The True Meaning of Advent | December 8, 2024

good morning.

I, this might

be a first.

Marty.

Is this a first?

You're here and

I'm preaching.

He's not in

here right now.

Hey, Russell.

Bang on the door and

tell Marty, Andy's

not preaching.

He can come in.

Wow.

I think it's a

first Pam, isn't it?

Maybe 20 years first.

That's okay.

I don't care.

Let me get a

drink of water.

Um, Andy is

on the road.

Him, his family

are celebrating

someplace else.

I'm not sure where.

Somewhere in

northern Indiana.

Um, they didn't want

to hear one old guy

sing this morning,

so they went up north

to hear another old

guy sing last night.

So, so yeah.

Uh, Steven Curtis

Chapman, I think.

Let's see.

Anyway,

doesn't matter.

They're taking

some time.

Lemme get this cord

straightened out.

Takes me a

second to Debbie.

That is really,

really hot,

Russell.

That is really,

really hot.

Okay, we're good.

I'm sure we'll

get there.

Um, I.

I don't wanna

be too loud

about you, but

it's been a really

interesting season.

A lot of sickness

going around.

A lot of people doubt.

I don't know what's

going around, but

it is what it is.

Right?

Uh, we need to take

care of ourselves

and even if you do,

sometimes it just

happens, right?

It's been in my house.

My wife, my youngest

son, Russell's had it.

Kirsten and I we're,

we're doing great.

Right?

Kirsten, fantastic.

Um, Dorian in

Orlando, she's been

sick, so it's just,

it's everywhere.

It's all good.

Uh, so it's been an

interesting season.

A lot happening.

A whole lot.

Um, you're not

gonna get a pretty

little slide show

projection because

I'm old school, so

grab your Bibles.

Look at

everybody moved.

Yeah.

I'm not putting

it up there.

So here you go.

I can make slideshow.

I do that at work

every once in a while

have to put together

presentations and I

do do that, so I do

know how, but it does

take a little bit of

time when you're not

doing it all the time.

It's not my primary

job, so I don't do

it all the time.

So when I'm trying to

fly stuff in, I have

to remember, okay,

fly that in here.

Do I wanna fly

it in here?

Do I wanna float

that in here?

Do I want this font,

that font, that color,

this color talk.

Okay.

Just best.

I don't even mess with

that this morning.

So we're gonna have

the book and we're

gonna talk, okay.

Interesting time of

year where we start.

Um, the, uh, advent,

um, one of these

mics is hot Russell.

There we go.

We're good.

Does anybody know

what advent means?

So I did this

yesterday just for

giggles and grins.

Hey Siri, what does

the word advent mean?

I.

Just turn on.

Hey Siri, what

does Advent mean?

Advent means

the arrival of

a notable person

thing, AR event.

How many of

you knew that?

Yeah.

Oh, couple of hands.

So we celebrate

Advent every year

and we don't even

know what it means.

Isn't that crazy?

It's kind of crazy.

So I thought, I

wonder if Siri

knows what that is.

I'm gonna start

testing her on her

Greek knowledge.

From now on, I'm

gonna start asking

her, Hey, hey Siri.

She probably answer

me right now.

No.

So we, we've started

the season of Advent

because somebody

notable arrived.

You know, children of

Israel, had a lot of

different festivals,

a lot of different

celebrations.

About seven of 'em.

We're not gonna go

into all of 'em, but

you know, some of

'em, the Passover, the

Feast of Tabernacles.

The feast of

first fruits, uh,

and on and on.

I don't wanna try

and list 'em all,

I'll bore you.

But they had those

feasts and those

celebrations to remind

them of what had been,

where God had brought

them from, to remember

what God did in their

lives, and also to

look forward to what

he was going to do.

The Passover, for

instance, we know

what happened, right?

The, the children of

Israel were in Egypt,

they were in bondage.

Uh, God came to Moses

and said, you know,

let my people go.

He went to Moses,

went to, uh, Pharaoh,

let my people go.

No, no, no, no.

They had all these

plagues, right?

Had all these plagues.

And then the last one,

he said, you take the

Passover lamb, you

kill it, you put blood

on the doorposts.

And the angel of death

passed over the houses

of the Israelites.

And then they

celebrate the

Passover every

year to remember.

