WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.000 Well, it's the most wonderful time of the year. Andy Williams told us that back in 1963. 00:00:09.000 --> 00:00:16.000 ! And he reminds us of that fact every single year since then. 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:25.000 ! Because of the parties that we host, the marshmallows we toast, and the caroling out in the snow. 00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:36.000 The reason that we really celebrate Christmas is because it marks the time when the God who made the world and made each one of us entered into that world. 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:40.000 He came to us in the person of his Son. 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:47.000 I've been told for some time that God has no place in our contemporary life, in our culture. 00:00:47.000 --> 00:00:49.000 The author Francis Ward says this, 00:00:49.000 --> 00:01:19.000 00:01:19.000 --> 00:01:27.000 And a carol service at Christmas. Because we're here. We've come out this evening. 00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:35.000 And Richard Dawkins would agree with us. In an interview on LBC earlier this year, the country's most decorated atheist said this, 00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:41.000 quote, 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:53.000 Dawkins in the interview went on to describe how he likes what Christian faith has bequeathed him in its carols and its hymns, but he doesn't want any more to do with it than that. 00:01:53.000 --> 00:01:59.000 But I wonder why you gave time this evening to come out here. 00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:06.000 I wonder why you gave time to come to something that so many people in our culture tell us we should have left behind years ago. 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:15.000 Well, I suspect many of you, like me, simply see this as another opportunity to come out and celebrate the wonder of God becoming man. 00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:22.000 I suspect some of you have been invited by friends or family and you didn't feel able to say no. 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:26.000 Well, don't worry. I won't keep you long. But I do have good news for you. 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:33.000 Some of you belong to a generation who have grown up with absolutely no exposure to the Christian faith. 00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:38.000 Your parents didn't believe. And so they didn't bother with church for you. 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:41.000 And the Bible is no longer part of your school experience. 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:50.000 But you've begun to question the purely secular view of the world that you have imbibed. 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:58.000 You're wondering, is there maybe more to it than I've been told this thing called life? 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:05.000 Maybe this is the journey that the fleet foxes describe in the opening verse of their song, Helplessness Blues. 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:14.000 I was raised up believing I was somehow unique, like a snowflake, distinct among snowflakes, unique in each way you can see. 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:25.000 And now, after some thinking, I'd say I'd rather be a functioning cog in some great machinery serving something beyond me. 00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:32.000 But I don't know what that will be. I'll get back to you someday soon. You will see. 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:35.000 You're thinking, maybe actually you're not the measure of all things. 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:42.000 And there is something or someone beyond you, beyond the secular worldview that you've grown up with. 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:45.000 Maybe there is something to this Christian story. 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:49.000 Some of you, on the other hand, are a bit older. 00:03:49.000 --> 00:03:52.000 And you know the carols. And you know the truth that they tell. 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:57.000 There's a familiarity there. But the reality is they belong to a life that you left behind. 00:03:57.000 --> 00:04:03.000 The promises of the good life that the culture held out to you, they've taken you down another path. 00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:11.000 But you've begun to notice that that pursuit has led you to a place that you didn't really want it to. 00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:17.000 The promises that the culture has made to you has taken you to a place that you actually don't like. 00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:21.000 Why is everyone so angry all the time? 00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:25.000 Why is there so much anxiety around all the time? 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:28.000 Why am I like that? 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:32.000 I have plenty of the things that are supposed to make me happy. 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:36.000 But I keep finding myself climbing the wall of worry. 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:40.000 Maybe it's time to revisit the promises that Christmas holds out. 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:45.000 Well, whatever your reason for coming this evening, I'm glad that you're here. 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:49.000 And I'm glad because the Christmas story has answers to those questions. 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:53.000 And I want to suggest that if you follow the story to where it leads, 00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:58.000 it offers real hope and it promises lasting joy. 00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:01.000 Not just in a generic sense, but for you. 00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:11.000 Whatever your reason for being here, the Christmas story, if you follow to where it leads, offers you hope and joy. 00:05:11.000 --> 00:05:16.000 In this brief time together, I want to focus on one verse from the last reading we had. 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:17.000 John 1. 