1 00:00:01,720 --> 00:00:04,040 If you're watching online, we want to greet you. 2 00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:07,080 And I say thanks for joining us, whether it's 1113 right now on a 3 00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:09,760 Sunday morning or sometime in the near future. 4 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:12,080 And we want to invite you to come be with us in person. 5 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:14,160 This is your invitation. If you've been waiting for one, 6 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:17,160 you are invited. Come find us at 115 E Main 7 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:20,360 Street, right in the old historic part of downtown. 8 00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:21,720 Gathered. We'll see you again soon. 9 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:24,120 Our services are at 9:00 and 10:00, 30. 10 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:27,760 I must mention that the Sunday in between Christmas, Christmas 11 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:30,560 and New Year's, we will only have one service. 12 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:32,080 We're going to give our volunteers kind of a light 13 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:36,440 weekend, so like Sunday. So that will be Sunday the 28th, 14 00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:39,880 I believe it is. So that date, look for only one 15 00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:42,640 service at 10 AM. Can you say 10:00 AM? 16 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:45,640 Thank you very much. Alright, if you have your 17 00:00:45,640 --> 00:00:49,040 Bibles, please take and turn quite to the back of your New 18 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:52,360 Testament to the book of first Peter, which is after Hebrews 19 00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:55,480 and James, if you could find those, and before Revelation and 20 00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:57,560 the letters from John, first, second and third John. 21 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:01,880 So quite to the back, depending on how many notes and maps and 22 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:03,400 the likes that you have at the back of your Bible. 23 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:07,320 So first Peter, chapter 3, and I'm going to read to you from 24 00:01:07,320 --> 00:01:10,760 verse 15. And this is the apostle Peter 25 00:01:10,960 --> 00:01:14,200 that was a disciple of Jesus. You might remember he walked on 26 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:18,400 water and sunk, but he did walk for a little while and he denied 27 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:21,120 knowing Jesus. Remember the story of the 28 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:24,120 passion of Christ, the Easter story. 29 00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:26,960 He denies even knowing Jesus, even though he'd been one of his 30 00:01:26,960 --> 00:01:31,600 followers and he becomes really great early church leader that 31 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:35,000 writes a letter and his letter goes to followers of Jesus that 32 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:39,600 are in the midst of suffering and challenges and and and he 33 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:41,840 writes to them. And this is what he says in 34 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:44,560 first Peter 3, starting in verse 15. 35 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:48,320 He says, but in your hearts honor Christ. 36 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:53,920 The Lord is holy, always being prepared to make a defense to 37 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:57,760 anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. 38 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:02,880 Yet do it with the gentleness and respect. 39 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:08,440 Peter is coaching them to be ready to give a defense for the 40 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:13,480 hope that they have in Christ. So this morning and this 41 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:16,160 Christmas season, I want to talk to you about what do we do with 42 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:20,800 our hope at Christmas? What do we do with the hope that 43 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:23,280 we find in Christ in the Christmas season? 44 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:29,360 Let me pray for us, God. We have come to worship you. 45 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:33,560 We're made for it. We are made to connect with you, 46 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:36,120 to have fellowship with you, to have Konya, to have communion 47 00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:37,920 with you. And we're made to have a 48 00:02:37,920 --> 00:02:42,040 relationship with you. And we're made to abound in hope 49 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:46,280 and particularly this Christmas season, I pray God that you'll 50 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:50,200 speak to us and direct us. Show us what hope should look 51 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:52,840 like in the life of a believer. What do we do with the hope that 52 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:56,520 has been given to us by you? Speak to us. 53 00:02:56,520 --> 00:02:58,840 We pray our hearts are open, we're ready. 54 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:02,400 And Jesus name and everyone said Amen and Amen. 55 00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:06,880 The last couple years I keep going back to the theme that has 56 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:10,680 been the theme for our church and that is just a Christmas on 57 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:13,280 Main Street. Come to North Life in December 58 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:15,760 and we're going to celebrate Christmas on Main Street. 59 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:17,960 I love telling people that are friends of mine from around the 60 00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:20,920 country that our church is at the corner of Main and Elm 61 00:03:20,920 --> 00:03:22,520 Street. It doesn't get any more 62 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:27,120 Americana than the corner of Main and Elm in this little old 63 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:30,480 downtown area in Gate. I just love that our church sits 64 00:03:30,480 --> 00:03:34,080 where it sits and that has the sense of family that we have. 65 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:37,840 And so the last several years we sing these Christmas carols 66 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:39,360 together. We just sit and sing traditional 67 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:42,960 Christmas carols and we tried to just really do Christmas in like 68 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:44,640 a traditional way. So next week we're going to have 69 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:47,040 our kids pad our kids program, our kids pageant. 70 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:50,400 And it's always so sweet man. And we don't like obsessed to do 71 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:52,440 it like pros or anything. It's just our kids. 72 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:54,560 And there's something wonderful about being in a church where 73 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:57,240 you can just get your kids up and let them tell the Christmas 74 00:03:57,240 --> 00:03:57,840 story. Right. 75 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:01,440 I must tell you that early on in my career, I remember like, I 76 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:03,760 call it my career. My, my serving in the church in 77 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:09,720 my like 1993 to 95 in my early 20s, I served at a church in the 78 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:11,280 Saint Louis area. I see they were out of notes 79 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:12,960 back there as Lee's trying to find some notes. 80 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:15,600 So Laurel, maybe you can make some copies in case some people 81 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:16,920 want to grab them on their way out. 82 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:21,160 So 199395 I'm this young, you know, worship leader and working 83 00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:22,960 at this church called Church on the Rock in the Saint Louis 84 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:24,560 area. It was like 3000 people attended 85 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:27,240 this church. I'm 23 years old and, and back 86 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:30,520 then I would, I would direct like like a little orchestra and 87 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:32,800 a big choir that was in a singing Christmas tree. 88 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:35,280 You ever seen this people singing in a Christmas tree? 89 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:37,440 So it's like this big, like big wooden. 90 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:39,600 It looked like a tiered cake. Then you put all these it's 91 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:42,360 greenery in it, and you'd put like, I don't know, 80 or 100 92 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:45,560 people in this tree. And so I would wear a tuxedo and 93 00:04:45,560 --> 00:04:48,160 I had a baton and I was directing the orchestra. 94 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:50,080 And I really had no idea what I was doing because I don't really 95 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:52,560 read music. I play music by ear, right? 96 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:54,400 So, but I was faking everybody out. 97 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:55,040 Tom. I see. 98 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:57,280 There was like, Can you imagine me as an orchestra director? 