WEBVTT 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:04.540 Well, good evening. Lovely to be with you. And hello at home if you're watching in. 00:00:05.160 --> 00:00:12.700 Right, you know the moment. It's Christmas Day and someone gives you a present you really don't like. 00:00:13.460 --> 00:00:18.539 You know, it's awkward, yeah? You're sat in front of them and they give you a present and you open it and you don't like it. 00:00:18.980 --> 00:00:22.160 What do you do in that moment? Like, what's your go-to? 00:00:22.519 --> 00:00:26.100 Turn to the person next to you, 10 seconds, what would you say in that moment? 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:37.179 Okay. Okay. I wonder what you'd say. It is, it's awkward, isn't it? 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:42.280 It's made 10 times worse by the fact that they're there in front of you and you've got to respond and you say something like, 00:00:42.420 --> 00:00:45.100 thanks, it wasn't even on my list, you know? 00:00:45.640 --> 00:00:49.500 Oh, I didn't even think of this as an idea. It's the last thing you wanted. 00:00:50.299 --> 00:00:54.799 Right, flip it. What if someone gets you something you really love? 00:00:54.799 --> 00:00:58.379 You know, it's perfect for you. They've got it bang on. 00:00:58.779 --> 00:01:03.479 What's your go-to there? What's your reaction? Are you a jumper, a screamer, a hugger? 00:01:03.759 --> 00:01:05.959 10 seconds, person next to you, tell them what you do. 00:01:10.900 --> 00:01:17.939 Okay. You love it and it's made 10 times better by the fact that they're there in front of you 00:01:17.939 --> 00:01:23.620 and you can express how much you appreciate it. Maybe you're a screamer, a crier, a simple nod. 00:01:24.500 --> 00:01:27.599 You know me. You know that feeling. It's brilliant. 00:01:28.840 --> 00:01:35.159 And I guess in some ways, last year, COVID stopped us and we hope and pray that it won't stop us this year, 00:01:35.219 --> 00:01:39.599 but it did in some ways stop us from experiencing that, didn't we? 00:01:39.599 --> 00:01:44.640 We weren't able to be physically present with the people that we loved to be able to give the presents 00:01:44.640 --> 00:01:49.799 and we weren't able to give our physical presents to people around us. 00:01:50.339 --> 00:01:54.280 My wife and I, we were due to go down to Cardiff, where my family are. 00:01:54.500 --> 00:01:57.679 We had the two kids in the back, roof box full of presents. 00:01:58.139 --> 00:02:03.759 We were driving down to Cardiff and we were just stopping for a bit of food at Gretna Green Services 00:02:03.759 --> 00:02:05.579 before we got into the English border. 00:02:05.579 --> 00:02:10.439 And as we're finishing off some dinner, my phone pops up, all the headlines coming in saying, 00:02:10.939 --> 00:02:13.740 Sturgeon urges people to stay at home for Christmas. 00:02:14.379 --> 00:02:17.120 And we had that awkward moment. What should we do? 00:02:17.359 --> 00:02:20.800 Should we pretend we were kind of already there and just ignore it? 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:23.400 Do we do a U-turn and go back home? 00:02:24.240 --> 00:02:28.259 Much to my children's protests and tears, we decided to do a U-turn, 00:02:28.780 --> 00:02:32.800 drove back home, unloaded the car, got the presents out the roof box 00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:38.000 and we just did Christmas, the four of us at home, which was so different to normal, 00:02:38.160 --> 00:02:40.320 particularly for my wife. She's from a big family. 00:02:40.460 --> 00:02:43.160 She's probably not done Christmas with no less than 15 people. 00:02:43.400 --> 00:02:47.060 And she was stuck with me at home and our two kids. 00:02:47.860 --> 00:02:50.420 So it was different. It didn't feel quite right. 00:02:50.520 --> 00:02:52.040 Maybe you had a similar experience. 