1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,560 OK, I want you to imagine you're growing up now and it's 2 00:00:03,560 --> 00:00:06,880 Christmas Day. What was Christmas Day like in 3 00:00:06,880 --> 00:00:10,240 your childhood? For some of you, it was a very 4 00:00:10,240 --> 00:00:13,280 happy time. You remember opening presents. 5 00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:16,079 You remember that excitement coming down in the morning and 6 00:00:16,079 --> 00:00:17,880 seeing what was underneath the Christmas tree. 7 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:20,520 You remember seeing family members who you've not seen in 8 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:22,840 such a long time. Your grandparents, perhaps 9 00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:25,880 cousins, aunties, uncles, all of that time together. 10 00:00:26,120 --> 00:00:28,880 It was a time that was very precious to you. 11 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:33,560 But for some of you growing up, Christmas was the complete 12 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:36,640 opposite. It was a time when all of your 13 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:41,280 problems were sort of magnified. You're broken home. 14 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:45,320 Perhaps your parents didn't have enough money to buy you presents 15 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:47,480 and they felt embarrassed at this time. 16 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:50,960 Maybe. Maybe just growing up or or as 17 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:54,640 you're a little bit older, you realise you're lonely and you're 18 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:57,440 alone. Maybe it's a time because there 19 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:00,800 was just a lot of drama that happened or something went wrong 20 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:04,080 around Christmas and every year you remember I can't enjoy 21 00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:06,840 Christmas like everyone else because that was when that 22 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:09,800 terrible event happened. Now, before I tell you what 23 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:12,720 Christmas was like in my home, I want to say if it's your first 24 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:16,920 time on this channel, welcome. This is my cup of Joe podcast 25 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:19,720 where if you see my main channel Off the Curb Ministries, I 26 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:23,280 produce sort of highly developed, sort of sometimes a 27 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:26,920 little bit sensational videos all about the Bible and they're 28 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:29,560 very, very edited. These videos aren't edited. 29 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:34,120 It's just literally me, you, a nice cup of Joe and some coffee. 30 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:36,080 And if you can see faces just up in the corner. 31 00:01:36,080 --> 00:01:39,880 These are my friends who have bought these off the curb mugs. 32 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:41,600 This isn't a money making scheme. 33 00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:44,440 I want to emphasize this. I make 0 profit from this. 34 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:46,920 It's just kind of a little reminder if you'd like to pray 35 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:48,560 for us. And it's just kind of nice to 36 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:51,440 have something physical because everything I do is kind of 37 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:53,480 digital. But I want to assure you I am a 38 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:56,120 real person. Sometimes people say that when 39 00:01:56,120 --> 00:01:59,480 they meet me in real life, just a very, very average Joe. 40 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:03,160 So it's just nice to do that. So if you buy one of them, I'll 41 00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:05,360 send you an e-mail and we'll put your face up here. 42 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:09,160 If you would like to be there, you can send a photo over or 43 00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:12,560 your mug doing something cool, some kind of cool activity. 44 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:21,240 So what was Christmas Day like in my household? 45 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:24,280 Well, for us, it was a bit of a military operation. 46 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:26,920 You see, here we are. We're put to bed and my parents 47 00:02:26,920 --> 00:02:28,920 are like, do not come downstairs. 48 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:32,120 They were wrapping presents up till midnight and nothing's 49 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:33,600 changed. As I've got kids, I'm not 50 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:36,400 organized either. I'm wrapping presents very late 51 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:38,560 into the night. You know, we're getting ready 52 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:40,640 for church. We're putting our clothes on. 53 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:43,080 We've got all of these different things to do. 54 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:45,400 And then it comes to the Christmas dinner. 55 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:49,360 Now, the Christmas dinner, that really is a military operation, 56 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:51,840 isn't it? You know, you've got to deploy 57 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:53,760 the carrots. You've got to make sure the 58 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:55,400 Brussels sprouts aren't overcooked. 59 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:57,280 No one likes soggy Brussels sprouts. 60 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:00,440 You've got to loosen the cranberry sauce jar because if 61 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:03,000 it's too tight then Aunt Mildred can't open it. 62 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:05,880 You've got to put the roast potatoes in and the Turkey and 63 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:09,360 all of these different things. And then you've finally got all 64 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:10,920 of your roast dinner put together. 65 00:03:10,920 --> 00:03:12,840 It's all there, the Turkey, it's all there. 