WEBVTT 00:00:00.340 --> 00:00:05.799 Heavenly Father, thank you so much for the miracle of Christmas, that God, you so loved 00:00:05.799 --> 00:00:11.720 the world that you gave your only Son to be born of such a humble birth and to live a 00:00:11.720 --> 00:00:15.800 perfect life and to die as our perfect and all-sufficient sacrifice. 00:00:16.699 --> 00:00:22.339 Thank you that your Son, Jesus, did not stay dead, but rose to life, and that as we receive 00:00:22.339 --> 00:00:28.300 the gifts of life through faith in you, that you make us fully alive as the people you 00:00:28.300 --> 00:00:29.000 made us to be. 00:00:29.000 --> 00:00:32.840 And God, thank you that even just as two days ago we celebrated Christmas, we were not 00:00:32.840 --> 00:00:37.880 celebrating the birth of a long-dead hero, but rather one who is alive today. 00:00:38.420 --> 00:00:46.219 I pray that you would grow within us an awe of you and faith in you, that you truly would 00:00:46.219 --> 00:00:50.079 help us to be a grip by the gospel and live for your glory. 00:00:50.519 --> 00:00:55.019 So Lord, would you anoint my lips afresh to speak your word, that by the power of your 00:00:55.020 --> 00:00:58.880 Holy Spirit, you would speak through me to all of us, including myself, through your 00:00:58.880 --> 00:00:59.400 word today. 00:00:59.680 --> 00:01:01.020 In Jesus' name, amen. 00:01:02.100 --> 00:01:02.900 Please be seated. 00:01:02.899 --> 00:01:10.500 If you could turn in your Bibles to Philippians chapter 2, verse 5, that's where we're going 00:01:10.500 --> 00:01:13.599 to be this morning, the words that Nora so powerfully read. 00:01:14.280 --> 00:01:18.739 And as you turn there, I just want to bring you back to whether it was earlier this morning 00:01:18.739 --> 00:01:25.259 or sometime earlier in your life where you found yourself underneath the covers of your 00:01:25.259 --> 00:01:28.619 bed, underneath your comforter, feeling warm and cozy. 00:01:29.039 --> 00:01:30.619 Life is all as it should be. 00:01:30.620 --> 00:01:36.020 Except you know that you're awake and it's time, it's go time, it's time to get out of 00:01:36.020 --> 00:01:42.219 bed, put your feet on that cold, hardwood floor and live the day with all the chores, 00:01:42.380 --> 00:01:47.540 the tasks, the homework or the job or whatever it is, the appointment, the doctor's appointment, 00:01:47.620 --> 00:01:51.159 whatever it is you have that day, it's time to get out of bed and go do it. 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:56.500 And you're underneath those covers and that is your happy place and you're just like, oh! 00:01:56.500 --> 00:01:59.980 And there's that kind of hesitation within you as you think upon your day. 00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:02.560 I just want you to hold on to that image. 00:02:02.840 --> 00:02:05.780 I hope, I trust that we can all relate to that. 00:02:05.960 --> 00:02:09.180 That was me this morning as much as I was pumped to come see you all at church. 00:02:09.319 --> 00:02:13.560 But just life was so good underneath my covers and my floor is so cold. 00:02:15.180 --> 00:02:18.420 But hold on to the image as we read these words again. 00:02:19.020 --> 00:02:21.860 Philippians chapter 2, verses 5 to 11. 00:02:21.860 --> 00:02:28.880 Have this in mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was 00:02:28.880 --> 00:02:33.520 in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself 00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:37.840 nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 00:02:38.260 --> 00:02:42.500 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, 00:02:42.940 --> 00:02:44.280 even death on a cross. 00:02:44.820 --> 00:02:51.120 Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so 00:02:51.120 --> 00:02:55.560 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the 00:02:55.560 --> 00:03:01.159 earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 00:03:02.099 --> 00:03:07.580 I know that some of us were at the Church of the Messiah Christmas services, the two on 00:03:07.580 --> 00:03:09.980 Christmas Eve and the one on Christmas. 00:03:10.140 --> 00:03:13.800 So for some of us, we've already heard Christmas messages quite a bit. 00:03:14.319 --> 00:03:19.580 But as today's the first day, that's actually, there's some white stuff outside. 00:03:19.580 --> 00:03:22.940 I think it's fitting that we have just one more Christmas message before we move on. 00:03:23.020 --> 00:03:27.420 And actually, as I was looking at what to preach this morning, I wanted to preach a Christmas 00:03:27.420 --> 00:03:28.580 message for the new year. 00:03:28.660 --> 00:03:34.560 And I really hope that there's something in today's message that will help define 2016 00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:35.560 for each one of us. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:41.720 And as we look at this passage that Paul's writing about what Jesus did, and how Jesus, 00:03:42.220 --> 00:03:44.760 he writes poetically, saying in the form of God. 00:03:44.759 --> 00:03:50.639 But you know from Paul's other writings, he's saying that Jesus, who is God, that he did 00:03:50.639 --> 00:03:57.239 not hold on to the omnipresence and the omnipower, those qualities of who he is as God, and the 00:03:57.239 --> 00:03:58.939 glory and majesty of heaven. 00:03:59.159 --> 00:04:06.039 But he emptied himself, being born as a frail human being, as he entered into the fullness 00:04:06.039 --> 00:04:07.120 of what it means to be human. 00:04:07.120 --> 00:04:13.379 And for some reason, a couple months ago, I was just, I was reading this passage, and 00:04:13.379 --> 00:04:15.300 it hit me in a whole new way. 00:04:15.420 --> 00:04:19.160 For some reason, as I read this, that image of being underneath my covers came into my mind, 00:04:19.220 --> 00:04:24.660 and it hit me for the first time ever in this way of realizing, like, what was that, like, 00:04:25.540 --> 00:04:30.000 when we think of the sacrifice of Jesus, we so often think about him taking on the fullness 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:31.680 of our death and our pain on the cross. 00:04:31.680 --> 00:04:36.740 But it hit me, the sacrifice of Jesus in him entering into the fullness of being human. 00:04:37.620 --> 00:04:41.400 You'll remember that Jesus famously taught his disciples and us to pray, 00:04:41.860 --> 00:04:43.180 our Father who art in heaven. 00:04:43.840 --> 00:04:47.639 And I never had thought about it until then, that when Jesus said, our Father who art in 00:04:47.639 --> 00:04:50.720 heaven, you and I would imagine what heaven is like. 00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:54.160 But Jesus, it wasn't an imagination for him, it was a memory. 