WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.179 Okay, good morning, everyone. 00:00:01.800 --> 00:00:02.319 Good morning. 00:00:02.540 --> 00:00:05.520 Morning, where the front row are awake and in. 00:00:06.080 --> 00:00:07.179 Lovely to see you today. 00:00:07.259 --> 00:00:07.759 My name is Graeme. 00:00:07.799 --> 00:00:09.160 I'm the pastor here of the church. 00:00:09.839 --> 00:00:11.859 Boys and girls, didn't you do well? 00:00:12.339 --> 00:00:12.960 Well done. 00:00:13.400 --> 00:00:13.939 It's amazing. 00:00:14.060 --> 00:00:15.599 I had a great view from the side. 00:00:16.539 --> 00:00:17.800 You're out of your costumes now. 00:00:18.740 --> 00:00:20.199 So here's what I'd love to do. 00:00:20.260 --> 00:00:23.440 The spotlight has been this morning on a younger generation. 00:00:24.760 --> 00:00:27.100 And here's what I'd love to do just for a few minutes, okay? 00:00:27.100 --> 00:00:30.980 I would love to shine the spotlight on an older generation. 00:00:31.740 --> 00:00:35.359 So put your hand up, and you better believe I'm about to ask this question, right? 00:00:35.939 --> 00:00:40.960 Put your hand up if you're over 65 here this morning for the boys and girls to see. 00:00:41.160 --> 00:00:42.219 Right, boys and girls, have a look around. 00:00:43.420 --> 00:00:45.200 See how many people are over 65? 00:00:47.260 --> 00:00:48.079 Quite a number. 00:00:48.219 --> 00:00:50.460 Get those hands in the air where we can see them. 00:00:51.820 --> 00:00:53.579 Boys and girls, here, you can put them down now. 00:00:53.579 --> 00:01:01.719 Here is why I would have loved to be around when this generation were growing up, okay? 00:01:02.200 --> 00:01:11.280 Because they witnessed the first ever human being going into space, which I think would be a pretty cool thing to witness. 00:01:11.379 --> 00:01:18.259 In fact, here he is, a Russian man by the name of Yuri Gagarin, the first human being to go into space. 00:01:18.319 --> 00:01:19.879 Imagine seeing that live. 00:01:20.519 --> 00:01:22.280 Imagine being around when that happened. 00:01:22.280 --> 00:01:27.159 Yuri Gagarin goes into space, and here's what he says when he got up there. 00:01:27.219 --> 00:01:27.719 He said, 00:01:28.320 --> 00:01:32.400 I looked and I looked, but I didn't see God. 00:01:34.159 --> 00:01:38.280 Now, whoever you are here today, maybe this is your first time in church for years. 00:01:38.780 --> 00:01:40.280 Maybe you come here every week. 00:01:40.319 --> 00:01:42.140 Here's the question for every single one of us here today. 00:01:42.219 --> 00:01:43.620 What do you make of his logic? 00:01:43.620 --> 00:01:54.000 You see, many people heard Yuri Gagarin say that, and for them it just confirms the make-believe nature of Christianity. 00:01:54.180 --> 00:01:56.920 We refer in our culture, don't we, to the big man upstairs. 00:01:57.120 --> 00:01:59.760 And for them, this just confirmed it like the Wizard of Oz. 00:01:59.840 --> 00:02:02.560 There was nobody behind the curtain. 00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:06.219 So Yuri Gagarin says this, the world reacts. 00:02:06.439 --> 00:02:08.699 But there was another man who reacted to this. 00:02:08.759 --> 00:02:10.539 His name was C.S. Lewis. 00:02:11.439 --> 00:02:17.740 And he heard Yuri Gagarin say this line, and he responded by writing an essay called The Seeing Eye. 00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:19.099 If you Google it, you'll find it. 00:02:19.099 --> 00:02:23.939 And in it, he critiqued the logic that Yuri Gagarin was using. 00:02:24.780 --> 00:02:30.959 Because what Lewis said is if human beings are to understand and ever meet God, 00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:34.659 we have to appreciate that it's not like a skyscraper. 