WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.419 For those of you who are here for the first time, Watermark is a church where we want to be like a family. 00:00:07.560 --> 00:00:08.720 That's why we have chaos. 00:00:09.120 --> 00:00:10.400 That's why we like chaos. 00:00:11.040 --> 00:00:11.839 It's great. 00:00:11.939 --> 00:00:14.919 We can just be very real and chaotic like a family. 00:00:17.379 --> 00:00:21.920 Again, I don't know what Christmas means to you. 00:00:22.980 --> 00:00:27.920 But for me, Christmas growing up was a very significant time. 00:00:27.920 --> 00:00:37.140 And the thing that I remember most about Christmas was before Christmas, this magazine would come out, which was called the Radio Times. 00:00:37.740 --> 00:00:44.320 And in this magazine, there would be all the movies, all the television shows that were going to be on over Christmas. 00:00:44.960 --> 00:00:52.160 And me and my family, particularly my brothers and sisters, would fight out of who was going to watch which movies. 00:00:52.260 --> 00:00:55.600 And most of them were terrible, but we still wanted to watch them anyway. 00:00:55.600 --> 00:01:08.000 And so at Christmas time, one of those movies was the best, most successful movie of Christmas movie of all time. 00:01:08.120 --> 00:01:10.920 Does anyone know what the most successful Christmas movie? 00:01:11.939 --> 00:01:12.960 Sound of Music. 00:01:14.020 --> 00:01:14.719 No? 00:01:15.219 --> 00:01:15.980 It's a good guess. 00:01:16.159 --> 00:01:16.740 Good guess. 00:01:18.319 --> 00:01:19.620 Die Hard. 00:01:20.359 --> 00:01:22.060 That good Christmas movie. 00:01:22.280 --> 00:01:22.599 Yes. 00:01:22.599 --> 00:01:25.799 White Christmas. 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:26.099 No? 00:01:26.619 --> 00:01:27.799 It's a wonderful life. 00:01:31.799 --> 00:01:32.959 Christmas count, man. 00:01:33.199 --> 00:01:34.459 Okay, so you're terrible, guys. 00:01:34.599 --> 00:01:37.399 I mean, it is, I'll give you a clue. 00:01:37.719 --> 00:01:40.359 This year is its 25th anniversary. 00:01:43.780 --> 00:01:44.639 Home Alone. 00:01:46.739 --> 00:01:47.500 Home Alone. 00:01:47.500 --> 00:01:47.539 Home Alone. 00:01:47.879 --> 00:01:49.560 Who has watched Home Alone? 00:01:49.560 --> 00:01:50.560 Home Alone. 00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:50.799 Home Alone. 00:01:51.719 --> 00:01:57.240 Okay, if you're under about seven, maybe you haven't, but Home Alone is like one of those classics. 00:01:57.820 --> 00:01:58.060 Okay? 00:01:58.320 --> 00:02:06.579 If you haven't watched it, Home Alone is about a boy, an eight-year-old boy called Kevin, who basically is forgotten by his parents. 00:02:07.140 --> 00:02:08.980 They fly off to Paris. 00:02:09.140 --> 00:02:11.039 They leave him alone in the house. 00:02:11.039 --> 00:02:18.280 And then he discovers that there are two burglars who are going around the neighborhood looking for empty houses to burgle, 00:02:18.419 --> 00:02:21.280 and they have just realized that his house might be empty. 00:02:21.539 --> 00:02:23.739 And they're coming for his house. 00:02:23.859 --> 00:02:31.939 And so Kevin has to come up with as many different ways that he can to try and stop the burglars from getting in. 00:02:32.239 --> 00:02:35.500 And so now, I'd like to just show you one scene from the movie. 00:02:37.639 --> 00:02:38.159 Okay. 00:02:38.159 --> 00:02:40.460 Hey, everyone remember that scene. 00:02:41.539 --> 00:02:41.979 Great. 00:02:45.340 --> 00:02:54.699 Well, I think that actually that scene is very like our lives. 00:02:55.319 --> 00:02:57.719 You may not have drawn the connection, but let me help you get there. 00:02:59.359 --> 00:03:05.439 Because I think that, and I don't know what your view of God is, whether you're a Christian, whether you're not a Christian, 00:03:05.439 --> 00:03:10.000 whether you're not sure this morning, but I think regardless of where you stand, 00:03:10.099 --> 00:03:19.219 I think many of us in this world feel like if there is a God, then maybe at some point in our lives, he has abandoned us. 00:03:19.560 --> 00:03:21.219 He has left us alone. 