The scripture reading comes from John chapter 1.
Please follow along on the screen, the bulletin, or your own Bible.
Starting in verse 1, we read,
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God whose name was John.
He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through Him.
He was not the light, but He came to bear witness about the light.
The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him.
He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him.
But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God,
who were not born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
And the word became flesh and dwelt among us.
And we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John bore witness about Him and cried out,
This was He of whom I said,
He who comes after me ranks before me, because He was before me.
For from His fullness we have all received grace upon grace.
For the law was given through Moses.
Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
No one has ever seen God,
the only God who is at the Father's side.
He has made Him known.
This is the Word of God.
Great. Thank you, Angeline, for reading that.
Welcome, everyone, again.
My name is Chris, if you don't know me.
We're starting our series in Advent.
And so I don't know how you're feeling about Christmas coming up.
But actually, I am super excited about this season.
I think more than any time, actually, probably in my life,
I've just really sensed that God wants to do something as we celebrate Advent,
which is about the coming of Jesus and preparing our hearts.
So let me just pray for us as we begin.
Father, I thank you that you're not the kind of God that we think you are.
I thank you that you're a God who far surpasses all of our expectations.
You're a God who is far more gracious, far more loving than our expectations.
I thank you that you're a God who is not limited, a God who is not impotent,
a God who is not distant, but a God who knows us, sees us, and comes down to be with us.
Lord, I pray this morning your Spirit would just speak to us.
I pray that you would open our hearts, that your Word would penetrate into our souls.
Lord, I pray that you would change us.
I pray that you'd help us to fall more in love with you.
Lord, I pray that the Word would not go in one ear and out the other,
but it would stay and it would sink deeper and deeper into our souls,
that our lives would be changed by you.
Lord, we just pray for Kevin, who is now hopefully in South Africa.
Lord, we thank you for just him being able to get out for the flight.
Lord, we just pray your blessing upon them as a family.
Give them great rest and refreshment during this season.
And Lord, thank you that you are a good and a gracious king.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
Great.
So yes, as Kevin hinted last week, he managed to get on a flight this week with his family.
So do be praying for them as they're going to be away for the next couple of months or so.
I want to show you a video before we start.
So, all right.
That video just does me every time.
It's awesome, right?
When you see our world, just even that, and they haven't shown you everything,
you see that our world and our universe is so intricately, incredibly, awesomely designed.
And do you know what that video shows?
You and I are not the center of the world.
And science has shown us that our universe and our earth are so finely tuned,
so aligned for human life,
that it's little wonder that throughout all cultures and all history,
everyone, apart from the most hardened atheists,
have looked at the work of this creation and said,
there must be a God or gods or a higher power.
There must be something that has brought all of this into existence.
Something has created it and something is sustaining this.
And yet, here's the thing.
Have you ever seen God?
Like, he doesn't have a TV channel.
He doesn't post on Instagram.
He doesn't knock on your door and ask you out for coffee.
And so what we have in our world,
we live in this space where we have this awesome knowledge through creation
that there is a glorious mind behind all of this.
And then we're trying to figure out who this is and what this is.
And so religions and philosophy and even our own experiences,
what we do is we try and fill in the blanks
of what we think this being is like.
We create a mental image of God.
Maybe he's harsh and demanding because your parents were like that.
Maybe he's kind and warm and a bit of a pushover
because you don't want a God who interferes too much in your life.
Maybe he's distant and uninterested because that's your experience of church or religion.
Well, this Advent season, we're looking at something called the incarnation of Jesus.
And can, carne, carnation is what comes from chili con carne.
That means the meat or flesh.
Literally, we're looking at the infleshing of God,
that God became human.
Because the extraordinary, mind-blowing claim of the Bible,
the extraordinary, mind-blowing claim of Christmas,
is you don't have to fill in the blanks any longer.
It's that God has made himself known
and that God has shown what he is like in the incarnation of Jesus.
And so that's what we're going to be looking at over the next few weeks
as we lead up to Christmas.
But if you are someone who's been in church a while,
if you've grown up kind of doing Christmas and the church kind of things,
I suspect you probably, like I have in the past,
have lost the wonder of what I've just said.
I suspect that we have missed just how incredible
that what Christmas is celebrating really is.
And so I want to take the next 25, 30 minutes
just to encourage us to wonder again at the incarnation.
And we're going to look briefly at this passage.
There's so much in here.
