Finding Hope and Peace amidst darkness and distress

amen please be seated don't hear amen to that wait don't be seated yet can I hear

amen to that yeah it's great to have you here my name is Tobin Miller I'm one of

the pastors here at Watermark Community Church as we started this church two

years ago we dreamed about people going on a journey together to be sharing

each other's stories and part of sharing each other's stories is knowing each

other and what God has done in our stories and so before you're seated we

would like for you to turn around and greet somebody you have not met this

morning at least two people and welcome them here to this day

come let us worship the king

come let us worship the king

come let us worship the king

come let us worship the king

Jesus the savior is born

for the Lord will reign

over all the earth

come let us worship the king

let us worship the king

Jesus the savior is born

for the Lord is great

and pray thee to be praised

through all the earth

and worship the king

sing let us come let all nations sing

the mountains bring up with an energetic grace

the heavens rejoice

the heavens rejoice

for the earth receives our king

come let us worship the king

come let us worship the king

come let us worship the king

Jesus the savior is born

for the Lord will reign

over all the earth

come let us worship the king

come let us worship the king

Jesus the savior is born

for the Lord is great

and pray thee to be praised

through all the earth

come let us worship the king

come let us worship the king

come let us worship the king

Jesus the savior is born

for the Lord will reign

over all the earth

come let us worship the king

worship the king

come let us worship the king

come let us worship the king

come let us worship the king

come let us worship the king

Jesus the savior is born

come let us worship the king

ware is born

Worship the King!

Hi, my name is Edmund and this morning I would like you to meet a few of the kids

that we work with at ICM in the Nepalese community in Hong Kong.

So...

My name is Silas.

My name is Kelly.

My name is Anisha.

My name is Rosanne.

My name is Brasinta.

My name is Sushmita.

And today they will be leading you in the Advent Sharing today.

This is the third Sunday of Advent.

Each week of Advent, we prepare to celebrate Jesus' birth by lighting a candle

and focusing on different themes of Christ's coming.

So far, we have lit the candles of hope and peace.

This week we light the candle of joy.

In the time of Jesus, shepherds were looked down upon by society at large.

They couldn't worship at the temple, give testimony in court, and were typically stereotyped as thieves by the general population.

By many standards, their lives were lacking in joy.

And one day at night, in the fields surrounding Bethlehem, an angel appeared to a group of shepherds announcing good news of great joy.

Not just for the shepherds, but for the entire world.

In our day, joy can be incredibly fleeting.

Demands of jobs, school, and family can seem overwhelming.

The culture of change in Hong Kong can leave us so disoriented and confused that it is hard to fix our eyes on Christ and find our joy in Him.

Yet, Christ comes to us today to announce the same joy that was announced to the shepherds so long ago.

This joy is not something based on our circumstances, but rather something that is rooted outside our circumstances.

In the very person of Christ, God Himself in the flesh.

Please join us reading the scripture passage found in Luke 2, verse 8-12.

Luke 2:8–12

The words are on the screen.

And in the same regions there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And angels of the Lord appeared to them, and the grolly of the Lord saw around them, and they will fill with great fear.

And the angels said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

For unto you is the born this day, the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

And on this way we suffer you.

You will find a baby wrapped in a swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.

Let's pray.

Dear Father, thank you for sending Jesus, our good news and our only true joy, as a baby in a manger.

Thank you that He did not remain a baby in a manger, but that as He grew, He served you perfectly,

ultimately giving His life in exchange for our sins.

Thank you that in Him we can have perfect joy by being restored to a proper relationship with you.

Please let us walk in this joy as we go throughout our everyday lives.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Great job.

Hey, I'm going to pray for the kids and dismiss them, but I want to pray just for all the things going on in our world today.

Just we had a lot of things happen in the States and there's things going on in the Middle East and just things that are hard to grasp, especially during this season.

So I'm going to pray for us and just pray for the people of Newtown, Connecticut and the Middle East and just wherever these craziness is going on.

