WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:15.599 Hi, my name is George Sinclair. I'm the lead pastor of Church of the Messiah. 00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:20.480 ! It is wonderful that you would like to check out some of the sermons done by Church of the Messiah, 00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:25.679 either by myself or some of the others. Listen, just a couple of things. First of all, would you pray for us 00:00:25.679 --> 00:00:32.159 that we will open God's Word well to His glory and for the good of people like yourself? 00:00:32.159 --> 00:00:37.359 The second thing is, if you aren't connected to a church and if you are a Christian, 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:42.159 we really, I would really like to encourage you to find a good local church where they believe the 00:00:42.159 --> 00:00:48.799 Bible, they preach the gospel, and if you have some trouble finding that, send us an email. We will do 00:00:48.799 --> 00:00:55.120 what we can to help connect you with a good local church wherever you are. And if you're a non-Christian, 00:00:55.119 --> 00:01:00.320 checking us out, we're really, really, really glad you're doing that. Don't hesitate to send us 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:05.280 questions. It helps me actually to know, as I'm preaching, how to deal with the types of things 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:07.679 that you're really struggling with. So God bless. 00:01:12.319 --> 00:01:20.719 Let us bow our heads in prayer. Father, for many of us, the story of the birth of Jesus is very familiar, 00:01:20.719 --> 00:01:25.519 and because it is so very familiar, it can be something that we no longer really think about. 00:01:26.319 --> 00:01:32.079 So we ask that you would do a small Christmas Eve miracle in our hearts and help us to hear this 00:01:32.079 --> 00:01:39.200 story and hear it afresh, and may it come into our lives and form us. And we ask this all in the name 00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:43.680 of Jesus, your son and our savior. Amen. Please be seated. 00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:57.280 So this is always a bit of a different sermon for me, for a variety of reasons. It's 725. So if I was 00:01:57.280 --> 00:02:04.159 to do my normal sermon, I would put you to sleep earlier than I usually do. And the only thing that 00:02:04.159 --> 00:02:10.319 might wake people up wouldn't be my odd joke, but the snoring of some of us. So I do something a bit 00:02:10.319 --> 00:02:15.120 different. I show mini movies. I divide the sermon up and I show these little mini movies. And part of 00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:20.240 that is just to help keep us fresh and attentive, and especially because there are kids that are 00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:27.280 present. The other thing is several things about this story. It's a little bit autobiographical, but 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:35.759 I, this past May, I was ordained 40 years ago, this past May. And as a, as the first stage of 00:02:35.759 --> 00:02:40.800 ordination and the second stage of ordination to make me a presbyter or a priest or an elder, that was 00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:46.800 40 years ago, just about three weeks ago or something like that. So I've done lots of Christmas services 00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:51.680 and preached on these texts for a long time. And on one level, it can be a little bit daunting to try 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:56.240 to preach on a text, which I have to preach on every single year and which is so very familiar. 00:02:56.960 --> 00:03:03.920 On the other hand, I really enjoy meditating upon the text. You have this odd experience where you 00:03:03.920 --> 00:03:10.719 enjoy the preparation, but you're not sure if you'd enjoy the delivery. And I want you to enjoy the 00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:16.879 delivery. But it is just such a rich experience for me to meditate upon either John, you know, John 1, 00:03:16.879 --> 00:03:23.199 1 to 14, which I'll talk about tomorrow, or in this case, Luke 2, 1 to 7. And to get to meditate upon it 00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:28.000 and think about it and do some research. And so this year, I decided I was going to do something a 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:35.280 little bit different. I teach people and coach people about how to preach. And just in case you 00:03:35.280 --> 00:03:39.840 think that means I think I'm an unbelievably good preacher, I always tell people the best coaches are 00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:46.879 usually the ones who weren't very good athletes. And because they have to think a lot more about 00:03:46.879 --> 00:03:50.960 what they're trying to do. They just can't sort of wing it and do it naturally. And so I'm going to 00:03:50.960 --> 00:03:55.599 do something that I would tell people not to do tonight, partially just because it's Christmas, 00:03:55.599 --> 00:03:59.439 and partially because I was just thinking, you know, so normally I'd have to come up with sort of a 00:03:59.439 --> 00:04:04.480 melodic line through the text and create different ways of creating tension and interest and all of that 00:04:04.480 --> 00:04:09.439 type of stuff. And I thought, you know what, tonight, this year, I think I'm just going to share from my 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:13.759 heart, I always share from my heart, I'm just going to share four different types of things for each of 00:04:13.759 --> 00:04:19.600 the texts, tonight and tomorrow, that really struck me this time as I was meditating upon the text and 00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:26.319 praying through the text. I'm just going to share four simple truths. And if there was something which 00:04:26.319 --> 00:04:31.680 was to unite them all, there was one idea that might unite these different points, it would be this. 00:04:33.279 --> 00:04:38.319 Probably if I