You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.
Our passion is to experience and express grace.
Join us.
Kids, I'd love for you to come join me on the stairs again this morning as we talk about
Christmas.
We've got a few more chances to do that up there.
You all right?
We have been talking through December about lots of things to be excited about, about
Christmas, haven't we?
We talked about lights and songs and food, and I think we're running out of things for
kids to be excited about.
Can you all think about anything else to be excited about for Christmas?
Oh, presents.
I forgot about it.
Maybe we'll have to talk about those on Christmas Eve, okay?
So we'll talk about presents on Christmas Eve, but we're going to talk about something else
this morning, okay?
Who do you like to be with at Christmas?
Can you think of it?
Yeah?
You sometimes have a lot of family that you might not get to see at other times that you
get to see around Christmas, or special friends, right?
That are part...
Do you have somebody, Bennett?
Yeah, some more people of your family are going to come.
Some of mine are coming.
Yeah, Millie?
My friends and my family.
Yeah, you're going to have friends and family for Christmas, aren't you?
And so we get to see lots of special people a lot of times, and I want you to know something.
When you think about the people that you like to celebrate with at Christmas, did you know
that a big part of Christmas for God was having you be a part of His family?
Did you know that?
That God wanted you to be in His family?
Did you know that's what the Bible says?
That's why the Bible says God sent Jesus to be born so that we could be in His family,
that we could be His sons and His daughters.
Isn't that amazing?
Now, I want you to think about something.
If you're a son and daughter, that means God is your...
Father.
Good thinking.
It took a minute for some of you, didn't it?
If God is your father...
I want to tell you something that I used to do with my girls.
I used to have three little girls.
They're not as little as they used to be.
But I used...
One of the things I used to do with them was I used to sit them on my lap and say to them,
Daddy loves you so much.
Okay?
Maybe you've had a mom or dad say that to you.
And we'd talk about why I love them so much.
And they were just really little.
Did I love them because they always made straight A's?
No.
They hadn't even gone to school yet.
Did I love them because they always obeyed every time, everything I asked them to do?
Is that why I love them?
No.
Sometimes they didn't obey.
Maybe you sometimes have not obeyed.
And you know what I would say?
Why do I love them?
And I would say, because you're my girl.
You're my girl.
Daddy loves you so much.
So listen, when God adopts you into His family, when He becomes your father, that means that
He always loves you no matter what.
Because no matter what happens, you're His, aren't you?
You're His child.
Even when you mess up, even when you're sad, no matter what you do, Jesus is born at Christmas
so that you can be in God's family and have a father who loves you perfectly all the time.
Isn't that awesome?
What a gift that is that we have God as a perfect father for us.
Let me pray and then I'll let you go back.
God, we are really thankful that You're our father.
We're thankful that You love us.
We're thankful that You sent Your son to be born at Christmas, to live and to die for us
so that we could be adopted into Your family.
I pray that these kids would especially know Your love for them, that they would know that
You love them because they are Yours and that nothing can change that ever.
And we pray that that would give them a great reason to celebrate this Christmas as they
remember how much their father loves them.
In Jesus' name, amen.
All right, now some of y'all are going back here to kids' worship, okay?
You can go right back there and meet them.
And the rest of you can go sit back down and come back up here at the Christmas Eve service
because no matter what Mr. Jeremy says, you're all invited, okay?
And we'll talk again then.
When you start talking about family this time of year, you get some smiles and some uneasy
chuckles too, right?
Ah, family.
Maybe at this point my in-laws and or my parents should slip out the back while they have the chance.
So glad y'all are here.
I promise not to talk about you too much.
There are understandably a lot of emotions this time of year.
Anxiety over expectations.
Grief over those who are not with us.
Pressure of the big day and how could it all live up to what it's supposed to be?
We recognize this in our culture.
Many of our favorite holiday movies reference complex family dynamics.
Getting home for the holidays and can I make it?
Will I be there?
The difficult relationships that are being navigated.
Or even leaving a child home alone while you fly across the Atlantic for the holidays.
I hope none of you have ever done that.
