The Empty Reservation: Why Human Decisions Can’t Save You

[00:00:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Good morning, or afternoon, let's pray.
[00:00:05] Lord, as we have just sung, you shall reign forevermore.
[00:00:08] And as we celebrate the birth of Jesus in this time of the year, we're reminded of the passage that says, when the time was just right, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman made under the law to redeem those that are under the law
[00:00:25] Whereby we can cry, Abba, Father.
[00:00:28] So because Jesus was born, because he died, because he rose, we can now say, Father.
[00:00:35] And even with affection, Abba, Father.
[00:00:39] So we say that today, our Father who art in heaven.
[00:00:42] Speak to us now as we open your word and bless this time of Bible study as we visit once again the greatest story ever told.
[00:00:52] We ask this now in Jesus' name.
[00:00:54] Amen.
[00:00:55] Hey, you can all be seated.
[00:00:57] Well we've got some exciting things happening it's Christmas of course and that starts with tonight here at Harvest Orange County we're having our Christmas tree lighting event at five o'clock so you don't want to miss this it's a lot of fun there's something for the whole family
[00:01:14] and we already did it last week in Riverside on Sunday night there now we're going to do it here at Harvest OC we also did our Christmas tree lighting at on Maui as well so one left to go and then one other thing people have asked about our Christmas Eve services when they are it's very easy to remember two four six eight
[00:01:38] Who do we appreciate?
[00:01:40] Jesus.
[00:01:41] Right?
[00:01:41] 2468.
[00:01:43] Those are the service times for Christmas Eve.
[00:01:46] And I want to remind you that Christmas is a great time to bring people to church.
[00:01:51] It's a one time when many will consider it.
[00:01:54] Neighbors, co-workers, family members, people that you just know in general, say, would you like to come with me to church Christmas Eve or next Sunday?
[00:02:06] Take advantage of those opportunities.
[00:02:08] Two, four, six, eight.
[00:02:11] Okay, let's grab our Bibles and turn to Luke chapter two.
[00:02:14] We're gonna look at a very familiar, powerful, and beautiful portion of scripture.
[00:02:20] The title of my message is Taking Christmas Back.
[00:02:24] I heard a story of a Sunday school teacher who took a trip to the Holy Land.
[00:02:30] While he was there in Israel he bought a little nativity set made out of olive wood.
[00:02:35] He had Joseph and Mary, the baby Jesus, the wise men, a couple of camels.
[00:02:40] So he's at the airport there in Tel Aviv and he noticed that they were going over this nativity set figure by figure with great scrutiny.
[00:02:50] Each figure was carefully x-rayed.
[00:02:53] This is a true story, by the way.
[00:02:55] It's not a joke.
[00:02:56] And he said, why are you looking so carefully?
[00:02:59] Why so much scrutiny for a nativity set?
[00:03:02] And the security officer said, you see, it's because we wanna make sure there's nothing explosive in them.
[00:03:09] That's sort of the reality they live with in Israel today.
[00:03:13] But he kind of makes a good point, doesn't he?
[00:03:16] Because there is explosive power in the story of Christmas.
[00:03:21] Because the story of Christmas is really the story of the Gospel
[00:03:26] The Apostle Paul says that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes.
[00:03:33] But I feel that in many ways we've lost sight of that.
[00:03:37] Between the shopping carts and the Christmas cards, something's gone wrong.
[00:03:42] It seems as though Christmas has been hijacked.
[00:03:46] But don't be alarmed.
[00:03:47] I think we can get it back.
[00:03:49] But my point is the very word Christmas has been emptied of its meaning, drug through the gutter, and given back to us minus the power.
[00:03:59] And there's a secular version of it where people don't even want to use the word Christmas.
[00:04:04] They'll say Happy Holidays.
[00:04:06] and I don't really have a problem with that.
[00:04:08] Someone says happy holidays, I go, well thank you very much and Merry Christmas to you.
[00:04:12] I think we can overreact as Christians maybe.
[00:04:15] Happy holidays, well Merry Christmas to you.
[00:04:20] and by that I mean Merry Day Jesus was born then died on a cross and rose again from the dead to you.
[00:04:27] Relax a little bit.
[00:04:29] You can even say Happy Holidays but it's a good opportunity to respond with a nice Merry Christmas but there's many events now where
[00:04:37] Christmas is left out altogether.
[00:04:40] They had a tree lighting ceremony in Portland, Oregon.
[00:04:43] They've been doing it for years.
[00:04:45] But this year, it just became the tree lighting.
[00:04:48] Not Christmas tree lighting, just the tree lighting.
[00:04:51] The word Christmas never showed up.
[00:04:53] Instead of singing Christmas carols, there were chants of Free Palestine that were out there, and also they had some song I've never heard of, the Strong Woman song.
[00:05:04] Boy, sorry I missed that.
[00:05:06] So sometimes Jesus is just completely removed.