66 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:17,120 And you sit down to eat. You start eating and you're 67 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:20,520 thinking, I'm sure there's something missing it. 68 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:22,720 Alan, is there something missing here? 69 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:26,360 Steve, is this, Am I missing something here? 70 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:28,200 We've got the gravy. It's not too thick. 71 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:29,880 It's not too thin. Everything seems right. 72 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:33,040 But there's something missing. You eat the whole meal. 73 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:35,760 You go into the kitchen to start getting the Christmas pudding 74 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:37,560 ready. And then you look in the 75 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:42,320 microwave and there in front of you, glaring at you are the peas 76 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:46,800 that you forgot to defrost. Guys, there's always some kind 77 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:48,480 of missing ingredient at Christmas. 78 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:51,240 It doesn't matter how much we try try to prepare, it doesn't 79 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:54,480 matter how organised we are, we as humans, we always sort of 80 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:57,760 miss something, don't we? But here's something I want to 81 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:00,680 ask you, particularly if you've never watched on our videos 82 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:02,560 before, here's what I want to ask you. 83 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:06,120 Are you missing the key ingredients, the biggest 84 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:08,760 ingredient, the huge ingredients of Christmas? 85 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:12,320 Who am I talking about? Jesus Christ. 86 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:14,560 Now what are we doing at Christmas time? 87 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:17,839 Although we know Jesus wasn't born on the 25th of December, 88 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:21,839 what are we actually doing here? We're celebrating his birthday. 89 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:25,720 Now can you think of anyone in the world who is not invited to 90 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:28,520 their own birthday party? Can you imagine if all of your 91 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:31,840 friends got together, they had a nice meal, they got hats on, 92 00:04:31,840 --> 00:04:35,720 they had all of this party, got dressed up all nice and then 93 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:38,200 didn't invite you to your own birthday party? 94 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:40,880 You think that's bonkers, That's crazy. 95 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:44,480 And yet that's what millions do all around the world. 96 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:47,520 They love the presents, they love the Christmas tree, they 97 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:50,840 love the food, they love all of these things and yet Jesus 98 00:04:50,840 --> 00:04:54,880 Christ isn't welcome to to his own birthday celebrations. 99 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:57,520 He's not even welcome. If you try it with your non 100 00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:00,440 Christian family members. You start talking about Jesus 101 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:03,360 around the Christmas table. I can tell you right now that 102 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:06,400 conversation will be shut down straight away. 103 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:11,160 But why is it such a big deal? I mean, why do we celebrate 104 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:14,080 Jesus? After all, there's one baby born 105 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:15,640 every minute, as the phrase goes. 106 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:17,520 There's babies all the time that are being born. 107 00:05:17,840 --> 00:05:20,800 What is the big deal about Jesus Christ? 108 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:26,600 I'll tell you what it is in that Manger, in that little Manger, 109 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:29,760 in that house, in that stable, as we sometimes refer to it. 110 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:33,000 If those cattle there breathe in the condensations in the room, 111 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:37,320 it's smelly, it's not glamorous. Mary and Joseph are there. 112 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:39,600 They're stressed out again. It's not like the Christmas 113 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:42,840 cards we see. But what was there in that 114 00:05:42,840 --> 00:05:45,440 Manger? That was God in that Manger. 115 00:05:45,840 --> 00:05:49,240 Here is the God of the universe who's so big, he's he's flung 116 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:52,360 stars into space. There are millions of galaxies 117 00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:54,000 with millions of stars into them. 118 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:58,280 And yet this universe, as vast as it is, it cannot contain this 119 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:01,080 huge God. And yet here we've got the God 120 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:05,040 of the universe and he confines himself into a span. 121 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:09,360 Here is the God of the universe and he's encased in flesh, skin 122 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:13,040 and bones. And there he is in that Manger. 123 00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:14,800 Here he is. Why? 124 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:18,040 Why is that such a big deal? Because so many people have got 125 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:20,960 it wrong about God. So many religions say that that 126 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:25,760 God he's, he's too great, he's too holy, he's too wonderful, 127 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:28,600 and he is all of those things. But they say he could never 128 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:30,680 condescend. He could never bring himself 129 00:06:30,680 --> 00:06:34,720 down to to be amongst people. Oh, those people were were 130 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:37,240 horrible. Oh, imagine God living amongst 131 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:38,840 us. No, God needs to be away from 132 00:06:38,840 --> 00:06:40,720 us. But that's not the God of the 133 00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:43,440 Bible. That's not the true triune God. 134 00:06:43,720 --> 00:06:46,720 This God came down and he took on a skin. 135 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:49,360 He took on a flesh and he dwelt amongst us. 136 00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:51,120 Why? Because you and I, we've got a 137 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:54,040 skin, we've got a flesh, we've got hands, we've got feet, we've 138 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:57,080 got this body. And yet this body has sinned. 