Coming Home for Christmas | December 15, 2024

have actually

been good morning.

so I've been

listening to, that

song, amazing Grace.

So if you don't

know me, very well.

I love Christmas.

we start decorating

mid-October, and we

are decorated, and

actually passing out

candy with the tree

in the background

on Halloween.

and, that's just

how we do things.

But since mid-October,

this song has been, on

repeat in my car and

God placed this

stuff on my heart

and it wasn't

until Monday or

Sunday night,

I was putting my

kids to bed and

I sat down and

typed up an outline

for this sermon.

Texted to Andy.

And Andy said,

we had a little

conversation about it.

He said, that's great.

He said, I've

got these two

times available.

And I said,

well, we're outta

town both times.

And he said,

all right.

This Sunday he said,

let's pray about it.

We'll talk on

Wednesday at the

daycare program.

And Wednesday we

talked and here I am.

so that's how

we got here.

and I, you're never

supposed to tell

people why you're

nervous when you

get in front of

people to speak.

that's speaking 1 0 1.

But, I'm a teacher, so

I don't really speak.

I teach, I don't like

speaking to adults.

give me hundreds of

kids and I'll get up

here and make a fool

of myself with them.

But you guys

are scary.

I.

So let's just,

let's jump in.

the first verse I

wanna, share with you

is Luke chapter two,

verses 10 through 11.

But the angel

said to them, do

not be afraid.

I bring you good

news that will

cause great joy

for all the people.

Today in the town of

David, of a savior

has been born to you.

He is the

messiah, the Lord.

I think that we forget

how important this

is to Christmas.

I think sometimes

we have this idea

that, we get busy

doing Christmas.

we get busy thinking,

do I have this?

Do I have that?

Did I do this?

Did I do that?

And getting all of

the things done.

And I think that too

often as Christians,

we stop saying

Christmas is about

the angel showing up

and.

The angels saying, I

bring you good noise,

good news, a great

joy for all people,

and I think that we

easily forget that

it's for everyone.

I think it's easy

to forget in a world

where we're out there

saying happy holidays,

that this is the

reason it is Jesus,

and it is because of

that baby in a manger,

that we even have the

option to have grace,

because without that,

grace wasn't gonna

be in the picture.

That leads me to

my next verse,

Ephesians chapter

two, verse eight,

for it is by grace,

you have been saved

through faith,

and this is not

from yourself.

It is the gift of God.

That gift.

we do this thing

at our house where

we have a little

manger seeing that

we, the kids get a

little gift and they

open it every day.

and we read a little

story that goes

along with it and

it's, what does God

want for Christmas?

and spoiler story, the

last one is a mirror.

and God wants you.

That's the gift

that God wants.

But the gift that God

gave you was the free

gift of his grief,

grace by salvation.

And that happens

through that

baby Jesus.

that you can

skip ahead.

Two slides Tracy for

me that may Jesus.

so this makes me think

this baby Jesus, we

think all the time

about, Mary, I hear

a lot of people talk

about Mary, which

Mary is important.

Without her, there's

no baby Jesus.

That's very important.

Don't get me wrong.

but I think often

we put this emphasis

on, had Mary not

had this, had Mary

not done this.

and I have this unique

perspective having

adopted that Joseph

was not biologically

Jesus's father,

and yet Joseph had an

angel show up to him

and say, you're gonna

be this kid's dad.

And there's so much

that goes along

with that, that

Joseph couldn't

have done it

without his parents.

Nobody talks about

Mary's parents or

Joseph's parents.

See you as parents.

You could be raising

the next, well, not

the next, but you

could be raising

the Mary and Joseph.

There's not gonna be

another Jesus, sorry.

But you could

be raising

those people.

That's what you're

putting into them.

If Mary and Joseph's

parents had not raised

people who knew what

God wanted them to

do and raise people

that followed what

God wanted them to do,

when an angel showed

up and said, don't be

afraid, because the

angels weren't cute.

As Rusty talked

about last week,

the angels weren't.

