[0:00] I'm going to just say a few words and then say a word of prayer, and then we'll have some time together and continue in our celebration. There's no group in the world that has more to celebrate than we do the night in what we just saw, and it was told in such a creative and a fun manner for us.
[0:18] And I just want to make sure that you understand why Christmas is such a big deal to us and why these teenagers would work so hard to put on a play and they would spend time doing that.
[0:29] But there is dozens of recognized religious holidays in America. The story, it's a book, also a movie, some of you may have seen called The Life of Pi. A young man goes on a journey, a religious journey, and as he does, there's a conversation that I'll never forget where his dad tells him at the table, he says, if you only need to convert to three more religions, and your whole year will be a holiday.
[0:52] And he was just saying that if you took all the religions, then you could have a day off for everything. Well, as you know, as Christians, we take off Christmas, and it is a big deal to us. And I think you know, and I want to just make sure that we all do, because we're about to celebrate, we're about to leave here and spend some time.
[1:08] I want to make sure that we know. And I'm going to try to say it as simply and as succinctly and quickly as I can, and it's this, that the creator of the universe sent his son to be condemned to death in my place.
[1:21] That's what we celebrate on Christmas. And that was a story that was told. A perfect baby, literally, as Charlotte said, or the manger matters to us.
[1:33] This perfect baby in the manger matters to me because I'm fully aware that I am not perfect, and I have sinned against God, and I need forgiveness. And this makes Christmas, it's a mystery to us.
[1:46] It's, it's breathtaking. God has a son, and his son is eternal, but his son put himself in time and place to be born, to take on the flesh, to be human, so that he could die for me.
[2:04] In John 1, 1, it says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, which means that Jesus is co-equal, co-eternal, and co-essential with the Father.
[2:16] God came to be. In verse 14 of that same chapter, it says, The Word, Jesus, was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
[2:30] So the story of Christmas is the story of God dwelling among us. And could you imagine anything more incredible? Is that the God, the Creator, would come and dwell among us.
[2:42] The one that created us. The Creator of Mary would be held by him. It's been said that earth always looks up to heaven, but on that night, earth looked down into heaven.
[2:54] We could see heaven. We could see eternity. You ever seen anybody at a place that you didn't expect them? If I'm with my kids, and they see one of their teachers at Walmart, and they're like, what are you doing here, right?
[3:05] You're not supposed to be here. Or maybe somebody surprises you, a family member. We surprised a family in South Africa years ago, and it took them a while to understand. This is Trent.
[3:16] This is Stephanie here with us. As it was said in the play, what is God doing here? What would cause him to come here and dwell among us?
[3:26] Why does that need to be part of the history of mankind? And we just put it simply, as it's said in the Bible, For the Son of Man, Jesus, he came to seek and to save that which was lost.
[3:41] I remember being lost. I knew exactly where I was at geographically in West Kentucky, but I knew that I was far from God. I knew that I did not know him, that I did not have a relationship with him.
[3:56] But then the story of Christmas, the message of the gospel came to me, and I was found. So Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost, and it's been happening for over 2,000 years.
[4:08] And with every talent and ability and creative ability that we're given as a church family, we want to express that. We want to be part of that work.
[4:18] So this baby would grow up and do what I could not do for myself. He would perform miracles. I cannot perform miracles. But he did a miracle on my behalf.
[4:30] Miracles are when there's no earthly or natural way for something to happen, but it does. That's what we saw tonight. That's what was explained by the traveler, is that is a miracle.
[4:40] Well, this is true about me. Romans 8, 3 says, For what the law could not do, no list of good works, no religious system, what it could not do for me, that there was nothing on this earth could do for me, that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.
[5:05] I could not save myself. I could not find myself. I could not rescue myself. But God came to earth and dwelt among us to seek and to save that which was lost.
[5:16] And it couldn't be done here on earth. There was nothing earthly that I could do to earn salvation. But the supernatural came into this world and saved me. And that was a miracle that was done on my behalf.
[5:29] So we celebrate Christmas as a miracle, not just for mankind, but for all of us. So how do we feel about Christmas? Let me read this to you in the words of a fellow pastor when he says this.