[00:05:10] But on the other hand, I think sometimes even as Christians we can overly romanticize the story of Christmas.
[00:05:18] You know, snowy country scenes with horse-drawn carriages and the little red candles and the frosty windows.
[00:05:28] It's more hallmark than the Holy Bible.
[00:05:31] And I think what we need to do is strip all of this away and see the real Christmas story in all of its explosive power.
[00:05:40] I mean, think about what actually happened.
[00:05:43] God sent His Son to this earth, we all know that, but He was born in a barn.
[00:05:49] Where would you want your little baby boy to be born?
[00:05:53] On the floor of a cave or a barn is where the Son of God entered our world.
[00:05:59] Now that does not diminish the story for me.
[00:06:02] That actually makes the story more powerful to me to think of the great sacrifice that God made to come to our world.
[00:06:11] The night when God himself came near to the earth.
[00:06:17] The night that changed everything when he stepped out of heaven and entered human history.
[00:06:23] And of course it all started when the angel Gabriel appears to a young woman named Mary living in Nazareth.
[00:06:32] Now, Nazareth was a city that was, well, it was known for a couple of things.
[00:06:38] It was known, number one, for wickedness.
[00:06:41] This is why when it was said to a man named Nathaniel that Jesus was from Nazareth, he responded by saying, can any good thing come out of Nazareth?
[00:06:52] Seriously?
[00:06:53] and then another thing about Nazareth was it was sort of a place people went through to get to another place.
[00:06:59] Sort of a stopover place.
[00:07:02] Nazareth was sort of like the Barstow of the Bible, you know?
[00:07:06] Does anyone go to Barstow?
[00:07:08] I don't know that they do.
[00:07:09] I think they stop there to get gas and get something to eat on their way to the river, right?
[00:07:15] But that was Nazareth.
[00:07:17] And by the way, it was not uncommon to hear of a young woman finding herself pregnant outside of wedlock because Roman soldiers would go through Nazareth and take advantage of the young women there as well.
[00:07:30] So that gives us a little context.
[00:07:33] to Mary living in Nazareth.
[00:07:35] This was a godless place.
[00:07:38] And yet in the middle of this godless place lived a godly woman.
[00:07:43] A special woman that was chosen by God.
[00:07:47] And I think we want to recognize that Mary was the most blessed woman that ever lived.
[00:07:52] However, she was not born of immaculate conception as it is taught by the Catholic Church.
[00:07:58] Mary was a sinner like anybody else.
[00:08:01] and that's confirmed by the fact that when it was revealed to her that she would be the mother of the Son of God, she gave a beautiful psalm of praise.
[00:08:10] It's sometimes called Mary's Magnificat and in it, among other things, she said, my soul rejoices in God my savior.
[00:08:19] Yes, Mary needed a savior too.
[00:08:22] Because as wonderful as she was, she still was a sinner in need of a savior.
[00:08:27] But she was chosen by God to be the mother of the Messiah.
[00:08:32] And Gabriel said to her in Luke chapter one verse 28, greetings favored woman, the Lord is with you.
[00:08:38] Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.
[00:08:42] And he said, don't be frightened Mary, for God has decided to bless you.
[00:08:47] And she obeyed God.
[00:08:49] Now let's pick up the Christmas story as told by Dr. Luke in Luke chapter two.
[00:08:57] I'm gonna start in verse one.
[00:08:59] Why don't you read along with me?
[00:09:01] And it came to pass in those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.
[00:09:08] This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.
[00:09:13] So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.
[00:09:17] Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea to the city of David which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house and lineage of David to be registered with Mary his betrothed wife who was also with child.
[00:09:35] and so it was while they were there the days were completed for her to be delivered and she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the end.
[00:09:49] We'll stop there.
[00:09:51] Such a beautiful story.
[00:09:53] Joseph loved Mary.
[00:09:55] He was torn with agony when he found out she was pregnant.
[00:09:59] What is he going to do?
[00:10:01] And I think in many ways Joseph is the unsung hero of the Christmas story.
[00:10:06] We talk so much about Mary.
[00:10:08] We have so many songs about Mary.
[00:10:11] Right?
[00:10:11] Mary did you know?
[00:10:13] What about Joseph did you know?
[00:10:15] He was in the story.
[00:10:17] Round yon virgin, mother and child, holy infant so tender in mouth.
[00:10:22] Hey, Joseph was there too.
[00:10:24] But he sort of gets ignored, but as I said, he's the unsung hero of the story.
[00:10:30] Just as surely as God handpicked Mary to be the mother of Messiah, He also chose Joseph to be the stepfather or father figure on earth
[00:10:42] for Jesus.
[00:10:43] Jesus was born into a home where his dad basically, or his stepfather if you will, was a carpenter.
[00:10:52] And carpenters create new things and they fix broken things.
[00:10:56] So Jesus grew up in many ways like any other child.
