WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.560 Well again, for those who came in a little bit later, I welcome you to our carol service. 00:00:08.080 --> 00:00:12.960 I wish you all a very happy Christmas. We're really pleased that you could be with us this evening. 00:00:14.300 --> 00:00:17.719 I'm going to speak to you one sentence. It's a sentence, you can see it on your sheet. 00:00:18.120 --> 00:00:24.019 If you just look down there, this saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. 00:00:24.900 --> 00:00:27.120 That Christ Jesus came into the world and saved sinners. 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:38.920 And I think this is one sentence that cuts through all the nostalgia, all the magic of Christmas, all the trimmings, 00:00:39.880 --> 00:00:44.880 and speaks quite clearly, a little bit like a cold breeze, about the meaning of Christmas. 00:00:45.859 --> 00:00:50.579 Christ Jesus came into the world and saved sinners. I've got three points, I hope, in ten minutes. 00:00:50.579 --> 00:00:54.539 And my first point is this, it's a message that you can rely on. 00:00:55.640 --> 00:00:59.359 A message that you can rely on. That's how it starts. 00:00:59.560 --> 00:01:04.780 If you look at that, the saying is trustworthy and deserving of all acceptance. 00:01:04.920 --> 00:01:07.799 Christmas is so sentimental, isn't it? 00:01:09.019 --> 00:01:11.879 And the magic of Christmas, whatever that is. 00:01:12.759 --> 00:01:16.500 Nativity place, I was at three school days on Friday. 00:01:16.500 --> 00:01:18.019 It was a very, very long day. 00:01:19.000 --> 00:01:22.900 One was a nativity which bore some resemblance after the Christmas story. 00:01:23.459 --> 00:01:26.599 Another one was based loosely on the X factor and strictly. 00:01:27.379 --> 00:01:29.180 And thirdly was a medley of the beaten little songs. 00:01:29.560 --> 00:01:31.780 Christmas is so much, isn't it? 00:01:32.460 --> 00:01:36.280 About sentiment and about nostalgia. 00:01:36.280 --> 00:01:41.560 But it's very, very clear that as you read the biblical accounts, it is not a myth. 00:01:43.780 --> 00:01:46.820 You see what Paul says here, as the writer of 1 Timothy chapter 1. 00:01:47.400 --> 00:01:51.120 He says, it is reliable and deserving of full acceptance. 00:01:51.340 --> 00:01:51.780 It's sure. 00:01:52.599 --> 00:01:53.460 It's trustworthy. 00:01:54.540 --> 00:01:57.120 It's deserving of your acceptance. 00:01:58.219 --> 00:02:01.400 This sentence is written about 70 years after the birth of Jesus. 00:02:01.400 --> 00:02:06.620 And he talks here about a judgment, a verdict, that is reliable. 00:02:07.740 --> 00:02:08.780 Believe me on this one. 00:02:08.840 --> 00:02:10.200 You can trust me on this one, he says. 00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:13.140 It's not just the truth from me, but it is the truth. 00:02:14.020 --> 00:02:14.920 It is credible. 00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:16.140 There is evidence. 00:02:17.140 --> 00:02:18.879 Christ Jesus came into the world. 00:02:20.700 --> 00:02:23.680 And so what I'm asking you to believe tonight, and what this church is asking you to believe, 00:02:23.719 --> 00:02:25.120 is not something fantastical. 00:02:25.580 --> 00:02:26.520 It isn't Disney. 00:02:27.640 --> 00:02:28.680 It isn't myth. 00:02:28.680 --> 00:02:31.540 It's not a fairy story. 00:02:32.540 --> 00:02:34.159 It isn't nice for you to believe. 00:02:35.060 --> 00:02:36.980 It isn't once upon a time. 00:02:37.219 --> 00:02:45.520 It is that at one point in time, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. 00:02:47.520 --> 00:02:50.659 And so Christianity doesn't ask you to switch off your brain. 00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:54.780 Take a step into the dark. 00:02:56.000 --> 00:02:57.960 No, it asks you to consider the evidence. 00:02:58.680 --> 00:03:00.960 It asks you to look at the first hand sources. 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:03.740 We've got Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. 00:03:03.800 --> 00:03:05.980 I think we're out of Gospels of John, but they're on the way out. 00:03:06.060 --> 00:03:07.280 We would love you to take one. 00:03:08.040 --> 00:03:09.540 We'd love you to read the evidence. 