But as many of you approach these times together, these difficult emotions, in the next couple days perhaps, maybe sometime this week,
I want to encourage you, especially if that's a heavy thing on your heart,
that it is right in the midst of those messy situations that God loves to show up.
That He loves to work in amazing ways.
That is part of the wonder of Christmas that you can remember and that you can rejoice in right now.
See, when Jesus was about to be born, there was family tension with Joseph and Mary, right?
There's some awkwardness.
And that's actually been the norm through His whole family tree.
Matthew lays out Jesus' family history for us all the way back to the beginning.
And the people He highlights include Judah and his brothers.
Remember the name of any of his brothers?
One of them was named Joseph.
And Judah and his brothers were selling their brother into slavery, his sibling rivalry on steroids.
Tamar.
Tamar's story is probably one of the most painfully abusive in the entire Bible.
Rahab.
And Ruth.
Rahab.
And Ruth.
Those are Gentile outsiders without the best reputations in the world.
Jesse, whose family tree was cut down to a stump at this point.
And what could come of them?
Until his youngest son, David.
David and the wife of Uriah.
Talk about awkward family dinner discussion that would always include adultery and murder.
All the way down, person after person, to Joseph and Mary and their tension.
And so here's this family tree.
Here's the history they bring in their family.
And God looks down and says, right there.
That is where I'm going to show up in the world.
All of these people, they're going to play key roles in my cosmic story of glory and grace.
As I come to redeem, that's exactly where I'm going to start.
It's with them.
So listen, if you feel tension in your family right now, maybe that's a great place to ask God,
to expect God to show up and to work.
He'll probably do it in ways that you don't expect, right?
He doesn't usually do it the way I think he might.
But God is so gracious that his family is beautifully broken and perfectly messy.
He picks this broken bunch for his family.
And he writes a history-shaping, world-changing story right in the midst of their mess.
He'll do it in yours.
Merry Christmas.
Whether it feels merry or not.
See, in case you've forgotten while you've been working on Christmas cards and presents
and schedules and relationships, Christmas is not about your messy family being perfect.
It's not.
It's about you and your messy family being included in God's perfectly messy family.
It's what he wants for you.
This is God's heart.
If you don't believe that this is what he thinks of Christmas, look at Galatians chapter 4.
In fact, please look at Galatians 4 even if you already believe me that this is God's heart.
See, part of the wonder here is how God works in this family.
In Galatians, Paul's been talking about our relationship with God.
How it comes not by successfully keeping God's law, but by surrendering to God's grace by faith.
God's law has been showing us how perfect he is, how desperately we need to be rescued.
And then Christmas.
Verse 4 of chapter 4.
And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts crying,
Abba, Father.
So you are no longer a slave, but a son.
And if a son, then an heir through God.
Why Christmas?
Because God wanted orphans like you and me trapped under the weight of the law,
stuck in our sin, left out in our loneliness.
He wanted us adopted into His family.
God, in fact, sent His Son.
Can you believe this?
What a painful decision this must have been?
And He sent Him into an uncomfortable and distant situation to go buy us wandering children back into the family.
Boy, He must really love us.
He must really love you if He was going to take the one son that He had and send Him out so that He could have you back in His family.
See, adoption means that our relationship with God is based not upon us, but upon God.
Not upon our performance, but upon God's promises.
That is the first thing that's highlighted in our passage this morning.
Christmas adoption is about our having a permanent seat at the table.
I am talking family dinner in God's family.
You are in.
You have a seat at that table because of the mission Jesus was sent on at Christmas.
Pastor Sinclair Ferguson says it this way in his book on adoption.
Adoption is not a change in nature, but a change in status.
If we fail to see this truth, we will reject the power of our adoption.
Adoption is a declaration God makes about us.
It is irreversible, dependent entirely upon His gracious choice in which He says,
You are my son.
Today I have brought you into my family.
It's beautiful.
We can't reverse the legal transaction that God has made take place by being too messy.
We are His, period.
Jesus came to earth to bring us into the family, into a relationship with God,
where the way it works is that our best days don't commend us.
And at the same time, our worst days don't condemn us.
Did you catch that?
Your best day of moral performance when you're patting yourself on the back,
it doesn't make you an appealing signing in the transfer portal for God.
That's not how it works.