00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:19.000 It's on page 10 of the handout. 00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:20.000 If you can turn back there. 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:22.000 Verse 14, right at the end. 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:26.000 And the word became flesh and dwelt among us. 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:28.000 And we have seen his glory. 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:33.000 Glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:38.000 In that verse, we have a tightly packed summary of what is happening with the birth of Jesus Christ. 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:44.000 And it tells us that Christmas, the Christmas story is a story about three things. 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:48.000 It's a story about many things, but there are three things I want us to see. 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:49.000 And the first is this. 00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:52.000 Christmas is a story about reality. 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:54.000 Let's be honest. 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:57.000 Christmas can feel like a bit of a fairy tale. 00:05:57.000 --> 00:06:02.000 From the ancient images of the baby in the manger that we have, perhaps on Christmas cards. 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:05.000 The images, the art that goes with the Christmas story. 00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:08.000 From there to the school nativity plays. 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:11.000 Even to the adverts and the films that all have a happy ending. 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:15.000 It can all feel a bit distant from reality, can't it? 00:06:15.000 --> 00:06:19.000 From the grime and grit of our experience of life. 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:25.000 And again, to be honest, the claim that this verse makes sounds quite far-fetched in itself. 00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:31.000 John tells us that the word, that is, the word who we're told up in verse 1 of that reading, 00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:40.000 the word is God, his ultimate self-expression, that God became flesh and dwelt among us. 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:50.000 The verse is saying, he's saying that Jesus, the one born in the manger, is the divine Son of God, who has stepped into history. 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:54.000 No ordinary birth, no ordinary child. 00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:58.000 Which is why what he says next in verse 14 is so important. 00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:01.000 We have seen his glory. 00:07:01.000 --> 00:07:08.000 That is, John who wrote this, and those who were with him, have seen this glory with their own eyes. 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:13.000 These men have spent time with Jesus, they have talked with him, and they have watched him up close. 00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:19.000 One of the things that we've seen emerge in recent years is the idea of the deep fake. 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:27.000 Deep fake, where AI is used to create fake images or fake audio to misrepresent someone and to mislead other people. 00:07:27.000 --> 00:07:31.000 So we can see things that we think are real, but they're not, they're fake. 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:41.000 The only way to know if something is real, if you weren't actually present at the event, is to speak to the eyewitnesses. 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:50.000 The Gospels, from which we've had most of our readings this evening, are all eyewitness accounts of the life of Jesus Christ. 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:53.000 The Word who became flesh. 00:07:53.000 --> 00:08:00.000 And the earliest records, the earliest Gospel records, were actually written down within the lifetime of people who were present. 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:04.000 So what that means is, if those things had been made up, if these Gospel accounts had been made up, 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:08.000 there were people who were there who could have said, I was there, that's not what happened. 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:12.000 And if they'd done that, the whole thing would never have got off the ground. 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:18.000 Here we are, two thousand odd years later, after the event, it all would have ended, right at the beginning, 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:22.000 if these eyewitness accounts had not happened as they were recorded. 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:27.000 John saw his glory. 00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:30.000 Christmas is about reality. 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:35.000 Secondly, it is a story, here's our second point, it is a story about relationship. 00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:38.000 Here we're getting into the reason behind Jesus' coming. 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:43.000 The Word became flesh, John says, and dwelt among us. 00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:48.000 The Christmas story tells us that God broke into our world. 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:58.000 He didn't just set the world in motion and then leave us to it, but He entered into our world to take up residence here and bring us into a relationship with Him. 00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:01.000 This is a remarkable thing. 00:09:01.000 --> 00:09:05.000 The God of the Bible is not an individual. 00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:14.000 The God of the Bible is a trinity of three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who have known and loved each other from all eternity. 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:23.000 Now you'll know, if you're in a love relationship, a real relationship of love, you don't really need anyone else because you're happy. 00:09:23.000 --> 00:09:34.000 So, if you have Father, Son, and Spirit enjoying perfect love for all eternity, why would you create a world filled with other personal beings? 