1 00:00:10,780 --> 00:00:20,500 Oh wow, what a wonderful performance, kids, that has 2 00:00:20,540 --> 00:00:24,900 really blessed me. Actually, growing up, I would 3 00:00:24,900 --> 00:00:28,860 have turned up a bit sceptical, but actually that was brilliant. 4 00:00:28,940 --> 00:00:34,060 So thank you, kids. And I think wonderful sort of 5 00:00:34,060 --> 00:00:37,380 sums up what we're here to talk about tonight. 6 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:42,880 It's a phrase that gets thrown around with this season. 7 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:47,720 There's a famous Christmas song. It's the most wonderful time of 8 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:51,840 the year, a time to celebrate with joy, with love. 9 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:53,760 Maybe it means Christmas trees for you. 10 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:57,040 Maybe it's Turkey, chocolates, family, friends. 11 00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:02,040 But if you're like me and you're from this country or another 12 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:07,280 Western nation, you'll likely know where Christmas comes from. 13 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:10,040 And our kids have shown it tonight in a bit of an 14 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:12,880 alternative style. But it's about this baby, Baby 15 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:13,880 Jesus. I don't know where. 16 00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:21,360 Oh, he's, he's over there as wonderfully presented. 17 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:26,280 And it's about Jesus. But if you want to be really 18 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:31,600 cynical, if you come in to a church for the first time, you 19 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:35,640 might say, now I'm not going to complain because Christmas comes 20 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:37,320 with a lot of good things for me. 21 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:42,600 I get presents, I get food. But what relevance does a tiny 22 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:47,320 baby born over 2000 years ago in the Middle East have to me? 23 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:52,280 Why should I care at all? And that's an attitude now that 24 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:55,840 is becoming more prevalent. Christmas is becoming more about 25 00:01:55,840 --> 00:02:00,320 Santa and trees and chocolates and it's nice, but that's not 26 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:04,360 all there is to it. Now, it was referenced in the 27 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:07,720 play that actually this is the most famous person ever. 28 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:11,680 But I had written down, I wonder if I said who is the most famous 29 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:15,920 baby ever to be born, the most anticipated child to be born. 30 00:02:15,920 --> 00:02:19,520 I wonder who you'd say. I was trying to think of a 31 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:22,200 different example to Jesus. And I think the most famous 32 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:26,640 example in the world is probably when the royal family in this 33 00:02:26,640 --> 00:02:30,120 country have children. Prince William and his wife Kate 34 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:33,160 have had three children now. And every time you see a media 35 00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:37,200 store unlike anything else, camera crews, journalists, all 36 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:40,600 camped outside of a hospital, not even waiting to see the 37 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:44,480 baby, but just to hear of the news of a successful birth. 38 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:49,600 And when Kate eventually did give birth, every time it became 39 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:51,480 a headline around the entire world. 40 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:55,960 And yet this baby that the kids have shown us about tonight, 41 00:02:55,960 --> 00:03:00,280 this baby Jesus was far more famous and far more important. 42 00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:05,200 It's funny though because you see donkeys instead of doctors, 43 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:09,360 camels instead of cameras, and a Manger instead of a hospital 44 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:13,600 manager. Yet this is the most influential 45 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:18,800 birth the world has ever seen. See, people knew for about 6 or 46 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:22,840 seven months before Kate had a child that a royal Prince was 47 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:25,960 being born. But Jesus birth was predicted 48 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:28,720 hundreds of years before by multiple people. 49 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:32,360 And these people, they, they didn't keep it a secret. 50 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:36,240 They didn't decide, oh, we'll do a, we'll do a news reveal a bit 51 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:41,240 closer to the time they wrote it down, some over 700 years before 52 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:44,120 Jesus was born. I mean, that's crazy. 