00:02:36.060 --> 00:02:39.299 Human beings live on the ground floor, God lives on the top floor, 00:02:39.340 --> 00:02:43.039 and all it is is just an elevator ride to go and meet him. 00:02:44.099 --> 00:02:46.359 Don't think elevator, said C.S. Lewis. 00:02:46.360 --> 00:02:54.160 We've got to think Shakespeare, the great English playwright from the 1600s. 00:02:54.180 --> 00:02:54.900 Here was the question. 00:02:55.300 --> 00:02:59.820 How could Hamlet, who was one of the characters in Shakespeare's plays, 00:03:00.180 --> 00:03:02.960 how could Hamlet ever hope to meet Shakespeare? 00:03:04.340 --> 00:03:05.360 What do you think? 00:03:07.260 --> 00:03:13.220 The only way, said C.S. Lewis, is if Shakespeare wrote himself into Hamlet's world. 00:03:13.219 --> 00:03:18.900 Now, he did say that in the 60s, so let me try and modernize it for us. 00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:23.699 How would the Gruffalo ever hope to meet Julia Donaldson? 00:03:24.780 --> 00:03:31.039 How could Hermione Granger and J.K. Rowling, how could their paths ever cross? 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:37.000 How could Rebus, and the old one is way much better than the new one if you're looking at that picture, 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:41.240 How could Rebus ever hope to look Ian Rankin in the eye? 00:03:41.520 --> 00:03:50.400 The only chance of characters, of creatures ever meeting the author is if the author wrote himself into the story. 00:03:50.539 --> 00:03:56.939 Or as Lewis put it, Hamlet could initiate nothing for the two to ever meet. 00:03:57.819 --> 00:03:59.800 It must be Shakespeare's doing. 00:03:59.800 --> 00:04:04.100 So Lewis is saying that the issue is not distance. 00:04:05.600 --> 00:04:08.000 The issue is nature. 00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:12.100 And that's the logic, if you want to track with the verses that John uses here, 00:04:12.219 --> 00:04:16.740 when he tries to help human beings understand the significance of what he's witnessed. 00:04:18.019 --> 00:04:19.240 That's the logic he uses. 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:21.720 He talks about, do you see it on the screen, the true light, 00:04:22.600 --> 00:04:27.939 as opposed to all the false dawns that have risen throughout history. 00:04:27.939 --> 00:04:32.199 He says that true light has come into the world. 00:04:32.300 --> 00:04:34.899 The light that gives light to everything is here. 00:04:35.100 --> 00:04:36.100 That's what he means. 00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:39.959 He means God, the creator of all things, 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:46.259 was writing himself into the human story as the person of Jesus is born. 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:52.860 No wonder the darkness, verse 4, cannot understand it, cannot fathom it, 00:04:52.860 --> 00:04:57.800 because this event is as unique as it gets in human history. 00:04:57.939 --> 00:04:59.120 That's the wonder of Christmas. 00:04:59.719 --> 00:05:03.699 God writing himself into humanity's story. 00:05:04.079 --> 00:05:07.740 Now, here's two points I've got for us this morning over the next 10, 15 minutes. 00:05:09.279 --> 00:05:12.540 John tells us two things are true about the coming of Jesus into the world. 00:05:12.660 --> 00:05:13.639 And here's the first one. 00:05:14.360 --> 00:05:16.779 John is telling us that it highlights a tragedy. 00:05:16.779 --> 00:05:22.859 Because how would the world respond to the coming of its creator? 00:05:23.379 --> 00:05:25.259 To see or not to see? 00:05:25.339 --> 00:05:26.559 That's the question, right? 