Will you please join me in prayer?

Father, we come before you today in sadness and deep sorrow as we reflect on the events that happened yesterday in Newtown, Connecticut.

We know that you were there and that you're there now amongst those people.

We know that you weep as you see the fallenness of your creation.

We know that your original plan for us, your children involved none of this brokenness.

We see so easily around us in our world as we walk through our day.

We plead for your mercy, for your grace, for your forgiveness, for the selfishness, the pride, the arrogance and the brokenness that if we're honest, we see in our own hearts.

Father, we pray for your comfort to the families of those children and adults that were lost and were killed in such a tragic event.

Father, we pray for your family, the church, that we would step up to comfort, listen and help to be a friend, but more importantly, to share our friend, Jesus, to them.

We pray in the weeks to come when so many questions are asked over and over, especially why and how, that people will say clearly that the problem is ultimately sin, that the problem is ultimately our separation from you, our creator, that until we understand this and deal with our own hearts, that nothing ever will truly change.

We pray that you would use these events and others in the lives of those around us as we talk and ask questions and deal with these very difficult and hard events that we cannot truly explain.

We pray, Lord, that they would see the solution, the true solution, which is your son.

And we pray during this season as we celebrate the birth of your son, we're reminded throughout history, even in Scripture, that we're told as Herod heard that he was tricked by the Magi,

that he went out into the environments of Bethlehem and slew every child, male, two years and younger.

And historians tell us that 20 to 30 little boys were killed.

Again, the reason why you came, to enter into the darkness and to the lostness and to bring sense and hope.

So, Lord, we come before you as your people, desperate for you.

Lord, we come before you as your people, desperate for you.

We need you and we love you.

We pray even now for these children up here and the children that are about to be released to their classes and for the teachers that will oversee them.

And present your son, Jesus, to them.

Lord, we pray that they would come to know you at an early age and they would fall in love with you.

And that they would do mighty things.

Mighty things for your kingdom.

So, Lord, we come before you this morning and we plead.

And we realize just how broken and lost we are.

And how much we need your son, Jesus.

We pray all these things in his incredible, powerful, and wonderful name.

Amen.

Okay.

Watermark kids, you are dismissed.

Youth are staying in here.

And kiddos are dismissed.

Come, O come, Emmanuel.

Come, O come, Emmanuel.

And ransom, captains.

Israel.

And mourns in lonely exile here.

And ransom, Israel.

And ransom, captive Israel.

And mourns in lonely exile here.

Until the Son of God appear.

Cleaning, O come, O come, O come, O come, O day-spring.

Com' and cheer.

O W укrum analysts, home, O come, O day o'er.

How spirits by thine land begin.

His tears the gloomy clouds of night

And then star shadows blue to fly

Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel, rejoice

Rejoice, Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel, rejoice

Rejoice, rejoice

Rejoice, rejoice

Rejoice, Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel, rejoice

Rejoice, Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel, rejoice

Rejoice

Rejoice

Rejoice, Emmanuel

Rejoice

Rejoice

Rejoice

Rejoice

Rejoice

Rejoice

Rejoice

Rejoice

Rejoice

Rejoice

Rejoice

Rejoice

Rejoice

Rejoice

Rejoice

Rejoice

Rejoice

Rejoice

Rejoice

Rejoice

Rejoice

Rejoice

Rejoice

Rejoice

Rejoice

Rejoice

Rejoice

Rejoice

Rejoice

Rejoice

Rejoice

Rejoice

Rejoice

And he will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the greatness of his government and peace, there will be no end.

This is God's word.

Before we go into the message, let me pray with us.

Father, we just stand amazed in seeing you again this Christmas in just a new light and a new perspective.

And seeing how you are our peace and our love and our comfort.

That you came as a baby.

But that you are the mighty God, the wonderful counselor.

That you are the one that brings peace, the one that is our perfect Father.

And let's pray that today we would see you more clearly and we would see something new about you.

