25th December 2025 - Brendan Hurley

G'day everyone. Merry Christmas. If my voice

gives out, it has nothing to do with the puppet

show at all. Let me just get set up here. How

about we pray and ask for God's help as we dig

into his word now. Let's see if I can find where

we're up to on this slide. No, it's not working.

That's okay. Oh, here we go. Cool. All right.

There we go. Let's pray. Father, thank you so

much that you love us, that you care for us.

Help us to see today what Christmas truly is

about and how it's more wonderful than we ever

thought or imagined. And we ask this in Jesus'

name. Amen. Well, Merry Christmas. Today I've

got a quick Christmas quiz for you. What is Christmas

really about? Here is the quick Christmas quiz

on what Christmas is really about. You've got

four options. Option A, is it about presents?

Option B, is it about great food? Option C, is

it about putting things up, decorations? And

option D, is it about insects and bugs? What

do you reckon? I'll give you some thinking time.

Talk to the person next to you. Talk to yourself

if you want. As long as you don't talk back,

that's okay. All right, have we got it? Okay,

the answer. What is Christmas really about? The

answer is D. It's actually about bugs. Now, why

is the answer that Christmas is about bugs? Well,

that's what I want to show you this morning as

we look at Philippians 2, 1 to 11. Because when

we see that Christmas is about bugs and insects,

it'll give you the best Christmas ever. So I

want to show you by looking at three things.

Here's the first thing. We are like bugs to God.

We are like bugs to God. In the universe, there's

different creatures, right? And they all have

different values. Have a look at this. So here's

the high worth, here's the low worth. The high

value, the low value. Some are more valuable

than others. So think about when there's a horse

race and a horse and a jockey crash. Who do we

go out to first? The jockey. We go to the jockey

because he's a human. And even though the horse

could be worth millions and millions of dollars,

we go out to the jockey first because people

are more valuable than horses and money. People

are more precious than animals. Now, let me give

you a little exercise. If you had to rank all

these, how would you rank them? In highest value

to lowest value? I'll give you a second to talk

to your friend or yourself again. How would you

rank them? Less laughing, more muttering. It

means you're thinking. That's good. All right.

Well, if I were to put them on a scale. I think

we might rank them something like this. And if

you disagree with me, that's okay. It's really

the first one and the last one that I care about.

It's that humans and bugs are far apart, aren't

they? Humans and bugs are far apart. Now, add

to the scale. If you put God on the scale, where

would he be? Well, he'd be off the chart, wouldn't

he? He created everything. He's eternal. He's

of infinite value. So the distance between him

and us is like us and bugs. Actually, it's way

further, isn't it? Here's how Isaiah puts it.

He says, God sits enthroned above the circle

of the earth and its people are like grasshoppers.

To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal,

says the Holy One? Lift up your eyes and look

to the heavens. Who created all these? God's

saying, you and me, you're like you and bugs,

actually infinitely more. I mean, if you got

a telescope for Christmas, did anyone get a telescope

for Christmas? No? Okay, cool. Next year. When

we were in Broken Hill, we had like amazing,

like there's a whole tourist industry out there

for sort of looking at the stars through telescopes

and things. And if you go out there, there's

no light pollution. You look at the stars and

the planets and see them all clearly. Or even

if you just look up without a telescope, it'll

make you feel very small. I reckon God made the

universe big to remind us that we are small.

Because often humans have an inflated opinion

of ourselves. And that's usually what ruins Christmas,

isn't it? Think of the fights at Christmas time.

It's usually because someone thinks they're right

and everyone else is wrong and they're better

and everyone else is worse. Oh, I don't want

to do that job. You know, someone else can. That's

gross. But seeing God's greatness humbles us

in a healthy way. We are like bugs compared with

God. And yet that doesn't mean he doesn't care

about us because at Christmas here's what we

celebrate. God became one of us. God became one

of us. Imagine if I had a pill that could turn

you into a grasshopper. Would you take it? Mean

leaving behind all your friends, toys, family,

body, whatever. And it'd be dangerous. You're

so much weaker. Bug spray, feet, newspapers.

They weren't a problem before. Maybe feet, but,

you know, you'd only want to take something that

moves you up, wouldn't you? If I could have a

pill that moves me up, yeah, that I'd take. You

know, that makes me bigger and stronger. But

one that brings me down? No thanks. See, the

first humans wanted a pill that would bring them

up. Do you remember the Garden of Eden? What

the serpent said? You can be like God. Just eat

from the fruit of the tree. And they ate. Because

they were trying to get equality with God. We're

all like that, aren't we? It's what humans do.