We could spend like a year on this,
but we're going to skim through it in three headings.
He is who?
We did what?
And he did that?
Okay?
You can do the inflection at the end of the question mark.
So he is who?
This passage in John, if you've got your bulletin with you,
I encourage you to have that.
He starts with,
in the beginning.
Anyone heard that before?
If you've read the Bible, you should have.
It comes on page one of the Bible, Genesis 1.
It's the start of the account of God's creation
of the heavens and the earth
and what we saw in that video.
And what you see is,
at that point,
God created this world.
It was dark.
It was formless.
It was chaotic.
And then God speaks a word.
He says,
Be light.
And out of nothing,
light happens.
He speaks and says sky.
He speaks and says sea,
planets,
fish,
birds,
humans,
and it occurs.
And it's there.
You see,
God's word takes the chaos
and the disorder
and the emptiness
and he transforms it
into order
and beauty
and life.
And throughout scripture,
God's word is always doing this.
His word is always bringing salvation,
bringing deliverance,
bringing hope,
bringing peace,
bringing life to people.
It's what God's word does.
And John says,
In the beginning
was the word.
And every Jew
listening
would go,
Yeah,
that's God's powerful,
life-giving,
creative word.
And then it gets a little weird.
He then says,
And then the word was with God.
Hmm.
He's saying that a word
is actually not just spoken,
actually there's something
that this word is a person
in some way.
And then he says
that the word
was God.
And now everyone's going,
Man,
what on earth is going on here?
John's just dropped this bombshell
into every Jewish person
and every Greek person.
He would have blown
all of their categories,
no matter what philosophy
they came from,
because what John is saying
in this statement,
he's saying that the source
of life,
of breath,
of gravity,
of DNA,
of you and of me
is not some lonely single deity
sitting on a cloud
hoping that he can find
the one somehow to love.
He's saying that before
and from eternity,
before one subatomic particle
was made,
God was already a community.
And Jesus,
he goes on to say,
is the word
from eternity past
to eternity future.
And he carries on
this kind of picture
which is so confusing
for many people.
He goes and says,
it's not just this image
of Jesus being the word
which brings life
to everyone,
he's also part of a family.
And he says,
later on,
he says,
Jesus is the only son
from the father.
And then verse 18,
he says,
no one has ever seen God
but the only God
who is at the father's side,
literally lying on his chest,
has made him known.
You see,
it's this incredibly
intimate image.
image.
It's the image
like a father
with his son
or two lovers
just in a continual embrace
of tenderness
and affection.
And Muslims,
if they would hear this,
they would shudder
at this thought
because they think
if Jesus is God's son,
that implies
that God somehow
had sex.
But that's not at all
what the idea
of this is.
It's the idea
that a son
is like father,
like son.
He carries the same
divine DNA
as his father.
Jesus is God
as the father is God.
And yet he's not the father.
He's a separate person.
There's this community element.
It's what we call
the trinity.
And later on in the book
he'll bring in
the Holy Spirit
to this.
And I don't get
what all of that involves
because if you look
at that universe,
do you think
you can understand
the mind behind
all of that?
And yet this God
who is three in one
in this mystery
is saying
that there is
this intimate
love and affection
that we just get
a shadow of
when we see
deep love
between a family member
or between
a husband
and a wife.
love.
You see,
the love that the father
has for the son
and the son
has for the father
is incredible.
Jesus says,
I always do
what pleases my father.
And then he says,
the father loves me
and shows me
all he does.
It's like this
just kind of
this love in
that they have
in this community.
You see,
the thing,
and I'm just going
very briefly here,
but the thing is,
what he's saying
in this is
God is not sterile
and reserved.
God is not British.
God is an eternal
triune community
of blazing
passionate love
at his core.
And so,
just as children
are meant to be
the overflow
of the love
of a father
and mother
and those children
are meant to be drawn
in to experience
that love
in the family.
So,
you and me
are the overflow
and all of creation
is the overflow
of this divine love
and the design
is that actually
we get drawn
in to experience
this love
to sit at the table
where they're having
fellowship.
That's the image.
That's why he says
we have the right
to become children
of God.
It's an incredible picture.
And then he carries on
saying that Jesus
is not just this
part of the triune,
God.
He says,
all things were made
through him.
Without him was not
anything made
that was made.
In him was life
and that life
is the light of man.
You see,
what he's saying
is that
all of everything
God creates,
everything God reveals,
all of his work
that he does
is always
shown through Jesus.