139 00:06:57,400 --> 00:07:00,480 So we needed someone to come into this world, to take on a 140 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:05,560 body, to bear our sin and to be the sacrifice for our sins, but 141 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:08,640 not anybody. It has to be the Lord Jesus 142 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:12,240 Christ, God in a flesh who never did anything wrong, who lived a 143 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:16,280 righteous life and as you know, went from the crib to the cross. 144 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:24,640 Let me let you into a secret. If I could spend Christmas Day 145 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:27,360 or the Christmas season anywhere in the world, you know, I'd like 146 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:30,840 to spend it New York. Now I know what some of you are 147 00:07:30,840 --> 00:07:32,520 thinking. You're thinking I cannot think 148 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:36,320 of anywhere worse to spend Christmas Day in New York. 149 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:40,160 I mean, it's so busy, all these people, all these lights, all of 150 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:42,360 it. Well, for me, myself and I, I 151 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:44,320 would love that. I love being around people. 152 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:46,360 I love the lights. Maybe it's from watching Home 153 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:48,640 Alone. When I was a kid, people used to 154 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:51,800 say me and my brother look like Macaulay Culkin. 155 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:54,560 So I don't know. There's something about New York 156 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:57,480 and, and all of that and, and, and, and Christmas there. 157 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:01,600 It just really appeals to me like a fairy tale, as they say. 158 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:04,160 But come with me if you don't want to celebrate there. 159 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:07,240 Will you just come with me for a second and let's go to the 160 00:08:07,240 --> 00:08:10,440 Empire State Building. Picture this vast building, if 161 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:12,440 you like, wrapped around in tinsel. 162 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:18,000 Now, don't quote me on this, but I think there's 103 floors to 163 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:20,680 the Empire State Building. So I want you to imagine we get 164 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:23,640 into the elevator and we go ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, all the way 165 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:24,600 to the top. OK. 166 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:27,960 Now I want you to imagine that the Empire State Building is a 167 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:30,840 morality scale. It's a goodness scale of how 168 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:34,200 good you are. I wonder what you would say. 169 00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:36,280 Where would we put people? Who would we put in the 170 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:39,240 basement? Maybe we'd put, you know, Adolf 171 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:43,640 Hitler, all those criminals on death row, all those naughty 172 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:45,640 people would put them in the very basement. 173 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:48,360 All them people that oh, you know, they, they send chills 174 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:50,160 down our spine. They'd be in the basement. 175 00:08:50,560 --> 00:08:52,920 Who'd be at the top of this morality scale? 176 00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:56,960 Maybe you might say Mother Teresa or in my country there 177 00:08:56,960 --> 00:09:00,200 was a guy called Captain Tom who did a lot for the country and 178 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:03,200 just inspired a lot of people. Maybe he would be at the top. 179 00:09:03,200 --> 00:09:05,280 You know, you've got these kind of people, maybe a neighbor down 180 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:07,520 the road who does a lot of lovely charity. 181 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:10,240 They would be at the top. But where would you put yourself 182 00:09:10,560 --> 00:09:14,480 on this morality scale? I think if we're honest, most of 183 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:16,280 us would say, you know, somewhere in the middle. 184 00:09:16,280 --> 00:09:18,720 I'm not down in the basement, but I'm, you know, I know, I 185 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:20,760 know myself. I know I've got sort of 186 00:09:20,760 --> 00:09:23,000 skeletons in my closet. I'm not perfect. 187 00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:25,240 Well, do you know where Jesus would be? 188 00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:29,360 He'd be on the moon. His, his morality, his goodness, 189 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:32,360 his righteousness is in a different realm, a different 190 00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:35,040 world, if you like. He's, he's completely above us. 191 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:37,840 And let me tell you something else that's kind of shocking. 192 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:42,120 He also, for us to get into heaven, we also have to be on 193 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:45,720 the moon in righteousness. We also have to have that golden 194 00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:49,480 standard of perfection. But that's a problem for me and 195 00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:52,040 it's a problem for you because we can't meet that in of 196 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:55,400 ourselves. And that is exactly why Jesus 197 00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:57,840 came into this world. OK, let me put it another way to 198 00:09:57,840 --> 00:09:59,520 you. So, OK, some of you will be 199 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:01,520 saying I'm not on Santa's naughty list. 200 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:05,960 I do try and do my best, OK? I try to be a good person, but 201 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:07,760 you know you can't meet that standard. 