WEBVTT 00:00:00.900 --> 00:00:13.939 Good evening. Welcome again. We know that there's many things going on in this time of year, and you've chosen to spend your Christmas Eve with us, so thank you. That's an honor to us and a privilege. 00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:27.179 My name is Matthew Capone, and I'm the pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church, and if you are my age or older, you may remember a store by the name of Blockbuster. 00:00:27.179 --> 00:00:51.840 Now, earlier this year, I heard a report that there is only one Blockbuster left in the world, and I don't remember. It may have closed this year, but at some point in 2019, there was one that was left standing, and when I was a kid, we would go, and we would check out various movies at times, and of course, these movies were VHS, so you'd have to play them on a VCR, 00:00:51.840 --> 00:01:00.400 and one of the things that you would do if you were a good renter from Blockbuster is you would make sure you would rewind the video before you gave it back. 00:01:01.780 --> 00:01:08.140 Of course, the worst was when you checked out a video and someone else had not rewinded it, because instead of having to watch it, right, you would have to go back, 00:01:08.140 --> 00:01:14.659 and so there came a point in our family where we made a huge upgrade. We got our own dedicated VCR rewinder, 00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:22.180 which means that we did not have to put it into a standard VHS, VCR, and rewind it the slow way. 00:01:22.379 --> 00:01:29.000 We could rewind it the fast way, so if you wanted to watch a movie again, you wouldn't have to wait forever for it to rewind all the way back to the beginning, 00:01:29.099 --> 00:01:33.460 and of course, this is foreign to you if you're younger than me, and it's foreign to all of us now, 00:01:33.459 --> 00:01:40.639 because we're at a point where we can just skip, right, to whatever scene we want to, and maybe you like to skip to certain scenes in your favorite movie. 00:01:40.679 --> 00:01:48.719 If you wanted to do that back in the VHS days, you had to fast forward and watch everyone move at double speed to the scene that you wanted, 00:01:48.759 --> 00:01:52.359 and if you wanted to watch it again, you had to watch everyone move backwards, right, and rewind. 00:01:53.759 --> 00:01:56.599 We don't have to suffer through that anymore. Welcome to the 21st century. 00:01:56.599 --> 00:02:05.299 But I mention all that to make one point, which is that if we jump to the story of Christmas in the Bible, 00:02:05.780 --> 00:02:10.560 that is like going to your favorite movie and skipping the first hour and a half. 00:02:12.539 --> 00:02:15.740 Now, that's fine if you've already seen the movie before, right? 00:02:15.799 --> 00:02:19.560 So some people are watch a movie over and over again kind of people. 00:02:19.659 --> 00:02:22.680 Some people are returned to a specific scene over and over. 00:02:22.680 --> 00:02:26.159 Of course, now we have YouTube, which came out when I was a kid. 00:02:27.159 --> 00:02:29.620 And you can just watch your favorite scene that's shown as a clip. 00:02:30.199 --> 00:02:34.759 But it wouldn't make sense, right, to watch a clip over and over again if you haven't seen the whole movie. 00:02:35.560 --> 00:02:40.959 And in fact, part of the reason that you love that clip most likely is because of everything that's come before 00:02:40.959 --> 00:02:43.479 and everything that has come after. 00:02:43.620 --> 00:02:45.680 That's most likely why it's your favorite scene. 00:02:46.740 --> 00:02:50.359 And so tonight, instead of just focusing on the Christmas story, 00:02:50.519 --> 00:02:53.539 we have watched some of the scenes that come before. 00:02:54.340 --> 00:02:58.340 And I would suggest that if you look at the Christmas story just by itself, 00:02:58.819 --> 00:03:04.159 it's not going to be as glorious taken away from the entire story. 00:03:04.319 --> 00:03:05.959 And so we looked tonight. 