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:39.000 The answer is to share your joy with them. 00:09:39.000 --> 00:09:41.000 There is no other good reason. 00:09:41.000 --> 00:09:46.000 If you're perfectly fulfilled, perfectly content, there is no other good reason. 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:49.000 You already have absolutely everything you need. 00:09:49.000 --> 00:09:59.000 And then, having done that, having created that world with those people, why would you then go to the trouble of coming into their world at Christmas, if you're already perfectly happy? 00:09:59.000 --> 00:10:06.000 The answer is to draw them into relationship with you so that they can share that goodness. 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:18.000 And the Christian claim is that that relationship is something that our hearts actually long for, that our hearts were created for. 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:30.000 It's interesting, as the ancient virtues of commitment and loyalty seem to be in decline in our culture, and as social media seems to lower the bar for what constitutes a relationship, 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:40.000 and we're told also that being free from restraints is the only authentic way to live, as those narratives grow and grow, we're actually seeing some pushback. 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:50.000 A while back I saw an article in Vanity Fair magazine titled, Tinder and the Dawn of the Dating Apocalypse. 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:57.000 Now, what happened, the way the author did the article, they had interviewed a host of people who used the Tinder app. 00:10:57.000 --> 00:11:06.000 Alongside then the bravado of some people who said they used the app and thought it was a great thing, no strings attached and everything else, 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:16.000 it was clear that others realized that this had turned them into a commodity, and they spoke of it making them more and more insecure. 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:21.000 The freedom that this thing promised them was actually enslaving them. 00:11:21.000 --> 00:11:30.000 What was supposed to promise freedom and no ties actually created a deeper longing for something much more meaningful. 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:42.000 And the Bible tells us the reason for this is because we were created for a relationship that runs deeper than any human relationship, a relationship with our Creator God. 00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:46.000 And that is what Jesus came to bring at Christmas. 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:49.000 See, Christmas isn't just about reality. 00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:54.000 The Christmas story is about a relationship that will not let you down. 00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:56.000 One that can't be dismissed with a swipe. 00:11:56.000 --> 00:12:00.000 One that endures no matter what our circumstances may bring. 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:06.000 Jesus came at Christmas to bring us into a relationship with the living God. 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:15.000 Which means, our third point, the Christmas story is also about rescue. 00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:16.000 It's about reality. 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:17.000 It's about relationship. 00:12:17.000 --> 00:12:19.000 It's about rescue. 00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:24.000 You see, we can't just stroll into that relationship with God. 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:27.000 Because by nature, we have turned our backs on Him. 00:12:27.000 --> 00:12:28.000 We have sinned against Him. 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:30.000 And that separates us. 00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:36.000 Now, I realize that lots of people hear that word sin, and it's just a bit of a meaningless word nowadays. 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:39.000 Hearing about sin used to get under our skin. 00:12:39.000 --> 00:12:42.000 But for most people in London nowadays, it's just a bit of an irrelevant term. 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:49.000 It's a term that an advertiser might use to kind of give their product a bit of a naughty edge. 00:12:49.000 --> 00:12:57.000 Think, oh, my product is this box of chocolates. 00:12:57.000 --> 00:12:59.000 Do you want to sin and enjoy the chocolate? 00:12:59.000 --> 00:13:00.000 Ooh, they're a bit naughty. 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:02.000 That's the way we think about it. 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:05.000 But the truth is, sin runs much, much deeper than that. 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:10.000 It has been described as a kind of soul sickness. 00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:13.000 That is something that goes to the heart of who we are. 00:13:13.000 --> 00:13:17.000 Something that underlies all of our deepest problems. 00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:23.000 The reason why we struggle for satisfaction and peace in any deep and lasting way. 00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:30.000 Because the truth of the matter is, our deepest problems aren't down to what we have or what we don't have. 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:36.000 They're down to a sickness of the soul that comes from our having turned away from God. 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:38.000 We have wronged Him. 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:45.000 And so if we will have this relationship that He has come to bring, if that will be restored, He must put it right. 00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:48.000 And that is the whole point of Christmas. 00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:58.000 When John says that the word became flesh and dwelt among us, he's being very deliberate there in the choice of His words. 00:13:58.000 --> 00:14:03.000 He could have chosen a number of different words, but the one that he chose literally means tabernacled. 00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:07.000 The word became flesh and tabernacled among us. 00:14:07.000 --> 00:14:09.000 It's an Old Testament word. 00:14:09.000 --> 00:14:16.000 It's an old word that he was alluding to as it related to the history of the story of God and His people. 