It's always
manifested through him.
The eternal God
of all creation
of this universe
who's unlimited,
infinite,
outside of time,
space,
and history
does everything.
Everything that you've
seen his word doing
in all of the Old Testament,
all through the Bible,
behind all of that,
Jesus is the means
by which he accomplishes that.
Hebrews says this,
the sun
is the radiance
of God's glory
and the exact
representation
of his being,
sustaining
all things
by his
powerful word.
Take a breath
right now.
Okay,
some of you
need some practice.
Okay,
take another breath.
You just received
two gifts.
Like,
try going
for the rest
of this service
and hold your breath.
Okay?
And maybe
till lunchtime.
Can any of you
do it?
Why not?
Because you are
sustained.
Because your
very existence
at the most
fundamental level
is utterly
dependent
on something
outside of yourself.
And John's
claim
is that
your creation
and your very life
and every breath
you breathe
right now
is utterly
dependent
on Jesus
as the word
who is sustaining
you to keep
you alive.
You see,
when my brother
took his last breath,
it was like
somebody unplugged
the life support
machine.
It was this
awesome experience.
And Jesus
holds the plug
of your life
today.
He's the eternal
creator,
your sustainer,
your very life.
In him
is life.
That's who he is.
But secondly,
we did what?
John goes on.
He says this
in verse 10
and 11.
He says,
he was in the world
and the world
was made
through him.
But the world
did not know him.
He came to his own
but his own
did not
receive him.
You know,
former
Dutch
Prime Minister
Abraham Kuyper
and Henrico
will like
a Dutch reference.
He said this.
This is very profound.
He said,
there is not
a square inch
in the whole
domain of human
existence
over which
Christ
who is sovereign
over all
does not cry
mine.
Your life,
your breath,
your money,
your entire
being
belongs to him.
And so Christmas
is celebrating
the owner
of everything
we are
and everything
we have.
You look out
of the window,
it's his.
He's got it,
you know,
when I was a kid,
you know,
my mum used to
write my name
on all my things.
If you were to
look under everything
you would actually
find God
written on it.
But the owner
of all that
came to his own
at Christmas time.
And what did we do?
Well,
it's like my wife
coming home
from work
and what you expect
is as you open
the door
my two-year-old
runs up
and welcomes her.
But we didn't
do that.
Do you remember
when Mary and Joseph
they were going
to Bethlehem?
They got a great
welcome,
didn't they?
No,
it says
there was no room
for them
in the inn.
They were shut out.
Jesus came to his own.
This is his world.
He sustains us.
It's not ours.
We're dependent on him
yet we slammed the door.
We did not receive him.
We left him out
in the cold.
Why?
Because
we want to be
the center of the world
and not him.
We want to own
ourselves
not him.
You see,
the innkeeper
shut Jesus out
because he was
too busy
trying to make
his business
profitable.
Writer
David Foster Wallace
says,
everything in my
own immediate
experience
supports my belief
that I am
the absolute center
of the universe,
the realest,
most vivid
and important
person in existence.
I think he's being
more honest
than most of us are
because many of us,
what we're trying
to do in our lives,
even right now,
we're busy
trying to make
ourselves
the center
of our world.
It's our plans,
our hopes,
our careers,
our education.
We don't want
anything,
especially Jesus,
to interrupt us
because he can
mess up your life
a little bit.
but doesn't that
video that we
showed before
show us
we are not
the center
of the world?
In fact,
if you think
you are,
then you have
shrunk down
your life
to be the most
narrow-minded person
in existence
because you have
taken the vastness
of awesomeness,
which is the whole
of our universe,
which is God himself,
and you've
diminished it down
into the little
blip that is you
and me.
And that's when,
you know,
even all of our
prayers can center
on me.
And so the crazy
thing about Christmas
is that we
shut the creator
of everything out
thinking that was
a good idea
and Jesus
would have
every right
to blow open
the door,
nuke the innkeeper
and say,
let me reclaim
my property.
I think that's
actually,
if we were in
that position,
that's how I
treat him.
He's who?
He's the glorious
triune God
who comes down
to us.
We did what?
We shut him out.
Third thing,
he did that.
And here's where
I want to just
park a little
while.
Because at
Christmas time,
and in this
passage,
John wants us
to step back
a little bit
to see what's
actually going
on.