00:03:05.960 --> 00:03:09.980 I told you at the beginning, I warned you, that this is going to be a story. 00:03:10.060 --> 00:03:11.580 We were going to look at certain sections. 00:03:11.580 --> 00:03:14.939 And it's a story with a couple things that we've seen even before we get to Jesus. 00:03:15.020 --> 00:03:16.140 It's a story with a problem. 00:03:16.139 --> 00:03:19.459 And it's also a story with a promise. 00:03:20.739 --> 00:03:22.039 It's a story with a problem. 00:03:22.239 --> 00:03:23.939 And it's also a story with a promise. 00:03:24.059 --> 00:03:26.459 I'm going to invite you to turn back with me in your worship guide. 00:03:26.919 --> 00:03:29.500 If you thought you were using this just to sing, you were incorrect. 00:03:30.379 --> 00:03:33.319 Our first reading that Ashley read for us was from Genesis 3. 00:03:33.379 --> 00:03:34.899 And this is where the problem is introduced. 00:03:35.159 --> 00:03:39.099 We meet a character named Eve, and she's deceived by Satan. 00:03:39.099 --> 00:03:43.659 And so in this moment, she rebels against God, and sin is brought into the world. 00:03:43.739 --> 00:03:44.579 And this is the reason. 00:03:44.680 --> 00:03:45.599 This is the problem here. 00:03:46.120 --> 00:03:47.620 It's this introduction of sin. 00:03:47.759 --> 00:03:51.500 It's the reason that we face death in this life. 00:03:52.539 --> 00:03:56.099 It's also the reason that we are spiritually dead. 00:03:56.159 --> 00:03:58.060 We have a broken relationship with God. 00:03:58.159 --> 00:03:59.359 We've been separated from him. 00:04:00.019 --> 00:04:04.759 And it's the reason why in this world we experience injustice and poverty. 00:04:04.759 --> 00:04:11.179 It's the reason why for many of us, Christmas is not just a time of joy, but a time of incredible pain. 00:04:12.379 --> 00:04:15.759 Because we experience that brokenness in some of our closest relationships. 00:04:16.639 --> 00:04:21.319 We experience, even now, the problem that we read about in Genesis 3. 00:04:21.800 --> 00:04:26.240 But thankfully, it's not just a problem that we encounter. 00:04:26.939 --> 00:04:28.420 We also have a promise. 00:04:29.560 --> 00:04:32.300 And you might be wondering why we chose these specific verses from Genesis. 00:04:32.300 --> 00:04:34.199 Of course, we could have read all of chapter 3. 00:04:34.759 --> 00:04:39.000 But these verses are the ones that include the very first promise in the whole Bible. 00:04:39.099 --> 00:04:40.579 And you'll see it on verse 15. 00:04:40.699 --> 00:04:43.480 That's on page 4 of your worship guide at the very top. 00:04:43.560 --> 00:04:44.019 It says this, 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:48.319 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. 00:04:49.039 --> 00:04:51.740 He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. 00:04:51.860 --> 00:04:56.219 This is the first promise of the gospel in the entire Bible. 00:04:57.639 --> 00:05:00.539 And so it's the promise that goes along with the problem. 00:05:00.539 --> 00:05:04.379 Now I'm going to invite you to look quickly at Isaiah chapter 9, which Sarah Joan read for us. 00:05:04.759 --> 00:05:06.279 The promise continues. 00:05:07.420 --> 00:05:11.019 Verse 1, people who walk in darkness are going to turn to light. 00:05:12.920 --> 00:05:15.939 Verse 5, war is going to end. 00:05:16.980 --> 00:05:20.259 And the instruments that have been used in war are going to be burned up. 00:05:20.259 --> 00:05:24.399 Then in verse 7 and verse 6. 00:05:25.399 --> 00:05:26.860 Verse 6, we're going to have this ruler. 00:05:27.019 --> 00:05:30.959 He's going to be a wonderful counselor, a mighty God, an everlasting father, and a prince of peace. 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:32.899 And he's going to bring about worldwide peace. 00:05:33.039 --> 00:05:37.279 Verse 7, of the increase of his government and of peace, there will be no end. 00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:45.599 On the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. 00:05:46.679 --> 00:05:51.519 And so the promise here is a solution to the problem. 