But it's interesting

that that Passover

celebration was also a

prophetic look forward

to the lamb of God

that was gonna come.

And here we have a

season of advent.

Why To celebrate

someone of

significance

and importance

arriving Christmas.

And we celebrate.

We.

Why do we celebrate

Christmas?

Why do we celebrate

Christmas?

Somebody tell

me, why do we

celebrate Christmas?

The birth of Jesus?

Woo hoo.

Why do we celebrate

Christmas?

What's so

significant about

the birth of Jesus?

Why did he come

to save us?

I love that word.

It's a good religious

church word, right?

Those of you who

didn't grow up

in church, you

kinda probably

thought, what?

Huh?

Well, number one,

I'm not lost.

I know where I'm at.

I got a GPS.

I know exactly where

I'm at all the time.

In fact, my husband

and wife knows where

I'm at all the time.

If you're a teenager,

your parents probably

know where you're

at all the time.

Don't you turn

that 360 off.

I got you, boo.

Now, as a teenager,

we probably hate

that, right?

You as teenagers,

you hate, don't you?

You don't like

that, do you?

Well, guess what?

There's some

real protection

in that, right?

There's real

protection in that.

There's accountability

in that, right?

I'm glad I didn't

have it when I

was a teenager.

Actually, I didn't

need it when I

was a teenager.

I wasn't.

I wasn't little Mr.

Holy Roller.

You know, I wasn't

raised in a home

like that where we,

you know, church

every day, suit

and tie all that.

We didn't do that.

My dad did not

gimme a curfew.

Now, some of you

thought, dang, I wish

I had a dad like that.

Do you really

think about it?

Think about it.

You don't know where

the line is, so

you don't know when

you might cross it.

That's scary.

My booty was at

home at 11 o'clock

every single night.

I was out, dude,

I'm in the door

by four 11.

Hi dad.

I'm home.

Right?

Why?

I didn't know where

the line was and if

you crossed the line,

you didn't cross dad.

That's all

there was to it.

So I'm in, so I'm glad

I didn't have that.

But that GPS is a

good thing to know.

I'm, I'm never lost.

My dad told me once

that when people

get in the woods

and get lost, they

never get found.

Did you know that?

People say they got

lost in the woods?

Well, if you're here,

you didn't get lost.

You may have been

disoriented, but

you weren't lost.

Because if you're

lost, those people

never get found.

They usually

die there.

That's what

lost means.

They need somebody

to save them.

Interesting.

Reading to Luke.

Let's go to Luke.

We're gonna start

right here this

morning because you

know we have this

big celebration.

And I'm not sure

sometimes we really

understand what

we're celebrating.

That we really, really

know why Jesus came.

We say, well, he

came to save us.

Save us from what?

Sin and death.

Well, everybody dies.

I hate to tell you.

The scripture says

it, it is appointed

unto man once to die.

Unless you're Lazarus.

Then you get twice.

You know?

I wonder what

he thought when

he came back.

Dang it, Jesus.

It was a good time.

I don't know.

Uh, but he, he

gets to, once it's

appointed under

the man wants to

die, we're, we're

not gonna get out

of that, you know?

Unless you're

Ezekiel, you know,

take it away.

We're gonna die.

That's just,

it's part of it.

Americans are the

only society in the

world that don't think

they'll ever die.

We are, we do

everything we

can to avoid it.

But it will come.

We just don't

know when.

I love what Pam

tells Marty.

When he's done with

you, you're done.

That what you, is that

how you say it, Pam?

There you go.

I'm immortal until

my work is done.

I'm immortal.

I'm here until God

is finished with me.

I'm done.

And then I'm out

in Luke chapter two.

Here it is.

Every Christmas

morning you read

this right to your

family, to your kids.

We did at our house.

I don't know about

you, but this took

precedence over

presents every

Christmas morning.

In fact, we, if

we got to presents

by noon, we were

doing something.

Nobody cared.

We got up, we had

a great breakfast

together, and we

read this scripture

and we said, stop

just a minute.

Well, we're gonna

jump down to this

part, verse eight,

in chapter two.

And in the same region

there were shepherds

out in the field

keeping watch over

their flock by night.

And an angel of the

Lord appeared to them

and the glory of the

Lord shone around them

and they were filled

with great fear.