99 00:04:57,280 --> 00:04:59,240 It's true, man. So I was faking everybody out. 100 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:01,280 I got a little book on conducting and Christmas was 101 00:05:01,280 --> 00:05:05,120 complicated and so we had camels and donkeys and llamas and 100 102 00:05:05,120 --> 00:05:08,360 voice choir and a little orchestra and I'm in a tuxedo. 103 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:11,560 And I remember having like an out of body experience and go, I 104 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:14,040 don't think I was supposed to be doing this with my life. 105 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:17,960 This does not feel like me, man. I wanted to be like a guitar 106 00:05:17,960 --> 00:05:20,800 playing worship guy, right? So I end up going to our church 107 00:05:20,840 --> 00:05:23,760 in Grand Rapids, MI And funny thing there is that when I went, 108 00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:26,120 if you can imagine this, I went to this church. 109 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:27,560 I moved there under Pastor's sincere guy. 110 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:30,000 But after I moved there, he said to me, he said, Kurt, I don't 111 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:32,680 really like guitar. Can you lead worship without 112 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:34,280 guitar? Can you imagine me leading 113 00:05:34,280 --> 00:05:36,720 worship without guitar? It's really weird. 114 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:39,360 Like I feel terribly awkward if I don't have a guitar on when 115 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:41,120 I'm singing. I am the biggest dork. 116 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:43,960 OK, just a geek. So I did it, though, and I would 117 00:05:43,960 --> 00:05:45,960 lead worship for piano and I would do these Christmas 118 00:05:45,960 --> 00:05:47,360 musicals. And I lived that life. 119 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:48,840 And I would try to produce where I was planted. 120 00:05:48,840 --> 00:05:50,840 But then I got to go to another place. 121 00:05:50,840 --> 00:05:52,920 And what I found is that I didn't want to do super 122 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:56,840 complicated Christmas season. I wanted it just to be simple 123 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:00,040 and I wanted to do Christmas carols and, and Christmas 124 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:02,840 services. But but me personally, me doing 125 00:06:02,840 --> 00:06:05,520 the big, big, big production was just, it wasn't fulfilling to 126 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:07,480 me. So my point is that now as the 127 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:11,200 pastor of our church, I always want Christmas to kind of just 128 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:14,240 be simple. And I want us to have these 129 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:18,080 ideas of like what are the main ideas and what are the main 130 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:20,160 beautiful parts? Singing Christmas carols and 131 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:21,880 Christmas pageants and Christmas Eve services. 132 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:25,880 I love them so much, but I want to focus on just the simplicity 133 00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:29,560 and this idea of like, we're just going to Christmas on Main 134 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:30,920 Street. Jace is not in the room. 135 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:32,720 She stepped out for a couple minutes so I could tell a story 136 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:35,400 on her. She if you watch this, Jace 137 00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:37,960 loves her hallmarked movies because she grew up speaking 138 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:40,200 German as a Croatian immigrant. She grew up speaking Germany, 139 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:44,520 German and and Germany. So she she says she loves her 140 00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:47,720 hallmarked, but she puts this bark like a KT on the end of it 141 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:49,120 because that's how they would have said it in her native 142 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:51,200 language, right? So for me, it's like coming to 143 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:53,000 church. And I'm not a big Hallmark fan, 144 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:55,160 but I do like the idea of simplicity, the kind of a 145 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:59,280 Hallmark vibe at Christmas time. So the message this morning, 146 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:03,640 what I wanted to feel like is I wanted just to be the simple 147 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:10,000 reminder of this hope that we get at Christmas time. 148 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:14,480 Because the peace and the promises that are fulfilled that 149 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:20,920 bring us the hope is a certainly important to lean into as we go 150 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:23,000 through the Christmas season. OK. 151 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:26,720 And so Christmas on Main Street, I wanted to just be simple. 152 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:29,400 And so I want to bring you just a simple message this morning 153 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:32,680 about the hope that we find in Christmas and what do we do with 154 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:35,120 it. OK, now, and if you have the 155 00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:39,360 notes, what I've done is when I put for Peter 3:15, I put red. 156 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:40,800 You can see there's red. What do you call it? 157 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:42,400 dot, dot, dot, right. Where there's a dot, dot, dot at 158 00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:43,760 the beginning, A dot, dot dot at the end. 159 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:47,520 Why did I do that? Because really first Peter 315 160 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:51,520 here is it's it's kind of a thought in between a much longer 161 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:53,360 sentence. Much of the New Testament, by 162 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:55,360 the way, is written in long sentences, right? 163 00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:58,200 And so this is a long sentence with one idea. 164 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:01,960 And in the middle of this long discourse that Peter is writing, 165 00:08:02,280 --> 00:08:06,800 he says, Oh yeah, be ready to give a defense for the hope that 166 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:11,000 you have one Translation says be instant in and out of season, 167 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:13,400 ready to give answer for the hope that you have. 168 00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:15,280 OK, now I want to give you the context. 169 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:17,440 So in your notes and on the screens, we'll have first Peter 170 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:20,200 3/8 through 16. So I'm going to show you verse 171 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:22,720 15. We already read what is its 172 00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:24,760 context? OK, So the dot dot dots are to 173 00:08:24,760 --> 00:08:27,360 show you there's ideas before and ideas after. 174 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:31,200 So watch this Peter again, this disciple of Jesus, now a church 175 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:35,520 leader apostle is writing to followers of Jesus that are 176 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:41,840 experiencing suffering and tribulation and persecution and 177 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:43,799 some of their persecutions because of their faith in 178 00:08:43,799 --> 00:08:45,520 Christ. And some of it is just the 179 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:53,040 perils of life, disappointments, death of a loved one, a dream 180 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:54,760 that's dashed and is never fulfilled. 181 00:08:54,760 --> 00:08:58,600 All of these things lead to a fight against the hope that we 182 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:00,280 find in Jesus. So watch. 183 00:09:00,280 --> 00:09:02,760 He's going to call me saying, hey, be ready to give an answer 184 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:04,960 for the hope you have. But watch how he builds up to 185 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:06,040 it. He says finally. 186 00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:08,960 Whenever a pastor or a New Testament writer, whenever they 187 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:11,320 say finally, it makes it sound like they're about to end, but 188 00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:14,320 often they're not. OK, so he's he's saying finally, 189 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:16,840 but he's only in chapter 3. So there's chapter 4 and chapter 190 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:18,760 5 to come. He gets more to say. 191 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:20,760 So he doesn't really end, but he starts it by tricking him, 192 00:09:20,760 --> 00:09:24,520 saying finally, OK, He says, finally, all of you have unity 193 00:09:24,520 --> 00:09:27,040 of mind. I want you to be in unity. 194 00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:30,240 He says, and I want you to have sympathy, sympathy and brotherly 195 00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:33,560 love and a tender heart and a humble mind. 196 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:35,320 This is Peter. He's a rock. 197 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:37,160 He's a fisherman. And yet he's saying to these 198 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:39,720 followers of Jesus, this is the posture that I want you to have 199 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:43,560 humbleness and sympathy and unity. 