These pretty cherubs

that we think of, they

weren't these little

cute things we put

on top of our trees.

They were scary

because the power of

God was behind them.

So they showed

up and they said,

don't be afraid.

If Mary and Joseph

didn't have parents

who raised them to do

what they were called

to do, they would've

turned and run.

Because the fear

was too great,

but they did.

And I can't imagine

the role that Jesus's

grandparents on earth

played in raising

them, raising him.

I think of Sarah

and i's parents, and

there is so much Jesus

that is put into my

kids because of them.

Because if they

don't, first of all,

if they didn't pour

Jesus into us, how

do I know what to do?

Where does it come

from if you are

not living out that

example at home?

And

and on that.

Think of the amount

of grace I've learned

a lot about grace

becoming a dad.

it takes more grace

to be a parent than I

ever thought it would.

when for the third

time, your children

are screaming at

you that they don't

want to get dressed

and you're already

late for work.

that takes grace.

when you know that

the reason they're

screaming at you is

because it's late

and they should be in

bed, it takes grace

when you're trying to

train them in the way

that a child should

go and you have to

love them instead of

getting mad at them.

That takes grace.

And I'm not saying

I've got it right.

I'm not saying

it's perfect,

but guys, if you are

not at least trying

to show Jesus to your

children, you are

missing the mark.

I.

on that, I want to

talk about a guy

named John Newton.

you can go to two

more slides, Tracy.

So this guy right

here, John Newton,

that is the guy

that wrote the

song, amazing Grace.

and, there he was on

a slave trading ship.

He actually

traded slaves.

that was his job

and he was in a

storm in the seas

off of Ireland.

And, he was scared

and he cried out

to God and he said,

God, if you save

me from this storm,

my life is yours.

And God saved him

from the storm.

And, I don't know

all of the details,

but I can only

imagine that with a

transformation like

that, that, I mean

he obviously didn't

do that job anymore.

but he, I can

only imagine that

he threw himself

into serving God.

well four years later

after that event, he

wrote a song for a

New Year's celebration

at his church called

Amazing Grace, and

that's the song

that we just sang.

there's actually

12 verses.

Some of them

are little grim.

but when you're

talking about grace

and salvation,

you have to talk

about death.

So it comes with

a grim undertone.

So you can have

that bright side.

but I'm gonna

talk about that

transformation, and

how that grace, God's

grace saved him from

a storm that very

likely could have

killed him, could

have killed all of the

people on that ship.

I.

John Newton, actually,

it's not widely known,

but during a little

research for this, I

found out that John

Newton actually did

a lot of work, to

lay the groundwork

that actually

stopped slave trading

completely in Europe.

and we're talking

hundreds of

years before it

actually happened.

and I don't know if

John Newton's parents

were Christians,

I don't know.

But what I do know

is that what he did

started a course

for ending things

that were hurting a

lot of people, and

praise God for that.

on transformation.

So one of the things

that we talk about

a lot as a teacher,

is we talk a lot

about what positively

impacts children.

Nearly every

professional

development I've had

in the last three

years has been what

will positively

impact these students.

you don't know what

home life is like.

You don't know what

it's, what's going

on, in their minds.

You don't know

what's going on,

at all, period.

And you don't know

the things that have

happened just before

they got on the bus.

You don't know what

happened on the bus.

You don't know

what happened as

they walked into

school, did they

get breakfast?

all of the things

you just never know.

but one of the things

that has a trend, I

won't say that it's,

I don't know the

amount of research

behind it, so I

won't say that it's

scientifically backed

yet, but one of the

things, a trend that

has come out in the

last couple of years

that I've noticed is

that, there's starting

to be evidence to

support that one

positive adult

influence in a child's

life when everything

else is negative

in their life.

Begins to change

their mindset that

it doesn't have

to be this way.

and one of the things

that we're learning

is that is not an

immediate change.