00:05:27.439 --> 00:05:30.879 There's two groups of people, if you've got the Bible there in front of you, 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:33.359 two groups of people in John's minds. 00:05:34.479 --> 00:05:38.639 First, he goes broad and he talks about the world, the whole world. 00:05:39.399 --> 00:05:40.839 The Greek word there is cosmos. 00:05:40.839 --> 00:05:42.919 This is the world that God created. 00:05:43.859 --> 00:05:46.259 How would the world respond to the coming of Jesus? 00:05:46.919 --> 00:05:50.419 The tragedy is even though the world was made through Jesus, 00:05:50.619 --> 00:05:52.819 the world did not know him. 00:05:54.560 --> 00:05:58.959 The baby born in Bethlehem, born into poverty, born into scandal, 00:05:59.379 --> 00:06:02.979 did not even register on the world's radar. 00:06:03.479 --> 00:06:05.339 The world did not know him. 00:06:05.339 --> 00:06:12.859 And secondly, he goes narrow to God's own people, the Jewish people. 00:06:13.879 --> 00:06:16.799 If ever there was a people who should have got it, it was them. 00:06:17.759 --> 00:06:20.339 The Old Testament, they had it there. 00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:25.819 All the pieces of the jigsaw as to the Messiah, his person, his birth. 00:06:26.839 --> 00:06:28.579 They're right there in front of them. 00:06:28.679 --> 00:06:30.839 And yet they did not receive him. 00:06:30.839 --> 00:06:35.879 Because they're looking for a Messiah who was much more of a political leader. 00:06:35.979 --> 00:06:38.939 Remember the world that John is writing into, Roman occupied. 00:06:39.739 --> 00:06:42.159 God's people, they don't want a saviour. 00:06:42.319 --> 00:06:44.299 They want a saviour who is a political leader, 00:06:44.299 --> 00:06:46.659 who's going to banish the Romans and win their freedom. 00:06:48.239 --> 00:06:50.079 So the world did not want Jesus. 00:06:51.059 --> 00:06:52.819 His own did not want Jesus. 00:06:53.019 --> 00:06:53.879 There's the tragedy. 00:06:54.019 --> 00:06:57.759 The creator came and the creature did not want to know. 00:06:57.879 --> 00:06:58.279 Why? 00:06:58.279 --> 00:07:04.899 Well, really it boils down to what his coming tells us about us. 00:07:06.239 --> 00:07:11.639 Now some of you might know that Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, 00:07:12.639 --> 00:07:16.439 jobs previous to his presidency, he was once upon a time a lifeguard. 00:07:16.539 --> 00:07:19.219 There's a factoid if you're looking for one this morning. 00:07:19.679 --> 00:07:21.059 Once upon a time a lifeguard. 00:07:22.219 --> 00:07:27.599 It was reported that in his time he saved, get this, 77 people from drowning. 00:07:28.279 --> 00:07:30.419 It's very specific, that number, isn't it? 00:07:30.419 --> 00:07:32.399 Which probably tells you it's pretty accurate. 00:07:32.559 --> 00:07:35.339 77 people he's saved from drowning. 00:07:35.459 --> 00:07:37.019 And somebody once asked Mr. Reagan, 00:07:37.679 --> 00:07:44.179 Mr. Reagan, what was the emotion that you most encountered from people when you were trying to save them? 00:07:45.819 --> 00:07:47.339 What he said was really interesting. 00:07:47.479 --> 00:07:50.259 He said the emotion I most encountered was anger. 00:07:50.259 --> 00:07:57.560 Anger because most people were in denial in the moment that they needed rescued. 00:08:00.060 --> 00:08:04.839 Friends, the message of Christmas is not flattering to us. 00:08:04.839 --> 00:08:11.639 God did not send Jesus to congratulate mankind on how well we're doing. 00:08:12.639 --> 00:08:16.959 He did not send Jesus to fist pump us for our achievements. 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:23.819 He did not send Jesus as a scout to learn a few things from us as to how to do life in this world. 