Christmas… HOPE

Merry Christmas.

Wow, that's much better than how's it going.

Everybody usually, oh, oh, oh.

Merry Christmas, better.

Hey, so I figure I have about eight minutes before the kids attack me for the candy canes, okay?

And so I just wanted to share with you a little bit about what we've been praying about,

what we think the meaning of Christmas is about as we look at it and approach it this Christmas season.

If you are the first time at Watermark, family, we're excited that you're here.

My name is Tobin.

I'm one of the teaching pastors here.

What you see is what you get, chaos, raw, controlled, family together, and it's like that every Sunday.

So if you don't have a church, please come join us.

We need more chaos.

You know, I love Christmas.

There's something about Christmas in this season.

It's an amazing adjective, isn't it, Christmas?

Because whenever you put Christmas in front of something, it just makes it better.

Or Christmas music, Christmas decorations, Christmas smells, seeing the kids' faces are amazing to me.

Christmas food, just putting food in front of Christmas probably adds 10 pounds to Christmas food that we're going to eat this year.

So we're going to have a scale next week, and we're going to weigh everybody to see how we've scaled, how much food we've gained and weight we've gained in that time.

But, you know, the amazing thing as I think about this season is that all over the world, in thousands of languages,

in amazing different countries, people are coming together, and they're worshiping the birth of a baby boy born in Bethlehem.

A baby boy who would one day bring hope to all mankind.

The story my kiddos just read there is the story of the first Christmas.

And if you listen to that story, or if you read it again in your bulletin, what you're going to see is that there's this incredible contrast between fear and hope.

Fear and hope.

The contrast we see in the shepherds' lives, and when the shepherds see the angels, or whenever anybody meets God, or hears God, or is approached by God throughout all of Scripture,

what you see is this incredible amount of fear in them.

But then the words of the angels bring this comfort of hope.

Now, I've been a pastor for almost 30 years now.

And one of my jobs as a pastor is to counsel people like you.

And I have the incredible privilege of coming into people's lives and to see what kind of things they struggle with.

And what I realize is that all of us struggle with fear.

Every one of us struggle with fear.

I mean, the Bible says over 350 times, do not fear.

And so when I read that in Scripture, what I realize is that we as humans must have something within our DNA that makes us fear.

I mean, we fear failure.

We fear rejection.

We fear rejection by the people we love and by those people that we value.

We fear the future.

We fear being alone.

We fear insignificance.

And what I've seen is a pastor that almost all of us fear, probably every one of us fears death.

And the Bible says that this struggle with fear that we all have began because of a broken relationship.

The other passage in your bulletin is the passage of Genesis.

And it talks about this beginning time.

It talks about our parents.

And at this moment when our parents decide to live life on their own, we see that this relationship with God is broken and fear comes into us.

And fear didn't just come into Adam and Eve, but it came into all of their children.

And so the Bible would say right now, you and I, we have fear in our DNA.

And the scripture passage in the bulletin shows us immediately that Adam and Eve knew something was wrong.

The minute they decided to go away from God, they knew something was wrong.

They knew that the relationship was broken.

And the response was to hide, to cover their fears, to hide themselves, to make it look like they are not in trouble.

And we see in the passage that when God comes to talk to them in the garden, their only response to a holy, loving God is to hide, to hide themselves from him.

Because they fear.

Today, psychiatrists, psychologists, sociologists will tell you that we live in an age of fear.

In no other time perhaps in history is fear driven people?

Is it controlled people?

Has it advertised people?

I was reading an amazing article yesterday in the financial magazine.

And it said in America there's actually what they call a Smith and Wesson index.

Now Smith and Wesson is a gun company in America.

Now that's one of the reasons Americans are crazy.

We have guns.

And I know everybody else looks at us like, what are you doing?

But what economists do is they measure the income of this company.

And they can determine how well a society, American society, is doing by the sales of Smith and Wesson guns.

And the economists said that the sales are driven by fear and worry.

And whenever people feel more fearful and more worried, they buy things to protect themselves.

They buy things that they need.

