Word Became Flesh

The scripture reading comes from John chapter 1.

John 1 · chapter mention

Please follow along on the screen, the bulletin, or your own Bible.

Starting in verse 1, we read,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He was in the beginning with God.

All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God whose name was John.

He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through Him.

He was not the light, but He came to bear witness about the light.

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him.

He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him.

But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God,

who were not born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the word became flesh and dwelt among us.

And we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John bore witness about Him and cried out,

This was He of whom I said,

He who comes after me ranks before me, because He was before me.

For from His fullness we have all received grace upon grace.

For the law was given through Moses.

Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

No one has ever seen God,

the only God who is at the Father's side.

He has made Him known.

This is the Word of God.

Great. Thank you, Angeline, for reading that.

Welcome, everyone, again.

My name is Chris, if you don't know me.

We're starting our series in Advent.

And so I don't know how you're feeling about Christmas coming up.

But actually, I am super excited about this season.

I think more than any time, actually, probably in my life,

I've just really sensed that God wants to do something as we celebrate Advent,

which is about the coming of Jesus and preparing our hearts.

So let me just pray for us as we begin.

Father, I thank you that you're not the kind of God that we think you are.

I thank you that you're a God who far surpasses all of our expectations.

You're a God who is far more gracious, far more loving than our expectations.

I thank you that you're a God who is not limited, a God who is not impotent,

a God who is not distant, but a God who knows us, sees us, and comes down to be with us.

Lord, I pray this morning your Spirit would just speak to us.

I pray that you would open our hearts, that your Word would penetrate into our souls.

Lord, I pray that you would change us.

I pray that you'd help us to fall more in love with you.

Lord, I pray that the Word would not go in one ear and out the other,

but it would stay and it would sink deeper and deeper into our souls,

that our lives would be changed by you.

Lord, we just pray for Kevin, who is now hopefully in South Africa.

Lord, we thank you for just him being able to get out for the flight.

Lord, we just pray your blessing upon them as a family.

Give them great rest and refreshment during this season.

And Lord, thank you that you are a good and a gracious king.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Great.

So yes, as Kevin hinted last week, he managed to get on a flight this week with his family.

So do be praying for them as they're going to be away for the next couple of months or so.

I want to show you a video before we start.

So, all right.

That video just does me every time.

It's awesome, right?

When you see our world, just even that, and they haven't shown you everything,

you see that our world and our universe is so intricately, incredibly, awesomely designed.

And do you know what that video shows?

You and I are not the center of the world.

You and I are not the center of the world.

And science has shown us that our universe and our earth are so finely tuned,

so aligned for human life,

that it's little wonder that throughout all cultures and all history,

everyone, apart from the most hardened atheists,

have looked at the work of this creation and said,

there must be a God or gods or a higher power.

There must be something that has brought all of this into existence.

Something has created it and something is sustaining this.

And yet, here's the thing.

Have you ever seen God?

Like, he doesn't have a TV channel.

He doesn't post on Instagram.

He doesn't knock on your door and ask you out for coffee.

And so what we have in our world,

we live in this space where we have this awesome knowledge through creation

that there is a glorious mind behind all of this.

And then we're trying to figure out who this is and what this is.

And so religions and philosophy and even our own experiences,

what we do is we try and fill in the blanks

of what we think this being is like.

We create a mental image of God.

Maybe he's harsh and demanding because your parents were like that.

Maybe he's kind and warm and a bit of a pushover

because you don't want a God who interferes too much in your life.

Maybe he's distant and uninterested because that's your experience of church or religion.

Well, this Advent season, we're looking at something called the incarnation of Jesus.

And can, carne, carnation is what comes from chili con carne.

That means the meat or flesh.

Literally, we're looking at the infleshing of God,

that God became human.

Because the extraordinary, mind-blowing claim of the Bible,

the extraordinary, mind-blowing claim of Christmas,

is you don't have to fill in the blanks any longer.

It's that God has made himself known

and that God has shown what he is like in the incarnation of Jesus.

And so that's what we're going to be looking at over the next few weeks

as we lead up to Christmas.

But if you are someone who's been in church a while,

if you've grown up kind of doing Christmas and the church kind of things,

I suspect you probably, like I have in the past,

have lost the wonder of what I've just said.

I suspect that we have missed just how incredible

that what Christmas is celebrating really is.

And so I want to take the next 25, 30 minutes

just to encourage us to wonder again at the incarnation.