00:04:54.680 --> 00:05:00.319 As he speaks of the Father in heaven, the Son of God, eternally existent, 00:05:00.319 --> 00:05:04.879 had spoken, it was the Logos speaking the word, the universe into creation. 00:05:05.540 --> 00:05:07.079 He dwelt in heaven. 00:05:07.639 --> 00:05:12.040 If you read Revelation, where John gets a glimpse of what heaven is, you'll see that 00:05:12.040 --> 00:05:17.839 the Lamb of God there at the throne, and you have the elders bowing before him, 00:05:18.180 --> 00:05:22.279 and you have the angels and the seraphim and stuff that you and I can't even picture, 00:05:22.620 --> 00:05:25.459 just worshiping, crying out, holy, holy, holy is he. 00:05:25.459 --> 00:05:32.000 As Jesus says, our Father who art in heaven, he knows, and there's such a beautiful memory 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:32.579 for him. 00:05:33.019 --> 00:05:37.500 And then as he says, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, 00:05:37.979 --> 00:05:42.519 it's not just a wishful thinking for him, or imagine what that would look like. 00:05:43.219 --> 00:05:48.679 Think of the longing that he has as someone who had been there in heaven where everything 00:05:48.679 --> 00:05:52.539 is perfect, and everything is good, everything is as it should be. 00:05:52.540 --> 00:05:57.240 And Jesus is now in the fullness of what it means to be human, sharing in the frailty 00:05:57.240 --> 00:06:04.379 and the brokenness that you and I are so familiar with, crying out, like, as life is in heaven, 00:06:04.460 --> 00:06:05.400 let it be like here. 00:06:05.740 --> 00:06:07.740 This longing for heaven that he had. 00:06:10.040 --> 00:06:12.480 Like, what was it like? 00:06:12.580 --> 00:06:14.160 I cannot understand. 00:06:14.259 --> 00:06:18.540 And my analogy of the comfort of being under my covers and the world being as it should be, 00:06:19.700 --> 00:06:22.140 contrasted with that feeling of having to get out of bed into the cold. 00:06:22.540 --> 00:06:23.780 It completely breaks down. 00:06:23.900 --> 00:06:28.340 Like, there's no comparison between the sacrifice of Jesus and us getting out of bed in the morning. 00:06:28.520 --> 00:06:34.000 But what was it like the moment before Jesus took on human form? 00:06:35.280 --> 00:06:39.700 The frailty that he took on from being the one who made the entire universe. 00:06:40.980 --> 00:06:44.640 Like, I don't know if you're big into astronomy, but the universe is really big. 00:06:44.920 --> 00:06:47.040 And Jesus, the Son of God, bigger than all of that. 00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:52.260 And then he came to earth, not first as a baby, as we often say, but he actually came to earth as a fetus. 00:06:52.819 --> 00:06:56.740 Not even as a fetus at first, but as a one-celled zygote. 00:06:57.280 --> 00:07:00.460 As a one-celled being in his mother's uterus. 00:07:00.459 --> 00:07:07.399 How precarious, if you know anything about biology, how precarious those first moments of life is, 00:07:07.419 --> 00:07:12.120 as that one-celled embryo implants in the mother's uterus, in the wall there. 00:07:12.199 --> 00:07:17.620 Like, such frailty, the Son of God, who is bigger than all the universe, took on himself. 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:23.740 And what was it like for the perfect God, Jesus, to experience temptation for the first time? 00:07:23.740 --> 00:07:30.360 You know how painful, like, real, raw, full-body temptation can be. 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:32.579 What was it like for him, who is perfect? 00:07:33.340 --> 00:07:37.060 I don't believe that he, before taking on human flesh, experienced temptation. 00:07:37.460 --> 00:07:38.180 Not like that. 00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:43.199 I remember some months ago, when George was preaching through either the book of Revelation or Luke, 00:07:43.500 --> 00:07:48.400 he talked about how sometimes we can feel as if Jesus can't really relate to us in our human temptation. 00:07:48.900 --> 00:07:50.000 Because he's God. 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:55.740 I mean, we all believe that Jesus is God and is fully God, fully man. 00:07:55.980 --> 00:07:59.259 But when push comes to shove, we often think of him just as fully God. 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:04.079 As if he had some kind of get-out-of-jail-free card, like get-out-of-temptation-free card, 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:06.899 which when he was feeling tempted, he'd just be like, I'm God. 00:08:07.259 --> 00:08:08.339 And then he can get out of it. 00:08:08.759 --> 00:08:09.899 That's not what the Bible teaches. 00:08:10.040 --> 00:08:12.500 The Bible teaches he's fully God, but also fully man. 00:08:12.759 --> 00:08:14.480 And he fully experienced temptation. 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:19.339 I remember George speaking to us about how, I think he was borrowing from G.K. Chesterton, who said that. 00:08:20.720 --> 00:08:25.500 That it is, the man who gives into temptation right away knows very little of the power of temptation. 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:31.519 But the one who resists and resists and resists temptation knows much of the power of temptation. 00:08:31.879 --> 00:08:35.539 Because when you give into temptation right away, when you just gratify right away, 00:08:35.840 --> 00:08:38.740 you don't experience much of what temptation is. 00:08:38.740 --> 00:08:44.440 But as you resist, and as you resist, and as you resist, you know so much of what that is. 00:08:44.899 --> 00:08:48.080 And Jesus never giving in to the many temptations. 00:08:48.639 --> 00:08:52.440 The Bible tells us that he experienced every form of temptation. 00:08:52.600 --> 00:08:54.000 He can relate to us in all of it. 00:08:55.200 --> 00:08:57.159 Jesus entering, what was it like for him? 00:08:58.080 --> 00:08:59.120 I mean, he's all-knowing. 00:08:59.120 --> 00:09:02.799 So before he takes on human flesh, he knows what he's going to experience. 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:06.120 He knows he's going to experience temptation to forsake the Father. 00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:08.860 He knows he's going to experience temptation for lust. 00:09:08.919 --> 00:09:10.560 He knows he's going to experience all of this stuff. 00:09:10.840 --> 00:09:13.179 What was it like the moments before all of that? 00:09:13.419 --> 00:09:16.639 He knows he's going to have a crown of thorns pressed into his flesh, 00:09:16.879 --> 00:09:19.620 and that he's going to bear the fullness of our sin, 00:09:20.039 --> 00:09:21.560 and the fullness of death on the cross. 00:09:21.620 --> 00:09:22.360 He knows all that. 00:09:22.360 --> 00:09:27.060 What was it like the moments before he took that on? 00:09:27.879 --> 00:09:31.399 In some ways, I think it's akin to us being in that happy place 00:09:31.399 --> 00:09:34.320 and underneath your covers realizing it's go time. 00:09:34.740 --> 00:09:37.300 But in so many ways, it's obviously so different. 