00:05:52.639 --> 00:05:55.699 If you're familiar with how stories work, this is how any good story works, right? 00:05:55.699 --> 00:05:58.159 We have something that's introduced that needs to be solved. 00:05:58.240 --> 00:06:01.680 And so we follow the arc to understand and know. 00:06:01.699 --> 00:06:04.339 And we're looking forward to see how it's all going to be resolved. 00:06:05.379 --> 00:06:12.339 And so Christmas, when we get an hour and a half into the story, an hour and a half into the movie, 00:06:12.459 --> 00:06:15.759 Christmas is our solution to the problem. 00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:21.480 And so that's what we saw in our next reading in Matthew 1, verse 21. 00:06:21.879 --> 00:06:23.120 This is page 5. 00:06:23.959 --> 00:06:24.420 It says this, 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:26.500 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:27.039 For what? 00:06:28.199 --> 00:06:30.199 He will save his people from their sins. 00:06:31.500 --> 00:06:34.339 Jesus comes not just as the Christmas story, 00:06:34.420 --> 00:06:38.599 but he comes as the solution to the problem that we've seen from the very beginning of the Bible. 00:06:39.339 --> 00:06:43.980 He is the one that's been looked forward to all the way since Genesis 3, verse 15, 00:06:43.980 --> 00:06:48.220 and all the way from Isaiah 9, verses 2 through 7. 00:06:49.200 --> 00:06:52.280 Then we find out in verse 23, again, this is still on page 5, 00:06:53.360 --> 00:06:56.439 they're going to call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us. 00:06:57.400 --> 00:07:02.500 Eve, because of her sin, and Adam, because of his sin, separated humanity from God. 00:07:02.580 --> 00:07:05.000 And so God was no longer with them in a certain sense. 00:07:05.980 --> 00:07:08.879 But God is going to come and be with them again. 00:07:08.980 --> 00:07:11.620 And so the story is going to continue to be resolved. 00:07:11.620 --> 00:07:17.480 And then we find out, turn with me to page 6, Luke 2, chapter 11. 00:07:18.300 --> 00:07:25.459 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 00:07:26.600 --> 00:07:31.300 It's not just the story of a baby boy being born in a manger, 00:07:31.300 --> 00:07:36.520 but it's a story of the solution to the problem of the entire world. 00:07:38.460 --> 00:07:44.080 And it comes after a long story with a big problem, in fact, the biggest problem. 00:07:44.939 --> 00:07:48.040 And so when we come and we celebrate at Christmas, Jesus' birth, 00:07:48.160 --> 00:07:53.240 we are coming into one part of a much larger and bigger story. 00:07:53.240 --> 00:07:57.180 And we give gifts because God has given us a gift. 00:07:58.319 --> 00:08:01.360 That's why we give gifts at Christmas, reminding us of the solution 00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:04.500 that God gave us to the problem of sin in this world. 00:08:04.620 --> 00:08:07.600 It's a small token and a small reminder of what God did for us. 00:08:08.819 --> 00:08:11.819 But God's gift is not just a token of friendship. 00:08:12.819 --> 00:08:16.620 It's not just a token of affection like we might give gifts to one another. 00:08:16.620 --> 00:08:21.340 Remember, God's gift only works if we agree with the problem. 00:08:22.899 --> 00:08:25.560 Remember I mentioned earlier there's a problem and a promise. 00:08:26.079 --> 00:08:30.300 The only way to accept God's gift is to see it as the solution to the problem. 00:08:31.660 --> 00:08:34.519 A man named Tim Keller says this in his book Hidden Christmas. 00:08:35.580 --> 00:08:37.340 Christmas is about receiving presents. 00:08:38.419 --> 00:08:42.539 But consider how challenging it is to receive certain kinds of gifts. 00:08:42.539 --> 00:08:46.759 Some gifts, by their very nature, make you swallow your pride. 00:08:47.779 --> 00:08:50.539 Imagine opening a present on Christmas morning from a friend. 