[00:11:00] Joseph would have taught him the value of hard work.
[00:11:03] He would have taught him the example of putting your back to a task.
[00:11:08] And to his defense, he stood with Mary
[00:11:12] Even after she revealed she was pregnant.
[00:11:14] And to be quite honest with you, he wasn't totally buying the story either.
[00:11:19] But God intervened and changed his mind.
[00:11:23] Fathers really matter, don't you think?
[00:11:26] I shared not too long ago a stat, yeah.
[00:11:31] It's worth applauding for.
[00:11:33] How many of you are fathers?
[00:11:34] Raise your hand.
[00:11:35] Oh, I'm so glad to see you at church.
[00:11:38] How many of you are grandfathers?
[00:11:40] Wow, quite a few.
[00:11:41] How many of you are great-grandfathers?
[00:11:43] That might be hard for you to lift your hand.
[00:11:44] No, I'm kidding.
[00:11:48] God bless each one of you.
[00:11:50] Fathers make such a difference.
[00:11:51] I watched a documentary the other day about the rock singer Jeff Buckley.
[00:11:56] He was very big in the 90s.
[00:11:58] And so he was a son of another musician named Tim Buckley.
[00:12:04] and Jeff's mother got pregnant when she was very young and really his father had no relationship with him at all and he only spent a little time with his dad and on one occasion he spent a few days visiting his father and his dad gave him a little match book of matches and you open it up and it said call me anytime dad with his number and so young Jeff called his dad many times but his dad never picked up
[00:12:33] And then sadly, Tim Buckley, the father, died of a drug overdose.
[00:12:39] And they had a tribute concert for him sometime later and young Jeff got up and sang and people realized that he had inherited his father's talent and some thought he was even more talented than his father.
[00:12:52] There were a lot of agents out there and record executives that heard him sing and
[00:12:57] He immediately had contracts coming his way and he began his career.
[00:13:01] But you could see throughout his life he carried a deep longing.
[00:13:06] A longing for the Father he never knew.
[00:13:08] He wrestled with loneliness and sort of had a sense of being adrift in life.
[00:13:13] And in 1997 while in Memphis, Jeff went for a swim in the Mississippi River fully clothed
[00:13:20] and Tragically Drowned.
[00:13:22] Was it intentional?
[00:13:24] No one knows.
[00:13:25] But what it's clear is he had a longing for his father throughout his entire life.
[00:13:30] That's why dads matter.
[00:13:32] And that's why Joseph matters.
[00:13:34] Because he was there.
[00:13:35] You know, not only is he unsung hero in our culture, the father that shows up.
[00:13:40] I was starting to mention the statistic that Generation Z
[00:13:44] is the most fatherless generation of any that we have ever seen in the history of our nation.
[00:13:50] So it's a whole new kind of challenge.
[00:13:54] So it's not only just fathers that stay by their families, but when fathers leave their families, it's stepfathers that step into the gap.
[00:14:02] They too are unsung heroes.
[00:14:05] And sometimes grandfathers that will end up parenting their grandchildren.
[00:14:10] So God bless all of you men out there that do that.
[00:14:17] So here's Joseph.
[00:14:18] Mary's pregnant.
[00:14:20] He loved her.
[00:14:21] They're engaged.
[00:14:22] And by the way, to be engaged at this time, or betrothed, it was different than the way it is today.
[00:14:27] It's almost like you were married, with the exception being you had not consummated the relationship yet.
[00:14:33] But it's as though you were married.
[00:14:36] So Mary is pregnant, and she tells Joseph, well, the Holy Spirit has placed the Messiah in my womb, and he's saying, I'm not really believing that.
[00:14:45] But I love you.
[00:14:46] and I don't know what to do.
[00:14:49] And he was gonna put her away quietly.
[00:14:51] But an angel of the Lord came to him.
[00:14:54] In Matthew chapter one.
[00:14:55] And while he was thinking about these things, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, Joseph, son of David, don't be afraid to take Mary to be your wife for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit and she will bring forth a son and he will call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins.
[00:15:14] And I want you to know something else about Joseph.
[00:15:17] He had to put up with the ridicule of people throughout his entire life and Mary had to go through life with the suspicion that she was an immoral woman.
[00:15:28] In fact, on one occasion the Pharisees said to Jesus, well at least we weren't born of fornication.
[00:15:34] Which is another way of saying, well at least we weren't born out of wedlock like you.
[00:15:39] If we read the next verse was, And Jesus called fire down on them, it would have made sense.
[00:15:45] You don't insult a man's mother.
[00:15:48] But that's exactly what they did.
[00:15:50] So she went through life with that reputation.
[00:15:54] Joseph went through life as the husband of a man who was unfaithful to him.
[00:15:59] And nothing could have been further from the truth.
[00:16:01] They both made a great sacrifice.
[00:16:04] but God blessed them in such a special way.
