Emmanuel: God With Us to Deliver, But How?

[00:00:30] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Let's pray.
[00:02:11] and more.
[00:03:58] Thanks for watching!

[00:05:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
How you doing this morning?
[00:05:22] Let's stand up real quick to start this worship time.
[00:05:25] And how was your Thanksgiving?
[00:05:31] It was great?
[00:05:32] Yeah?
[00:05:33] Lots of food?
[00:05:35] And we're also this morning here ready to give thanks to the Lord.
[00:05:40] Amen?
[00:05:41] Yeah?
[00:05:42] So let's do just one thing before we pray to start this service.
[00:05:48] Can you just turn around and say hi to the person that is beside you?
[00:05:52] And if you don't know him, it's fine.
[00:05:54] It should be fine.
[00:05:55] Like, just say, like, hey, how you doing?
[00:05:57] Good morning.
[00:05:59] You look awesome today.
[00:06:01] It's kind of chilly outside.
[00:06:03] Why aren't you wearing a jacket or something sometimes?
[00:06:10] Yeah.
[00:06:12] All right so let's let's close our eyes real quick and uh let's pray all together let's just say thank you lord for this time thank you for everything that you've done so far lord in this year thank you for everything that you you are gonna do also in the next days and the next year as well we're thankful for your grace and your love your faithfulness and we praise you this morning lord

[00:06:42] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
We lift your name to the highest.
[00:06:46] For you have come to us.
[00:06:47] The light has come to us to rescue us from darkness.
[00:06:51] You have come to our hearts.
[00:06:54] We are so thankful, Lord.
[00:06:55] Thank you so much for the redemption that you brought to us.

[00:07:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
We are made new because of your name, because of your blood, because of your sacrifice.
[00:07:07] And we live a new life because of your resurrection.
[00:07:11] So thank you, Lord, for everything that you do.
[00:07:13] And we thank you for everything that you are going to do, Lord.
[00:07:18] In Jesus' name we pray.
[00:07:20] Amen.

[00:07:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Amen.
[00:07:22] Amen.

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Let's praise the Lord together this morning.

[00:07:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Behold the King has come, Divinity incarnate, Creator of the world, Breath in our air.
[00:08:08] Behold what light has come,

[00:08:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
It's not contained It's finally here Oh come let us adore Him Come let us adore Him
[00:08:37] For He alone is worthy, Christ the Lord

[00:09:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
We give you all the glory We give you all the glory We give you all the glory Christ the Lord

[00:10:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Let us adore Him Come, let us adore Him For He alone is worthy Christ the Lord Come, let us adore Him Come, let us adore Him

[00:11:43] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Let's praise the name of the Lord today, this morning.
[00:11:52] Let's put our hands together this morning, church.
[00:11:56] Let's praise the Lord this morning for His faithfulness, for everything that He has done for us, and everything that He will do.
[00:12:03] Let's sing it.
[00:12:14] We'll dry your eyes, we'll clean your soul There's a wave growing We better get ready It's carrying love, it's carrying joy You'll carry us all
[00:12:44] Heaven's open, the curse is broken, for see your kingdom flood the earth.
[00:12:55] Oh, hey, King Jesus, salvation belongs to you.
[00:13:08] Oh, power, oh, glory is yours, is yours forever and ever.
[00:13:11] There's a song coming.
[00:13:19] A banner of praise of singers and saints, an army of love Our hearts need breaking, cause the word is healing And heaven's open, the curse is broken, we'll see your kingdom flood the earth