And we pray all this in Christ's name.

Good morning, Watermark.

My name is Mike.

I'm working with the university students here at the church.

And I think I forgot my red shirt this morning.

Hang on.

It's my privilege not only to share God's word with you this morning.

It's also my honor to share the last sermon ever here at Watermark.

Just in case you have missed it, it's December 16th.

And we have five more days until December 21st.

And in case you still don't know what I'm talking about,

there's some highly sophisticated research by the Mayan Native Americans.

that the world as we know it will come to an end in just a few days.

Anyways, if you were not aware of this fact when coming here this morning,

you'll be happy to hear that there will be a great lunch buffet outside the church.

So there will be some great food and fellowship before everything goes down the drain.

With that said, and all the hype about the end of the world,

the supposed end of the world,

I actually went online and I did a little bit of research on Wikipedia.

There's actually a list of predictions,

major predictions throughout the history about the end of the world.

There are more than 200 listed.

And some are actually kind of interesting or funny.

For example, did you know that Christopher Columbus predicted the end of the world for 1658?

It didn't happen.

I'm glad that he was at least right that he would go to India sailing to the West.

I also found another really interesting prediction of the Millerites.

The followers of Pastor Miller.

And he predicted the end of the world for 1843.

It obviously didn't happen either.

And when the world didn't end, it became known as the Great Disappointment.

As a disclaimer, to my knowledge,

Pastor Miller had nothing to do with any Millers you may know.

I actually felt kind of relieved.

This week I got a calendar in my mail.

And it was for my bank.

It's a calendar for 2013.

And if you know how much the banks tried to cut costs,

they would not send out a calendar for the next year

if the world would really come to an end.

So that was good to know.

So I think all this stuff about the end of the world

is kind of getting a little crazy lately,

like tsunamis and wars and the breakdown of the financial system.

We are talking about all this.

And there's even this TV show that came out,

and I don't know whether you've seen it.

It's on the National Geographic.

It's called Doomsday Preppers.

It tells the story of people that are so convinced

that some kind of global disaster will hit

that they spent all their money building bunkers

and storing food and buying weapons.

Their whole life literally starts to revolve

around being prepared for some kind of nuclear attack

or global pandemic or even the polar shift.

I don't know how you feel about all this this morning.

And it may not be the fear of the end of the world,

but what are the fears that you've been dealing with lately?

What are the worries that you carry with you

these weeks and these months and this past year?

Maybe instead of the end of the world,

it's just the end of your job or passing an exam just now

and maybe your finances or keeping your scholarship.

Maybe it's a fear of relationships breaking apart

in your family or in your marriage.

And then maybe these worries that just carry on through your life

and maybe it's your health.

Wherever you are this morning,

what is it that you wrestle with,

that you carry with you?

And how are you preparing to face?

How are you prepping for this darkness?

And when this darkness hits in your life,

who do you turn to?

What or who is your savior

when you face the darkness?

Today we're actually looking at a passage

that talks about people that are facing darkness

and they're facing despair.

And the passage also talks about

how they are dealing with that,

where they're turning to to find hope and peace

amidst all these troubles that they are facing.

The passage is from Isaiah

and you've heard it read just now.

And it's set in the southern kingdom of Judah

in the 8th century before Christ came.

It was a time of darkness and despair for the people.

And Eric shared a little bit about

the whole journey of the Israelites last week.

If you haven't been here,

let me just briefly look into that.

Isaiah experienced the northern kingdom of Israel

being attacked and conquered

and invaded by the Assyrians.

The Assyrians were the superpower of that time.

And they left devastation and destruction

wherever they went.

What do you do when you're facing destruction?

You try to save yourself.

And that's exactly what they're trying to do.

They try to respond to that.

When we are facing our worries and our fears,

we're looking for something or someone

who will come and save us.

So King Ahaz of Judah decided

not to help the Israelites

and actually sided with the Assyrians.

They're a strong force.

