WEBVTT 00:00:00.420 --> 00:00:07.259 Father, as we think upon your word, we ask that your Holy Spirit would both prompt us 00:00:07.259 --> 00:00:13.700 to hunger, to know your word, and to know you who have spoken these words, and that 00:00:13.700 --> 00:00:19.660 not only, Father, will your Holy Spirit create within us this hunger for your word, but that 00:00:19.660 --> 00:00:24.740 your Holy Spirit will create within us a deep humility as we hear and read your word. 00:00:24.739 --> 00:00:31.379 That we would be willing, Father, to accept it as your word to us, that your word, Father, 00:00:31.559 --> 00:00:36.879 may enter deep into our lives, so that we will bear fruit that brings you great glory. 00:00:37.479 --> 00:00:40.759 And this we ask in Jesus' name, your Son and our Savior. 00:00:41.299 --> 00:00:41.640 Amen. 00:00:42.459 --> 00:00:43.320 Please be seated. 00:00:44.619 --> 00:00:48.820 Actually, we're going to start with a mini-movie, so let's do the first one. 00:00:54.740 --> 00:01:05.299 I had to preach on Sunday. 00:01:05.620 --> 00:01:07.379 I had to preach last night, and I had to preach now. 00:01:07.460 --> 00:01:10.439 It can be hard to think of different things to say for all the different services. 00:01:11.219 --> 00:01:14.540 And I was praying about it a lot, that God would help me out. 00:01:15.500 --> 00:01:19.079 And this morning, before I came here, I stopped to get a coffee in Starbucks. 00:01:19.079 --> 00:01:25.519 And the young man who served me, he asked me what I was going to be doing for Christmas. 00:01:26.259 --> 00:01:27.200 And it's really funny. 00:01:27.379 --> 00:01:31.159 I mean, I've been a Christian for a long time, and I'm a pastor. 00:01:31.759 --> 00:01:34.679 But I hesitated about saying I was going to go to church. 00:01:35.479 --> 00:01:40.039 It's funny that something within me made me want to hesitate just sharing this simple 00:01:40.039 --> 00:01:41.439 thing that I was about to go to church. 00:01:42.280 --> 00:01:44.900 And you know how things go in your mind sometimes? 00:01:45.819 --> 00:01:47.239 I mean, I hope it went really quick. 00:01:47.239 --> 00:01:52.280 I hope I didn't stand there for three minutes looking like a deer caught in the headlights 00:01:52.280 --> 00:01:53.179 or anything like that. 00:01:53.239 --> 00:01:55.780 But inside, I have this internal debate. 00:01:56.439 --> 00:01:57.839 I should tell him I'm going to go to church. 00:01:57.979 --> 00:01:59.359 I shouldn't tell him I'm going to church. 00:01:59.419 --> 00:02:00.319 I should tell him I'm going to church. 00:02:00.379 --> 00:02:03.239 Anyway, so I tell him I'm going to go to church right now, and then after that, we'll 00:02:03.239 --> 00:02:04.340 have some family things. 00:02:05.359 --> 00:02:10.799 And you know, what is it about the gospel that makes us uncomfortable about sharing something 00:02:10.799 --> 00:02:12.680 as simple as the fact that we go to church? 00:02:12.680 --> 00:02:21.819 There's something, I think, perpetually scandalous about the gospel and about the Christian faith. 00:02:22.599 --> 00:02:26.340 And as Christendom comes to an end, it becomes more scandalous. 00:02:27.040 --> 00:02:32.460 The interesting thing about it is that this fellow was doing, he was involved in something 00:02:32.460 --> 00:02:36.180 that in a city like Ottawa would be considered highly scandalous. 00:02:36.180 --> 00:02:41.280 I had discovered about a year earlier that he was from a tiny place called Round Lake 00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:41.700 Center. 00:02:42.140 --> 00:02:44.659 Put your hands up if you've ever heard of Round Lake Center. 00:02:45.460 --> 00:02:45.939 Only Louis. 00:02:46.040 --> 00:02:46.980 Oh, you've heard of it? 00:02:47.060 --> 00:02:48.420 Maybe because I've mentioned it in a sermon. 