[00:16:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Good morning everyone.
[00:16:53] You all can have a seat.
[00:16:56] My name is Felicia Tapper and I'm the ministry team and volunteer care director here at the church and on behalf of Pastor David, his wife Katie, our staff, our elder team, we just want to give everyone a huge welcome.
[00:17:08] Thank you for being here this morning and worshiping here with us this morning.
[00:17:12] For our first time guests, if you'll look in the seat back pocket in front of you, you'll see a couple of cards there.
[00:17:19] The blue card, that one's for you.
[00:17:21] We would love it if you would fill that out and you could take it to the Connect card out in the lobby after service and someone from our Connections team would love to chat with you, get to know you, answer any questions that you have.
[00:17:34] And then also we have a small gift bag for you just as our thank you for coming and being here with us today.
[00:17:41] Our vision here at Christ Community Church is in our name.
[00:17:45] I love it so much.
[00:17:47] It is know, love, live.
[00:17:49] We desire for everyone to know Christ and be in a life-changing relationship with Him.
[00:17:57] Love through community.
[00:17:58] Sorry, guys.
[00:17:59] Love through community.
[00:18:01] We are a family.
[00:18:03] We desire to have deep relationships with one another and encourage one another and just be in relationship with one another and then live as the church.
[00:18:13] So being the hands and feet of Jesus to not only one another, but also our community and the watching world.
[00:18:20] And a couple of ways that we can live out this vision is starting today.
[00:18:25] There are things that you can get involved with.
[00:18:27] You probably saw in our lobby all the fun treats and the ornament and the advent calendar.
[00:18:36] This Sunday, Family Fifth Sunday,
[00:18:41] That's a tongue twister.
[00:18:43] Lined up perfectly with the start of Christmas.
[00:18:46] I know we're not in December yet, but no better time to start than now.
[00:18:51] So this is Family Feast Sunday.
[00:18:54] You should see all those things out in the lobby.
[00:18:56] And then if you look around, you'll also notice the kiddos are in the service with us.
[00:19:01] So kids ages kindergarten and up are in the service with us today, and they get to worship with us.
[00:19:08] So we're really excited about that.
[00:19:10] You as a family can take part in those things in the lobby.
[00:19:14] Again, those are the advent calendar, the family ornament, and the hot cocoa bar.
[00:19:19] So if you haven't enjoyed those treats yet, make sure you do that after service today.
[00:19:24] The other thing happening today is Picture Perfect Christmas.
[00:19:30] Our event is coming up on December 6th, but we want to be that light in our community, the hands and feet of Jesus.
[00:19:37] And so we want to invite
[00:19:39] Our local community into the church for this event.
[00:19:44] This is where we give people a free dinner, a free family photo.
[00:19:49] And so we are doing a walk through our community at 4 o'clock today.
[00:19:56] So if you want to be a part of that and hand out invites to that event, meet here at 4 o'clock and be a part of that team.
[00:20:06] All right, can you go ahead and stand with me as we just continue with our worship?
[00:20:12] And as we continue worshiping together, I just want to take a moment to reflect on our giving.
[00:20:20] Our giving, whether it's financial or giving our time, our talents, those are all for Jesus.
[00:20:27] We do it for him.
[00:20:28] and so if you would like to give financially today to support the things that God is doing through Christ Community Church there are two ways to do it you can give online through the church center app or in the tithe boxes out in the lobby but again everything that we do no matter what it is it should be our heart should be reflective on Jesus and what he's done for us and what he's just continuing to do in our lives
[00:20:58] Let's go ahead and pray together church.
[00:21:02] Lord I just thank you so much for this season and what it's all about.
[00:21:07] God I just pray
[00:21:11] For you to just quiet our minds and our hearts and that we just are able to take this time together to just reflect on how good you are.
[00:21:20] All the things through the good and the bad, you are a God who not only walks through it all with us, but has experienced it all.
[00:21:30] Heart, joy, pain, anything that happens here on earth, you felt it.
[00:21:36] And God, I just pray that we just starting today, just continue to grow in a deeper relationship with you, our Father.
[00:21:46] That we're able to just love and reflect on who you are and through that we are able to just bless the others around us.
[00:21:57] That other people look at the church and say, I want to be a part of that.
[00:22:01] I want to know this Jesus Christ.
[00:22:03] This love that is like no other, Lord.
[00:22:06] And so I just pray that we see your Holy Spirit move within us this morning, that it's something that carries throughout the week, that we just see more and more people come to know you as their Lord and Savior.
[00:22:20] We love you and we praise you.
[00:22:23] In Jesus' name, Amen.

[00:22:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Breaking through the silence With glory in the highest The hope of all creation Resting in His mother's arms The sun on the horizon
[00:23:09] Bring you to the heavens The long-awaited Savior Come to set the captives free Come to set the captives free Come set us free The Lord has made him all
[00:24:04] We didn't see it coming The story of redemption Was started in a manger Emptied in an empty grave Oh I know Home has a name Be my home
[00:24:46] Come if you're broken Come if you're searching If you need freedom Here's where you'll find it Lay out your burdens And breathe in forgiveness If you need freedom Here's where you'll find it
[00:25:16] is where you'll find it is where you'll find
[00:26:18] We're going to invite you to close your eyes where you are.
[00:26:29] We're going to invite you to close your eyes where you are.
[00:26:34] And we talk about His redemption and how He has made us new.
[00:26:45] And we are all excited about this season that is coming up.
[00:26:50] But there was a Thanksgiving season, there is a Christmas season, and there is going to be New Year's season, and there is going to come another one, and another one, and another year, and another place to go, another place to celebrate.
[00:27:04] But something that is never, ever going to compare to it is to be in God's presence, worshiping His name all together.
[00:27:15] And one day we will go in front of Him and start singing about His deeds and how wonderful He is.
[00:27:26] but i'm pretty sure that we can start today saying lord there's nothing nothing that can compare to you there is nothing can stand between us because your love and your grace and the redemption that you have brought to us it's new every day every morning we have found we have found
[00:27:55] Satisfaction in you, Lord.
[00:28:02] We're grateful.
[00:28:04] Grateful for your goodness.
[00:28:13] In the blink of an eye,
[00:28:16] The time is gonna go through, but it's never gonna get old.
[00:28:23] It's never gonna get old to worship you and to glorify your name.
[00:28:32] We praise to you, Lord, this morning.
[00:28:39] We pray for the Holy Spirit to be with us, to guide us.