And we're going to look briefly at this passage.

There's so much in here.

We could spend like a year on this,

but we're going to skim through it in three headings.

He is who?

We did what?

And he did that?

Okay?

You can do the inflection at the end of the question mark.

So he is who?

This passage in John, if you've got your bulletin with you,

I encourage you to have that.

He starts with,

in the beginning.

Anyone heard that before?

If you've read the Bible, you should have.

It comes on page one of the Bible, Genesis 1.

It's the start of the account of God's creation

of the heavens and the earth

and what we saw in that video.

And what you see is,

at that point,

God created this world.

It was dark.

It was formless.

It was chaotic.

And then God speaks a word.

He says,

Be light.

And out of nothing,

light happens.

He speaks and says sky.

He speaks and says sea,

planets,

fish,

birds,

humans,

and it occurs.

And it's there.

You see,

God's word takes the chaos

and the disorder

and the emptiness

and he transforms it

into order

and beauty

and life.

And throughout scripture,

God's word is always doing this.

His word is always bringing salvation,

bringing deliverance,

bringing hope,

bringing peace,

bringing life to people.

It's what God's word does.

And John says,

In the beginning

was the word.

And every Jew

listening

would go,

Yeah,

that's God's powerful,

life-giving,

creative word.

And then it gets a little weird.

He then says,

And then the word was with God.

Hmm.

He's saying that a word

is actually not just spoken,

actually there's something

that this word is a person

in some way.

And then he says

that the word

was God.

And now everyone's going,

Man,

what on earth is going on here?

John's just dropped this bombshell

into every Jewish person

and every Greek person.

He would have blown

all of their categories,

no matter what philosophy

they came from,

because what John is saying

in this statement,

he's saying that the source

of life,

of breath,

of gravity,

of DNA,

of you and of me

is not some lonely single deity

sitting on a cloud

hoping that he can find

the one somehow to love.

He's saying that before

and from eternity,

before one subatomic particle

was made,

God was already a community.

And Jesus,

he goes on to say,

is the word

from eternity past

to eternity future.

And he carries on

this kind of picture

which is so confusing

for many people.

He goes and says,

it's not just this image

of Jesus being the word

which brings life

to everyone,

he's also part of a family.

And he says,

later on,

he says,

Jesus is the only son

from the father.

And then verse 18,

he says,

no one has ever seen God

but the only God

who is at the father's side,

literally lying on his chest,

has made him known.

You see,

it's this incredibly

intimate image.

image.

It's the image

like a father

with his son

or two lovers

just in a continual embrace

of tenderness

and affection.

And Muslims,

if they would hear this,

they would shudder

at this thought

because they think

if Jesus is God's son,

that implies

that God somehow

had sex.

But that's not at all

what the idea

of this is.

It's the idea

that a son

is like father,

like son.

He carries the same

divine DNA

as his father.

Jesus is God

as the father is God.

And yet he's not the father.

He's a separate person.

There's this community element.

It's what we call

the trinity.

And later on in the book

he'll bring in

the Holy Spirit

to this.

And I don't get

what all of that involves

because if you look

at that universe,

do you think

you can understand

the mind behind

all of that?

And yet this God

who is three in one

in this mystery

is saying

that there is

this intimate

love and affection

that we just get

a shadow of

when we see

deep love

between a family member

or between

a husband

and a wife.

love.

You see,

the love that the father

has for the son

and the son

has for the father

is incredible.

Jesus says,

I always do

what pleases my father.

And then he says,

the father loves me

and shows me

all he does.

It's like this

just kind of

this love in

that they have

in this community.

You see,

the thing,

and I'm just going

very briefly here,

but the thing is,

what he's saying

in this is

God is not sterile

and reserved.

God is not British.

God is an eternal

triune community

of blazing

passionate love

at his core.

And so,

just as children

are meant to be

the overflow

of the love

of a father

and mother

and those children

are meant to be drawn

in to experience

that love

in the family.

So,

you and me

are the overflow

and all of creation

is the overflow

of this divine love

and the design

is that actually

we get drawn

in to experience

this love

to sit at the table

where they're having

fellowship.

That's the image.

That's why he says

we have the right

to become children

of God.

It's an incredible picture.

And then he carries on

saying that Jesus

is not just this

part of the triune,

God.

He says,

all things were made

through him.

Without him was not

anything made

that was made.

In him was life

and that life

is the light of man.