53 00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:47,720 The only possible way to get that is if God was to reveal it 54 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:51,480 to them. You might say, well, Isaac, if I 55 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:54,320 told you that a baby was going to be born in 700 years, I want 56 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:57,800 you to get a name. I'd have some chance of getting 57 00:03:57,800 --> 00:03:59,760 it right. I mean, a lot of people get 58 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:03,600 born, so why is it special? But these prophecies were more 59 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:07,760 than that. In Micah, we read that a ruler 60 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:12,600 will be born out of Bethlehem. And in Hosea, we we see that God 61 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:15,480 says my child out of Egypt, I call my child. 62 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:20,320 And if you look at the baby's life, as was referenced, he was 63 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:24,040 born in a Manger in Bethlehem and had to flee to Egypt for his 64 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:26,720 safety before later returning to Nazareth. 65 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:31,920 See, statistically, it's impossible for a human just to 66 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:34,440 guess that and put that all right, and especially multiple 67 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:40,000 people, and you might still be saying, well, it's a special 68 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:41,520 baby. He moved around a bit. 69 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:44,000 People guessed, why should I care? 70 00:04:45,280 --> 00:04:48,760 But it comes down to why the baby was born. 71 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:53,760 Why was baby Jesus born? There's this famous phrase in 72 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:56,360 the world now. I was born to do this. 73 00:04:56,880 --> 00:04:59,640 If you listen to people, especially those of high 74 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:03,640 influence, they might say I was born to play football, I was 75 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:06,160 born to sing, I was born to drive. 76 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:08,840 I was born to do all this. I was born to solve this 77 00:05:08,840 --> 00:05:12,760 problem. I wonder what you would say your 78 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:17,720 purpose is. And I think for Jesus, I can sum 79 00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:19,360 it up. I was trying to think of a, of a 80 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:21,440 way to sum it up. And as I was praying, getting 81 00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:25,440 ready for tonight, I had this phrase come to me, this sort of 82 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:30,560 James Bond esque phrase. Jesus was born to die. 83 00:05:32,200 --> 00:05:35,800 You really did hear that Born and die don't sound like they 84 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:39,240 should go in the same sentence. You know, 1 is the start of life 85 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:43,600 and one is the end of life. But that is Jesus story. 86 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:47,200 And it might seem weird that at Christmas I'm talking about 87 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:49,440 Jesus dying. But actually for us to 88 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:53,640 understand really we have to go into this because it comes from 89 00:05:53,640 --> 00:05:56,720 His purpose that see, purpose makes this world go round. 90 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:02,360 Most of what you do and what you have in your life is driven by 91 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:03,920 purpose, whether it's good or bad. 92 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:08,360 See, I could ask how you turned up today, and a lot of people 93 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:11,120 will say they drove. So I could say, why do you have 94 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:12,760 a car? Well, actually, the purpose of a 95 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:15,800 car is to get you places. Why do you watch that TV show 96 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:17,520 when you go home tonight? Why are you going to put that on 97 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:19,120 the TV? Or because you find it 98 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:23,280 entertaining? See, purpose drives everything, 99 00:06:23,320 --> 00:06:26,520 and without a purpose then things tend not to matter. 100 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:31,440 And there's a reason why God revealed information about Jesus 101 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:35,080 and his birth, and it's because of what he came to do, His 102 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:40,000 purpose for arriving. Now again, at this point, as I 103 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:42,840 talk about Jesus being born to die, you might say, well that's 104 00:06:42,840 --> 00:06:45,440 me as well. Everybody dies. 105 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:49,600 But see, as we talk about Jesus's death, it's different to 106 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:51,360 the death that you and I will face. 107 00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:54,200 I was reminded of this yesterday. 108 00:06:54,840 --> 00:07:00,880 I spoke to somebody at work and he's turned up and he'd been off 109 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:02,920 earlier in the week because he was at a funeral. 