[00:16:08] I love the way Luke writes.
[00:16:09] He is so careful in his reporting.
[00:16:12] Luke is the only non-Jew to have written a book of the Bible.
[00:16:17] Now the other Gospel authors were eyewitnesses.
[00:16:20] Matthew, also known as Levi, followed the Lord himself and wrote of his own experiences.
[00:16:26] John, of course, John the Beloved, was very close to Jesus and on a number of occasions
[00:16:33] Peter, James, and John were with the Lord, seeing special things the others did not even see.
[00:16:38] And then finally Mark, many believe that he was writing down what was told to him by Peter.
[00:16:45] But Luke, he wasn't there.
[00:16:48] He was a non-Jew who was hired by a man named Theophilus, we read about him in the beginning of this book, to write an orderly account of the life and ministry of Jesus.
[00:16:59] So Dr. Luke is a stickler for details.
[00:17:03] He would dot his I's and cross his T's, and it appears that he would have interviewed the principal characters of the story.
[00:17:11] How cool would that have been?
[00:17:12] To sit down with Mary and say, okay, Mary, tell me this story.
[00:17:16] What happened?
[00:17:17] Joseph, if he was still living, Joseph, tell me what happened.
[00:17:20] What did the angels say to you?
[00:17:22] Maybe he interviewed the shepherds.
[00:17:24] Tell me about that night when the angels appeared to you, or maybe even the wise men, I don't know.
[00:17:29] But he took all of this information and gives us this
[00:17:33] Orderly account because he wants us to know according to Luke 1 3 that he carefully investigated everything from the beginning so I could write an orderly account for you.
[00:17:45] And it's worth noting that he says in verses 2 and 3 that Caesar, Augustus, and Quirinius were ruling.
[00:17:55] These were two Roman leaders.
[00:17:58] And Caesar Augustus was the first real Roman emperor.
[00:18:03] His actual name was Caius Octavius.
[00:18:06] He was the grand-nephew or the great-nephew of Julius Caesar.
[00:18:09] And Octavius fought his way to power, defeating both Antony and Cleopatra.
[00:18:15] And up to this point, the Roman Republic was ruled by the senators.
[00:18:21] But now Caesar was in charge and he became the Roman Empire.
[00:18:27] And he gives himself a new title.
[00:18:29] It's not just Caius Octavius, it's Caesar Augustus.
[00:18:34] Augustus is more of a title than a name.
[00:18:37] And it's a title that means of the gods or to be revered.
[00:18:42] This is the first time a Caesar declared himself as God.
[00:18:47] In fact, there was an inscription that was found that said Caesar Augustus, the savior of the whole world.
[00:18:55] So it gives context to the statement of the angels who said to the shepherds, there is born unto you this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord.
[00:19:05] It's almost as though the Lord was saying, no, Caesar is not the Savior of the world.
[00:19:10] That little baby in the manger is the Savior of the world.
[00:19:15] So in a time when man wanted to be God, God became a man.
[00:19:22] Let me say that again.
[00:19:23] In a time when man wanted to be God, God became a man and the true savior arrived, not as a monarch wrapped in gold and silk, but as a baby wrapped in rags.
[00:19:35] The real story of Jesus is not a rags to riches story, it's a riches to rags story.
[00:19:41] Rag story.
[00:19:43] He went from being a sovereign to being a servant.
[00:19:46] And he laid everything down for us.
[00:19:48] Now, another interesting thing, historians tell us that this Caesar Augustus was kind of a little dude.
[00:19:55] They said he was short in stature.
[00:19:58] So, little Caesar gave his decree.
[00:20:03] In fact they found a coin not too long ago with the image of Caesar Augustus with the words piazza piazza which translates out to pizza pizza not rise I made all of that up there's no such coin but um so this little guy who thought he was a god uh has it revealed to him that the true god has come to the world
[00:20:27] You know, we wouldn't even know the name of Caesar Augustus or Quirinius if it were not for the Christmas story.
[00:20:36] We know Caesar, well, there's a good salad named after him and we know a few other things about him.
[00:20:42] But this was all part of God's master plan to put everything into place because Scripture said that Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.
[00:20:51] And of course you remember that Bethlehem is the boyhood home of David.
[00:20:55] And Jesus is from the house of David.
[00:20:58] When he had his public ministry, he identified himself as the son of David.
[00:21:04] and it's worth noting that both Mary and Joseph had their bloodline going back to David.
[00:21:10] Thus, they had to return to Bethlehem.
[00:21:12] That was not the plan.
[00:21:14] She's in Nazareth, she's pregnant.
[00:21:16] When you're that far along in your pregnancy, the last thing you wanna do is travel
[00:21:21] but God wanted them in Bethlehem because scripture said thou Bethlehem though you be little among the thousands of Judah yet out of you shall come forth one whose origins have been from everlasting or literally the vanishing point, beyond the vanishing point.