You see,

what he's saying

is that

all of everything

God creates,

everything God reveals,

all of his work

that he does

is always

shown through Jesus.

It's always

manifested through him.

The eternal God

of all creation

of this universe

who's unlimited,

infinite,

outside of time,

space,

and history

does everything.

Everything that you've

seen his word doing

in all of the Old Testament,

all through the Bible,

behind all of that,

Jesus is the means

by which he accomplishes that.

Hebrews says this,

the sun

is the radiance

of God's glory

and the exact

representation

of his being,

sustaining

all things

by his

powerful word.

Take a breath

right now.

Okay,

some of you

need some practice.

Okay,

take another breath.

You just received

two gifts.

Like,

try going

for the rest

of this service

and hold your breath.

Okay?

And maybe

till lunchtime.

Can any of you

do it?

Why not?

Because you are

sustained.

Because your

very existence

at the most

fundamental level

is utterly

dependent

on something

outside of yourself.

And John's

claim

is that

your creation

and your very life

and every breath

you breathe

right now

is utterly

dependent

on Jesus

as the word

who is sustaining

you to keep

you alive.

You see,

when my brother

took his last breath,

it was like

somebody unplugged

the life support

machine.

It was this

awesome experience.

And Jesus

holds the plug

of your life

today.

He's the eternal

creator,

your sustainer,

your very life.

In him

is life.

That's who he is.

But secondly,

we did what?

John goes on.

He says this

in verse 10

and 11.

He says,

he was in the world

and the world

was made

through him.

But the world

did not know him.

He came to his own

but his own

did not

receive him.

You know,

former

Dutch

Prime Minister

Abraham Kuyper

and Henrico

will like

a Dutch reference.

He said this.

This is very profound.

He said,

there is not

a square inch

in the whole

domain of human

existence

over which

Christ

who is sovereign

over all

does not cry

mine.

Your life,

your breath,

your money,

your entire

being

belongs to him.

And so Christmas

is celebrating

the owner

of everything

we are

and everything

we have.

You look out

of the window,

it's his.

He's got it,

you know,

when I was a kid,

you know,

my mum used to

write my name

on all my things.

If you were to

look under everything

you would actually

find God

written on it.

But the owner

of all that

came to his own

at Christmas time.

And what did we do?

Well,

it's like my wife

coming home

from work

and what you expect

is as you open

the door

my two-year-old

runs up

and welcomes her.

But we didn't

do that.

Do you remember

when Mary and Joseph

they were going

to Bethlehem?

They got a great

welcome,

didn't they?

No,

it says

there was no room

for them

in the inn.

They were shut out.

Jesus came to his own.

This is his world.

He sustains us.

It's not ours.

We're dependent on him

yet we slammed the door.

We did not receive him.

We left him out

in the cold.

Why?

Because

we want to be

the center of the world

and not him.

We want to own

ourselves

not him.

You see,

the innkeeper

shut Jesus out

because he was

too busy

trying to make

his business

profitable.

Writer

David Foster Wallace

says,

everything in my

own immediate

experience

supports my belief

that I am

the absolute center

of the universe,

the realest,

most vivid

and important

person in existence.

I think he's being

more honest

than most of us are

because many of us,

what we're trying

to do in our lives,

even right now,

we're busy

trying to make

ourselves

the center

of our world.

It's our plans,

our hopes,

our careers,

our education.

We don't want

anything,

especially Jesus,

to interrupt us

because he can

mess up your life

a little bit.

but doesn't that

video that we

showed before

show us

we are not

the center

of the world?

In fact,

if you think

you are,

then you have

shrunk down

your life

to be the most

narrow-minded person

in existence

because you have

taken the vastness

of awesomeness,

which is the whole

of our universe,

which is God himself,

and you've

diminished it down

into the little

blip that is you

and me.

And that's when,

you know,

even all of our

prayers can center

on me.

And so the crazy

thing about Christmas

is that we

shut the creator

of everything out

thinking that was

a good idea

and Jesus

would have

every right

to blow open

the door,

nuke the innkeeper

and say,

let me reclaim

my property.

I think that's

actually,

if we were in

that position,

that's how I

treat him.

He's who?

He's the glorious

triune God

who comes down

to us.

We did what?

We shut him out.

Third thing,

he did that.

And here's where

I want to just

park a little

while.

Because at

Christmas time,

and in this

passage,

John wants us

to step back

a little bit

to see what's

actually going

on.