It takes time.

and it's interesting

because, when I heard

this, I immediately

leaned over to a

fellow teacher of mine

who is a Christian,

and I said, that

sounds biblical.

but the speaker that

told us this said

that it takes to

the third or fourth

generation to get to

the point where the

children of those

students no longer

just think that life

has to be that way,

where they're no

longer saying life

is about people

just scream at each

other at home, where

they no longer think

life is just okay.

The way that I live

it, that the bad

things that are

happening around me

are just part of life.

And I think about

that as a parent and

I think about the

things that come into

that have affected

my world and I think,

holy cow, I am one

generation from

some of those things

and it's gonna take

another generation,

two more generations

to say, that's

completely out of my

future generation's

minds, because that's

the effect of it.

The flip side of

it is that, think

about that concept

that one positive

adult influence on a

child starts changing

their mindset.

It takes a lot of

work, but children

take a lot of work.

I mean, when we

adopted our twins, we

had those shirts made.

A lot of you

wore them.

They say, we

are the village.

The reason they say

we are the village

is because this is

not a solo thing.

This is not just Sarah

and I raising kids.

This isn't us thing.

It doesn't mean

that I'm dropping

my kids off at

Josh and Audrey's

house and saying,

have fun with them.

What it means is that

what it means is that

you guys love my kids

and I love your kids.

What it means is

that when they're

teenagers and they're

facing something

hard, hopefully they

can sit down with

John Hunt and tell

him how hard it is

because of what we

have poured into each

other because of the

grace that God gave

us so that we can

pour it back out.

On that note of

transformation,

one of the other

things that we talk

about is dendrites.

and dendrites are

the little pieces in

your brain that are

constantly growing and

changing and moving.

and we did a men's

series, I believe it

was last year, that

we talked a lot about,

your brain and the

nervous system and

all of those things.

And it's interesting

dendrites.

What happens is

dendrites grow based

on your experiences.

your dendrites don't

grow because you

hear something, your

dendrites grow because

something happened

like I touched a hot

stove and now I have

this dite that says,

don't touch the stove.

It might be hot.

And then eventually

I have to grow the

dendrite that okay,

the stove is only

hot when it's on.

So those dendrites

are good.

Dendrites can also

be negative dendrites

are that when I.

Don't do this.

Think of a child.

When a child says,

when I do this

action, this negative

impact happens to me.

And those dendrites

grow and they

continue to grow and

they get bigger and

they get stronger.

And now we can

see why it takes

three generations

to break that.

Because we teach our

kids all the time,

don't come, don't

even comment that we

have a small kitchen.

Don't come in the

kitchen when we're

cooking or stay on

the other side of the

kitchen from the stove

because we don't want

them to get burnt.

That's a den

rate that's grown

in our heads.

It's a D rate we're

hoping to grow

in our children.

So they're naturally

going to grow up

and say, I don't

want my children to

get burnt from the

stove and so on.

But if that dite is

grown on something

that's a negative

response, something

that is hurtful.

It's hard to

break that.

It is actually

painful.

It's physically

painful for your brain

to break those things.

And I don't mean

immediate, like I

got stuck by a pin.

I mean, it is

something that

physically, that

your brain has

to force itself

to work through.

And it takes time

to break that cycle

and it takes time to

regrow those dendrites

into something

that is good.

and all of that comes

with this idea, I

guess I say all of

that to say that

this grace that we

have, this grace that

Jesus offers us is

so much more than,

oh yeah, I have

grace at the foot

of the cross.

Think about how much

more impactful it

is to know that the

people around you

are fighting things

that you don't know.

And that grace

that you extend

could start to be

the one thing that

grows a newin rate.

It could be the

thing that starts

them on a path to

say, why was that

person kind to me?

why?

I don't understand.

so a lot of this

has been, the focus

of this is grace.

so I.

One of the things that

God really led on my

heart as I was putting

this together was this

idea of living out

that grace, during

this time of year.

And I think it's very

easy as Christians

to get to this point

where we get snobby

and we say, well,

the world doesn't

say Christmas.

They say Happy

Holidays.

