed to me and he is fully committed to 67 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:42,960 you too. And he will not let your hearts 68 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:46,880 get dulled. No, He will keep us until the 69 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:50,640 coming of our Lord Jesus, who will wipe away every tear from 70 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:55,040 our eyes, bandage up every womb that we have, and will kill 71 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:58,480 death itself. To Him be the glory in our 72 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:00,600 church and in our hearts forever. 73 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:03,240 He is worthy of all praise. Amen. 74 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:08,440 Jesus, we thank you. I thank you for this church. 75 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:12,320 I thank you that you have called me to pastor these people. 76 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:20,000 And I just pray, Lord, that you would not let our hearts grow 77 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:25,160 dulled. Lord, after tomorrow I pray that 78 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:30,120 you would just continue to remind us, Lord, that you are 79 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:33,720 here, that you have come and you will come back. 80 00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:36,640 And so I pray for my brother Cole as he comes and preaches. 81 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:46,520 Lord, I pray that you would give him a very real presence, a very 82 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:48,560 real experience of your presence up here this morning. 83 00:05:49,280 --> 00:05:52,560 I pray that our hearts will be softened to the gospel and to 84 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:55,480 His words. Lord and I pray, Lord, that we 85 00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:58,200 would be forever changed by what this brother has to say for us. 86 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:01,440 We thank you in Jesus name. Amen. 87 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:05,720 Good to see you guys. If you have a Bible, go ahead 88 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:08,560 and get that open to John chapter 3. 89 00:06:08,560 --> 00:06:11,520 We're looking at verse 16. It's probably the the one spot 90 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:14,520 in your Bible you've got highlighted already, so go ahead 91 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:16,040 and get there. My name is Cole. 92 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:18,160 If we haven't met, I'm one of the pastors here. 93 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:22,360 I get to preach here on on most Sundays, but the Sunday before 94 00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:25,440 Christmas, Historically, what the church has done has focused 95 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:28,960 on the love of God through the coming of Jesus. 96 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:33,360 And so that's going to be our focus this morning is the love 97 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:37,800 of God, theologically, practically, biblically, the 98 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:40,240 love of God. My goal is, I don't know what 99 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:43,320 your week looks like, but my goal is to sow, preach on the 100 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:47,360 love of God that we are filled so much with the love of God 101 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:50,800 that we just float out of church this morning and into our 102 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:52,640 Christmas plans. Wouldn't that be awesome? 103 00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:56,080 So let me pray and then I will jump into it. 104 00:06:56,080 --> 00:07:02,360 Heavenly Father, open. Open up our eyes to your glory 105 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:07,720 this morning as we think about just the wonders of Christmas 106 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:12,240 and the amazing particularities of the Christian story. 107 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:17,040 It's not it's it's not that we just believe in some distant, 108 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:20,440 nebulous God somewhere. That's that's not Christianity. 109 00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:27,120 Christianity is the historical position that we believe that 110 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:32,440 God took on flesh in the person of Jesus Christ and came into 111 00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:36,120 the darkness. And when that light came into 112 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:44,240 the darkness, that light gave us hope, and that light gave us 113 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:54,000 peace, and that light gave us joy, and that light drew close 114 00:07:54,000 --> 00:08:02,320 to us to give us love. And that light's name was Jesus. 115 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:08,880 So in the midst of our darkness, in the midst of holiday 116 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:14,920 craziness, I pray that we would see the light. 117 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:19,280 So in Jesus name we pray. Amen. 118 00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:24,840 Kids say the craziest things, especially when you have a four 119 00:08:24,840 --> 00:08:28,240 year old who you just saw, who also acts and talks like a 120 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:29,680 teenager. We were. 121 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:32,000 We were at Chick-fil-A last week. 122 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:35,360 Like most weeks, we were at Chick-fil-A, having a good 123 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:36,400 lunch. I was talking with my 124 00:08:36,400 --> 00:08:38,360 father-in-law, hanging out with Chloe's dad. 125 00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:41,080 And so the kids, obviously, they're at Chick-fil-A, they're 126 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:43,559 right next to the play place. So they blast through their 127 00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:45,960 meal, they blast through their lunch, and when they're finished 128 00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:48,000 with the lunch, they run into the play place and they start 129 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:51,320 playing and making new friends. And so I'm sitting there, you 130 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:53,400 know, hanging out with Chloe's dad talking. 