110 00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:05,920 And I was asking how was it? How had he found it? 111 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:10,280 Had it gone OK? And he told me the last thing he 112 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:15,000 said before we said our buys and he went off was, it's the only 113 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:20,480 thing we're guaranteed. But this is where Jesus is deaf 114 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:25,200 differs. I mentioned before that Jesus 115 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:28,720 death was at birth was predicted way in advance. 116 00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:33,200 So I want to turn to scripture, but not just to see about where 117 00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:36,240 his birth was predicted, but to see about what else was 118 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:39,240 foretold. There's a very famous bit of 119 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:42,000 scripture. She turned to Isaiah 53. 120 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:44,120 I'm sorry that I don't have it on the screen tonight. 121 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:48,040 But verse 2 says he grew up before Him like a tender shoe 122 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:50,280 and like a root out of dry ground. 123 00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:54,520 He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in 124 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:56,320 his appearance that we should desire in Him. 125 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:01,800 See, that is Jesus. He grew up nothing special, 126 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:05,000 nothing amazing that would make you go, oh, this is a king of 127 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:07,040 kings. This is somebody that's going to 128 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:09,520 rule the world. He was born in a Manger. 129 00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:12,760 He was a carpet and a son, not rich. 130 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:15,800 No particular beauty that made Him stand out as a special 131 00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:19,320 somebody. And as you read the next verses, 132 00:08:19,600 --> 00:08:22,720 you see He was despised and rejected by mankind. 133 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:26,840 A man of suffering and familiar with pain, like one from whom 134 00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:30,720 people hide their faces. He was despised and we held Him 135 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:34,240 in low esteem. See, He was so lowly despised. 136 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:37,559 Before one of his disciples got to know Him and meet Him, He 137 00:08:37,559 --> 00:08:39,840 wrote Him off completely because of where he was from. 138 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:43,600 After his parents returned to Israel, they went to this place 139 00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:45,760 called Nazareth and that's where he grew up. 140 00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:50,600 And in John one we hear about Nathaniel who goes on to become 141 00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:53,440 one of Jesus disciples. But the first thing he says 142 00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:58,440 about Jesus is Nazareth. Can anything good come from 143 00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:01,720 there? This is someone written off, 144 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:05,560 rejected completely. Maybe you relate to that today. 145 00:09:06,560 --> 00:09:09,560 But Jesus still continued to walk out in the way that he was 146 00:09:09,560 --> 00:09:12,960 called to. He continued to do what he did 147 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:16,840 and people started to realise that he was in fact the Saviour 148 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:20,000 of earth, the Son of God, the Messiah himself. 149 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:23,480 This is who the Jewish people had been waiting hundreds of 150 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:26,400 years for. They were anticipating somebody 151 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:30,000 to come, but he turned out to be far more than what they 152 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:34,240 realised. As Jesus lived, he frustrated 153 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:36,240 people. The elites and those who loved 154 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:39,760 their power became scared as people started to follow and 155 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:43,080 listen to Jesus. See, he quickly went from a baby 156 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:47,880 up into being a teacher. He got called rabbi a lot and as 157 00:09:47,880 --> 00:09:49,800 he taught, people listened and people followed. 158 00:09:50,760 --> 00:09:53,600 And so those in the elite got scared. 159 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:59,160 They said we need to stop this. We need to kill him now. 160 00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:02,600 What they thought they were doing at this moment in time was 161 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:06,080 stopping Jesus, putting an end to what he was doing. 162 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:11,720 But this is exactly what is foretold about Jesus life. 163 00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:17,120 Jesus was born to die, but not just to die himself. 164 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:22,480 Jesus died for me and for you. Now I'm going to pause for a 165 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:25,520 second and I go right back to the start. 