00:08:24.379 --> 00:08:30.179 The coming of Jesus spotlights the mess that we've made and the mess that we're in. 00:08:30.180 --> 00:08:32.139 Here's the thing. 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:35.580 God knew exactly what he was doing when he sent Jesus. 00:08:35.740 --> 00:08:36.960 And the clues in the name. 00:08:38.539 --> 00:08:39.560 You ever thought about it? 00:08:39.600 --> 00:08:42.680 Mary and Joseph denied the privilege of naming their son. 00:08:44.759 --> 00:08:47.560 The angel said, you are to call him Jesus. 00:08:49.019 --> 00:08:54.419 The Greek form of that Hebrew name Joshua, that name meaning God saves. 00:08:54.419 --> 00:09:01.579 Here is this man, this carpenter from Nazareth, walking around and his name literally means God saves. 00:09:02.679 --> 00:09:04.000 That's his job description. 00:09:05.539 --> 00:09:08.419 That in the eyes of our creator is our greatest problem. 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:12.279 Christmas confronts us with that truth. 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:17.860 As someone once said, and I've heard this so many times, attributed to so many people, 00:09:17.939 --> 00:09:19.759 so I don't even know who said it, but it's a cracker. 00:09:19.759 --> 00:09:25.340 If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator. 00:09:26.399 --> 00:09:30.679 If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. 00:09:31.740 --> 00:09:35.059 If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist. 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:41.200 But since our greatest need was forgiveness, God sent us a savior. 00:09:43.340 --> 00:09:44.939 Now that's a hard pill to swallow. 00:09:45.879 --> 00:09:48.019 Maybe it's the first time you've ever heard that kind of stuff. 00:09:48.019 --> 00:09:53.519 But I remember really wrestling with that when I was first thinking about the Christian faith. 00:09:54.340 --> 00:10:01.279 When I grappled with Jesus, when I encountered him telling me that my greatest problem was not the one that was out there. 00:10:01.379 --> 00:10:04.519 The greatest problem in my life was the one that existed in here. 00:10:05.699 --> 00:10:11.539 But the thing is, the more that I opened up myself to Jesus, I found him to be bang on the money. 00:10:11.539 --> 00:10:21.219 The world that he was sketching out for me was the one that I knew was true deep down and was the one that I looked out and saw. 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:24.759 No personality test required. 00:10:24.860 --> 00:10:26.699 No health check-up questionnaire. 00:10:27.439 --> 00:10:31.639 Dr. Jesus came into my life and he perfectly diagnosed me. 00:10:31.639 --> 00:10:36.059 And yet here he was, not with fists of condemnation. 00:10:36.360 --> 00:10:40.840 Here he was with arms of outstretched love, willing to save me. 00:10:42.439 --> 00:10:45.600 And it occurred to me in that moment, by extension, 00:10:46.279 --> 00:10:49.240 if I can trust Jesus, 00:10:49.960 --> 00:10:53.779 that he knows what he's talking about when it comes to me, 00:10:54.279 --> 00:10:56.899 what's wrong with me and what's wrong with the world, 00:10:56.899 --> 00:11:02.679 then I can trust Jesus for what he says is true about him. 00:11:04.819 --> 00:11:08.759 And that's the great news that the word but, if you've got it there, verse 12, 00:11:09.799 --> 00:11:10.959 invites us to see. 00:11:11.980 --> 00:11:13.879 It's a change of direction, that word. 00:11:14.179 --> 00:11:19.799 It's a change in reaction it's been looking for. 00:11:19.879 --> 00:11:20.480 Do you see it? 00:11:20.519 --> 00:11:22.199 What does the coming of Jesus tell us? 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:25.159 It tells us that we need saving. 00:11:25.159 --> 00:11:26.840 It's spotlights, a tragedy. 