131 00:08:53,560 --> 00:08:56,120 It's been a couple minutes since I've seen my kids in there, so 132 00:08:56,120 --> 00:08:57,960 I'm like, maybe I should go check on them. 133 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:00,880 So I pitter patter on into the play place. 134 00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:02,800 I open up the door. I look around. 135 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:04,440 I don't, I don't see my kids anywhere. 136 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:08,320 I see Russell somewhere. But then I see Della's shoes 137 00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:11,360 just around the corner. She's she's hiding underneath 138 00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:14,760 the playground equipment with a new friend that she just met. 139 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:21,720 And so I I go over and I peek my head under and I say, hey 140 00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:26,400 sweetie, are you having fun? And rather than answering my 141 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:29,080 question, she looks at her friend. 142 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:32,920 And she doesn't just look at her friend, she looks at her friend 143 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:37,440 out of the sides of her eye. She side eyes me like this, 144 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:42,000 cocks her head this way like she's an embarrassed teenager. 145 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:47,440 Doesn't even look at me. And instead hey Della, how's it 146 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:50,120 going sweetheart? She looks at her new friend and 147 00:09:50,120 --> 00:10:00,120 says, that's my dad. He always looks at my eyes like 148 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:05,440 that. It's like, ow, who taught you to 149 00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:10,000 talk like that? Like a teenager in in a movie 150 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:12,680 who's already embarrassed by her father. 151 00:10:12,680 --> 00:10:15,240 Apparently I'd looked at her with some sort of visible love 152 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:17,080 that she found embarrassing. Right. 153 00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:21,800 My, that's my dad. He always looks at my eyes like 154 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:23,920 that. The truth is that I don't right. 155 00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:28,800 She gets other looks sometimes. My loving, my loving gaze. 156 00:10:28,800 --> 00:10:31,440 It it oscillates. It's here. 157 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:34,720 One moment, gone the next moment. 158 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:39,200 That's my dad always looks at me like that. 159 00:10:39,640 --> 00:10:47,760 Wouldn't it be nice if God always looked at you like that, 160 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:53,880 With a loving gaze in his eyes? That's the message of Christmas. 161 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:55,640 Let's stand for the reading of God's word. 162 00:11:00,640 --> 00:11:02,920 What is the basis of of this claim? 163 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:05,400 What's the root of God's love for us? 164 00:11:05,400 --> 00:11:08,840 What's the sure foundation we can look at and be certain of 165 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:13,160 His love for us? Here's what John says for God so 166 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:20,160 loved the world that here's the expression of it. 167 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:24,600 Here's the surety of it. Here's the certainty of it. 168 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:32,000 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that 169 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:36,280 whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal 170 00:11:36,280 --> 00:11:41,200 life. So the advent of Jesus, the the 171 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:48,480 coming of Jesus according to John 316 is God's historical 172 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:55,680 objective expression of his love to the world. 173 00:11:57,400 --> 00:12:02,480 So it's on this foundation that I can look at you as your pastor 174 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:09,120 from behind the word of God and say to you, God loves you. 175 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:20,890 He does. You can have a seat for God so 176 00:12:20,890 --> 00:12:25,650 loved the world that he gave his only Son. 177 00:12:26,370 --> 00:12:31,760 God loves you like he loves you a lot. 178 00:12:33,360 --> 00:12:40,400 Like he really, really historically loves you. 179 00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:45,680 He loves you abundantly. He loves you extravagantly. 180 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:51,280 He loves you with the love that is so over the top that if you 181 00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:54,280 could see it clearly and comprehend it clearly right now, 182 00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:57,280 it would make you blush and look out of the side of your eyes. 183 00:12:57,280 --> 00:12:59,920 And what I want us to know this Christmas is I want us to notice 184 00:12:59,920 --> 00:13:03,080 in the biblical text how we can be certain of God's love for us. 185 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:07,920 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son. 186 00:13:08,360 --> 00:13:12,280 And so follow the flow of There's a flow of logic right 187 00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:16,640 here that hinges on the word, that God's expression of his 188 00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:21,520 love. God so loved the world that how 189 00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:25,440 does he express it? He sends Jesus to us. 190 00:13:26,280 --> 00:13:29,680 So the flow of logic here is that God expresses his love to 191 00:13:29,680 --> 00:13:32,200 us. Not by filling our bank 192 00:13:32,200 --> 00:13:40,720 accounts, not by making the pain go away, not by taking away the 193 00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:44,520 depression, not by making life easy. 194 00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:52,680 God expresses his love for us by giving us Jesus, which sometimes 195 00:13:52,680 --> 00:13:54,880 feels like a cop out because we've heard that theologically. 