was to ask each of us, now you wouldn't do it now after with during the cake time, 00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:43.360 because I've warned you against it. But generally speaking, if you ask people, what do you think 00:04:43.360 --> 00:04:50.240 you need to do over the next couple of years of your life to have your life be better? And people 00:04:50.240 --> 00:04:55.519 would give different answers. And probably what most of the answers would be, if you want to summarize it, 00:04:55.519 --> 00:05:03.680 is that I need to be more like Augustus Caesar was. I need more power. I need more people to listen to me. 00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:12.879 I need more money. I need more glory. You know, more of a whole pile of other types of disreputable 00:05:12.879 --> 00:05:20.800 things as well. And I need to win more battles. And probably nobody would actually say, I think I really 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:29.120 need to be more humble like Jesus. Well, the fact of the matter is, the way we instinctively try to solve the 00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:36.720 problems in our lives is partially what makes our lives very problematic. And it's partially why our 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:40.800 lives are problematic, because it's all right if I was the only person in the universe trying to be 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:46.319 like Caesar. But if I'm in a room of 90 people, and all of us think our solutions are to be more like 00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:52.639 Caesar, we're going to keep running into all sorts of problems. And if there was a univine thought 00:05:52.639 --> 00:05:56.639 throughout all of these four different reflections, that might be it. And I'll try to remember to come to 00:05:56.639 --> 00:06:02.240 it at the end. But let's read the text just again. I'm going to read the text several times. And if 00:06:02.240 --> 00:06:07.519 nothing else comes out of it tonight, you'll hear the text four times. And here's how the text goes 00:06:07.519 --> 00:06:13.360 again. It's very simple text. In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the 00:06:13.360 --> 00:06:19.519 world should be registered. And what that basically means, it's they're trying to get your addresses so 00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:25.360 they can figure out tax bases and tax loads, and if they need to do conscription and all of that type of 00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:29.920 stuff. And when Luke writes this, he's not making a negative comment about it. He's just reporting it. 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:36.000 He's an historian. He writes a biography of Jesus that all the world should be registered. Verse 2, 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:42.319 this was the first registration when Quirnerius was governor of Syria, and all went to be registered, 00:06:42.319 --> 00:06:48.080 each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, 00:06:48.080 --> 00:06:53.520 to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 00:06:53.519 --> 00:06:59.439 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, 00:06:59.439 --> 00:07:04.560 the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son, and wrapped him in 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:10.240 swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, which is a feeding trough for animals, because there was no 00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:14.599 place for them in the inn. In other words, they were in the shelter where the animals would be at night, 00:07:14.740 --> 00:07:20.759 and that's where Jesus was born, and they put the baby in the feeding trough for the animals. 00:07:20.759 --> 00:07:25.719 So here's the first thing. If you could put up the point, Claire, that would be helpful. 00:07:26.439 --> 00:07:31.319 The Nativity of Jesus, I say here day, I should have said night, but the day of the Nativity of 00:07:31.319 --> 00:07:38.680 Jesus was a night of solemnity and hilarity. I'm sorry for using two big words. I have all these 00:07:38.680 --> 00:07:44.120 degrees. Every once in a while, I have to use big words. It was a night to be very solemn, and a night 00:07:44.120 --> 00:07:51.959 to tell to be that was very funny. The Nativity of Jesus was a night or a time of solemnity and 00:07:52.600 --> 00:07:57.879 hilarity. All births are on one hand a bit like, I mean, one of my daughters-in-law is a midwife, 00:07:57.879 --> 00:08:01.639 and good grief, I hear all these really quite amazing stories about births, 00:08:02.680 --> 00:08:07.319 maintaining confidentially at all times. But on one level, the birth of the baby is always very 00:08:07.319 --> 00:08:13.560 solemn and joyous at the same time. And if you read around the story of Jesus, you hear that Jesus, 00:08:14.599 --> 00:08:19.240 Luke is very clear that he has come. He was a pagan who became a Christian, 00:08:20.360 --> 00:08:27.560 and he believes, really believes, that Jesus taught and others taught, and because of his resurrection, 00:08:27.560 --> 00:08:33.159 it's valid to believe that Jesus actually was God, the Son of God. And so we have here the birth of God, 00:08:33.159 --> 00:08:39.399 the Son of God, and it's really interesting. This is why I say it's a day of solemnity and clarity. 00:08:41.079 --> 00:08:49.240 Who greeted Jesus as he came out of Mary's womb, as Joseph cut the umbilical cord and held him? 00:08:51.319 --> 00:08:54.120 Cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, moo! 00:08:54.120 --> 00:09:04.679 Hee-haw! Hee-haw! And isn't that funny? The first witnesses of the birth of the Son of God, 00:09:04.679 --> 00:09:11.080 the Savior of the entire universe, the first witnesses were cows and chickens and goats and donkeys. 00:09:12.519 --> 00:09:18.840 I mean, that's funny, isn't it? That's hilarious. It's too childlike to be true, we'd almost think. 00:09:18.840 --> 00:09:23.480 So with that note, we're going to watch our first video. A shout out to all the children who are present. 