00:02:49.760 --> 00:02:51.340 Oh, yeah, you go camping right there. 00:02:51.379 --> 00:02:51.840 That's right. 00:02:51.939 --> 00:02:55.120 So other than the Morides and my wife, none of you have heard of Round Lake Center. 00:02:55.219 --> 00:02:56.819 None of you have been to Round Lake Center. 00:02:57.260 --> 00:02:58.719 He was from Round Lake Center. 00:02:59.180 --> 00:03:01.060 And I said, I know where Round Lake Center is. 00:03:01.080 --> 00:03:02.480 I've been there all sorts of times. 00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:06.219 Anyway, so I asked him what he was doing for Christmas. 00:03:06.639 --> 00:03:08.199 And he said, well, we're having a goose. 00:03:08.679 --> 00:03:10.299 And I said to him, did you shoot it? 00:03:10.939 --> 00:03:12.399 And he got a bit red. 00:03:12.500 --> 00:03:13.599 And he said, yes, I did. 00:03:15.060 --> 00:03:19.419 Because I discovered that like any man who's grown up in a rural area like that, he hunts. 00:03:20.539 --> 00:03:25.359 Which, as you know, in a city like Ottawa is often quite scandalous that anybody would 00:03:25.359 --> 00:03:26.939 go and shoot cute little birds. 00:03:26.939 --> 00:03:34.900 But why is it that for Christians, we often feel a little bit uncomfortable or embarrassed? 00:03:35.180 --> 00:03:41.439 Or maybe I'm just overly sensitive about just sharing some very, very casual things about 00:03:41.439 --> 00:03:42.800 the fact that we follow Jesus. 00:03:43.579 --> 00:03:47.579 We're going to look at that by looking at this Christmas story. 00:03:48.759 --> 00:03:50.139 And I'll just read it to you again. 00:03:50.240 --> 00:03:51.680 And then we're going to watch another video. 00:03:51.680 --> 00:03:57.140 Because it's interesting, you know, that video that we just saw, it said that Christmas celebrations, 00:03:57.360 --> 00:04:03.000 which are now called festival light or holiday celebrations or, you know, whatever in our 00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:08.659 culture, that our culture jumps into it, but they don't realize that they're jumping into 00:04:08.659 --> 00:04:11.340 the middle of a story because our culture's forgotten that. 00:04:12.100 --> 00:04:13.680 But here's the story again. 00:04:13.680 --> 00:04:17.040 Now, the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. 00:04:17.560 --> 00:04:23.500 When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was 00:04:23.500 --> 00:04:26.660 found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:33.199 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce 00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:33.899 her quietly. 00:04:34.740 --> 00:04:38.740 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, 00:04:38.740 --> 00:04:45.259 saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is 00:04:45.259 --> 00:04:47.980 conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 00:04:48.860 --> 00:04:55.139 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from 00:04:55.139 --> 00:04:55.879 their sins. 00:04:56.680 --> 00:05:00.960 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. 00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:07.180 Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, 00:05:07.620 --> 00:05:09.539 which means God with us. 00:05:10.379 --> 00:05:13.979 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. 00:05:14.459 --> 00:05:20.259 He took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son, and he called his 00:05:20.259 --> 00:05:20.879 name Jesus. 00:05:21.879 --> 00:05:26.959 You'll see in this text, did you notice it said that everything that was happening that 00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:32.879 we remember today fulfilled something that the prophet said that was going to happen. 