196 00:13:54,880 --> 00:13:57,760 It's like, yeah, OK, I get that. I was just hoping for a 197 00:13:57,760 --> 00:14:02,240 different gift. But the deepest level of who you 198 00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:06,440 are, it makes sense. It makes sense because when you 199 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:12,280 love somebody, you don't just give them trinkets or things, 200 00:14:13,640 --> 00:14:17,720 you give them yourself, right? That's that's the highest 201 00:14:17,720 --> 00:14:21,680 expression of gift giving, is to be able to give yourself. 202 00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:25,200 And that's what we're seeing here in John Three is God the 203 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:32,080 Father giving God the Son to us so that we can have all of God 204 00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:33,680 that's his Christmas present to us. 205 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:36,280 And the amazing thing when you read the Bible is this gift 206 00:14:36,280 --> 00:14:39,120 comes packaged and wrapped up in such a way that it displays 207 00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:42,280 God's love for us perfectly. I'm going to knock these over. 208 00:14:44,680 --> 00:14:46,240 Let's get that out of the way right now. 209 00:14:48,400 --> 00:14:50,520 The way the gift comes packaged and wrapped up to us is 210 00:14:50,520 --> 00:14:53,160 theologically important. It displays God's love to us 211 00:14:53,160 --> 00:14:55,080 perfectly. Here's Luke, chapter 2. 212 00:14:55,080 --> 00:14:56,440 You've read this, You've heard this. 213 00:14:56,680 --> 00:14:58,960 But what I want you to notice as I read this really quickly is 214 00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:02,680 that it describes not just the wrapping paper in the bow, but 215 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:04,880 the very box that the present comes in. 216 00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:08,160 Here's here's Luke. He says quote and Mary gave 217 00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:11,800 birth to her first born son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes 218 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:18,000 and laid him in a Manger. Everybody say Manger. 219 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:23,920 Just the kids say Manger. A Manger. 220 00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:27,040 God's presence comes in a Manger. 221 00:15:27,040 --> 00:15:28,280 Want to know how much God loves you. 222 00:15:30,040 --> 00:15:31,840 Jesus was born for you in a Manger. 223 00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:39,160 It's not a crib. Sometimes you picture a crib but 224 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:41,200 the the old hymns make this clear. 225 00:15:41,480 --> 00:15:46,960 Crystal clear right away. In a Manger, No crib for a bed, 226 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:49,160 right? Sometimes you picture a crib. 227 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:51,400 It doesn't make any sense. I didn't think Jesus got into 228 00:15:51,400 --> 00:15:55,200 the inn. What's so the inn just has a 229 00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:59,280 crib sitting outside? No, because a manger's not a 230 00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:00,760 crib. What's a Manger? 231 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:07,080 It was ancient farm equipment. Specifically what a Manger was. 232 00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:09,480 And everybody in Jesus's context would have pictured. 233 00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:14,760 This is a feeding through for animals now to build feeding 234 00:16:14,760 --> 00:16:19,000 troughs. 2000 years ago they didn't use sheet metal or really 235 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:22,600 expensive you know metal or tin or whatever they make them out 236 00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:26,800 of now right? So a Manger in Jesus day and age 237 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:30,600 would have been cut out of jagged and rough stone. 238 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:34,560 So picture that rough stone with animal food in it. 239 00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:39,040 Rough stone with a swarm of flies surrounding it. 240 00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:41,480 Rough stone with rats crawling through it. 241 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:44,720 Rough stone with slobber from the farm animals covering it. 242 00:16:45,080 --> 00:16:47,760 In other words, being born in a through in an ancient world was 243 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:52,160 like being born in a dumpster. Why? 244 00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:56,800 Why? Why was Jesus born? 245 00:16:56,840 --> 00:17:02,200 Why was it necessary, according to God's provision, for his son 246 00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:04,920 to be born in a in a feeding through? 247 00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:07,599 We'll picture it for a second, right? 248 00:17:07,599 --> 00:17:10,280 There's Mary. She's just given birth to God in 249 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:12,839 the flesh. There's Joseph trying to fulfill 250 00:17:12,839 --> 00:17:15,040 his duties as a dad. He can't get into the end. 251 00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:17,240 So he's like, where am I? Where do I put this baby? 252 00:17:18,119 --> 00:17:19,440 Right. So there's some farm equipment 253 00:17:19,440 --> 00:17:22,040 over here. They walk on over, right to the 254 00:17:22,040 --> 00:17:26,440 Manger cut out of stone and they lay God in the flesh. 