00:09:23.480 --> 00:09:27.879 A bit of a take off on the Toy Story videos. 00:09:31.480 --> 00:09:37.879 Look, I know we're all excited for Christmas morning, but if I hear one toe hit the ground before sunrise... 00:09:37.879 --> 00:09:39.240 Mom and Dad are sleeping in. 00:09:39.240 --> 00:09:39.639 Ah! 00:09:39.639 --> 00:09:40.680 What? Come on! 00:09:40.680 --> 00:09:42.120 We're playing! 00:09:42.120 --> 00:09:46.759 It's almost here. A wonderful celebration is at hand. 00:09:46.759 --> 00:09:51.399 I love watching the family Christmas Eve ritual. Bake, wrap, collapse. 00:09:51.399 --> 00:09:54.200 And by family, you mean just the mom, right? 00:09:54.919 --> 00:09:57.720 I'd give anything to taste those cookies. 00:09:58.360 --> 00:09:59.720 And help clean up? 00:09:59.720 --> 00:10:03.319 And help clean up. Love helping clean up that cookie mess. 00:10:04.679 --> 00:10:05.000 Huh? 00:10:05.799 --> 00:10:06.519 What was that? 00:10:07.799 --> 00:10:10.200 Likely just a drab blowing through the house. 00:10:11.799 --> 00:10:13.960 That or Grandma's fruitcake finally detonated. 00:10:16.759 --> 00:10:18.360 It's a child! 00:10:18.360 --> 00:10:20.439 Get to your places! 00:10:20.439 --> 00:10:22.200 Go, go, go, go, go! 00:10:22.200 --> 00:10:23.080 And freeze! 00:10:26.360 --> 00:10:27.319 Zip it, everybody! 00:10:27.319 --> 00:10:29.319 Gloria! 00:10:29.319 --> 00:10:30.039 Sorry. 00:10:30.039 --> 00:10:42.679 Hey, buddy. 00:10:43.240 --> 00:10:44.360 What are you doing out of bed? 00:10:44.360 --> 00:10:48.279 Oh, uh, sorry, Daddy. I was just checking on Jesus. 00:10:48.279 --> 00:10:50.519 Mm-hmm. And how's he doing? 00:10:50.519 --> 00:10:51.799 Pretty good. 00:10:52.839 --> 00:10:54.199 It's his birthday, you know? 00:10:54.839 --> 00:10:55.959 That's right. 00:10:55.959 --> 00:10:57.639 You thinking about what to give him? 00:10:57.639 --> 00:11:04.840 No, but I think I should give him to someone else. Maybe Justin next door? 00:11:05.879 --> 00:11:08.039 Hold up. You want to give Jesus away? 00:11:08.519 --> 00:11:10.919 Yeah, so Justin can know him too. 00:11:11.960 --> 00:11:15.399 You know what, bud? I think you just figured out Christmas. 00:11:15.399 --> 00:11:24.439 Hey, Dad, can Jesus sleep with my turtle tonight? 00:11:25.480 --> 00:11:27.079 How about just on the nightstand? 00:11:27.080 --> 00:11:27.960 I'm going to be the best. 00:11:27.960 --> 00:11:28.280 I'm going to be the best. 00:11:28.280 --> 00:11:28.840 I'm going to be the best. 00:11:28.840 --> 00:11:29.960 I'm going to be the best. 00:11:29.960 --> 00:11:29.960 00:11:29.960 --> 00:11:30.520 I'm going to be the best. 00:11:30.520 --> 00:11:31.560 I'm going to be the best. 00:11:31.560 --> 00:11:32.680 I'm going to be the best. 00:11:32.680 --> 00:11:33.400 I'm going to be the best. 00:11:33.400 --> 00:11:35.879 Armor up, boys. We're going to battle. 00:11:35.879 --> 00:11:39.960 Oh, my stars, what kind of father loses? The redeemer of mankind. 00:11:39.960 --> 00:11:42.200 Hey, everyone, settle down. 00:11:42.200 --> 00:11:45.879 Gabriel to Angel Legion Alpha, do you copy. It's go time. 00:11:45.879 --> 00:11:47.960 Roger that. Moving in, over. 00:11:47.960 --> 00:11:51.160 We need torches and pitchforks. Everyone on my six. 00:11:51.159 --> 00:11:56.839 Everyone, hey, it's okay. We must let him go. 00:11:58.600 --> 00:12:01.159 Okay, Blessed Mother. Please explain yourself. 00:12:07.879 --> 00:12:14.279 This is why he came. To be poured out for many. Given as a sacrifice. 00:12:14.279 --> 00:12:23.000 We will each do well to re-gift him to all we can. 00:12:24.759 --> 00:12:28.839 So, should I call off the Angel Hit Squad or no? 00:12:28.839 --> 00:12:32.759 Yeah, buddy. Our work here is done. 00:12:36.759 --> 00:12:41.000 Have the merriest of Christmases, friends. All of you. 00:12:44.279 --> 00:13:06.679 A couple of weeks ago, I watched an interview with a high-tech entrepreneur who lives in Dubai, 00:13:06.679 --> 00:13:15.239 who's a regular guest on a top-ranked podcast. And he had, sort of as a complete and utter surprise to 00:13:15.239 --> 00:13:22.359 himself, become a Christian in his late 30s. After making lots and lots of money and still hoping to 00:13:22.359 --> 00:13:27.959 make lots and lots of more money, he became a Christian. He began his quest a little bit because 00:13:27.959 --> 00:13:34.199 he started to think to himself, is this all there is? After you have, you know, you're young, you're good-looking, 00:13:34.200 --> 00:13:40.680 the house, tax-free haven, making lots of money. And he starts to read the Bible, he read the 00:13:40.680 --> 00:13:44.520 Quran and a whole pile of things, starts to read the Bible, gets very fascinated with it. And a real 00:13:44.520 --> 00:13:51.560 turning point in his coming to Christ was when he read Psalm 22, which I'm not going to read right now. 00:13:51.560 --> 00:13:57.240 But he read Psalm 22, and by this point in time, he'd read the Gospel several times. And he just said, 00:13:57.240 --> 00:14:01.720 I mean, he didn't use the word gobsmacked, I'm using the word gobsmacked, a good old Irish word. 00:14:01.720 --> 00:14:10.840 He was gobsmacked by it, because he said it, Psalm 22 read like it was a historian writing about 00:14:10.840 --> 00:14:17.639 the crucifixion of Jesus, not something written a thousand years before the crucifixion of Jesus. 00:14:17.639 --> 00:14:26.919 And I mention this because I think if you were to have asked Caesar a little bit about what was going 00:14:26.919 --> 00:14:33.240 on with him deciding he would move big parts of the empire around to register them so he could 00:14:33.240 --> 00:14:41.399 understand a little bit better about his cash flow issues, potentials for getting people to work as 00:14:41.399 --> 00:14:46.759 his soldiers and stuff like that, that he would have said that, you know, when I made this decree and I 00:14:46.759 --> 00:14:53.240 make people move all around the world, that is a display of the glory and power of Rome. 00:14:54.279 --> 00:15:00.120 And it is a display of the glory and power of Caesar Augustus. 