[00:21:38] So they're now going there because that's part of God's master plan.
[00:21:44] And here comes Jesus into our world.
[00:21:47] The stallion was born in with smell of straw and feces, and it was very cold.
[00:21:53] A God incarnate was born on the dirty floor of a filthy cave.
[00:21:58] And this doesn't diminish the story for me.
[00:22:02] It makes it more powerful.
[00:22:05] I think the problem with the Christmas story, something with the Christmas story, but our telling of it, is we've made it too beautiful, you know?
[00:22:12] Bathed in blue light.
[00:22:14] Everyone has halos.
[00:22:15] Jesus has a little tiny halo.
[00:22:18] The animals are bowing in reverence.
[00:22:20] No, no, that's not the story.
[00:22:22] It's that God left the glory of heaven to come to our earth in the most difficult of circumstances imaginable.
[00:22:29] God became a fetus.
[00:22:31] It was deity in diapers.
[00:22:33] He was larger than the universe, became an embryo.
[00:22:37] And you think about a baby, how helpless they are.
[00:22:40] Have you ever held a
[00:22:42] A newborn baby in your hands or your arms?
[00:22:45] You have to cradle their head and their neck and their back and hold them ever so gently?
[00:22:51] Would you want your son to be born on the floor of a cold cave?
[00:22:56] Well that's exactly how God entered our world.
[00:22:59] Our Kent Hughes, an excellent Bible commentator, put it this way, and I quote, It was clearly a leap down, as if the Son of God rose from His splendor, poised on the rim of the universe, radiating light, and dove headlong, speeding through the stars over the Milky Way to Earth's galaxy, where He plunged into a huddle of animals.
[00:23:23] Nothing could be lower.
[00:23:25] Well said.
[00:23:26] That's exactly what happened.
[00:23:28] So here we have this beautiful picture of what happened for us.
[00:23:32] Jesus went from the cradle to the cross.
[00:23:37] He could have been born in the most elegant mansion on the ritziest boulevard in downtown Rome.
[00:23:45] He could have had parents boasting of their pedigree or education.
[00:23:50] He could have worn the finest clothes from the most exclusive shops.
[00:23:54] but instead he left all of this for us.
[00:23:57] It's summed up beautifully in 2 Corinthians which says in chapter eight verse nine, though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that through his poverty you might be rich.
[00:24:10] So here come Joseph and Mary into Bethlehem.
[00:24:14] and they can't find a place for her to deliver this child.
[00:24:19] All we're told in the Bible is there was no room for them in the end.
[00:24:22] Luke 2 7, she brought forth their firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling cloths, laid him in a manger because there was no room in the end.
[00:24:31] That's sort of a summary of his life.
[00:24:33] There was never room for Jesus.
[00:24:36] The Bible says he came unto his own and his own received him not.
[00:24:41] There's a telling statement in the Gospel of John that says that everyone went home to their own house, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
[00:24:53] Jesus really didn't have a home.
[00:24:55] He said birds have nests and foxes have holes, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.
[00:25:03] Yet here's the one who said that in his father's house there are many rooms, but we didn't have any room for him.
[00:25:10] And he has a room for you waiting in heaven, sort of like a hotel.
[00:25:14] You have to make your reservation.
[00:25:16] Have you made yours yet?
[00:25:18] Do you know with certainty that you will go to heaven when you die?
[00:25:21] Because you can't just go into some hotel and walk into the nicest room and spend the night.
[00:25:26] You have to go to the desk.
[00:25:27] You have to put your credit card down.
[00:25:30] You have to wait for check-in time.
[00:25:32] Then you have to leave at check-out time.
[00:25:34] You need a reservation.
[00:25:36] The other day we went to Disneyland for my birthday.
[00:25:39] I went with my son and my grandkids.
[00:25:41] And we have to make a reservation.
[00:25:42] You can't be walking into Disneyland without a reservation.
[00:25:46] And so we did all the predictable things.
[00:25:49] I went on the Pirates of the Caribbean and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
[00:25:54] And then I had a corn dog.
[00:25:55] I always get a corn dog when I go to Disneyland.
[00:25:57] I think they have very good corn dogs.
[00:26:00] And then I made the worst decision of my life.
[00:26:02] After I ate the corn dog, my grandkids said, Papa, let's go on Space Mountain.
[00:26:10] And I said yes.
[00:26:12] Now I want to say as a historical footnote that I took the inaugural ride on Space Mountain when it opened back in 1977.
[00:26:21] Yeah.
[00:26:24] I was 25 years old.
[00:26:27] Now I'm writing it at 73 years old, after eating a corn dog.
[00:26:34] So we start out, I think it's not so bad, I think it's gonna be okay, and we go around a little bend, and then it really started.
[00:26:42] And you know how they take those photographs of you, and we're all too cheap to buy the actual photograph, so we take a picture of the image on the screen.