200 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:47,480 OK, So he's writing them and he says do not repay evil for evil, 201 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:52,840 reviling for reviling, but On the contrary, bless for to this 202 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:56,240 you were called that you may obtain a blessing. 203 00:09:56,360 --> 00:09:58,640 So he's saying don't curse people when they when when they 204 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:00,880 curse you, he's saying return a blessing to them, right? 205 00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:03,440 This is the posture of a follower of Jesus and those 206 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:05,800 hearing the letter again, they were under great persecution and 207 00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:08,440 suffering for their faith. OK, now verse 10. 208 00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:11,640 Watch what he does here. He's going to quote a Psalm. 209 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:14,920 He quotes Psalm 34. OK, so as Wade and I taught 210 00:10:14,920 --> 00:10:18,200 through the Psalms this past fall, what was interesting is 211 00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:20,840 seeing how often in the New Testament we see the New 212 00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:22,760 Testament writers quoting the Psalms. 213 00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:24,640 You wouldn't know it unless you looked in the footnotes of your 214 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:27,000 Bible. But he is quoting Psalm 34 and 215 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:32,360 he says from the Psalm says for whoever desires to love life and 216 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:36,040 see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips 217 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:39,720 from speaking deceit. He's going to encourage them. 218 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:42,200 Be ready to give reason for the hope that you have. 219 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:45,120 Be ready to speak about it. But here he's saying don't, 220 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:48,320 don't speak evil with your tongue and don't speak deceit 221 00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:50,720 with your tongue. And then he says, let him turn 222 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:54,520 away from evil and do good. Let him seek peace and pursue 223 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:58,800 it, for the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears 224 00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:01,840 are on the are are open to the prayer, but the face of the Lord 225 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:04,840 is against those who do evil. OK, so he's quoted from the 226 00:11:04,840 --> 00:11:06,200 Psalm. Then he goes on verse 13. 227 00:11:06,360 --> 00:11:09,760 All of this is going to build up to Peter saying, be ready to 228 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:11,760 give an offence for the hope that you have. 229 00:11:12,120 --> 00:11:15,000 Verse 13 Now who is there to harm you if you were zealous for 230 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:19,960 what is good? But even if you should suffer 231 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:23,760 for righteousness sake, you'll be blessed. 232 00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:26,000 Have No Fear of them nor be troubled. 233 00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:29,160 That's all the build up to. Now we get to where we start. 234 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:34,520 But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord is holy. 235 00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:39,600 And always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks for a 236 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:42,640 reason for the hope that is in you. 237 00:11:43,280 --> 00:11:46,960 Yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good 238 00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:50,120 conscience so that when you are slandered, those who are vowed 239 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:52,760 your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 240 00:11:53,960 --> 00:11:57,040 So watch this is AI love this passage of Christmas time. 241 00:11:57,160 --> 00:11:59,360 What should our posture be? Because you might find that you 242 00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:03,240 might get into some discussions with people about the truth of 243 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:05,560 Christmas, the truth of Jesus, etcetera. 244 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:10,000 And when you go to give in that discussion a reason for watch 245 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:12,840 your hope. Your posture should be like what 246 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:16,400 he's encouraging you to do here. Now Christmas time especially, 247 00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:19,360 we should be abounding with hope so greatly that those around us 248 00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:21,040 should ask, what's the reason for your peace? 249 00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:23,720 What's the reason for your hope? Why are you so at ease? 250 00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:25,920 This past year might have brought you something really 251 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:29,320 heartbreaking with your job, with your family, whatever. 252 00:12:29,320 --> 00:12:32,200 This past year, people might look and go, wow, how do you get 253 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:36,120 hope? And you should be ready to give 254 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:39,080 an answer for it. Now I must say that this passage 255 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:43,880 is widely, widely, widely misunderstood and widely 256 00:12:43,880 --> 00:12:47,000 misinterpreted. OK, misrepresented now and in 257 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:50,240 what way you might have heard, in fact, I asked some people 258 00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:53,040 I'll I'll do a survey. How many of you have heard this 259 00:12:53,040 --> 00:12:55,640 passage taught on in a in a fashion of where maybe someone 260 00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:59,080 took it out of context and they said you should be ready at any 261 00:12:59,080 --> 00:13:01,320 minute. Be ready to give a defense for 262 00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:03,480 your beliefs. Has anybody ever heard this talk 263 00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:07,360 before Like you're doctrine, be ready to give an answer for what 264 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:09,400 you believe your doctrine. You should be ready and in and 265 00:13:09,400 --> 00:13:10,880 out of season, right? Watch this. 266 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:14,640 On Friday, Jason, I were down in Grand Rapids and she needed to 267 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:15,880 do, we needed to do some errands. 268 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:19,520 She wanted to do some shopping. And then we went to the Kindle 269 00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:21,440 Mart, which is like the Christmas market. 270 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:23,920 And she grown up in Germany again, had a really lovely time 271 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:25,600 there. So Friday I'm there and she's 272 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:27,280 shopping the mall and I go to Barnes and Nobles. 273 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:29,960 I love to be in a bookstore. And one of my students, I teach 274 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:33,040 guitar and one of my students was in the first service at 275 00:13:33,040 --> 00:13:36,640 Hudson and he had asked me some questions recently that were 276 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:38,280 really profound for a high school kid. 277 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:40,920 And I won't tell you what he asked, but he had some questions 278 00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:42,680 that he was asked me in text. And I said, well, let's talk 279 00:13:42,680 --> 00:13:46,240 about it next guitar lesson. So we he showed up and, and I 280 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:48,200 explained him, I said, well, the things that you're asking about 281 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:50,320 these are issues of like apologetics. 282 00:13:50,520 --> 00:13:53,280 That's a word you might not have heard before, but apologetics, 283 00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:56,600 it's, it's not an apology for Christianity, but apologetics is 284 00:13:56,600 --> 00:14:01,920 when we do study and be diligent about explaining the truths of 285 00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:05,640 Christianity, typically to someone who's hostile towards 286 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:09,040 Christianity, OK, Someone who doesn't believe in the doctrines 287 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:10,320 or the, or the theology that we have. 288 00:14:10,400 --> 00:14:14,920 So an apologist is somebody who studies apologetics and they 289 00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:16,680 have, they're there to have answers. 290 00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:19,920 And these answers come up. And I believe in doctrine and 291 00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:21,160 theology. If you attend our church, you 292 00:14:21,160 --> 00:14:26,640 know, it's very important to me to teach truth and to teach in a 293 00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:28,760 way where we grow and our understanding. 