And so I'm gonna

be snobby and I'm

gonna say, Chris,

merry Christmas

to everybody.

I'm gonna show them.

It's very, I hear

it all the time.

I hear it from

Christians that

I work with.

I hear it from

Christians that I

know in other realms,

and it is just this

constant that I want

to prove that Merry

Christmas is what we

should be saying at

this time of year.

Well, guess what?

There's not much

grace in that.

So then how do

we live that out?

How do we make

that application

to our lives?

Well, my mom prayed

over us every day

and she would always

say, go preach

the gospel, and if

necessary, use words

and you will.

You will impact

somebody more

with your actions

than you ever will

with your words.

You will do more

by showing love to

other people face

to face than ever by

posting on Facebook

how much of this or

that you believe in,

or whatever you do.

The way husbands,

the way you respond

to your wife when

she says something

that you're not crazy

about in the middle

of the grocery store

will speak more to

the people around you

than anything else

you will ever do.

It also speaks to her

wives.

It goes the other way.

Parents,

the way that you

speak to each other

in front of your

children will speak to

them more about how a

marriage is supposed

to look than anything

else you will ever

do to parent them.

Parents, be

careful what you're

doing in front

of your children.

Be careful what you're

allowing in your home.

Everything that you

do, your children will

take one step further.

Literally everything.

That means that if

you are, you say,

well, there's nothing

really in scripture

that says I can't do

activity X, so it's

okay if I do this.

Guess what?

Your kids are gonna

take it a step further

and be aware of that

because generational

sin is real.

It will affect the

next generation.

Your kids see

you and your kids

are constantly

wondering, when do

I get to do that?

So instead of saying,

I get to do this

because I'm an adult,

what if instead

of doing that, we

were saying, how

am I showing joy,

peace, patience,

kindness, love, grace.

So then instead of

your kids going, when

do I get to do that

thing that only mom

and dad get to do?

Your kids are saying,

well, how can I

do this myself?

So instead of growing

dendrites that say,

when do I get to do

that thing that only

mom and dad get to do?

Your kids are saying

they're growing

these dendrites

that have love, joy,

peace, patience,

kindness, generally

self-control.

And

when you make mistakes

and they see you

correct them, they

start to understand,

wow, I can make

mistakes and there's

a God who has grace,

who loves me, that I

can go forth and I can

do the things that God

has called me to do.

Do it in front

of your kids.

Do it when your kids

aren't there because

believe me, for

being a children's

pastor and a youth

pastor, your kids

know about it.

They're not stupid.

They're not naive.

Your kids know the

things that you do

behind closed doors.

They know the things

that you do once

they go to bed

or once they

go to bed.

I mean, they know

what you're doing.

They hear the shows

you're watching.

they know it and

it's affecting them

one way or another.

And just be

aware of it.

And if God is

calling you to make

a change, if you're

sitting there going,

well, but Ryan, you

don't understand the

show that I watch

is fine because

of this, and this.

Guess what?

That's conviction.

Change it.

If you're saying,

well, but you

don't understand

the stress of this

and the stress of

that, I'm a teacher.

My wife's a

social worker.

I get stressed,

make changes.

If the Holy Spirit is

prompting you to make

a change, do it today.

Don't wait.

Don't say, well,

one more time,

make changes.

Have some grace

for yourself.

It's really easy to

have grace for the

rest of the world.

You can see how

everybody else

could do it better.

It's hard to have

grace for yourself.

That grace comes with

an action behind it

that if you don't

have grace for you,

there's never

an opportunity

for change.

It's just shame.

And shame is not

worth it if there's

not grace behind it

to make changes to do

the things that God

is calling you to do.

So I wanna wrap up

with, With just a

little bit about

hope, and I'm gonna

touch really quickly

that as, as we were

considering, as we

were on that process

of adoption, there

were times when we

thought we weren't

gonna be able to

adopt to the twins.

And times when we

thought we were,

and times it was

just back and forth.

as a foster

care journey

is, it happens.

you're dealing with

fallible people

and things happen.