00:05:33.659 --> 00:05:38.959 And that just reminds us that the birth of Jesus didn't just occur out of the blue, although 00:05:38.959 --> 00:05:44.500 it appeared to be out of the blue to people who didn't know the story, but it was part of 00:05:44.500 --> 00:05:48.799 centuries of God preparing his people for the Messiah to come. 00:05:49.519 --> 00:05:55.939 We'll look at this video, and it sort of gives a bit in an artistic way, gives a bit of a 00:05:55.939 --> 00:06:00.459 history of God's dealing with his people to prepare them for the coming of the Messiah. 00:06:01.259 --> 00:06:02.199 And let's watch. 00:06:02.199 --> 00:06:27.620 At the heart of this story is a scandal, and it's funny, it wouldn't be considered, part 00:06:27.620 --> 00:06:31.519 of it wouldn't be considered a scandal nowadays, and part of it would be considered a scandal 00:06:31.519 --> 00:06:32.079 nowadays. 00:06:33.479 --> 00:06:39.719 When I was in high school, 100 million years ago, there would occasionally be some young 00:06:39.719 --> 00:06:48.240 woman in grade 10 or 11 or 12, and she'd disappear for a year, and then she'd come back, and the 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:52.419 word would go out that she'd gotten pregnant, and nobody in the school wanted to, the parents 00:06:52.419 --> 00:06:55.560 didn't want anybody in the school to know that she'd gotten pregnant, so they'd send her 00:06:55.560 --> 00:06:59.759 away somewhere, have the baby, and then she'd come back as if nothing had happened. 00:06:59.759 --> 00:07:03.899 Nowadays, that wouldn't be a particular scandal to people. 00:07:04.519 --> 00:07:11.079 I think it would still be considered highly scandalous in our culture if you were engaged 00:07:11.079 --> 00:07:16.219 to be married, and after you were engaged to be married, you slept with somebody other 00:07:16.219 --> 00:07:19.219 than the person you were engaged to be married to and got pregnant from them. 00:07:19.259 --> 00:07:22.420 I think that would probably be considered very scandalous in our culture. 00:07:22.420 --> 00:07:28.699 And the text is very clear that Joseph believes that that's what Mary's done to him. 00:07:29.740 --> 00:07:35.360 Joseph believes that Mary has slept with somebody other than himself after they were engaged, 00:07:36.180 --> 00:07:43.180 and he could have her stoned, killed for adultery, but he decides he's going to try to deal with 00:07:43.180 --> 00:07:44.300 it very, very quietly. 00:07:44.300 --> 00:07:53.180 And then the angel comes and speaks to Joseph and says, basically, that God has done a miracle 00:07:53.180 --> 00:07:57.740 in the womb of Mary to, well, it's very interesting. 00:07:58.080 --> 00:08:01.300 It begins when it says here, now, the birth of Jesus Christ took place. 00:08:01.400 --> 00:08:05.939 The word for birth is the same word for Genesis. 00:08:06.740 --> 00:08:11.980 In other words, in math, in the very first book of the Bible, Genesis, that's the same word here. 00:08:11.980 --> 00:08:26.280 And so what the angel tells Joseph is that God created within the womb of Mary a fertilized 00:08:26.280 --> 00:08:32.500 egg that was connected to Mary so that she was now pregnant. 00:08:33.220 --> 00:08:40.639 In a sense, there's more matter in the universe after the miracle than there was before the miracle 00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:43.080 because God speaks. 00:08:44.319 --> 00:08:52.179 And this ovum, fertilized egg, is now in the womb of Mary, connected to Mary, and then the 00:08:52.179 --> 00:08:54.460 normal laws of pregnancy will take place. 00:08:55.319 --> 00:08:58.580 And that's, in effect, what Joseph is told by the angel. 