294 00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:31,680 So I was saying to Hudson, my guitar student friend, I said 295 00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:33,520 so. So I answered some questions for 296 00:14:33,520 --> 00:14:34,920 him. But when I was in Grand Rapids, 297 00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:38,760 I picked up this book and it's called The Comprehensive Guide 298 00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:41,120 to Apologetics because I realized it's like, OK, when I 299 00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:43,840 was in seminary in college, I studied apologetics, but it's 300 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:46,560 some time ago. And so I wanted to freshen up on 301 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:50,080 what I know and what I want to learn about apologetics. 302 00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:51,600 OK. So this is a tremendous book. 303 00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:53,560 It's not meant to be read from cover to cover. 304 00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:56,120 I don't think it's more of a a reference book, OK, And you can 305 00:14:56,120 --> 00:14:58,560 go through and a lot of renowned scholars have answered questions 306 00:14:58,560 --> 00:15:01,360 in here, OK, that you can look up in the table of contents. 307 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:04,480 This is a great book written by really wonderful people. 308 00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:07,280 But watch how the book starts. And it's funny, I was teaching 309 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:09,200 on this and I ran across this one like I'm teaching on this 310 00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:10,720 this weekend. That's how the Lord is. 311 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:14,680 So he starts his preface, the editor, and it says this, the 312 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:18,000 most important reason to do apologetics is that God told us 313 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:19,840 to do so. And I'm like, Amen. 314 00:15:19,920 --> 00:15:22,160 Yes, he has. And it's as simple as that. 315 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:24,400 He says God told us to do it, so we must do it. 316 00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:27,320 So says Doctor Norman Geisler, my primary mentor. 317 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:29,240 And what are the contributors of this book? 318 00:15:29,240 --> 00:15:33,000 And then he says this. God calls us to be prepared to 319 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:35,680 make a defense to anyone who asks. 320 00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:39,000 And he quotes first Peter 3:15 that I was going to be teaching 321 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:40,080 on this weekend. OK. 322 00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:41,880 And then he goes on and he has some other things to say. 323 00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:44,880 So he says the purpose of this book is that God has commanded 324 00:15:44,880 --> 00:15:50,000 us to be ready to discuss and give reason for our faith. 325 00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:52,800 And I believe he's right, but oddly enough, and I don't want 326 00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:54,320 to be critical, but I'm telling you, I think he's 327 00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:57,880 misrepresenting this passage. There are other places, yes and 328 00:15:57,880 --> 00:16:02,120 the New Testament where we are encouraged to debate and and and 329 00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:05,560 come and contend for the faith. Watch here. 330 00:16:05,560 --> 00:16:09,040 Second Christians, this is Paul in this occasion in chapter 10 331 00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:14,160 verse 5, Paul says we destroy arguments and every lofty 332 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:16,800 opinion raised against the knowledge of God. 333 00:16:17,080 --> 00:16:19,760 What's Paul's posture and debating the truth of 334 00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:22,560 Christianity. We're going to destroy lofty 335 00:16:22,560 --> 00:16:25,560 opinions raised against God and his truth and take every thought 336 00:16:25,560 --> 00:16:29,560 captive to obey Christ. Are we to be mindful and and 337 00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:33,640 versed and educated and about our doctrine? 338 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:37,320 Yes, we should be. June 3, says Beloved, although I 339 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:40,560 was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I 340 00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:45,600 found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for 341 00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:48,280 the faith that was once and for all delivered to the Saints. 342 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:52,560 He's like, you should fight, contend, fight for truth. 343 00:16:53,360 --> 00:16:57,040 The Bible, I do believe, tells us to do this. 344 00:16:57,560 --> 00:17:00,960 But does first Peter 3 tell us to do this? 345 00:17:01,480 --> 00:17:07,280 No, Peter is saying be instant in and out of season. 346 00:17:07,359 --> 00:17:13,079 Be ready at any moment to give defense for the hope that you 347 00:17:13,079 --> 00:17:14,640 have. And the editor of this book, 348 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:16,760 again, I recommend this book. It's a great book, but he cuts 349 00:17:16,760 --> 00:17:19,119 it off. He says be ready to give, to 350 00:17:19,119 --> 00:17:23,000 give defense and he tries to make it seem like it's for 351 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:24,560 apologetics. And again, it's I don't want to 352 00:17:24,560 --> 00:17:27,000 be critical, but I'm just saying that I really believe that 353 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:29,680 Peter, if you cut him off, you miss his point. 354 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:35,160 His point is be ready to give reason for your hope. 355 00:17:37,040 --> 00:17:41,480 And when it comes to explaining our faith and God working in US, 356 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:43,720 you can know. And I, I'm going to read this 357 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:44,600 book. I am. 358 00:17:44,600 --> 00:17:46,200 I'm going to get in here and I'm going to get stuff in it. 359 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:51,160 But in the end, I am aware that Peter's posture and his approach 360 00:17:51,680 --> 00:17:54,320 being such that he's saying be ready to give reason for your 361 00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:58,240 hope is more effective in the end for a lot of people than 362 00:17:58,240 --> 00:18:00,880 knowing how to argue well and debate well. 363 00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:03,240 A lot of the things that are in this book that I'm going to read 364 00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:05,920 and present probably in messages in the future. 365 00:18:06,520 --> 00:18:11,760 But Peter is saying the hope that you have in Jesus is a 366 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:17,840 powerful tool to point people to God, the hope that you have at 367 00:18:17,840 --> 00:18:20,360 Christmas time. And what I want to show you is 368 00:18:20,360 --> 00:18:26,120 that we can be stirred to greater hope and faith and trust 369 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:29,520 and peace in God by what happened in Bethlehem in a 370 00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:37,360 Manger 2000 and some years ago. The Christmas story should stir 371 00:18:37,360 --> 00:18:41,120 us to greater hope. And when your hope abounds to a 372 00:18:41,120 --> 00:18:44,440 certain place, people will ask you about it. 373 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:49,160 And Peter's saying, be ready to tell them why you abound in 374 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:52,160 hope. Now hope is the point of the 375 00:18:52,360 --> 00:18:55,520 Christmas story. Watch this Romans 1512. 376 00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:59,320 This is the apostle Paul writing to the church at Rome, and he is 377 00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:02,400 going to quote Isaiah, the prophet that prophesied that 378 00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:05,000 Jesus would come. And and here's Paul. 379 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:07,280 And again Isaiah says he's quoting Isaiah. 380 00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:10,160 Again, Paul is, he says the root of Jesse will come. 381 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:14,600 Even he who arises to rule the Gentiles, in him will the 382 00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:18,760 Gentiles hope. May the God of hope fill you 383 00:19:18,760 --> 00:19:21,840 with all joy and peace and believing, so that by the power 384 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:24,400 of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. 