00:03:09.659 --> 00:03:10.379 Don't dismiss it. 00:03:10.500 --> 00:03:11.180 Dismiss it. 00:03:11.719 --> 00:03:13.240 Without having looked at the evidence. 00:03:13.840 --> 00:03:14.819 A message you can rely on. 00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:17.060 Secondly, a message for sinners. 00:03:18.600 --> 00:03:19.040 For sinners. 00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:26.879 It's at this point, those who invited you, those who may be brought to you, get a little bit uncomfortable. 00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:33.060 Because the New Testament, the Bible, doesn't earn great marks for diplomacy. 00:03:33.060 --> 00:03:36.140 The Bible is blunt and to the point. 00:03:37.920 --> 00:03:41.819 And maybe you say, well I don't believe what the Bible says about God. 00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:45.180 But I want to turn the question around this evening. 00:03:45.300 --> 00:03:47.840 And I want to ask, do you believe what the Bible says about humans? 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:57.140 Because Christmas only makes sense when you listen to what God says about human beings. 00:03:58.580 --> 00:04:06.300 I'll never need a rescuing Christ if I don't understand that word sinner. 00:04:07.980 --> 00:04:10.140 And sinner is a bleak word, isn't it? 00:04:10.180 --> 00:04:13.759 I know Christmas is meant to be a festive time and full of good cheer. 00:04:13.860 --> 00:04:14.939 I understand that. 00:04:14.939 --> 00:04:22.719 But it is a really startling thought that if there weren't sinners, there would be no Christmas, would there? 00:04:24.079 --> 00:04:28.759 Because what is Christmas about, do you remember, are verses that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. 00:04:29.939 --> 00:04:32.100 Sin and sinners are technical terms. 00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:38.740 So when you and I talk about our faults and our failings, we use language like this, don't we? 00:04:38.759 --> 00:04:41.379 We think of how I let myself down. 00:04:41.379 --> 00:04:46.399 We're willing to admit how I've hurt others. 00:04:47.600 --> 00:04:51.579 But when the Bible speaks of sin, it's not just those things. 00:04:51.680 --> 00:04:52.719 They're true, aren't they? 00:04:52.779 --> 00:04:54.740 How I've let myself down, how I've hurt others. 00:04:55.319 --> 00:04:57.839 But the main point is how I've offended God. 00:04:59.480 --> 00:05:01.620 How I've pushed God to one side. 00:05:01.620 --> 00:05:06.120 How I've handed God his redundancy papers, his P45. 00:05:07.340 --> 00:05:09.120 And I've pushed him to one side. 00:05:10.360 --> 00:05:11.519 And I've flouted him. 00:05:12.920 --> 00:05:15.399 I've run my own life my own way. 00:05:16.500 --> 00:05:19.040 And I've lived as a rebel in his world. 00:05:19.699 --> 00:05:22.259 And I've said very clearly, I want to be in charge. 00:05:22.259 --> 00:05:26.379 There's a dark side to Christmas. 00:05:27.599 --> 00:05:32.779 There's a dark side to Christmas that many of us will experience this holiday season. 00:05:33.699 --> 00:05:35.300 And it's as a result of sin. 00:05:37.480 --> 00:05:42.379 And we live in a world that has been affected by sin. 00:05:42.519 --> 00:05:44.560 And relationships have been damaged by it. 00:05:44.560 --> 00:05:47.459 And it's not just out there, is it? 00:05:47.519 --> 00:05:48.379 It's in here. 00:05:50.199 --> 00:05:53.399 And so often we find ourselves, don't we, at odds with ourselves. 00:05:53.980 --> 00:05:55.519 And at odds with others. 00:05:55.660 --> 00:05:56.879 Christmas is famous for that. 00:05:58.100 --> 00:06:03.840 But underlying those facts, we are at odds with God. 00:06:05.699 --> 00:06:10.199 The Bible tells you that your heart and my heart is deceitful. 00:06:10.199 --> 00:06:16.759 And we are desperately good at kidding ourselves that I'm okay. 00:06:18.360 --> 00:06:21.019 Other people might have the problem, but I'm certainly not. 00:06:22.319 --> 00:06:24.719 And if we do that, we're having ourselves on this evening. 00:06:25.860 --> 00:06:30.980 Unless we're willing to put ourselves in this category, Christmas will always baffle me. 00:06:32.159 --> 00:06:34.379 Jesus will have nothing to offer me. 00:06:34.699 --> 00:06:37.060 I'll end up celebrating the wrong thing. 