00:09:39.279 --> 00:09:45.360 And the power of this image and how I hope Christmas will define our 2016 00:09:45.360 --> 00:09:47.340 and is a sermon for the New Year's 00:09:47.340 --> 00:09:50.480 is that Paul is writing about the sacrifice of Jesus 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:53.259 and in him emptying himself for us. 00:09:53.580 --> 00:09:58.680 He's writing about this as Jesus being, that being our example. 00:09:59.159 --> 00:10:03.060 And so the first point today is that Jesus is our true example 00:10:03.060 --> 00:10:04.360 for how we're to live. 00:10:04.379 --> 00:10:06.600 In a world with so many competing ideas, 00:10:06.759 --> 00:10:09.080 so many competing messages about how we should think 00:10:09.080 --> 00:10:11.639 and how we should behave and how we should live as human beings, 00:10:12.039 --> 00:10:15.480 Jesus is our true, Jesus is our great example of what it means. 00:10:15.480 --> 00:10:19.600 That's why Paul writes in verse 5 of chapter 2, Philippians, 00:10:19.600 --> 00:10:22.460 that we should have this in mind among ourselves. 00:10:23.139 --> 00:10:24.840 He's saying this is the way you should think, 00:10:24.940 --> 00:10:26.879 this is the way you should speak, this is the way you should live. 00:10:27.180 --> 00:10:29.399 And then he defines it for us by the sacrifice, 00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:30.899 by the incarnation of Jesus, 00:10:31.480 --> 00:10:33.340 Jesus entering into the darkness. 00:10:34.139 --> 00:10:36.680 The Gospel of John, as it opens up with the Christmas story, 00:10:36.800 --> 00:10:38.019 says it in this poetic way, 00:10:38.420 --> 00:10:39.860 light has shone in the darkness 00:10:39.860 --> 00:10:42.500 and the darkness has not overcome it. 00:10:42.820 --> 00:10:46.320 And Jesus entering into the frailty of the human condition, 00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:47.900 and light has shone in the darkness 00:10:47.900 --> 00:10:50.260 and the darkness has not overcome it. 00:10:50.660 --> 00:10:55.840 Jesus is our example of what it means to enter into brokenness, 00:10:55.940 --> 00:10:56.800 enter into frailty, 00:10:56.800 --> 00:10:58.840 to bring light and to bring hope. 00:11:00.220 --> 00:11:03.840 One of the rich heritages we have as an Anglican church 00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:06.160 is the movement to end the slave trade in England. 00:11:06.660 --> 00:11:08.379 I did my master's in history on this 00:11:08.379 --> 00:11:10.100 and one of the things that surprised me 00:11:10.100 --> 00:11:12.920 was that one of the core pieces 00:11:12.919 --> 00:11:15.579 that brought about the movement to end the slave trade 00:11:15.579 --> 00:11:18.439 was how the Christmas story captivated the hearts, 00:11:18.599 --> 00:11:21.699 the minds, the imaginations of these Anglicans in England 00:11:21.699 --> 00:11:23.979 and led them into politics, 00:11:24.099 --> 00:11:25.779 into all these various realms. 00:11:25.879 --> 00:11:27.659 And what was revolutionary about this 00:11:27.659 --> 00:11:30.360 is that the generation of Christians before them 00:11:30.360 --> 00:11:31.799 and the few generations before them 00:11:31.799 --> 00:11:34.719 of those who were serious followers of Jesus 00:11:34.719 --> 00:11:36.819 made sure to not go into politics, 00:11:37.000 --> 00:11:38.939 made sure not to go into banking or finance 00:11:38.940 --> 00:11:42.680 or any of that stuff that was seen as part of the dark underbelly 00:11:42.680 --> 00:11:43.500 of human existence. 00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:47.160 Sometimes you'd find stories of the generation before them 00:11:47.160 --> 00:11:48.860 of politicians who became Christians 00:11:48.860 --> 00:11:50.340 and then they'd quickly leave politics 00:11:50.340 --> 00:11:52.380 because they wanted to walk in purity and righteousness 00:11:52.380 --> 00:11:54.280 and be real followers of Jesus. 00:11:55.180 --> 00:11:57.960 But William Wilberforce, this famous Anglican, 00:11:58.540 --> 00:12:01.500 in reading the Christian story in the Bible 00:12:01.500 --> 00:12:06.280 and seeing how God took on the frailty of the human condition 00:12:06.279 --> 00:12:08.860 and entered into the darkness and the brokenness 00:12:08.860 --> 00:12:10.039 and the filth of this earth, 00:12:10.740 --> 00:12:12.360 he, after becoming a Christian, 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:13.759 he was already a politician 00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:15.379 and he thought about leaving politics. 00:12:15.839 --> 00:12:17.179 But seeing the Christmas story, 00:12:17.259 --> 00:12:17.919 he thought, you know what? 00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:22.059 I'm not going to leave this dark and messy world of politics. 00:12:22.379 --> 00:12:24.539 I'm going to enter right into the fullness of it. 00:12:24.959 --> 00:12:26.839 And like Jesus shone light in the darkness, 00:12:26.959 --> 00:12:28.199 I'm going to shine light in that darkness. 00:12:28.779 --> 00:12:30.879 And one of his best friends, his cousin Henry Thornton, 00:12:31.100 --> 00:12:34.100 he was really good with finances 00:12:34.100 --> 00:12:36.860 and as the Christmas story captivated his heart, 00:12:37.259 --> 00:12:39.460 he decided that he was going to enter into banking 00:12:39.460 --> 00:12:41.759 and I think he became the governor of the Bank of England. 00:12:42.980 --> 00:12:43.860 I'm pretty sure he did. 00:12:43.960 --> 00:12:46.779 He went on to be one of the most influential people 00:12:46.779 --> 00:12:48.580 involved in finance and banking in England. 00:12:49.019 --> 00:12:50.240 And that was a world at that time 00:12:50.240 --> 00:12:51.460 that many Christians just thought 00:12:51.460 --> 00:12:54.600 that finance and banking is such a dark place. 00:12:54.720 --> 00:12:56.240 But he entered into the midst of it 00:12:56.240 --> 00:12:58.080 to bring light to all these other guys 00:12:58.080 --> 00:12:58.920 in finance and banking. 00:12:59.100 --> 00:13:01.220 And he helped with his, the great money 00:13:01.220 --> 00:13:03.080 he was able to amass through that. 00:13:03.300 --> 00:13:05.160 He helped fund that campaign to end the slave trade. 00:13:05.220 --> 00:13:06.840 And the same is true for Hannah Moore 00:13:06.840 --> 00:13:09.320 who was a literary playwright and stuff. 00:13:09.860 --> 00:13:11.180 Playwrights were so derided. 00:13:11.259 --> 00:13:14.460 They were seen as like the worst of the muck of human beings. 00:13:14.879 --> 00:13:16.160 But she was gifted in that 00:13:16.160 --> 00:13:17.259 and as she became a Christian, 00:13:17.399 --> 00:13:19.180 she thought, I'm not going to leave this 00:13:19.180 --> 00:13:20.899 like the generations before me. 00:13:20.960 --> 00:13:22.259 I'm going to enter into the midst of it. 