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:55.140 You weren't able to be present with the people you wanted to. 00:02:55.220 --> 00:02:59.660 And for us, we miss the joy of seeing our kids opening up all the presents 00:02:59.659 --> 00:03:01.740 from their aunties and uncles. It was different. 00:03:01.799 --> 00:03:05.560 And we hope it won't be the same again this Christmas time. 00:03:05.560 --> 00:03:10.479 And amongst, of course, the sadness and the seriousness that COVID brought, 00:03:11.319 --> 00:03:15.539 this was a way, it kind of did affect all of us in some way or another, didn't it? 00:03:16.539 --> 00:03:19.659 Well, look at the heart of the Christmas story that we've been considering tonight 00:03:19.659 --> 00:03:21.960 through what we've sang and some of the stuff we've read. 00:03:21.960 --> 00:03:26.159 We actually see a God who delivers on those two things. 00:03:26.740 --> 00:03:31.439 Nothing prevents him from revealing his presence to us. 00:03:31.939 --> 00:03:35.460 And also nothing affects him giving us a present, 00:03:35.900 --> 00:03:39.840 which I believe is for us all to respond to this evening. 00:03:40.280 --> 00:03:41.360 I wonder if you heard it. 00:03:41.640 --> 00:03:45.760 It was wrapped up in the two little names that were read in the middle reading 00:03:45.760 --> 00:03:47.360 we just had of the three readings. 00:03:48.140 --> 00:03:50.200 If you want, you can look it back up. 00:03:50.199 --> 00:03:53.039 It's in Matthew chapter one, but let me summarize it for you again. 00:03:53.799 --> 00:03:57.719 An angel appears to Joseph and says, basically, don't freak out, Joseph. 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:01.719 The woman you're about to marry, she's got a baby in her tummy, 00:04:02.039 --> 00:04:05.099 but it's been given to her from God through his spirit. 00:04:05.639 --> 00:04:07.679 And it says you're to name him two things. 00:04:08.199 --> 00:04:12.899 Firstly, you're to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. 00:04:13.199 --> 00:04:18.360 And secondly, this fulfills, the angel says, a big promise God made hundreds of years before 00:04:18.360 --> 00:04:23.860 where a woman who's going to give birth is going to have a baby in her to call it Emmanuel, 00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:26.540 which means God with us. 00:04:26.780 --> 00:04:31.620 So there's Jesus and there's Emmanuel, two names given to this baby. 00:04:32.280 --> 00:04:33.300 But what do they mean? 00:04:34.139 --> 00:04:37.480 And what difference could it actually make to us this evening, I wonder? 00:04:37.480 --> 00:04:43.340 Well, for many people now over the centuries, they've asked one big question. 00:04:43.520 --> 00:04:45.379 Does God exist? 00:04:45.700 --> 00:04:48.939 And there's a whole range of thoughts and opinions, of course, on that. 00:04:49.420 --> 00:04:52.100 Christianity has a resounding yes, he does. 00:04:52.560 --> 00:04:57.540 More than that, he has made himself known because he wants us to know him. 00:04:57.540 --> 00:05:02.740 Imagine with me just for a second, we're in a room right now with no windows, no doors, 00:05:02.939 --> 00:05:03.879 no way in, no way out. 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:05.100 It's just a cube, yeah? 00:05:05.879 --> 00:05:09.860 And within a few minutes, a conversation emerges and someone says, 00:05:09.939 --> 00:05:12.100 do you think there's anything beyond these four walls? 00:05:12.920 --> 00:05:16.580 And different people start to give their opinions of whether there is or not. 00:05:16.660 --> 00:05:20.120 We have a few different groups of people, maybe the pragmatists amongst us, 00:05:20.140 --> 00:05:21.840 who say, well, there must be something. 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:23.379 We kind of got here in the first place. 00:05:23.460 --> 00:05:24.560 There's got to be something, surely. 