[00:26:53] Look at the screen, this is what it looked like.
[00:27:00] Two of my granddaughters behind me, I think they know the photo's being taken.
[00:27:04] Christopher's enduring it.
[00:27:08] I look like I'm deceased.
[00:27:11] I'm in the afterlife, hoping I don't have to come back to this life.
[00:27:17] And that's exactly...
[00:27:20] So we got... You can, yeah, take that down.
[00:27:22] Okay.
[00:27:25] So, afterwards, Christopher, my grandson, said, Papa, how did you like it?
[00:27:30] I said, I'm never riding a roller coaster again.
[00:27:33] I'm officially done with roller coasters.
[00:27:35] I digress.
[00:27:36] I was just making the point because I needed to make a reservation, but I wanted to tell you that story for no reason in particular.
[00:27:45] But, you know, it's a funny thing.
[00:27:47] Why couldn't they make room for Jesus?
[00:27:49] Well, we don't know why.
[00:27:51] We talk about the innkeeper.
[00:27:53] The Bible never mentions an innkeeper.
[00:27:55] I'm not saying there wasn't one, but I'm saying no such person is identified.
[00:28:00] It just says there was no room for them in the inn.
[00:28:03] It might have been a man.
[00:28:04] It might have been a woman.
[00:28:06] I don't know, but whoever they were, no one would make room for Jesus, and we criticize them for that.
[00:28:12] But don't we do the same thing?
[00:28:14] We become so busy we have no time for God and I think especially in the Christmas season.
[00:28:22] We're so busy going to this event and that party and this other thing and then we've got a shop and all the rest that goes with it.
[00:28:29] We can forget all about Jesus.
[00:28:32] People say, well I just don't have time to go to church.
[00:28:35] I would love to but I'm just so busy.
[00:28:37] I don't have time to read the Bible.
[00:28:39] I want to read the Bible but I just can't find time in my schedule.
[00:28:43] I would like to pray more but I just can't work it in.
[00:28:46] Give me a break.
[00:28:48] Did you know that we spend basically 17 to 23 hours per week watching television?
[00:28:56] Then we spend another 16 hours on social media and I think those numbers are probably much higher for younger people.
[00:29:03] That means we spend 40 hours every week
[00:29:07] Looking at a screen maybe more you only have 110 waking hours in an average week so it's almost half of your waking hours are spent looking at screens and you're telling me you don't have time to pick up a bible
[00:29:22] Think about how you feel when you start doom scrolling and all the crazy stuff that's out there right now and the effect that it has on our mind and on our heart and how you feel afterwards.
[00:29:35] In fact, you feel a lot like someone who just ate a corn dog and rode Space Mountain, right?
[00:29:41] And think about how you feel when you open the Word of God.
[00:29:44] How it refreshes you.
[00:29:46] How it centers you.
[00:29:47] How it suddenly gives you perspective.
[00:29:50] Imagine if you spent half the time you did on these other devices looking at the Bible.
[00:29:56] Even a quarter of the time.
[00:29:58] Even a tenth of the time.
[00:30:00] It would make all the difference in the world.
[00:30:02] So we too can be so busy we forget all about Jesus or we don't have room for Jesus.
[00:30:08] This reminds me of a story when Mary and Joseph took Jesus to Jerusalem when he was older.
[00:30:13] He was 12 years old.
[00:30:15] And so they arrived and they went back.
[00:30:17] Now in those days, the men and women would travel separately.
[00:30:21] And that's probably because the guys got tired of sitting around in their chariots waiting for the women to get ready.
[00:30:28] And so the girls would go on ahead and
[00:30:31] and the guys will catch up later or maybe the other way around I'm not really sure and I don't really understand this but I can't speak of all women but I'll just speak of my wife who's the most wonderful woman of all time and I love her with all of my heart but she does this thing I don't understand we're ready to go I already say we're late we gotta go we're late we're late I know I know and we're in the car she goes I have to go get something
[00:30:55] What do you need?
[00:30:56] I'll get it for you.
[00:30:57] No, I need to get a sweater.
[00:30:58] Okay, tell me what sweater you want.
[00:31:00] No, I'll get it.
[00:31:01] And she goes in the house and it's like she disappears into some mysterious black hole.
[00:31:06] Sometimes it's two hours.
[00:31:09] Okay, I'm exaggerating, but it seems like a lot.
[00:31:11] Two minutes seem like two hours when it's time to go and you're ready to drive off.
[00:31:16] So I don't know what's going on.
[00:31:17] So the guy says, you girls go ahead.
[00:31:19] We'll see you when we get home.
[00:31:20] So Mary gets home.
[00:31:22] Hey, Jesus, where's Jesus?
[00:31:23] Oh, he must be with Joseph.
[00:31:25] Joseph gets home.
[00:31:26] Mary, where's Jesus?
[00:31:28] He didn't come with me.
[00:31:29] Thought he was with you.