[00:28:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
This time I'm just offering a worship to you Lord The more I see The more I find To love the more I know
[00:29:18] The more I can with all my heart I'm still amazed by who You are Somehow you never thought so Don't think of You wholly
[00:29:43] Somehow you never get sold, didn't use you lowly Somehow you never get sold, didn't use you worthy For as long as I live, I never get tired of giving you praise

[00:30:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Every breath another chance to give my heart I'm still amazed by who You are
[00:30:44] Somehow we never get sold telling you you're lovely Somehow we never get sold telling you you're worthy For as long as I live I never get tired of giving you

[00:31:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
The Word of the Lord.

[00:31:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
and more if you already been so good how could there be more if you already been so good

[00:33:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
And every guitar I'll keep to praise you I'll praise you forever I'll praise you forever I'll keep my eyes on you Lord I'll keep my eyes on you Lord

[00:34:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
I'm still amazed by you What else can I say?
[00:34:48] I'm still amazed by you What else can I say?

[00:34:49] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
I'm still amazed by

[00:34:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
What else can I say?

[00:35:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
I'm still a mess by you I'm still a mess by you
[00:35:50] In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
[00:36:01] Amen.

[00:36:22] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
What season in life we are in.
[00:36:26] How much we have in our bank accounts.
[00:36:28] How much family do we have.
[00:36:31] There is nothing better than being in the presence of the Lord.
[00:36:37] There is nothing better to be in front of Him.
[00:36:43] Sing, there is so much that I can thank you for.
[00:36:48] There is so much that I can thank you for.
[00:36:51] I can't even remember how many things She had given to me.
[00:36:55] But the most important thing, Lord, that I have right now is my redemption because of You, Lord.
[00:37:02] It's a new heart, a new mind, a new life.
[00:37:06] There is nothing else that I need.
[00:37:09] There is nothing else that I need.

[00:37:13] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
It's only You.
[00:37:16] It's only You, Lord.

[00:37:24] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
That's why we can say somehow it's never going to get old to praise you.
[00:37:29] Somehow it's never going to get old to give you thinking.
[00:37:36] Because you are faithful.
[00:37:37] Because you are great, Lord.
[00:37:39] What a beautiful God we have.
[00:37:42] What a beautiful God we have.
[00:37:45] What a beautiful Father we have.

[00:37:47] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Thank you, Lord.

[00:37:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
As we continue this service, Lord, we pray for you to be with us, for your Holy Spirit to talk to us in this word that you have prepared for us.
[00:38:07] We bless our hearts, we bless your name, and we thank you for everything that you've done.
[00:38:16] In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
[00:38:19] Amen.