202 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:10,680 So let's think about this. I don't know what country you're 203 00:10:10,680 --> 00:10:13,520 in. I'm in the UKI need to imagine 204 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:17,880 my Prime Minister Keir Starmer decides it's Christmas time. 205 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:20,760 We want to spread a little goodwill to the world. 206 00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:22,840 We want to spread a bit of positivity. 207 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:25,080 The Christmas is a time where we do nice things. 208 00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:28,880 Let's open all of the prisons in in the UK. 209 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:31,760 If you're in America right now, imagine Donald Trump says it's 210 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:33,600 Christmas time, goodwill for everyone. 211 00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:36,680 Let's open all of the prisons right now and let all of the 212 00:10:36,680 --> 00:10:39,520 prisoners out on the streets. What would you think of that 213 00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:41,760 decision? Now, some of you might be 214 00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:44,560 thinking some of those guys in there, they're innocent and I 215 00:10:44,560 --> 00:10:47,640 agree, or some of them have done their time and they truly are 216 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:50,800 repentant for what they've done. But I'm saying, should we, 217 00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:54,280 should we open the prisons and let everyone on the streets, 218 00:10:54,320 --> 00:10:57,920 even those criminals who aren't sorry for what they've done, 219 00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:01,440 even those criminals who if they get the chance, they do it 220 00:11:01,440 --> 00:11:04,040 again. You say, I'm not sure it's a 221 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:06,680 good idea at all. Joe, let me take it one step 222 00:11:06,680 --> 00:11:09,360 further for those who think it is a good idea. 223 00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:13,440 Would you let those unrepentant, those criminals who don't care 224 00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:16,200 at all, would you let them come into your house? 225 00:11:16,800 --> 00:11:18,920 Would you leave them alone? If you're a man with with your 226 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:22,280 wife, with your children, would you let them come into your 227 00:11:22,280 --> 00:11:25,240 house on Christmas Day and stay at your house? 228 00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:29,840 What would you do? I think most of us, if we're 229 00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:32,720 truly honest, would say I'm sorry, there's no way. 230 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:35,320 There's no way I can let you into my house. 231 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:38,920 So if you've got rules about who enters into your house, why 232 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:42,120 can't the God of heaven, the God of this universe, why can't he 233 00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:44,560 have rules about who enters into His house? 234 00:11:44,560 --> 00:11:48,080 And you know what his rule is? You've got to be washed. 235 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:51,480 You've got to be cleansed by the blood of his Son. 236 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:55,320 That is the only way you can get into his house, into his heaven. 237 00:11:55,680 --> 00:11:56,920 We're going to come to that in a minute. 238 00:11:56,920 --> 00:11:58,720 But first, I've got another question for you. 239 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:04,880 So what is my question to you? Well, if I've never asked you 240 00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:08,880 before, I want to know what is your favorite Christmas song? 241 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:13,560 Perhaps you love a good Carol, Silent Night or In the Bleak 242 00:12:13,560 --> 00:12:16,800 Midwinter, maybe you like Mariah Carey. 243 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:19,920 All I want for Christmas is you. Or Wham do you remember that 244 00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:22,280 song Last Christmas? I gave you my heart. 245 00:12:22,760 --> 00:12:24,480 Maybe you like The Pogues. I don't know. 246 00:12:24,480 --> 00:12:26,720 What is your favorite Christmas song? 247 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:29,640 Shall I tell you what mine is? Well, one of my favorite, apart 248 00:12:29,640 --> 00:12:31,560 from the carols. I like this one. 249 00:12:31,560 --> 00:12:35,640 Finish it for me. I'm dreaming of a white 250 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:38,880 Christmas. Now let me ask you, what do you 251 00:12:38,880 --> 00:12:41,960 think the chances are that we will have a white Christmas this 252 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:43,560 year? I mean, what do you think the 253 00:12:43,560 --> 00:12:45,160 odds are? I'm not a gambling man. 254 00:12:45,160 --> 00:12:48,000 But imagine we put a bet down. What do you think the chances 255 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:50,760 are we'll it'll snow this Christmas for some of you? 256 00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:53,600 If you're watching this in Alaska, there's a very strong 257 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:57,000 chance maybe you're watching it in, I don't know, Minnesota. 258 00:12:57,000 --> 00:12:59,400 Is it quite snowy up there? I'm terrible with the States of 259 00:12:59,400 --> 00:13:01,960 America. Maybe even in Scotland, up in 260 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:03,920 the Highlands, there's a good chance it'll snow. 261 00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:07,040 But what are the chances? Well, I want to tell you that 262 00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:10,760 every single one of us, everyone watching this right now, we can 263 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:14,600 100% be guaranteed that you will have a white Christmas. 264 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:16,720 But it's not in the way you think. 265 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:20,000 There's a verse in the Bible and it goes like this. 266 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:23,800 This is the prophet Isaiah, and he's talking through inspiration 267 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:28,080 of the Lord and he says, come now, let us reason together. 