We started a

playlist in our

home called Hope.

And it's funny because

Sarah and I revisit

that from time to

time and we look back

at, those songs in

the order that they

were put in, and

you can see our hope

change in the songs

that we were choosing

to put in there.

And so don't

think that Grace

is just about

letting everything

happen, however

it's gonna happen.

Grace is an action.

Grace is an action

of having hope.

And you can't have

hope without grace.

For others, a grace

for yourself, grace

that comes directly

from a baby in a

manger that 30 some

odd years later

died on a cross

and rose from the

grave so that you

could live with him.

the last, one of

the last lines that

I think of here

is when we've been

there 10,000 years,

bright shining is

the sun, and that is

our reason for hope.

One day in glory, when

we are praising God

for 10,000 years and

we look up and we say,

wow,

wow.

That's how

good God is.

So I just ask guys

that you would.

Move toward that place

of grace with hope

and peace.

Alright, well

thank you Ryan.

There is your lyrics.

We got 'em up there.

Hey, I gotta be

honest, I was pretty

devastated when Ryan

contacted me because

I was very excited

about what I wanted

to preach this week

and Ryan's like, man,

I think God wants me

to share this stuff.

And I was like, no,

he doesn't, Ryan.

I guarantee it.

Guarantee it.

But honestly, God's

amazing grace.

It's why we have hope.

It's why we have joy.

It's why we

have Christmas

at all, right?

Because of

what he's done.

And you have a

neat perspective,

Ryan, sharing from

a adoptive dad of

two twins and the

reality of Joseph

and that perspective

is really cool.

and knowing, just

how good God is.

In the midst of

that, it's really why

we celebrate hope.

This first candle of

our advent season that

we started lighting

just not that long

ago, we looked at

this idea of hope

that because of Jesus,

'cause of that baby

and the manger that

he came, that he died,

and he gave us life an

opportunity that even

in the midst of the

darkest stuff that we

walked through, man,

we are never without

hope, and I hope

that's real for you.

Like to know Jesus

is to know that no

matter what, there's

hope, no matter what,

there's nothing is

hopeless with Jesus.

So much of our

world is lost

in the darkness

of hopelessness.

But for those of us

who are in Christ,

that light of hope.

Burns forever

and ever.

And last week Rusty

talked about love and

we lit this candle

that represents

probably the one cheat

code for the Christmas

season, right?

Like all you gotta

do is say love, and

it covers everything.

But love is what

drove Jesus.

Not just to come

but to stay.

Right?

If I was him, I'd

have got here and

been like, this Airbnb

ain't working for me.

I'm out.

You know what I mean?

this is not cool.

Not at all.

But he chose to stay

and not just for a

couple months, knock

it out, get rolling.

He did that incognito

embedded spy mission

work against the enemy

for 33 years here

and then died for us.

Because of his

great, ridiculous.

I was thinking

about that.

I wanted to say the

word ridiculous,

crazy love of God.

And I was like, well,

I don't wanna be

disrespectful, right?

I'm not trying to

make God crazy or

ridiculous, but

if you think about

the definitions

of ridiculous and

crazy, who loves when

they're murdered?

Who loves when they're

despised and hated?

That's crazy love.

That's

ridiculous Love.

That's love beyond

any kinda love that

we know apart from

him and his great

love is what gives

us hope and light.

And this last word

here that we'll

talk about this

morning is this

third candle peace.

Peace is a really

interesting word, the

absence of conflict.

This epically

cool idea that

enmity, right?

That.

Fancy word that

sounds old school.

It just really means

being an enemy of

God is put to death

through the peace

that Jesus brings.

An end to hostility,

an end to conflict.

I don't know if we

catch this or not, but

man, what Jesus does

in coming and living

and dying and offering

us life, it's peace.

He gets this

cool title, the

Prince of Peace.

You know what's

cool about that?

He's not the God

who brings peace

that he does.

He's not the God who

speaks peace or the

God who shows peace.