But Jesus did the opposite. Look at verse 6 and

7 in your Bibles with me. Jesus, who being in

very nature God, did not consider equality with

God something to be used to his own advantage.

Even though he is God, even though he's equal

with God, he didn't think, yeah, I'm going to

get the. perks and squeeze out the benefits of

this. Rather, he made himself nothing by taking

the very nature of a servant being made in human

likeness. Even though Jesus is God, he didn't

exploit his position as God. He became a human

to serve us. The king of the universe doesn't

just wear a crown. He wears an apron as well.

It reminds me a bit of Undercover Boss. Have

you ever seen that show, Undercover Boss? What

they do is they take like a CEO of some corporation,

Maccas, Coca -Cola, whatever, and they become

a frontline employee. They put a beard on them

and some glasses. They make them look like someone

completely different. And they do it to see what's

actually going on on the front lines. They get

down there. They help the workers. They do everything

just like the workers do. Well, that's what the

God of the universe did. He put on humanity.

He went down on the front line. He served with

the workers. Jesus is the undercover boss of

the universe. He's fully God and he becomes fully

human as well to love us, to help us. and to

save us. But you might be wondering, hang on,

how does this help us? Well, look at verse 8.

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled

himself by becoming obedient to death, even death

on a cross. So before being in Bethlehem, Jesus

couldn't die. He's God. He can't die. But by

becoming a human, now he can die. And he didn't

just die peacefully. He died in the most agonising

way. And he did it to serve us. It's assumed

here. It's unpacked elsewhere in the Bible. Jesus

dies as our substitute. Hands up if you like

the Hunger Games. It's a bit old school now.

Yes, okay, we've got one person. Fantastic. I

like the Hunger Games. Check it out. In the Hunger

Games, there's this little girl named Prim, and

she gets selected to be reaped, to basically,

she goes off to the Hunger Games for certain

death. And what her sister does, Katniss, when

they're reaping Prim, she goes, I volunteer as

tribute. It's probably the best line in the whole

movie. She takes her place. She stands in so

that Prim won't face certain death. And that's

what happens for us. That's what we celebrate

at Christmas. That's what we look to at the cross

every day. We were facing God's judgment for

our selfishness, our pride, our evil. And Jesus

takes our place. Now, I get a family member doing

that. But would you become a bug? And die for

a bug to save them? For a grasshopper? For a

mosquito? I know I wouldn't. They're annoying.

Do you know what we've got at home? We've got

a bug zapper. It's been cranking pretty hard

lately. There was one night I was there and I

heard it going... I was like, yeah, that was

a big one or a lot of them, I don't know. But

here's what happens at the cross. The cross is

like a giant bug zapper. Jesus gets blasted with

God's judgment so that we won't be. He goes into

it so that we can be spared. He's so loving that

he becomes one of us, like a bug, to die for

us. And do you know what happens when we take

this to heart, when we believe this? When our

whole life is centred around it? It fills you

with amazing joy. It helps you start each day

differently. You wake up and you know, I'm loved.

I'm secure. I've got hope. of a life that lasts

forever because Jesus gave that to me. If you're

a Christian here today, don't rob yourself of

that joy. And I need to hear that as much as

anyone else. Don't rob yourself of that joy.

Recite it. Remember it. Refresh yourself in it.

It is the most wonderful thing. And if you're

not a Christian here today, I hope you'll seriously

be thinking, why don't I have that? What's stopping

me? That sounds pretty awesome. Is that worth

having? If you want to talk more, come have a

chat with me. But that's not all. Because not

only has God become one of us, But Jesus transforms

our relationships because of it. We can now think

differently. We can now think differently because

of what Jesus did at Christmas, because of what

Jesus did at the cross. Look at verses 3 to 5

with me. not looking to your own interests, but

each of you to the interests of the others. In

your relationship with one another, have the

same mindset as Christ Jesus. See, selfishness,

arrogance, pride, grumbling, complaining, those

are relationship killers, aren't they? That's

the cause of the arguments at Christmas lunch.