00:06:37.120 --> 00:06:39.039 In fact, I won't know why I'm celebrating. 00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:40.360 I'm just glad of a day off. 00:06:42.640 --> 00:06:45.700 But Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. 00:06:47.480 --> 00:06:49.680 And if you're not a sinner, there's nothing to celebrate. 00:06:51.720 --> 00:06:53.620 The third thing is a message of rescue. 00:06:54.939 --> 00:06:57.600 Christ Jesus came into the world to save. 00:06:58.460 --> 00:07:01.120 To rescue sinners. 00:07:02.660 --> 00:07:08.320 And I know that people get very nervous, don't they, about Christians using the word save. 00:07:09.700 --> 00:07:11.200 But we actually use the word all the time. 00:07:11.860 --> 00:07:14.220 I've come across the word save a number of times this week. 00:07:15.280 --> 00:07:17.780 I read of a boxer who was saved by the bell. 00:07:18.740 --> 00:07:22.200 I read of a company saved by an injection of cash. 00:07:22.199 --> 00:07:25.539 I read of a school saved by the parents. 00:07:26.420 --> 00:07:27.939 Or by the education department. 00:07:28.079 --> 00:07:29.120 Depends who you believe. 00:07:29.860 --> 00:07:34.680 I read of an old historic building that may or may not be saved in a redevelopment. 00:07:34.680 --> 00:07:40.079 I read of MPs saved by their constituents. 00:07:41.500 --> 00:07:44.340 I had a discussion with someone about some whale that had been saved. 00:07:44.660 --> 00:07:48.939 And the one thing that was in common with all of those is that those who were being saved were all helpless. 00:07:48.939 --> 00:07:52.939 None of them got themselves out of their mess. 00:07:54.439 --> 00:07:58.000 They were all saved by someone or something from outside. 00:07:58.120 --> 00:07:59.199 Of course, there's no different here. 00:07:59.199 --> 00:08:05.379 The frightening thing is that sin is not only all-encompassing and all-pervasive. 00:08:05.539 --> 00:08:06.719 It is definitely serious. 00:08:08.839 --> 00:08:10.759 And this one sentence, can you look with me again? 00:08:10.759 --> 00:08:14.599 Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. 00:08:14.939 --> 00:08:18.199 It tells you and I how much we matter to God. 00:08:21.379 --> 00:08:25.579 You may have come here tonight with a hundred reasons why you think your life is meaningless. 00:08:26.800 --> 00:08:28.939 And why you don't think that you matter. 00:08:30.099 --> 00:08:32.120 Or that you're not cared for. 00:08:32.460 --> 00:08:37.860 Well, this sentence is one very powerful and weighty reason to put in the other side of the scale. 00:08:37.860 --> 00:08:40.720 The whole Christian story. 00:08:40.919 --> 00:08:41.800 The whole Christmas story. 00:08:42.560 --> 00:08:44.379 The whole fact of Jesus of Nazareth. 00:08:44.500 --> 00:08:48.300 That he left heaven for a stable in Bethlehem. 00:08:49.240 --> 00:08:54.360 And he went on and he suffered and was abused and crucified as a criminal to save sinners. 00:08:54.840 --> 00:08:55.840 To rescue you. 00:08:58.159 --> 00:09:01.440 As if I want to say, God doesn't care for me, I've got to write all that off. 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:06.240 It's a message which does tell me how bad my track record is. 00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:11.259 But it shows me how much it took to rescue me. 00:09:12.820 --> 00:09:13.980 One writer said this. 00:09:14.180 --> 00:09:17.220 If our basic need was education, God would have sent us an educator. 00:09:17.940 --> 00:09:21.860 If our greatest need was money, God would have sent us an economist. 00:09:22.779 --> 00:09:25.960 If our greatest need was technology, God would have sent us a scientist. 00:09:26.580 --> 00:09:30.120 If our greatest need was pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer. 00:09:30.340 --> 00:09:32.060 But our greatest need was for forgiveness. 00:09:33.659 --> 00:09:35.139 And so God sent us a saviour. 00:09:35.139 --> 00:09:39.059 To be a sinner is to be under threat. 00:09:40.259 --> 00:09:42.159 To be under threat of the judgement of God. 00:09:42.220 --> 00:09:42.980 And lots of laugh at it. 00:09:43.019 --> 00:09:44.500 And many people are offended by it. 00:09:45.439 --> 00:09:48.199 But I do well to remember that this Christmas story. 