255 00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:30,200 God's gift to the world in a feeding through. 256 00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:33,720 So picture Christ as an infant in the feeding through and as 257 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:35,720 you do. What you'll see is you can 258 00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:38,840 already see Christ beginning his life of suffering for you. 259 00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:44,840 The abrasive stone bruising, his tender newborn skin, the germs 260 00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:47,280 threatening to give him a life threatening illness. 261 00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:50,200 There were no baby wipes in the ancient world. 262 00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:55,120 A bloodthirsty ruler, King Herod, already trying to kill 263 00:17:55,120 --> 00:17:56,880 him. This is not, by the way. 264 00:17:57,240 --> 00:17:59,960 This is not the way that kings were born in the ancient world. 265 00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:02,880 In the ancient world, when somebody gave birth to a king, 266 00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:06,120 it looked like the scene from Lion King, right? 267 00:18:06,120 --> 00:18:10,120 All pomp and splendor and glamour and a crowd of people 268 00:18:10,120 --> 00:18:15,040 and epic music and holding the baby up and everybody celebrates 269 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:16,440 it. Not Jesus. 270 00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:20,160 Jesus is placed in farm equipment. 271 00:18:21,800 --> 00:18:26,240 He's laying down in a feeding through. 272 00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:33,600 Why is this the case? Why is it necessary that for God 273 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:39,240 to express his love to us, his gift has to be packaged in a 274 00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:42,240 feeding through? And I think the answer is this, 275 00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:47,760 because that feeding through foreshadows your heart. 276 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:52,320 God knows that you have a heart of stone. 277 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:56,440 God knows that your heart's infested with all of the wrong 278 00:18:56,440 --> 00:18:58,200 thoughts. God knows that your heart is 279 00:18:58,200 --> 00:18:59,880 infested with all the sinful desires. 280 00:19:00,120 --> 00:19:03,080 He knows that it's filled with slobber and rats and flies. 281 00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:06,200 And he wants you to know, through the gift of a son that 282 00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:08,000 he's still comfortable being in there. 283 00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:11,760 That's where he started his life, and it's where he's going 284 00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:16,160 to spend eternity indwelling in his people, right? 285 00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:19,720 Let me say it this way. The birth of Jesus proves to us 286 00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:23,160 that the love of God is comfortable dwelling in a Manger 287 00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:27,200 of stone and a heart of stone. God loves you so much they sent 288 00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:30,760 Jesus to suffer from you, to save you for your sin, and then 289 00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:34,040 he dwells in your heart of stone and makes it into a heart of 290 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:36,440 flesh. In other words, God loves you a 291 00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:42,640 lot, and he wants to make that abundantly clear to you in every 292 00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:44,960 imaginable way. That's the message of Christmas. 293 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:50,520 God loves you first by putting infant Jesus into a Manger, and 294 00:19:50,520 --> 00:19:54,480 God loves you finally by putting King Jesus into your heart. 295 00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:59,200 It's how God loves us through Jesus Christ. 296 00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:03,640 He loves us through Jesus. God doesn't love you because 297 00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:07,080 you're lovable. God doesn't love you because of 298 00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:10,680 your morality. God doesn't love you because of 299 00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:14,200 your spirituality. God doesn't love you because of 300 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:16,440 your works. He doesn't love you because he's 301 00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:18,920 good. He doesn't love you because you 302 00:20:18,920 --> 00:20:20,800 are lovable. And thank God because our 303 00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:22,840 lovability oscillates, doesn't it? 304 00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:26,920 And we are lovable when we've had our morning cup of coffee 305 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:31,400 and then we are not When we have our afternoon crash. 306 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:37,200 We're lovable with eight hours of sleep, and we are not with 307 00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:41,040 seven hours of sleep. Our loveliness is it. 308 00:20:41,080 --> 00:20:46,240 It's here. One moment it's gone. 309 00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:52,360 It's Flash and Pam. If God loved us on the basis of 310 00:20:52,360 --> 00:20:54,960 our lovability, there would be nothing to love. 311 00:20:56,040 --> 00:20:58,440 And so God doesn't love us because we are lovable. 312 00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:01,200 God loves us because God is loving. 313 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:04,520 It proceeds forth from who he is. 314 00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:07,160 It proceeds forth from his eternal character. 