00:11:26.980 --> 00:11:30.419 But the second thing it tells us is that it presents an opportunity. 00:11:32.179 --> 00:11:35.980 You know, I've lost count of how many times I've heard that Andy Williams song. 00:11:36.199 --> 00:11:36.759 You know the one? 00:11:36.959 --> 00:11:38.340 Again, older generation. 00:11:39.500 --> 00:11:41.600 It's the most wonderful time of the year. 00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:44.939 They don't make album covers like that anymore, do they? 00:11:45.159 --> 00:11:47.659 That is an absolute cracker. 00:11:47.779 --> 00:11:52.019 But it's funny, isn't it, that we almost instinctively, 00:11:52.019 --> 00:11:54.539 every single one of us at this time of year at Christmas, 00:11:54.539 --> 00:12:01.339 know that the emotions that we should be looking for and experiencing are joy, peace, and love. 00:12:01.340 --> 00:12:05.300 These are the things that we long to feel. 00:12:05.420 --> 00:12:09.720 There's something about this season which stirs that within each one of us. 00:12:10.040 --> 00:12:12.860 And yet the irony is, I hear that song in Cameron Toll, 00:12:12.920 --> 00:12:15.420 and the backdrop to it is normally a shopping centre 00:12:15.420 --> 00:12:19.200 full of stressed out and burned out people who are fighting cues. 00:12:19.200 --> 00:12:26.259 And we feel that pressure to have to almost manufacture happiness at this time of year. 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:29.100 When in actual fact, for so many of us here this morning, 00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:32.220 I know that it really is the most painful time of the year. 00:12:32.220 --> 00:12:39.779 And that worry and that weariness combines to mean that we feel anything other faithful, 00:12:40.139 --> 00:12:42.740 joyful, and triumphant, as the hymn puts it. 00:12:45.220 --> 00:12:50.920 And the amazing thing is that John moves us from telling those about those who didn't receive Jesus 00:12:50.920 --> 00:12:54.120 to begin to tell us about those who did. 00:12:55.600 --> 00:12:57.620 Now, this stage, we don't know who they are, 00:12:57.620 --> 00:13:01.460 but if you read on in this gospel account that John, 00:13:01.539 --> 00:13:03.860 the eyewitness of all of these things, has put together 00:13:03.860 --> 00:13:09.720 so that his generation and generations beyond would read, pick up, see, and believe in Jesus, 00:13:10.100 --> 00:13:13.860 you read on in this gospel and you will find a really surprising list. 00:13:15.259 --> 00:13:19.100 Not the rich and famous, not the religious and impressive, 00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:23.620 but those who turn to and trust Jesus, 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:26.080 having come to the end of themselves, 00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:30.820 knowing that they have nothing to offer and nowhere else to run other than to him. 00:13:32.340 --> 00:13:36.980 People who meet Jesus and truly his name is the sweetest to be around. 00:13:38.020 --> 00:13:42.960 People who encounter Jesus and truly his company is the best company to be in 00:13:42.960 --> 00:13:49.840 because he offers people everything to meet their greatest problem. 00:13:49.840 --> 00:13:56.399 And he has done everything to begin to put them together back again. 00:13:56.399 --> 00:14:02.379 You read on for this woman who's become an outcast in her Samaritan village 00:14:02.379 --> 00:14:04.879 because she's had a string of failed relationships. 00:14:05.079 --> 00:14:06.620 Her life is in tatters. 00:14:07.959 --> 00:14:11.019 Jesus coming is really good news for her. 00:14:11.019 --> 00:14:16.019 For the woman who's been caught in adultery. 