It's one of the greatest ploys for advertising, right?

You buy things because you're afraid you're not going to get it.

You're not going to have it and somebody else is going to have it.

And one of the things I've realized after 30 years and 51 years of living my life is that every one of us in here are great experts at hiding our fears.

Every one of us in here do things to cover our fears so that the people around us don't see that we're fearful.

Sometimes we use our jobs.

Sometimes we use our jobs to cover our fears.

Sometimes we use our gifting.

Sometimes we use our talents.

Sometimes we use our intellect.

Sometimes we use and hide behind our culture and our families.

Some of us hide behind relationships.

Some of us hide behind our education.

Some of us hide behind our health.

Some of us hide behind our wealth.

Some of us hide behind our good looks.

Some of us hide behind our good works.

but what I've seen through 30 years of living with people

is that all of us have different techniques to hide our fear

what kind of techniques do you use

what is it in your life that you use to hide your fear because there's a sense that if we don't hide it

people are going to see that we're not together people are going to see that we're not perfect people are going to see that we're not

who we want them to be

and fear enters into our life

recently I was talking to a friend they're not in this church I asked them permission

to share this before I shared it and we're talking about these things in our life

and I always consider this person a mover and shaker in Hong Kong

and we're talking about life and fears and values and goals

and they said this to me

they said you know I'm an imposter

I'm an imposter I'm a fake

they said that Hong Kong was all about covering yourself

looking nice outwardly

it didn't matter what was going on inwardly as long as you look nicely outwardly

and this person said that

as I did that I realized that I'm an imposter

they said they realized that one day their greatest fear was

that everything would unravel

they realized that one day everything is going to unravel

and people are going to see them just as they are

they feared their work and they realized that in their work

they're not becoming as sharp

and they're not on the cutting edge

and they're not bringing in as much money as they used to

and they feared that one day people were going to see that

they feared their relationships

and they realized they said to me

that you know I'm spending Tobin

I'm spending more and more time

talking to more and more people

but these relationships mean nothing

they're superficial

and they don't help me

and these people don't know me at all

they said I feared my family

because they realized that their family

portrays this image of what everybody in Hong Kong

expects the family to look like

and this person said to me that one day soon

they realized that all of this is going to unravel

and people are going to look at them

and they're going to realize that their life is not all together

and their family is not all together

and lastly they shared to me

they feared their body and their health

because they had a couple tests that came back

and they weren't very positive

and they realized that no matter how hard they tried

that they weren't being able to keep their health up

that age and time were causing things to deteriorate

and they feared

that people would see them not as they want to be seen

but as they really are

did you hear what she said to me

what they said to me

they said their greatest fear

is that people would see them not as they are

not as they want to be seen

but as they are

after this time with her

I thanked her and I sat there

and I realized you know

if we're honest

we all struggle with these fears

we all put things in our life

to cover up our fears

to make people think that we're perfect

we have our act together

and we all

if we're honest

and we've lived long enough

we realize that no matter what we use

our money

our health

our intellect

our relationships

our family

whatever we use

that ultimately these things are going to fail us

and we're going to be surrounded by fear again

C.S. Lewis

the British author and philosopher

said it this way

he said

the only way that you and I

can experience ultimate

true hope

the only way that you and I

can experience a hope

without the possibility of fear

without the possibility of failure

is to place our hope

in something that is infinite

to place our hope

in something that is infinite

something that is unchanging

something that is true

so in verse 10

the angels come in

and they say this amazing good news

they say

God has sent us a savior

in the original language

it means rescuer

God has sent us a rescuer

and this person is going to come in

and they're going to cover our fears

and they're going to bring true hope

this savior has come in

and he's going to fix our relationship with God

the one that was broken at the very beginning

the one that has caused fear

to enter into our DNA

and that is what Christmas is all about

Christmas is about God sending his son