And the angel

said to them, fear

not for behold.

I bring you good nudes

of great joy that will

be for all the people,

for unto you is born

this day in the city

of David, a savior who

is Christ the Lord.

And this will be

a sign for you.

You will find a

baby wrapped in

swaddling clothes and

lying in a manger.

You know, Andy's

talked about this

a few times about

how the angel of the

Lord, every time the

angel of the Lord

appears, the first

thing outta the

words is fear or not.

I want you to, we, we

visualize all these

little Christmas

shows with this

pretty little angel.

Fear not.

I think it was

more like fear, not

for behold.

I bring you good news.

I think it was loud.

I think it filled

the heavens.

I think they shook

in their sandals.

I think they dropped

to their knees.

And awe for unto

you is born this

day in the city of

David, a savior.

Now the first thing

that comes to mind

if you're a shepherd

in that time period,

if you're a Jew in

that time period,

was deliverance.

Deliverance from

oppression from

the oppressive

regime of Rome.

But as we look

back, we say, Hmm.

What did he mean?

A savior

in John chapter three.

Oh, not 16,

same passage, but we

stopped short of this

verse many times.

17.

Jesus is talking

to Nicodemus.

For God did not send

his son into the world

to condemn the world,

but in order that

the world might be

saved through him.

Saved.

Saved from what?

Saved to what?

What has he

saved you from?

What is he the

savior you of?

Sin death.

Those are

kinda abstract

things, right?

That just save you

so you have health

all the time.

Do do we not get sick?

Okay.

Poor poverty.

I, I like Paul.

I've been in want

and I've been in

plenty and I have

been both places.

Some of you might

be in one or the

other right now,

so he didn't save

us from that.

Jesus came and

he did all these

miracles, didn't he?

What's your favorite

miracle that

you read about?

Everybody's

got a favorite.

What's your favorite?

Come on, yell it out.

What's your

favorite feeding?

5,000.

The feeding of the

5,000 Cool Miracle.

Who do you think

that impressed more?

The disciples,

the people, or

the little boy?

Wouldn't that be cool?

Hey, you know, Jesus.

I don't have a lot.

This is all I got.

I brought my lunch.

You're welcome to it.

What kind of faith

did it take just

to offer it up?

You see?

I think that's why

Jesus did it is

because the little

boy brought it.

We're super fans

of the chosen.

Y'all know that.

They said this

started this whole

thing with the chosen

because somebody

challenged him.

They said

this to them.

Wasn't a pastor,

wasn't a preacher.

It was just somebody.

In fact, at the time,

he didn't even know.

He said, it's not

your responsibility

to feed the 5,000.

It's your

responsibility

to bring the

loaves and fish.

Bring what you got.

What a miracle.

Whew.

Okay.

Who else?

Another one.

What's a miracle?

Oh my goodness.

That's pretty cool.

That's pretty cool.

Every, you know what I

love about that story?

Everybody slams poor

Peter all the time.

Peter was in out all

over the place, right?

He denied Jesus

three times.

That's scoundrel.

Guess what?

You know how

many people

walked on water?

Jesus said,

Peter, Peter got

out the boat.

Dude, I wonder

what that was like.

You ever think

about it?

Oh man, that's cool.

I'm going to Jesus.

What the heck

am I doing?

No, he knew what

it meant to say,

Lord, save me.

And he did, right?

Oh yeah.

Little faith.

I love that miracle.

And you know what I

love about that story?

This is the best part

about this story.

You know, when

the storm stopped.

When they got

back in the boat,

it didn't stop.

When he pulled

him up outta the

water, the storms

are still raging.

It stopped when they

got back in the boat.

What did he

communicate to them?

I can save you

from the water.

I have the power

over the storm.

I'll walk with you

through the storm.

Another miracle.

What's another

miracle?

One Karma.

Oh.

Can you imagine

the frustration

of that lady?

How many years?

10 years.

12.

12 years, a decade

of being unclean

turned away from

all of society.

She was unclean.

You understand that?

Go read the

Levitical Law if

you ever have an

understanding of that.

She was unclean,

thrown out,

ostracized totally

from all society.

She wasn't worthy

to be in the group

of people just

to get to him.