And at the same time, your worst day of failing and blowing it doesn't get you cut from the team.
It's not like that.
This is a family.
You've been adopted by God's grace.
You receive, Paul says, adoption as a son.
No more distance from God.
No more fear of being neglected.
No more doubt of His fatherly care.
You may know that it's often difficult for children who weren't well cared for in their early years
to feel secure in a new reality where they are well provided for to trust that that will continue.
Their parents will often find them stashing food under their bed or somewhere else
because they're not sure even though they've had a good meal,
they're used to not being able to trust that there will be food there when they're hungry again.
They don't know that they'll be seated at a table full of food like this again.
And new parents have to reiterate over and over,
you're our child.
We love you.
We won't quit providing for you and leave you on your own again.
We're here.
We're going to keep taking care of you.
Brothers and sisters,
how often does our Heavenly Father have to remind us of that incredible reality?
The good news of Jesus is not, as so many describe it today,
as a second chance.
A second chance to get it right.
So don't mess it up again.
Don't blow it.
That's not it.
It's not that,
oh, that bad sin you did,
it's forgiven,
but don't do another big one
because you don't know what will happen then.
That's not the good news of Jesus.
It is a new status.
Child of God.
Because Jesus left His seat at the table
and took our spot on the cross
where He paid for all of our sins
and He seated us in His seat,
if you will,
at the family dinner table forever.
We have a place.
Someone here this morning
needs to hear God say to you,
you are my child.
I love you.
I adopted you.
And I will keep loving you
because you are mine.
Don't worry.
Your Heavenly Father knows what you need.
Christmas shows it.
Jesus was born for this.
Jesus was born for you.
We will be born for you.
If we will receive them.
A second part of being in God's family
by His amazing grace
is in the next verse.
Because you are sons,
God has sent the Spirit of His Son
into our hearts crying,
Abba, Father.
Father.
God so wants you to know
that Christmas is about
your coming into His family
that He sends not only His Son
to rescue you,
but also His Spirit
to remind you
that He is here for you
right now.
He wants you to experience
what I call
fall-out-of-bed access
to your Father.
What in the world does that mean?
Here's what I mean.
It's been a while for me,
but I still remember
very vividly
things going bump
in the middle of the night.
You've probably,
if you're a parent,
heard before
the thud
waking you from sleep.
Usually,
in our house,
it would mean
that one of my girls
had fallen out of bed.
Very little would jolt me
out of bed so quickly.
If I was quick enough,
I could run across the hall
and get there to them
before they even realized
what was going on.
But that wasn't very often
because I was usually
pretty asleep
and pretty slow.
And so if I wasn't fast enough
to get there,
inevitably,
what would happen is
you hear thud,
pause, pause,
Daddy, Daddy!
One night I had
one of those
middle-of-the-night realizations.
I don't know if you've ever had
some of the best realizations
you'll ever have
when you wake up
in the middle of the night.
I realized that
when my girls
fall out of bed,
when they go bump,
not one of my daughters
ever stops to think
if this is a particularly
convenient time for me
for them to cry out.
Asleep as I was,
I don't think it
crossed their minds.
None of my daughters
either stopped to think
in that moment
whether she obeyed well
before going to sleep.
She didn't hit the ground
and think,
hmm,
did I eat my vegetables
at dinner?
I wonder if I obeyed Dad
the last thing
that he asked me to do.
Is that what happens
in the middle of the night
when you fall
and hit your head?
No.
Instinctively,
she cried out
for Daddy.
And she knew
I'd be there.
She knew I'd comfort her.
I just want to ask you,
have you cried out
like that lately?
Abba, Father,
in the midst of your life
when things go bump
in your life
because they still do
when you're big.
How do you respond?
What do you cry out?
To whom do you cry out?
You know,
a servant can come
during business hours
if he gets his report
all organized
and bring it
and talk to his boss,
right?
But a son can come
24-7,
disheveled,
half asleep
to his father
and know that
he will be loved.
You don't have to wait
until you've had
a good day
or a good night
of husbanding
or parenting
or childing
or whatever else.
You've disobeyed.
I know you have.
You've failed.
God's aware of that.