[00:38:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]:
Amen.
[00:38:21] Can we give it up for Jesus today?
[00:38:27] He's so amazing.
[00:38:28] He's so amazing, isn't he?
[00:38:30] Over this season, we start our brand new series today.
[00:38:34] It's our Christmas series, and it's called His Name Shall Be Called.
[00:38:39] His Name Shall Be Called.
[00:38:41] And in the book of Isaiah, hundreds of years before Jesus was born, it told us a prophecy of who Jesus was going to be, what his name would be called, because who he is, his name, the name that you call him, reflects prophecy.
[00:38:56] What he does for us.
[00:38:58] And so in the book of Isaiah it says that his name shall be called Emmanuel.
[00:39:02] That's in Isaiah 7.
[00:39:03] And then in Isaiah chapter 9 it says in his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Everlasting Father, Mighty God, Prince of Peace.
[00:39:15] Peace and so over the next five weeks we're going to look at each of the names of Jesus who he's called so that we can see Jesus as the greatest gift how many of you go into every Christmas season say this year it's going to be about Jesus right
[00:39:29] Yeah, like, I mean, it's not going to be about the presence.
[00:39:31] It's not going to be about, like, the to-do list and all the craziness that happens.
[00:39:35] It's going to be about Jesus, what we really want it to be.
[00:39:38] So we've tried to create some tools for you.
[00:39:41] This year, we have our Advent devotional.
[00:39:44] So when you go out in the lobby, you'll be able to put this together.
[00:39:47] I'll be writing devotions each week from now and through the end of this series.
[00:39:52] And so the name of Jesus that we're looking at this week is Emmanuel.
[00:39:57] And Emmanuel means, does anybody know what Emmanuel means?
[00:40:00] Because this is the interactive portion of the service.
[00:40:02] Anybody know what Emmanuel means?
[00:40:04] It means God...
[00:40:05] God is with us.
[00:40:06] God with us.
[00:40:07] Right.
[00:40:08] And so we're looking at the different ways in Mark chapter 5 and Mark chapter 6.
[00:40:14] Five different stories how Jesus shows us that he is God who came to be with us.
[00:40:21] Did you know Jesus loved you so much?
[00:40:23] He couldn't stand heaven without you, so he came to be with you.
[00:40:27] We're going to study over the next several days.
[00:40:29] These devotions only take five minutes.
[00:40:31] You can do them solo, you can do them with a spouse, you can do them with a friend, you can do them as a family.
[00:40:36] If you've never done Advent devotionals, Advent is just a season to help prepare your mind for Christmas and to keep the real reason of Christmas about Jesus alive.
[00:40:46] and so every day you do a little devotion maybe you do it like at dinner time you sit down you give the youngest child in your house a lighter and then they they light the candle right then you have like a little five minute devotional but adults i have the full scripture that you can read the whole story if you want to read the whole story but then
[00:41:03] If you're just doing the devotion, it takes less than five minutes.
[00:41:06] It's just to fix your heart on Jesus.
[00:41:08] And then a different person than the one who lit the candle is the one who blows out the candle at the end, all right?
[00:41:14] And you guys can paper, rock, scissors over who gets to do it.
[00:41:17] But you light one candle each week and then you keep adding because it's sort of a countdown to Jesus' arrival.
[00:41:23] So make sure you grab this and then also the ornament that's out there.
[00:41:27] You can put it up on your tree.
[00:41:28] How many of you already have your tree up?
[00:41:31] yeah all right well if you don't tell your parents today's the day all right so I'm really excited this is family fifth Sunday and so family fifth Sunday it's a little different if you're new to the church family every fifth Sunday of the year we get all the kids to come in and worship with us as one big church family when I was growing up we used to say can we go to big church like that's that's that's what we said instead of going to our Sunday school class can we go to big church
[00:41:58] and so all the kids come in and I sort of change my sermon a little bit to make it a little more kid friendly and we always play a game to help reinforce the truth that we're going to learn and so today we're talking about Jesus being Emmanuel God with us but did you know that it doesn't just mean God with us it also means something a little deeper Jesus is Emmanuel God with us but Emmanuel means God with us
[00:42:26] to deliver us to deliver us so we've got a little game called special delivery stand and deliver so i need two people first service i asked for a six seven year old something like that right uh so i i need i think i need an eight or a nine year old right now eight or nine year old uh let's see i need two volunteers yes sir you right there yeah come on up
[00:42:51] Yeah, you?
[00:42:51] Alright, who else?
[00:42:53] Let's see.
[00:42:53] Yes, on the front row.
[00:42:55] Come on up.
[00:42:55] Here we go.
[00:42:56] Give it up for them as they come up, okay?
[00:42:59] Alright.
[00:43:01] You just go right here in the front of the stage.
[00:43:03] Right in the front.
[00:43:04] Okay, so here's the game.
[00:43:06] It's called Stand and Deliver.
[00:43:07] Do you guys know what it means to deliver something?
[00:43:10] Anybody like ever wake up and then you go out on your porch and somebody has delivered an Amazon package?
[00:43:17] Right, yeah, like your parents, like, I don't know, they just keep coming and coming and coming.
[00:43:21] Like, it's like, anybody ever had a pizza delivered to your house?
[00:43:26] Yeah, like, so delivering something means you take it from one spot to the next spot.
[00:43:31] And so these guys are gonna do a delivery.
[00:43:33] Can you tell everybody your name real quick?
[00:43:34] Tell everybody your name, buddy.

[00:43:36] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Elijah.

[00:43:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]:
All right, tell everybody your name.

[00:43:38] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]:
Alexis.

