For God So Loved the World

well good morning everyone my name is Pastor Dwayne and I just want to say Merry Christmas uh to you and your family this morning as we celebrate Christmas at the district we're also going to go Ahad and dismiss our kids to little district and uh for the rest of us if you have your Bibles I want you to go and open them up to John chapter 3 John chapter 3 and as you're turning there um I just want to say sometimes life is uh like our Christmas tree um now when you first maybe think of a Christmas tree you think of a beautiful tree that's

perfect shaped that's good height maybe it's all um doled up with the lights and uh the ornaments um maybe it's got some tinsil on there it's just something that when you walk into a room it draws your attention to it that's not what our tree currently looks like at our house and so when we we usually go and we pick out a tree at a tree farm we cut it down ourselves and and I tend to like the trees that are poking a hole in the ceiling now we don't have like you know High ceilings they're 8ft ceilings but I'm looking for an 8ft tree

like if I need to cut it I want to have to be the one to cut it you know but I want something that that fills the room and so we get there and we're heading out to look at the trees and I'm like man all these trees are ey level with me all right and that's not 8T okay and so I'm looking out I'm like man these are kind of slim pickings you know we're we're looking around and and and I don't even feel like we really went late to pick out a tree either it was a couple weeks ago but it just weren't

a lot of options and so at the same time we're looking around and we finally found one that has the shape of a tree um and but you know there's some scraggly spots in it and whatnot but we're like you know what we're going to make the best of it this is going to be the tree that we get and so we we bring it home and then not only do we bring it home but it was pretty late that night and so we just left it outside like just it was still all wrapped up and just threw it in the side of the yard

and we're like you know what I'll deal with it tomorrow all right hopefully it won't like completely die but it'll be fun and so then finally I bring it in the next day and then we just kind of left it there for like a couple of days just a blank tree um in its little pot or whatever we did finally water it and so at least it got a little bit of Life coming back into it um but then I finally went out and I got the the stuff and and and the boxes the Christmas boxes brought them in I was like all right you

know we're going to at least get some lights on this and let the kids throw some ornaments on it and I start pulling the lights out and every single one I plug in like half the lights would like work up and then the other half are just dead and I'm like all right like literally it's a strand that somewhere I'm changing out bulbs it's not working and I'm like all right here's what I'm going to do I'm going to plug it in and just the lights that work I'm going to make sure it's on the front of the tree and the lights that don't work

I'll wrap it around the back of the tree and so I basically just Jerry riged the whole thing to get its way all the way up and I'm like okay we I can work with this there's lights on the tree and I just like stuffed all the dead lights in the back of the tree I was like this will work and then the kids were excited they start putting ornaments on um and then maybe three four days later the kids are like what's wrong with the tree and I come out and look and it's like just the lights like just start slowly just going out

so if you look at our tree right now literally the bottom one foot of the maybe 5 and 1/2 foot tree that we have is working it's just sad all right it's just it's just sad but when I look at it it it really in a lot of ways I feel like not saying that my life is sad but it's a representation of how I feel like in a lot of way for a lot of us this is how life has been going for us like we have an idea of what we want it to be like we have an idea of what we want

it to look like but it just seems like every time we take an effort every time we try to put something together every time we work hard for something it just doesn't return the results that we want or it doesn't provide for us the satisfaction that we were hoping for in it and really the more that I look at our tree I'm like man is that not what Christmas is actually all about like we have an idea for how we want our family holiday traditions to go we have an idea how we want the gift giving to go we have an idea about how we

want to decorate everything and we have an idea about how we want our life to look like and how it to be but at the end of the day our efforts just kind of fall sad they don't really meet our expectations of what we want and that then draws our attention to the fact that yeah there's something wrong there's something that just doesn't measure up and the Christmas season is what God has done in order to fill that void to fill that gap of what we can't do and he fills it in and provides for us the satisfaction of what we actually need with what