But you are still
his child
and you don't have
to count that
before you cry out to him.
If you've never
experienced a relationship
with God,
that's what it's like.
That's what I'm trying
to describe for you.
That's fall out of bed access
to personal,
intimate relationship
with God
who desires
for you to be
with him.
In fact,
it's why he says
he sent his son.
It's why he sends
his spirit
into our hearts
so that we can know
that we're free
to come anytime
and be received
with open arms.
Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones
described this
as instinctive
crying out
to Abba Father.
Anytime,
for anything,
he says,
it can become natural
for us.
Many of us feel like,
I don't know,
that's awkward.
I don't know
if I can come to God
like that.
It can become natural
for you
as you listen to him
and his word
and you talk to him
and you tell him
what's on your heart
and you spend time
like that.
It becomes normal.
I can talk to my Father.
He wants to hear from me.
Just think about this.
Jesus,
who taught us
to call his Father
our Father,
cried out,
Abba Father,
in his darkest hour
in the Garden of Gethsemane
when he was facing
the cross
and he knew
that he needed
the one
who would care
for him perfectly.
He said,
Abba Father.
And the same Father
who heard Jesus
that night
still hears you
today
when you cry to him.
Most fathers
are willing
to listen
to their children.
In fact,
they love to hear
what's on their hearts,
don't we dads?
This is the perfect
Father.
Not you or me.
Not the one
who sometimes
gets weary,
who loses his temper,
who gets impatient.
No.
The perfect Father.
He longs to hear.
He loves to love.
He lives to listen
to your cries.
Child of God,
by faith in Jesus,
you have come
into this family
where he is your Father.
You have a permanent seat
at the table.
You have fall-out-of-bed
access to the perfect Father
forever.
And,
one more thing
that you get
from your adoption here
in this passage.
Verse 7.
So you are no longer
a slave,
but a son.
And if a son,
then an heir
through God.
An heir.
An inheritance.
Now,
what will that mean?
What is an inheritance?
Well,
it's certainly not less
than eternal security.
Wow.
The Bible speaks
of an inheritance
that is kept in heaven
for us
so that we are children
provided for
even beyond this life.
No matter what you get
for Christmas,
you've got an inheritance
kept in heaven
for you.
It's not less than that.
It's certainly not less
than present provision.
The Bible speaks
of our Father
as a God
who owns the cattle
on a thousand hills
and provides generously
for His children
as He feeds
all of His creation.
He won't forget you.
It's not less than that.
But it's actually,
it's even better.
See,
when the Bible speaks
of us as God's heirs,
it highlights the reality
that we are co-heirs
with Jesus Himself.
Now,
that's something
to stop and think about
for a minute.
It's significant
for a number of reasons
we could ponder later.
But in this context,
it's especially significant
because in the Roman world
in which this passage
was written,
the most common purpose
of adoption,
of adopting someone
as a son,
was to have an heir
when you didn't have one.
You didn't have anybody
to carry on
the family name,
your legacy,
to give your property to.
But that's not something
our Heavenly Father needs,
is it?
Jesus is already there
as heir.
And by the way,
God's not going anywhere.
He doesn't need somebody
to carry on after Him.
Hmm.
What do we get?
Instead of that,
if that's not the primary thing,
we get what would come along
with all of those things.
The Roman father,
without an heir,
would adopt a son
that he could fully bring
into the family,
right?
That he could share
his heart and life with.
He wanted to pass on
his very person,
if you will,
in relationship
so that the things
that mattered to him
and who he was
would live on.
And then he would leave
a material inheritance
on top of that.
So what do we get?
We get the relationship.
The best part
of our inheritance
is God giving us Himself.
As we've just been learning
from Jesus in John 17 recently,
that God loves us
even as He loves Jesus Himself,
His perfect Son.
That's amazing, isn't it?
See, it's not merely
that He wants to give us stuff.
That's great.
He loves us so much
that He wants us to be
with Him
to see His glory.
With Him,
in His glory,
in relationship.
Unbelievable.
He wants that relationship
with you.
The more we ponder
that reality,
the more we realize
having God Himself,
that relationship
with access
and intimacy
is what we most need.
That's the thing
that meets our needs.