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:24.399 What's the point of all that? 00:13:24.460 --> 00:13:26.100 The point is that they saw Jesus 00:13:26.100 --> 00:13:28.240 and what he did at Christmas 00:13:28.240 --> 00:13:31.100 and entering into the brokenness of the human condition 00:13:31.100 --> 00:13:31.899 into the darkness 00:13:31.899 --> 00:13:33.419 as being their example 00:13:33.419 --> 00:13:35.419 for what it means to be followers of Jesus. 00:13:36.100 --> 00:13:38.220 And truly we're called to be followers of Jesus. 00:13:38.519 --> 00:13:40.000 Often in North America today 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:41.240 when we talk about Christianity, 00:13:41.740 --> 00:13:43.919 we tend to think of it as a set of things 00:13:43.919 --> 00:13:45.080 we believe about Jesus. 00:13:46.580 --> 00:13:49.299 But Jesus only about five times in the Gospels 00:13:49.299 --> 00:13:52.379 calls those who calls us as human beings 00:13:52.379 --> 00:13:53.159 to believe in him. 00:13:53.639 --> 00:13:55.940 But more than 20 times calls us to follow him. 00:13:55.940 --> 00:13:58.760 So for sure we're supposed to believe rightly about Jesus. 00:13:59.420 --> 00:14:01.540 But it's not simply supposed to be something 00:14:01.540 --> 00:14:04.420 that we're thinking right thoughts about who God is. 00:14:04.640 --> 00:14:05.880 That we believe right doctrine. 00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:07.520 What it means to be a Christian, 00:14:07.900 --> 00:14:09.080 what it means to be born again, 00:14:09.200 --> 00:14:10.600 what it means to truly be human 00:14:10.600 --> 00:14:12.680 is that we're following Jesus. 00:14:13.100 --> 00:14:14.580 It's like we're playing follow the leader. 00:14:14.760 --> 00:14:16.740 The things he does are the things we're to do. 00:14:17.080 --> 00:14:18.240 That's why what would Jesus do 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:19.860 was such a big thing in the 90s 00:14:19.860 --> 00:14:22.260 is because that's really, 00:14:22.460 --> 00:14:24.800 as Christians we're called to join God 00:14:24.799 --> 00:14:27.159 in entering into the darkness of the human condition 00:14:27.159 --> 00:14:28.219 and to be a light. 00:14:28.719 --> 00:14:31.679 And so I hope this truth is already defining 00:14:31.679 --> 00:14:34.120 and will continue to define the careers we choose. 00:14:34.279 --> 00:14:37.939 That we'll be able to intentionally see our jobs as places 00:14:37.939 --> 00:14:40.120 where we're making a difference 00:14:40.120 --> 00:14:43.199 among our fellow human beings. 00:14:43.379 --> 00:14:45.299 I hope that it will affect us in big ways. 00:14:45.439 --> 00:14:47.959 That it will affect the things we do with our pocketbook, 00:14:48.039 --> 00:14:49.120 the things we do with our money, 00:14:49.399 --> 00:14:50.519 the things we do with our time. 00:14:50.519 --> 00:14:52.340 But I also hope that this truth 00:14:52.340 --> 00:14:54.340 of being fully present in this world 00:14:54.340 --> 00:14:57.240 to bring light will also affect us in small ways. 00:14:57.740 --> 00:14:59.939 Like say we're at some family reunion 00:14:59.939 --> 00:15:01.019 or you're at school 00:15:01.019 --> 00:15:03.600 and there's that person that is just so annoying, 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:04.299 so awkward, 00:15:04.460 --> 00:15:06.360 and no one really wants to spend time with them. 00:15:06.500 --> 00:15:08.419 But you know that God loves that person 00:15:08.419 --> 00:15:11.120 and so just like Jesus sacrificing himself 00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:12.919 into the brokenness to bring light, 00:15:13.199 --> 00:15:15.019 you're willing to go and be kind 00:15:15.019 --> 00:15:16.819 and chat with your cousin 00:15:16.819 --> 00:15:18.139 who just gets on your nerves 00:15:18.139 --> 00:15:19.379 and everyone's nerves so much. 00:15:19.379 --> 00:15:21.439 You're sure they must be adopted. 00:15:21.559 --> 00:15:22.580 They can't be related to you. 00:15:23.000 --> 00:15:26.200 But I hope that this truth will affect us 00:15:26.200 --> 00:15:27.759 in big ways and small ways 00:15:27.759 --> 00:15:29.100 that we see we're not called simply 00:15:29.100 --> 00:15:30.720 to believe rightly about Jesus, 00:15:31.100 --> 00:15:33.100 but we're called to actually follow Jesus 00:15:33.100 --> 00:15:36.360 intentionally sacrificing our comfort, 00:15:36.840 --> 00:15:38.439 stepping outside our comfort zones 00:15:38.439 --> 00:15:42.159 into the fullness of the brokenness around us 00:15:42.159 --> 00:15:42.840 to bring light. 00:15:44.360 --> 00:15:45.759 I mean, for so many Christians today, 00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:48.340 I think that they found Christianity, 00:15:48.340 --> 00:15:50.060 even though they still subscribe to it, 00:15:50.100 --> 00:15:52.399 to be much more boring than they expected. 00:15:52.940 --> 00:15:55.300 That perhaps when you gave your life to the Lord, 00:15:56.000 --> 00:15:59.060 you had this great hope that in this 00:15:59.060 --> 00:16:01.220 you would find such meaning and purpose 00:16:01.220 --> 00:16:02.500 and there'd be a great adventure. 00:16:02.980 --> 00:16:04.379 But instead you find Christianity 00:16:04.379 --> 00:16:05.720 that would be much more boring. 00:16:06.019 --> 00:16:08.000 It's nice, there's a lot of positive songs, 00:16:08.220 --> 00:16:11.120 and the music is safe and fun for the whole family, 00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:14.240 but there's no adventure, there's no teeth to it. 00:16:14.799 --> 00:16:16.740 And I think it's because for many of us, 00:16:16.820 --> 00:16:18.740 Christianity is simply believing about Jesus. 00:16:18.879 --> 00:16:19.620 It's very passive. 00:16:20.179 --> 00:16:23.060 But the invitation to become Christians 00:16:23.060 --> 00:16:25.980 is an invitation to follow this God 00:16:25.980 --> 00:16:29.340 into the midst of the brokenness and the danger 00:16:29.340 --> 00:16:30.960 and the suffering of what it means to be human. 00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:33.519 I mean, we live in a political city, our capital, 00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:36.019 and so a lot of us, I think, are familiar with photo ops, 00:16:36.159 --> 00:16:39.579 where the rulers or whoever wants to have photo ops 00:16:39.579 --> 00:16:41.699 with the broken, photo ops with the vulnerable, 00:16:41.939 --> 00:16:42.720 and we're used to that. 00:16:42.799 --> 00:16:44.279 I mean, we're suspicious of that. 00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:47.740 But through Christmas, we see that God was not 00:16:47.740 --> 00:16:50.419 wanting to have a photo op with broken humanity, 00:16:50.679 --> 00:16:52.960 but that he was actually entering fully 00:16:52.960 --> 00:16:56.579 into the midst of the frailty and the heartbreak 00:16:56.579 --> 00:16:58.579 and the pain of what it means to be human 00:16:58.580 --> 00:17:01.520 in order to bring us life, eternal life. 00:17:01.560 --> 00:17:03.780 And he invites us to help bring that light 00:17:03.780 --> 00:17:04.940 into this world around us. 00:17:05.039 --> 00:17:06.500 So there's much for us to do 00:17:06.500 --> 00:17:09.920 as we live out following the example of Jesus. 