385 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:28,600 Paul is quoting Isaiah. Isaiah's prophesying that the 386 00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:31,760 Messiah Jesus will come through the root of Jesse, and by this 387 00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:35,320 he means David, the father of David, the shepherd boy who 388 00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:37,880 killed the Goliath and became this great king. 389 00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:41,680 His father was Jesse, and the Old Testament prophets said that 390 00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:52,920 the Messiah chief. Saying that Jesus will come and 391 00:19:52,920 --> 00:19:56,520 he'll give hope to the Gentiles and he'll give hope to the Jews 392 00:19:56,800 --> 00:19:58,960 and the God of the Gentile. By the way, someone who's non 393 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:03,200 Jewish and he says the God of hope, I mean Isaiah calls Paul 394 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:07,720 calls God the God of hope and he'll fill you with joy and 395 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:11,600 peace and believing when you believe in Jesus, one of the 396 00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:17,400 benefits, the fruit following Christ is hope and joy and 397 00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:20,680 peace. Even in the midst of sorrow and 398 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:24,160 struggling, what we find is that the joy that the angels sing 399 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:27,560 about in the Christmas story, we bring you good tidings of great 400 00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:30,480 joy to all men. That joy that we find in God can 401 00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:36,880 coexist with sorrow and struggle, and that's the life of 402 00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:40,720 a follower of Jesus. We should abound in hope, 403 00:20:40,760 --> 00:20:45,400 especially at Christmas. Now I want to unpack for you 404 00:20:45,680 --> 00:20:49,880 what is hope to a Christian? If I had to give it a 405 00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:52,520 definition, what is hope? Because it could be this vague 406 00:20:52,520 --> 00:20:55,400 idea out there that that I want to, I want to give it. 407 00:20:55,840 --> 00:20:57,480 I want to give it a definition, OK? 408 00:20:57,840 --> 00:21:02,960 Hope that we have in Christ is a confidence that God has today, 409 00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:08,440 tomorrow, and the future, knowing that God is in control, 410 00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:11,640 God has a plan, God is working all things together. 411 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:13,600 We find that in Romans 828, right? 412 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:15,800 This is a foundational truth. It's often misquoted. 413 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:18,960 Also, Paul writes in Romans and we know that for those who love 414 00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:22,160 God, all things work together for good, for those who are 415 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:25,480 called according to his purpose. Some people misquote that by 416 00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:27,400 saying, hey, everything works together for good. 417 00:21:27,640 --> 00:21:29,720 All things work for good. That's not true. 418 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:32,960 All things do not work for good, but all things work together for 419 00:21:33,760 --> 00:21:38,880 the good to those who love God and are called according to his 420 00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:42,440 purpose, right. So as followers of Jesus, Isaiah 421 00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:43,960 prophesied about it, Paul talked about it. 422 00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:48,320 He is the God of hope and our hope is a confidence that God 423 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:50,880 has today, tomorrow and the future. 424 00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:53,440 An author that I'm fond of, his name is NT Wright. 425 00:21:54,160 --> 00:21:56,920 He wrote a book called Surprised by Hope and it's a wonderful 426 00:21:56,920 --> 00:21:58,120 book. I encourage you can get an audio 427 00:21:58,120 --> 00:22:01,240 version of it or or a, a book version of it. 428 00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:03,840 It's a great read, right? And I've done Bible studies 429 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:06,240 through it in the last several years with men's groups and 430 00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:08,400 other things. But NT Wright writes us, He says 431 00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:11,080 hope is, at least I'm paraphrasing him, but it's a 432 00:22:11,360 --> 00:22:13,440 monumental idea of his book. Surprised by Hope. 433 00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:17,000 Hope is more than optimism. It's not just like positive 434 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:18,720 thinking. The world has that. 435 00:22:18,760 --> 00:22:22,040 I'll just stay positive, stay positive, be upbeat, whatever. 436 00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:25,600 No hope is more than optimism, but it's a confident expectation 437 00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:31,240 that God is in the process of making all things new and good. 438 00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:40,160 God is making this world that is wrong, right When God builds the 439 00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:43,000 garden of even creates the Garden of Eden and puts Adam and 440 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:45,920 Eve there, and they disobey God and they're cast out of the 441 00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:48,200 garden, not as a punishment. They're cast out of the garden 442 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:50,760 because now that they've eaten from this tree, they will live 443 00:22:50,760 --> 00:22:53,720 forever, but they'll live forever distant from God. 444 00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:58,400 So when God casts them out, he's starting his process to redeem 445 00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:00,440 us, right? And so he puts them out. 446 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:03,360 So they will die, but they can then be resurrected and God will 447 00:23:03,360 --> 00:23:05,520 redeem us. And that's the plan from Genesis 448 00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:08,960 chapter 3 on the Bible is that it's a story of God leading his 449 00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:11,480 people home, bringing us back to redemption. 450 00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:15,680 So in Genesis 315, it says, I will put this is God speaking to 451 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:17,920 the snake or Satan in the garden? 452 00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:22,000 And he says, I will put enmity between you and the woman. 453 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:23,800 Now, who's the woman that he's Speaking of? 454 00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:25,280 We believe it's Eve. I'm not Eve. 455 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:27,120 I'm sorry. We believe it's Mary who will 456 00:23:27,120 --> 00:23:29,640 deliver Jesus. So you and the woman and between 457 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:32,920 your offspring and her offspring, he shall bruise your 458 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:35,800 head and you shall bruise his heel. 459 00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:38,480 OK, so God is saying, hey, here's the plan. 460 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:41,720 Through the woman, through Mary, Jesus will be born. 461 00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:44,840 And when he is Satan, you, you, you'll bruise his heel, but he 462 00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:47,440 is going to crush your head. You'll be done. 463 00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:49,280 God is going to be victorious in the end. 464 00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:51,320 That's the hope that is right there in Genesis. 465 00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:54,440 Then in Luke 2, talking about the Christmas story, watch it 466 00:23:54,440 --> 00:23:56,880 says, and this is the shepherd, the story of the shepherds and 467 00:23:57,240 --> 00:23:59,080 the the the angels. And in the same region there 468 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:02,400 were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock 469 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:04,000 by night. And an Angel of the Lord 470 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:07,600 appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them 471 00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:09,720 and they were filled with great fear. 472 00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:14,080 And the Angel said to them, if you're not and others have hope, 473 00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:17,560 for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be 474 00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:20,400 for all the people. For unto you is born this day in 475 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:24,960 the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord. 476 00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:27,320 What is the good news that the angels bring? 477 00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:31,320 They're bringing the news that God's plan is unfolding, the 478 00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:33,600 prophecies of the Messiah to come in the Old Testament. 479 00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:35,800 They're coming to pass. God's on the move. 480 00:24:35,960 --> 00:24:38,920 He's working. You can have hope in this. 481 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:42,600 He is fulfilling what had been told and Matthew's telling the 482 00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:46,440 story of Jesus being born in chapter 1. 483 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:49,760 It's the Angel having this discussion, Gabriel having a 484 00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:54,280 discussion with Joseph, who will be Jesus's earthly father, if 485 00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:56,600 you will. And it says she will bear a son, 486 00:24:56,600 --> 00:24:58,920 and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his 487 00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:03,120 people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill 488 00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:06,600 what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. 489 00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:10,200 Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear Son, and they shall 490 00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:12,600 call his name Emmanuel. This is quoting again the Old 491 00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:16,720 Testament prophets who said that God will be called the Messiah, 492 00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:20,040 being born in Bethlehem will be called Emmanuel, which means God 493 00:25:20,040 --> 00:25:23,240 with us. God's not distant, He's come to 494 00:25:23,240 --> 00:25:26,440 dwell among us and it gives us hope. 495 00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:29,640 Luke telling again more of the Christmas story. 