Because he says

one of the most

extraordinary

sentences that

has ever been

written in all

philosophy,

in all of

history.

history.

You know,

there is nothing

like this sentence

in Islam,

in Buddhism,

in Hinduism,

in Judaism,

in materialism,

in atheism,

in any ism

you want to

say.

He says this,

he says,

the word

became flesh

and dwelt

among us.

And we've

seen his glory,

glory as of

the only

son from the

father,

full of

grace and

truth.

this is

incredible.

I don't have

words to

explain this,

but this is

just,

as I've been

thinking about

this,

this has just

blown my

mind.

Do you see

what he's

saying?

He's saying

God isn't

just out there

kind of

shouting some

instructions at

us.

God didn't

just come down

as a hologram.

He didn't

just come down

as some kind

of superhero

in a great

cape.

This God

came down

to us

and became

human.

That should

stun you.

If it

doesn't

stun you,

you don't

understand it.

John says

no one has

ever seen

God,

but he's

made him

known.

You see,

what he's

referring to,

he's referring

back to the

book of

Exodus.

Because for

the Jews,

God was so

holy,

you would

not even

say his

name.

You couldn't

stand in

his presence.

Moses,

before the

burning bush,

had to

shield his

eyes,

take off

his

standals,

because he

was so

holy.

In Exodus

33,

Moses says,

please show

me your

glory.

He doesn't

know what

he's asking.

Because God

says,

yeah,

I'll make

all my

goodness

pass in

front of

you,

but you

cannot see

my face

because man

cannot see

me and

live,

he says.

And then

he kind of

hides him in

this little

cave,

and Moses

kind of just

sees this

streak of

lightning

that kind

of goes

past,

just the

kind of

tail end

of the

glory,

and he

just hears,

he doesn't

see,

he just

hears God

proclaim his

name,

the Lord,

the Lord,

merciful and

gracious,

slow to

anger,

abounding in

steadfast love

and faithfulness.

But he

can't see

him,

because he's

so holy,

he's so

awesome.

You can't

look at the

sun,

right,

just without

getting blinded.

God created

that thing.

But this

unseen,

utterly

holy God

has made

himself known

in a little

baby

called Jesus.

I mean,

just think about

it.

The God who

is outside of

time,

omnipresent,

all-knowing,

doesn't need to

sleep,

doesn't need

coffee in the

morning,

doesn't wish

he'd achieved

some more,

doesn't wish

he was better

looking or more

talented because

he is the

epitome of

all unprecedented

glory.

He is the

ultimate in

every category

and he's

already satisfied

in himself with

his love

relationship that's

going on.

But this

very God

chooses

to wear

nappies and

poo himself,

chooses to

get acne and

go through

puberty,

chooses our

tiredness and

our fragility,

our limits,

in complete

dependence on

his father.

Do you know

that?

I think we

have a big

problem with

this.

You know

the song

Away in a

Manger?

Do you know

there's a line

in that which

says,

the little Lord

Jesus,

no crying he

makes.

That is the

biggest load of

crap ever.

Sorry if I'm

allowed to say

that.

I mean,

why do we say

that?

It's like kind

of,

we think Jesus

is kind of zen,

just kind of,

you know,

and Mary and

Joseph,

it's like,

hey,

he's a

self-parenting,

you know.

No.

You see,

we often think,

we say things

like,

you know,

yeah,

but that was

Jesus,

right?

You know,

Jesus loved

people,

Jesus forgave

people,

yeah,

but that was

Jesus,

right?

Don't we?

Because what

we're saying

is,

we think

Jesus is a

bit like a

tuna and

wasabi

sushi.

You know,

the wasabi

always overpowers

the tuna,

right?

And so the

divine always

overpowers the

human.

Really,

he's just kind

of a little

bit of a

shell,

you know.

He's not

truly human.

Colin's going,

what on earth

analogy.

But we think

that,

hey,

he isn't

really like

us.

But this

passage is

saying,

no,

he gets

you entirely.

He's 100%

human,

100% God,

not a

50-50,

not a

kind of

cocktail.

He's none

of those

things.

He's 100%

and yet he

lays aside

his power

and experiences

our full

humanity

so that

he might

open

our doors

to his

love.

That's

insane.

But it

gets crazier

than that.

Because

verse 14,

the message

translation

says this,

the word

became flesh

and blood

and moved

into our

neighborhood.

I love

that.

The word

became flesh

and blood

and moved

into our

neighborhood.