00:14:16.019 --> 00:14:17.559 Again, her life is in tatters. 00:14:17.699 --> 00:14:20.639 The coming of Jesus is good news for her. 00:14:21.899 --> 00:14:25.240 For this man who's born blind, who spends his life begging, 00:14:25.740 --> 00:14:28.319 the coming of Jesus is good news for him. 00:14:28.659 --> 00:14:32.699 For two sisters who are there grieving over the death of their brother, 00:14:33.179 --> 00:14:36.340 the coming of Jesus is good news for them. 00:14:36.340 --> 00:14:42.120 And it's good news because Jesus comes to offer himself to be the solution 00:14:42.120 --> 00:14:45.019 to the greatest need that any of us have. 00:14:45.540 --> 00:14:50.420 And he's come to be the balm for the deepest wounds that any of us will suffer. 00:14:52.399 --> 00:14:55.320 And John says to all who did receive him. 00:14:56.300 --> 00:14:57.600 And that word is wide. 00:14:58.200 --> 00:14:58.480 All. 00:14:59.600 --> 00:15:03.780 He gave the right to become children of God. 00:15:03.779 --> 00:15:07.179 Now, before we get into what it means to believe in his name, 00:15:07.299 --> 00:15:08.600 see what John is doing there. 00:15:09.740 --> 00:15:11.939 Primarily for his fellow Jews, 00:15:12.360 --> 00:15:15.879 he's showing them that no one can be adopted into the family of God 00:15:15.879 --> 00:15:19.100 simply because you were born in the right family tree. 00:15:20.379 --> 00:15:22.439 Born of blood, born of man. 00:15:22.860 --> 00:15:29.559 No, becoming a child of God is a privilege granted to all those who would be born of God. 00:15:29.620 --> 00:15:30.360 And here's the thing. 00:15:30.360 --> 00:15:34.659 Being a Jew doesn't automatically get you in. 00:15:36.200 --> 00:15:41.240 But being a Gentile, non-Jew, doesn't automatically keep you out. 00:15:43.300 --> 00:15:47.500 And Jesus can give you and I that right because as the son of God, 00:15:47.620 --> 00:15:49.419 he came, he surrendered his right. 00:15:51.320 --> 00:15:54.320 He who deserved heaven's praises, his earthly life began, 00:15:54.320 --> 00:16:01.120 the one that began in poverty in a Bethlehem stable would end in agony on a Roman cross. 00:16:01.240 --> 00:16:06.940 The sin that deserved to be punished, he came and he became it for us. 00:16:07.520 --> 00:16:12.280 And the life that we couldn't live, he lived and he shares with us. 00:16:12.480 --> 00:16:13.200 Here's the point. 00:16:14.360 --> 00:16:17.660 Jesus has earned the right to give you the right. 00:16:17.659 --> 00:16:23.360 And take stock of the familial language that John uses here. 00:16:24.120 --> 00:16:25.980 Could have picked any kind of metaphor. 00:16:27.199 --> 00:16:28.799 He goes for the family one. 00:16:30.079 --> 00:16:30.759 Here's the thing. 00:16:30.860 --> 00:16:34.079 God is not just a judge who's in the business of acquitting the guilty. 00:16:34.740 --> 00:16:36.199 Although wonderfully he is that. 00:16:36.200 --> 00:16:40.700 Actually, he's a judge who having wiped the slate clean, 00:16:41.500 --> 00:16:45.379 now invites all those to come and feast with him in his family home 00:16:45.379 --> 00:16:47.100 and live with him forever. 00:16:48.100 --> 00:16:51.300 The gods, this God invites us to know forgiveness 00:16:51.300 --> 00:16:55.620 and that forgiveness opens the door for fellowship. 00:16:57.080 --> 00:17:01.140 This invitation is to come and know the living God. 00:17:02.759 --> 00:17:05.940 That is the right that Jesus Christ has come to give. 00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:08.440 And it truly changes everything. 00:17:09.180 --> 00:17:12.120 This is why Christians go bonkers for this time of year. 00:17:12.840 --> 00:17:17.140 Because his birth, his arrival really is light into a dark world. 