[5:40] What does Christmas feel like to me? It feels like a man standing on the gallows with a rope around his neck. And the king's son steps forward, takes the rope off my neck, puts it on his own, looks me in the eye, and just before he drops to his own death in my place, he says, I love you, I love you, go show what I'm like now to the world.
[6:05] What does Christmas feel like to me? It feels like a man drowning in the icy Atlantic after the sinking of the Titanic, desperate to be taken into a lifeboat, but being refused.
[6:17] Why? There's no room in the lifeboat. It's full. And a man, the wealthiest, the healthiest, the most influential man on that ship, pulls me in as he jumps overboard to make room for me.
[6:32] He looks up as I float away in safety and says, I love you. What does Christmas feel like for me? It feels like I'm in a courtroom where my life hangs in the balance.
[6:43] The prosecuting attorney is the unsalable law of God, and the defense attorney does not exist. There is no defense. It is manifest to everyone in the courtroom that all evidence is against me, and the judge, the son of the king of the realm, brings down the gavel, guilty.
[7:02] I am sentenced to execution and everlasting ruin. And as they leave the courtroom with me in bonds, the son judge follows me out, pulls me aside, and says, I'm going to take your condemnation.
[7:16] You go now and show the wonder of this moment to the world. I love you. I love you. And that's what makes Christmas such a big deal to all of us, that the creator of the universe sent his son to be condemned to death in my place.
[7:32] And we invite you tonight to celebrate with us. There is no way that we could do it the justice that it deserves. There's not enough fireworks to be set off. There's not enough food to eat.
[7:44] There's not enough music that could ever be played to celebrate what has happened for every one of you in here. That when the lifeboat was full, that the God of heaven left, and he came down here so that now he could prepare a place for you.
[7:59] So with everything in my heart and everything in the heart of these kids that came up here tonight, we really want to celebrate with you. If you know this story, let's celebrate.
[8:09] Let's share it. Let's talk about it. You tell me about the day that Jesus saved you, and I'll tell you about the day that he saved me. If you don't know that story, allow us the opportunity to share it with you, and you can rejoice this Christmas like it's never been done before.
[8:26] I'm going to pray for us. I'm going to pray for you as well. And after we're done, we're going to end singing together one more song before we make our way out into the foyer.
[8:37] With every head bowed and every eye closed, in any room that I'll ever walk in, there's two groups or two possible groups of people, those that know and be rejoicing that God has bestowed his grace, that you recognize like me that you are in need of forgiveness, and that you are just rejoicing the day that he's done.
[8:57] And if that's you in here today, I've never met you. You're my brother, or you're my sister, and I love that, and I can't wait to meet you. But if you don't know that story, if you are much like this man in the story, and you've yet to know what the big deal is about Christmas, I want to invite you into a conversation.
[9:14] I want you to look past the crowd, and I want you to look into God's word to know about Jesus. And if that's you in here tonight, would you just acknowledge that to the God of heaven? I'd love the opportunity to pray for you.
[9:27] And I would encourage you as I pray, to pray something like this. Say, Father, I recognize what you have done in my place. I recognize that I am a person in need of a Savior.
[9:39] And tonight I'm going to recognize that the Christmas story is the most significant of all stories that could ever be told. Put your faith and trust in Him. We'd love to talk to you more about this.
[9:51] Share God's word. Let's pray, and then we sing. Heavenly Father, I thank you so much for what we saw tonight, that any story that reflects the greatest of stories is one worth hearing.
[10:04] I'm grateful for the families that had invested in their children so that these young people would not only know the story of Christmas, but they would want to tell it in a way, and Lord, which it would be very obvious and clear.
[10:18] Father, I pray for everyone in this room tonight that we will not overlook what happened. We will not overlook that you sent your Son to be condemned to death in our place.
[10:29] As we look into this manger seat, Lord, we just stand in awe. It is the miracle of miracles, and Lord, it has changed everything. Lord, I pray for those that have yet to believe that tonight would be a night of rejoicing, that they would enter into the Father's home of rejoicing, Lord, that is available to them.
[10:48] In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Would you mind standing?