we can accomplish for ourselves but only something that he can accomplish in John 3:16 with our anchor that we've been talking about over the last few weeks in our Advent series and if you hear me say Advent Advent is just um it's a Latin word that's just a fancy word adventus which means the arrival the awaiting the coming of Jesus Christ and it's what the first church celebrated 2,000 years ago in the four Sundays leading up to December 25th and it's what they celebrate in commemoration of This One Singular event where God has been promising hope for them for a long time not just 400

years of Silence but thousands of years of activity where God has been telling them someone's going to come to provide for you the satisfaction that you're not going to find in all of the activities of your life there's going to be one who comes and John 3:16 Says God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life and Christmas is how God brings about sending his son to the world to save the world now before we unpack John 3:16 a little bit more and how it provides hope and our somewhat not Measuring

Up sad lives before we do that I want to invoke a question in your mind and heart this morning and the question doesn't come from me it comes from the eyewitnesses who were with Jesus when he lived on the earth 2,000 years ago but they wrote it down and this was the question that we find in the gospels was in the books of Matthew Mark Luke and John I'll put the I'll pull the question from Matthew 16 Matthew 16: 13-1 17 says this Jesus was sitting down with his disciples and he wanted to ask them a question and so he asked them this specific question

when Jesus came into the district that's not our church that'd be awesome um but when he came into the District of cesaria Philippi he asked his disciples who do the people say the son of man is who do the people say the son of man is what's the word on the street people have heard about me but what do they believe about me and they said some say John the Baptist others say Elijah and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets and so basically they're responding to him saying the word on the street is interesting because at that point in answering the question John the

Baptist is already been killed so why would they be saying he's John the Baptist is Jesus some type of resurrected cousin that sounds like something out of Kentucky I can say that because I'm from Tennessee other say Elijah the prophet who never died but was taken up by a Chariots of Fire in a very interesting story in the Old Testament so is the prophet who never died is that who is now this Jesus who was born did he just come back in a miraculous way in the same way that Elijah left in a miraculous way well Jesus isn't claiming to be Elijah but the people

of the city are certainly coming up with some interesting theories as to who this man is that that can speak with authority that can heal the sick that can give sight to the blind that can cast out demons that can change the weather that can bring dead people back to life they're experiencing and seeing and hearing things about this man and they're trying to make sense of who he is but none of these examples warrant following Jesus as your lord King and ruler if he was John the Baptist just resurrected again well that doesn't warrant following John the Baptist because if you listen to what

John the Baptist taught he said don't follow me follow the Messiah who is to come so even if John the Baptist came back to life still you should not follow him as Lord Savior and King same with Elijah same with Jeremiah or any of the prophets none of them ever said follow me but rather follow the one who is to come and so the world has kind of made up their mind or at least is trying to figure out who this Jesus is but then Jesus looks straight at his disciples and he says but who do you say that I am who do you say

that I am and Simon Peter replied you are the Christ the son of the Living God and Jesus answered him blessed are you Sim barjon of her flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my father who is in heaven so two things I want you to see that are important for you to see in Peter's response and I'm going to work them backwards Jesus responds to Peter saying blessed are you Simon bar Jonah now Jesus just called him Peter now I know Jesus likes to change names I know the apostles like later on they like to change everyone's name but he just

called him Peter why is he now answering him Simon bar Jonah well it's a phrase that Jesus is referring to here Simon means he has heard that's what it means in its original definition he has heard or he is a listener barjona just means son of bar son of Jonah or John his father so he is a listener as a son of his father which is an interesting phrase when Jesus then connects it to what you just said has not come from flesh and blood but has come from the heavenly father what he's saying there is Peter having the ability to be able to say

that Jesus is not John the Baptist or Elijah or Jeremiah or one of the prophets but he is in fact the Christ the son of the Living God what Jesus is revealing to him is the only only way you know that is because you have ears to hear what the true heavenly father has spoken and therefore you're blessed to be able to hear that to be able to know that have you always had an opinion about Jesus have you always had an opinion about the church about Christianity what has that opinion been this is what I want your mind and your heart to question it