He's the God of peace.

It's the substance

of who he is.

He is peace and man

when he resides in

us, there's an end

to the hostility and

the conflict there.

The nonsense and the

stuff of this world.

Man, if we can get

our eyes fixed on

Jesus, we can know

real safety, real

security, real

family, real peace.

And I've been thinking

about this idea a lot

this season, coming

home for Christmas.

And I love that

imagery of home.

not because I have

to listen to a lot

of Hallmark movies

from Jamie, but

because I actually

watched a really

cool clip the other

day of a Hallmark

movie backwards.

This girl leaves

a small tree farm

and goes to New

York and loves it.

And the redneck dudes

are like all alone.

Sorry.

That's how that works.

But you know, home

has almost this

crazy little, I

don't know, almost a

fantasy image of I.

This warm hearth

and the invitation

of relationship.

That's good.

And some of us

have some tough

home life stuff for

sure, and some of

us are enduring some

challenges in that

space relationally

with other people.

But here's

the cool part.

Your Heavenly Father,

through his amazing

grace, has adopted us

as sons and daughters,

given us opportunity

to be in relationship

with him, given us

opportunity to belong

and have home to come

to no matter where

you've been, no matter

what you've done,

there's nothing that

disqualifies you from

his invitation to

just come home and to

belong and be loved.

And man, I hope

you feel that this

Christmas season

amidst all the chaos,

all the craziness,

there is a God of

peace who invites you.

To just be with

him, to just spend

time with him, to

be in his presence

and to belong.

You matter so much

to him, and he

loves you so much.

Amen.

Praying his

presence over you

this Christmas.

Lord Jesus, thank

you for your

incredible love for us

demonstrated not just

on a wooden cross, but

in a wooden manger.

Thank you for your

amazing grace that

we didn't deserve.

Thank you for hope,

for love, and for

the opportunity to

experience peace,

Lord through Jesus

Christ, the way,

the truth and the

life, the invitation

to come home.

What a beautiful and

what an important

invitation.

Now, Lord, I pray

over all of us this

morning, no matter how

far away we feel, and

no matter how close

we feel, Lord, I pray

in a special way as

we go into this week

leading up to the

week of Christmas,

that we would feel

like we belong, that

we're loved, and

that your presence

would show up just

in some awesome ways.

I pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Well, speaking of

belonging and home,

one of the things I

love about this crazy

cool group of people

we call White Rock.

It's not the

only words we

use knuckleheads.

I think that's

in there too.

But sorry.

Might've been

the Holy Spirit.

Took my arm and

just did that.

Robin.

I don't know.

I dunno.

It wasn't me.

Hey, I wanna invite

some people up to

help me really quick

because there are

some really cool

things that are

happening as part

of this family and

things that you need

to know about, things

that have been going

on this week, things

that are coming up.

It's pretty exciting.

So, for some upcoming

events, I wanna

invite up, the four

wise men who were

in my office at the

wrong time yesterday.

So, guys, you know

who you are coming

up here please, Jed.

Yep.

Yep.

Gabriel, Elliot.

Where's Finn at today?

Is he pretending

to be sick?

Drake, you're

in Finn's class.

Come on up here buddy.

Join me.

That's perfect.

Fantastic.

Thanks man.

So, hey, as these

guys, yeah, the

round applause.

That's great.

That's great.

You have to grab

that cordless mic

over there, fellas.

And, so one of

the things that we

didn't get a chance

to do this morning

and working all

this stuff out is

take up our morning

tithes and offerings.

I just wanna make

sure that you're

aware we have a

basket in the back.

There's our digital

click on, boom,

that kind of jazz.

all the things that

we do together as a

church, the ways that

we impact people and

share the gospel and

all that cool stuff.

it's a collective

effort, right?

As we together bring

our tithes and worship

to the Lord and our

offerings to him, and

he blesses it and does

some cool things, well

these guys are gonna

help us, but we'll

actually help you

know what's going on.

So take it

away, Ellie.

Alright.

yeah.