00:15:02.200 --> 00:15:08.600 Now, I don't know if Luke put this in on purpose, because he wasn't Jewish, he had been a pagan, 00:15:08.600 --> 00:15:14.600 was well-educated, he was a Roman citizen himself, but I can well imagine him saying, you know, dude, 00:15:14.600 --> 00:15:20.440 you don't know what you're talking about. You just went ahead and made sure that a whole pile of 00:15:20.440 --> 00:15:25.000 biblical prophecies were fulfilled that were written six, seven, eight hundred years ago. 00:15:26.279 --> 00:15:27.080 Because that's what he did. 00:15:29.560 --> 00:15:33.560 He thought he was showing off his glory, but he actually ended up just being a tool 00:15:33.559 --> 00:15:41.879 used by the almighty God to get Jesus born in Bethlehem. And not only that, he ended up being 00:15:41.879 --> 00:15:47.239 the means by which he got Jesus born in Bethlehem in such a way that his birth would be very, very, very 00:15:47.239 --> 00:15:53.319 public and remembered and talked about for years to come. You see, because it was written at this time, 00:15:53.319 --> 00:15:58.439 the city's completely and utterly full, the village is full, and so there's people from all far and wide. 00:15:58.440 --> 00:16:03.800 And I am sure that people of olden days were no different than us, that if something like that 00:16:03.800 --> 00:16:09.320 had happened and we were in a crowded city and somebody had their baby outdoors, we would talk 00:16:09.320 --> 00:16:17.960 about it to everybody for years to come. We might even use it as an object lesson to our children about 00:16:17.960 --> 00:16:23.800 being better prepared and better organized. That's what we would do. And so a lot of these historical 00:16:23.799 --> 00:16:31.399 details that Luke puts in his gospel are in a sense, in an ancient way, a footnote. Because he wrote his 00:16:31.399 --> 00:16:37.799 ancient biography, the biography of Jesus based on eyewitness testimony when eyewitnesses were alive, 00:16:37.799 --> 00:16:42.679 there are all these details that some inquirer could still go back and say, do you remember there 00:16:42.679 --> 00:16:47.000 being a baby born in Bethlehem in a stable all those years ago? And the other things that would have 00:16:47.000 --> 00:16:56.360 went along with it. But the main thing is that here, Caesar thinks he's showing off his glory, his power, 00:16:57.720 --> 00:17:05.640 and all he ends up being is a tool used by almighty God to fulfill a prophecy and others that he spoke 00:17:06.279 --> 00:17:14.200 600 to a thousand years earlier. Pretty cool. You see, Luke quietly, here's the second point, 00:17:14.200 --> 00:17:20.120 if you could put it up, Claire. Luke quietly juxtaposes, juxtapose means put together two things, 00:17:20.840 --> 00:17:28.039 he quietly juxtaposes pagan earthly power with the power of the triune God. 00:17:30.039 --> 00:17:35.720 And so we're going to look at another video. And this video, for those of you who are very familiar 00:17:35.720 --> 00:17:41.559 with the Christian, what we call the Old Testament, our Jewish friends call the Tanakh or the Torah, 00:17:41.559 --> 00:17:48.119 you'll see a whole range of stories that go story to story to story to culminate in the birth of Jesus. 00:17:49.559 --> 00:17:54.599 And it's quite nicely done. So let's watch the video. It shows this long historical sweep that 00:17:54.599 --> 00:17:56.200 culminates in the birth of Jesus. 00:17:56.200 --> 00:18:16.519 Oh, come, oh, come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel. 00:18:16.519 --> 00:18:18.920 Until the Son of God 00:18:18.920 --> 00:18:33.319 Until the Son of God 00:18:33.319 --> 00:18:39.319 The God of the earth 00:18:39.319 --> 00:18:46.319 Rejoice! Rejoice! 00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:53.319 Emmanuel 00:18:53.319 --> 00:19:03.319 Shall talk to thee, O Israel 00:19:03.319 --> 00:19:09.319 O Israel 00:19:09.319 --> 00:19:13.319 O Israel 00:19:13.319 --> 00:19:17.319 O Israel 00:19:17.319 --> 00:19:23.319 O Israel 00:19:23.319 --> 00:19:29.319 O Israel 00:19:29.319 --> 00:19:33.319 O Israel 00:19:33.319 --> 00:19:35.319 O Israel 00:19:35.319 --> 00:19:39.319 The angel voices 00:19:39.319 --> 00:19:45.319 O eternal 00:19:45.319 --> 00:19:49.319 eternal 00:19:49.319 --> 00:19:50.619 eternal 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:50.619 00:19:59.319 --> 00:20:06.319 God is the Lord. 00:20:07.919 --> 00:20:14.919 Oh, praise His name forever. 00:20:16.919 --> 00:20:24.919 His power of glory. 00:20:24.920 --> 00:20:32.920 Oh, praise His name forever. 00:20:32.920 --> 00:20:38.920 Oh, praise His name forever. 00:20:38.920 --> 00:20:45.920 Oh, praise His name forever. 00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:55.920 Shall come to thee, O Israel. 00:20:55.920 --> 00:21:03.920 O Israel. 00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:05.920 Let's listen to the story again. 00:21:05.920 --> 00:21:09.920 It's actually quite shocking if you just... 00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:15.920 Here's maybe to help you listen before I read it. 00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:23.920 Sometimes at night or on an afternoon, I'll do some exercises in the family room. 00:21:23.920 --> 00:21:28.920 And some of those exercises, you know, like do push-ups and other types of things. 00:21:28.920 --> 00:21:35.920 And usually I'm watching a YouTube video trying to get, you know, some competent person trying to become more informed. 00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:37.920 But sometimes I watch a show or something like that. 00:21:37.920 --> 00:21:42.920 And so sometimes I'll start watching something because I'm not sure if Louise would like to watch it. 00:21:42.920 --> 00:21:46.920 And after I've watched a couple of episodes, I'll say, you know, Louise, I think you'd really like watching this. 00:21:46.920 --> 00:21:48.920 I think you'd really enjoy it. 00:21:48.920 --> 00:21:51.920 And so depending on the situation, I might finish them all and then we'd watch it together. 00:21:51.920 --> 00:21:52.920 But I say, listen, I... 00:21:52.920 --> 00:21:56.920 First of all, I just like to watch it with you, sit with you and watch it. 00:21:56.920 --> 00:22:02.920 And the second thing is because I'm exercising, I miss things in the movies, right? 00:22:02.920 --> 00:22:06.920 Because, you know, I'm looking down or doing some other type of thing. 