So we want to avoid our own destruction.

So politics became the way to get out of it.

But now in this passage, some years later,

politics weren't working anymore.

The Assyrians were again at the doorstep of Judah.

They were at the brink of destruction.

The new king, Hezekiah,

he was now wrestling with what to do

because politics had failed

and these Assyrians were right there.

So something this passage teaches us

is that we always look for a savior.

We put our hope in that savior.

That this savior will come

and help us overcome

our problems and our worries.

I think the structure is always kind of like the same.

It's kind of the story that repeats itself.

So some kind of problem occurs.

Some kind of worry arises in our lives

and then this problem grows bigger.

It builds up in anxiousness

and then we are suddenly realizing

that we are getting to the point of despair

and we rewrite the story.

We are trying to invite this savior

to come into our lives

and then we hope that the savior

will somehow help us solve the problem.

So we start to live in that illusion

that this savior will work.

We desperately want it to work.

But at one point,

our little savior will fail us.

It will fall apart.

When facing the Syrian superpower

and seeing the destruction and devastation

they would bring,

King Ahas turned to politics.

Politics worked for a while

and it gave the illusion

that they could arrange with their wisdom

and their smart ways

bring peace.

But now, after a while,

it all falls apart

and so it is with us.

So it is with us

that we come

and look at the darkness and the lies

and we look for something that can save us.

There's a story of a savior

I heard this week

that I found pretty interesting.

His name is Arrigo.

He's an Italian

and he's an Italian soccer fan.

He's a fan of the soccer club,

the Serie A,

the first league club,

Udine.

Now,

Udine

is facing some darkness.

I'm trying to ease in with an example

that is not as heavy loaded.

So,

if you like soccer,

so Udine

has been doing pretty well

the last 10 years

and after 14 games

into the season

they were pretty close to relegation.

And people got a little worried

and the fans were pretty upset.

But Arrigo is a pretty big fan.

And so he made his way

400 kilometers to the away game

against direct opponents.

It's a pretty big game

and he goes

and so there's a stadium

and they expect about 30,000 people.

And so Arrigo comes in

and so in the soccer stadium

they block off like one section

for the fans of the guests.

You know,

like all this craziness in Europe

with soccer fans.

And so they block off

this whole section

that only the guest fans

will be there.

So for several thousand people

they block off this section

for the Udine fans

and Arrigo shows up.

It's 10 minutes before the game

and then he walks in

and then he sees

like 30,000 people

and he walks into the guest block

and he notices

it's only him.

And it's the real story.

So he goes there

and he goes down

and it's just until 10 minutes

until the game starts.

There will be some people show up.

So he goes down to the fence

and puts his Udine flag up there

and waits

and the teams come out

and the ref comes out

and the game starts.

And he is still

utterly alone

in this whole section

for thousands of people.

It's the first time

in history

of any of the major leagues

in the whole of Europe

that only one fan

showed up

of the whole team.

Now Arrigo

wasn't intimidated.

Even the 30,000

were cheering against him

and he would just

cheer back by himself

at one point

people started bringing him coffee

because they had pity with him.

But the amazing thing was

his team won the game

2-0.

And he was

in all the newspapers

with a big picture

with his one flag

in this huge stand

and it says

the savior of Udine.

Now

he worked for a while.

I'm not sure

whether he will work

for a long time.

We have this saying

in Europe

that the spectators

are the 12th men.

So for the Americans

we have 11 people

playing soccer

but when the spectators

cheering their team on

they are like the 12th men.

Arrigo is now celebrated

as the 12th man

of his team

bringing them to success.

Now in two weeks

they would probably

play another game.

I don't know

whether it's a winter break

at that point

but the next time

they play away

I wonder

whether he will

be a savior

that will again

bring them to victory

or whether he will

fail them.

But the newspapers

were all about him

and being the savior

of the club.

And in Hong Kong

we have our own

saviors

that we rely on.