00:08:59.759 --> 00:09:05.700 And Joseph, obviously, is impressed by having met an angel and goes ahead and does what he's 00:09:05.700 --> 00:09:06.379 supposed to do. 00:09:06.379 --> 00:09:12.939 And that means that all of Jesus' life and all of Mary's life and all of Joseph's life, 00:09:13.220 --> 00:09:16.080 the taint of scandal would cling to them. 00:09:16.980 --> 00:09:21.059 Because it would have been a scandalous thing in those days for Joseph to have slept with 00:09:21.059 --> 00:09:23.779 Mary and made her pregnant before they were married. 00:09:25.080 --> 00:09:30.679 And so whether it was Joseph and Mary who had done something scandalous or just Mary, 00:09:30.679 --> 00:09:35.559 the hint and taint of scandal would have been with them for their whole life. 00:09:36.379 --> 00:09:39.839 And the hint and taint of scandal was with Jesus his whole life. 00:09:40.419 --> 00:09:44.899 There's different times in the gospel where he's taunted and his enemies say, well, we know 00:09:44.899 --> 00:09:46.000 who our father was. 00:09:46.899 --> 00:09:48.639 You don't know who your father was. 00:09:49.679 --> 00:09:53.179 And so scandal always seemed to accompany him. 00:09:53.179 --> 00:09:59.179 And if you think about it in the life of Jesus as well, that his whole life was marked by willingly 00:09:59.179 --> 00:10:01.299 entering into different types of scandal. 00:10:01.879 --> 00:10:04.479 He would touch a dead body, which was scandalous. 00:10:04.599 --> 00:10:06.439 He would touch a leper, which was scandalous. 00:10:06.559 --> 00:10:10.279 He would talk with single women in public places, which was scandalous. 00:10:10.919 --> 00:10:13.699 He was constantly, in many ways, inviting scandal. 00:10:13.700 --> 00:10:20.660 So in many ways, it shouldn't be a surprise if to follow Jesus involves some small degree 00:10:20.660 --> 00:10:25.500 of scandal or inappropriateness in our culture as well. 00:10:26.240 --> 00:10:31.180 And one of the things in our culture that's highly scandalous about this Christmas story 00:10:31.180 --> 00:10:38.740 is that the Christmas story claims that there is only one God and that not all religions 00:10:38.740 --> 00:10:41.620 are worshiping the true God. 00:10:41.620 --> 00:10:50.519 Because at the very, very heart of this story is that God, the one and only God, has come 00:10:50.519 --> 00:10:51.799 and walked amongst us. 00:10:52.500 --> 00:10:57.379 And the implication is that that means that Allah is not God. 00:10:58.120 --> 00:11:00.340 It means that Krishna is not God. 00:11:01.480 --> 00:11:06.899 That it means that all of the other religions and spiritualities of the world who claim to 00:11:06.899 --> 00:11:08.539 tell you who God is, that they're wrong. 00:11:08.539 --> 00:11:11.879 Because that the true God came and walked amongst us. 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:16.360 And in Canada, that is a highly scandalous and offensive idea. 00:11:16.799 --> 00:11:18.219 But it's a really important one. 00:11:18.379 --> 00:11:19.719 Andrew, could you show us this video? 00:11:19.720 --> 00:11:38.759 A loving Father giving himself to his children so we can live. 00:11:38.759 --> 00:11:44.539 I mean, it's a bit of a mystery. 00:11:44.799 --> 00:11:47.779 On one hand, what greater gift could God give to us than himself? 00:11:48.919 --> 00:11:53.319 And on one hand, what greater news could there be than there actually is a God who really 00:11:53.319 --> 00:11:54.059 does exist? 00:11:54.799 --> 00:11:57.600 And that he's not distant and he doesn't hate us. 00:11:57.600 --> 00:12:04.040 But that he loves us and has came among us and dwells among us. 00:12:04.279 --> 00:12:11.340 And that through Jesus, we can know him and enter into him and be his forever. 00:12:13.000 --> 00:12:16.879 Yet, for many in our culture, this is profoundly scandalous. 