268 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:32,320 Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white 269 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:35,920 as snow. You see, snow has a sort of 270 00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:39,000 cleaning effect, doesn't it? I've told you about this before, 271 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:41,920 I think, but in the street that I used to live on, when I used 272 00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:45,880 to live in a little town called Wigan, as we lived there, it was 273 00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:48,520 our literally our front door as we stepped out. 274 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:50,920 There was no pavement, there was no driveway. 275 00:13:50,920 --> 00:13:53,520 It was just literally the streets, you know, we had no 276 00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:55,440 way. Everyone just walked on and and 277 00:13:55,520 --> 00:13:57,760 my door was open there. You know, if I open my door, I 278 00:13:57,760 --> 00:14:00,080 didn't know if there was going to be a person right in my face. 279 00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:03,760 And people used to walk their dogs there and you can imagine 280 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:05,960 what they left. Those dogs left a little, a 281 00:14:05,960 --> 00:14:09,800 little bit of a Christmas present for us all, shall we 282 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:12,160 say. And some days, me and my wife, 283 00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:13,560 we had to, it was like running the gauntlet. 284 00:14:13,560 --> 00:14:15,200 We didn't know what we were going to step in. 285 00:14:15,640 --> 00:14:18,280 Sorry if this is putting you off your coffee, by the way, but 286 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:21,560 we're running around, you know. And the other side of it with 287 00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:23,560 this street is people used to drop rubbish. 288 00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:27,080 And at night you'd hear the rubbish collecting in at the 289 00:14:27,080 --> 00:14:29,360 bottom of the street with the wind just turning around. 290 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:31,160 It was all. Yeah, very classy. 291 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:33,080 St. And actually, believe it or not, 292 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:35,440 I miss that house more than any of the houses we've lived in. 293 00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:39,440 It was a lovely time, but when it snowed, this very St. that 294 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:42,720 was so dirty. That was so, you know, not the 295 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:45,560 nicest St. It looked like a Christmas 296 00:14:45,560 --> 00:14:47,040 postcard. Why? 297 00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:49,200 Because snow has that cleaning effect. 298 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:51,240 It makes everything look pristine. 299 00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:55,080 I want you to imagine you go to your local Skip or your rubbish 300 00:14:55,080 --> 00:14:57,120 heap or your junkyard, whatever you call it. 301 00:14:57,520 --> 00:15:01,400 And here you can see, you know, diapers, nappies as we call them 302 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:04,040 over here. You can see baby toys, you can 303 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:07,920 see Coke cans, bananas, all this rubbish just piled up in this 304 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:10,920 big pile here. And you look at it and it smells 305 00:15:10,920 --> 00:15:13,600 and it's horrible. What happens when it snows? 306 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:17,760 When it snows suddenly, this, all of this rubbish, It looks 307 00:15:17,760 --> 00:15:20,240 like Mount Everest. It looks like this beautiful 308 00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:22,720 mountain. Because snow does that. 309 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:25,840 It cleans things. Can I ask you, is there anything 310 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:27,880 cleaner? Is there anything whiter? 311 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:29,680 Is there anything more pure than snow? 312 00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:31,920 And yet, what does the Bible say? 313 00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:36,000 That the very blood of the Lord Jesus Christ can do that for 314 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:38,960 you. My wife was an atheist. 315 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:42,840 I met her actually when I was in a state where I wasn't following 316 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:46,400 Jesus and I fancied her and we got into a relationship. 317 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:49,240 But there came a point when I realised we couldn't stay 318 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:51,400 together. And actually at the same time 319 00:15:51,400 --> 00:15:55,120 God was doing her work on Emma's heart where he was drawing her 320 00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:58,520 as as I brought her to church, something was moving her. 321 00:15:59,400 --> 00:16:02,920 I gave her a Bible and I showed her some passages to read. 322 00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:07,120 And one of them was Psalm 51. And here in that passage, you've 323 00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:09,360 got King David and he's this king. 324 00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:12,480 And if you think you've made a mess, he really botched up, you 325 00:16:12,480 --> 00:16:15,520 know, he took another man's wife for himself. 326 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:19,280 You know, he had an affair. And then not only that, the same 327 00:16:19,280 --> 00:16:23,200 man, because he wanted to marry this woman, he had him disposed 328 00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:24,640 of. He had him taken out. 329 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:29,080 He did some terrible things and for years he, I don't know, I 330 00:16:29,080 --> 00:16:31,320 don't understand the story fully, whether he did feel a 331 00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:34,200 sense of guilt. So he was completely guiltless. 332 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:36,840 He just didn't care at all. But there came a point where 333 00:16:36,840 --> 00:16:40,360 finally the guilt did come upon him, when the prophet Nathan 334 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:43,520 said, you are that man. You are the one who's done evil. 335 00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:45,760 You are the one who's taken from that man, Uriah. 