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:21.000 In the Old Testament, the tabernacle was where people's sins were dealt with. 00:14:21.000 --> 00:14:25.000 That problem at the heart of all of our lives, where that was dealt with. 00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:35.000 And what that means is that when John says this, he's saying that the place where God now deals with sin is in this Jesus, the one who was born at Christmas. 00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:40.000 God has taken the initiative. 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:45.000 And His coming at Christmas is ultimately a rescue mission. 00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:54.000 Because even from His birth, we see Jesus is looking forward to His death where He will deal with our sin in order to reconcile us to God. 00:14:54.000 --> 00:15:01.000 This is why He is described as full of grace as well as truth. 00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:09.000 You see, like any rescue, a rescue is something that you need and you can't do anything yourself to achieve. 00:15:09.000 --> 00:15:12.000 You need someone else to come and rescue you. 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:16.000 And that rescue by definition is a gift. 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:18.000 You've done nothing to earn it. 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:20.000 Someone else has taken the initiative. 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:23.000 They've come to you and they've taken you out of danger. 00:15:23.000 --> 00:15:28.000 And they've done it quite apart from anything that you could have done yourself. 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:36.000 God comes into our world at Christmas to rescue us. 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:39.000 And that rescue is a gift. 00:15:39.000 --> 00:15:43.000 The John Lewis Christmas ad this year, at the end of the advert, it comes up on the screen. 00:15:43.000 --> 00:15:50.000 The secret to finding the perfect gift is knowing where to look. 00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:53.000 The secret to finding the perfect gift is knowing where to look. 00:15:53.000 --> 00:15:55.000 How true, John Lewis. 00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:58.000 The gift is God's rescue. 00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:04.000 And the place to look is the Lord Jesus. 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:07.000 My question to you this evening is, would you do that? 00:16:07.000 --> 00:16:09.000 Would you do that? 00:16:09.000 --> 00:16:11.000 Would you look into Jesus? 00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:14.000 Perhaps it means going back to Him. 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:15.000 Would you go back to Him? 00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:19.000 Look again at who He is and what He has come to do. 00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:24.000 Many of us give something up for January. 00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:31.000 Well, can I encourage you to also take something up this January. 00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:36.000 Take up coming to church on Sundays and consider what you hear. 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:37.000 You would be very welcome here. 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:39.000 You can slip in at the back. 00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:41.000 People would be very friendly and glad to see you. 00:16:41.000 --> 00:16:43.000 We would love to see you back. 00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:46.000 Take up coming to church and consider what it is you hear. 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:51.000 Christmas tells us that God came into the world to save us. 00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:57.000 Can you afford to pass up on that without being absolutely sure? 00:16:57.000 --> 00:17:02.000 Another option might be coming along to Hope Explored. 00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:03.000 These flyers are on your seat. 00:17:03.000 --> 00:17:05.000 All the information you need on there. 00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:13.000 Three weeks, three evenings, we come together to look more deeply into the one who came at Christmas full of grace and truth. 00:17:13.000 --> 00:17:15.000 We'd love to see you. 00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:17.000 Why not come along? 00:17:17.000 --> 00:17:25.000 The God who made you has come to rescue you for a relationship of love. 00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:31.000 That is why Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year. 00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:32.000 Let's go. 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:32.000 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:32.000 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:32.000 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:32.000 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:32.000 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:32.000 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:32.000 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:32.000 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:32.000 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:33.000 Let's go. 00:17:33.000 --> 00:17:34.000 Let's go. 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:34.000 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:35.000 Let's go. 00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:35.000 00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:36.000 Let's go. 00:17:36.000 --> 00:17:37.000 Let's go. 00:17:37.000 --> 00:17:38.000 Let's go. 00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:39.000 Let's go. 00:17:39.000 --> 00:17:39.000 00:17:39.000 --> 00:17:40.099 Let's go. 00:17:40.099 --> 00:17:40.099 00:17:40.099 --> 00:17:40.099 00:17:40.099 --> 00:17:40.099 00:17:40.099 --> 00:17:40.099 00:17:40.099 --> 00:17:40.099 00:17:40.099 --> 00:17:40.099 00:17:40.099 --> 00:17:40.099 00:17:40.099 --> 00:17:40.099 00:17:40.099 --> 00:17:40.099 00:17:40.099 --> 00:17:40.099 00:17:40.099 --> 00:17:40.099 00:17:40.099 --> 00:17:40.099 00:17:40.099 --> 00:17:40.099 00:17:40.099 --> 00:17:40.099 00:17:40.099 --> 00:17:40.099 00:17:40.099 --> 00:17:40.099