00:09:48.340 --> 00:09:51.600 That God has sent his son into the world to rescue me from that judgement. 00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:54.899 It's a message to be relied on. 00:09:56.620 --> 00:09:58.019 A message for sinners. 00:09:58.019 --> 00:10:01.059 And a message of rescue. 00:10:03.059 --> 00:10:06.939 I expect some of you have never engaged with this message before. 00:10:08.220 --> 00:10:09.500 I enjoy Christmas. 00:10:09.779 --> 00:10:10.419 Good for you. 00:10:11.419 --> 00:10:14.079 But you've never actually sat down and considered the evidence. 00:10:14.080 --> 00:10:17.020 I want to really encourage you tonight. 00:10:17.139 --> 00:10:17.960 Read the sources. 00:10:19.240 --> 00:10:20.900 Take one of these Gospels home. 00:10:21.000 --> 00:10:21.580 Take a home. 00:10:21.759 --> 00:10:22.259 Take an hour. 00:10:23.220 --> 00:10:24.240 And read it for yourself. 00:10:25.660 --> 00:10:26.820 But maybe you're not a reader. 00:10:26.920 --> 00:10:29.700 Maybe you realise that you need to do something about this tonight. 00:10:29.820 --> 00:10:31.240 And you'd like to find out more. 00:10:31.360 --> 00:10:33.080 Maybe it's a puzzle to you. 00:10:33.820 --> 00:10:35.920 We'd love to help you in that. 00:10:36.540 --> 00:10:37.060 In your seat. 00:10:37.280 --> 00:10:37.820 You should see. 00:10:37.900 --> 00:10:38.680 If you just look down by yourself. 00:10:38.759 --> 00:10:40.340 You should see that there's contact cards. 00:10:41.320 --> 00:10:42.379 These contact cards. 00:10:43.440 --> 00:10:45.420 And one of the things that we do here. 00:10:45.500 --> 00:10:47.460 Is we run a course called Christianity Explored. 00:10:48.800 --> 00:10:52.560 Which is really looking into what Christianity teaches. 00:10:52.560 --> 00:10:55.220 It's a chance for you to ask any questions that you want. 00:10:56.120 --> 00:10:58.660 And we would love if you wanted to do that course. 00:10:58.720 --> 00:10:59.480 It's a six week course. 00:10:59.560 --> 00:11:00.860 Or maybe you just want to meet up with someone. 00:11:00.980 --> 00:11:02.220 And chat about it over a cup of tea. 00:11:03.080 --> 00:11:04.879 Do fill in one of these. 00:11:04.980 --> 00:11:05.720 We'd love you to fill them in. 00:11:05.780 --> 00:11:06.280 And drop them in. 00:11:06.320 --> 00:11:07.220 There's a grey box. 00:11:07.259 --> 00:11:07.780 I think it's grey. 00:11:07.879 --> 00:11:09.200 Or it's slightly brown by the door. 00:11:09.879 --> 00:11:11.060 And drop that in. 00:11:11.200 --> 00:11:11.900 And we'll get in touch. 00:11:11.940 --> 00:11:12.759 Just fill in your name. 00:11:13.000 --> 00:11:13.960 Or your phone number. 00:11:15.820 --> 00:11:18.840 Surely if this is true. 00:11:19.000 --> 00:11:19.940 It's worth looking into. 00:11:20.020 --> 00:11:20.280 Isn't it? 00:11:22.100 --> 00:11:23.879 But maybe tonight you've realised. 00:11:24.639 --> 00:11:26.020 Tonight that you need rescuing. 00:11:27.140 --> 00:11:29.860 That Jesus came into the world to rescue people like you and me. 00:11:31.280 --> 00:11:32.600 That you're willing to admit. 00:11:32.600 --> 00:11:34.080 That you're a sinner like I am. 00:11:35.580 --> 00:11:38.580 And I realise that that is pretty revolutionary isn't it? 00:11:39.940 --> 00:11:41.879 But it's even more extraordinary than that. 00:11:41.940 --> 00:11:45.500 That if you will ask God tonight to forgive you. 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:47.360 And for the Lord Jesus to rescue you. 00:11:48.040 --> 00:11:49.159 Wonderfully you will. 00:11:50.740 --> 00:11:53.920 And you can experience a revolution in your life. 00:11:53.919 --> 00:11:56.419 Of being forgiven by God. 00:11:58.039 --> 00:12:00.719 Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. 00:12:00.839 --> 00:12:01.919 It's a reliable message. 00:12:03.139 --> 00:12:04.360 It's a message for sinners. 00:12:05.659 --> 00:12:07.000 It's a message of rescue. 00:12:08.360 --> 00:12:09.679 And the true Christmas message. 00:12:10.079 --> 00:12:11.000 Leads to a revolution. 00:12:11.000 --> 00:12:14.419 And so have a revolutionary Christmas. 00:12:16.340 --> 00:12:16.960 We're going to sing.