00:17:10.640 --> 00:17:13.319 But if you've ever tried to follow the example of Jesus, 00:17:13.519 --> 00:17:15.019 you may have found, like I have found, 00:17:15.100 --> 00:17:16.380 that it's very difficult. 00:17:16.819 --> 00:17:19.380 I mean, if you think that following the Old Testament laws, 00:17:19.460 --> 00:17:20.860 the Mosaic laws was hard, 00:17:21.259 --> 00:17:25.700 even more difficult is following the actual example of Jesus. 00:17:25.700 --> 00:17:28.660 Jesus, he was and is perfect. 00:17:29.380 --> 00:17:31.799 And I don't know all of you as well as I'd like to, 00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:33.580 but none of us are perfect. 00:17:34.120 --> 00:17:36.319 And so what do we do when we see that we're called 00:17:36.319 --> 00:17:38.299 and we're designed to follow this perfect one? 00:17:38.559 --> 00:17:39.980 Maybe we keep on falling short. 00:17:40.340 --> 00:17:42.080 Well, that's where Paul continues writing. 00:17:42.220 --> 00:17:45.259 He says about the Christmas story 00:17:45.259 --> 00:17:46.460 of the emptying of God 00:17:46.460 --> 00:17:48.500 and being born in the likeness of man. 00:17:48.580 --> 00:17:49.200 Then verse eight, 00:17:49.700 --> 00:17:51.039 and being found in human form, 00:17:51.279 --> 00:17:53.360 Jesus humbled himself by becoming obedient 00:17:53.359 --> 00:17:54.319 to the point of death, 00:17:54.639 --> 00:17:55.859 even death on a cross. 00:17:56.500 --> 00:17:59.819 In this, we see that Jesus is not only our great example. 00:18:00.719 --> 00:18:02.039 He's not only a true example. 00:18:02.479 --> 00:18:04.219 He's our all-sufficient sacrifice. 00:18:04.919 --> 00:18:07.899 That each one of us has this penalty, 00:18:08.079 --> 00:18:09.279 this punishment we deserve 00:18:09.279 --> 00:18:12.159 because we're not living as we were designed to live. 00:18:12.259 --> 00:18:14.259 And as much as we want to follow Jesus 00:18:14.259 --> 00:18:16.079 and we begin to follow Jesus, 00:18:16.179 --> 00:18:17.500 we don't do it as we should. 00:18:17.959 --> 00:18:20.019 And it's not just that it would be really nice 00:18:20.019 --> 00:18:20.919 if we followed Jesus. 00:18:20.920 --> 00:18:22.420 It's not just that it would be really nice 00:18:22.420 --> 00:18:23.259 if we obeyed God. 00:18:24.080 --> 00:18:26.259 We owe God our allegiance and our obedience 00:18:26.259 --> 00:18:27.460 for he's king of the universe. 00:18:28.019 --> 00:18:29.240 And as we break his laws 00:18:29.240 --> 00:18:31.460 and fall short of the things we should do, 00:18:31.700 --> 00:18:33.100 we do deserve punishment. 00:18:33.300 --> 00:18:36.759 We do deserve the punishment for breaking his laws. 00:18:37.360 --> 00:18:39.980 And in that, Jesus, as Paul writes, 00:18:40.220 --> 00:18:42.940 this is what Jesus dying on the cross is about, 00:18:43.039 --> 00:18:43.820 that he provided, 00:18:44.539 --> 00:18:46.600 that he took the punishment you and I deserve. 00:18:46.599 --> 00:18:49.339 Why this is so important to speak of 00:18:49.339 --> 00:18:51.859 just after we talk about the example of Jesus 00:18:51.859 --> 00:18:55.059 is that if you've spent any time as a kid in Sunday school, 00:18:55.379 --> 00:18:58.699 so much of what goes on in Sunday schools around the world, 00:18:59.259 --> 00:19:00.139 not just in Canada, 00:19:00.579 --> 00:19:01.639 in so many Sunday schools, 00:19:01.740 --> 00:19:05.179 we teach the Bible as if it really is simply about 00:19:05.179 --> 00:19:07.740 and only about following the example of Jesus. 00:19:07.980 --> 00:19:10.459 Like, Jesus was kind, so we should be kind. 00:19:10.960 --> 00:19:12.740 And I don't know how they construe Jesus 00:19:12.740 --> 00:19:13.460 as always being polite, 00:19:13.559 --> 00:19:14.559 but they say Jesus is polite, 00:19:14.680 --> 00:19:15.660 so we should be polite, 00:19:15.960 --> 00:19:16.759 and all this kind of thing. 00:19:16.840 --> 00:19:18.500 So we're trying to teach boys and girls, 00:19:18.759 --> 00:19:19.319 little Christians, 00:19:19.460 --> 00:19:21.680 to be good, little polite, nice, 00:19:21.779 --> 00:19:22.640 kind of sharing Christians. 00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:26.279 But that's not actually the point of the Bible. 00:19:26.740 --> 00:19:29.200 The Bible is so clear from beginning to end 00:19:29.200 --> 00:19:31.299 that from the beginning of time to the present day, 00:19:31.759 --> 00:19:33.079 each one of us as human beings 00:19:33.079 --> 00:19:35.279 has turned our backs against God, 00:19:35.279 --> 00:19:37.120 that we have opposed God 00:19:37.120 --> 00:19:38.940 and been enemies to him. 00:19:38.940 --> 00:19:41.759 And as we try as hard as we might, 00:19:42.059 --> 00:19:42.900 we can't do it. 00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:45.480 And this is where the gospel turns all religions 00:19:45.480 --> 00:19:47.019 and all spiritualities on their head. 00:19:47.360 --> 00:19:49.680 Because whether you're looking at Islam, Judaism, 00:19:50.180 --> 00:19:52.100 or even secular humanism, 00:19:52.820 --> 00:19:54.120 in every type of thought, 00:19:54.420 --> 00:19:57.160 the idea is if we think or do the right thing, 00:19:57.340 --> 00:19:58.620 we can climb our way to heaven. 00:19:59.059 --> 00:20:01.440 And I really mean that true of not just Islam 00:20:01.440 --> 00:20:02.660 or Judaism or Buddhism, 00:20:02.820 --> 00:20:04.460 but also of secular humanism. 00:20:04.460 --> 00:20:05.480 This past year, 00:20:05.900 --> 00:20:07.600 I went with some others in our congregation. 00:20:07.599 --> 00:20:10.240 We went on the streets and we evangelized. 00:20:10.319 --> 00:20:11.299 And one of the things we would ask, 00:20:11.339 --> 00:20:12.719 we'd go up to people in the borrowed market. 00:20:13.059 --> 00:20:13.579 We would say, 00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:14.719 hey, if you die today, 00:20:14.819 --> 00:20:15.899 do you think you'd go to heaven or hell? 00:20:16.359 --> 00:20:17.939 And just about everyone we spoke to, 00:20:18.039 --> 00:20:18.519 surprisingly, 00:20:19.039 --> 00:20:20.500 most people didn't say, 00:20:20.839 --> 00:20:22.059 oh, well, I think I just like, 00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:22.500 you know, 00:20:22.559 --> 00:20:24.240 go into the earth and become a tree or something. 