166 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:28,080 And when I say right back to the start, I mean it. 167 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:34,520 See in Genesis one we read about creation and we see how God 168 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:38,600 ended ends up making humans and he makes them in his image with 169 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:42,280 the whole purpose to have relationship and bring glory to 170 00:10:42,280 --> 00:10:46,720 God. But in the Garden of Eden, Adam 171 00:10:46,720 --> 00:10:50,400 and Eve were tempted and sin entered the earth and took hold 172 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:53,480 of their lives. That if you're from this country 173 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:55,600 especially, you might have heard of this word sin. 174 00:10:55,840 --> 00:10:58,400 But before I carry on, I want to clear up what I'm talking about 175 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:02,120 when I say sin. See, sin just means disobedience 176 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:05,680 of what God has said. It's disobeying what they were 177 00:11:05,680 --> 00:11:09,400 told to do. So in the garden that was do not 178 00:11:09,400 --> 00:11:11,840 eat from a tree, and they ate from a tree. 179 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:15,160 And so sin entered. Now the thing about sin and why 180 00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:19,600 it comes up so much in Christian circles is because sin separates 181 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:23,800 us from God. Sin is impurity and God is 182 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:26,080 perfect. And so sin cannot be in the 183 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:29,160 presence of God. And So what you see is Adam and 184 00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:32,240 Eve have to leave the Garden of Eden where they've been well 185 00:11:32,240 --> 00:11:37,160 provided and looked after. But this wasn't God's intention. 186 00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:41,240 So God gave grace. He said, oh, do this, follow 187 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:43,720 these and you'll be closer to me. 188 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:48,000 But in our flesh and our frailty, humanity always failed. 189 00:11:49,480 --> 00:11:54,640 Jesus had gave instructions. 10 commandments do not lie, do not 190 00:11:54,640 --> 00:11:58,920 steal. But they kept being broken and 191 00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:02,840 broken. The Jewish nation who God had 192 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:07,560 made in his image and called everybody to be, was still 193 00:12:07,560 --> 00:12:09,680 missing the mark. So God realised he needed a 194 00:12:09,680 --> 00:12:12,200 rescue plan. And this is where Christmas 195 00:12:12,200 --> 00:12:15,000 becomes relevant. This is where the baby Jesus 196 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:17,720 we've heard about tonight becomes special. 197 00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:24,160 See, if you die without your sin being atoned for, we will be 198 00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:29,640 eternally separated from God. Romans 623 says for the wages of 199 00:12:29,640 --> 00:12:33,160 sin is death. And this isn't talking about the 200 00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:37,160 death we talk about on this earth when someone gets on old, 201 00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:40,360 but lifelong separation from the source of life. 202 00:12:41,720 --> 00:12:47,400 And so God himself came to deal with sin to serve as a Saviour. 203 00:12:48,160 --> 00:12:51,800 This baby was born with a very purpose, to die. 204 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:56,800 See, Jesus came and lived for 33 years perfectly, never sinning, 205 00:12:57,320 --> 00:13:00,320 doing what we as humans could never do, meeting God's perfect 206 00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:03,440 standard. And in that time he went around 207 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:07,160 transforming lives, healing people, teaching, but everything 208 00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:12,040 was preparation for him to die. He experienced every human 209 00:13:12,040 --> 00:13:16,200 emotion, hunger, sadness, anger, Lovejoy, grief, anything you can 210 00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:21,120 name Jesus went through. And I realised that as I talk, 211 00:13:21,920 --> 00:13:26,280 there's a sombre tone ringing around the room, especially at 212 00:13:26,280 --> 00:13:31,160 Christmas. But this is good news. 213 00:13:32,200 --> 00:13:37,000 See, when Jesus was crucified, he took all of humanity's sin, 214 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:42,240 past, present and future, and took it on himself. 215 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:47,760 Isaiah 53, which I mentioned before, continues to say, surely 216 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:51,440 He took up our pain and bore our suffering, Yet we considered Him 217 00:13:51,440 --> 00:13:54,760 punished by God, stricken by Him, and afflicted. 218 00:13:55,240 --> 00:13:57,920 But He was pierced for our transgressions. 219 00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:00,880 He was crushed for our iniquities. 220 00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:06,360 This is 700 years before Jesus ever hung on a cross. 