00:03:21.960 --> 00:03:25.879 And we look around the world at Christmastime, and there's so much stuff going on in the world, 00:03:26.139 --> 00:03:30.300 whether you look in the Middle East, whether you look at the terrorist attacks in Paris, 00:03:30.300 --> 00:03:33.820 whether you look in the U.S., the refugee crisis in Europe. 00:03:34.080 --> 00:03:35.780 You look all around the world. 00:03:35.880 --> 00:03:40.180 And then a little bit closer to home, you think about the pressures of work, the pressures on your kids, 00:03:40.500 --> 00:03:42.980 the pressures just of getting Christmas dinner together. 00:03:42.979 --> 00:03:49.959 And everywhere seems to be putting pressure on us. 00:03:50.179 --> 00:03:57.699 And it feels like even those of us who say we claim to know God don't seem to be doing any better than anybody else. 00:03:57.759 --> 00:04:04.919 In this world where there seems to be insecurity around us, not just burglars coming to attack us, 00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:07.780 but other things around us in the world. 00:04:07.780 --> 00:04:15.379 And so it's up to us, if God has left us, it's up to us to kind of deal with these things by ourselves. 00:04:15.699 --> 00:04:24.160 A bit like Kevin, who has to come up and be very busy with lots of different strategies to try and make himself safe, 00:04:24.259 --> 00:04:29.079 to try and keep himself secure in this uncertain world. 00:04:30.060 --> 00:04:34.379 And the Bible verse for today is a very strange one. 00:04:34.519 --> 00:04:36.259 It doesn't really feel a very Christmassy one. 00:04:36.259 --> 00:04:39.199 It's this one from Psalm 10. 00:04:40.019 --> 00:04:42.599 In his pride, the wicked man does not seek him. 00:04:43.219 --> 00:04:46.500 In all his thoughts, there is no room for God. 00:04:46.680 --> 00:04:50.860 And then the second one is, but God demonstrates his own love for us in this. 00:04:51.480 --> 00:04:55.099 Why we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 00:04:55.879 --> 00:04:56.120 Okay? 00:04:56.839 --> 00:04:59.899 It doesn't seem very festive to talk about this. 00:04:59.899 --> 00:05:04.659 But actually, this is really what the heart of Christmas is all about. 00:05:04.660 --> 00:05:10.960 Let me explain, because that first sentence is talking about bad news. 00:05:11.040 --> 00:05:14.260 And even in the Home Alone movie, there is some bad news for Kevin. 00:05:14.259 --> 00:05:22.480 And the bad news is, as my pride says, it's up to me to face this world. 00:05:23.180 --> 00:05:24.360 I've got to deal with it. 00:05:24.699 --> 00:05:29.759 It's up to me because nobody else is going to help me out. 00:05:30.240 --> 00:05:31.680 Because God has left us. 00:05:31.899 --> 00:05:32.939 He's abandoned us. 00:05:32.939 --> 00:05:36.740 And so, I've got to sort out my family problems. 00:05:36.860 --> 00:05:38.160 I've got to sort out the health issues. 00:05:38.259 --> 00:05:39.420 I've got to sort out the kids. 00:05:39.540 --> 00:05:43.740 I've got to sort out finding the right one, the number one in my life. 00:05:44.540 --> 00:05:47.759 And we've all got to do all of these things, building our career. 00:05:48.160 --> 00:05:50.000 And we've still got to look good on the outside. 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:52.160 And it's all very stressful. 00:05:52.980 --> 00:05:54.139 So, we have to worry. 00:05:54.759 --> 00:05:59.500 Because we have to worry because we've got to try and keep up the appearances for everyone to see. 00:05:59.579 --> 00:06:02.439 Why are we busy trying to cope with all the things in our lives? 00:06:03.420 --> 00:06:08.399 I'm busy worrying about whether my wife minds if I haven't got her a present yet. 00:06:08.740 --> 00:06:11.779 Whether there's enough money in the bank for raising kids. 00:06:11.879 --> 00:06:13.560 Whether the rents are going to increase. 00:06:14.220 --> 00:06:14.339 Okay? 00:06:14.339 --> 00:06:18.259 And it's so worrying because it's all on me. 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:20.219 I've got to deal with it all. 00:06:20.839 --> 00:06:21.959 It's all about me. 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:24.699 And the problem is, I know that I'm not all powerful. 00:06:24.919 --> 00:06:25.699 I'm not all knowing. 