00:20:24.399 --> 00:20:25.699 I think that's what a lot of us expect, 00:20:25.980 --> 00:20:27.819 people who don't believe there's a God to say. 00:20:28.119 --> 00:20:30.819 But a lot of these agnostic or atheist people 00:20:30.819 --> 00:20:31.899 said, oh, I'd go to heaven. 00:20:32.139 --> 00:20:33.819 And I'd say, well, why would you go to heaven? 00:20:34.139 --> 00:20:35.279 They'd say, well, I'm a good person. 00:20:35.799 --> 00:20:36.339 What they're saying, 00:20:36.399 --> 00:20:37.460 even though they don't really believe 00:20:37.460 --> 00:20:38.539 in much of a spiritual realm, 00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:39.779 a lot of people, 00:20:40.119 --> 00:20:40.779 even our neighbors, 00:20:40.940 --> 00:20:43.119 believe that if they do enough good, 00:20:43.200 --> 00:20:44.460 they can earn their way 00:20:44.460 --> 00:20:46.299 into some beautiful afterlife. 00:20:48.160 --> 00:20:49.579 So that would be secular humanism. 00:20:49.639 --> 00:20:50.700 A lot of people believe that. 00:20:51.639 --> 00:20:53.019 Islam has five pillars. 00:20:53.139 --> 00:20:54.980 Judaism, 613 laws. 00:20:55.359 --> 00:20:55.879 And the idea is, 00:20:55.960 --> 00:20:57.759 if you do enough of these good things, 00:20:58.039 --> 00:20:59.319 that you're going to get your way into heaven. 00:20:59.319 --> 00:21:01.779 And Buddhism and other Eastern religions, 00:21:01.920 --> 00:21:03.480 the idea isn't so much what you do, 00:21:03.480 --> 00:21:05.440 but if you can learn to think rightly, 00:21:05.660 --> 00:21:07.960 you'll eventually be able to enter into nirvana, 00:21:08.099 --> 00:21:10.360 if you can detach yourself from the world around you. 00:21:10.740 --> 00:21:11.620 In all these religions, 00:21:11.779 --> 00:21:13.180 spiritualities are no religious, 00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:13.920 no thing. 00:21:14.339 --> 00:21:15.079 In all of this, 00:21:15.120 --> 00:21:16.460 it's about if we can think rightly, 00:21:16.599 --> 00:21:17.599 if we can act rightly, 00:21:17.700 --> 00:21:20.940 we'll climb our way into whatever that afterlife is. 00:21:21.420 --> 00:21:22.460 But in the gospel, 00:21:22.700 --> 00:21:24.140 it's completely different. 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:25.440 And that's what Paul's talking about, 00:21:25.640 --> 00:21:26.579 about Jesus, 00:21:26.759 --> 00:21:27.980 God coming to earth 00:21:27.980 --> 00:21:29.240 and dying for us, 00:21:29.279 --> 00:21:31.160 is that heaven has come to earth. 00:21:31.160 --> 00:21:34.360 And so you and I can have true confidence, 00:21:34.759 --> 00:21:35.920 just like the people on the street, 00:21:36.019 --> 00:21:36.660 that we will, 00:21:36.759 --> 00:21:37.500 if we die tonight, 00:21:37.540 --> 00:21:38.140 we'll go to heaven 00:21:38.140 --> 00:21:39.900 and we'll spend eternity with them. 00:21:40.240 --> 00:21:42.680 And that we'll not only go to some spiritual heaven thing, 00:21:42.759 --> 00:21:44.279 but that when Jesus comes back, 00:21:44.320 --> 00:21:45.680 we'll rise back to life 00:21:45.680 --> 00:21:46.759 and live on this earth 00:21:46.759 --> 00:21:50.420 in the way we were designed to be. 00:21:51.259 --> 00:21:52.240 And that confidence comes 00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:53.779 not because we've learned to think rightly 00:21:53.779 --> 00:21:54.460 or do rightly, 00:21:54.759 --> 00:21:57.080 but because of Jesus' perfect life, 00:21:57.200 --> 00:21:57.900 death, and resurrection. 00:21:57.900 --> 00:22:02.240 And so we see that Jesus is not only a great example, 00:22:02.860 --> 00:22:05.600 but he's also our all-sufficient sacrifice. 00:22:06.440 --> 00:22:07.759 And in the sacrifice of Jesus, 00:22:07.860 --> 00:22:09.380 not only does he take our punishment, 00:22:09.840 --> 00:22:11.540 not only does he make it possible for us 00:22:11.540 --> 00:22:13.920 to receive forgiveness and life in him, 00:22:14.320 --> 00:22:16.980 but it's through the power of his death and resurrection, 00:22:17.140 --> 00:22:18.460 through his all-sufficient sacrifice, 00:22:19.040 --> 00:22:20.440 that we receive the power 00:22:20.440 --> 00:22:23.759 to begin to change from our failing 00:22:23.759 --> 00:22:25.220 of following his example, 00:22:25.220 --> 00:22:28.019 to begin to increasingly be able to follow his example. 00:22:28.640 --> 00:22:31.339 I mean, in us receiving his forgiveness, 00:22:31.559 --> 00:22:32.480 we're justified, 00:22:32.600 --> 00:22:33.480 that's justification, 00:22:33.839 --> 00:22:34.900 to use a theological term. 00:22:35.319 --> 00:22:38.220 And then in receiving his life and his power 00:22:38.220 --> 00:22:39.420 that changes us 00:22:39.420 --> 00:22:40.440 and makes us more like him 00:22:40.440 --> 00:22:41.620 and more following his example, 00:22:41.900 --> 00:22:43.019 that's our sanctification, 00:22:43.460 --> 00:22:44.600 to use that theological term. 00:22:44.660 --> 00:22:46.200 That's us becoming more like him 00:22:46.200 --> 00:22:47.640 and being able to follow his example. 00:22:48.319 --> 00:22:50.160 And so as we look at the new year 00:22:50.160 --> 00:22:52.180 and some may make resolutions 00:22:52.180 --> 00:22:54.640 or at least want to see your lives 00:22:54.640 --> 00:22:56.259 more reflect who Jesus is, 00:22:56.600 --> 00:22:58.940 I want us to be able to do that as a church, 00:22:58.980 --> 00:23:00.500 not by just resolving harder 00:23:00.500 --> 00:23:02.039 to try harder within ourselves, 00:23:02.440 --> 00:23:04.740 but to look more fully to Jesus, 00:23:04.980 --> 00:23:07.420 asking him for his power 00:23:07.420 --> 00:23:09.600 to live the life that we're called to live. 00:23:10.600 --> 00:23:12.640 But Paul doesn't end it right there, 00:23:12.680 --> 00:23:14.019 as glorious as that truth is, 00:23:14.060 --> 00:23:14.740 but he continues. 00:23:14.740 --> 00:23:34.299 Here, as Paul writes about 00:23:34.299 --> 00:23:36.839 every knee bowing before Jesus is Lord, 00:23:36.920 --> 00:23:37.579 he's saying that, 00:23:38.059 --> 00:23:40.859 yeah, there are many kings out there in the world, 00:23:40.980 --> 00:23:43.099 but Jesus is king, 00:23:43.099 --> 00:23:44.339 he's Lord above all lords, 00:23:44.419 --> 00:23:45.719 he's king above all kings, 00:23:46.119 --> 00:23:49.119 and everyone is going to bow before him one day. 00:23:49.480 --> 00:23:50.959 We're living in a world where we know, 00:23:51.099 --> 00:23:53.779 though every human is designed to follow Jesus, 00:23:53.919 --> 00:23:55.279 we know that that isn't the case. 00:23:55.719 --> 00:23:57.719 And we know that so many of us 00:23:57.719 --> 00:23:59.379 have experienced heartbreak, 00:23:59.459 --> 00:24:01.319 and not just like disappointment in small ways, 00:24:01.399 --> 00:24:02.500 but where our heart, 00:24:02.699 --> 00:24:04.879 our ability to express and experience love 00:24:04.879 --> 00:24:05.959 has been broken, 00:24:06.639 --> 00:24:08.099 has been smashed beyond repair 00:24:08.639 --> 00:24:11.039 because of harmful things done to us 00:24:11.039 --> 00:24:13.279 by abuse or by neglect 00:24:13.279 --> 00:24:14.859 or by exploitation. 