Because he says
one of the most
extraordinary
sentences that
has ever been
written in all
philosophy,
in all of
history.
You know,
there is nothing
like this sentence
in Islam,
in Buddhism,
in Hinduism,
in Judaism,
in materialism,
in atheism,
in any ism
you want to
say.
He says this,
he says,
the word
became flesh
and dwelt
among us.
And we've
seen his glory,
glory as of
the only
son from the
father,
full of
grace and
truth.
this is
incredible.
I don't have
words to
explain this,
but this is
just,
as I've been
thinking about
this,
this has just
blown my
mind.
Do you see
what he's
saying?
He's saying
God isn't
just out there
kind of
shouting some
instructions at
us.
God didn't
just come down
as a hologram.
He didn't
just come down
as some kind
of superhero
in a great
cape.
This God
came down
to us
and became
human.
That should
stun you.
If it
doesn't
stun you,
you don't
understand it.
John says
no one has
ever seen
God,
but he's
made him
known.
You see,
what he's
referring to,
he's referring
back to the
book of
Exodus.
Because for
the Jews,
God was so
holy,
you would
not even
say his
name.
You couldn't
stand in
his presence.
Moses,
before the
burning bush,
had to
shield his
eyes,
take off
his
standals,
because he
was so
holy.
In Exodus
33,
Moses says,
please show
me your
glory.
He doesn't
know what
he's asking.
Because God
says,
yeah,
I'll make
all my
goodness
pass in
front of
you,
but you
cannot see
my face
because man
cannot see
me and
live,
he says.
And then
he kind of
hides him in
this little
cave,
and Moses
kind of just
sees this
streak of
lightning
that kind
of goes
past,
just the
kind of
tail end
of the
glory,
and he
just hears,
he doesn't
see,
he just
hears God
proclaim his
name,
the Lord,
merciful and
gracious,
slow to
anger,
abounding in
steadfast love
and faithfulness.
But he
can't see
him,
because he's
so holy,
he's so
awesome.
You can't
look at the
sun,
right,
just without
getting blinded.
God created
that thing.
But this
unseen,
utterly
holy God
has made
himself known
in a little
baby
called Jesus.
I mean,
just think about
it.
The God who
is outside of
time,
omnipresent,
all-knowing,
doesn't need to
sleep,
doesn't need
coffee in the
morning,
doesn't wish
he'd achieved
some more,
doesn't wish
he was better
looking or more
talented because
he is the
epitome of
all unprecedented
glory.
He is the
ultimate in
every category
and he's
already satisfied
in himself with
his love
relationship that's
going on.
But this
very God
chooses
to wear
nappies and
poo himself,
chooses to
get acne and
go through
puberty,
chooses our
tiredness and
our fragility,
our limits,
in complete
dependence on
his father.
Do you know
that?
I think we
have a big
problem with
this.
You know
the song
Away in a
Manger?
Do you know
there's a line
in that which
says,
the little Lord
Jesus,
no crying he
makes.
That is the
biggest load of
crap ever.
Sorry if I'm
allowed to say
that.
I mean,
why do we say
that?
It's like kind
of,
we think Jesus
is kind of zen,
just kind of,
you know,
and Mary and
Joseph,
it's like,
hey,
he's a
self-parenting,
you know.
No.
You see,
we often think,
we say things
like,
you know,
yeah,
but that was
Jesus,
right?
You know,
Jesus loved
people,
Jesus forgave
people,
yeah,
but that was
Jesus,
right?
Don't we?
Because what
we're saying
is,
we think
Jesus is a
bit like a
tuna and
wasabi
sushi.
You know,
the wasabi
always overpowers
the tuna,
right?
And so the
divine always
overpowers the
human.
Really,
he's just kind
of a little
bit of a
shell,
you know.
He's not
truly human.
Colin's going,
what on earth
analogy.
But we think
that,
hey,
he isn't
really like
us.
But this
passage is
saying,
no,
he gets
you entirely.
He's 100%
human,
100% God,
not a
50-50,
not a
kind of
cocktail.
He's none
of those
things.
He's 100%
and yet he
lays aside
his power
and experiences
our full
humanity
so that
he might
open
our doors
to his
love.
That's
insane.
But it
gets crazier
than that.
Because
verse 14,
the message
translation
says this,
the word
became flesh
and blood
and moved
into our
neighborhood.
I love
that.
The word
became flesh
and blood
and moved
into our
neighborhood.