Do you

know,

he didn't

choose to

move in

to live

on the

peak

in a

palace.

He came

to a

feeding trough

in utter

poverty

in a

backwater

of nowhere.

and not

just

physically

in poverty,

he came

to a

spiritual

slum.

Do you

know,

me and

my family,

we moved

from

Shengwan

to

Shamshai

Pol

almost

exactly

a year

ago.

And I

read this

passage a

year ago

just as we

moved in

and I

looked over

to see

the

tongfong,

the subdivided

flats

that were

there and

these kind

of tiny

little

cramped

apartments.

And this

just took

on a

whole new

meaning.

And then

actually

afterwards I

went down

to the

park and

I was

reading my

Bible,

it's a

beautiful

park,

I was

reading my

Bible and

then somebody

came down to

sit next to

me and

started snorting

cocaine.

And then

just on the

side four

people walked

up,

laid on the

floor,

took out

needles and

started injecting

themselves.

And I'm

going,

I've got to

get out of

here.

And then

you hear about

people like

Jackie Pullinger

if you know

Jackie Pullinger

leaves the

comfort of

Britain to

minister to

those in the

walled city in

Kowloon which

was known as

a den of

thieves,

triads and

drug addicts.

Or German

Moravian

missionaries,

some of you may

not know this but

in the 1700s a

group of these

guys tried to

sell themselves

into slavery to

be able to

reach the

slaves even in

the horror of

the conditions of

slavery.

Because they

wanted the

gospel to get

to them that

badly.

All of those

things pale

into comparison

with what this

phrase says,

the word,

the creator of

everything became

flesh and moved

into our

neighborhood.

It's our door

shut,

finger pointing,

self-exalting,

self-reliant,

self-justifying,

dirty,

broken slum of

our lives.

and he didn't

airbnb out of

town for a

night or two

and then just

parachute in

occasionally.

The word says

he dwelt among

us.

I love that.

It's literally

he pitched a

tent among us.

And it's

referring to the

Old Testament

tabernacle where

the presence of

the holy awesome

God came to

meet with his

unholy people.

The presence of

God himself

comes down into

the slum.

And what that

should show you

is this.

God is not

standoffish and

kind of,

oh.

God doesn't

hold his nose

at us.

Do you know I

walked in a

slum in India

once and

everywhere there

was human

excrement.

And there was a

cesspit on the

side and I

was kind of

like this.

God does not

go, oh,

at us.

Isn't that

incredible?

You see,

God knows

your mess.

He knows

your shame.

He knows

that you have

slammed the

door in his

face a thousand

times, whether

you're a Christian

or not.

And maybe even

this morning you

did the same.

Treating your

life as your

own and not

his.

But he

doesn't move

away from us.

He moves

towards us.

He's not the

distant,

disinterested,

slightly harsh,

maybe wondering

about us a little

bit kind of God

that many of us

actually you think

he really is.

Because he is

the God who

wants to reshape

your entire

mental picture

of him.

So see, he's

the God who

longs to draw

close to us

and he will

go to the

heavens to do

it and he

will go to

the slum to

do it too.

So that you

and I might

be drawn into

a relationship

and experience

the love that

he has.

Jesus reveals

what God is

truly like.

No one's

ever seen

God, but

only God,

the only God

who is at

the Father's

side, left

the glories

of heaven to

make him

known.

You know,

Don Carson

says this,

he says,

do you want

to know what

the character

of God is

like?

Study Jesus.

Do you want

to know what

the holiness

of God is

like?

Study Jesus.

Do you want

to know what

the wrath of

God is

like?

Study Jesus.

Do you want

to know what

the forgiveness

of God is

like?

Study Jesus.

Do you don't

want to know

what the glory

of God is

like?

Study Jesus.

Study Jesus

all the way

to that wretched

cross, study

Jesus.

What is he

like?

He's full

of grace

and truth.

That doesn't

kind of get to

us that much

but that's

actually the

Greek translation

of that

Exodus passage

where God

says,

I am abounding

in steadfast

love and

faithfulness.

Jesus is

showing you

that this

very morning

wherever you

are with

him today,

his heart

for you

is an

overflowing,

ocean filled,

never ending,

unshakable love

that is willing

to go to the

depths for you.

to take you

out of the

gutter of

trying to

prove yourself,

take you

out of the

slum of your

own self

reliance,

take you

out of the

slum of your

own self

focused ambition

and all the

worries and all

the fears and

all those other

things, he

wants to lift

you up out of

that so that

you experience

his love.