[00:31:31] Mary and Joseph lost Jesus literally.
[00:31:35] And so they go back to Jerusalem and where do they find him?
[00:31:39] They find the 12-year-old Jesus in the temple reasoning with the religious leaders and they kind of correct him a little bit.
[00:31:47] Why didn't you come with us?
[00:31:48] What's going on?
[00:31:49] He goes, excuse me, did you not know that I must be about my father's business?
[00:31:55] So they're beginning to understand more fully what he is really there to do.
[00:32:00] But we can lose Jesus at Christmas very easily.
[00:32:04] And we can substitute other things for Him.
[00:32:07] We can expect the season itself to bring happiness to us.
[00:32:13] But the joy and the happiness you want in this holiday season is not going to come from a Christmas present under a tree.
[00:32:22] It's going to come from Christ's presence in your life.
[00:32:27] Right?
[00:32:32] because that is the essential message of Christmas.
[00:32:35] You will call his name Emmanuel, which means God is with us.
[00:32:40] Christmas is a hard time for a lot of people because if they've lost a loved one, it's a marker of time.
[00:32:47] And they remember, my loved one was with me last Christmas.
[00:32:51] Or maybe they're going through some other kind of hardship and everything sort of amplifies a little bit in the holiday season.
[00:32:58] So remember what it's all about.
[00:33:00] It's about the fact that God came to our world and you're not alone.
[00:33:05] And He can come even more significantly and live in your heart.
[00:33:08] Back to that passage I quoted earlier that sums up Christmas.
[00:33:13] When the time was just right, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem those that are under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
[00:33:27] So basically what that is saying is, at the right moment in human history,
[00:33:31] Christ came to our world to redeem us under the law we were under the power of sin he came to break that power through his death on the cross that we might receive the spirit of adoption so now we're adopted as God's children his sons and his daughters and I love the end of the verse whereby we cry Abba Father that's a revolutionary thought for a Jew of the first century
[00:33:57] To call God Father and even more to say Abba Father.
[00:34:01] Abba is a term of affection.
[00:34:03] Our modern equivalent would be Papa or Daddy.
[00:34:07] So we have this intimate relationship with God because of what Christ did for us.
[00:34:12] Being born, dying, rising again from the dead.
[00:34:18] You call His name Jesus because He'll save His people from their sins.
[00:34:22] And that's what we need.
[00:34:23] We need a savior.
[00:34:24] And the reason is because we're sinners.
[00:34:27] Every one of us have broken God's laws.
[00:34:29] Look, even Mary was a sinner.
[00:34:32] I know we're told she was born of immaculate conception because God needed a pure vessel for His son to be born in, but the Bible doesn't teach that.
[00:34:40] The Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
[00:34:43] And though Mary was a wonderful, privileged, and blessed woman, even she, in her beautiful psalm of praise that she offered after it was revealed to her she would be the mother of Messiah, she said in that psalm, sometimes called Mary's Magnificat, my soul rejoices in God my Savior.
[00:35:04] Yes, Mary needed a Savior.
[00:35:06] Everyone needs a Savior.
[00:35:07] Because everyone is a sinner.
[00:35:10] And everyone has fallen short of the glory of God.
[00:35:13] That's why Jesus came.
[00:35:16] And He can come and take residence in your heart.
[00:35:18] Do you have room in your heart for Jesus?
[00:35:21] He has many rooms waiting in heaven for you if you believe in Him.
[00:35:24] Do you have room in your heart for Him?
[00:35:27] I love that old Christmas hymn that says, Let every heart prepare Him room.
[00:35:33] Let heaven in nature sing.
[00:35:36] Would you prepare room in your heart for Jesus?
[00:35:39] Because He's here with us right now, standing at the door of your life and knocking.
[00:35:44] And He's saying if you'll hear His voice and open the door, He will come in.
[00:35:49] If you've never asked Jesus Christ to come into your life,
[00:35:53] It can happen for you and then you will know that you will go to heaven when you die.
[00:35:58] And even more, it's not just all about when I die.
[00:36:01] Hey, you will live a life worth living.
[00:36:03] Here's another reason Jesus came.
[00:36:06] Jesus said, I have come that you might have life and that more abundantly.
[00:36:11] So He not only came to give us life after death, He also came to give us life during life.
[00:36:18] A life that's worth meaning.
[00:36:19] A living.
[00:36:20] A life that has meaning.
[00:36:22] With Him living inside of you.
[00:36:24] Do you have that right now?
[00:36:25] If not, you can.
[00:36:26] He's just a prayer away.
[00:36:28] We're going to close now in prayer.
[00:36:31] And I'm going to extend an invitation to anybody here, anyone watching wherever you are, whatever campus you're at, or maybe you're watching online.
[00:36:41] Wherever you are, if you don't know for sure that Christ is living in your life, and you don't know with certainty your sin is forgiven, and you don't know with confidence that you'll go to heaven when you die, I encourage you to respond to this invitation as we pray together.