336 00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:49,400 And suddenly this overwhelming guilt of sin that I've sinned 337 00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:51,880 against the holy God, it came upon him. 338 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:57,960 And in Psalm 51, David writes these words, Wash me and I shall 339 00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:01,840 be whiter than snow. That is the very verse that 340 00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:05,560 convicted Emma and was the very prayer she prayed out to God, 341 00:17:05,839 --> 00:17:08,520 Wash me and I should be whiter than snow. 342 00:17:09,079 --> 00:17:12,079 I wonder if someone today would pray that very prayer. 343 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:16,880 Lord God, I've made a mess. Lord God, I'm a Sinner. 344 00:17:17,440 --> 00:17:20,119 Wash me and I should be whiter than snow. 345 00:17:20,520 --> 00:17:23,000 But why is he the one who can wash us whiter than snow? 346 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:27,720 Because on the cross here we've got this baby, the God man, 347 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:30,840 Jesus Christ, and he grew up into a man. 348 00:17:31,360 --> 00:17:35,200 He taught amazing things. He fed the poor, he healed the 349 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:37,320 sick. He he, he was a person that the 350 00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:40,640 common people heard gladly. He said incredible things that 351 00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:44,720 would just just blew the the culture out of out of the world. 352 00:17:44,760 --> 00:17:47,000 He said things like love your enemies. 353 00:17:47,240 --> 00:17:49,880 I mean, imagine if all the the world leaders loved their 354 00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:51,600 enemies. Would we have any wars anymore? 355 00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:55,800 He said things like love thy neighbor as thyself, incredible 356 00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:57,920 things. And yet what did this world do 357 00:17:57,920 --> 00:18:01,040 to him? They took that innocent one and 358 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:04,360 they put him on an old rugged Roman cross. 359 00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:08,120 There he was crucified between two thieves. 360 00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:13,560 That's the message of Christmas, that here God in a skin was put 361 00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:19,240 on a on a cross for my sin, your sin, the weight of our sin, the 362 00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:22,320 wrongdoing, the things we're so embarrassed of, the things we 363 00:18:22,320 --> 00:18:24,960 cringe at. All of that evil was laid on 364 00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:29,800 Jesus Christ and there God crushed Jesus in our place. 365 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:34,440 There God poured out all of his wrath, all of his heat, all of 366 00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:36,800 his anger that was directed to us. 367 00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:41,080 He turned it away from us and he confined it. 368 00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:44,080 He poured it out on Jesus Christ. 369 00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:46,720 Why? So that you and I can be 370 00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:49,400 forgiven? Because that blood that was shed 371 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:52,040 at Calvary that can wash us clean. 372 00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:55,440 The Bible says without the shedding of blood, there can be 373 00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:58,960 no forgiveness of sins. And the one who shed his blood 374 00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:01,520 was Jesus Christ. The Lamb of God died in our 375 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:03,960 place so that you and I can be forgiven. 376 00:19:04,720 --> 00:19:06,920 And then there is a third part to this act. 377 00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:10,360 You've got the birth of Jesus. You've got the death of Jesus 378 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:13,920 and then we've got what? The resurrection of Jesus 379 00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:16,400 Christ. This is why we believe he was 380 00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:19,800 God in in that Manger. This is why we believe that he 381 00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:22,760 alone can wash away our sins and wash us whites and snow. 382 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:26,400 Why? Because he went into a grave and 383 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:30,200 there he blew death apart. He blew the grave apart. 384 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:34,160 He did the impossible. He came forth triumphant and 385 00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:37,240 he'd conquered the grave. And that is so important for you 386 00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:41,880 and I perhaps, perhaps this very Christmas, you've heard some 387 00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:45,160 terrible news, you've heard the worst news, and you don't know 388 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:46,760 if you'll be here next Christmas. 389 00:19:47,240 --> 00:19:50,800 Well, I would say to you, trust in the one who has conquered the 390 00:19:50,800 --> 00:19:54,240 grave, Jesus Christ. Because although things might 391 00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:57,200 look sad, although things might look grim from an earthly 392 00:19:57,200 --> 00:20:00,800 perspective, if you've got your trust in Jesus Christ, you've 393 00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:03,800 got nothing to fear. You've got hope beyond the 394 00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:07,680 grave, and you've got eternal life that waits awaits for you 395 00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:09,800 forever. Trust in him. 396 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:13,040 Now you can probably tell this message was a little bit 397 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:15,440 different. It was aimed at non Christians. 398 00:20:16,160 --> 00:20:20,240 Maybe you'd like to e-mail this video to someone in your family, 399 00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:23,640 someone who's not a Christian but perhaps would be open to 400 00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:26,000 listening to the Christmas message at this time. 401 00:20:26,360 --> 00:20:28,320 And I've still got loads of coffee left. 402 00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:30,600 So I just want to give you a little update for those of you 403 00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:33,920 who are sort of friends of the channel and the ministry. 