00:12:16.879 --> 00:12:26.439 And part of the great scandal as well is that we need to be saved and that we can't save ourselves, 00:12:26.939 --> 00:12:32.439 that we can't justify ourselves, that we can't make ourselves right with God, 00:12:33.059 --> 00:12:41.139 that it's deeply offensive to us because we're so addicted to self-justification and self-righteousness 00:12:41.139 --> 00:12:44.100 that only God can make us right with himself. 00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:50.779 And in the text here, it's very, very clear that God comes among us to save us. 00:12:51.659 --> 00:12:54.840 She will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus, 00:12:55.480 --> 00:12:58.460 for he will save his people from their sins. 00:12:58.779 --> 00:12:59.699 And through the next video. 00:12:59.700 --> 00:13:16.660 There used to be a man who came to this church and his name was Tom. 00:13:17.560 --> 00:13:21.700 I mention his name because he would find the story funny if he was here, 00:13:22.160 --> 00:13:24.080 because that's the type of man that he was. 00:13:24.759 --> 00:13:27.780 And he's now in heaven with Jesus. 00:13:27.779 --> 00:13:30.779 He died, I don't know, eight or nine years ago. 00:13:31.139 --> 00:13:32.860 He was a very blunt man. 00:13:33.539 --> 00:13:37.959 He would tell you exactly what was on his mind, even if it was sort of wounding. 00:13:38.720 --> 00:13:44.419 And when Louise and I had eight children and he found out that Louise was pregnant again, 00:13:44.899 --> 00:13:46.740 he said a couple of rude things about, 00:13:47.019 --> 00:13:51.439 don't you know how to tie things up or turn things off and all that type of stuff? 00:13:51.819 --> 00:13:53.620 Don't you think you've had way too many kids? 00:13:53.620 --> 00:13:57.879 And then when the baby was born and we called him Tom, 00:13:58.220 --> 00:14:00.840 he thought it was the most hilarious thing in the world. 00:14:01.139 --> 00:14:05.700 We didn't call him after Tom, but he went around telling people that George, 00:14:05.860 --> 00:14:07.899 just to show him, went and called the baby Tom. 00:14:08.940 --> 00:14:10.240 So he was very blunt. 00:14:11.019 --> 00:14:14.720 And I was with him for lunch one day. 00:14:14.720 --> 00:14:20.100 And somehow or another it came up that I had done something to Louise 00:14:20.100 --> 00:14:22.580 and I'd apologized to Louise for what I'd done. 00:14:23.379 --> 00:14:24.660 And Tom said to me, 00:14:25.160 --> 00:14:28.060 George, you shouldn't have apologized to your wife for that. 00:14:28.279 --> 00:14:30.899 I would never apologize to my wife for that. 00:14:31.800 --> 00:14:33.620 And I paused a second and said to him, 00:14:33.639 --> 00:14:35.279 that's why you're divorced twice. 00:14:37.279 --> 00:14:39.060 I'm still married to my wife. 00:14:39.059 --> 00:14:43.219 And he just paused and said, you're right. 00:14:44.359 --> 00:14:48.739 You know, the fact of the matter is that in marriages or friendships, 00:14:48.739 --> 00:14:54.739 if we always try to make ourselves righteous and always try to justify ourselves, 00:14:55.339 --> 00:14:58.339 our marriage or our friendship will die. 00:14:58.879 --> 00:15:01.619 Same with a father or a mother with their children. 00:15:01.899 --> 00:15:05.039 If the mother and the father always try to justify themselves 00:15:05.039 --> 00:15:07.179 and always make themselves righteous, 00:15:07.959 --> 00:15:09.399 the relationship dies. 00:15:09.939 --> 00:15:13.279 We all understand that if a relationship is to go on, 00:15:13.399 --> 00:15:15.719 at times we have to humble ourselves. 00:15:16.899 --> 00:15:18.899 And we have to seek forgiveness. 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:25.959 And we need to have the other person accept that we want to be reconciled. 