[00:43:39] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]:
All right, Elijah and Alexis, can you give it up for them?
[00:43:42] Okay.
[00:43:43] So, this game is called Stand and Deliver.
[00:43:47] Alright, so in my hands I have Mentos, the Freshmaker.
[00:43:51] Alright, these are mints, okay?
[00:43:53] Now, out front, people have had lots of coffee,
[00:43:57] and so they have coffee breath okay so you need to deliver them a breath mint all right so here's the game here's what you're gonna do you're gonna run out this door do you see where it says exit over there you're gonna run out this door and you're gonna run out that door do you see it they've got a hold open for you okay now in the lobby there is a lady named Miss Kayla
[00:44:19] Miss Kayla, alright?
[00:44:21] So she has sort of strawberry blonde curly hair, she's wearing a black shirt, and she's pregnant.
[00:44:26] You'll be able to see her.
[00:44:26] She's right behind the table with all the cookies, okay?
[00:44:30] You're gonna deliver a mint to her because
[00:44:33] I'm not saying she needs a breath mint, but I'm just saying it's part of a game.
[00:44:36] I needed to have somebody identifiable.
[00:44:38] So you're going to stand and deliver the breath mints to her.
[00:44:42] So you're going to run.
[00:44:43] When I say go, you're going to run out to the lobby, give her the mints, and then run back in.
[00:44:49] And whoever makes it to the front of the stage first wins a $25 Amazon gift card so that somebody can deliver something to your house.
[00:45:00] All right?
[00:45:01] All right.
[00:45:02] Just the whole thing.
[00:45:04] Just hand her the whole sleeve because she may need more than one.
[00:45:07] You never know.
[00:45:07] I'm just saying.
[00:45:08] No, that's just me.
[00:45:09] That's just me.
[00:45:10] Okay.
[00:45:10] All right.
[00:45:11] You ready?
[00:45:11] Here we go.
[00:45:12] So you're going to run this way.
[00:45:14] You're going to run this way.
[00:45:15] Whoever makes it back first.
[00:45:17] All right.
[00:45:18] Do you see it?
[00:45:18] Wave back there, Mr. Kevin, so you can see.
[00:45:21] Are you ready?
[00:45:22] On your mark.
[00:45:23] Get set.
[00:45:25] Oh, no, no, no, no, no.
[00:45:27] Uh-uh.
[00:45:28] See, he jumped the gun.
[00:45:29] On your mark, set, go.
[00:45:31] All right, cheer them on, everybody.
[00:45:33] Cheer them on.
[00:45:33] Go, go, go, go, go.
[00:45:38] Go, go, go.
[00:45:39] Come on.
[00:45:40] Give Miss Kayla the man.
[00:45:41] Stand and deliver.
[00:45:42] Oh, come on in.
[00:45:45] Oh!
[00:45:48] Whoa!
[00:45:49] All right, there you go.
[00:45:51] Awesome job.
[00:45:52] All right, give it up for both of them.
[00:45:53] They did great.
[00:45:56] They did great.
[00:45:57] Awesome job.
[00:45:59] Awesome.
[00:46:00] Okay, so.
[00:46:02] So today we're going to talk about how Jesus is the one who delivers us.
[00:46:07] Now, you've had packages delivered, right?
[00:46:10] And you've had pizza delivered.
[00:46:11] Anybody ever had DoorDash delivered?
[00:46:14] Uh-huh, yeah, some of you guys have.
[00:46:15] Yeah, some of you have done DoorDash delivery, right?
[00:46:18] Delivered is when you take something from one place to the next place.
[00:46:23] But did you know Jesus came to be the greatest deliverer ever?
[00:46:28] He came to deliver not stuff.
[00:46:31] He came to deliver you and me.
[00:46:33] He came to deliver us.
[00:46:36] See, the Bible says nobody's perfect.
[00:46:38] Is anybody perfect in here?
[00:46:39] If you're perfect, you need to leave.
[00:46:40] Like, anybody never messed up?
[00:46:42] No, all of us have messed up, right?
[00:46:44] All of us are imperfect people.
[00:46:47] And so, Jesus knew we could never be perfect.
[00:46:51] so what he did is he came to deliver us from our sins so he was perfect in our place he came he left heaven and he came to be god with us so he could deliver us from sin and give us friendship with god he wanted to give us a new mind and a new heart and a new friendship with god so jesus is emmanuel god with us
[00:47:16] I want you to see this really cool story in Mark chapter 5.
[00:47:21] If you've got your Bibles, go ahead and flip open.
[00:47:23] Parents, you can sort of read along with the kids as you go.
[00:47:26] Jesus has just come through a really big storm.
[00:47:30] And we believe that it's because the demonic presences in that region didn't want Jesus to go where he was going.
[00:47:36] Jesus is searching for one person.
[00:47:39] He makes a special side trip.
[00:47:40] He could have gone anywhere.
[00:47:42] But he chooses to go to this place because there's one person
[00:47:46] who needs to be delivered and Jesus wanted everybody to know that no matter what you've done or no matter how far away from God you feel he came to be God with us so he could deliver us he wanted to make sure everybody knew it and so look at what it says in
[00:48:06] Mark chapter 5 verse 1 it says this so they came this is Jesus and the disciples to the other side of the sea to the country of the Gerasenes these are people who most of them didn't believe in God there were a few who did but the majority of the people who lived there didn't believe in God and instead of worshiping God they just did whatever they wanted to do right
[00:48:30] and so there's this guy who's there who had some big problems and he needed help and nobody could help him but Jesus
[00:48:39] came to be God with us so he could deliver us look at what it says verse 2 look at where the boat actually lands this is crazy look at what it says when Jesus stepped out of the boat immediately there met him out of the what does that word say out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit Jesus's boat lands in a graveyard that's kind of creepy isn't it