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:27.500 And I'm not all present everywhere. 00:06:28.079 --> 00:06:28.899 I'm not God. 00:06:29.419 --> 00:06:34.699 And yet, some of these problems outside of me seem God-sized problems. 00:06:35.479 --> 00:06:37.399 So, I worry and I stress. 00:06:37.659 --> 00:06:40.899 Maybe even at Christmas, we're worrying and stressing. 00:06:40.899 --> 00:06:48.120 And so, like Kevin, we come up with our little coping strategies with how to deal with our stress. 00:06:49.099 --> 00:06:50.500 And we go to the gym. 00:06:50.620 --> 00:06:51.079 We do yoga. 00:06:51.239 --> 00:06:56.159 The one I really like the most at the moment is, have you seen these books? 00:06:56.579 --> 00:06:58.539 They're some of the best-selling books at the moment. 00:06:59.060 --> 00:07:01.519 The Color Me Calm adult coloring books. 00:07:01.639 --> 00:07:02.099 Have you seen these? 00:07:02.199 --> 00:07:03.019 I think these are great. 00:07:03.659 --> 00:07:07.500 But they're like the top sellers at the moment across the world. 00:07:07.500 --> 00:07:13.139 Now, have you ever thought why they're so successful? 00:07:13.660 --> 00:07:16.459 It's because none of us can cope with life and the stress. 00:07:17.319 --> 00:07:17.439 Okay? 00:07:17.720 --> 00:07:19.939 Just like me, I can't cope with the stress. 00:07:20.220 --> 00:07:23.339 And so, we all need a bit of coloring therapy to help us out in life. 00:07:25.079 --> 00:07:26.480 I mean, I think it's great. 00:07:26.660 --> 00:07:28.420 But that's what we go to. 00:07:29.699 --> 00:07:30.779 Now, I don't know about you. 00:07:30.779 --> 00:07:35.339 But I don't know what strategies you use to cope with life at the moment. 00:07:35.819 --> 00:07:42.119 I don't know what your worries at the moment show you about how you're handling your world that's going on. 00:07:43.459 --> 00:07:47.879 And the thing is, I don't think it's just outside things which cause us to feel like this. 00:07:47.939 --> 00:07:50.379 I think there's also inside things. 00:07:50.500 --> 00:07:51.899 It's not just a bit of stress relief. 00:07:51.899 --> 00:07:56.620 Because we also have inside insecurities as well. 00:07:57.439 --> 00:08:03.259 Like Kevin, even if sometimes I think I'm doing okay, I think I'm coping fairly well with the world, 00:08:03.599 --> 00:08:09.120 deep down inside, I know that there's, if I'm really honest, when I go to bed at night, 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:14.479 there are times when there are areas of my life where I'm not actually coping well, 00:08:14.699 --> 00:08:21.099 where I'm not really successful, where I'm not actually measuring up to everything that I think I should be. 00:08:21.899 --> 00:08:25.899 And we all carry a little bit of guilt and shame with us. 00:08:27.359 --> 00:08:29.879 And Keira Knightley, the actress, said, 00:08:30.439 --> 00:08:33.100 If only I wasn't an atheist, I could get away with anything. 00:08:33.600 --> 00:08:36.059 You just ask for forgiveness, and then you'd be forgiven. 00:08:36.439 --> 00:08:39.120 And it sounds much better than living with guilt. 00:08:40.600 --> 00:08:42.740 I'm not sure about the getting away with anything bit. 00:08:42.840 --> 00:08:45.179 But I think she's actually being very real and very honest. 00:08:45.340 --> 00:08:49.340 And that's, as a church, we want to be very real and very honest, even at Christmas time. 00:08:49.340 --> 00:08:56.340 Because I think we all live with a little bit of that guilt and shame. 00:08:57.120 --> 00:09:04.920 And Christmas is actually a time, for some of us, that can really be felt even more acutely with families. 00:09:06.460 --> 00:09:11.620 And I think also, for me, if I'm honest, one of the reasons that, you know you get those flag day, 00:09:11.759 --> 00:09:13.100 the stickers at flag days. 00:09:13.100 --> 00:09:18.159 You know, one of the reasons I kind of, I like to give to those things, and particularly at Christmas time, 00:09:18.620 --> 00:09:22.820 is actually I feel a little bit better about myself once I've given something to someone. 00:09:22.920 --> 00:09:25.180 And I've got a little sticker on me, which then says, 00:09:25.320 --> 00:09:26.620 Oh, I'm okay. 00:09:27.040 --> 00:09:28.639 I'm doing all right by myself. 