496 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:32,560 This is the story of Mary talking with the Angel Gabriel 497 00:25:32,560 --> 00:25:36,320 when he tells her that you are going to give birth to Jesus. 498 00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:39,840 And he says to her, for nothing will be impossible with God. 499 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:44,920 You can hope nothing, nothing is impossible is what Gabriel says 500 00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:46,360 to her. And then Mary said after that 501 00:25:46,360 --> 00:25:48,880 she said, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord, let it be 502 00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:53,200 to me, according to your word. And the Angel departed from her. 503 00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:57,200 The story of Christmas is a story of hope. 504 00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:02,840 Seeing that God is in charge, He is fulfilling his plans and His 505 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:05,920 purposes, and we can have this confidence in it. 506 00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:11,840 Now, what does living with hope, with God, hope that comes from 507 00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:13,080 God? What does it look like for 508 00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:16,440 Christians? Dallas Willard says this. 509 00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:19,920 He says confidence in God is the foundation of a meaningful human 510 00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:23,160 life, right? So when you look at all of the 511 00:26:23,400 --> 00:26:26,880 chaos in the world and you look at all of the drama in 512 00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:31,320 situations, you know, it can lead to just hopelessness, 513 00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:33,920 right? People can just give up on life 514 00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:38,360 and they go, oh, man, just, you know, just live, die and pay 515 00:26:38,360 --> 00:26:41,440 your taxes, right? But no, God wants us as 516 00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:42,520 Christians. We don't live that way. 517 00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:46,600 We live, it's going, we can trust that God is working things 518 00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:50,640 out. So I, I, I would illustrate it 519 00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:53,400 to you this way. Jason and I were, as I said, we 520 00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:56,440 were down in Grand Rapids on Friday and we went on Friday 521 00:26:56,440 --> 00:27:00,600 knowing that there was going to be a snowstorm and coming back 522 00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:02,000 from gather. We get snow all the time, right? 523 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:03,600 We're used to it. So we're down there, we're 524 00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:06,680 shopping and then we wanted to go to this Chris, Chris kindle 525 00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:09,760 marked and we we were just having a good time. 526 00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:11,960 So we stayed longer and we didn't leave until around 730 527 00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:16,000 knowing there was going to be snow as we drove N well, it 528 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:20,120 snowed and it really snowed hard right If you were out and about 529 00:27:20,120 --> 00:27:23,000 Friday night. So it got dark and we it was 530 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:25,200 pretty good until we got that Big Rapids and then from Big 531 00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:27,480 Rapids all the way to Gaylord. It was just like white out. 532 00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:30,560 OK. And you've driven in this. 533 00:27:30,560 --> 00:27:32,680 I know. I mean, you, you're you're from 534 00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:35,680 the north, you know, So we're driving. 535 00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:38,120 It's dark. And this is a story where I want 536 00:27:38,120 --> 00:27:40,160 to illustrate what hope looks like in the life of a follower 537 00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:43,120 of Jesus. I'm 6 foot 2. 538 00:27:43,360 --> 00:27:46,320 And so I always put the seat as far back as it can go in our two 539 00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:47,720 cars, right? Jace's car in my car. 540 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:50,840 But Jace is 5 foot two. She says she's 5 foot three. 541 00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:55,840 It's not true. OK, But, but she puts the seat 542 00:27:55,920 --> 00:27:58,680 all the way forward, OK, when she's driving all the way 543 00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:00,320 forward, right? Well, when I'm driving in 544 00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:03,680 whiteout conditions like that, I move the car seat forward, 545 00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:05,200 right? Because I want to be right up 546 00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:07,360 here like this, right? So it's it's white out. 547 00:28:07,360 --> 00:28:09,080 You know, when you're driving like that and somebody passes 548 00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:10,600 you on the left really fast, what happens? 549 00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:14,240 Stirs up all the snow and then you can't see anything, right? 550 00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:19,280 And I, I, I tell you that sometimes life is like this. 551 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:23,640 It's like you're feeling your way through the dark or you're 552 00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:25,560 feeling your way through a snowstorm and you can't see the 553 00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:29,080 way. But there was, you know, what I 554 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:32,320 do in that situation is I try to find a car that's going about 555 00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:35,680 the pace that I'm going to go. And then I just follow their 556 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:38,920 lights, right? You've done this, right? 557 00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:41,800 Just follow their lights. And I'm like, I'm glad I'm not 558 00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:46,200 the one out front, right? So people flying by and when 559 00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:49,640 they'll fly by and it's all this confusion, I'm just like seat 560 00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:53,480 forward and like knuckling it. And I just like keep following 561 00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:54,880 Kurt. Just keep going, man. 562 00:28:55,040 --> 00:28:56,840 Just keep following those lights. 563 00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:03,520 Here's my point is that when it's hard to see the way we are 564 00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:08,520 followers of Jesus and Jesus shows the way and it's like 565 00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:10,200 following him through through storms. 566 00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:13,760 John 14, four through 6. This is Jesus talking to Thomas 567 00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:16,680 after the resurrection. And Jesus says, and you know the 568 00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:19,960 way to where I'm going? Oh, Jesus says to Thomas, you 569 00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:21,560 know the way where I'm going, you know where I'm going. 570 00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:24,840 And Thomas, man, he gets a bad rap, but I just love his honest 571 00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:27,000 and we call him doubting Thomas. He was the disciple that didn't 572 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:29,320 believe that Jesus was resurrected and he said he 573 00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:30,680 wouldn't believe until he touched the, you know, the 574 00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:33,960 wounds in Jesus side and that's OK, right? 575 00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:36,800 It's I'm like that. And but Jesus says to Thomas, 576 00:29:36,800 --> 00:29:39,120 you know the way where I'm going and Thomas goes, Lord, we don't 577 00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:42,000 know where you're going. I don't know where you're going. 578 00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:47,480 How can we know the way? And Jesus said I'm the way and 579 00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:51,040 I'm the truth and the life and no one comes to the father. 580 00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:54,800 In other words, no one gets home except through me. 581 00:29:56,040 --> 00:29:59,160 So when I'm driving white knuckling Friday night, I'm 582 00:29:59,160 --> 00:30:01,880 like, if I keep following, then I'll get home. 583 00:30:02,520 --> 00:30:05,960 Now, The thing is, I follow far enough where I I'm following 584 00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:07,760 this person in front of me, knowing that they could end up 585 00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:10,480 in the ditch, right? If they end up flying off the 586 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:12,760 road, then I'm not following them anymore, right? 587 00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:15,560 So I'm following just far enough back where it's like, Oh my 588 00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:17,480 gosh, they're going off the road, not me, right? 