All right.

Well, if you're a

guest and this is

your first time

being here today,

oh, you better hold

that mic real close.

'cause Austin

doesn't wanna hurt

anybody's ears.

Welcome.

We have a, well, I

guess it's up here.

yeah.

We have a QR code to

fill out for, digital

Glass Card, I guess.

I don't know.

Yeah, that's

all right.

Alright, great stuff.

Fantastic.

Welcome to,

you're a Guest.

I don't know if you

felt, I don't know

if you felt really

welcome, but if

you're a first time

White Rock attendee

this morning, just

know that, that's the

best we could do to

invite you here, man.

It's get some teams

up and be like, Hey.

Hey, it's a better

greeting than I got

this morning from

my teenage son.

Like, oh, you're here.

So, I mean, it could

be worse, right?

Alright, pass

that mic down.

Drake.

Here you go buddy.

awesome events

yesterday.

We had some awesome

events yesterday.

Why is that

covered up?

secret Families of

Hamilton County.

angels attic.

I don't know what

that is, what is,

but it sounds cool.

So, yeah.

Did any of you

guys participate

in any of those?

Oh, Gabriel, you

should talk about it.

Since poor Drake

had just got drug

up as a replacement.

Thank you.

I was thinking,

I don't think

you're worthy to

talk about it.

You weren't there.

Oh man.

Drake's just

finding out, bro.

Geez.

Hey, Gabriel, I don't

make a big deal out

of this bro, but, why

don't you hold this

peace candle if you're

gonna take shots, you

know what I'm saying?

Just throw

it out there.

But, yeah,

it was great.

yesterday we went

and we shopped

for two families.

Our group.

And then we wrapped

the presents and

we delivered them.

So it was a great

opportunity to spread

the love of Jesus

to other people.

Yeah.

You guys got to

like drop off a

Bible and pray for

the families and

Yes, we also prayed

for the families.

Yes.

Yeah.

super cool.

And then our college

age crew, a bunch

of them went up to

Angel's attic and

packed food boxes.

So great job.

All you collegiate

smart looking people.

Very nice.

Jed, what's

going on tonight?

Tonight is ba bam.

Oh no.

Gabriel.

Just in case you

just hold onto that

buddy just in case

from five to six 30.

Alright.

We're at dude,

youth group.

Wait, church

over there.

How long you

been coming to

White Rock, man?

First time.

Wow.

Your whole life

is next door, bro.

Next door.

All right, perfect.

Hey, let's just kick

it back to Elliot for

the, quick update on

the college stuff.

All right.

we have a college

age-ish, I guess.

Small group

over at Andy and

Jamie's house.

Five o'clock.

Five o'clock.

Jamie's not in

here, otherwise it'd

say five o'clock.

What?

Going on?

What?

Epic morning.

What is it gonna be?

children's

Christmas program.

December 22nd at

10:00 AM Nicely done.

Sounds a lot fun.

Nicely done.

Alright, so there's

word on the street

that there's actually

some movie called

The World's Greatest

Christmas pageant.

They're gonna

rename it to the

second greatest

Christmas pageant.

'cause next week is

gonna be epic with the

platforms and the kids

and angels screaming

and singing and all

that good stuff.

It's gonna be awesome.

It's gonna be awesome.

And then also

what after that?

Well, we have

the Christmas Eve

service at 6:00 PM

so better come to

that 'cause always.

What day is that one?

What day is that one?

Christmas Eve.

Got it.

If you don't know what

day Christmas Eve is,

then maybe you should

do some research.

Do some research.

That's fantastic.

Hey, and are you

holding a candle for

any particular purpose

as it relates to the

Christmas Eve service?

Apparently

it's for peace.

That's good.

That's good.

We'll be doing

some candlelight

caroling in here.

All in the dark.

And you get to play

with fire that one

time a year, right?

The one time a year

White rock People

get to touch fire.

It's gonna be great.

It's gonna be great.

Hey, also some

coming events.

Jed, what's

happening here?