404 00:20:35,080 --> 00:20:38,400 So as you know, this year has been a very difficult year for 405 00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:42,160 us. The Lord's taught me a lot at 406 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:45,840 the beginning of every year in 20, you know, at the end of the 407 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:49,360 year, sort of in between Christmas and New Year, I write 408 00:20:49,360 --> 00:20:51,280 out goals. I write out different things 409 00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:53,800 that I want to achieve. I can literally see all of my 410 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:55,400 goals just behind the camera there. 411 00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:57,400 They're just written on the wall there. 412 00:20:57,680 --> 00:21:00,480 And the Lord taught me, and I knew this already, but but don't 413 00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:03,720 be presumptuous. As the book of James says, you 414 00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:06,760 do not know what a day may hold. You don't know what a year may 415 00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:08,200 hold. Don't say we're going to go this 416 00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:10,320 place and that place and do all of these things. 417 00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:13,400 And the Lord showed me that. I thought I was going to make 418 00:21:13,400 --> 00:21:17,120 loads of videos. I thought I was going to do lots 419 00:21:17,120 --> 00:21:19,920 of different things, exciting things, learn different things. 420 00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:23,920 But I spent a lot of time with my wife grieving and just trying 421 00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:26,200 to get by. So it's been a difficult year. 422 00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:31,040 And so I just want to say a few things in this coming year. 423 00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:34,440 Do pray for us. I've sort of learnt one thing 424 00:21:34,440 --> 00:21:36,560 that's been you might have noticed, I don't know if anyone 425 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:39,640 has noticed, but if you do watch Off the Curb Ministries, you 426 00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:43,800 might remember I used to cover a lot of kind of more out there 427 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:48,360 topics, should we say conspiracies and I had good 428 00:21:48,360 --> 00:21:50,120 reason for it. I'll give you an example. 429 00:21:50,120 --> 00:21:54,320 I was in Manchester St. preaching about a year ago and a 430 00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:58,440 young guy called Nick came up to me and said I love your videos. 431 00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:01,880 I watch them so much and actually I believe your videos 432 00:22:01,880 --> 00:22:04,920 are what's leading me to the Lord Jesus Christ. 433 00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:08,320 That very day I was, as I was chatting to him, I said, but 434 00:22:08,320 --> 00:22:10,040 have you committed yourself to Jesus? 435 00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:12,880 Have you done it yet? And he said, no, I haven't. 436 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:17,200 So that very day we, we said, said a prayer and he asked the 437 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:19,560 Lord to wash away his sins, to forgive him. 438 00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:21,880 And he, he committed his life to Jesus. 439 00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:25,800 I then stayed in touch with him through Facebook and I told him 440 00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:27,880 about something called Victory Outreach. 441 00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:30,840 Now, what I've not told you about Nick is that he had 442 00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:35,480 terrible dependency issues with the biggest things, the Big H, 443 00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:37,040 you know, he struggled with that. 444 00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:40,160 That's what he really, you know, he kept going back to that over 445 00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:42,600 and over. And he'd had 20 years on this 446 00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:46,480 stuff, OK, And stayed in touch with him and he'd send me 447 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:48,480 messages like, I just don't know if I'm ready yet. 448 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:52,200 And I told him about Victory Outreach in Manchester anyway, 449 00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:56,280 about 3 months after meeting. He then did get in touch with 450 00:22:56,280 --> 00:22:58,920 Victory Outreach and just recently. 451 00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:01,360 So the maths isn't right. I don't know how long ago it was 452 00:23:01,360 --> 00:23:06,080 when I met him, but he sent me a message just a week ago saying 453 00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:09,520 Joe, it's been 11 months and I've been totally clean. 454 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:12,000 I'm being baptized, I've been set free. 455 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:15,520 It'd be great to meet up again. And I say praise God. 456 00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:18,360 And you'd be amazed at the amount of people who you 457 00:23:18,360 --> 00:23:20,200 wouldn't normally get coming into a church. 458 00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:21,520 They wouldn't have a suit and tie. 459 00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:24,680 You know, people sometimes do. The world would just not even 460 00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:26,040 look at even the people of the world. 461 00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:28,520 They would just walk by and they were coming up to me and saying, 462 00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:31,320 I love you videos. So I've got a reason why I made 463 00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:34,480 these kind of more conspiracy videos because they were drawing 464 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:36,840 a different audience. And as an evangelist, what I 465 00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:40,160 love to do is get people who've never heard the gospel and share 466 00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:44,080 the gospel with them. So I was doing that, but at the 467 00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:48,680 same time as we've been through this tough year, it's not very, 468 00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:51,680 you know, you can talk about, I don't want to name names, but 469 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:54,600 you know, there's a lot going on at the moment in that world. 