She was so ashamed

and ostracized.

All she, she knew

just, just one touch,

one touch, just,

that's all I need.

Awesome.

All what God did

say he, that was a

saving, wasn't it?

Unbelievable.

Go wash, be cleansed.

What's another one?

Lazarus.

Oh, do you think

he whispered?

Come forth.

Hey Lazarus,

come on out, man.

Can you imagine

the voice?

Jesus had

Lazarus.

Get up.

Come on out.

Boy.

Debbie did you

know how I just

sounded like?

Yeah.

And my dad.

Yes.

I was just like,

wake up and look

in the mirror, and

all of a sudden,

you're your dad.

What a feeling.

Right?

What an amazing time.

From death to life.

One more water.

Resurrection.

Okay.

Heard the water and

to wine and one other.

Resurrection.

Resurrection.

That's a big one.

That's kind of

big, isn't I?

We'll leave that

one till Easter

water into wine.

I love that story.

For one reason.

For one reason.

The the mother

son relationship,

the mother son

relationship

don't, I don't

wanna make this

sound arrogant.

I know exactly how

he feels, exactly

how he feels.

My mother would put

me on the spot so many

times it'd scare you.

We're walking through

a hotel lobby in

Nashville, Tennessee

with a group of people

at a conference.

There's a grand

piano in the hallway.

Rusty play Barima mom.

Really do it now.

Mom.

Really?

Play sing Mom.

Really?

Yes, ma'am.

I mean, I'm like

40 years old.

It's not like a kid.

Okay.

First day I met

Debbie, I'm home

from college.

Not that it was home.

I never lived

there before, but

my parents moved.

I'm visiting,

graduated

from college.

People come

over for dinner.

Debbie happens to be,

one of them comes.

I didn't know Debbie.

My parents and family

knew Debbie before

I did two years

before, by the way.

Okay.

Just if you didn't

know that story,

we'll tell you

about it later

in there sitting.

What does mom

do, rusty?

Get your guitar, mom.

Get your guitar.

Go.

Mom?

Yes ma'am.

Okay.

I think I know

how Jesus felt.

Hey, fix it, mom.

Hey, fix it.

Make it do it.

Do whatever

you gotta do.

Fix it, mom.

Really?

It's not time.

Do it.

Y'all know the mama.

Look, y'all know the

got the half

cock going on.

Yes ma'am.

Okay.

Water into wine.

Awesome story.

Awesome story.

We read about

all these things.

What have we

experienced in our

lives that he has

plucked us out?

We use this

concept of saved

turn to Proverbs

Proverbs 29 · chapter mention

chapter 29.

Proverbs chapter

Proverbs 29:18

29, verse 18.

Several different

versions.

Um, I used to read

the NIV, who's got an

NIV read it real loud

where there is no

revelation, the people

passed off restraint.

Interesting.

What's the king?

Ver king Jamesburg.

Where's Marty?

He's my king James.

What?

Well, you can't, you

can't be complaining

that it's too loud.

Now.

Who's got a

King James?

Nobody has King

James anymore.

See, Marty can me.

Marty's got

it memorized.

People prepared.

Say it again.

Where there is

no vision, the

people perish.

Where there is

no vision, the

people perish.

Right.

That's an interesting,

interesting thing.

Anybody else have

something different?

Good.

What do you

have back there?

Who's, I have

two hands.

Go ahead.

What does it say?

It says where

there is,

oh, interesting,

interesting verse.

Uh, in the ESV, it

says, where there

is no prophetic

vision, where there

is no prophetic

vision, the people

cast off restraint.

Now, there's a couple

of things in that.

If you're not a

Proverbs reader, let

me just side note

footnote you like

footnotes be, you

should read Proverbs.

Do you want wis

young person?

Do you want wisdom

in your life?

You need to read

the proverbs.

It's there.

God will give you

direction and wisdom

for your life.

Right there.

Everything is

right there.

Proverbs, read it.

Where there is no

prophetic vision

that people cast

off restraint.

Interesting thought.

I think we can,

we can handle

prophetic vision.

That means I have

a goal, I have

a vision, I know

where I'm going.

This is where

God is taking me.

It doesn't have to

be, this is your

vision, rusty.

Here's where you, I.

It doesn't ever

happen that way.