00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:21.420 You know, just as we close, one of the Christmas crazes 00:17:21.420 --> 00:17:23.720 that's emerged over the past few years that people do 00:17:23.720 --> 00:17:25.360 in the run up to Christmas, you've seen this one, 00:17:25.519 --> 00:17:27.660 it's Elf on the Shelf. 00:17:29.019 --> 00:17:31.640 I feel like we missed the train in our house this year, 00:17:31.740 --> 00:17:34.319 but now having kind of got my head around the concept, 00:17:34.319 --> 00:17:37.539 we'll be very much aboard that train next year when it comes. 00:17:38.539 --> 00:17:42.659 But the idea, I think this came from 2005, a novel of him, right? 00:17:43.159 --> 00:17:44.399 Really did my background on this. 00:17:45.799 --> 00:17:48.200 The idea is that every night you put an Elf on your shelf, 00:17:49.240 --> 00:17:51.559 this Elf is in the living room for the month of December, 00:17:51.559 --> 00:17:54.480 and the Elf is Santa's eyes and ears in the room. 00:17:54.939 --> 00:17:55.579 Santa's spy. 00:17:55.939 --> 00:17:57.700 Every night what happens when you go to bed, 00:17:57.879 --> 00:17:59.679 the Elf goes back to the North Pole, 00:18:00.119 --> 00:18:02.299 tells Santa if you've been naughty or nice, 00:18:02.299 --> 00:18:04.740 and then reappears in your living room the next day 00:18:04.740 --> 00:18:06.319 in a different spot in the house 00:18:06.319 --> 00:18:07.759 to let you know that he's been and gone. 00:18:10.779 --> 00:18:13.460 And that's the economy we kind of get in our world, right? 00:18:14.980 --> 00:18:19.220 We kind of get the whole behave well, rewarded fully thing. 00:18:19.319 --> 00:18:20.480 That's just how we work. 00:18:21.720 --> 00:18:23.879 But the economy of the gospel, dear friends, 00:18:24.059 --> 00:18:25.639 is completely the opposite. 00:18:25.640 --> 00:18:29.200 This tells you that the economy of the gospel 00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:31.360 is believe and receive. 00:18:32.259 --> 00:18:35.140 The language of rights, hear that this morning. 00:18:36.500 --> 00:18:37.440 And particularly if you're here, 00:18:37.480 --> 00:18:39.259 and this really is a painful time of year, 00:18:39.340 --> 00:18:40.620 it brings back memories of people 00:18:40.620 --> 00:18:42.700 who are not around the Christmas table. 00:18:44.320 --> 00:18:46.120 A right is something that's yours. 00:18:46.119 --> 00:18:50.479 But a right that's given by Jesus 00:18:50.479 --> 00:18:53.339 as opposed to being earned by us, 00:18:54.039 --> 00:18:56.819 that is a right that can never be taken away. 00:18:57.459 --> 00:19:00.239 And it's one that is yours for life. 00:19:00.859 --> 00:19:03.500 That is something that we can build our lives upon. 00:19:04.619 --> 00:19:08.179 A right is true just as much on our worst days 00:19:08.179 --> 00:19:11.039 as it is true on our best days. 00:19:11.039 --> 00:19:15.740 A right is true in the times when the future is rosy 00:19:15.740 --> 00:19:17.159 and life is cushy. 00:19:17.619 --> 00:19:20.119 And it's true when the future is unclear 00:19:20.119 --> 00:19:22.200 and life is messy. 00:19:23.460 --> 00:19:25.720 The status of being declared a child of God 00:19:25.720 --> 00:19:27.220 with everything that that entails 00:19:27.220 --> 00:19:29.519 because of your faith in Jesus, 00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:32.599 however unimpressive and unspectacular 00:19:32.599 --> 00:19:34.759 and painful your life might be right now. 00:19:36.359 --> 00:19:37.680 That is your right. 00:19:37.680 --> 00:19:41.200 Advent reminds us, doesn't it, 00:19:41.200 --> 00:19:42.240 on a yearly basis, 00:19:42.420 --> 00:19:46.720 this season forces us in a way to slow down. 00:19:47.860 --> 00:19:51.480 It reminds us that those who believe in Jesus, 00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:54.940 there's a bigger story at play in this world. 