The love of a

trinitarian God

who says wants

to give us the

right to be his

children.

So we might

know that

embrace,

that eternal

embrace.

And so this

Christmas,

this is what

Jesus is wanting

to do.

He comes to

his own,

that's you

and that's me

today and

he says will

you receive

me?

I'm knocking

at the door,

will you open

and let the

owner come

in?

In the

Garden of Eden,

you know,

Eve ate the

fruit because

she doubted

God's goodness.

Did God

really say?

All of your

sin,

all of your

worry,

all of your

fear,

all of your

striving to

get life by

yourself,

all of your

self-reliance,

goodness,

comes out of

a false

view of

God because

you don't

think he is

as good as

he says he

is.

You don't

think he

loves you

as much as

he says he

does.

All of your

prayerlessness,

all of whatever

is distracting

you and

busying you

and taking

up your

mind is

shaped by

your image

of who you

think God

is.

And this

Christmas,

what God

wants you to

do is he

wants you to

meditate on

the incarnation.

He wants you

to take this

view of who

he says he

is and set

it aside to

all those

things that

you have

filled in the

blanks with

and he wants

to erase those

blanks and he

wants to give

you a new

image of

himself so

that you

can go out

of here

freed from

being the

center of

your own

world,

free to

live an

expansive

life with

him at the

center.

other.

And so let

me just

encourage you

finally.

How do you

do that?

You've

actually got to

take time to

think about

Jesus and to

prepare for

Jesus because

he's knocking.

One of the

things we're

doing as a

church is we're

going through

this devotional,

Advent devotional.

If you haven't

started, I want to

strongly encourage you

to do that.

I've just been

reading through

and it's just

really encouraging

me because it's

all about Jesus.

Take the time to

really reflect on

Jesus.

You know, one of

the things my

wife has been

doing every day,

I didn't ask her

to do it, she's

just started doing

this, she's been

writing a scripture

verse every day

during Advent for

me.

She gives it to me

in an envelope.

It's amazing.

My wife's

incredible.

She gives it to me

in an envelope and

every morning I open

up with a scripture

reminding me of

Jesus.

It's awesome.

I'm going to

type them all up

so that I've got

this list.

Every day we're

actually putting up

a different Christmas

decoration and then

actually just relating

it to Jesus with my

family because we want

Jesus to saturate

everything because if

Jesus is center of

your life, all the

other problems are

going to get

perspective because if

he's the God of all

creation and he's the

one who loves you

that much, then you

can be free to enjoy

him this Christmas and

to have an expanded

life.

Let's pray.

Maybe just as the

band comes up, just

think about how you're

actually responding to

Jesus right at the

moment.

what place does he

really have in your

life?

Not the kind of

superficial answer, not

the kind of right,

correct answer, but

even just where in your

thinking is he?

What is your image of

him?

What are you worried

about?

What are you afraid of?

What are you striving

for?

What are you striving for?

What are you striving for?

What are you striving for?

And are you able to let

him be the one who you're

striving for more than

anything else?

If you're not a

Christian, God is speaking

to you and saying, will

you open the door of your

heart to stop trying to be

in control of your own

life and let me be?

Maybe some of us just need

to go, God, open my eyes

to see the wonder of this

again.

Just respond to Jesus

right now.

Wherever you're up to.

Maybe we need to respond in

just praise.

Maybe we need to respond in

repentance, saying, God, I

know my life has just been,

I've crowded you out, but I

want my heart to be open

for you.

Maybe there's an action of

obedience that he's calling

you to do, and you've just

been going, yeah, but I

prefer to do this.

And Jesus is saying, trust me,

I'm better than you think I

am.

Father, I just pray for us as

a church.

It's so easy for us to talk

about Jesus all the time,

but to lose the wonder of

who you really are.

God, would you rekindle that

wonder?

Would you light a fire in our

hearts, Lord, this Christmas?

Would you show us that you are

worth giving everything for?

Would you give us such a

filling of your love that it

just overflows?

That as we go out into our

workplaces, as we go into our

families, as we go into

difficult situations, as we go

into things we have no idea

how to handle, we go with a

peace knowing that you're

already in charge, that you're

the center of the world, and

you've got this.

And we just need to walk with

you.

Father, lift our eyes to see

you again, we pray.

In Jesus' mighty name.

Amen.