today is who you think Jesus is is it from what the world has said Jesus is or is it what the father has said Jesus is that's the question I want for you today and my prayer for us for every single person in this room whether you've been raised in the church or are new to the church or are here today because your family's here and you're just like this is part of family tradition my question for you is who do you say Jesus is and who you say Jesus is is it what you came up with is it what the world has come up

with or is it what the father has revealed is it what the father has revealed because if God is true and real and the father has revealed what his son is like and who his son is I think I would want to make sure that I'm listening to that versus anything the world has to say because if like if I go back to when I was in high school the thing that was popular when I was in high school was Hollywood was all about Jesus but it was not the true Jesus they would wear t-shirts that were like Jesus is my homeboy they created bracelets

what would Jesus do they saw Jesus as a good person who loved others and accepted them but they did not see Jesus in the same as the Jesus who showed up on the scene on the scene and said repent and be baptized stop doing what you're doing stop believing what you're believing stop walking in the life that you're walking in stop doing things your way and follow me follow my way Follow My Truth follow my life well Hollywood didn't see it that way they saw him as a catchphrase they saw him as someone who was good and the ideals of Jesus were good but they

did not see him as what Peter has said the son of the true Living God and so I ask this morning in your heart that question who do you say Jesus is because by faith I believe the Bible this book I believe it is the god inspired authorship of 66 books written in the span of 2500 years by by more than 40 men telling one story that John 3:16 sums up for God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life so as you contemplate in your mind and your heart who do

I say that Jesus is let me show you what the Bible says about him and before you think again the Bible was written by a bunch of close friends and yes men who followed Jesus because there's arguments out there these were just the followers of Jesus who wrote the Bible of course they're going to want to write something that's good about him well let me show you something real quick the New Testament has 27 books in it roughly 32% of the New Testament was written by a man named the Apostle Paul who used to be Saul of Tarsus Saul of Tarsus was a hater and

a persecutor of the church that would be like God asking Satan to write something good about Jesus not going to happen not going to happen not going to happen unless something happened to Paul that made him begin answering our question differently not only that but another 27% was written by Dr Luke who was not one of the original 12 disciples if you wanted to lump him in with the category of Yes Men even more than that the Book of James was written by Jesus's brother James James did not become a believer of Jesus and follower of Jesus as Lord and Savior until after the resurrection

you want to know why have you ever tried to convince your sibling to worship you like try it this week when you get together with family don't actually try it that's blasphemy but but that's what it would be like and the Book of James is authored by a man who grew up with Jesus and did not believe Jesus to be the Son of God probably just thought why does he never do anything wrong why is it always my fault like when the vase broke in their house no one's looking at Jesus they're looking at James James Jesus never does anything wrong James is probably frustrated

about that holding it against them maybe a little bit of older brother situation there even though he wasn't the older brother the Bible is not just written by Yes Men it's written by transformed men men who experienced what Christ is all about and then inspired by God to record that story to show here's who I was here's who I am now because Jesus made a difference and because John 3:16 begins with for God who is the father of the Son of God what's he like what's the father like if we're going to look at John 3:16 and say for God so loved the world okay

you can move into loving the world which is great but who is this God what is he like do I want him to Love Me Do I want him to give me his son do I want to believe in him why should I well to begin with the four God I want to tell you three things about him I want to tell you that he is a giftgiving and that he is faithful therefore he is the loving Gift Giver as a matter of fact all good gifts come from God this is James again jesus' brother 117 who says this every good gift and every perfect

gift is from above coming down from the Father of Lights with whom there is no variation or Shadow due to change the reason why all good things come from God is because God is the only entity in all of the universe and outside of the universe that is inherently and intrinsically and infinitely good loving and unchanging and that alone is deserving of worship that alone is deserving of worship because we have nothing else in all of creation that we can say is always good loving and unchanging nothing in all of creation we can attribute with those characteristics but that's who God is that's why Psalm

100 tells us Make a Joyful Noise to the Lord all the Earth like that's a command and Worship the Lord serve the Lord with gladness come into His presence with singing why should I make a Joyful Noise to the Lord why should we serve him why should we come into His presence with singing Because The Psalm 100 continues on to say know that the Lord he is God it is he who made us we are his we are his people and the Sheep of his pasture enter his gates with Thanksgiving and his courts with praise give thanks to him bless his name why why should

we enter God's gates with Thanksgiving why should we come into His courts with praise why should we thank him and bless his name because as Psalm 100 continues to tell us for the Lord is good he's good his steadfast love endures forever and his faithfulness to all generations all generations so Psalm 100 tells us that the for God is good loving and faithful to all generations because as James 1:17 tells us the father never changes which means he is the only God in which you can wholeheartedly trust and follow and put the future of your life in in his hands there is no other madeup

God false god mythological God there is no other creature there is no other worldly teacher there is nothing else in all of creation that has these qualities that would cause us to follow and Trust wholeheartedly that they are going to be good loving faithful and unchanging forever nothing nothing and so we got to start there Psalm 100 that God is good the second thing why does God need to be good why does God need to be loving and faithful to all generations in other words in loving the world why did God send his son for us to believe in him why did God send his

son for us to believe in him remember our guy The Saul of Tarsus who hated Christianity who hated Jesus who was responsible for the first Christian martyr in history the death and stoning of stepen Paul asked to literally like this guy asked to be on the team that goes from Village to Village dragging out men women and children who are following and treasuring Jesus in order to imprison them torture them and some killed them like that's who this guy is and what does he have to say about the state of humanity when he meets Jesus Romans 3:23 again the same guy who hated Jesus and

was persecuting anything that Jesus was about that same guy writes a book to the Romans and says this for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God there's not one person person who deserves anything from God there's not one person who can come in God's good presence if God is good there's not one person who can be in his presence and say I'm equal to your goodness for all have sinned and if you're like I don't know what sin means sin is an archery term that means the only way to not sin is hit the dead Bullseye if you don't hit the

bullseye you've missed the Mark if Jesus and God is the mark of righteousness and Holiness we've all missed it we've fallen short of it we did not hit the bullseye when it comes to following what God has created in us to follow and unfortunately Romans 3:23 continues on later in Romans 6:23 and says man you want to know what the punishment is for missing the mark the wages of your sin is death the wages of your sin is death which is why when you go all the way back to the Garden Adam and Eve you're free to enjoy any and every tree that exists in

the garden you're free to go and play you're free eat and drink your F you lovers as Song of Solomon says have the time of your life if you joyfully obey literally my command to be able to go and do anything and everything in my name for my glory for your good for your joy you're going to have the best life ever but because I want to make sure that it's joyful obedience it's with limits and boundaries because if there's no limits and boundaries guess what you're God God's the only one who's Limitless without boundaries but us as created beings are finite and limited with

boundaries and so in order for them them to understand that he puts a tree in the garden and says do not eat of it do not eat of it that's joyful obedience that's them being able to understand who they are and who God is and what that relationship Dynamic looks like there is Creator and creation there is master and servant this is the way God designed it to be and that's what's good for us if we try to put ourselves in that place things go bad and that's exactly what Adam and Eve tried to do the serpent came in wait a minute he told you

there's limits and boundaries that doesn't sound loving and good he told you that you if you eat of it you will die well that doesn't sound like it's lifegiving why would he hold something from you you can be like him if you just go against him and they went against him and unfortunately it brought death into the world it brought death into the world world for the wages of sin is death and so that same Paul who wrote Romans also wrote the book of Ephesians to another group in Ephesus and he says this to them in Chapter 2 veres 1-6 you were dead in the

trespasses and sins in which you once walked following the course of this world going back to our question who do you say that Jesus is are we following what the world has said is life and the pursuit of happiness and the American dream and what's going to be satisfying and what's going to be the best life that you can ever create for yourself are we following the patterns of this world in which you once walked following the course of this world following the prince of the power of the air that sounds like someone who would be good but it's not that's the serpant in the

garden who has been given a leash to tempt the world world again because of limits and boundaries because of providing an opportunity for joyful obedience he's been given a leash to tempt us so that if we say no to him and yes to Jesus that brings us back into joyful obedience the spirit that is now at work in the sons of Disobedience among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh carrying out the desires of the body and the mind and were by Nature children of Wrath like the rest of mankind well that's not very hopeful or peaceful or joyful or lovely

on this Christmas morning but John 316 because God is loving and generous he gave gave his only son Jesus again we were by Nature children of Wrath like the rest of mankind but Ephesians 2 you look at verse 4 flips the script and this is again the inspired authorship of God letting us know why his son Jesus came to the Earth but God being rich in Mercy because of the Great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses made us alive together in Christ it's by Grace which is a gift that you have been saved and raised us up

with him and seated us with him in the Heavenly places in Christ Jesus again if you go back to what he said to the Romans in Romans 6:23 for the wagees of sin is death I didn't finish the verse the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life is the eternal life John the Baptist or Elijah or Jeremiah or Buddha or Joseph Smith or the Greek gods of Mythology the Roman gods of Mythology no eternal life in Christ Jesus our lord in nothing else and in no one El else including us you're not going to find eternal life in

yourself you're not going to make enough money you're not going to do enough situps you're not going to create the best family like you're not going to provide for yourself the best Christmas tree you can't you can't Romans 56-8 puts it this way while we were still weak while we were still weak which means you do not have the strength to change your circumstance while we were still weak at the right time Christ died for the ungodly for one will scarcely die for a righteous person though perhaps for a good person one would dare to even die again he kind of Dives in a little

bit there he's like look you know how like we as humans work we as humans will look at someone and if we think they've done something good we will then reward that what he's saying here is God doesn't work that way God's not looking at you to determine whether or not you've cleaned yourself up before he cleans you he doesn't determine whether or not you've taken care of your sins before he takes care of your sins while we were still weak at the the right time Christ died for us he goes on to say but God shows his love for us and that while we

were still sinners Christ died for us again John 3:16 God gave his only son that whoever believes in him will not perish that is will not pay the wages for their sins because someone else paid for them on their behalf the only reason why you have an opportunity to not perish is because Jesus left Heaven became a baby in a Manger born to a virgin and grew up to be the Savior we all needed by sacrificing himself in our place perishing on the cross to pay for our punishment so that in exchange by believing in what he did we would receive as a free gift

eternal life that's good news in the midst of the bad news which is you're going to make shabby Christmas trees for the rest of your life and there's nothing you can do about it but Christ is going to come and make a beautiful tree because he hung himself on a tree he hung himself on a tree John 10:1 14-18 puts it this way this is Jesus now we've heard from God who weren't necessarily Yes Men but what does Jesus say about himself he asked the question who do you say that I am now let him say who he is in John 10:1 14-18 again John

was with him this is an I witness testimony okay this would hold up in court Jesus says this I am the Good Shepherd I know my own and my own know me me just as the father knows me and I know the father and I lay down my life for the sheep and I have other sheep that are not of this fold I must bring them also and they will listen to my voice so there will be one flock and one Shepherd for this reason the father loves me for this reason the father loves me which is honestly if you just skip over that that's

a crazy statement that Jesus just made because Jesus if he's the son of God has existed for eternity eternity in a community known as the Trinity which is the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit and when we say that God is love it's the essence of what the Trinity Trinity is in the fact that the father loved the son was the Beloved and the Holy Spirit is love shared so as they are love Jesus right here like this blows my mind because it's entering into human history Jesus says the reason the father loves me is because the Beloved sacrificed himself to redeem the people

that God created who fell away from him the reason the father loves him is because of what he accomplishes in order to redeem us and bring us into loving relationship with God like have you ever thought about that like the Father's Love For the son has always existed but is intrinsically based on the son's willingness to lay his life down for those God created who sinned against the father if you want to talk about an older brother younger brother situation with the prodical son the older brother did not represent the older brother of us very well instead the older brother whom the father did love

and was intreating and saying please come into the party for your younger brother has returned in the actual story Jesus the older brother would have gone to the pig pin and said hey brother you can come home because I'm willing to take the punishment for you and when you get there the father's going to clothe you and dress you up and throw a huge celebration for you because I've paid your penalty you have nothing to worry about in coming home the prodical son was worried we don't have to worry about coming home because we do have an older brother Jesus who laid his life down

for us for this reason the father loves me because I Lay My Life down that I may take it up again no one takes it from me this is why again I always say like the crucifixion of Jesus Christ would be impossible to try because you have us who are responsible for murdering Jesus you have the political Powers who are responsible for ordaining it and and and allowing it to happen but then at the same time you have Jesus saying no one killed me I laid my life down I sacrificed myself no one takes it from me I lay it down on my own accord

I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up again this charge I have received from my father here's the last thing I want to tell you about the man Jesus born 200,000 years ago in a small town to a poor couple in a dirty manger before you have to decide in your mind and your your heart what you think he is or who you think he is in John 14:6 Jesus says this about himself I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me we as the world like to believe that

all paths lead to God we like to believe that but God never said that God never said that we said that to to make ourselves feel better that we can get to God on our own Jesus who is God says that the only way to get to his father who is also God is through Jesus he is the way he is the door he is the gate in addition Jesus says he is the truth we as the world like to believe that Our Truth is good enough well it's just my truth it's my it's the way I understand things but God never said that in

fact God tells us in Proverbs 14:12 there is a way that seems right to a man but its end is the way to death leave the world up to figuring things out themselves and it will kill itself it will eradicate itself it will destroy itself if it is not following God's way and God's design we will kill ourselves just look at look at our society lastly Jesus says that he is the life again we as the world we like to believe that we can manufacture life that we can prolong life that we can create the Fountain of Youth that we can manifest heaven on Earth

this is why billionaires are cryogenically freezing themselves because they believe at some point we're going to figure it out and create heaven on Earth and create our own eternity they think they're going to do that that's why again the self-help industry is worth over $40 billion right now and expected to reach 80 billion by 2032 every time we buy a book for $25 that is going to improve our life it might buy us an extra year or so but it does not have the power to buy or improve our eternity it just won't it just won't John 6:44 Jesus also says no one can come

to me unless the father who sent me draws him and then I will raise him up on that last day are there multiple ways to get to God no Jesus is the only way to get to God that's exclusive the way to heaven the way to get back to God the way to forgiveness and salvation is only Jesus Christ that's as exclusive as it gets but it's also inclusive in that the way the truth and the life is for all nations for God so loved the world inclusive that he gave his only son exclusive like we got to understand that Christianity is the most exclusively

inclusive religion that exists it's also the most inclusively exclusive religion that exists no other religion can state that period no other religion can state that John 3:16 for God will loved the world Matthew 28:1 19- 20 go and make disciples of all Nations All Nations baptizing them in whatever they believe and whatever they can figure out and whatever they can think of no baptizing them in the name of the father and the Son and the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe whatever their culture wants to determine is good in the moment no teaching them to observe all that Jesus has commanded are we following the

way the truth and the life or are we following whatever we think is going to be good Isaiah 49:6 God says is it too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel that's just his way of saying I do have a people that I am preserving and that I'm going to take care of of but he then also says I will make that people as a light for the Nations that my salvation May reach to the end of the Earth it blows my mind that the Pharisees and the religious

leaders during the time of Jesus had no idea that Jesus was not just for them but for all they're supposed to be the experts of the Old Testament and it's like they only thought he was for the Jews not the Gentiles just the Jews they didn't read the Bible period they didn't read the Bible it's all over the Bible that it is inclusive for every tribe tongue and Nation listen to this Revelation 7 9-12 if you want to know what heaven's going to be like this is what it's going to be like after this I looked and behold a great multitude that no one could

number from every Nation from all tribes and all peoples and all languages standing Before the Throne and before the lamb clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands and crying out with a loud voice salvation Belongs To Our God who sits on the throne and to the lamb and all the Angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures and they fell in their faces before the throne and they worshiped God saying amen blessing and glory and wisdom and Thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our god forever and ever amen an eternal worship service

made up of every tribe every tongue every people every nation and the thing that I think is going to be most beautiful about it is and this is conjecture a little bit but I just think it's true I believe we're all going to be singing in our language but reversing the curse of Babel and understanding everyone in our language so that it is so beautiful to see what Christ came to save and redeem to become his bride to become his bride so here's the question for today at this Christmas service in the year 2024 who do you say Jesus is given the evidence I've shown

you from the Bible can you go on living your life believing he was just a good man 2,000 years ago and we're going to celebrate his birth this coming week but that's all he was a good man and this is when we believe his birth was youall even do you even know why December 25th is why we celebrate it some people believe it's because it's tied to the winter solstice some people believe there were other Pagan religions and celebrations going on during the winter solstice and so they wanted to use it as a cultural moment to try to redeem those situations that were going on

no actually it's just if you come around fourth Century all right because no one actually knows the date when he was born but right around 4th Century the church decided we have a pretty good understanding of when his um death was which was they believe around March 25th and therefore they attached his death also to the conception of his birth so then they just said if we believed he was conceived at the same time that he was also crucified again different timeline but at the same time he crucify elicious add nine months to it and you get December 25th all I'm saying is don't put

a lot of meaning behind December 25th put a lot of meaning behind what we are celebrating not when we are celebrating it but on this Christmas at this time this man who was born 200 years ago was he in fact the Son of God sent by the father to die for my sins so that God can forgive me and Grant me life abundantly because that's what John 10:10 tells us Jesus says the thief comes only to steal kill and destroy destroy but I came that they may have life and have it abundantly again the world wants to steal everything you have wants to kill you

and wants to destroy you that's the prince of the power of the air that's what his whole thing is he's a roaring lion looking to devour somebody because he knows he's going to be devoured and he wants to drag anyone and everyone that he can with him he wants God to be robbed of his glory and he wants you to be robbed of your joy that is found in him and him alone but Jesus came to give life and Abundant Life how do I receive this free Eternal gift how do I receive this free gift of forgiveness how do I restore my relationship with God

who created me how do I ensure my future is eternal life in heaven and not hell Psalm 34:8 David tells us taste and see that the Lord is good honestly today I've given you food for your soul to be able to taste and see that the Lord is good did it taste good what you know about Jesus now based on what God inspired people to write about him and I just always have to believe that if they wrote it incorrectly he's going to fix it he'd fix it but it was good enough for him that what he wrote shows us how good loving faithful he

has been to all generations throughout all of time so what does it then take how can you taste and see that the Lord is good a simple ABC acronym will help you understand how to be a true Christian number one admit that you are a sinner believe what Paul said in Romans 3:23 admit that you are a sinner I'm no different than anyone else I don't stand up here as we used to say down the South a man of the cloth like I don't stand up here as a man of the cloth and be like man I was just born awesome and I'm going to

tell everyone else that they're not no I was born to a Duck Dynasty style family and Tennessee that raised hell and the first literally the first concert I ever went to was a Kiss concert at the age of 10 years old like that's the kind of family I grew up we grew up deciding which South Park character was our favorite that was family night in our house I remember being in Middle School thinking I think I could break into that car and steal it right now and then getting to freshman year something happened well one I know 9/11 happened that ages me puts me where

I'm at freshman year 911 happens we're driving down the road and this Backwoods father that I have says man this world's going to hell in a hand basket we need to start going to church and he just points at one he says we're going to go to that church this coming Sunday and we step foot in that church that coming Sunday which was again that was again September we then hear the gospel over the course of the next few weeks and our entire family my father my mom my brother and me we get baptized January 26 2002 Jesus showed up in our lives and revealed

to us what we needed and he course corrected where I was going and I'm telling you right now it began with me first realizing I'm not as good as I thought I was I'm a sinner in need of a savior number two just recognizing that you're a sinner is not enough we also need to believe that Jesus is the son of God we need to believe that he is the Son of God John 3:16 for God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life and number three we need to confess Jesus

as your lord Romans 109-113 puts it this way because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved for with the heart One Believes and is Justified and with the mouth one confesses and is saved for the scripture says everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame for There's no distinction between Jew and Greek for the same Lord is Lord of all bestowing his riches on all who call on him who confess him for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be

saved we'll be saved acts 2: 36-41 this is now uh again one of those guys who was with Jesus for the 12 for the three years one of the 12 after Jesus resurrects gives them the commission goes back to heaven he then gives them the call to go tell other people about this Jesus so that they then can answer the question who do you say that Jesus is when he preaches a sermon this is what happens Acts 2 36-41 let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ this Jesus whom you crucified this wasn't the

most secret sensitive sermon that was ever preached that'd be like you coming in i' be like hey Merry Christmas you murderers y'all killed Jesus would you like to accept him as your lord and savior whom you crucified and when they heard this they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the rest of the Apostles Brothers what shall we do huh that's the question what shall we do and Peter said to them repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the Forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the holy spirit for

the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off everyone whom the Lord Our God calls to himself and with many other words because he was a good preacher he bore Witness and continued to exhort them saying save yourselves from this crooked generation stop listening to the world and doing whatever the world says so those who received his word were baptized and there were added that day about 3,000 Souls let's all bow our heads and close our eyes if this morning for the first time you truly recognize that you have sinned against God and are in need of forgiveness

from Jesus and right now you admit to the Lord you you believe Jesus died in your place so that God can forgive you and you want to confess Jesus as Lord of your life now which means you stop living your life your way and You Begin from this day forward following Jesus and living your life for him if you want to make that confession today would you raise your hand and look up at me Matthew 10:32 Jesus says everyone who acknowledges me before men I will also acknowledge before my father who is in heaven father we come to you this morning and we thank you

we thank you for sending your son Jesus to do for us what we could not do for ourselves to live the perfect life that we could not live to Die the death that we deserve because we could not live a perfect life and then to resurrect 3 days later because God's Wrath in killing you was satisfied it paid the penalty for our sins and that was good enough for the good god father we thank you for this and I pray that if there's someone in this room who believes for the first time that they would let us know and for the rest of us who

do believe I pray it just overwhelms us with gratitude and thankfulness that we get to celebrate Christmas as the birth of your son Jesus coming to The World To Die For The World God you're so good and as we open presence this week May we remember that you are the great Gift Giver and your son Jesus is the greatest gift that we could ever receive it's in your name we pray amen would you go ahead and stand with me we end our services with communion where we come around the table and this is a meal I mean we're going to be doing Christmas meals this

week when we think of meals we think of man I want to eat till I'm full like I want to enjoy it I want to be satisfied with it I want all the flavors all the taste all the good stuff that comes from it and then what happens hours later you eat back up the leftovers because because you're hungry again this is a meal that we get to be reminded of every single week that that hunger and thirst that we have in our soul is actually Satisfied by the death of Jesus alone alone and it actually then helps us categorize all those other lesser things

in life money sex status whatever it is that never satisfies we way we think it is we get to just categorize those things as just good gifts that God gave us but they were never meant to be worshiped they were never meant to provide the ending of our sacrifice that or our satisfaction that's why we always want more of it and more of it and more of it because it was never meant to satisfy when we come to this meal we get to find satisfaction in Jesus breaking his body and shedding his blood when we partake of the bread and the juice we're remembering that

I'm full in Jesus alone and everything else is just icing on the cake we get to enjoy it but not seek it for satisfaction we are satisfied in Christ alone that's what Christmas is all about that's the gift that leaves you not needing any other gifts so if you believe that Jesus Christ was sent to this world because he loved the world and if you believe he is the Son of God who died for you on the cross in order to forgive you of your sins and restore your relationship back to your creator the father if you believe that then I invite you to come

down grab the elements bring them back to your seats we will worship take that moment as an opportunity to pray to the Lord seek the Lord just Worship the Lord and at the end of the song we will partake of it together so if you believe Jesus I invite you to come down grabb the elements bring them back to