Very, very rarely does

God say there it is.

You know, it's, you

know, sometimes we

just gotta start

rowing and God

says, okay, twist.

Okay, we'll go

this way a little

more on that one.

Okay.

He can't really

steer a planted

an anchored ship.

Right.

You ever heard that?

Can't really steer

an anchored ship.

It ain't going

any place.

Start moving and God

will direct your life.

Just move toward him.

That's the best

you can do.

Right.

So I have that

prophetic vision.

We did this whole

study, uh, of being

a disciple, being

practicing the way

we're gonna be an

apprentice to Jesus.

That means I'm

following him.

Wherever that goes,

I'm just staying

right in line.

Okay.

Would you, I'm okay.

Course correction

all the time because

I'm in his word.

I'm listening

to his voice.

Well without prophetic

vision, without

goals, without, I'm

looking to Jesus.

People cast

off restraint.

The old King James

version says the

people perish.

How many of you

ever ridden a horse?

Everybody rid a horse.

How many of you in

the middle riding a

horse in the woods,

how'd that turn

out for you?

In the woods.

In the woods.

And And did you stay

on for very, yeah.

Yeah.

Till you caught a

tree in the face.

Whatever

you did.

I had a horse try

and rub me off

a fence post and

I had the rings.

What would happen

if you just let

go of the reins?

What happens?

What do you think's

gonna happen?

Where's that

horse gonna go?

Wherever he

wants to go.

That's it.

It's just there's

no direction.

There's no hold

that those reins,

I started very,

very young holding

onto reigns, right?

And so when you're

really young, you

got the reigns,

you got the saddle

horn or a fist

full of mane, man,

you're holding on.

'cause that's a

big beast, right?

You don't wanna let

go of those reigns

because that bit

gives you control.

I love this

illustration.

Had to go across

the street.

You're gonna get a

kid's illustration

this morning.

You like this casting

off restraint.

The loosening

of the reigns.

There's no direction

it's gonna go

everywhere.

It's like blowing

up a balloon.

Did this years ago.

It's a lot of fun.

Evie's about to

plug her ears.

You say that's

gonna pop.

I really don't know

how far it goes 'cause

I don't know how.

What we like to do

as kids, remember

what you do as kids.

You know what happens

if I let go of it?

What's gonna happen?

That's casting

off restraint.

Wanna see it again?

Think about it.

Some of excuse.

So here's

the question.

What's going on

in your life?

You see, I think

that's what Jesus

came to save us from.

Otherwise, why

are we here?

Many years ago,

I started delving

into the realm

of fly fishing

and uh, I played

around with it back

before the internet.

Uh, and uh, I was

reading a lot of

books and trying to

learn, and I didn't

tie anything, but

I'm trying to learn

how to do this.

Hooked my ear

a couple times,

popped off flies,

did crazy stuff.

Then recently I

decided Phil, Debbie

says, you know, I've

always wanted to do

this, and really,

so I've really

gotten into it.

I'm really, I

even took my fly

rod to Minnesota.

Marty laughed at me.

I did catch a northern

pike on a fly, you

know, two treble.

He wasn't very

big, but I caught

a couple of them.

It's not easy, you

know, two treble

hooks, one hook with

the barb Ben off, and

you bend the barb off.

You know what

the barb is.

You know, it's

that little piece

that don't let

the hook come out.

Well, if you're fly

fishing, you're gonna

hook your head or

somebody else's head,

and you don't

want that barb

not to come out.

If the barb comes

out, it just

pulls right out.

Now you got a little

hole in your head,

but you at least

you're not gonna the

emergency room, so you

bend the barb down.

Well, that makes it

harder to catch a

fish because they

shake their head and

throw the barb out.

But I caught too.

So I got into

fly fishing.

I dunno where I was

going with that.

Restraint cast

off, restrain.

Ah, that's where

I was going.

Fly fishing has this

reputation of being

a, oh, you know,

it's kind of snooty.

They fish for trout

in the stream and

they throw flies.

They have a little

wicker basket.

It's not really

like that, but a

lot of fly fishermen

are entomologists.

They study insects

and they study

the may fly.

You know what

the lifespan

of a may fly is

anywhere from a

couple hours to

a couple of days.

That's it.