Teen winter camp.

Yeah.

Finally at 10.

the 17th to 19th.

Gotta get registered

right away.

Yep.

Right.

It's a lot of fun.

A lot of fun.

Good.

Watch Finn try to

flirt with girls

all the time.

There are a lot

of flirting with

girls that go on.

This is true.

This is true.

All right, Elliot.

What's happening

in February, man?

Oh yeah, I've

been avoiding you.

this whole season.

These avoiding

the camera season.

Yeah, it is.

Yeah.

we have, well that's

a little early.

Sorry about that.

All right,

Drake, that's

foreshadowing buddy.

That's yours

coming up.

It's gonna be awkward.

Make sure you cranked

that up there, Austin.

Yep.

Don't miss a Super

Bowl event and

all.

I don't know what

that was fair.

Apparently there's a

marriage retreat fair.

Couldn't happen

to a nicer guy.

February 14th

through the 16th.

So if you're

married, you should

probably get off.

Alright.

Normally it's 235

bucks to be able to

pull this off, but we

are actually gonna be

making it 160 bucks

and it's really the

first 26 couples

get their own cabin.

After that you

gotta bunk up like

dormitory style, which

is not as cool on

a couple's retreat.

Lemme tell you,

there's a QR code you

can sign up for that.

I think some email

stuff went out.

So definitely

don't miss that.

Good stuff.

Alright, so hey

guys, we're gonna

be, I'm calling

it a wrap on that.

How about this?

Big round of applause

for all you guys

coming up helping

out with that.

Thank you.

you gonna put your

can, well actually

here, why don't you

hold this real quick?

That's perfect.

That's technically

the love candle

that you lit, not

the peace candle.

No, that's the

peace candle bro.

Hope, love, peace.

I guess I wasn't

paying attention.

I guess I wasn't

paying attention.

Fair enough bro.

Fair enough.

Hey, tell what, do

me this real favor

because I thought

this would be a

great illustration.

Seth, Elijah, you

guys still listen

to back there.

Perfect.

Come on up here.

If you would please,

grab your buddy on

the basketball team.

Is he still in here?

I miss?

Yep.

Yep.

I can't remember

your name, dude.

I'm super sorry,

but come on up.

Let's be great.

And then Finn's

not here, so this

isn't gonna work.

So, Elliot,

you're in Finn's

class too, right?

So Gabriel, just

step over there

one second by those

plants for me.

That's perfect,

Jed, you scoot

over that way.

We'll get you three

guys up here running

this platform.

I was thinking about

the best way to

send us off on this.

Peace Sunday.

And you know what?

Let's come down

on the platform.

That'd be

easier, buddy.

Why don't you

guys, you three

guys step down.

Gabriel, you can

stay up there.

This is perfect.

It's gotta be three

on three, otherwise

it's not fair.

Perfect, Elliot.

Okay, we're gonna

make a transition now.

You are no longer

Finn, my friend.

You are Finn.

Oh, you're back to

being Drake and Jed.

Elijah, Seth,

and remind me.

Amen.

Marino.

Marino.

Thank you man.

Alright.

So I thought this was

really appropriate

today as we send

you off on this day

where we celebrate

the peace that Jesus

brings, these six

young men right now.

Stand here in the be

front of a church with

Christmas and hope

and joy and peace.

What's happening

on, Tuesday night

though, buddy?

a basketball game

between these

guys and you guys?

You guys gonna come

back together as

peace, or is this just

like a one time deal?

This peace thing.

One time deal.

One time deal.

Alright.

Hey, Jesus

loves you guys.

We're gonna be in

situations all week

where we might find

ourselves not wanting

to be at peace

with other people.

Probably like an hour

and 20 minutes on

a basketball court.

I think it's like an

off limits kind of

space, but let's walk

in peace with our

Heavenly Father and

with each other and

behave yourselves.

Guys, on

Tuesday night.

All right, good

to have you guys

here this morning.

Have a great

day in the Lord.

We love you all.

Have a great week.