[00:36:57] Let's all bow our heads.
[00:36:58] Father, I pray for every person with an earshot.
[00:37:04] If they don't know you yet, let this be the moment they believe
[00:37:08] Help them see their need for you because they, we, all of us are sinners and we need a savior and that's why Jesus came.
[00:37:18] You will call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins.
[00:37:23] So I pray that you will speak to every heart of every person who does not yet know you.
[00:37:29] Help them to believe in you now, we pray.
[00:37:32] Now while our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we're praying together, maybe you would say,
[00:37:38] Craig, I need Jesus.
[00:37:40] I need His forgiveness.
[00:37:42] I wanna know for sure that I'll go to heaven when I die and I don't know that right now.
[00:37:48] And I haven't found this meaning of life you've been talking about, but I want it.
[00:37:53] I want a relationship with God.
[00:37:55] I wanna make room in my heart for Jesus.
[00:37:58] Pray for me.
[00:37:59] If you want Jesus Christ to come into your life, if you want Him to forgive you of your sin, if you wanna know that when you die you will go to heaven,
[00:38:10] If you want to fill that big hole in your heart, wherever you are, I want you to lift your hand up and I'm going to pray for you.
[00:38:16] Raise your hand up saying, I need Jesus today and I'll pray for you.
[00:38:20] God bless you.
[00:38:21] God bless you.
[00:38:22] Raise your hand up high where I can see it.
[00:38:24] God bless you.
[00:38:24] Wherever you are, raise your hand up.
[00:38:28] Let me pray for you.
[00:38:30] God bless you.
[00:38:32] God bless you too.
[00:38:33] Maybe you're watching this screen somewhere.
[00:38:35] I can't see you.
[00:38:36] Raise your hand.
[00:38:37] That doesn't matter.
[00:38:38] Just take this little step of faith.
[00:38:40] This could be your moment where everything changes for you.
[00:38:44] Raise your hand up if you want Christ to come into your life.
[00:38:48] While our heads are still bowed, maybe there's someone that would say, yeah, I used to walk closely with Jesus, but I've let other things crowd Him out.
[00:38:56] There's been no room in my inn for a long time.
[00:39:00] Would you like to make a change?
[00:39:02] Would you like to come back to Christ?
[00:39:05] The Bible says that we should return to our first love.
[00:39:09] Maybe there's somebody here that needs to make a recommitment to Jesus.
[00:39:13] If that's your need, why don't you raise your hand and let me pray for you because you wanna come back to Christ again, return to Him.
[00:39:21] Raise your hand up, I'll pray for you.
[00:39:24] God bless you.
[00:39:26] Raise your hand in prayer because he accomplished you.
[00:39:29] Now I want every one of you that has raised your hand, I want you to stand to your feet and I'm gonna lead you in a prayer.
[00:39:35] You heard me right, stand up, stand to your feet.
[00:39:38] Even if you did not raise your hand but you want this relationship with Christ or you wanna make a recommitment to him, let me lead you in prayer.
[00:39:45] Stand up, we're gonna pray together.
[00:39:48] Others are standing, you won't be alone.
[00:39:50] So stand if you wanna make this commitment.
[00:39:52] Anybody else, stand up.
[00:39:54] Let me pray with you.
[00:39:55] God bless you.
[00:39:56] God bless you.
[00:39:58] Anybody else stand up?
[00:39:59] I'll wait another moment.
[00:40:01] You know you need to do this and you know who you are.
[00:40:04] Let me lead you in this prayer.
[00:40:05] You will not regret this.
[00:40:06] I guarantee it.
[00:40:07] God bless you.
[00:40:08] God bless you too.
[00:40:10] God bless you.
[00:40:12] God bless you.
[00:40:13] You might be at Harvest Riverside, Harvest Maui.
[00:40:16] You can stand up too.
[00:40:17] And you're gonna pray this prayer with me.
[00:40:19] One more moment, I'll wait.
[00:40:22] Anybody else stand now?
[00:40:25] All right, all of you standing, I want you to pray this prayer out loud after me.
[00:40:30] Again, as I pray, pray this out loud after me.
[00:40:33] And this is a prayer where you're asking Christ to come into your life.
[00:40:37] Pray this with me now.
[00:40:38] Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner, but I know that you're the Savior of the world who was born in the manger, who died on the cross, who rose from the dead,
[00:40:54] Now come into my life, Jesus.
[00:40:57] Be my Savior.
[00:40:59] Be my Lord.
[00:41:01] Be my God.
[00:41:03] Be my friend.
[00:41:05] I choose to follow you from this moment forward.
[00:41:10] In Jesus' name I pray.
[00:41:12] Amen.
[00:41:13] God bless each one of you that prayed that prayer.
[00:41:16] God bless you guys.

[00:41:17] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Amen.