00:05:25.180 --> 00:05:27.020 There's the wishful thinkers amongst us. 00:05:27.019 --> 00:05:29.879 I hope there's something out there and this isn't just it. 00:05:30.419 --> 00:05:32.240 And then there's always the odd token pessimist. 00:05:32.299 --> 00:05:33.079 You know who you are. 00:05:33.079 --> 00:05:34.259 Oh, it doesn't really matter. 00:05:34.319 --> 00:05:35.120 Who cares anyway? 00:05:35.479 --> 00:05:37.339 But the conversation goes round and round. 00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:41.199 Different people give their opinions whether they think there's anything beyond those four walls. 00:05:41.659 --> 00:05:46.219 Until someone, I guess, has to concede, really, on behalf of the group and say, 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:48.819 I guess you'll just never know, will we? 00:05:49.659 --> 00:05:54.339 See, how's the only way eventually we would know that there's anything beyond these four walls? 00:05:54.339 --> 00:06:00.139 Well, it would require something or someone, wouldn't it, to burst through, 00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:05.399 to break through into the room and reveal themselves, to be present with us 00:06:05.399 --> 00:06:09.339 and to tell us what life is like beyond those four walls. 00:06:10.739 --> 00:06:15.019 Well, here in the account of this baby being born into the world, 00:06:15.019 --> 00:06:24.719 we find the God of the universe bursting in, revealing himself, making himself present in our world. 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:31.759 See, God is not some distant, abstract thing way up high that you just can't get anywhere near. 00:06:31.919 --> 00:06:34.339 No, he is not that. 00:06:35.019 --> 00:06:39.060 Through coming to this earth in the form of a baby and growing to be a man, 00:06:39.060 --> 00:06:42.120 he knows what it's like to live here. 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:43.560 What does that mean? 00:06:43.639 --> 00:06:46.220 It means he's seen stuff that we see. 00:06:47.019 --> 00:06:49.360 He's heard stuff that we hear. 00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:52.560 He's felt stuff we feel. 00:06:52.959 --> 00:06:55.860 Because he's walked this earth that we walk on. 00:06:55.920 --> 00:06:57.180 And I put it to you this evening. 00:06:57.680 --> 00:07:00.579 If you were to examine the life story of this bloke, 00:07:00.579 --> 00:07:05.839 there are very few circumstances and situations you might be going through right now 00:07:05.839 --> 00:07:11.339 that he's unable to relate to, to understand, and to help you in. 00:07:12.779 --> 00:07:14.779 See, God with us. 00:07:14.860 --> 00:07:16.680 That's what Emmanuel means. 00:07:17.419 --> 00:07:19.099 And just like now, over the next few days, 00:07:19.180 --> 00:07:22.979 some of us might travel quite long distances to be with the people we love, 00:07:23.039 --> 00:07:24.919 to be present with them at Christmas time. 00:07:25.539 --> 00:07:26.500 God's no different. 00:07:27.319 --> 00:07:28.979 So great is his love for you. 00:07:28.980 --> 00:07:32.080 So much he wants to be with you and in your life 00:07:32.080 --> 00:07:38.040 that he's prepared to travel all the way to this earth and reveal himself. 00:07:39.080 --> 00:07:41.000 He's Emmanuel, God with us. 00:07:41.100 --> 00:07:44.000 That's what's wrapped up in the name Jesus. 00:07:46.280 --> 00:07:48.480 Well, I've started to realize over the last few years 00:07:48.480 --> 00:07:51.300 that the presence people are buying me for Christmas 00:07:51.300 --> 00:07:52.900 is starting to change a little bit. 00:07:52.960 --> 00:07:55.240 I don't know if you're in this life stage yet. 00:07:55.340 --> 00:07:58.660 Mostly in the room, I think I wonder, maybe similar. 00:07:58.980 --> 00:08:04.240 See, gone are the days for me where I get the kind of fun, cool presents. 