[00:49:03] It's a little weird.
[00:49:04] Nobody wants to be in a graveyard, but Jesus went there because guess what?
[00:49:10] This guy, they made him live there.
[00:49:14] Isn't that crazy?
[00:49:16] They made him live there.
[00:49:17] Look at what it says in the next verse, verse 3.
[00:49:20] He lived among the tombs.
[00:49:23] And nobody could bind him anymore.
[00:49:26] Not even with a chain.
[00:49:27] Because he had often been bound with shackles and chains.
[00:49:30] But then he wrenched the chains apart and he broke the shackles in pieces.
[00:49:35] Can you read this out loud with me?
[00:49:36] No one had the what?
[00:49:38] Strength to subdue him.
[00:49:41] He couldn't help himself and nobody else could help him.
[00:49:44] They told him, you need to time out like away from everybody else because you're out of control.
[00:49:49] Anybody ever have to go to time out because you're out of control?
[00:49:51] Right?
[00:49:52] Like anybody's parents ever tie him up?
[00:49:54] No, don't worry.
[00:49:55] I'm just kidding.
[00:49:56] But here's what happened.
[00:49:57] They were like, listen, you're out of control.
[00:49:59] We got to tie you up because you're hurting other people.
[00:50:02] Like he was beating people up.
[00:50:04] He was kind of being a bully and so they're like we've got to we've got to help you control yourself so they tied him up with ropes and then all of a sudden he would go like this because he was so strong and anybody ever flex their muscles like when they get out of the shower kid like do you go like that and try to pop a vein in your brain right like so so everybody go like this right like this is he would go like this and then all of a sudden the ropes would break
[00:50:31] and so then they decided that they were going to do it with chains they were going to chain him up so that he couldn't hurt anybody else and he would go like this and the chains would break in fact this word actually means that it would bust into pieces and it said nobody
[00:50:51] He was stronger than everybody.
[00:50:55] And he got this reputation.
[00:50:56] Everybody was afraid of this guy.
[00:51:00] Do you think Jesus was afraid of this guy?
[00:51:03] No.
[00:51:04] Jesus actually came
[00:51:07] To this guy.
[00:51:08] On purpose.
[00:51:09] He could have gone anywhere.
[00:51:10] But he wanted to come for this guy.
[00:51:13] So this guy would know how much God loved him.
[00:51:17] He couldn't even help himself.
[00:51:18] Look at this.
[00:51:19] Look how sad this guy's day is.
[00:51:21] Look what it says in verse 5.
[00:51:22] So night and day he was just among the tombs and on the mountains and he was always what?
[00:51:29] He's always crying and he's always shouting out and he's falling down he's hurting himself all the time what a sad sad existence nobody can help him and he can't even help himself he needed someone else to come and deliver him to give him a new mind and a new heart and a friendship with God and Jesus was the only one who could do that
[00:51:56] and so Jesus rose in the boat and he steps out and this guy that nobody else can control this guy that's so powerful that he has this reputation you don't want to go anywhere near this guy Jesus walks right up to him and stands there and look at what happens look at what it says at the next verse verse 6 look at what it says and when he saw Jesus from where from afar he sees him way far off this is a guy
[00:52:25] That nobody could stop him.
[00:52:28] They tried it with ropes, and they tried it with chains, and they would bust.
[00:52:34] This is a guy nobody wanted to be around and everyone was scared of.
[00:52:39] And Jesus knew that he needed help and he couldn't even help himself.
[00:52:45] And so Jesus steps out of the boat and while he's still a long way off, the one that everybody else is scared of, what does he do?
[00:52:54] Look at what it says.
[00:52:55] He ran and he what?
[00:52:57] Fall down before Jesus.
[00:53:00] He's literally on his face.
[00:53:02] The one that nobody else can tie up.
[00:53:06] He's all of a sudden on his face.
[00:53:10] And he's in complete control.
[00:53:12] Look at what it says.
[00:53:14] Crying out with a loud voice.
[00:53:15] He said, What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?
[00:53:19] I adjure you by God.
[00:53:20] Don't torment us.
[00:53:21] See, the enemy knows that his days are numbered.
[00:53:26] and there's coming a day where he won't be able to mess with anybody else and so he says please don't let it be today right like can we still just do some damage to something now all right kids you ready I want you to
[00:53:40] Practice along with me.
[00:53:42] Who can make a good pig sound?
[00:53:44] Anybody?
[00:53:44] Like, let's all do it together.
[00:53:45] You ready?
[00:53:46] On three.
[00:53:46] One, two, three.
[00:53:49] Right, like, okay.
[00:53:51] All right.
[00:53:51] So be ready.
[00:53:53] Whenever you hear me read the word pig, what are you going to...
[00:53:56] When I say pig, you're going to...
[00:53:59] I think the adults should do it, too.
[00:54:01] The kids should have all the fun.
[00:54:03] Are you ready?
[00:54:03] When I say the word pig, you guys are going to...
[00:54:06] Beautiful.
[00:54:07] That's right.
[00:54:07] You guys could win the pig-calling competition.
[00:54:09] I'm proud of you.
[00:54:13] Jesus had said to the man, Come out of him, you unclean spirit.
[00:54:18] And Jesus said, What's your name?
[00:54:20] And he said, Legion, for we're many.
[00:54:22] There's one Jesus, lots of enemies, but Jesus is more powerful than lots of enemies.