That's what causes friction at work or at home

all year round. Our default way of thinking is

to look out for number one, isn't it? Years ago

I had a golf coach who was trying to be like

my golf coach and my life guru, I think, at the

time. And he said to me, Brendan, you know what

you've got to do? You've got to look out for

number one. You've got to start looking out for

number one. That sounds like really good advice,

doesn't it? But you know what it does when everyone

follows that? We become increasingly polarised

and divided. It just causes fighting. We just

have to draw more borders, don't we? Because

I'm looking out for number one. We know that

it doesn't work. But what can move us and motivate

us to be different, to be humble, to serve, to

put others ahead of myself? It's feeling the

love from Jesus. It's learning to copy his approach.

Because when you do, you don't think, oh, cleaning

the loo, that's beneath me. Jesus suffered the

most horrible things and he's the king of the

universe. He's the boss. How could it ever be

beneath me? I don't look at other people and

think, well, my welfare matters more than theirs.

I've got to look out for number one. No, because

Jesus looked out for me. He put my interests

ahead of his own. Do you know what? We imitate

what we love. If you love Jesus, you will copy

his way of thinking, won't you? Let me show you

how this plays out. So there's high worth, there's

low worth, high value, low value. Where do you

put yourself? Now, we said we're higher than

the animals. Good, that's right. But we're under

God. And Jesus put us ahead of himself. We were

like bugs and he put us way ahead of, put himself,

put us ahead of himself. We're so loved that

our worth has skyrocketed. Think about how valuable

you are that Jesus has treated you with such

value. You are now off the charts, aren't you?

Because Jesus valued you so much. And when we

see how valued we are, that changes how we turn

up. It changes those who see and appreciate what

Jesus did. Because when you see that you've got

high worth, that when you see that Jesus has

loved you so much, you no longer have to prove

yourself to everyone, do you? You can feel secure

because, hey, I'm securing God's love. Selfishness

often stems from insecurity, doesn't it? You

don't have to think, no one's looking out for

me, so I have to. You can think, no, the God

of the universe looked out for me and loved me

and still is. I don't have to look out for myself.

See, the Christian knows they're precious. And

so they don't have to prove themselves. Their

interests aren't centred on themselves. They

serve. They're not selfish. And when we have

this mindset, it changes how we turn up at Christmas

and the whole year round. At Christmas lunch,

you know, that debate gets heated. Oh, you thought.

Not this year, please. Can we just eat the food

in peace? But it happened again. Everyone's arguing

again, especially if you invited everyone to

Christmas lunch. That's always fun. But then

you suddenly go, you know what? I've got an opinion.

It's not that important that I shove it on everyone

else. It's not necessarily right. I'm going to

take an attitude of listening and loving the

people who are here. That's my goal. Can I leave

them not only full but feeling listened and loved?

If that mindset of Jesus grips kids, they'll

help clean up without complaining. Do we really

have to take the food? They'll just do it, even

without being asked. I mean, that takes a while.

Maybe wait until they're 17. Throughout the year,

we'll be more helpful around the house. We'll

even give up the remote. You watch what you want

tonight. Well, I mean, everyone just watches

their screens now, don't they? But, you know,

everyone's got their own. Maybe you might even

watch something together. Just putting it out

there. Joyfully cleaning the loo. I don't know

what it might be. Doing the dishes. Jesus gives

us the motivation and the mindset to be different,

to be joyful, to serve others. So there you go.

That's what Christmas is about. Christmas is

about bugs. It's about how we're like bugs compared

with God. It's about how God became one of us

to save us. And when you grasp this, actually

when it grasps you, it transforms your whole

life and how you turn up. When I look around

at Christmas, as I'm sure you do too, I don't

see much Christmas spirit anymore. I see some

fancy marketing. I see everyone getting ready

for Boxing Day sales. I see people getting a

bit argy -bargy and stressed trying to get presents

or, you know, getting enough food at the register

and I got to the ham first. You know, maybe at

Marsha's TJ probably saw that more than most.

I don't see much of the Christmas spirit anymore.

The joy, the willingness to help others, it's

often lacking these days. And, hey, maybe it's

the rise in house prices or the cost of living

or the culture war. I don't know. I'm sure those

things probably haven't helped. But only one

thing can give us that Christmas spirit. It's

being gripped by what Jesus did for us and having

that same mindset that he had as his love captured.

your heart. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we want

to thank you so much for Jesus, for all he's

done for us. Thank you that at Christmas we get

to celebrate the amazing gift of him coming into

the world to save us. But Father, let it not

stop there. Please help us to enjoy that wonderful

gift of having a new of thinking differently,

of thinking like Jesus. Please change how we

see ourselves, others, and most importantly,

how we see you. And we ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen.