Christmas Advent…Merry Christmas!

but Lord You’re not bound by new information you through your spirit do deep things where you you look for an opening in the hearts of people like me and say okay let’s make this new for you and that’s our prayer because you’re here amen I never get tired of this I I would want to say something to you who maybe don’t normally go to a church Gathering like this some of you are live streaming now some will later in the week some will turn it on

tomorrow because after all that’s what the day we celebrate whatever the case might be I just hope it’s for you enough of a moment that you say something happened here maybe it’s the reflection of your Hungry Heart because you’re tired of the substitutes let’s just call it that the things that we use and they work for a while but they wear out they run out we we need something that sustains us remember when I first heard the word living in the Northwest sustainability I just I

didn’t know I thought it was a bunch of we called them Tree Huggers you know whatever I didn’t no and my no offense to you who love trees I love them too we just built a fence thanks to trees but anyway but the truth is there’s things that we that that we hear about sustainable it’s it’s definitely the wave in vehicles we know that the resources in this world are maybe not infinite or they’re actually exhaustive we can run out so we’re pressed to find find

something that’s sustainable and and I would say that I’ve just describe the Christian life for many maybe not for you and there’s wonderful examples of people that you you look at their life and it doesn’t have to be Christmas or Easter it can be any time during the year and almost anytime you look at them you go they’re alive they they’ve got this view of Jesus like it just happened you know those people and you just want to warm Yourself by their fire because it’s good

it’s alive it’s I don’t know maybe sometime you’ve walked up to somebody and said what’s your secret you you have this sustainability spiritually speaking that I want I study the Bible a lot I do it every day and I just don’t feel like I leave the house with clothes on if I don’t you know which is a really weird thought to even lay on but I it’s so important it’s NE it’s it’s part of my experience and I get up and I study the Bible and

over time it’s interesting you start to relate to people in the Bible I’ve I’ve had a conversation with not weird don’t get don’t think he’s wow that jacket was just the beginning of things here it’s not that but I I’ve been talking to John the Baptist like I think he poked the bear when he called out Herod that’s not part of my devotion today but it’s it’s like Herod doesn’t belong to Jesus and he doesn’t care about adultery laws why are you anyway it’s that that

only comes because you’ve paid attention over the over time and if you take John the Baptist or somebody else in the Bible they they actually become almost your friends if how many of you feel that you can relate to what I’m saying right now you’re you’re like I write I read my Bible like that and it’s like I want to be like Ruth I think she’s so cool or you know I want to be like you know Samuel or pick your guy in fact on three

shout out man or woman somebody in the Bible that you’re just like trying to like you’re their stunt double ready one two three okay I heard es Esther I think I did some cool names anyway yes very good so here’s the deal you do start to gain a sense of their stuff their style their habits their quirks their idiosyncrasies things that make them real people not just figures in the Bible and even their character sort of Peaks out in the pages of the Bible occasionally you

read something or actually watch something that that gives you a vivid view of that person Debbie and I are watching The Chosen how many have watched or are watching see okay you know what I’m talking about if you haven’t make sure your hands in the air next time your ass cuz it is I’m not getting any you know promotional fee for announcing that it’s just we were gifted the the whole series and we’ve been watching it and sometimes rewatching parts of it we’re not clear through

it and we’re not in a hurry to do so but in in the portrayal of different people in the gospel story through the chosen this this really amazing series I I got to tell you certain people I have a whole bunch better Clarity when it comes to let’s take Peter okay since he’s a big part of it turns out I’m a lot like Peter that’s my self-c confession okay I hope that’s not true in denying Jesus someday that’s not my plan but I’m a lot like

Peter the Peter that we’ve watched so far he’s bold and he’s confident he’s that guy that is full of conviction you get the sense he’s got an opinion about something even if no one asked for it you ever felt that for me where where there’s this Con and with it undering it is a fierce loyalty to Jesus and I mean I I was convinced I’m a lot like him because I I too married a gorgeous woman and I happen to be a hunk and just going

to say it there it is it’s right in front of you how many think back what the Peter in the chosen the guy’s got guns man he’s he’s he’s lit he’s cool so anyway all right let’s get to someone more respectful take Mary Mother of Jesus she’s young we would expect expect that most theologians believe somewhere in her late teens young she’s pretty and she’s innocent we say today words like pure-hearted this is a great I just love how she crosses her arms and if you

could get up close if you promise you won’t try to you know steal baby Jesus when we’re done here come up and take a look even at the at the expression and imagine the Wonder the awe Kelly talked about that goes with birthing God through your womb oh it’s a double mindblower for men because we don’t know anything about birth and we darn sure don’t know about it pertaining to God she’s been called the mother of God for a reason and she and this chosen are

really amazing in fact there’s this scene we we actually watched it there’s this Christmas little special and it’s about the Shepherds so we watched that last night thinking about you know it’s time this would be good to and we did and we we of course the angel came to the Shepherds and then a host of of Angels Came and affirmed the news that there’s this this baby that’s been born a few miles from here maybe not even that in Bethlehem and you ought to go see

and and this is what you’re looking for a baby in this setting wi with you know just a couple of people a young mom and Joseph and so they hear all this news and an interesting thing Luke reports in his gospel telling of this he says that they left this moment and you see it in the chosen they’re blow they they’re exploding with excitement I mean they just saw Jesus what you would expect they just cannot stop talking about who they just saw and then then

there’s this almost exception he tells about Mary’s reaction as blown away as we could imagine as personally touched as we can imagine but we told these words she treasured these things and pondered them in her heart now she just gave birth let’s let’s kind of be real here she was exhausted labor was long and and yet she is captured just taking it in and the depiction of Mary and the chosen does a good job of presenting awe and and wonder and quiet contemplation of the profound

privilege never another woman to live on this planet before or since with that kind of privilege no wonder it says she treasured up those things thought about them often is what it means so of course the The Chosen presents Jesus of Nazareth and that’s what we’re doing this morning just briefly I have a little pause es in between because everything I’m saying I thought so deeply about I probably spend more time on my Christmas Eve message than I do on most messages it’s because it’s real

I I think of and again the chosen gives me a view of Jesus and I have to say to you that some of some of my Impressions my imagined looks and moments of seeing Jesus are very similar ilar to what I imagined and do imagine in the gospels you you can’t help but read that he has tenderness and patience especially I I don’t know it just it just hits me that in moments of excitement and and even confrontation with Pharisees and others I I just think

he’s he’s just chill he’s so he’s he’s not worked up he’s not spun we might say you just look at him and you think he’s calm and I want to be that because you and I have storms maybe you want to be that too we know what it’s like to want to be like that and then I I’m very aware that he’s attentive and and not not in a small way I think he’s fun I think I think that Jesus of the gospels and the Jesus

of the chosen seems to be the kind of fun that I imagine him to have and with it plenty of wit and he’s Winsome you don’t meet him and go well I might check back some other time you’re a you’re you’re in a small percentage of people if that’s the reaction because there’s enough here to cause you and I to stand still and read your four gospels you can be drawn to other sources about him none are reliable you just heard that none Matthew Mark Luke

John they’ve eternally captured what God want us to know about his son Jesus and the gospel that he offers but I I was thinking about two quick interactions last week we watched the scene in John 5 and there’s a man we don’t know his name we just know that he they depict in the chosen that he fell out of a tree as a child but as and then for 38 years 38 years he was the Bible reports an invalid he was paralyzed at least a paraplegic

maybe more but he was unable to move he was wheelchair bound if if they had him you know those are that’s a long time 38 years and then he meets Jesus and we’ve been there if you were part of the Israel team here we we were at that place that location in Beth bada and near the Sheep gate in Israel it’s in in Jerusalem and we stood there and tried to imagine this man as they show in the chosen him him crawling too slow to get

into the water for this possibility of a miracle and then Jesus he meets Jesus and I tell you that encounter just nearly stopped my heart it was so so real are you hearing a story I don’t know how you’re held back or broken or limited stuck might be the right word but that’s about as stuck as you can imagine imine 38 years you can’t move you’re despairing by that point you you got nothing to live for let’s go for a walk Debbie we say on on

a daily basis to each other but you can’t do that if you’re that man and then this incredible tender moment with Jesus it’s I tell you it’s irresistible and then I I don’t think we’ll ever get over the interaction with Mary Magdalene Mary from magdala Southwest edge of the Galilee lake or sea and one thing that the Bible reports about Mary is that she she had seven demons in her when she met Jesus that’s I I one demon is way too too many she was deeply

tormented and Afflicted spiritually are you maybe you’re that way you’re like I’m trying I don’t know how to go forward I don’t know the right path well Mary Magdalene is one that met Jesus and he said I am the way I will show you the path and he set this dear Afflicted woman free by the way what we know for sure about her this says something she traveled with Jesus she’s not named as one of the 12 disciples but she and several other women traveled with

Jesus and we know this talk about a privileged experience for Mary Magdalene she was the only human at both his crucifixion and his resurrection you know how you hear somebody say you know I was there were you hear when Mount St Helm blew up raise your hand if you were so I wasn’t and I could only hear it through my father’s reports and my brother who lived in Salem and all this but we weren’t here now very different things but you know what it’s like to

feel like privileged to see something that’s awesome and scary and and impactful I have one more impression that I want to tell you about this Christmas Eve though Beyond those people I’ve mentioned and and it says a lot about Jesus let’s bring it back to him he these words are in John 1 we read them earlier Debbie and I but I’ll just quote one little sentence he came into the very world he created and he became human and made his home Among Us so think about

the word among for a second five words by the way in that statement and they’re full of meaning he made his home made his home among us we used to live in Southern Cal and people would come there and they’d want to go drive in Hollywood for some crazy reason to see famous people’s homes you don’t get up close but you can take a tour and buses drive by these homes and all this stuff well Jesus came and he he didn’t live in Hollywood he didn’t

live in a high fancy place he decided to live among us those words describe Jesus as both personal and present right among sounds that way though he had options I don’t know if you thought of that about where and with whom he would live the Bible makes a point of saying he chose his home to be among us that’s a way of saying surrounded by Us in the presence or in the company of us ready for this that’s the likes of people like me and you

I’ll bet more than a few of us are saying man really I mean because you’re like me when you think of royalty if we think of it correctly if we think of royalty much less deity I don’t have such people living on my street I can tell you my neighbors they’re good neighbors for the most part they’re no they’re just real people normal people couple retired yeah some children on the street it’s just real people but the thought of him coming to live let’s we have

a home that’s sold several times on our street and let’s say he showed up and bought it that just doesn’t that just tips me over it doesn’t make sense I know we live on Luke Lane which is quite biblical of us but U think about that I mean he it’s it’s not just a long shot that he would live there it’s a ridiculous thought if you if we’re honest about it he made his home Among Us why would why would I say that Among Us is

just plain too common for deity I knew a secret service agent I I officiated at a wedding of the younger brother of this secret service agent and he was on the presidential detail and among does not it’s an image folks you won’t get close to them and he will see to it that you don’t you get you get what I mean the nervous chuckle that’s right okay I get it I’ll stay away we’ll keep our dist oh there are handshake moments and every hand has been

cleaned and every person that’s shaking his hand is been screened that’s how it works and that’s how it works for royalty to say nothing of deity the truth is royalty lives in other places they live above us they live higher on the ladder than any of us I’m not I’m not ripping on me or you or any of us we just know the truth of that statement max Leo’s words convey similar surprise about Jesus when he suggests if Jesus had a refrigerator your picture would be

on it ours isn’t magnetized anymore it’s really a bummer but anyway your picture would be on it to tape it on there go still quoting if he had a wallet your photo would be in it and I added if he owned a cell phone you would be one of his favorites I have six people in my favorites list my father’s gone so I’m de to just hit me five U but I would be on his favorite list how cool is that is that how amazing is

that that’s what it means to make his home Among Us so I don’t know if you live in an apartment or a home or a condo imagine Jesus deep being down the hall is getting close to the whole point of what the Bible reports and God who created the world with wisdom and power is that God who is usually somewhere associated in his greatness and glory with things like fire and thunder and lightning it’s all part of what you see in the Bible but that God

came as Christ laid in a Manger in a cradle and as we’ve said three decades later he went to a cross which is which was his true purpose in coming not because of something he did but because of a problem you have that you can’t make better on your own it’s a sin problem and he said I will take their place in the carrying out of judgment against their sin that’s why the cross is so important and why it’s so horrible it’s a place of death

and then as I said earlier one day he will come back and he will wear a glorious crown and when he does he will return on schedule some are getting a little unsettled that the weight’s been so long that’s been true for Generations I I was absolutely certain he would come back when I was a little boy because my dad kept saying he would and he hasn’t come back yet and I tell my kids and I would love to tell you children Jesus is coming back

we don’t know exactly when but it’s according to schedule ask your parents what schedule means but and a scene I want to read words from capture his return it will be a song actually that Revelation contains in chapter four and chapter five you are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because you were slain and with your blood you’re you purchase people for God from every tribe and language and Nation please hear me if you’re here today and think this is real good

religious thought for the guy next to me it’s not for him it’s for you it’s for me still quoting you have caused them those people that you came for and purchased you’ve caused them to become a kingdom of priests to serve our God and they will reign on the earth those people will to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb be praise and honor and glory and Power power forever and ever and listen to How It Ends anyone who comes to God in

Repentance and faith will then be welcomed by him to to be permanently in his presence forever and ever the worship team’s getting ready to reset and it’s a wonderful song we’re going to present called it actually asks a question is he worthy as they’re doing that I want to tell you a quick story it’s a story about a a king actually and he lived in the castle in the Palace of his kingdom and he lived with all the trappings of royalty people bowed to him they

fell face down in his presence I should tell you that this King was alone he was not married there was no Queen and this King one day was traveling around with his great vast Entourage a lot of power and pomp that go with a king that moves about the kingdom and people as his we would say motorcade passed by they they express great reverence he finally found his way to a very remote Village in his kingdom and as he was making his way through the street

his eyes for some reason caught a woman standing but somewhat bowing as he passed by his chariots and things like that and and for some reason it caught his eye and and he kept looking as he passed by they proceeded with their journey and made their way back to the to the Palace eventually and Sh enough he walked into a empty Palace quiet with no one to share the the experience and he he couldn’t get his mind off that person he saw passing and he thought

I it’s driving me nuts I got to go find out who she is and his first thought was I I she’s so lovely she’s she was there alone I presume she’s a maiden and I and I and I want to meet her so he thought he could just ask some of his people and they would make their way back to the village and the King has issued a decree that he would like to meet you come with us at once and she would come because no

one ever refused the king you don’t say no and he thought I’ll do wait a minute maybe not because she’ll come but always wonder is she here because she wants to be or is she here because she’s afraid might what might have happened if she said no so this is all going on in his mind and he walked away from that that option and then he he thought about her some more and thought wait a minute I’m I’m the king I can I can I have

all the resources I can overwhelm her with Bounty I can give her many many things gifts and and I could over just just overwhelm her with such yeah that’s that’s that’s probably the way to show her what the life ahead could be like for her she became the queen again thinking it through some more concluded no that wouldn’t work because she would come perhaps because that impressed her enough but he but she would wonder he would wonder are you into what I can do for you

or is there something deeper here are you interested in a relationship with me as the queen he thought long and hard and came up with only one real answer to his dilemma it would be that he needs to leave the castle and the throne not just temporarily but completely he would have to turn in his castle keys if you will and make his way on on his own to that little village and and he wouldn’t have any of the pageantry and he certainly wouldn’t have any

of the robing and markings of royalty but it’ be his only honest chance and he did it and he went there and he was known for a while as the new guy in town no one recognized him and then he met her you want to know how it turns out that depends on you that depends on me see Jesus is the king and we are the humble maidens I’d like you to Bow your heads with me at this time it’s real to us Lord that you

are the king You did leave your throne and your kingly crown when you came to Earth for me but in bethlehem’s home there was found no room for thy holy Nativity I pray that more than a few of us will decide this year if we haven’t to this point to invite you to come into our hearts Lord Jesus because there’s room in our hearts for thee if this is a time for you to turn to Jesus and bow your knee and and say yes to him

he will take you as one of his ow

Transcript machine-generated from the sermon audio, so it may contain errors. 4,329 words.