00:22:06.920 --> 00:22:10.920 And sometimes important things are done quite silently and quickly. 00:22:10.920 --> 00:22:16.920 And when I'm watching the second time with Louise just watching, I think, oh, in fact, just the other night I said, oh. 00:22:16.920 --> 00:22:18.920 She probably would have heard me say, oh. 00:22:18.920 --> 00:22:26.920 Because it explains something really important at the end of the movie, which I didn't see and didn't hear because I was exercising. 00:22:26.920 --> 00:22:29.920 So just keep that in mind when you listen to this story again. 00:22:29.920 --> 00:22:31.920 I'm going to read Luke 2, verses 1 to 7. 00:22:31.920 --> 00:22:32.920 And here's how it goes. 00:22:32.920 --> 00:22:38.920 And if you think about it for a second, those of you who are familiar with the Bible and you've heard my other sermons, 00:22:38.920 --> 00:22:40.920 coming up to this we did the Songs of the Saviour. 00:22:40.920 --> 00:22:45.920 So we looked at the Magnificat, Mary's song, and the Benedictus, Zechariah's song, 00:22:45.920 --> 00:22:52.920 and then the story of the Song of the Angels, the glory of Excelsis to the shepherds, which takes place right after this story. 00:22:52.920 --> 00:23:01.920 And the story of Simeon, also called the Nunc Dimittis, which Simeon meeting Jesus in the temple when Jesus was 40 days old. 00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:07.920 And in all of these stories that surround the birth of Jesus, there's angels, there's the Holy Spirit. 00:23:07.920 --> 00:23:08.920 I mean, it's quiet. 00:23:08.920 --> 00:23:11.920 It's not dramatic other than the angels singing to the shepherds. 00:23:11.920 --> 00:23:14.920 But even then, that might not have been seen by other people. 00:23:14.920 --> 00:23:18.920 That's something you can ask me over coffee about why maybe nobody else saw it other than the shepherds. 00:23:18.920 --> 00:23:21.920 But it's very, very supernatural. 00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:26.920 And in the middle of these supernatural and very historical stories, 00:23:26.920 --> 00:23:32.920 you know, by the way, did you know that when skeptical scholars first started to study the New Testament with skeptical lens, 00:23:32.920 --> 00:23:39.920 they would make fun of Luke as being a bad historian because they'd say there's no record that Nazareth existed in those days. 00:23:39.920 --> 00:23:44.920 And that would have been a very commonplace if you were reading critics and skeptics about the New Testament. 00:23:44.920 --> 00:23:55.920 But that all stopped around the year 2006 when our Jewish archaeologists, trusting the New Testament as being true, discovered the village of Nazareth. 00:23:55.920 --> 00:23:57.920 Go figure. 00:23:57.920 --> 00:23:58.920 Go figure. 00:23:58.920 --> 00:24:02.920 And now if you go on a tour of the Holy Land, you can go to Nazareth. 00:24:02.920 --> 00:24:07.920 And they've excavated some houses and stuff like that, the floor plan of the houses. 00:24:07.920 --> 00:24:08.920 So Luke's in a story. 00:24:08.920 --> 00:24:16.920 And but giving these spectacular other supernatural things, because of supernatural things happen in the real world, why can't in the story and talk about it? 00:24:16.920 --> 00:24:21.920 It would only be a type of prejudice to think you can't say that happened when it really did happen. 00:24:21.920 --> 00:24:25.920 But in the midst of all these things, you get this story in the middle and listen to it again. 00:24:25.920 --> 00:24:26.920 It's here. 00:24:26.920 --> 00:24:27.920 Here's a go. 00:24:27.920 --> 00:24:28.920 Luke chapter two, verses one to seven. 00:24:28.920 --> 00:24:34.920 In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 00:24:34.920 --> 00:24:42.920 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria and all went to be registered, each to his own town. 00:24:42.920 --> 00:24:57.920 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 00:24:57.920 --> 00:25:01.920 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 00:25:01.920 --> 00:25:09.920 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no place for them in the inn. 00:25:09.920 --> 00:25:12.920 Now you might not have noticed what was so special. 00:25:12.920 --> 00:25:21.920 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 00:25:21.920 --> 00:25:24.920 That's all. 00:25:24.920 --> 00:25:27.920 No fireworks. 00:25:27.920 --> 00:25:30.920 No musicians. 00:25:30.920 --> 00:25:33.920 No jugglers. 00:25:33.920 --> 00:25:36.920 No pizzazz. 00:25:36.920 --> 00:25:38.920 Very simple sentence. 00:25:38.920 --> 00:25:43.920 The sort of thing that if you were with like me and exercising, you'd miss it. 00:25:43.920 --> 00:25:46.920 Then maybe later on you'd say, when did that baby get born? 00:25:46.920 --> 00:25:48.920 Like, did they talk about that yet? 00:25:48.920 --> 00:25:49.920 I think I missed it. 00:25:49.920 --> 00:25:54.920 So here's the third reflection, if you could put it up. 00:25:54.920 --> 00:25:55.920 Claire. 00:25:55.920 --> 00:26:01.920 The shocking, mind-blowing revelation of the humility of the true God. 00:26:01.920 --> 00:26:09.920 The shocking, mind-blowing revelation of the humility of the true God. 00:26:09.920 --> 00:26:16.920 I mean, that just doesn't make sense to the way our minds work. 00:26:16.920 --> 00:26:22.920 That the true God, the triune God, is humble. 00:26:22.920 --> 00:26:33.920 I mean, all the gods that we know of and the goddesses that we know of are proud and strong and mighty and like a tension. 00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:44.920 And those of you who know, you know, chess very well, you know that in the game of chess, you regularly sacrifice a pawn so the king can survive. 00:26:44.920 --> 00:26:52.920 And the gospel tells the story of the king who sacrifices himself so the pawn can survive. 00:26:52.920 --> 00:26:57.920 And that just goes away completely and utterly against the way our minds work. 00:26:57.920 --> 00:27:00.920 That God would be humble. 00:27:00.920 --> 00:27:02.920 That he would humble himself. 