221 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:11,600 Jesus died from my faults, for your faults, for my sin, for 222 00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:16,280 your sin, for everybody's sin. But that's not the end of the 223 00:14:16,280 --> 00:14:19,400 story. See His body was buried, but 224 00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:22,560 three days later he rose again, and when he came out that grave 225 00:14:22,960 --> 00:14:25,400 he left. My sin, my shame, your sin, your 226 00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:29,280 shame, and death was defeated. It was left in the grave. 227 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:37,400 Isaiah 53 five finishes with the punishment that brought us peace 228 00:14:37,640 --> 00:14:41,320 was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 229 00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:46,080 It sounds crazy because God took our punishment. 230 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:49,520 We were healed. And This is why we celebrate at 231 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:53,400 Christmas because it was the beginning of the rescue plan. 232 00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:58,400 If you're familiar with Star Wars, the fourth film or the 233 00:14:58,400 --> 00:15:02,200 first depending on how old you are, is known as A New Hope. 234 00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:06,000 But victory wasn't secured in that film, but it was the start 235 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:09,040 of the journey to the victory and that is what Christmas is. 236 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:12,840 The world celebrates because God's supreme rescue plan was 237 00:15:12,840 --> 00:15:14,840 put into action as Jesus was born. 238 00:15:15,760 --> 00:15:19,440 He was born on earth and what he came to do was began. 239 00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:22,760 And see, this is the good news because it gives us an 240 00:15:22,760 --> 00:15:27,240 opportunity to have a certain hope that we know that when we 241 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:30,160 die, we know what where we can go. 242 00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:34,040 It's not in what we have done, but what Jesus did on that 243 00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:37,480 cross. See I stated before sin 244 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:43,360 separates us from God and Romans 323 three chapters earlier than 245 00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:48,440 for the wages of sin is death. It says for all have sinned all 246 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:52,720 so we're all guilty and that means you and I without Jesus 247 00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:55,000 when we die. If you walk out tonight and you 248 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:59,280 end up in a car crash and you do not know Jesus that one that 249 00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:01,240 you're going to stand face to face and you're going to be 250 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:06,360 eternally separated from him. The source of life itself is 251 00:16:06,360 --> 00:16:07,840 gone. So every good thing you 252 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:14,360 experience on this earth will be gone, but Jesus, God himself 253 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:19,920 came as the solution to that. The most famous Bible verse in 254 00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:24,280 the whole world is John 316. It says for God so loved the 255 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:28,920 world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes 256 00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:31,760 shall not perish, but have everlasting life. 257 00:16:33,160 --> 00:16:38,560 See, God sent his Son baby Jesus, that if you believe that 258 00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:41,880 he died and rose again and you repent, that you shall not 259 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:45,320 perish, but you'll be able to live in his presence forever. 260 00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:50,400 See what happens is there's this thing called the great exchange. 261 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:56,040 We get our sin, our shame, our mock, our dirt dealt with, and 262 00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:58,400 we get Jesus's righteousness in return. 263 00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:06,280 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we 264 00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:08,040 might become the righteousness of God. 265 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:13,200 That's 2 Corinthians 521 And see, this is the very purpose, 266 00:17:13,200 --> 00:17:17,000 right from when the kings came to bring gifts, the shepherds 267 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:21,520 decided to go and visit as well. That was the purpose why Jesus 268 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:23,200 was born. He was born to die. 269 00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:27,319 But when I say that there's a greater truth than born to die, 270 00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:32,520 Jesus was born to save, to save the world, to save me, to save 271 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:35,720 you. And this wasn't just some sort 272 00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:39,400 of lame idea that God came up with as things were going wrong, 273 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:44,080 but from the very moment sin enters the earth, you can see 274 00:17:44,080 --> 00:17:47,760 this plan be formed even before sacrifices. 