[00:54:30] Jesus is the most powerful.
[00:54:33] With Jesus you never ever have to be afraid no matter where you are.
[00:54:37] It doesn't matter where you are or where you go.
[00:54:39] You never have to be afraid because Jesus is with you.
[00:54:45] He's with you.
[00:54:46] And look at what happens.
[00:54:47] The enemies say, he begged them earnestly, just don't send us out of the country.
[00:54:52] And here's what he says, verse 11, Now there was a great herd of
[00:54:57] Pigs.
[00:54:58] Awesome.
[00:54:59] Good job.
[00:55:00] And they were feeding on the hillside.
[00:55:02] And they begged him saying, Send us into the pigs.
[00:55:05] Let us enter them.
[00:55:06] So he gave them permission.
[00:55:08] And the unclean spirits came out of the man and went into the pigs.
[00:55:12] And the herd numbering about 2,000.
[00:55:14] That's a lot of prosciutto and bacon.
[00:55:18] Rush down the steep bank and into the sea.
[00:55:22] Have you ever heard the expression, I'll do that when pigs fly?
[00:55:27] They flew that day.
[00:55:28] Literally, they're like, they're going off the cliff.
[00:55:32] They're doing like swan dives off the cliff.
[00:55:35] And it's like, right?
[00:55:37] Like at the end of the thing.
[00:55:39] And then everybody saw all the bacon floating away.
[00:55:44] Right?
[00:55:46] Here's what's crazy.
[00:55:47] Nobody could deliver this man.
[00:55:50] Nobody could help him.
[00:55:52] He couldn't deliver himself.
[00:55:54] But Jesus came so he would know God wanted to be with him.
[00:56:01] And Jesus came to deliver this man.
[00:56:04] To give him a new mind and a new heart and friendship with God.
[00:56:10] So here's this guy who would cry every day and was so sad.
[00:56:14] Who was mean to other people and couldn't even control himself.
[00:56:18] And now he's free.
[00:56:21] He has a new mind and a new heart and now he has a friendship with God.
[00:56:27] All because Jesus came to take him from one place and put him in another place.
[00:56:33] He came to deliver him.
[00:56:34] look at what it says verse 14 so the herdsmen fled and they told everybody in the city and in the country and the people came to see what had happened verse 15 and they came to jesus and they saw the guy who used to be possessed by the demon the one who had the legion what is he doing now look at what it says he's sitting there what else is he doing he's clothed thank the lord for that that was awkward he's clothed and he's in his right mind and they were all afraid
[00:57:05] And those who had seen it described what happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs.
[00:57:12] And they began to beg Jesus, You gotta leave!
[00:57:15] See, here's what happened.
[00:57:17] Jesus came to deliver us.
[00:57:21] But you get to choose whether you accept Jesus and His deliverance or whether you don't.
[00:57:32] These people, they said, we really like being in charge of our own life.
[00:57:38] We don't want you coming in and giving us a new mind.
[00:57:41] We don't want you coming in and giving us a new heart.
[00:57:44] We don't really want a friendship with God.
[00:57:46] We just want to do what we want to do when we want to do it.
[00:57:50] And so even though Jesus came to deliver them, they said no thanks and they asked him to leave.
[00:58:01] That God gives us the same choice.
[00:58:03] Jesus came to deliver every one of us because all of us have done wrong things, right?
[00:58:10] None of us can be perfect.
[00:58:12] So Jesus came to deliver us from sin and from death.
[00:58:17] He came to give us a new mind and a new heart and friendship with God that lasts forever.
[00:58:23] But it's not automatic.
[00:58:25] You have to say yes to it.
[00:58:28] You have to agree to it.
[00:58:29] Or you have to tell him you don't want it.
[00:58:31] And you have to leave.
[00:58:33] That's so sad that that's what they did.
[00:58:36] Look at what it says, verse 18.
[00:58:38] So as Jesus is getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by the demons begged him, please take me with you.
[00:58:45] And verse 19 says, but Jesus didn't permit him.
[00:58:49] Instead, he told him this.
[00:58:50] What does Jesus tell him?
[00:58:51] Instead of coming with me in the boat, you need to go somewhere else.
[00:58:55] Where do you need to go?
[00:58:55] Look at what it says.
[00:58:56] Would you read this with me?
[00:58:57] Go home to who?
[00:58:59] Your friends.
[00:59:01] And tell them how much the Lord has done for who?
[00:59:05] you and how he's had mercy on who on you and so the man went away and he began to tell that's what that word proclaim means to tell in the decapolis ten towns ten towns that's mooresville troutman statesville china grove canapolis davidson i that's six i don't there was there were four more all right
[00:59:30] He went to ten whole towns to tell everybody I used to have a mind that was like this and I used to have a heart that was like this but someone loved me enough to come and give me a new mind and a new heart and a friendship with God.
[00:59:48] His name is Jesus.
[00:59:51] He's God with us and He came to deliver
[00:59:55] And look at what it says after he told the ten towns about it.
[01:00:01] Everyone marveled.
[01:00:04] They were amazed.
[01:00:07] You mean, Jesus, God came to be with you?
[01:00:12] And he cares about you and me?
[01:00:16] And he wants to give me a new mind and a new heart?
[01:00:21] And he wants to forgive me of every wrong thing I've ever done and give me friendship with God that lasts forever?
[01:00:26] Yeah, he does.
[01:00:31] And all I have to do is say I want it?
[01:00:34] Are you kidding me?
[01:00:36] And everybody was so amazed.