00:09:28.680 --> 00:09:31.060 And it just helps me to feel a bit better. 00:09:31.920 --> 00:09:34.379 But actually, it brushes some of the guilt under the carpet. 00:09:34.379 --> 00:09:36.840 But it never removes the things that are in my heart. 00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:40.419 That's kind of some of the bad news. 00:09:41.240 --> 00:09:45.439 And the Bible says, actually, that the real bad news isn't that God has abandoned us. 00:09:46.139 --> 00:09:47.899 It's that we have abandoned God. 00:09:48.620 --> 00:09:49.799 We have abandoned God. 00:09:49.919 --> 00:09:54.700 We've said, God, if you're there, I want you just to be a puppet who plays the rules of my game. 00:09:55.559 --> 00:09:58.399 And if you're not going to play like that, then I don't really want you. 00:09:58.460 --> 00:10:00.080 You're kind of like a Buzz Lightyear toy. 00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:04.100 Put him away in the attic until he's useful, and then you can bring him out, 00:10:04.200 --> 00:10:05.680 and then he'll fix some things for you. 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:07.900 And then you'll put him away again. 00:10:08.879 --> 00:10:10.020 And I do that. 00:10:10.879 --> 00:10:11.480 I do that. 00:10:12.040 --> 00:10:13.240 I say, don't call me. 00:10:13.680 --> 00:10:14.500 Don't call me. 00:10:14.620 --> 00:10:16.740 I'll call you when I need you, God. 00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:20.020 That's very much the sign at Christmas. 00:10:20.600 --> 00:10:24.320 Because when I'm stressing, when I'm worrying, and, you know, even this morning, 00:10:24.700 --> 00:10:26.520 even this morning, it's a stressful. 00:10:27.020 --> 00:10:29.500 This morning, I don't know how stressful it was for you this morning. 00:10:29.500 --> 00:10:32.240 Even for me, it was stressful coming here this morning. 00:10:32.500 --> 00:10:36.399 And then you come in, and you know, your kids have been killing each other with their latest toy. 00:10:36.720 --> 00:10:38.440 And you get in, you're tearing your hair out. 00:10:38.720 --> 00:10:40.980 And then you come in, and suddenly it says, Merry Christmas. 00:10:41.100 --> 00:10:42.799 And then it's all kind of, hi, Merry Christmas. 00:10:42.960 --> 00:10:45.779 And then you go away, and, oh, glad I got out of the way. 00:10:47.419 --> 00:10:49.340 But why do we do that? 00:10:49.399 --> 00:10:52.220 Well, because sometimes we're actually not making room for God. 00:10:53.299 --> 00:10:56.100 Stress, worry is a sign that I'm not making room for God. 00:10:56.100 --> 00:10:59.860 But the Christmas story comes into this. 00:11:00.060 --> 00:11:01.139 That's kind of the backdrop. 00:11:01.379 --> 00:11:03.320 The Christmas story is an amazing story. 00:11:03.879 --> 00:11:08.460 And it says that though you and I have abandoned God and said, I want to deal with life by myself, 00:11:08.639 --> 00:11:11.159 God hasn't abandoned us. 00:11:12.180 --> 00:11:16.500 He came as a baby in a manger for you and for me. 00:11:16.500 --> 00:11:29.759 He came as a baby in a manger for you and for you and for you and for you and for you and for you and for you and for you. 00:11:29.759 --> 00:11:30.360 We don't have to pretend. 00:11:30.519 --> 00:11:37.080 We don't have to put up all those kind of Christmas lights like Kevin does and pretend that everything's fine on the outside. 00:11:37.419 --> 00:11:38.820 We don't have to do that. 00:11:38.820 --> 00:11:45.000 We don't have to pretend because Christmas is about helping us be real and honest. 00:11:45.940 --> 00:11:47.260 Be real and honest. 00:11:47.780 --> 00:11:49.460 God can see behind that curtain. 00:11:50.180 --> 00:11:51.600 He can see behind the masks. 00:11:51.740 --> 00:11:52.540 He knows my fears. 00:11:52.700 --> 00:11:53.379 He knows my hopes. 00:11:53.520 --> 00:11:54.280 He knows my dreams. 00:11:54.640 --> 00:11:55.440 He knows my guilt. 00:11:55.840 --> 00:11:58.700 He knows all of those things about you and about me. 00:11:58.700 --> 00:12:04.900 And yet, even though he knows all of that, he still loves me. 00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:06.879 He still loves you. 00:12:07.200 --> 00:12:09.000 He came because he loves you. 00:12:10.240 --> 00:12:14.340 He knows you at your worst and yet he's loved you to the skies. 