00:08:51.559 --> 00:08:52.879 And it's a dieting book. 00:08:55.019 --> 00:08:58.519 Then you take off another ribbon and wrapper and you find it is another book 00:08:58.519 --> 00:09:01.539 from another friend called Overcoming Selfishness. 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:06.099 If you say to them, thank you so much, 00:09:06.679 --> 00:09:11.059 you are in a sense admitting, for indeed, I am fat and obnoxious. 00:09:12.539 --> 00:09:15.939 In other words, some gifts are hard to receive 00:09:15.939 --> 00:09:20.759 because to do so is to admit you have flaws and weaknesses and you need help. 00:09:21.599 --> 00:09:25.539 Perhaps on some occasion you had a friend who figured out you were in financial trouble 00:09:25.539 --> 00:09:29.659 and came to you and offered a large sum of money to get you out of your predicament. 00:09:30.699 --> 00:09:32.719 If that has ever happened to you, 00:09:32.799 --> 00:09:37.500 you probably found that to receive the gift meant swallowing your pride. 00:09:37.500 --> 00:09:42.700 If we're going to receive God's gift, the gift of his son, 00:09:42.779 --> 00:09:45.480 we have to agree with him about the problem. 00:09:46.960 --> 00:09:49.200 Otherwise, we cannot receive the solution. 00:09:49.379 --> 00:09:53.519 And the problem is this, that our sin has separated us from God. 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:57.019 That we have a broken relationship with God 00:09:57.019 --> 00:09:59.539 and apart from him coming to bridge that gap, 00:09:59.620 --> 00:10:02.120 we have nothing to face but his judgment and his wrath. 00:10:02.120 --> 00:10:07.720 And so the good news of Christmas is that if we come confessing and repenting 00:10:07.720 --> 00:10:09.899 that God offers us his greatest gift, 00:10:10.060 --> 00:10:12.960 which is also his solution to our greatest problem, 00:10:13.080 --> 00:10:17.720 which is his son who became a human so that he could die on our behalf, 00:10:18.139 --> 00:10:19.879 taking the punishment that we deserve 00:10:19.879 --> 00:10:23.720 and so that we could take the life that he lived that we should have 00:10:23.720 --> 00:10:27.659 so that we could be reconciled and restored to God. 00:10:27.659 --> 00:10:32.419 God offers us a great gift, the greatest gift, 00:10:32.759 --> 00:10:34.679 and that gift is a solution. 00:10:34.860 --> 00:10:40.179 We can only accept that solution if we agree with him about the problem, 00:10:40.860 --> 00:10:43.819 that without Jesus' sacrifice on our behalf, 00:10:43.899 --> 00:10:45.839 we are without hope in this world. 00:10:47.740 --> 00:10:50.559 But if we agree with him about the problem, 00:10:51.139 --> 00:10:56.199 then it is the greatest solution and the greatest gift that we can receive. 00:10:56.200 --> 00:11:00.759 And so that's a gift that we receive by faith. 00:11:02.140 --> 00:11:07.020 This is only a scene that's worth watching and re-watching if it's actually true. 00:11:08.560 --> 00:11:13.259 And if it's not true, it's just a silly story or a fable. 00:11:16.259 --> 00:11:19.820 But what's glorious about Christmas is that it's not a scene in a movie, 00:11:19.820 --> 00:11:26.100 but it's a real moment in real history when God came to save his people 00:11:26.100 --> 00:11:27.940 and bring them back to himself. 00:11:29.760 --> 00:11:33.860 And so for everyone who has faith in Jesus Christ, that gift is for them. 00:11:34.240 --> 00:11:37.440 There's a man named Charles Spurgeon who tells us that faith is three things. 00:11:37.500 --> 00:11:38.320 First, it's knowledge. 00:11:39.420 --> 00:11:41.580 It's understanding what I've just explained to you, 00:11:41.640 --> 00:11:44.340 that we have a great problem and there is only one solution, 00:11:44.440 --> 00:11:45.940 and that solution is Jesus Christ. 00:11:45.940 --> 00:11:48.280 But it's not just knowledge. 00:11:48.520 --> 00:11:50.220 You might know that, but not believe it. 00:11:50.280 --> 00:11:51.000 It's also belief. 00:11:51.080 --> 00:11:52.460 It's believing that that is true. 00:11:54.100 --> 00:11:58.960 And the way that we know that it's true and show that we believe it is by trusting it. 00:11:59.480 --> 00:12:02.080 So it's knowledge and belief and trust. 