589 00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:22,040 So I can't trust that they'll stay in the road, but I'm 590 00:30:22,040 --> 00:30:24,240 following them. The thing with Jesus is that 591 00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:27,760 he's the way the truth and the life and the Holy Spirit that is 592 00:30:27,800 --> 00:30:31,800 in US can lead us through Blizzard like conditions in 593 00:30:31,800 --> 00:30:35,200 life. And we go through life with this 594 00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:37,240 hope that comes in Jesus. Sometimes it looks like we're 595 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:40,440 white and huckling it, but even in those moments it's like, OK, 596 00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:44,160 God's stirring me a confidence that you're leading me. 597 00:30:44,960 --> 00:30:46,720 And that's the point of the Christmas story. 598 00:30:47,600 --> 00:30:52,000 Jesus fulfilling God, fulfilling his promises to us. 599 00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:54,800 Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. 600 00:30:54,800 --> 00:30:57,880 And I'll tell you another story. If you feel like you've lost 601 00:30:57,880 --> 00:30:59,320 hope this Christmas season, know this. 602 00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:02,680 That hope is in the house or I'll say in the car. 603 00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:07,200 And what do I mean by this? Sometimes you'll go through life 604 00:31:07,200 --> 00:31:09,920 and you're a follower of Jesus. And maybe there was a season in 605 00:31:09,920 --> 00:31:13,120 your life where you were idealistic and you believe God 606 00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:18,720 promises in his word. But then life happened and maybe 607 00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:21,880 you've gone to living, even though you're Christian, you're 608 00:31:21,880 --> 00:31:23,960 you believe Jesus is Lord and he's the Lord of your life. 609 00:31:24,080 --> 00:31:26,720 But yet you find your place and a place where like you've lost 610 00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:27,680 hope. Where is it? 611 00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:31,440 And you seem hopeless. I compare it to this. 612 00:31:31,800 --> 00:31:35,440 I have an Apple iPad and, and I use it all the time. 613 00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:37,240 And I have an Apple Pencil, right? 614 00:31:37,400 --> 00:31:40,280 And I need my pencil the way that I use my iPad, my pencil, I 615 00:31:40,280 --> 00:31:43,320 need it right? Need at least I want it right. 616 00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:48,280 And so a couple of times I've lost my Pencil, my Apple Pencil, 617 00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:50,160 but I've lost it like in the house. 618 00:31:50,560 --> 00:31:54,680 Like I know I got home with it. I know it's here somewhere. 619 00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:57,160 It's in the house. I just have to find it. 620 00:31:57,640 --> 00:32:00,480 And sometimes it's hard. And I'll tell you a couple of 621 00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:03,360 times I've lost it for like two or three weeks and then I'll 622 00:32:03,360 --> 00:32:05,680 find it like a certain, I looked under the bed, but I couldn't 623 00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:06,760 find it. And then finally it's like, oh, 624 00:32:06,760 --> 00:32:08,400 it was there under the bed, right? 625 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:12,280 Or in the couch was in the couch or dropped out of my, you know, 626 00:32:12,320 --> 00:32:14,800 out of my case or I compared to this. 627 00:32:14,800 --> 00:32:17,320 We were in Texas a couple weeks ago for Thanksgiving with 628 00:32:17,320 --> 00:32:19,760 family. And my car is not such, but 629 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:21,840 Jason's car is a car where you have the FoB, right? 630 00:32:21,840 --> 00:32:24,560 You have the key fob, right? And those with the key fob you 631 00:32:24,560 --> 00:32:26,680 just as long as the keys on you, you can get in the car and you 632 00:32:26,680 --> 00:32:31,880 can start the car, right, right. And so we lost the key fob, but 633 00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:35,040 we lost it in the car. We couldn't find it. 634 00:32:35,240 --> 00:32:37,160 I had my flashlight, I'm looking everywhere. 635 00:32:37,160 --> 00:32:39,240 I'm moving the seats forward and backwards and I'm moving things 636 00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:40,960 up. But the crazy thing is, is that 637 00:32:41,080 --> 00:32:43,280 it was in the car. So we kept starting the car. 638 00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:45,800 We went for three days, we just kept driving everywhere. 639 00:32:45,960 --> 00:32:49,280 It's like it's in the car, I can't find it, but it's 640 00:32:49,280 --> 00:32:53,640 somewhere here. And to me, hope is like this 641 00:32:55,360 --> 00:32:57,800 because sometimes you're like, I can't quite find it. 642 00:32:58,040 --> 00:33:04,360 I don't feel it. I don't feel hopeful and yet you 643 00:33:04,360 --> 00:33:06,240 can remind yourself, it's like, well, I get up and I go to work 644 00:33:06,240 --> 00:33:08,880 every day. I push the start button and I 645 00:33:08,880 --> 00:33:13,600 get there and then I come home and I feel hopeless. 646 00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:15,760 But I'm telling you, hope is in the car. 647 00:33:15,760 --> 00:33:18,440 Hope is in the house. God has hope available for you. 648 00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:21,680 You just have to be diligent to keep looking for it. 649 00:33:22,680 --> 00:33:27,400 And the Christmas story is especially a time where we can 650 00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:31,640 find hope in the promises fulfilled in Bethlehem, in the 651 00:33:31,640 --> 00:33:35,120 Manger with the donkeys and Mary and Joseph. 652 00:33:35,280 --> 00:33:41,640 God fulfilled his promises. And there were times like 653 00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:44,560 they're occupied by the Romans. It was a time where great hope 654 00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:47,000 seemed to be like, oh man, where is hope? 655 00:33:47,600 --> 00:33:49,080 Well, it's in the house, it's in the car. 656 00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:51,240 It's there. You just keep going and then 657 00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:53,600 it'll show up. You'll find it, but you have to 658 00:33:53,600 --> 00:33:56,840 be diligent to say, God, give me hope again, show it to me again. 659 00:33:57,240 --> 00:33:59,760 And some of you have lived. Maybe something happened. 660 00:33:59,760 --> 00:34:02,080 I don't know what your story's been, but maybe there was 661 00:34:02,080 --> 00:34:04,640 something that got dashed your hope and you just kept starting 662 00:34:04,640 --> 00:34:06,600 the car and kept going. But you want to find it. 663 00:34:06,600 --> 00:34:08,440 You want to put your fingers on it again. 664 00:34:10,239 --> 00:34:14,040 And what Peter is saying, man, this is I, I, I pray you get 665 00:34:14,040 --> 00:34:17,760 this because this is such a really profound truth for 666 00:34:17,760 --> 00:34:24,000 Christians to get that Peter's not saying give, be ready to 667 00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:30,120 give a dogmatic, precise right argument for your doctrine. 668 00:34:30,120 --> 00:34:32,400 I believe in doctrine. Yes, I want to be right 669 00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:33,760 doctrine. I so want that. 670 00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:38,280 But the bigger influence to the world around you is when you 671 00:34:38,440 --> 00:34:44,639 have hope and it makes no sense. Paul calls it peace. 672 00:34:44,639 --> 00:34:48,199 That goes beyond understanding. And when you walk, it's because 673 00:34:48,199 --> 00:34:49,520 you have Jesus and you have the Holy Spirit. 674 00:34:49,639 --> 00:34:51,920 You get through things like you never thought you'd get through 675 00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:55,800 and you keep going and you have hope still, even though the 676 00:34:55,800 --> 00:34:58,720 circumstances like those that Peter is writing to and first 677 00:34:58,720 --> 00:35:00,960 Peter, their lives were such where maybe they should have 678 00:35:00,960 --> 00:35:03,720 been hopeless, but they're not. They have hope. 679 00:35:03,840 --> 00:35:08,000 And Peter says be instant, ready in and out of season to give 680 00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:14,240 reason, a defense for your hope, the Christmas season, the 681 00:35:14,240 --> 00:35:16,920 Christmas story. As you lean in in the next 682 00:35:16,920 --> 00:35:20,160 couple weeks, my hope and my prayer for you is that you'll 683 00:35:20,160 --> 00:35:26,280 say God renew and stir up a trust in you, working all things 684 00:35:26,280 --> 00:35:28,320 together for the good of those who love you and are called 685 00:35:28,320 --> 00:35:31,760 according to your purposes, God. As I see what you did in 686 00:35:31,760 --> 00:35:36,600 Bethlehem, let it affect the way I follow you, even though 687 00:35:36,600 --> 00:35:39,000 sometimes it feels like I'm white knuckling it. 688 00:35:42,560 --> 00:35:45,080 The Psalmist writes this and these are great prayers. 689 00:35:45,080 --> 00:35:46,880 Maybe these could be some prayers that you'd pray in the 690 00:35:46,880 --> 00:35:49,280 days to come. In Psalm 130, verse five, he 691 00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:53,200 says, I wait for the Lord. My soul waits. 692 00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:58,640 And in his word, I hope. Wow, that's a great one to 693 00:35:58,640 --> 00:36:00,080 memorize. I wait for the Lord God. 694 00:36:00,080 --> 00:36:01,520 I'm waiting for you. God, show up. 695 00:36:01,680 --> 00:36:04,640 Stir in me greater hope. God, give it back to me again. 696 00:36:05,320 --> 00:36:09,120 Psalm 39, seven, this psalmist says, and now, O Lord, for what 697 00:36:09,120 --> 00:36:11,840 do I wait? My hope is in you. 698 00:36:12,960 --> 00:36:16,640 Even the Old Testament writers were declaring where their hope 699 00:36:16,640 --> 00:36:19,760 came from. It came from God. 700 00:36:21,640 --> 00:36:24,080 So to end, I just want to ask you a couple questions. 701 00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:28,680 How are you with your hope? Are you abounding in hope? 702 00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:31,520 If you've never given your life to Christ, well then I would say 703 00:36:31,520 --> 00:36:35,080 you have not yet received the hope that comes from God, that 704 00:36:35,080 --> 00:36:37,120 comes through the Holy Spirit, that comes through Christ. 