He is.
Most of you will have seen
some version of the story
of a red-headed orphan
named Annie
who is eventually adopted
by Daddy Warbucks,
a rich, older man
who comes to adore Annie
in the midst of looking
for other parents for her.
Annie has lived her life
in a squalid,
dirty orphanage.
She's gotten used
to dreaming
of rich parents
who will notice
her charm
and her wit
and they'll pick her
to adopt.
And so when she
goes into the Warbucks home,
she is blown away
by the lavish digs
of this awesome mansion.
But what Annie
really feels
is exhausted.
She has been exhausting
herself her whole life
trying to convince someone,
pick me,
right?
She sneaks in the door
and shows her red hair.
She tries to charm people.
She is worn out
from not being picked.
And as the story develops,
she realizes
that she longs
for more than just wealth
and abundant provision
and lots of cool stuff.
she longs
to be loved,
to be able
to rest finally
because she's been picked
for keeps.
She's loved.
And when she gets that love
from Daddy Warbucks,
they start to sing,
don't they?
They famously sing
about tomorrow
and it's something
they look forward to
because she's got
this amazing inheritance
that has got
her future covered.
But they also sing
another slightly less
famous song
called
I Don't Need
Anything
But You
which gives us
a beautiful peek
into their relationship
together.
Annie sings,
I'm poor as a mouse.
And Warbucks responds,
I'm richer than Midas.
And together
they then sing,
But nothing on earth
could ever divide us.
And if tomorrow
I'm an apple seller too,
I don't need anything
but you.
Can you sing that with me?
I don't need anything
but you.
I sing that not because
any of you enjoy my singing,
but because I want you
to hear that tune
in your head
and I have been singing
it all week
and so help me,
you will be singing it
on Christmas
because you'll never
be able to get it
out of your head.
It's really catchy.
You may have been
overwhelmed
by God's incredible riches,
but have you realized
or remembered lately
that you don't need
anything but Him?
That your heavenly Father
Himself
is the one
that your soul
longs for?
Have you remembered that?
There's so many
other things to want.
that even if tomorrow
you're an apple seller,
I don't know what that is,
but it doesn't make
a lot of money,
you won't need
anything
but Him
and you'll have Him.
His is the love
that you need,
the purpose you desire,
the family
that you long for
and so Jesus
comes at Christmas
so that you can be
adopted
into that family
to have brothers
and sisters
and a perfect
Father
forever.
And I want you
to know something.
You don't have to
quit grieving
the pain
of the family
that you long
for here
or that you lack
here.
You don't have to
quit grieving
that to have
Him
because He comes
to comfort you
with the grace
of His adopting you
right in the midst
of where you are,
of His living with you
every moment
of every day
even in your grief
that you are
in His family
at His table
and that He's rushing
to your side
that He's the one
who will be
your sufficiency
forever.
So that's the part
of the wonder
of God's family.
It is perfect
perfect
because the
Father is perfect
but remember
His family
is perfectly
messy too.
You remember
where we started?
Don't think
to celebrate Christmas
with His family
you have to get
yours all sorted out
and cleaned up
first.
Get your Christmas
card picture
looking just the way
you dreamed it would be
and then I'll take
that with me
and I'll show up
at a manger
where these
newlywed couple
with assorted
family history
and lots of tension.
What?
No way!
That's not how you
have relationship
with Him.
Christmas with God's
family means
you show up
with the donkeys
and the black sheep
and the crazy uncles
and you marvel
you bow
at the manger
in wonder
that God
is showing up
right there
in the midst of you
and your messy
family
delighting in you
and singing over you
as His
very own family
the one He
picked
to be a part
of
your family.
Just think of
what all that means.