to save you

Christmas is about God sending his son

to save you

from your fears

from your doubts

from your guilt

and from your shame

to forgive you your sins

this is the season

when I look at things

that I am reminded

that hope

doesn't come from within me

but hope comes from a God

who draws near

to us

it's the difference in Christianity

than every other religion in the world

every other philosophy

every other idea of thought

every other thought

every other philosophy

every other religion is going to say

if you want to get to God

you need to do this

you need to do this

you need to do this

you need to do this

you need to be a good person

and if you do all these things

maybe God will say

good

you can come to me

but Christianity

says that's impossible

because we're finite

and God is infinite

and the only way

a finite

broken person

can come to a holy

infinite God

is if that God

comes down

and enters into our world

and that is the meaning

of Christmas

Christmas is about God saying

I'm for you

I love you

I've come to earth

to find you

I've come to take away your fears

I've come to give you hope

I've come to give you

a relationship with me

Christmas reminds us

when we look at this tree

when we look at the nativity thing

whenever we walk through this world

and we see these decorations

Christmas reminds us

that it's about God

coming to you

to save you

to bring you back to him

it's not about you going to God

but it's about God

pursuing you

and Christmas reminds me

that ultimate hope

ultimate reality

is found in a little manger

that one day

is going to become a cross

and at that cross

God is going to make a way

for you and I

to come back to him

so the passage we read

says

behold

I bring you good news

of great joy

which is for all

the people

behold

I bring you great news

of good joy

which is for

Tobin

Sam

Christina

Annie

Ed

behold

I bring you good news

of great joy

for today

in the city of David

has been born

a rescuer

has born a savior

Jesus Christ

my prayer

for each one of us

this Christmas day

is that we wouldn't forget

the words of the angels

my prayers

as we go out today

and we're going to be hit

by a million different things

presents

food

relationships

dinners

that wherever we go

wherever we see

something that represents Christmas

that we'd realize

that this is a message

of ultimate hope

my hope is

as you leave here

you won't keep trying

to build hope

and forgiveness

in yourself

and in the stuff

that you give

get and give

my hope is

that as you leave here

you'd realize

that the only way

that you can find hope

is through a little baby

named Jesus Christ

who's born

in a savior

does that make sense

that's the message

of Christmas

that's why we're here

the message

that Jeremy sang

it talks about

two births

the first

stanza he sung

before the kids

read the bible verse

talks about

a baby being born

in Jerusalem

in Bethlehem

the second stanza

talks about

a baby being born

in our heart

our prayer is

that you would

understand

both of these

and realize

that we've come

to celebrate

a baby being born

in Bethlehem

to bring us

take away our fear

and bring us hope

but that you'd also

understand

that it doesn't stop

in a manger

but it stops

with us

inviting Christ

into our life

and receiving

that lasting hope

let's pray

father

father

we thank you

for this day

we thank you

for the message

of the angels

we thank you

for the message

of Christmas

we thank you

for the message

of your son

who came

to remove

our fears

to bring us

true and ultimate

and lasting hope

lord I know

that there are

some people in here

who hear

for the first time

or they come

once a year

and they're

going to leave here

and chances are

that many of them

many of us

will try to build

hope

cover our fear

build significance

by the attaining

of things

and I pray

in these few

moments

that you would

allow us

to be honest

that we'd realize

that no matter

what we gather

around us

no matter

what kind of titles

or wealth

or money

that it won't

save our souls

it won't bring us

ultimate hope

it will never

take away

the fear

of death

but the only

thing that can

do that

is your son

who came

and died

to make our

relationship

right with you

I pray lord

that they would

accept that

gift

this Christmas

season

that they would

have that

second birth

of that child

in their heart

and they would

enter into this

journey

that we talk

about

called the

Christian life

and lord

I pray

for the rest

of us

who have

been

Christians

and sometimes

we just

forget

sometimes

we've been

busy

we're on

a journey

and we

become busy

with life

and kids

and everything

else

and we walk

by a Christmas

tree

or we walk

by a manger

and we think

commercialism

but the message

of the tree

the message

of the manger

the message

of the baby

is that we

were lost

and you

sent your

son

to find

us

I pray

that we

would look

at Christmas

different

as we

understand

these truths

we love

you

we pray

these things

in your

son Jesus

name

you