[01:00:41] Listen, have you had Jesus forgive you?
[01:00:44] of the wrong things that you've done that's what Christmas is all about that's why he came he came to be God with us so he could deliver us he could take us from where we were and then he could give us a new mind and a new heart and a friendship with God that lasts forever have you said yes to Jesus in that way if not you can today let's pray would you just close your eyes
[01:01:15] this morning if you want to know Jesus like that if you want him to forgive you and to give you a peace in your mind and forgiveness in your heart and a friendship with God that will never ever go away would you just tell Jesus that's what you want you can use the word Emmanuel you can just say Jesus
[01:01:41] Thank you that you are God with me.
[01:01:45] You know, he wanted to be with you.
[01:01:47] That's why he came on Christmas.
[01:01:50] He wanted to be with you so he could deliver you, take you from one spot to another spot.
[01:01:57] So he could forgive you of every wrong thing you've ever done.
[01:02:01] He could give you a mind of peace and a heart that's new and a friendship with God that lasts forever.
[01:02:12] If you've never prayed that, just tell them, Jesus, that's what I want.
[01:02:18] Jesus, I want to know you like that.
[01:02:21] And if you prayed that, would you tell somebody today?
[01:02:25] So that they can celebrate with you?
[01:02:30] Adults in the house, I just want you to know wherever you find yourself this Christmas season, maybe you find yourself in a really dark place,
[01:02:40] Maybe you find yourself in a place where you feel like you can't help yourself and nobody else can help you.
[01:02:46] He's the one who has set His boat to land at what feels like your graveyard.
[01:02:53] At the place that feels hopeless, where you can't even contain yourself.
[01:03:01] He set His boat to land there so you would know He is God with you to deliver you.
[01:03:11] In the places where you've been overtaken by sin and by shame, He has come to set you free.
[01:03:21] This Christmas, would you know Him as Emmanuel, God with you to deliver you?
[01:03:30] And for those of you that are believers in the house today that you already know Jesus in that way, let's not forget the importance of this season.
[01:03:37] Jesus said more important than getting in the boat and going with Him was going home and telling people who needed to hear that Jesus is God with us who came to deliver us.
[01:03:47] There's so many people at our workplace.
[01:03:49] There's so many people at school.
[01:03:50] There's so many people who are in our community and their mind doesn't have peace and their heart isn't brand new and they don't know that God wants to be with them.
[01:04:01] That it doesn't matter who they are or what they've done or how dark their life may appear.
[01:04:07] Jesus has set his sail through the night to wind up on their shores so that they can know God loves them so much.
[01:04:17] He came to be with them to deliver them and set them free.
[01:04:23] That's a message the world still needs to hear.
[01:04:27] If one person can go to ten towns and do it, we can go to our offices.
[01:04:31] We can go to our family gatherings.
[01:04:34] We can go to our sports teams.
[01:04:36] We can go wherever and let them know what the Lord has done for you.
[01:04:40] That He gave you a new mind filled with peace and He gave you a new heart and He gave you friendship with the Father that lasts forever.
[01:04:49] Let's remember Jesus is our greatest gift.
[01:04:55] His name will be called Emmanuel.
[01:04:59] Lord would you help us remember that this week and everything that we do in Jesus name and all God's people said amen amen I'm gonna invite our elder of the week it's Daniel Ochoa so not only is he leading worship and playing guitar he's also praying he's the multifaceted elder of the week this week can you guys give it up for Daniel yeah so
[01:05:22] If you need anything this week, he's the elder on call.
[01:05:24] You can go to the Church Center app and click contact the elder on call or emergency and you'll talk with Daniel this week.
[01:05:32] He's going to be at the fireplace.
[01:05:33] He'd love to pray with you at the end.
[01:05:35] He'd love to play with you too, I'm sure.
[01:05:37] You guys can play a round and game of tag.
[01:05:39] He would love to pray with you at the end of the service but would you please stand as we get ready to leave make sure you grab these make your little ornament hanging on the tree remember the real reason for the season and then take these devotionals with you you can make your little devotional craft today to make sure that you remember it's it's five minutes a day to make sure that you're remembering who Jesus is this Christmas season all right let's pray

[01:06:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
I would invite you church to if you can put your hands like this right whenever we're praying right now I know you're holding your children as well so you can just do one hand but let's just pray like this and say Lord thank you so much Lord for this time thank you for everything that you do in our lives Lord we pray for these hands Lord to be instruments of your grace and your love Lord
[01:06:32] For everyone that goes everywhere, anywhere, Lord, to show your mercy, to show love on this season, Lord, for your Holy Spirit to guide us in the different places that you are going to take us to.
[01:06:46] In Jesus' name we pray, and we are looking forward for a blessed season, a blessed weekend, a blessed Sunday, where there is an opportunity for us to live your name.
[01:06:59] In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
[01:07:01] Amen.