00:12:15.280 --> 00:12:16.400 That is amazing. 00:12:17.340 --> 00:12:20.840 That's why the other verse says, God demonstrates his own love for us. 00:12:20.840 --> 00:12:25.300 That while we were still sinners, Christ died for you. 00:12:25.480 --> 00:12:28.519 To bring you back into relationship with him. 00:12:29.500 --> 00:12:35.800 To show us that we never need to be abandoned in our life again. 00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:44.759 Because God abandoned his son on the cross so that he would never abandon you in your life with whatever's going on at the moment. 00:12:44.759 --> 00:12:48.960 He died to forgive you for all of that guilt and sin. 00:12:49.299 --> 00:12:50.819 Wiped away forever. 00:12:52.980 --> 00:12:55.779 Now, I don't understand why many things happen in the world. 00:12:55.860 --> 00:12:56.580 I don't understand. 00:12:57.460 --> 00:12:59.360 But one thing I do know is this. 00:13:00.500 --> 00:13:05.360 The message of Christmas is, God has not left you home alone. 00:13:06.279 --> 00:13:08.240 He's not left you home alone. 00:13:09.139 --> 00:13:13.360 And God is calling out to each one of us, whether you are a Christian or not a Christian. 00:13:14.759 --> 00:13:19.000 He's saying, will you make room for me this Christmas? 00:13:20.539 --> 00:13:27.500 You don't have to keep performing so that others can just see something on the outside. 00:13:27.500 --> 00:13:31.580 But inside you're finding it struggling and difficult. 00:13:33.299 --> 00:13:39.439 Because even though others may not realize what's going on on the outside, God knows what's going on on the inside. 00:13:40.860 --> 00:13:44.059 And yet he still wants a relationship with you. 00:13:44.759 --> 00:13:51.980 So, if the Christmas story is a fairy tale, it's just a made-up story, 00:13:52.759 --> 00:14:01.200 then we're like Kevin, left trying with our own strategies to cope with all the stress of the world around and the guilt of ourselves inside. 00:14:01.200 --> 00:14:06.000 We're just left with our coloring books, trying to cope with the world. 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:16.159 But if the Christmas story is true, and I really believe it is true for every one of us, wherever you're up to right now. 00:14:17.220 --> 00:14:20.940 And millions throughout the whole of history have found this to be true. 00:14:21.519 --> 00:14:25.200 He's offering peace in the midst of a crazy world. 00:14:25.200 --> 00:14:32.400 He's offering forgiveness in a world where we struggle to find any way to cleanse our guilt. 00:14:32.759 --> 00:14:34.020 He's offering joy. 00:14:34.220 --> 00:14:35.160 He's offering hope. 00:14:36.520 --> 00:14:43.300 And so the question is, whether you right now feel like you're far away from him or near, 00:14:43.800 --> 00:14:50.020 how are you going to respond to him today, this Christmas time, with what he's telling you today? 00:14:50.019 --> 00:14:51.500 Let me pray. 00:14:55.299 --> 00:14:59.840 Father, I thank you that you don't leave us alone, that you're with us. 00:15:00.740 --> 00:15:03.139 And I don't know what's going on in everyone's life. 00:15:03.319 --> 00:15:05.639 I know the craziness sometimes in my own life. 00:15:05.639 --> 00:15:11.600 And thank you that we don't have to kind of keep putting up those masks and pretending. 00:15:13.199 --> 00:15:16.360 Because Christmas is a time of joy. 00:15:16.819 --> 00:15:20.460 And it's a time of joy because of you. 00:15:20.819 --> 00:15:25.419 Because Jesus, you are the one who can bring joy, whatever our circumstances. 00:15:26.519 --> 00:15:33.019 I pray for us right now, whether we're just looking forward to going away and having turkey or having something else, 00:15:33.019 --> 00:15:39.679 or whether we're struggling on our own, or whether this time brings back memories which we find very difficult. 00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:46.480 Help us to know and respond to you to realize you want to be with us. 00:15:46.919 --> 00:15:49.419 Help us to make room for you today. 00:15:50.279 --> 00:15:50.840 In your name. 00:15:51.679 --> 00:15:52.059 I'm out.