Do you
know,
he didn't
choose to
move in
to live
on the
peak
in a
palace.
He came
to a
feeding trough
in utter
poverty
in a
backwater
of nowhere.
and not
just
physically
in poverty,
he came
to a
spiritual
slum.
Do you
know,
me and
my family,
we moved
from
Shengwan
to
Shamshai
Pol
almost
exactly
a year
ago.
And I
read this
passage a
year ago
just as we
moved in
and I
looked over
to see
the
tongfong,
the subdivided
flats
that were
there and
these kind
of tiny
little
cramped
apartments.
And this
just took
on a
whole new
meaning.
And then
actually
afterwards I
went down
to the
park and
I was
reading my
Bible,
it's a
beautiful
park,
I was
reading my
Bible and
then somebody
came down to
sit next to
me and
started snorting
cocaine.
And then
just on the
side four
people walked
up,
laid on the
floor,
took out
needles and
started injecting
themselves.
And I'm
going,
I've got to
get out of
here.
And then
you hear about
people like
Jackie Pullinger
if you know
Jackie Pullinger
leaves the
comfort of
Britain to
minister to
those in the
walled city in
Kowloon which
was known as
a den of
thieves,
triads and
drug addicts.
Or German
Moravian
missionaries,
some of you may
not know this but
in the 1700s a
group of these
guys tried to
sell themselves
into slavery to
be able to
reach the
slaves even in
the horror of
the conditions of
slavery.
Because they
wanted the
gospel to get
to them that
badly.
All of those
things pale
into comparison
with what this
phrase says,
the word,
the creator of
everything became
flesh and moved
into our
neighborhood.
It's our door
shut,
finger pointing,
self-exalting,
self-reliant,
self-justifying,
dirty,
broken slum of
our lives.
and he didn't
airbnb out of
town for a
night or two
and then just
parachute in
occasionally.
The word says
he dwelt among
us.
I love that.
It's literally
he pitched a
tent among us.
And it's
referring to the
Old Testament
tabernacle where
the presence of
the holy awesome
God came to
meet with his
unholy people.
The presence of
God himself
comes down into
the slum.
And what that
should show you
is this.
God is not
standoffish and
kind of,
oh.
God doesn't
hold his nose
at us.
Do you know I
walked in a
slum in India
once and
everywhere there
was human
excrement.
And there was a
cesspit on the
side and I
was kind of
like this.
God does not
go, oh,
at us.
Isn't that
incredible?
You see,
God knows
your mess.
He knows
your shame.
He knows
that you have
slammed the
door in his
face a thousand
times, whether
you're a Christian
or not.
And maybe even
this morning you
did the same.
Treating your
life as your
own and not
his.
But he
doesn't move
away from us.
He moves
towards us.
He's not the
distant,
disinterested,
slightly harsh,
maybe wondering
about us a little
bit kind of God
that many of us
actually you think
he really is.
Because he is
the God who
wants to reshape
your entire
mental picture
of him.
So see, he's
the God who
longs to draw
close to us
and he will
go to the
heavens to do
it and he
will go to
the slum to
do it too.
So that you
and I might
be drawn into
a relationship
and experience
the love that
he has.
Jesus reveals
what God is
truly like.
No one's
ever seen
God, but
only God,
the only God
who is at
the Father's
side, left
the glories
of heaven to
make him
known.
You know,
Don Carson
says this,
he says,
do you want
to know what
the character
of God is
like?
Study Jesus.
Do you want
to know what
the holiness
of God is
like?
Study Jesus.
Do you want
to know what
the wrath of
God is
like?
Study Jesus.
Do you want
to know what
the forgiveness
of God is
like?
Study Jesus.
Do you don't
want to know
what the glory
of God is
like?
Study Jesus.
Study Jesus
all the way
to that wretched
cross, study
Jesus.
What is he
like?
He's full
of grace
and truth.
That doesn't
kind of get to
us that much
but that's
actually the
Greek translation
of that
Exodus passage
where God
says,
I am abounding
in steadfast
love and
faithfulness.
Jesus is
showing you
that this
very morning
wherever you
are with
him today,
his heart
for you
is an
overflowing,
ocean filled,
never ending,
unshakable love
that is willing
to go to the
depths for you.
to take you
out of the
gutter of
trying to
prove yourself,
take you
out of the
slum of your
own self
reliance,
take you
out of the
slum of your
own self
focused ambition
and all the
worries and all
the fears and
all those other
things, he
wants to lift
you up out of
that so that
you experience
his love.