If the good news
of adoption
by God's grace
is true
at Christmas
in fact
if it's the reason
for Christmas
then you can become
a part of His family
right now
even if you don't
feel like you were
born into it
even if you don't
feel like you've
lived up to it
the good news
is this
you don't need
a resume
to come to Him
you need a Redeemer
and Jesus
is that Redeemer
it's why He came
to buy you
back
to welcome
you in
as you trust
in Him
welcome
to the family
gracious
adoption means
you can invite
other people
who are very
imperfect themselves
into this
perfectly messy
family
because we are
full of imperfect
people around here
in case you didn't
notice
some of them
stand up here
and talk
for a long time
we started this year
with me declaring
2024
two for one
orphan year
at Southwood
if God has adopted you
who else is coming
with you
into His family
you can invite
anyone
right
someone invited you
and you certainly
didn't look the part
when you were invited
you didn't have to
clean up first
nobody sent you
to get your act
together
who do you know
that is longing
for a father
like this
if God brought us
into this
perfectly messy
family
with these other
crazy people
we read about
who found
their way
into the divine
story
of glory
and grace
then we can know
that nothing
can separate us
from His love
none of that stuff
separated them
we know for sure
that the reason
He loves us
must be because
we're His
that He sings
over us
because we are
His children
not for any
other reason
and finally
celebrating
Christmas
with God's
perfectly messy
family
with a
father
this good
take a deep
breath
it means you
don't have to
make Christmas
perfect
and I for one
need to hear that
you don't have to
make Christmas
perfect
your heavenly
father
already has
He's got it
He takes
messy people
like you
like me
He takes
messy families
like your family
and my family
and He gives us
Himself
He welcomes
us home
He sets a place
at the table
for us
He listens
whenever we cry
He washes
us clean
and He never
stops loving
us
ever
this table
is here this
morning
because He
wants us
never to
forget
it's here as a
reminder of that
gracious and
glorious reality
because friends
there is no question
that Southwood is a
messy part
of his family
anybody want to
say amen to that
there is equally
no question
that our
Father is
delighted
to have us
in His
family
He sets
this table
so you'll
taste
and know
that that's
true
and that
everyone who
hopes in
Jesus
is welcome
here
on the
very night
He was
betrayed
by someone
very close
to Him
Jesus
took bread
and He
broke it
and He
gave it
to His
disciples
as I
ministering
in His
name
give this
bread
to you
He
said
take
and eat
this
is
my
body
given
for you
do
this
in
remembrance
of
me
the
same
way
after
supper
He
took
the
cup
and
said
this
cup
is
the
new
covenant
in
my
blood
shed
for
many
for
the
forgiveness
of sins
drink
from
it
all
of
you
for
as
often
as
you
eat
this
bread
and
drink
this
cup
you
proclaim
the
Lord's
death
until
He
comes
if
you're
a
member
of
another
church
that
preaches
the
good
news
of
Jesus
a
savior
for
messy
sinners
like
us
then
come
and
eat
and
celebrate
with
our
Southwood
family
around
the
family
dinner
table
we're
going
to
remember
and
rejoice
and
rest
in
our
savior
together
if
that's
not
you
if
you're
aware
you're
not a
part
of
God's
family
and
you're
not
sure
you
even
want
to
be
we want
to
introduce
you
not
to
this
table
but
to
our
father
to
our
elder
brother
they're
the
ones
we'd
love
for
you
to
meet
we'd
love
to
talk
with
you
about
one
who
will
love
you
one
you
can
trust
we'd
love
to
share
more
about
that
with
you
grab
any
of
us
we'd
love
to
talk
with
you
about
how
you
can
be
part
of
a
perfectly
messy
family
with
a
perfect
father
let's
pray
and
we'll
celebrate
together
our
father
that we
could
eat
with
you
today
is
far
beyond
what
any
of
us
deserves
that
to
make
it
happen
you
would
send
your
own
son
out
away
from
you
to
be
born
on
this
earth
to
suffer
and
to
die
in
our
place
it's
a
grace
bigger
than
we
can
comprehend
your
love
indeed
is
beyond
our
wildest
imagination
we
can't
fully
explain
it
but
we
come
to
taste
and
see
that
you're
good
to
have
your
spirit
help
our
hearts
believe
that
love
afresh
and
so
use
very
common
elements
for a
really
significant
and
sacred
purpose
in our
hearts
that
we
will
know
your
love
know
the
welcome
of
a
family
sit
at
your
table
and
talk
with
you
work
that
in
our
hearts
even
now
we
ask
in
Jesus
name
amen
for
more
information
visit
us
online
at
southwood.org