00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:17.500 And we're living in this world 00:24:17.500 --> 00:24:18.940 where brokenness is so real. 00:24:19.980 --> 00:24:21.799 And Paul and the Bible elsewhere 00:24:21.799 --> 00:24:23.000 expand on this thought, 00:24:23.539 --> 00:24:25.920 telling us that as Jesus has come once 00:24:25.920 --> 00:24:27.480 at Christmastime, 00:24:27.599 --> 00:24:28.980 he's going to come again. 00:24:29.539 --> 00:24:31.859 And just as he came in real bodily form back then, 00:24:31.879 --> 00:24:33.279 it wasn't just an inspiring story, 00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:35.139 it's real in real time, real space. 00:24:35.500 --> 00:24:37.379 So we await the day that he'll come again 00:24:37.379 --> 00:24:38.659 in real time, real space. 00:24:38.660 --> 00:24:40.640 And though it seems today 00:24:40.640 --> 00:24:41.620 in the world we live in 00:24:41.620 --> 00:24:43.019 that there are bullies 00:24:43.019 --> 00:24:44.440 and there are abusers 00:24:44.440 --> 00:24:45.740 and there are people 00:24:45.740 --> 00:24:47.100 who have done great injustice 00:24:47.100 --> 00:24:48.340 to us and to our loved ones 00:24:48.340 --> 00:24:49.460 and they've gotten away with it, 00:24:49.820 --> 00:24:50.820 the Bible is clear 00:24:50.820 --> 00:24:54.980 that injustice will receive its due, 00:24:55.500 --> 00:24:57.820 that justice will be achieved, 00:24:57.920 --> 00:24:59.340 that we live in a world 00:24:59.340 --> 00:25:00.140 where there is war, 00:25:00.500 --> 00:25:01.220 and we live in a world 00:25:01.220 --> 00:25:02.180 where there is homelessness 00:25:02.180 --> 00:25:03.420 and heartbreak and pain, 00:25:03.840 --> 00:25:05.440 but that the king of kings 00:25:05.440 --> 00:25:06.580 is coming back 00:25:06.580 --> 00:25:07.620 in real time, 00:25:07.700 --> 00:25:08.340 in real space, 00:25:08.519 --> 00:25:10.320 and he will make the world right. 00:25:10.900 --> 00:25:12.400 And whether you like it or not, 00:25:12.559 --> 00:25:13.299 every knee, 00:25:13.900 --> 00:25:14.940 including mine and yours, 00:25:15.019 --> 00:25:16.059 will bow before him 00:25:16.059 --> 00:25:17.759 and acknowledge him as king. 00:25:18.259 --> 00:25:19.440 What it's saying right here 00:25:19.440 --> 00:25:22.019 is that every knee, 00:25:22.080 --> 00:25:22.980 it's saying that Muhammad 00:25:22.980 --> 00:25:25.000 will one day bow his knee to Jesus, 00:25:25.720 --> 00:25:26.519 and that one day 00:25:26.519 --> 00:25:30.000 Adolf Hitler will bow his name to Jesus, 00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:32.019 one day Elvis Presley 00:25:32.019 --> 00:25:34.059 will bow his shaky knees to Jesus, 00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:36.619 and one day you and I 00:25:36.619 --> 00:25:38.220 will bow our knees to Jesus. 00:25:38.839 --> 00:25:40.099 I remember back in my undergrad, 00:25:40.299 --> 00:25:41.380 there was my study buddy, 00:25:41.460 --> 00:25:43.920 he was a brilliant student named Jake, 00:25:44.799 --> 00:25:45.960 but Jake, if you're listening to this, 00:25:46.059 --> 00:25:47.000 know on the recording, 00:25:47.099 --> 00:25:47.980 no, I'm not talking about you, 00:25:48.140 --> 00:25:48.599 different Jake. 00:25:50.700 --> 00:25:51.480 Just kidding, Jake, 00:25:51.519 --> 00:25:52.039 I'm talking about you. 00:25:52.460 --> 00:25:53.720 No, there was a guy named Jake, 00:25:53.799 --> 00:25:55.119 and he was this brilliant student, 00:25:55.220 --> 00:25:56.599 we were in philosophy classes together, 00:25:56.779 --> 00:25:58.400 and we would talk about God a lot, 00:25:58.400 --> 00:26:00.100 and he would come so close 00:26:00.100 --> 00:26:01.620 to surrendering his life to Jesus, 00:26:01.740 --> 00:26:03.240 but then there'd be always something, 00:26:03.380 --> 00:26:04.740 and it would change from time to time, 00:26:04.800 --> 00:26:06.060 but there'd be something about God 00:26:06.060 --> 00:26:06.980 that he didn't like, 00:26:07.480 --> 00:26:08.380 and he'd just be like, 00:26:08.440 --> 00:26:09.860 hey, I see all the logic 00:26:09.860 --> 00:26:10.720 for why God is there, 00:26:10.800 --> 00:26:12.100 and I see the historical evidence 00:26:12.100 --> 00:26:13.080 to believe in the resurrection, 00:26:13.240 --> 00:26:15.340 but I just, I don't like this, 00:26:15.500 --> 00:26:17.140 and so then he would just not be a Christian, 00:26:17.759 --> 00:26:19.460 and what this is telling you 00:26:19.460 --> 00:26:21.060 and me and Jake and everyone 00:26:21.060 --> 00:26:23.400 is that whether you like it or not, 00:26:24.160 --> 00:26:25.259 you're gonna bow to Jesus, 00:26:25.640 --> 00:26:28.120 like you'll bow or you'll bow to Jesus, 00:26:29.120 --> 00:26:31.040 and the invitation that Paul writes 00:26:31.040 --> 00:26:32.120 in these words is that 00:26:32.120 --> 00:26:33.740 that you and I can experience 00:26:33.740 --> 00:26:35.980 the fullness of what it means to be alive, 00:26:36.160 --> 00:26:38.019 not just the best version of life, 00:26:38.500 --> 00:26:39.600 but life itself, 00:26:39.780 --> 00:26:41.040 the only way to live, 00:26:41.420 --> 00:26:43.380 by surrendering our lives to Jesus, 00:26:43.519 --> 00:26:45.420 by becoming followers of him, 00:26:46.200 --> 00:26:47.259 entering into the fullness 00:26:47.259 --> 00:26:48.800 of the pain and darkness 00:26:48.800 --> 00:26:50.840 to bring light to this world 00:26:50.840 --> 00:26:52.120 as we follow Jesus, 00:26:52.700 --> 00:26:54.360 or we can turn our backs against God, 00:26:54.440 --> 00:26:55.340 that there's just two options, 00:26:55.420 --> 00:26:56.220 we follow him, 00:26:56.460 --> 00:26:57.680 or we turn our backs to him, 00:26:57.680 --> 00:26:59.299 that the option of seeing Jesus 00:26:59.299 --> 00:27:01.240 as an inspiring teacher from the past, 00:27:01.320 --> 00:27:01.640 simply, 00:27:01.960 --> 00:27:03.660 but not as king of our lives, 00:27:03.779 --> 00:27:04.740 is not an option, 00:27:05.240 --> 00:27:06.039 that seeing Christmas 00:27:06.039 --> 00:27:08.460 as a beautiful nostalgic story 00:27:08.460 --> 00:27:10.019 is not an option, 00:27:10.140 --> 00:27:11.519 either we follow Jesus, 00:27:12.560 --> 00:27:14.400 and we give him our allegiance 00:27:14.400 --> 00:27:16.220 as our king, 00:27:16.960 --> 00:27:18.039 or we're his enemies, 00:27:18.160 --> 00:27:19.299 those are the two options, 00:27:19.299 --> 00:27:25.819 and so I hope that as we look back at Christmas 00:27:25.819 --> 00:27:26.639 a couple days ago 00:27:26.639 --> 00:27:28.399 and still see the Christmas lights around us, 