00:12:02.620 --> 00:12:04.880 And that trust is lived out in a life 00:12:04.880 --> 00:12:09.280 that shows that we believe that we have no hope outside of Jesus. 00:12:09.279 --> 00:12:17.000 Finally, it's a story with a future ending. 00:12:18.179 --> 00:12:21.299 I mentioned at the beginning that coming to Christmas on its own 00:12:21.299 --> 00:12:24.519 is just like jumping in an hour and a half into the movie. 00:12:25.899 --> 00:12:28.959 It is not going to the very end of the movie. 00:12:30.839 --> 00:12:34.120 At Christmas, we celebrate Jesus' first coming. 00:12:34.120 --> 00:12:40.500 And we also look forward to and long for his second coming. 00:12:42.080 --> 00:12:45.759 Because we have seen the promise fulfilled and the solution, 00:12:46.139 --> 00:12:48.340 and we have not seen it in full. 00:12:51.039 --> 00:12:53.980 There's part that we read from Isaiah chapter 9 00:12:53.980 --> 00:12:58.279 that paints us a picture of things that have still not come completely. 00:12:59.799 --> 00:13:02.840 But we look forward to the day when they will be complete. 00:13:02.840 --> 00:13:07.540 And so for those who have faith and trust in Jesus Christ, 00:13:08.200 --> 00:13:10.120 we can celebrate his first coming. 00:13:10.820 --> 00:13:13.480 And we can also look forward to his second coming 00:13:13.480 --> 00:13:15.840 with the words of Isaiah chapter 9. 00:13:16.200 --> 00:13:18.820 This is on pages 4 and 5. 00:13:20.560 --> 00:13:24.720 Of the increase of his government and of peace, there will be no end. 00:13:25.519 --> 00:13:27.740 On the throne of David and over his kingdom, 00:13:27.879 --> 00:13:31.540 to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness 00:13:31.539 --> 00:13:34.480 from this time forth and forevermore. 00:13:35.459 --> 00:13:38.959 The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do that. 00:13:40.659 --> 00:13:43.319 We come and we celebrate together at Christmas 00:13:43.319 --> 00:13:45.620 because we're celebrating that Jesus has come. 00:13:46.459 --> 00:13:50.159 And we look forward to the time when he will come again. 00:13:50.159 --> 00:13:55.539 And he will bring that government of peace that will have no end. 00:13:57.019 --> 00:13:58.819 And so that's what we look forward to tonight. 00:13:58.959 --> 00:14:00.360 That's what we celebrate tomorrow. 00:14:00.740 --> 00:14:03.620 And that is our hope as people who have faith in Jesus. 00:14:04.860 --> 00:14:05.839 Please pray with me. 00:14:05.840 --> 00:14:13.580 Father in heaven, we thank you that you offer a solution. 00:14:13.759 --> 00:14:17.340 You offer forgiveness through your son, Jesus Christ, 00:14:17.340 --> 00:14:20.460 to anyone and everyone who repents of their sins 00:14:20.460 --> 00:14:22.100 and puts their faith in him. 00:14:22.980 --> 00:14:25.759 For those of us who do have faith in Jesus Christ, 00:14:25.920 --> 00:14:27.220 we thank you for this gift. 00:14:27.340 --> 00:14:30.560 We ask that you would help us today and tomorrow 00:14:30.560 --> 00:14:32.900 and in all of the year to celebrate that 00:14:32.899 --> 00:14:36.740 and to have the joy that comes from knowing that we've been reconciled to you. 00:14:37.500 --> 00:14:39.639 For those of us who do not have faith in Christ, 00:14:39.759 --> 00:14:42.899 we ask that you would send your Holy Spirit now to move their hearts, 00:14:43.199 --> 00:14:47.600 to see and understand, first of all, their need for the gospel, 00:14:47.959 --> 00:14:48.799 their need for repentance, 00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:54.059 and secondly, the grace that you offer to everyone who repents because of Jesus, 00:14:54.360 --> 00:14:57.639 because he came as a baby and because he died as a man. 00:14:58.539 --> 00:15:02.460 We ask these things not because we have deserved them or earned them, 00:15:02.899 --> 00:15:05.939 but we ask them because Jesus has earned them for us. 00:15:06.419 --> 00:15:07.600 So we ask them in his name. 00:15:08.299 --> 00:15:08.539 Amen.