705 00:36:37,360 --> 00:36:39,280 So then I'm going to pray here in a few minutes and I want to 706 00:36:39,280 --> 00:36:42,560 invite you to make the decision to follow Jesus, to commit your 707 00:36:42,560 --> 00:36:46,520 life to Him and receive the hope that you can only find in Him 708 00:36:46,960 --> 00:36:48,240 and eternal life that you get now. 709 00:36:48,240 --> 00:36:51,000 You don't have to wait to die to get eternity in you. 710 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:54,360 You get it when you're born a second time in Christ. 711 00:36:54,720 --> 00:36:57,480 OK, but if you're a follower of Jesus, where how are you and 712 00:36:57,480 --> 00:36:58,680 your hope? You might say, I have so much 713 00:36:58,680 --> 00:37:00,400 hope. God has got me through so much. 714 00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:02,680 And I'm just abounding in hope that I say this Christmas 715 00:37:02,680 --> 00:37:04,680 season, I hope that someone asks you about it. 716 00:37:05,280 --> 00:37:08,160 I hope that they ask you about it because remembering the 717 00:37:08,160 --> 00:37:11,800 goodness of God shown at the birth of Christ builds our hope. 718 00:37:12,240 --> 00:37:15,560 Remembering the story of Jesus, it should stir us to greater and 719 00:37:15,560 --> 00:37:18,240 greater hope. And then I want to encourage you 720 00:37:18,240 --> 00:37:20,880 to do this practice giving reason for the hope that you 721 00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:23,000 have. Maybe you just wanted to maybe 722 00:37:23,080 --> 00:37:25,440 drive into work. You want to tell God, God, this 723 00:37:25,440 --> 00:37:28,400 is what I would tell somebody if they asked me about my hope. 724 00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:30,640 You could say, yeah, it looks like I should have been 725 00:37:30,640 --> 00:37:33,040 hopeless. Look like your upbringing. 726 00:37:33,280 --> 00:37:38,000 Maybe you came from really dysfunctional place and you're 727 00:37:38,040 --> 00:37:39,600 you should be like this and you're not. 728 00:37:40,080 --> 00:37:43,640 And you go, man, I got hope every everybody in your family 729 00:37:43,640 --> 00:37:46,760 system, your family is maybe they were hopeless types, but 730 00:37:46,760 --> 00:37:49,720 you found hope. And you get to say I found it in 731 00:37:49,720 --> 00:37:52,720 Christ. I found it in Jesus and my life 732 00:37:52,720 --> 00:37:55,200 was altered greatly because of the hope that I found in Jesus. 733 00:37:55,480 --> 00:38:00,760 Figure out how you can testify and give a defense instant in 734 00:38:00,760 --> 00:38:05,360 and out of season for the hope that you find in Jesus, 735 00:38:05,600 --> 00:38:07,480 especially this Christmas season. 736 00:38:08,520 --> 00:38:15,120 Let me pray for us. God, I'm so grateful for this 737 00:38:15,120 --> 00:38:17,480 passage. I thank you for the passages and 738 00:38:17,480 --> 00:38:20,960 it occurs to contend for the faith and where Paul says we 739 00:38:21,120 --> 00:38:25,920 tear down untruths and those who speak against the knowledge of 740 00:38:25,920 --> 00:38:27,840 God. Thank you for those passages, 741 00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:33,720 but this one and encourages us to be ready to explain and give 742 00:38:33,720 --> 00:38:35,520 reason for our hope. God, thank you for Peter's 743 00:38:35,520 --> 00:38:40,440 encouragement, and I pray that as a church, our posture will 744 00:38:40,440 --> 00:38:45,640 not be dogmatic arguments about politics or denominational 745 00:38:45,640 --> 00:38:48,440 differences or anything. We want to contend for truth. 746 00:38:48,440 --> 00:38:51,440 Yes, God, but we want to do it like Peter encourages, with 747 00:38:51,440 --> 00:38:59,240 humility and sympathy and unity. Let us be unified, God, I pray 748 00:38:59,240 --> 00:39:03,920 in the hope that we find in you. Let that be something that draws 749 00:39:03,960 --> 00:39:07,600 us together. We share it in common hope that 750 00:39:07,600 --> 00:39:11,040 we have in you and I pray that you'll stir it up this Christmas 751 00:39:11,040 --> 00:39:13,880 season and in the next few weeks while we're recalling and 752 00:39:13,880 --> 00:39:16,280 studying and remembering the Christmas story, even next week 753 00:39:16,280 --> 00:39:18,840 when our kids are telling the story in the simplest way, I 754 00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:23,760 pray that we'll renew and strengthen our hope as found in 755 00:39:23,880 --> 00:39:27,720 you. And then still in a prayerful 756 00:39:27,840 --> 00:39:29,960 minds mindset, I, I want to give a moment. 757 00:39:29,960 --> 00:39:31,520 If you're here this morning, you've never surrendered your 758 00:39:31,520 --> 00:39:32,880 life to Christ. You've never made that decision 759 00:39:32,880 --> 00:39:34,600 to become a Christian. What does that look like? 760 00:39:34,640 --> 00:39:37,000 It means you get to a place in your life where it's like, OK, I 761 00:39:37,000 --> 00:39:38,840 want Jesus to be the Lord of my life. 762 00:39:39,080 --> 00:39:42,600 You are created to have a relationship with God and God 763 00:39:42,600 --> 00:39:45,920 through the birth, birth of Jesus in Bethlehem and his life 764 00:39:45,920 --> 00:39:47,320 and his resurrection, his crucifixion. 765 00:39:47,480 --> 00:39:50,640 That's God's plan to redeem you, to win you back. 766 00:39:51,600 --> 00:39:54,040 And but you God doesn't force it on us. 767 00:39:55,120 --> 00:39:58,200 Instead, we are to believe in our hearts that Jesus is Lord 768 00:39:58,200 --> 00:39:59,520 and to confess it with our mouth. 769 00:39:59,880 --> 00:40:02,600 And that's when we receive the salvation that comes through 770 00:40:02,720 --> 00:40:04,280 Jesus. So this morning. 771 00:40:04,800 --> 00:40:06,400 I want to invite you into that relationship. 772 00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:09,680 It takes a turning away from your own sin and you say, OK, I 773 00:40:09,680 --> 00:40:11,200 no longer want to be the Lord of my life. 774 00:40:11,320 --> 00:40:16,080 I want to surrender my life to Jesus and ask him to be my 775 00:40:16,080 --> 00:40:18,440 Savior. My Lord, you give him control 776 00:40:18,440 --> 00:40:21,000 over your life and your pursuit of him. 777 00:40:21,640 --> 00:40:24,080 So I'm going to pray and I encourage you to believe in your 778 00:40:24,080 --> 00:40:25,520 heart and to confess it as I pray. 779 00:40:25,520 --> 00:40:28,600 Pray with me to receive his salvation. 780 00:40:29,200 --> 00:40:30,160 You can pray something like this. 781 00:40:30,160 --> 00:40:34,800 Heavenly Father, I come to you in Jesus name and I believe 782 00:40:34,800 --> 00:40:40,800 that, Jesus, you are God and you were born in Bethlehem as a 783 00:40:40,800 --> 00:40:43,080 baby. God, you became a human being 784 00:40:44,160 --> 00:40:47,880 and you came and you dwelt among us, and you went through so much 785 00:40:48,240 --> 00:40:52,600 to redeem us, to win us back. So Jesus, I want to follow you, 786 00:40:53,120 --> 00:40:54,280 I want to receive your salvation. 787 00:40:54,280 --> 00:40:56,000 So I repent of my sin and others. 788 00:40:56,000 --> 00:40:58,920 I want to turn away. I don't understand everything 789 00:40:58,920 --> 00:41:01,320 about doctrine and scripture yet, but I do want to grow in 790 00:41:01,320 --> 00:41:02,920 it. But I make this decision 791 00:41:03,160 --> 00:41:06,840 initially to confess with my mouth that you were Lord, and I 792 00:41:06,840 --> 00:41:11,000 want to receive your life and I want to follow after your ways. 793 00:41:11,480 --> 00:41:14,400 Lead me as we white knuckle it sometimes to life. 794 00:41:15,120 --> 00:41:18,000 And then I think you do put eternity in me now and I will 795 00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:21,400 spend forever with you with that eternal life that I can 796 00:41:21,400 --> 00:41:24,840 experience even here in this side of eternity. 797 00:41:25,720 --> 00:41:28,640 I receive you now in Jesus name and everyone said Amen. 798 00:41:29,000 --> 00:41:31,640 If that's you this morning and you decided to become a follower 799 00:41:31,640 --> 00:41:34,400 of Jesus, then e-mail me kurt@northlifechurch.org or find 800 00:41:34,400 --> 00:41:36,600 me after the service or tell a friend that you know as a 801 00:41:36,600 --> 00:41:38,840 Christian, say I made this decision, I'm in. 802 00:41:39,120 --> 00:41:41,840 And then our next encouragement to you would be to be baptized, 803 00:41:41,840 --> 00:41:43,600 which we'll have here in a few months. 804 00:41:43,760 --> 00:41:45,680 So we encourage you to be baptized, which is an hour 805 00:41:45,680 --> 00:41:47,360 expression of what God has done in you. 806 00:41:47,680 --> 00:41:50,480 When you are dunked underwater. It's, it's inside of God 807 00:41:50,480 --> 00:41:53,080 cleansing you and resurrecting you in him. 808 00:41:53,480 --> 00:41:54,560 All right, let's all stand together. 809 00:41:54,560 --> 00:41:57,600 Thank you so much for coming. I hope that you enjoy the sunny, 810 00:41:57,760 --> 00:41:59,120 beautiful day. I'm going to go home and blow my 811 00:41:59,120 --> 00:42:02,440 driveway out. I did it twice yesterday and 812 00:42:02,440 --> 00:42:04,440 there was still a ton of snow when I left this morning. 813 00:42:04,440 --> 00:42:06,680 So I will be doing that this afternoon. 814 00:42:07,440 --> 00:42:10,280 Don't forget, ladies, you can sign up on your way out for the 815 00:42:10,320 --> 00:42:15,000 ladies Christmas table to sign up to A10 or to host a table. 816 00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:17,000 I want to send you out with a blessing. 817 00:42:17,160 --> 00:42:19,640 So if you'll prepare your heart to receive this blessing before 818 00:42:19,640 --> 00:42:27,320 you go, and now may the Lord bless you and keep you, and may 819 00:42:27,320 --> 00:42:29,360 he make his face to shine upon you. 820 00:42:29,360 --> 00:42:34,000 And may the joy of the Lord that is unspeakable and full of glory 821 00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:38,760 made abound to you. And may the peace of God, that 822 00:42:38,840 --> 00:42:41,200 that surpasses all understanding, may surprise you 823 00:42:41,200 --> 00:42:43,280 in the midst of the challenges that life brings. 824 00:42:43,280 --> 00:42:46,400 And then may the mercies of the Lord, in other words, the 825 00:42:46,400 --> 00:42:48,840 forgiveness of God, that's new every morning. 826 00:42:48,840 --> 00:42:51,360 May it be especially new to you in your mornings to come. 827 00:42:51,920 --> 00:42:55,920 And now may the Lord Jesus Christ guard your heart and your 828 00:42:55,920 --> 00:43:00,600 mind and your hope, your salt and your light. 829 00:43:00,960 --> 00:43:02,840 Go now and be salt and light into the world. 830 00:43:03,000 --> 00:43:04,840 You were blessed. Merry Christmas. 831 00:43:04,840 --> 00:43:05,960 We'll see you again soon.