00:27:02.920 --> 00:27:13.920 That the God of all the universe, the creator of the stars, the sustainer of all things, would choose to enter into this human story as a zygote in the womb of the Virgin Mary. 00:27:13.920 --> 00:27:24.920 And then would be born in this manner with, as I said in an earlier point, the spectators to the birth going cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck and moo, moo, moo. 00:27:24.920 --> 00:27:26.920 As they sat in their stalls. 00:27:28.920 --> 00:27:31.920 And this is the story of Christmas. 00:27:31.920 --> 00:27:38.920 Christians struggle with, in fact, let me rephrase that. 00:27:38.920 --> 00:27:41.920 A lot of Christians don't struggle with pride at all. 00:27:41.920 --> 00:27:45.920 Not because they're humble, but because they're just completely and utterly arrogant. 00:27:45.920 --> 00:27:52.920 And seem to show no guilt whatsoever about being unbelievably arrogant. 00:27:52.920 --> 00:27:58.920 I got, I was talking to this Christian woman the other day and it was really quite astounding. 00:27:58.920 --> 00:28:02.920 Her arrogance and her ignorance. 00:28:02.920 --> 00:28:07.920 The only thing that was as high as her arrogance was her ignorance about things. 00:28:07.920 --> 00:28:09.920 And unbelievably opinionated. 00:28:09.920 --> 00:28:12.920 And she kept trying to make me feel like I was a teensy weensy little person. 00:28:12.920 --> 00:28:14.920 And what she said was nonsense. 00:28:14.920 --> 00:28:19.920 So it's not the case that Christians all struggle with pride and arrogance. 00:28:19.920 --> 00:28:21.920 Most of us don't most of the time, but we do. 00:28:21.920 --> 00:28:22.920 Or we should. 00:28:22.920 --> 00:28:25.920 Because of stories like this. 00:28:25.920 --> 00:28:29.920 In fact, it begins to be part of the reason why, if you think about it for a second. 00:28:29.920 --> 00:28:36.920 Why is it that we think that Caesar, who's been dead 2,000 years. 00:28:36.920 --> 00:28:42.920 And frankly, a lot of people only know about him because they had to take a history course at school. 00:28:42.920 --> 00:28:46.920 And most of us don't know anything at all about him really, including myself. 00:28:46.920 --> 00:28:50.920 But why is it that when we think we need to solve the problems of our lives, 00:28:50.920 --> 00:28:54.920 we unconsciously think we have to be more like Caesar at the beginning of the story, 00:28:54.920 --> 00:29:02.920 than like the true God, who enters the story in just one sentence, laid in a manger. 00:29:02.920 --> 00:29:06.920 I'm going to watch another video called The Story of Christmas. 00:29:06.920 --> 00:29:13.920 That's a spoken word video that captures some of the powerful things that come together in this story. 00:29:13.920 --> 00:29:34.920 Silent night. Holy night. A manger in a stable in the middle of nowhere. 00:29:34.920 --> 00:29:45.920 It's dark. Cold. The unlikeliest of places for the king of kings to lay his head. 00:29:45.920 --> 00:30:01.920 Yet, he came. No audience. No entourage. The light of the world. Who came for you and for me. 00:30:01.920 --> 00:30:08.920 This is the story of Christmas. 00:30:08.920 --> 00:30:17.920 That night, everything changed. Heaven touched earth and love entered with a tiny breath. 00:30:17.920 --> 00:30:25.920 The cry of a newborn king echoed through all eternity. I am with you. 00:30:25.920 --> 00:30:32.920 This is the story of Christmas. A star appeared in the heavens that night. 00:30:32.920 --> 00:30:40.920 A star so bright, astronomers began to follow. Angels filled the skies with songs of praise, 00:30:40.920 --> 00:30:45.920 calling shepherds to leave their flocks and see for themselves what had transpired. 00:30:45.920 --> 00:30:52.920 And when they arrived, they were so compelled, they bowed down in awe and worshipped him. 00:30:52.920 --> 00:30:56.920 This is the story of Christmas. 00:30:56.920 --> 00:31:03.920 Jesus' arrival brought the fulfillment of promises to a people who had lost all faith. 00:31:03.920 --> 00:31:06.920 To a people living in despair, hope was born. 00:31:06.920 --> 00:31:13.920 In the midst of strife and division, the Prince of Peace came to silence our storms. 00:31:13.920 --> 00:31:19.920 In a world of hate, love won and broke through the darkness. 00:31:19.920 --> 00:31:24.920 This is the story of Christmas. This is no ordinary story. 00:31:24.920 --> 00:31:28.920 This is the greatest story. This is the greatest story ever told. 00:31:28.920 --> 00:31:36.920 The Savior of the world, Emmanuel, God with us, who stepped down from heaven to earth, 00:31:36.920 --> 00:31:49.920 born for you and for me. This is the story of Christmas. 00:31:49.920 --> 00:31:55.920 The final reflection I had when I've been meditating upon Luke chapter 2 verses 1 to 7 is, 00:31:55.920 --> 00:31:58.920 if you could put the point up, that would be helpful, Claire. 00:31:58.920 --> 00:32:02.920 The melody of humility in the good news. 00:32:02.920 --> 00:32:08.920 The melody of humility in all of the good news. 00:32:08.920 --> 00:32:15.920 As I said at the beginning, most of us, if we asked what we needed to have our life be better in the coming year, 00:32:15.920 --> 00:32:19.920 we'd unconsciously want to be like Caesar. 00:32:19.920 --> 00:32:24.920 We'd think that we need more power, more money, more glory, more fame, 00:32:24.920 --> 00:32:27.920 more people doing exactly what we say, 00:32:27.920 --> 00:32:31.920 more people being afraid if they don't do exactly what we say, 00:32:31.920 --> 00:32:34.920 people just constantly fawning over us. 00:32:34.920 --> 00:32:38.920 We'd unconsciously think that those are the types of things that we need. 00:32:38.920 --> 00:32:44.920 But are they really what we need? 00:32:44.920 --> 00:32:50.920 And what would it be like if every single one of us got all of those things as we desired? 00:32:50.920 --> 00:32:54.920 Every single one of us in this room, every single one of us in our family, 00:32:54.920 --> 00:32:56.920 all got all of those things. 00:32:56.920 --> 00:33:00.920 We would be completely and utterly insufferable one with the other. 00:33:00.920 --> 00:33:03.920 Now I'm saying that not because people shouldn't try to get promotions. 00:33:03.920 --> 00:33:04.920 I'm not saying that. 00:33:04.920 --> 00:33:08.920 And not because obviously sometimes it is good to have people listen to you. 00:33:08.920 --> 00:33:10.920 I'm not saying that. 00:33:10.920 --> 00:33:16.920 But I'm saying something that, you know, the thing about the Bible is it reveals God as a God of humility. 