470 00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:57,520 And I could mention these things, I could talk about these 471 00:23:57,520 --> 00:23:59,320 things. But when you've gone through a 472 00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:02,720 period of loss, when you're going for a tough time, you 473 00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:04,200 don't want to be filling your mind with that. 474 00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:07,080 At the same time, when I was filling my mind with all of 475 00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:10,200 these things all the time, it was a distraction from the word 476 00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:13,080 of God. And it was, you know, making me 477 00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:17,000 think in a way that was making me a little bit, you know, just 478 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:20,040 not enjoying life or we've seen everything so negatively. 479 00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:23,000 And it was it was time that I could be spending in the word of 480 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:24,880 God. And so I've been thinking a lot. 481 00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:28,240 I don't know how long the Lord will grant me on this earth, but 482 00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:32,400 for the time that's remaining, do I want to feed into people 483 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:34,840 conspiracies and different things, even if it is to to 484 00:24:34,840 --> 00:24:39,200 preach the gospel or do I want to put good into people, even if 485 00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:42,240 they don't reach as many get as many views, even if they don't, 486 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:46,280 you know, you know, have as much excitement to them. 487 00:24:47,160 --> 00:24:49,440 I believe the word of God, of course, is the most exciting 488 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:51,720 thing, but that's what I'm kind of focusing more on. 489 00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:54,440 So where does this all come to? Why am I telling you all of 490 00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:56,120 this? Well, when I started this 491 00:24:56,120 --> 00:24:59,200 channel, it was very much this was my Christian channel and 492 00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:00,960 then off the curb was the channel where I reached 493 00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:04,720 unbelievers. Well right now I'm kind of 494 00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:08,040 thinking should I just stick all of these coffee videos on the 495 00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:10,680 off the curb one? Because really I'm just trying 496 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:14,400 to hit both non Christians and believers, but I want the focus 497 00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:17,800 to be the Bible. I want it to be just Christian 498 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:21,120 good stuff because I do believe people will get saved by just 499 00:25:21,120 --> 00:25:23,840 hearing the Bible unpacked. I think that's going to be one 500 00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:26,800 of the greatest ways to do it. And as I said, I want to be 501 00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:29,600 putting good into people and not be a distraction. 502 00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:32,480 Like I will have to give an account before the Lord God. 503 00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:35,120 And if people have suddenly gone off on all these rabbit holes 504 00:25:35,120 --> 00:25:38,040 because I've been telling them about them, that's actually a 505 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:40,440 very serious thing that I hadn't really considered. 506 00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:44,560 So Long story short, this year's been a difficult year, but God's 507 00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:47,880 taught me a lot of different things, many different things. 508 00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:52,080 And I'm really sort of finding the old Joe again, more St. 509 00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:57,080 preaching, not as bothered about views and subscribers, just 510 00:25:57,280 --> 00:26:00,760 finding the old Joe. And just pray that the Lord 511 00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:04,040 keeps, yeah, just keeps me humble, keeps my feet on the 512 00:26:04,040 --> 00:26:06,640 ground and just guides me in this coming year. 513 00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:12,400 I really do love all of you guys so much and I'm so grateful for 514 00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:13,840 all of you who've had the coffees with me. 515 00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:16,360 As I say, this is my favorite channel, so there is a partner 516 00:26:16,360 --> 00:26:18,720 that just wants to keep it over here and have this little 517 00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:21,480 community here. I just love you guys and you've 518 00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:24,760 been so encouraged and so kind to me and you really did keep me 519 00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:28,560 going in this tough year and then helped me to be strong for 520 00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:31,440 my wife Emma, who was, as you can imagine, has carried this 521 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:33,840 heavier burden even more than me. 522 00:26:34,520 --> 00:26:36,400 If you would like, if some of you have said I've never even 523 00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:37,800 heard of off the Curb Ministries. 524 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:41,160 Well, if you would like to see some of these sort of long form 525 00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:44,280 Bible documentaries we've been making and you can click here. 526 00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:46,600 And if you've never subscribed to the channel and you want to 527 00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:49,120 see more to this channel, please do subscribe. 528 00:26:49,120 --> 00:26:52,240 But do let me know your thoughts in the comments section. 529 00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:55,120 I'd love to hear from you. God bless you all and thank you 530 00:26:55,120 --> 00:26:58,080 for your time with me today. And Merry Christmas, I should 531 00:26:58,080 --> 00:26:58,440 say.