315 00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:10,120 And that means that if the love of God is not rooted in your 316 00:21:10,120 --> 00:21:13,880 loveliness, then the love of God is unconditional. 317 00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:16,040 And that's good news. Amen. 318 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:20,280 Because that baby in a Manger. Jesus grew up and he met every 319 00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:22,160 condition necessary for the love of God. 320 00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:25,480 Jesus was obedient. Jesus was sinless. 321 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:29,240 Jesus was righteous. Jesus checked off all of those 322 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:32,120 boxes for you. And that means through faith in 323 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:35,360 Jesus you get all of his accomplishments and you have to 324 00:21:35,360 --> 00:21:38,000 meet zero conditions for God to love you. 325 00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:43,640 It's unconditional love. And since it's unconditional 326 00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:47,640 love, then God's love has rested on you from before eternity 327 00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:50,920 began. Because God is love, which means 328 00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:53,600 there's nothing outside of Him that dictates his nature. 329 00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:56,400 There's nothing outside of him that changes his mind. 330 00:21:56,520 --> 00:21:59,560 There's nothing outside of him that persuades him to love you 331 00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:02,720 because God is love. His choice to love you happened 332 00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:07,200 before the cosmos even existed. You have been loved longer than 333 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:13,760 the universe has even existed. It was set on you from before 334 00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:18,640 eternity began, and if God's love was set on you from before 335 00:22:18,640 --> 00:22:22,120 eternity began, then God's love will rest on you for eternity 336 00:22:22,120 --> 00:22:24,000 past. To quote the old theologian 337 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:26,400 Gerhardt's Voss. And this is a sentence that I 338 00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:28,840 can barely utter without shivering. 339 00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:37,600 Voss said Quote The best proof that God will never stop loving 340 00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:41,800 us lies in the fact that he never began. 341 00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:46,000 Why won't God ever stop loving you? 342 00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:49,440 Because he never started loving you. 343 00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:54,720 It proceeds forth eternally from who He is and his very 344 00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:57,000 character. There's not a date you can 345 00:22:57,000 --> 00:23:00,440 circle on the calendar and say that's when God started loving 346 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:02,760 me, when I got my act together wrong. 347 00:23:03,880 --> 00:23:06,640 There's not a date you can circle on the calendar in the 348 00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:10,040 future and say that's when God is going to stop loving me. 349 00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:13,400 Wrong. God's love has been set on you 350 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:18,000 from eternity past to eternity future, and that means that you 351 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:22,720 will always and forever without end or variation, exist in the 352 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:26,320 loving gaze of God. And the certainty of the love of 353 00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:31,320 God resting on you has one fact holding it all up, that God so 354 00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:33,200 loved the world He gave his only Son, Jesus. 355 00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:36,200 For you. This is the very Jesus is the 356 00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:40,640 very foundation of the love that we celebrate for Christmas. 357 00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:48,400 It is the objective love of God historically expressed in God 358 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:50,560 sending Jesus for us. Come on. 359 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:54,280 Amen. It's Jesus. 360 00:23:55,160 --> 00:23:57,920 That's how we know God loves us. It's Jesus. 361 00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:01,440 It's always been Jesus. It always will be Jesus. 362 00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:05,720 Jesus is God's public display of affection for us. 363 00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:09,560 Jesus is God's love letter to humanity. 364 00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:15,880 Jesus is God's DM in your inbox. Jesus is love covered in the 365 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:18,760 flesh. Jesus is objective evidence that 366 00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:23,480 God loves you. Jesus is concrete data that God 367 00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:24,960 loves you. And don't mistake what I'm 368 00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:27,640 saying about the love of God as a newfangled or trendy 369 00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:31,000 understanding of God. This is the historical and 370 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:34,160 biblical position on the character of God. 371 00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:36,360 Consider these. Marie will have these on the 372 00:24:36,360 --> 00:24:39,400 screen for you. This is this is Saint John from 373 00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:49,400 2000 years ago. He said quote, God is, love is 374 00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:53,600 or 400 years later, how about Saint Augustine? 