275 00:17:47,760 --> 00:17:52,440 You read about Leviticus and laws In Genesis 315, God 276 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:57,280 addresses Satan the devil, or as he's called in Genesis 315, the 277 00:17:57,280 --> 00:18:00,600 serpent who deceives and leads people into sin. 278 00:18:00,840 --> 00:18:04,280 And God says to him, he will crush your head and you will 279 00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:07,960 strike his heel. Now the best thing to do to 280 00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:10,040 understand this truly is to read it backwards. 281 00:18:11,120 --> 00:18:15,440 You will strike his heel. See, as Jesus died, Satan lands 282 00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:20,240 a blow on God, or so he fought. See that death was the most 283 00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:26,120 painful death ever experienced. But what came through it is 284 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:29,400 Jesus crushed death. The head of the serpent was 285 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:34,280 crushed and victory was sealed. Death was defeated. 286 00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:41,600 The whole reason why death is feared in the world is because 287 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:43,960 it's unknown or some people don't know what's going to 288 00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:48,720 happen, and there's this fear of what comes after, especially in 289 00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:51,960 the context of being separated from God for all eternity. 290 00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:58,400 But as you read 1 Corinthians 15 verses 54 to 57, it says when 291 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:02,480 the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the 292 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:05,040 mortal with immortality. Now I'm going to pause halfway 293 00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:07,720 through here. This is what happens when you 294 00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:09,640 accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. 295 00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:14,280 When you realise that Christ died on a cross for you and your 296 00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:17,360 sin, you get clothed with the imperishable. 297 00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:21,560 Your mortality becomes immortality and the verse 298 00:19:21,560 --> 00:19:25,000 continues saying then the saying that is written will come true. 299 00:19:25,360 --> 00:19:28,240 Death has been swallowed up in victory. 300 00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:33,040 Where O death is your sting? Where O death is your victory? 301 00:19:33,400 --> 00:19:37,080 The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is law. 302 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:41,480 But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lords 303 00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:45,120 Jesus Christ. See, if you believe that Jesus 304 00:19:45,120 --> 00:19:49,880 died for you, you get Jesus's righteousness, it gets put on 305 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:53,000 you, death is defeated. That is no longer gone because 306 00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:57,040 when you die, you'll be recognised as Jesus is. 307 00:19:57,360 --> 00:20:01,320 And that means when you stand face to face with God, you'll be 308 00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:03,240 welcomed into the Kingdom of heaven. 309 00:20:03,280 --> 00:20:06,360 And this is the good news. This is why we celebrate at 310 00:20:06,360 --> 00:20:08,680 Christmas a random baby being born. 311 00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:10,720 Well known is not any random baby. 312 00:20:10,720 --> 00:20:14,960 It was the saviour of the world. See. 313 00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:18,960 Why we celebrate at Jesus Santa, food, trees, drinks, these are 314 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:21,960 good things, but it all comes seconds to Jesus. 315 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:25,520 See, Jesus is the reason for the season. 316 00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:30,760 And just to give you a picture of what heaven will look like 317 00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:35,560 for those who know Jesus, John, a disciple of Jesus got a vision 318 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:37,600 and this is in the Book of Revelation. 319 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:41,040 And he writes, and I heard a loud voice from the throne 320 00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:44,440 saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. 321 00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:48,120 He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God 322 00:20:48,120 --> 00:20:50,160 himself will be with them as their God. 323 00:20:50,680 --> 00:20:54,080 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. 324 00:20:54,560 --> 00:20:58,280 There shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor 325 00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:02,200 crying nor pain anymore for the former things that passed away. 326 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:07,040 And he who was seated on the throne said, Behold, I am making 327 00:21:07,120 --> 00:21:10,720 all things new. And it also, he said, write this 328 00:21:10,720 --> 00:21:14,560 down, for these words are trustworthy and true. 329 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:17,960 Maybe you've never heard this before. 