00:15:26.699 --> 00:15:29.639 And there's no way to have a relationship apart from that. 00:15:30.759 --> 00:15:32.599 And it's the exact same thing with God. 00:15:32.600 --> 00:15:36.720 We need to recognize that with God, 00:15:36.860 --> 00:15:41.980 we have a deep addiction to self-justification and self-righteousness. 00:15:42.560 --> 00:15:45.960 And that the only way to be reconciled to God 00:15:45.960 --> 00:15:49.200 is to humble ourselves before him 00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:52.659 and seek his reconciliation. 00:15:53.759 --> 00:15:55.560 And that's the heart of the gospel. 00:15:55.759 --> 00:15:58.920 That Jesus came to reconcile us to the father. 00:15:58.919 --> 00:16:02.799 And that if we humble ourselves and call out to him, 00:16:03.879 --> 00:16:07.579 that he will not turn us away, 00:16:08.199 --> 00:16:11.519 but the father who loves us and sent his son to die upon the cross, 00:16:11.860 --> 00:16:13.819 that he will take us to himself. 00:16:14.419 --> 00:16:16.979 But it requires us to humble ourselves 00:16:16.979 --> 00:16:20.599 and to seek what only God can give us. 00:16:21.059 --> 00:16:22.559 We're going to close with this video. 00:16:23.480 --> 00:16:24.639 And then we'll stand and pray. 00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:37.519 God didn't leave us to figure this out for ourselves. 00:16:38.399 --> 00:16:40.059 Listen once again in closing 00:16:40.059 --> 00:16:41.960 what the angel told Joseph 00:16:41.960 --> 00:16:43.840 and what the angel says to us. 00:16:44.379 --> 00:16:45.519 She will bear a son 00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:47.819 and you shall call his name Jesus 00:16:47.819 --> 00:16:50.939 for he will save his people from their sins. 00:16:50.940 --> 00:16:53.560 All this took place to fulfill 00:16:53.560 --> 00:16:55.460 what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. 00:16:56.200 --> 00:16:58.920 Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son 00:16:58.920 --> 00:17:01.580 and they shall call his name Emmanuel, 00:17:02.200 --> 00:17:04.380 which means God with us. 00:17:04.779 --> 00:17:06.259 Let's just stand for a moment. 00:17:08.140 --> 00:17:09.480 Bow our heads in prayer. 00:17:09.480 --> 00:17:17.180 Father, we give you thanks and praise 00:17:17.180 --> 00:17:19.220 that your son was willing to be born 00:17:19.220 --> 00:17:21.299 in the only way that he could be born 00:17:21.299 --> 00:17:22.559 if he was to be our savior, 00:17:23.200 --> 00:17:24.220 even though that meant 00:17:24.220 --> 00:17:26.519 that he would bear scandal throughout his life. 00:17:27.019 --> 00:17:29.079 And we give you thanks and praise, Father, 00:17:29.160 --> 00:17:31.900 that he was willing to die a scandalous death, 00:17:32.420 --> 00:17:35.480 the death of a condemned slave upon the cross. 00:17:35.480 --> 00:18:04.779 Father, we ask that you would so draw us to Jesus 00:18:04.779 --> 00:18:07.899 and help us to walk so closely with him 00:18:07.899 --> 00:18:11.359 that we would always be unashamed of Jesus 00:18:11.359 --> 00:18:13.399 and unashamed of his word 00:18:13.399 --> 00:18:15.440 and unashamed of the gospel 00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:19.200 and that we might proclaim and bear witness to Jesus 00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:23.819 with a quiet, humble, prayerful, winsome confidence 00:18:23.819 --> 00:18:24.960 to our generation 00:18:24.960 --> 00:18:27.680 and not only bear witness to him in Ottawa, 00:18:28.399 --> 00:18:31.099 but aid, Father, in bearing witness to Jesus 00:18:31.099 --> 00:18:32.480 to the very ends of the earth. 00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:35.059 Father, we ask this prayer for ourselves 00:18:35.059 --> 00:18:36.519 and we ask it in the name of Jesus. 00:18:37.140 --> 00:18:37.460 Amen.