00:33:16.920 --> 00:33:21.920 It's one of the reasons it's a hard, we have a hard time accepting that Christianity is true, 00:33:21.920 --> 00:33:27.920 is because it goes so deeply against the grain, our natural way of thinking, 00:33:27.920 --> 00:33:33.920 that greatness can't be connected to humbling, God humbling himself and being so humble. 00:33:33.920 --> 00:33:38.920 But if we think about it, I was just talking to a Muslim who became a Christian. 00:33:38.920 --> 00:33:45.920 And one of the things that helped him become a Christian is he realized that how important love is. 00:33:45.920 --> 00:33:49.920 And out of all of the religions and spiritualities in the world, 00:33:49.920 --> 00:33:52.920 only Christianity can truly say that God is love. 00:33:52.920 --> 00:33:55.920 Allah can't be a God of love. 00:33:55.920 --> 00:34:00.920 If he is a God of love, he's a God of need love, which we don't even think of as love. 00:34:00.920 --> 00:34:03.920 And he's just himself. There's no one else other than Allah. 00:34:03.920 --> 00:34:06.920 He would have had to create angels or people or something else, 00:34:06.920 --> 00:34:09.920 so there'd be someone he could love or could love him. 00:34:09.920 --> 00:34:13.920 But Christians believe that from all eternity the Father loved the Son, 00:34:13.920 --> 00:34:16.920 and the Son loved the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit loved the Father, 00:34:16.920 --> 00:34:19.920 and round and round in all of those different directions. 00:34:19.920 --> 00:34:24.920 And in that sense, it's easy to see how God is ineffably humble, 00:34:24.920 --> 00:34:30.920 because you see, what's involved in the Christian virtue of humility is not saying lies about yourself. 00:34:30.920 --> 00:34:35.920 If you're really, really good at math, it's not humble to say you suck at math. 00:34:35.920 --> 00:34:42.920 If you're really athletic, it's not humility to say that you suck at athletics. 00:34:42.920 --> 00:34:45.920 Lies aren't humility. 00:34:45.920 --> 00:34:48.920 But what is at the heart of humility? 00:34:48.920 --> 00:34:51.920 It's a little bit like, some of you have heard me use this analogy before, 00:34:51.920 --> 00:34:55.920 but you see a little baby, maybe at six or seven months, 00:34:55.920 --> 00:34:58.920 and maybe a bit younger than that, maybe a bit older, 00:34:58.920 --> 00:35:04.920 and you know they can be fascinated by their fingers. 00:35:04.920 --> 00:35:07.920 I don't even know if they know that those are their fingers. 00:35:07.920 --> 00:35:15.920 But you just look at a baby, and you can see they're completely enchanted and entranced by their fingers, 00:35:15.920 --> 00:35:18.920 or by a thing on their mobile. 00:35:18.920 --> 00:35:21.920 It's almost as if they've forgotten they exist, 00:35:21.920 --> 00:35:25.920 because they see they're so completely outwardly focused. 00:35:25.920 --> 00:35:29.920 But when we look at a baby like that and see them, 00:35:29.920 --> 00:35:33.920 it's almost as if the baby has forgotten that the baby exists. 00:35:33.920 --> 00:35:36.920 Yet the baby is still very much the baby. 00:35:36.920 --> 00:35:41.920 In fact, if anything, the baby is even more adorable. 00:35:41.920 --> 00:35:42.920 Right? 00:35:42.920 --> 00:35:47.920 So adorable, we say, hey, look, look at the baby with their fingers. 00:35:47.920 --> 00:35:50.920 Isn't that adorable? 00:35:50.920 --> 00:35:53.920 Isn't that just so wonderful and beautiful? 00:35:53.920 --> 00:35:56.920 And you don't want to say it too loud in case you distract them and they stop looking at their fingers. 00:35:56.920 --> 00:35:57.920 Right? 00:35:57.920 --> 00:36:03.920 And in a sense, what the Christian virtue of humility is, amongst other things, 00:36:03.920 --> 00:36:07.920 is you see pride is inherently a little bit like a black hole, 00:36:07.920 --> 00:36:12.920 where we're always looking inside and evaluating every single thing in terms of how it affects us. 00:36:12.920 --> 00:36:15.920 But humility is that ability to look outward. 00:36:15.920 --> 00:36:19.920 It's why God gave two eyes to look outward and no eyes to look inward. 00:36:19.920 --> 00:36:21.920 Two ears to look out and no ears to look in, 00:36:21.920 --> 00:36:24.920 although we hear ourselves speaking to ourselves all the time. 00:36:25.920 --> 00:36:30.920 And then you see, if you think about that, the love of the Trinity, it's inherently a humble love. 00:36:30.920 --> 00:36:35.920 It's as if for all eternity the Father is captivated with the Son. 00:36:35.920 --> 00:36:40.920 And from all eternity the Son is captivated by the Holy Spirit. 00:36:40.920 --> 00:36:45.920 And so it is not only out of a surplus of love that God creates, 00:36:45.920 --> 00:36:52.920 unlike all of the other creation stories and myths and spiritualities and philosophies, 00:36:52.920 --> 00:36:59.920 it's also then that not only out of the surplus of unending love that God creates, 00:36:59.920 --> 00:37:02.920 but that even in his creation it's humble. 00:37:02.920 --> 00:37:08.920 He bestows causality and dignity and strength and flourishing upon human beings. 00:37:08.920 --> 00:37:13.920 And it is at one with his nature that he would enter into this human race, 00:37:13.920 --> 00:37:20.920 looking out at us, looking at us. 00:37:20.920 --> 00:37:27.920 I shared at my last sermon what something I shared with a person I was sharing the gospel with. 00:37:27.920 --> 00:37:32.920 And I said to her, and I'll say it to you again because it's something well worth repeating, 00:37:32.920 --> 00:37:37.920 that if you read the rest of Luke's gospel and you see all of the miracles that he did, 00:37:37.920 --> 00:37:41.920 and then you see him hanging on the cross at the end, 00:37:41.920 --> 00:37:44.920 you realize that when he hangs on the cross at the end, 00:37:44.920 --> 00:37:49.920 anyone who can calm the sea and feed 5,000 and bring the dead back to the end, 00:37:49.920 --> 00:37:53.920 and bring the dead back to life as he does in Luke 9 or 7 or whatever it is, 00:37:53.920 --> 00:37:57.920 and how he can heal lepers and do all of those things, 00:37:57.920 --> 00:38:03.920 there is no way whatsoever that he could actually be kept on a cross. 