330 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:23,840 Maybe you didn't know that if you were to die, your sin would 331 00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:26,320 separate you from God. Maybe you've never heard that. 332 00:21:26,760 --> 00:21:30,400 Maybe as I talk about what John saw about heaven, you're like, I 333 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:33,400 want that. I long for a place where there 334 00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:36,120 is no more tears, there is no more pain. 335 00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:42,320 And so I'm here simply as a sign, poets, to point to that 336 00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:46,160 baby, to that Saviour, to say Jesus is the way. 337 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:51,360 See, Christmas is about celebrating his arrival who came 338 00:21:51,360 --> 00:21:54,200 to die for you so you can live with him. 339 00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:58,480 So I'm going to pray. If you'd like to accept what 340 00:21:58,520 --> 00:22:01,640 Jesus did for you, you can just repeat in your head after me. 341 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:04,320 I encourage you afterwards. Come and tell me. 342 00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:07,040 Come and tell Ben somebody that who invited you. 343 00:22:07,280 --> 00:22:08,960 Tell them that you prayed this prayer. 344 00:22:09,120 --> 00:22:13,680 If you do, and it's not about what you can do, but what has 345 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:18,640 already been done, maybe you still have questions and that's 346 00:22:18,640 --> 00:22:23,240 OK. Before I mentioned the disciple 347 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:28,760 who said what good can come from Nazareth, the very reply he gets 348 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:33,000 is come and see. That's my invitation tonight. 349 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:37,840 Whether you've known Jesus for years and years, maybe you're 350 00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:39,080 ready to pray. What? 351 00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:41,720 I'm about to pray in a minute. And if you are, that's great. 352 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:45,040 But maybe you're not ready. But whatever stage you are in 353 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:47,720 life, my invitation tonight is come and see. 354 00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:50,160 Come and see what Jesus has done for you. 355 00:22:51,360 --> 00:22:53,720 So I'm going to pray and then I'm going to hand back over. 356 00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:59,040 So repeat after me if you wish in your head, Yes, God, thank 357 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:04,120 you for your love for me. Thank you that you made me to 358 00:23:04,120 --> 00:23:09,200 know you. Tonight I say I want to know you 359 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:12,360 more. I'm sorry for when I've gone 360 00:23:12,360 --> 00:23:15,480 wrong. I'm sorry for when I've sinned, 361 00:23:16,360 --> 00:23:20,920 when I've walked away from you. Jesus, please forgive me. 362 00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:26,880 And Jesus, I accept that you died for me, that you taught my 363 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:32,240 punishment so that I may have your righteousness and eternal 364 00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:36,920 life with you. In Jesus name we pray, Amen. 365 00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:42,240 Amen. Thank you so much, Isaac. 366 00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:44,640 We're going to, I'm going to invite the band back up and 367 00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:48,200 we're going to end by singing Joy to the world. 368 00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:53,040 And you know what, if you are a Christian, I don't know everyone 369 00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:56,360 here, but if you're a Christian in this room, it is our 370 00:23:56,360 --> 00:24:00,920 privilege to be able to sing, to be able to say how amazing Jesus 371 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:04,120 is. The fact that he came is the 372 00:24:04,120 --> 00:24:06,200 fact that we get to live forever. 373 00:24:06,360 --> 00:24:10,560 We get to be with Him forever, that we will rule and reign with 374 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:14,160 him forever and ever and ever. That when we die, when our 375 00:24:14,160 --> 00:24:16,360 physical bodies die, we will be with him in heaven. 376 00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:19,440 And one day we will be resurrected and live with him 377 00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:22,080 for all eternity. That's why we get to sing with 378 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:25,560 such joy, because we know a God who died for us. 379 00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:29,600 And my question is, if you don't know that, as Isaac said, 380 00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:33,760 actually you can know him today. You can know him today. 381 00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:36,960 It doesn't matter whether you're a child here or whether you're 382 00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:40,520 the other end of the spectrum. You can turn and know him. 383 00:24:40,800 --> 00:24:44,640 But he is well worth knowing. He is an amazing saviour and I 384 00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:47,560 encourage you if you want to know more about Him, come and 385 00:24:47,560 --> 00:24:50,480 speak to whoever you came with. If you came on your own, come 386 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:53,000 and speak to me or someone up here. 387 00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:54,920 We'd love to talk to you more about it. 388 00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:57,880 But yeah, we're going to sing Joy to the World before we have 389 00:24:57,880 --> 00:24:59,320 some drinks and biscuits and stuff.