375 00:24:54,360 --> 00:24:58,120 Augustine came along in the four hundreds and said, quote, God 376 00:24:58,120 --> 00:25:02,640 loves each of us as if there were only one of us. 377 00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:08,160 There's only one cold, Ike, I'm going to pour all of my love 378 00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:12,600 into him, right? Each of us as if there were only 379 00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:15,480 one of us. Couple 100 years later in the 380 00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:20,640 1600s, here's John Owen. He says, quote, the greatest 381 00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:25,920 unkindness you can do to God is not to believe that he loves 382 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:30,080 you. You need some time with that 383 00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:35,640 one. Or how about Ji Packer from the 384 00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:41,960 1900s quote, God's love is like himself, unchanging. 385 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:49,640 He came once, 2000 years ago because he loves you and he's 386 00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:51,120 coming back. You want to know why? 387 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:54,200 Because he loves you. Amen. 388 00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:58,000 And so now, because of the gospel of Jesus, because of the 389 00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:07,080 sending of God's very own Son for us, your Father, He always 390 00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:14,320 looks at you like that, always without variance, without 391 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:20,080 shadow, without change. You exist in Jesus Christ. 392 00:26:20,360 --> 00:26:26,760 You exist under the loving gaze of God always. 393 00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:32,200 Even when God disciplines us, He looks at you with love. 394 00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:37,400 Even when God corrects us, He looks at you with love. 395 00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:40,560 In this moment, He looks at you with love. 396 00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:44,000 Tomorrow He looks at you with love. 397 00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:49,240 You could you could no easier escape the law of gravity than 398 00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:55,240 you can escape his loving gaze. God loves you a lot. 399 00:26:56,280 --> 00:27:00,320 A lot. And his love for you isn't a 400 00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:03,400 cheap message written for you on a holiday coffee cup sleeve. 401 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:08,240 It's a message that's carved for you in the stone of a Manger 402 00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:12,080 that holds the very love of God in human form. 403 00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:15,760 So that every time we look this Christmas season at the Infant 404 00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:19,280 Christ and a Manger, I hope we see a reflection of the love of 405 00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:25,040 God being born once again in US. The fact that God loves me that 406 00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:27,320 much. God loves you extravagantly. 407 00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:31,720 God loves you abundantly. God loves you eternally. 408 00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:34,880 God loves you so much that if you comprehended it, it would 409 00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:37,880 make you blush. His love is set on you 410 00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:42,280 permanently. Your Father, He always looks at 411 00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:46,880 you like that. All because 2000 years ago He 412 00:27:46,880 --> 00:27:49,600 sent Jesus Christ as His gift for us. 413 00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:57,840 So let the weary world rejoice and Merry Christmas, Heavenly 414 00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:01,920 Father, I pray that we would feel, experienced, know, believe 415 00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:05,040 the love of God. For us, the love of God is not 416 00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:09,640 just pure sentimentalism, although hopefully it does 417 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:12,560 include our feeling experience of it. 418 00:28:13,120 --> 00:28:15,920 But the love of God for us is an objective fact. 419 00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:20,120 And I know it's easy to sit underneath a message about God 420 00:28:20,120 --> 00:28:23,720 expressing his love for us in the person of Jesus and think, 421 00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:28,560 yeah, but I wish you would have expressed his love for me by 422 00:28:28,560 --> 00:28:31,360 filling my bank account or by making my life easier or 423 00:28:31,360 --> 00:28:33,760 whatever it is. And I understand that feeling. 424 00:28:34,960 --> 00:28:37,200 But we also need to be people who look at the scriptures and 425 00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:40,200 say who cares what our love language is? 426 00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:45,560 God's love language is the gospel, and he has given us his 427 00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:48,880 very own self in the person of Jesus. 428 00:28:49,280 --> 00:28:56,080 He was born in a Manger, and that Manger prefigures the cross 429 00:28:56,080 --> 00:28:59,280 that he died on. And so, Lord, I pray that you 430 00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:03,360 would wake us up to the love of God that dwells in each of us 431 00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:05,680 through the indwelling person of Jesus. 432 00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:08,600 Jesus is amazing and we thank you for giving him to us. 433 00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:10,440 So it's in His name that we pray. 434 00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:27,480 Amen. What's up, dude? 435 00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:29,800 Rocket and Spiderman? I'll feel like it.