00:19:55.980 --> 00:19:59.500 A bigger story of a God who delights to save people 00:19:59.500 --> 00:20:02.460 so that he can dwell with his people. 00:20:03.500 --> 00:20:05.420 So I want you to rejoice this morning 00:20:05.420 --> 00:20:06.700 that in the coming of Jesus, 00:20:06.700 --> 00:20:08.960 as God, the creator of all things, 00:20:09.880 --> 00:20:12.240 was writing himself into the human story. 00:20:13.279 --> 00:20:14.860 And that truly is the best, 00:20:14.960 --> 00:20:16.960 that truly is the greatest news, 00:20:17.220 --> 00:20:18.120 the good news, 00:20:19.120 --> 00:20:20.940 that you and I could ever hope to hear. 00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:22.940 Let me pray, 00:20:23.580 --> 00:20:24.819 and then we're going to stand to 00:20:24.819 --> 00:20:27.700 sing our last couple of songs. 00:20:27.700 --> 00:20:39.700 Son of Adam, 00:20:40.440 --> 00:20:41.580 son of heaven, 00:20:41.840 --> 00:20:43.039 given as a ransom, 00:20:43.960 --> 00:20:45.860 reconciling God and man, 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:47.700 Christ, our mighty champion. 00:20:48.019 --> 00:20:48.660 What a savior, 00:20:49.340 --> 00:20:50.240 what a friend, 00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:52.960 what a glorious mystery. 00:20:52.960 --> 00:20:55.799 Once a babe in Bethlehem, 00:20:55.900 --> 00:20:57.880 now the Lord of history. 00:20:58.920 --> 00:20:59.680 And so, Father, 00:20:59.740 --> 00:21:01.380 we thank you so much for Jesus, 00:21:01.559 --> 00:21:04.360 the one whose name means God saves. 00:21:05.259 --> 00:21:07.960 Thank you that there is no God in heaven 00:21:07.960 --> 00:21:09.840 who is unlike him. 00:21:10.840 --> 00:21:11.220 Father, 00:21:11.340 --> 00:21:12.660 thank you that at this time of year, 00:21:12.740 --> 00:21:13.500 we're reminded 00:21:13.500 --> 00:21:16.259 of your beating heart 00:21:16.259 --> 00:21:18.059 that longs to save people 00:21:18.059 --> 00:21:19.619 from their greatest problem. 00:21:20.599 --> 00:21:22.220 Thank you that Jesus came 00:21:22.220 --> 00:21:23.859 as one who was light 00:21:23.859 --> 00:21:25.680 and full of life. 00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:27.119 And so, Lord, 00:21:27.140 --> 00:21:28.420 I pray particularly for those of us 00:21:28.420 --> 00:21:29.019 here this morning 00:21:29.019 --> 00:21:30.460 who are perhaps struggling. 00:21:31.539 --> 00:21:32.619 Those of us here this morning 00:21:32.619 --> 00:21:33.339 who are perhaps, 00:21:33.819 --> 00:21:34.759 this is all new, 00:21:35.259 --> 00:21:36.140 this is all new, 00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:38.259 wouldn't say that they follow Jesus. 00:21:38.440 --> 00:21:38.559 Lord, 00:21:38.599 --> 00:21:40.420 I pray particularly for them. 00:21:40.940 --> 00:21:42.039 And I pray for us, 00:21:42.039 --> 00:21:42.339 Lord, 00:21:42.519 --> 00:21:45.019 who are awaiting his return, 00:21:45.119 --> 00:21:46.220 as Keita said at the beginning. 00:21:46.799 --> 00:21:47.039 Lord, 00:21:47.079 --> 00:21:48.220 for all of us here today, 00:21:48.259 --> 00:21:50.500 I pray that we would savor something more 00:21:50.500 --> 00:21:52.720 of the reason that Jesus came. 00:21:53.440 --> 00:21:53.740 Father, 00:21:53.839 --> 00:21:54.960 thank you that you love us. 00:21:55.440 --> 00:21:57.059 And we pray that you just be with us 00:21:57.059 --> 00:21:58.460 as we finish our service. 00:21:58.779 --> 00:22:00.700 And if you just spend more time together, 00:22:01.180 --> 00:22:02.460 we just pray all of these things 00:22:02.460 --> 00:22:03.279 in your loving name. 00:22:03.680 --> 00:22:04.000 Amen.