The love of a
trinitarian God
who says wants
to give us the
right to be his
children.
So we might
know that
embrace,
that eternal
embrace.
And so this
Christmas,
this is what
Jesus is wanting
to do.
He comes to
his own,
that's you
and that's me
today and
he says will
you receive
me?
I'm knocking
at the door,
will you open
and let the
owner come
in?
In the
Garden of Eden,
you know,
Eve ate the
fruit because
she doubted
God's goodness.
Did God
really say?
All of your
sin,
all of your
worry,
all of your
fear,
all of your
striving to
get life by
yourself,
all of your
self-reliance,
goodness,
comes out of
a false
view of
God because
you don't
think he is
as good as
he says he
is.
You don't
think he
loves you
as much as
he says he
does.
All of your
prayerlessness,
all of whatever
is distracting
you and
busying you
and taking
up your
mind is
shaped by
your image
of who you
think God
is.
And this
Christmas,
what God
wants you to
do is he
wants you to
meditate on
the incarnation.
He wants you
to take this
view of who
he says he
is and set
it aside to
all those
things that
you have
filled in the
blanks with
and he wants
to erase those
blanks and he
wants to give
you a new
image of
himself so
that you
can go out
of here
freed from
being the
center of
your own
world,
free to
live an
expansive
life with
him at the
center.
other.
And so let
me just
encourage you
finally.
How do you
do that?
You've
actually got to
take time to
think about
Jesus and to
prepare for
Jesus because
he's knocking.
One of the
things we're
doing as a
church is we're
going through
this devotional,
Advent devotional.
If you haven't
started, I want to
strongly encourage you
to do that.
I've just been
reading through
and it's just
really encouraging
me because it's
all about Jesus.
Take the time to
really reflect on
Jesus.
You know, one of
the things my
wife has been
doing every day,
I didn't ask her
to do it, she's
just started doing
this, she's been
writing a scripture
verse every day
during Advent for
me.
She gives it to me
in an envelope.
It's amazing.
My wife's
incredible.
She gives it to me
in an envelope and
every morning I open
up with a scripture
reminding me of
Jesus.
It's awesome.
I'm going to
type them all up
so that I've got
this list.
Every day we're
actually putting up
a different Christmas
decoration and then
actually just relating
it to Jesus with my
family because we want
Jesus to saturate
everything because if
Jesus is center of
your life, all the
other problems are
going to get
perspective because if
he's the God of all
creation and he's the
one who loves you
that much, then you
can be free to enjoy
him this Christmas and
to have an expanded
life.
Let's pray.
Maybe just as the
band comes up, just
think about how you're
actually responding to
Jesus right at the
moment.
what place does he
really have in your
life?
Not the kind of
superficial answer, not
the kind of right,
correct answer, but
even just where in your
thinking is he?
What is your image of
him?
What are you worried
about?
What are you afraid of?
What are you striving
for?
What are you striving for?
And are you able to let
him be the one who you're
striving for more than
anything else?
If you're not a
Christian, God is speaking
to you and saying, will
you open the door of your
heart to stop trying to be
in control of your own
life and let me be?
Maybe some of us just need
to go, God, open my eyes
to see the wonder of this
again.
Just respond to Jesus
right now.
Wherever you're up to.
Maybe we need to respond in
just praise.
Maybe we need to respond in
repentance, saying, God, I
know my life has just been,
I've crowded you out, but I
want my heart to be open
for you.
Maybe there's an action of
obedience that he's calling
you to do, and you've just
been going, yeah, but I
prefer to do this.
And Jesus is saying, trust me,
I'm better than you think I
am.
Father, I just pray for us as
a church.
It's so easy for us to talk
about Jesus all the time,
but to lose the wonder of
who you really are.
God, would you rekindle that
wonder?
Would you light a fire in our
hearts, Lord, this Christmas?
Would you show us that you are
worth giving everything for?
Would you give us such a
filling of your love that it
just overflows?
That as we go out into our
workplaces, as we go into our
families, as we go into
difficult situations, as we go
into things we have no idea
how to handle, we go with a
peace knowing that you're
already in charge, that you're
the center of the world, and
you've got this.
And we just need to walk with
you.
Father, lift our eyes to see
you again, we pray.
In Jesus' mighty name.
Amen.