Depending on the,

the type of may fly.

There's several types

of may flies, but

they, they, the adult

hatches out from

the larvae that's in

the water now, the

larvae could spend

maybe a couple of

years running around

rocks on the water.

And then they

hatch out.

They come to

the surface and

they hatch out.

You know how

mosquitoes, mc,

mosquitoes do

the same thing.

You see the little

wiggly mosquito

as it comes up and

all of a sudden

we got a mosquito.

Same thing

with Mayflies.

And they, they pop out

and they fly around.

They reproduce,

they die.

That's it.

Hello.

Life.

You know?

That's it guys.

Say that's what

you tell your kids.

I'll just say, you're

gonna get to marrying

age, reproduce, get

married, reproduce,

maybe marry, who

knows These days.

Doesn't matter.

Uh, reproduce and die.

That's life.

There you go.

Grow to maturity,

get married,

reproduce die.

Hopefully you

pass it on.

They get married,

they grow up.

Reproduce Mary die.

That's it.

That's life.

What isn't?

Wow.

How sad.

How really sad is

that mayfly is is

that all we're here

for is to be a mayfly

to reproduce and die.

To reproduce and die.

Well, we gotta

get a job because

reproducing

costs money,

so we gotta pay for

that and then we die.

And because we

gotta pay for that,

we're probably

gonna die sooner.

Right?

These kids are

killing me and then

they leave and leave

you holding the bag.

Thanks a lot.

I was gonna retire.

Now I gotta pay

for you for the

rest of my life.

Is that all there is?

You see, as human

beings, we come

into this world and

we begin a search.

We begin a search

for significance,

and we start looking

for things that will

give us significance.

For some, it's

achievement

recognition, right?

I heard somebody say,

babies cry for it.

Grown men die for it.

Recognition

to some pe, to some.

That's what

drives them to be

recognized to others.

It's just to

be successful.

I wanna achieve.

To achieve.

To achieve.

To achieve.

I want what it

is to achieve.

That's what gives

them significance

to others.

It's relationship,

right?

Young people that

are not married,

single don't look

for significance

in relationship.

That's not

where it's at.

Now.

That's what society

will teach you, and

that's what you're

driving toward.

But that doesn't

give you significance

because relationship

can go away.

And then what are you

divorced, widowed?

Now you don't

have significance.

We search for it.

We look for it.

If we don't have that,

we think our life

is, is, is, has no

meaning or purpose.

That's what he came

to save us from.

I love it in

Deuteronomy where he

says, I'm offering

you two things today.

Life and prosperity.

Death and destruction,

blessings.

Cursings, you choose.

He offers us the

same thing today.

Significance

or frustration.

Purpose.

No purpose in

just existing.

My life has no

purpose or meaning.

I just, I'm here.

I'm waiting.

I'm waiting.

My life is just life.

I'm just breathing.

Without a prophetic

vision, the people

cast off restraint.

Their life is just

like a fluttering

may fly going every

which way, and God

says, I came to give

you what life, John

10 10, the thief

comes to steal, to

kill and to destroy.

But I have come that

you might have life,

exceedingly,

abundantly life,

even if the

storms are raging.

Even if the winds

are blowing.

Even if you're

sinking.

He's right there

to say, come

on, I got you.

Come on, I got you.

I

got you.

How many dads?

How many dads were in

the pool and had their

kids jumping here?

Come on, come on, come

on, come on, come on.

I got you.

I got you.

Jump in.

I got you.

And that little one's

standing there with

their diaper shaking

and full of water

and they jump in

and you got 'em.

You tell, I got you.

I got you.

I gotcha.

I won't let you go.

Jesus said, I have

come that you might

have life and have

it more abundantly.

That prophetic

vision that gives us

purpose, that gives

us significance.

Don't look for it

any place else.

And yet, even

as adults and

as Christians,

where do we go

for significance?

What are we

looking for?

Is it in relationship?

Is it in achievement?

Is it in recognition?

Is it in, I gotta

be successful?

Is it in retirement?

What is it?

Where are you looking

for significance?

I have a challenge

for you today.

I want you to

think about it.

Is your life just a

fluttering balloon

or is there some

direction that God

has got you on?

Are you moving

that direction?

Is there purpose?