00:08:04.400 --> 00:08:07.939 You know, things like a popcorn machine, you know, or a stomp rocket. 00:08:08.120 --> 00:08:09.200 You know what I'm talking about. 00:08:09.520 --> 00:08:12.060 Things you just don't really need a few weeks later in life, 00:08:12.100 --> 00:08:13.680 but they're great fun in the moment. 00:08:14.020 --> 00:08:15.840 I don't really get those presents anymore. 00:08:15.939 --> 00:08:21.860 I get far more practical presents like Allen keys or spirit levels. 00:08:21.860 --> 00:08:27.020 You know, things that just you kind of need when a certain life stage comes around. 00:08:27.080 --> 00:08:29.980 As I say, some of you maybe are at that point, others of you not. 00:08:30.439 --> 00:08:33.600 You might be in for a set of pillows or something like that at Christmas time. 00:08:33.879 --> 00:08:35.860 I think it's as if my family have gone, 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:40.700 well, Dave, you're kind of really at this point where you need to be able to fix stuff if it breaks. 00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:44.460 And I see all these various needs that I have at the age that I'm at. 00:08:44.539 --> 00:08:46.120 And instead of me going and buying it, 00:08:46.379 --> 00:08:49.120 I think they feel like maybe we'll buy it for Dave at Christmas time. 00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:51.960 And don't get me wrong, I do like presents. 00:08:52.440 --> 00:08:53.720 I do, and it's very kind. 00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:57.980 And it helps a lot when the kids break everything all the time to be able to fix them. 00:08:58.019 --> 00:08:59.259 But it has changed. 00:08:59.379 --> 00:09:00.379 I've noticed it. 00:09:01.259 --> 00:09:04.399 And see, within this Christmas story that we're thinking about tonight, 00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:08.060 not only do we see God revealing his presence to us, 00:09:08.860 --> 00:09:10.039 he goes one step further. 00:09:10.919 --> 00:09:14.799 See, this baby coming to this earth is actually God's present for us, 00:09:15.259 --> 00:09:18.980 which he's given to us to meet a need. 00:09:20.120 --> 00:09:22.120 To fix a problem. 00:09:23.360 --> 00:09:27.639 A few years ago in Edinburgh, a church did a survey out on the street. 00:09:28.179 --> 00:09:30.860 They asked people one really simple question. 00:09:31.220 --> 00:09:32.820 How would you fix the world? 00:09:33.519 --> 00:09:35.200 And different people gave different answers. 00:09:35.299 --> 00:09:37.519 They managed to ask about 760 people. 00:09:37.620 --> 00:09:40.679 And you can imagine, hey, a full range of different responses 00:09:40.679 --> 00:09:43.840 from kind of government level to just human responsibility. 00:09:44.460 --> 00:09:46.259 Everyone giving their different opinions. 00:09:46.259 --> 00:09:50.500 But do you know what I thought was most fascinating about the survey? 00:09:50.700 --> 00:09:54.779 Out of the 760 people they asked, how would you fix the world? 00:09:55.779 --> 00:09:58.039 Only one person replied with this. 00:09:59.179 --> 00:10:01.039 It doesn't need fixed. 00:10:01.039 --> 00:10:06.740 759 people all thought that things could be better. 00:10:06.740 --> 00:10:13.100 759 people, I guess, in some ways expressed some sort of discontent, some issues, 00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:17.299 something where they didn't think the world was quite working the way it should be working. 00:10:18.100 --> 00:10:20.039 I think that's quite revealing, do you not? 00:10:20.039 --> 00:10:25.059 And I guess in some ways, many of us would probably agree with it. 00:10:25.139 --> 00:10:28.679 Look back on the last 24 hours, let alone the last 24 months. 00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:34.079 I think we'd all pretty much agree that things aren't quite working the way they should be. 00:10:34.199 --> 00:10:41.000 Whether it's from the top down or the bottom up, things don't seem to be working the way they should be. 00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:43.080 But do you know what? 00:10:43.399 --> 00:10:49.220 It's not actually too dissimilar to the time where this baby was born in the accounts that we're reading tonight. 00:10:49.960 --> 00:10:52.000 See, there was much political unrest. 00:10:52.379 --> 00:10:54.580 There was much national oppression. 00:10:54.740 --> 00:10:58.700 There was actually quite a lot of human horror back then as well as today. 00:10:58.700 --> 00:11:03.440 And so the writer, particularly this one, is a guy called Matthew who's writing about Jesus' life. 00:11:03.780 --> 00:11:06.240 He's writing to a group of people called the Jewish people. 00:11:06.560 --> 00:11:07.080 And do you know what? 00:11:07.180 --> 00:11:14.320 They just wanted someone to come in, sort the mess out, bring about a better society 00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:18.259 where they could live in, I guess, much more peace and harmony. 00:11:18.379 --> 00:11:20.520 They needed someone to come in. 00:11:20.660 --> 00:11:24.400 And I wonder if that might be a way you're feeling right now as we look upon society. 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:31.059 Maybe you're just desperate for someone to come and sort things out a little bit so we can live a better life. 00:11:32.899 --> 00:11:36.519 But I don't think it's as simple as that. 00:11:36.980 --> 00:11:42.720 And I don't think it's as easy as that of just bringing in a new leader or changing a load of laws. 00:11:43.879 --> 00:11:49.079 See, the heart of the human problem is actually the problem of the human heart. 00:11:50.519 --> 00:11:53.059 You may or may not recognize this in yourself. 00:11:53.139 --> 00:11:53.699 I don't know. 00:11:53.700 --> 00:11:54.720 I do in me. 00:11:55.300 --> 00:11:57.600 Human beings are strange people, are we not? 00:11:57.780 --> 00:12:01.980 This blend of both beauty and beast. 00:12:02.100 --> 00:12:05.180 Capable of some incredible things, humans, are they not? 00:12:05.540 --> 00:12:08.600 Yet at the same time capable of some shocking things. 00:12:08.860 --> 00:12:11.320 We're this strange blend. 00:12:12.259 --> 00:12:17.280 But actually deep right down in its core, do you know what the Bible says is true of all of us? 00:12:17.700 --> 00:12:21.360 Is that all of us in some way or another are marred by what it calls sin. 00:12:21.360 --> 00:12:24.360 Which is simply really a self-obsession. 00:12:24.759 --> 00:12:30.639 Which if it's left unchecked can cause great harm to other people and actually to yourself. 00:12:31.139 --> 00:12:35.320 And more than that, sin causes great offense to God. 00:12:35.320 --> 00:12:41.300 And see, this is now why this baby is called Jesus. 00:12:41.560 --> 00:12:42.480 Did you hear it? 00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:44.000 You could call him Jesus. 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:45.420 The angel said, why? 00:12:45.419 --> 00:12:50.419 Because he will save his people from their sins. 00:12:50.419 --> 00:12:55.439 See, Jesus arrives on this earth as God's present to us to fix things. 00:12:55.579 --> 00:12:56.699 To fix things. 00:12:56.939 --> 00:12:58.439 To meet a need. 00:12:58.539 --> 00:13:01.500 And ultimately that need is our hearts. 00:13:02.639 --> 00:13:04.839 He's come to give us a new heart. 00:13:04.939 --> 00:13:05.579 A new life. 00:13:06.159 --> 00:13:07.360 With him. 00:13:07.360 --> 00:13:13.580 And see, this is the remarkable thing that makes this story different to anything else. 00:13:13.700 --> 00:13:15.860 It doesn't just start in a cradle. 00:13:16.659 --> 00:13:18.240 But it goes all the way to a cross. 00:13:18.340 --> 00:13:21.419 We heard it in that last couple of songs and in that reading. 00:13:22.139 --> 00:13:26.659 If you were to look at the life story of Jesus, you'd see that at around the age of 33 years of age, 00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:31.560 he willingly, lovingly, sacrificially died on a cross. 00:13:31.559 --> 00:13:39.419 And the Bible says that he does that because he absorbs and takes upon himself every sin that every human has committed. 00:13:39.699 --> 00:13:40.000 Why? 00:13:41.199 --> 00:13:42.299 To give us forgiveness. 00:13:43.379 --> 00:13:44.879 To wipe the slate clean. 00:13:45.919 --> 00:13:47.500 And to give us a new style. 00:13:47.959 --> 00:13:49.500 And this is the great offer of Christianity. 00:13:49.579 --> 00:13:50.639 I don't know what you think of it. 00:13:50.699 --> 00:13:52.259 I don't know where you stand before it. 00:13:52.519 --> 00:13:56.359 But the great offer of Christianity is that through trusting in this man, Jesus, 00:13:56.559 --> 00:14:00.779 you can find forgiveness and a life with him. 00:14:00.779 --> 00:14:04.059 And this is the great thing because you can get reconnected back with God, 00:14:04.159 --> 00:14:06.600 which brings purpose and meaning now. 00:14:06.919 --> 00:14:11.179 But more than that, it secures life forever. 00:14:12.059 --> 00:14:16.000 Because the great claim of Christianity is this isn't all there is. 00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:20.019 This life isn't really where it's found all its fullness. 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:21.620 This isn't the way it should be. 00:14:21.720 --> 00:14:24.779 No, there's a promise of a much better place. 00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:26.779 A place with no more sickness. 00:14:27.259 --> 00:14:28.079 No more crying. 00:14:28.439 --> 00:14:29.139 No more mourning. 00:14:29.259 --> 00:14:30.159 No more coronavirus. 00:14:30.779 --> 00:14:32.939 A place of beauty, constant. 00:14:34.559 --> 00:14:40.860 And through trusting in Jesus, you can get that place secure for you for when your time up on earth is gone. 00:14:42.139 --> 00:14:43.819 So I wonder what you want for Christmas. 00:14:44.519 --> 00:14:48.399 I wonder if you stuck a couple of ideas in to the people you really love. 00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:51.299 Maybe you've said a few things you definitely don't want. 00:14:51.559 --> 00:14:54.220 So you don't have to have that awkward moment. 00:14:54.220 --> 00:15:00.960 But here tonight, you've got a God who loves you so much that he's willing to be with you. 00:15:01.040 --> 00:15:03.440 His presence he wants to make known to you. 00:15:03.899 --> 00:15:05.620 And more than that, he's got a present for you. 00:15:05.620 --> 00:15:11.940 Please, can I just say to you tonight, please don't treat this present the way you do that present you don't really want. 00:15:12.320 --> 00:15:13.799 Don't give a fake response. 00:15:14.480 --> 00:15:15.560 At least look into it. 00:15:15.600 --> 00:15:16.340 Ask questions. 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:17.080 Consider it. 00:15:17.159 --> 00:15:18.379 Get along to church here. 00:15:18.379 --> 00:15:22.159 But remember that present that you love. 00:15:22.159 --> 00:15:29.679 You know, when it happens, that moment you get something you just love and you just can't do anything but jump and run across the room and hug the person. 00:15:30.100 --> 00:15:32.679 Well, maybe tonight for you. 00:15:33.379 --> 00:15:39.959 Hearing this for the first time, understanding a God that loves you that much and has given this much for you. 00:15:40.980 --> 00:15:45.939 What's stopping you from running across the room and receiving it for yourself? 00:15:47.360 --> 00:15:49.980 Emmanuel means God with us. 00:15:49.980 --> 00:15:53.139 Jesus means Savior of the world. 00:15:53.259 --> 00:15:57.100 The big question for all of us, how are we going to respond?