00:38:03.920 --> 00:38:12.920 You look at him and after you've read the whole story and you see his humility and his gentleness and his love for us, 00:38:12.920 --> 00:38:17.920 and you realize the only reason he stood on the cross was for love. 00:38:17.920 --> 00:38:25.920 And I shared with this person, it was his love for you, he saw you when he hung on the cross. 00:38:25.920 --> 00:38:27.920 That's why he died. 00:38:27.920 --> 00:38:29.920 Looking at you. 00:38:29.920 --> 00:38:31.920 That's why he died. 00:38:31.920 --> 00:38:38.920 Just one or two more things, but let's watch the final video and then we're almost done. 00:38:38.920 --> 00:38:43.920 This just been an invitation just to rejoice and be proud. 00:38:43.920 --> 00:38:48.920 Remember I began with, you know, the Christian faith, it's both very solemn but filled with joy and laughter. 00:38:48.920 --> 00:38:49.920 It's exciting. 00:38:49.920 --> 00:38:52.920 So let's watch this final video. 00:38:56.920 --> 00:38:58.920 We gather again. 00:38:58.920 --> 00:39:02.920 We rejoice again. 00:39:02.920 --> 00:39:11.920 Because of the wonder from Bethlehem. 00:39:11.920 --> 00:39:13.920 A child is born. 00:39:13.920 --> 00:39:15.920 The saviors come. 00:39:15.920 --> 00:39:19.920 This is the incarnation of love. 00:39:19.920 --> 00:39:21.920 We can sing again. 00:39:21.920 --> 00:39:23.920 We have hope again. 00:39:23.920 --> 00:39:27.920 Because of the wonder from Bethlehem. 00:39:27.920 --> 00:39:29.920 Shepherds gather. 00:39:29.920 --> 00:39:30.920 Heavens ring. 00:39:30.920 --> 00:39:34.920 From throne to manger comes our King. 00:39:34.920 --> 00:39:37.920 The hero of the eternal story. 00:39:37.920 --> 00:39:41.920 Behold the centerpiece of glory. 00:39:41.920 --> 00:39:43.920 We gaze again. 00:39:43.920 --> 00:39:45.920 Bow down again. 00:39:45.920 --> 00:39:48.920 Because of the wonder from Bethlehem. 00:39:48.920 --> 00:39:52.920 Peace on earth through holy child. 00:39:52.920 --> 00:39:57.920 God and sinner reconciled. 00:39:57.920 --> 00:39:59.920 We breathe again. 00:39:59.920 --> 00:40:00.920 We can live again. 00:40:00.920 --> 00:40:02.920 We can live again. 00:40:02.920 --> 00:40:06.920 Because of the wonder from Bethlehem. 00:40:06.920 --> 00:40:10.920 His name is Jesus. 00:40:10.920 --> 00:40:12.920 His word is life. 00:40:12.920 --> 00:40:17.920 In our deep darkness, he is light. 00:40:17.920 --> 00:40:18.920 Light. 00:40:18.920 --> 00:40:19.920 So raise your voice. 00:40:19.920 --> 00:40:20.920 Lift up your hands. 00:40:20.920 --> 00:40:22.920 Lift up your hands. 00:40:22.920 --> 00:40:24.920 Because of the child. 00:40:24.920 --> 00:40:26.920 Because of the hope. 00:40:26.920 --> 00:40:30.920 Because of the wonder from Bethlehem. 00:40:30.920 --> 00:40:31.920 The good news of Jesus. 00:40:31.920 --> 00:40:32.920 The good news of Jesus. 00:40:32.920 --> 00:40:33.920 The melody is humility. 00:40:33.920 --> 00:40:34.920 And when we receive the gospel. 00:40:34.920 --> 00:40:35.920 The good news about who Jesus is. 00:40:35.920 --> 00:40:37.920 It has to be in the melody of humility. 00:40:37.920 --> 00:40:41.920 And Jesus asks you and me to bow our knee to him. 00:40:41.920 --> 00:40:48.920 And in a sense, to lay down our sword and shield and our armor. 00:40:48.920 --> 00:40:54.920 And call out to him and say, will you be my savior and will you be my lord. 00:40:54.920 --> 00:40:56.920 And that is an act of humility. 00:40:56.920 --> 00:41:04.139 in a sense, to lay down our sword and shield and our armor and call out to him and say, 00:41:04.260 --> 00:41:08.320 will you be my savior and will you be my Lord? And that is an act of humility. 00:41:09.240 --> 00:41:16.800 But it's not an act of humiliation. It is an act of humility where you see, in a sense, 00:41:17.119 --> 00:41:23.320 Jesus for what he is and in seeing him for what he is, actually begin to understand yourself. 00:41:23.320 --> 00:41:30.600 And you enter the Christian life with this act of humility. And you grow in the Christian life 00:41:30.600 --> 00:41:39.440 by growing in humility because we want to be like him. I invite you to stand. 00:41:46.960 --> 00:41:48.360 Bow our heads in prayer. 00:41:48.360 --> 00:41:58.039 Father, we can be really too serious and sometimes we can be really too silly, but we give you thanks 00:41:58.039 --> 00:42:04.000 and praise that you want us to be solemn and serious at times. And you also want us to just be funny and 00:42:04.000 --> 00:42:10.380 hilarious and have jokes and laughter, that there are times that we are to be sacrificially generous 00:42:10.380 --> 00:42:17.380 and there are other times when we are to feast and to really enjoy good food and good company. 00:42:18.019 --> 00:42:23.380 And we give you thanks and praise, Father, that Jesus, God, the Son of God, humbled himself to come 00:42:23.380 --> 00:42:29.539 among us, to be Emmanuel, to die on the cross for us, to taste all there is to taste of death for us, 00:42:29.700 --> 00:42:34.680 to rise from the dead, conquering death and sin, which is the responsible for death, 00:42:34.679 --> 00:42:40.679 in his great resurrection. And we give you thanks and praise that out of love for us and humility 00:42:40.679 --> 00:42:48.319 that he offers his great victory, his great destiny to us, that he will take the doom that we deserve 00:42:48.319 --> 00:42:53.019 when we put our hands in his hands and he will bestow upon us the destiny that he deserves. 00:42:53.239 --> 00:42:59.519 And we give you thanks and praise that this all comes from your loving heart and the heart of love 00:42:59.519 --> 00:43:05.639 of the Trinity and the love of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And so, Father, we ask that as we 00:43:05.639 --> 00:43:11.900 accept your humility and humble ourselves before you and receive Jesus, Father, that we might know 00:43:11.900 --> 00:43:17.380 your solemnity and we might know your hilarity and we might know your joy, that we might know Jesus 00:43:17.380 --> 00:43:23.599 and become more like him. And we ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:43:29.519 --> 00:43:31.519 Amen.