00:27:28.759 --> 00:27:29.440 and I hope that, 00:27:29.980 --> 00:27:31.940 though you'll likely forget this sermon 00:27:31.940 --> 00:27:33.399 in a couple days time, 00:27:33.519 --> 00:27:35.379 that you will remember this truth, 00:27:35.700 --> 00:27:37.059 and I hope and I pray 00:27:37.059 --> 00:27:39.279 that you'll remember this biblical truth 00:27:39.279 --> 00:27:40.399 for the rest of our lives, 00:27:40.440 --> 00:27:41.559 that as you see the Christmas lights 00:27:41.559 --> 00:27:42.279 and Christmas trees 00:27:42.279 --> 00:27:43.899 and Christmas time next year 00:27:43.899 --> 00:27:44.680 and the year following, 00:27:44.680 --> 00:27:45.900 that we'll remember 00:27:45.900 --> 00:27:49.140 not just the regular stuff 00:27:49.140 --> 00:27:50.259 we hear about at Christmas, 00:27:50.420 --> 00:27:51.259 but we'll remember 00:27:51.259 --> 00:27:53.420 the awe-inspiring, 00:27:54.240 --> 00:27:56.160 majestic, beautiful sacrifice 00:27:56.160 --> 00:27:58.720 of the all-powerful, 00:27:58.840 --> 00:27:59.660 all-knowing, 00:27:59.920 --> 00:28:01.620 pure, holy God, 00:28:02.380 --> 00:28:03.660 not content to stay 00:28:03.660 --> 00:28:07.100 in the perfect realm of heaven, 00:28:07.360 --> 00:28:08.880 but entering into the brokenness 00:28:08.880 --> 00:28:09.539 and the pain 00:28:09.539 --> 00:28:10.100 and the darkness 00:28:10.100 --> 00:28:11.100 of the human condition 00:28:11.100 --> 00:28:12.400 to bring us light, 00:28:12.400 --> 00:28:13.840 and that he has called us 00:28:13.840 --> 00:28:14.620 not just to believe 00:28:14.620 --> 00:28:15.460 that true story, 00:28:15.759 --> 00:28:16.800 but to follow him 00:28:16.800 --> 00:28:18.560 and to receive his forgiveness 00:28:18.560 --> 00:28:20.420 and to receive his power 00:28:20.420 --> 00:28:21.540 to follow him 00:28:21.540 --> 00:28:22.380 through his death 00:28:22.380 --> 00:28:22.960 and resurrection 00:28:22.960 --> 00:28:24.360 and that we would give 00:28:24.360 --> 00:28:25.480 our allegiance to him, 00:28:25.680 --> 00:28:27.360 not waiting for that final day 00:28:27.360 --> 00:28:27.840 of judgment, 00:28:28.280 --> 00:28:29.360 but giving our allegiance 00:28:29.360 --> 00:28:30.100 to him now 00:28:30.100 --> 00:28:31.460 so that as we look forward 00:28:31.460 --> 00:28:32.160 to that final, 00:28:32.259 --> 00:28:33.540 final day of judgment 00:28:33.540 --> 00:28:34.820 where he makes the world right, 00:28:35.080 --> 00:28:35.759 we'll find ourselves 00:28:35.759 --> 00:28:36.660 not as those forced 00:28:36.660 --> 00:28:37.400 to bow down, 00:28:37.720 --> 00:28:38.519 but bowing down 00:28:38.519 --> 00:28:39.740 in worship to his glory. 00:28:40.280 --> 00:28:41.300 Would you stand with me? 00:28:42.400 --> 00:28:47.340 Heavenly Father, 00:28:47.500 --> 00:28:47.820 God, 00:28:48.380 --> 00:28:49.780 I know it is so much easier 00:28:49.780 --> 00:28:50.759 to speak about 00:28:50.759 --> 00:28:51.820 following you 00:28:51.820 --> 00:28:53.060 than it is to actually do, 00:28:53.580 --> 00:28:54.840 and if this was something 00:28:54.840 --> 00:28:55.560 we would only do 00:28:55.560 --> 00:28:56.620 in our own human strength, 00:28:56.680 --> 00:28:57.740 it would be impossible, 00:28:58.420 --> 00:28:58.759 but God, 00:28:58.800 --> 00:28:59.340 I thank you 00:28:59.340 --> 00:29:00.780 that there are so many 00:29:00.780 --> 00:29:01.420 in this room 00:29:01.420 --> 00:29:03.400 who have experienced already 00:29:03.400 --> 00:29:05.740 the incredible forgiveness 00:29:05.740 --> 00:29:06.960 that is found in you 00:29:06.960 --> 00:29:08.640 and the power, 00:29:08.780 --> 00:29:09.960 the sanctifying power 00:29:09.960 --> 00:29:10.660 from you 00:29:10.660 --> 00:29:12.000 achieved through us 00:29:12.000 --> 00:29:12.460 through the death 00:29:12.460 --> 00:29:12.880 and resurrection 00:29:12.880 --> 00:29:13.660 of your son 00:29:13.660 --> 00:29:15.619 to be saved 00:29:15.619 --> 00:29:16.660 from our ways 00:29:16.660 --> 00:29:17.539 of thinking and living 00:29:17.539 --> 00:29:19.059 to truly be followers 00:29:19.059 --> 00:29:19.599 of you. 00:29:20.180 --> 00:29:20.539 And yet, God, 00:29:20.579 --> 00:29:21.460 we know there continues 00:29:21.460 --> 00:29:22.099 to be a battle 00:29:22.099 --> 00:29:23.160 within each one of us 00:29:23.160 --> 00:29:25.200 to follow you or not. 00:29:25.599 --> 00:29:25.920 And Lord, 00:29:25.960 --> 00:29:26.779 I pray that you would 00:29:26.779 --> 00:29:28.119 help each one of us 00:29:28.119 --> 00:29:30.019 to enter into the fullness 00:29:30.019 --> 00:29:31.220 of what you made us for 00:29:31.220 --> 00:29:32.539 as followers of Jesus, 00:29:33.259 --> 00:29:34.319 that we would join you 00:29:34.319 --> 00:29:35.519 in your global mission 00:29:35.519 --> 00:29:36.400 to bring rescue 00:29:36.400 --> 00:29:37.900 to this broken world. 00:29:38.400 --> 00:29:38.740 And God, 00:29:38.799 --> 00:29:39.660 I pray that as we go 00:29:39.660 --> 00:29:40.580 from here, Lord, 00:29:40.620 --> 00:29:41.560 that you would help us, 00:29:41.740 --> 00:29:43.040 especially in this new year, 00:29:43.320 --> 00:29:44.680 to see new opportunities 00:29:44.680 --> 00:29:45.540 in our jobs 00:29:45.540 --> 00:29:46.240 and our homes 00:29:46.240 --> 00:29:47.120 and our communities 00:29:47.120 --> 00:29:48.980 to join you 00:29:48.980 --> 00:29:50.140 in bringing 00:29:50.140 --> 00:29:51.240 and shining light 00:29:51.240 --> 00:29:51.900 in the darkness 00:29:51.900 --> 00:29:53.120 and pointing people 00:29:53.120 --> 00:29:53.580 to you 00:29:53.580 --> 00:29:55.980 and helping bring healing 00:29:55.980 --> 00:29:56.360 and life 00:29:56.360 --> 00:29:57.360 to those around us. 00:29:57.820 --> 00:29:58.060 Lord, 00:29:58.120 --> 00:29:58.660 would you help us 00:29:58.660 --> 00:29:59.100 to do this 00:29:59.100 --> 00:29:59.779 by your strength 00:29:59.779 --> 00:30:00.560 and not try to do it 00:30:00.560 --> 00:30:01.060 on our own. 00:30:01.519 --> 00:30:01.779 And Lord, 00:30:01.820 --> 00:30:02.680 would you help us 00:30:02.680 --> 00:30:03.580 and our loved ones 00:30:03.580 --> 00:30:04.700 and our neighbors 00:30:04.700 --> 00:30:05.300 and even those 00:30:05.299 --> 00:30:05.859 we don't know 00:30:05.859 --> 00:30:07.000 to be those 00:30:07.000 --> 00:30:07.759 who would willingly 00:30:07.759 --> 00:30:09.960 bow down before you 00:30:09.960 --> 00:30:11.559 that we would give you 00:30:11.559 --> 00:30:12.099 our allegiance 00:30:12.099 --> 00:30:13.539 as your true subjects 00:30:13.539 --> 00:30:14.539 and you our true king 00:30:14.539 --> 00:30:16.779 that you would be glorified, 00:30:16.879 --> 00:30:18.139 that you really would make us 00:30:18.139 --> 00:30:19.879 disciples gripped by your gospel 00:30:19.879 --> 00:30:20.940 who live for your glory. 00:30:21.119 --> 00:30:22.099 In Jesus' name, 00:30:22.419 --> 00:30:22.639 amen.