Because that's what

he saved you for.

That's why they

announced it so

that life isn't

just a drudgery so

that you can live.

And living means He

gives me purpose.

He gives my life.

Meaning why?

'cause he loves me.

And isn't that

what we long for

is that he loves me.

Every human being

on the planet

wants to be loved.

That little baby

wants one thing

from his mommy,

and daddy and his

grandparents touched.

He wants to be loved.

He wants to be held

and touched and

loved, secure, safe.

In verse 16 of John

chapter three, he

looked at Nicodemus

and he said, for God

so loved the world,

Nicodemus,

he loved you.

For God so loved the

world that he gave,

he gave his one,

his only son,

that whoever would

believe in him

would not perish.

But have eternal life.

Another one of those

abstract things,

eternal life,

it's out there, right?

Do we really know

what that means?

We read the book,

but there's a lot of

faith there, right?

I dunno about you, but

I'd rather have faith

that there's something

after than faith

that I'm just going

to the worm dirt.

I'm not a may fly.

He created me unique.

He created you unique.

He gives you

significance.

He gives you

significance.

He came to save

you into a life

of purpose.

Why?

'cause he loves you.

And this whole month

of celebration,

it's not about gifts.

It's about the gift.

We have a new, well,

we actually have

a couple of new

Christmas trees.

My wife loves

Christmas.

I love Christmas, but

if you've ever been

in our home around

Christmas time, it's

like a Hallmark movie.

It's like you open

the door and Hallmark

exploded, which is

great because I think

we should celebrate.

It should be

a celebration.

This is the biggest

celebration we have.

He came to give us

life, celebrate.

I'm sitting there

and we've got this

new nine foot tree.

Nine foot is

a big tree.

You know, I've gotta

get on a step ladder

to get to the top.

That's a big tree, but

it's a nine foot tree.

Life has been

crazy this year.

Thanksgiving came way

too late and the trees

have lights on 'em.

That's it.

But I'm sitting in

the dark next to

this nine foot tree

that's got these

beautiful colored

lights on it, and it

is just a tree, and

it's just the lights.

And I'm sitting there

and I have this, I,

I sit right there

sometimes and just

read the scripture,

have a cup of

coffee early in the

morning, and I turn

the light on first.

'cause I like

the lights on.

I just like

the lights on.

And I'm sitting

there and I thought

it's perfect

because the light of

the world comes to

give us life eternal.

That evergreen

represents

life and light.

And that's Jesus.

He came to give us

life abundantly, not

without misdirection,

like a fluttering

may fly or a balloon

flying off the edge

to give us life with

purpose and meaning

because he loves us.

Father, thank

you for today.

Thank you for

your word.

Thank you that

you love us.

Thank you that you

died to give us life.

You came to give

us life and purpose

and meaning.

Thank you Jesus.

Amen.

You know, uh,

advent, you're

supposed to light

the candles and we,

our pastor last week

forgot to light one

and when he forgot

to light is hope.

You know, hope to

me means that in the

midst of everything

that's happening,

my hope is not in

the circumstances

or the things around

me, it's in Jesus.

And I celebrate

this time of year

because he loves me

for God's soul.

Loved the world

that he gave his one

and his only son,

that whoever

believes in him

would not perish, but

have everlasting life.

Thank you Father

for hope and for love.

Amen.

Now, uh, I think

we have, oh yeah,

this is, if y'all

don't know, we've

transitioned to having

all the announcements

after church.

I dunno about you,

but I kinda like

that because when

we worship, we

worship, let all

that business stuff

be when it's over.

So if you get up and

leave to go potty, you

miss what's happening.

So hang on real fast.

Austin, Lisa.

Y'all got it?

Let's go.

Woo

microphone's.

Debbie.

There's one.

Here's the other.

That's it.

That's it.

You're on.

Cool.

It's on.

Can you hear me?

Nope.

Green.

Um, oh.

Oh, there we go.

Now it's green.

Okay.

No promises how this

is gonna go, guys.

Great.

Thanks.

Okay.

If you're a guest

with us, this is

your first service.

Welcome.

This is a wonderful

church and we've been

members here for a

few years and love it.

So welcome.

Um, let's see.

Oh yeah, this

is tonight.

The Ladies

Christmas Tour of

Homes is tonight.

We're going to three

different homes this

evening, correct?

Yes.

Um.

Any of the ladies

are welcome.

I think some of the

high school girls

are coming as well.

Yeah.

Are welcome

to join us.

Okay.

You can take your

kids too, right?

No.

No you cannot.

I specifically put

it on the calendar

when it came out,

so I had time to go.

Um, also about

that, uh, Jamie said

me here at 5 45.

Yes.

Carpool.

Yes.

I have a van so I

can carpool people.

I gotta clean

at first though.

But your turn,

it's got, uh, horse

garbage in it.

It's got yet stuff.

What are we doing

that, oh, put snacks

and Christmas, uh,

Christmas party.

Friday, December

13th at six.

Gingerbread

house is hot.

Chocolate snacks

and Christmas movie.

Moms and kids.

Oh, crap.

See Renee if you have

questions about that.

Mighty mom's

Christmas party.

That's it.

Oh.

Oh, okay.

Trick.

Hey, thank you.

This was really cool.

Um, we've done a

lot so far this

season to give back.

And, um, this is

about the gift

cards, correct?

Yeah, $25

Turkey tag team.

Um, the college

kid, college kid

care packages,

um, the operation,

Christmas child

boxes, and then the

food bank help that

you guys have done.

We've done a lot.

This, this season.

This is, oh,

hey D See, we're

doing terrible.

Dax has to interrupt.

No, you're good.

I said trust me, if

you're nervous, you've

seen me and Marty do

it, so you're good.

Uh, so, uh, I did

wanna just help him

out with this one.

So, the Secret

families of

Hamilton County.

Now we normally do

this and sometimes

we advertise this

as this is a youth

event, but it's, it's

not a youth event.

The youth

are doing it.

Um, everyone is

invited to do it.

And we really

encourage other

people to, to go.

Um, this organization

goes out and

takes families

who, for whatever

reason because of

di dire Straits

are not able to

celebrate Christmas.

And they, they're

people who have been

recommended by someone

else who cares about

that family, who knows

them, who loves 'em.

And they're like, Hey,

this, they're falling

on the hardest times.

Will you please

consider them

for this program?

So what we do is we go

and we shop for gifts

for that family, and

then we go and wrap

them, and then we

go and deliver them.

Um, and it's a

wonderful event.

It's awesome.

I've done it every

year we've done it,

and it's, it's just

super beautiful

to see the impact

that you can make

on someone's life.

So we need more people

to go and we're still

looking, our church is

hoping to raise $1,000

for this organization.

So, um, we are asking

that you please

donate if you have

not donated yet,

and have the ability

to, you can follow

that QR code there.

Um, that would be

really important.

And also if you

want to go, you can

do this QR code.

Um, even if you're in

the youth and you've

already talked to

maybe Josh and Audrey

or someone else about

going, please scan

this QR code so we

can have numbers,

um, of who's going.

'cause it's gonna be

December 14th, so it's

coming soon, right.

Um, but yeah,

that's this, this

coming weekend.

So, um, we need to

know the numbers

of who's going

so we can kind of

plan accordingly.

'cause our plan is

to take two different

vans and that's the

good thing, is that

you don't have to even

worry about driving.

You just drive here

to the church and then

we're all carpooled

together in the vans.

Uh, but we just need

to know our numbers.

So please, um, if

you're able to do

that, we would really

appreciate if you

could, if you could

be there for that.

And if you do have

questions, you

can come find me.

Um, Audrey is also

here and she can

probably answer some

questions as well.

So anyway, thank you.

I'm excited

about this one.

Although it's only

two and a half hours.

Time goes very fast.

Um.

And make sure you're

here on time to

pick up your kid

after parents night

out, um, so that

Tom can go home at

a reasonable hour.

Appreciate that.

Yeah.

Um, the children's

Christmas program

is gonna be Sunday,

December 22nd,

10:00 AM They are

practicing really

hard and it is the

most adorable thing

to watch these kids

up here worshiping

and praising for the

Christmas service.

It's awesome.

Um, Christmas Eve

service at 6:00 PM

on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve

service calendar

coming in 2025.

That's all

on that one.

Your turn.

I was gonna

just, you're

gonna keep going.

Oh, you let me go?