When we face

the darkness

of losing jobs

or when we worry

about providing

for our needs

maybe it's the savior

of good grades.

The good grades

there are so many students

right now

in the midst of exams

maybe when I get

my GPA up

then that will give me

a good job

and that will be

my savior

because it will give me

the money that I need

to secure my life.

But again

what happens

when that savior fails

when that good job

that you have

suddenly leads you

into depression?

or when the long

work hours

destroy your family?

What if the stress

of life

just makes you sick

and the saviors

of Hong Kong

suddenly stop working?

In my life

my family lived

a story with

a lot of saviors

as well

a lot of false saviors.

So my parents

grew up in Germany

after the Second World War

and when the war

came to an end

they had to both

flee from where

they lived.

My mom lived

in a small

German settlement

close to the Black Sea

and they had to

pack everything up

and leave.

And my dad

actually lived in

what nowadays

is western Poland

and when the Russian

occupying forces came

they packed their

stuff and

they made their way

west.

but under the

occupying forces

his dad

actually got shot

when he was 14.

So they had seen

enough pain

in their lives

and they hoped

that they could

just give us

a different

a happier world

a different story.

They wanted for us

to kind of live

in a world

of peace

and the saviors

they turned to

is their own hard work

that they could

provide a better future

and that they could

keep that story together

and just avoid

the pain for us

that they had experienced.

And there's one story

that lately

came up to me

and I was 15 years

I played in a

handball club actually

that's my sport.

So we had this

tournament

so being 15

we played this game

and afterwards

I started talking

with a caretaker

and the caretaker

had known my family

for a while

and as I'm talking

with him

he says

how is your mom's

sister doing?

And I said

oh you mean

her brother?

No her sister.

I said no

my mom only

has a brother.

No I mean

Erica

her sister.

And we kind of

ended the conversation

I went home

and I told my mom

I had this strange

conversation

with this caretaker

today

who talked about

you having

the sister Erica

and my mom

got quiet

and she said

I actually do

have a sister

and her name

is Erica.

But when she

was six years old

she had a brain

bleeding

and it left her

disabled

and she cannot

talk

and she can

barely move

so we put her

in a home

but we didn't

want you guys

to worry about it.

And I was very

upset

that all this

was kept from me

but it was their

way of dealing

with pain

and writing

this different

story that

the savior

had become

to hide things

and to just

write this

different story

that is happy

and last

week I got

a phone call

from my mom

and she

said oh

Erica

just died

age 68

so for 60

years her

savior of

hiding away

to keep

the happy

family

was kind

of working

but deep

down

it was all

fake

and that

savior just

wasn't true.

Now

this is

my story

of

what I've

seen

what fake

saviors do

and I could

probably go on

with countless

examples

and you probably

as you look

at your lives

you have

countless

ways of

how you

could see

these fake

saviors

being alive

in your

lives

it may be

that you

feel

worthless

and your

savior

has become

your hard

work

if I just

work hard

and I can

build up

respect

and I can

achieve

something

and I can

build up

my own

worth

but at

one point

you'll realize

that that

that savior

won't work

and it still

leaves you

empty

maybe

the darkness

you are

facing

is loneliness

and the

savior

becomes

people

maybe

you're

putting

that hope

in that

one person

that one

day will

come to

fulfill you

and make

you complete

or

if I'm

just

surrounding

myself

with

enough

people

then

the

loneliness

will

disappear

but if we

put our

hope

in people

as our

savior

we will

at one

point

be left

disappointed

so what

will you say

is your

darkness

today

and this

year

what are

the saviors

that you

have put

your trust

in

the

people

of

Judah

had

put

their

hopes

in

false

saviors

now here

it was

politics

and the

savior

wasn't

working

anymore

and now

in the

midst

of their

shattered

hopes

Isaiah

is speaking

about a

different

savior

a different

kind

of hope

in verse

2

it says

the people

walking

in darkness

have seen

a great

light

on those

living in

the land

of deep

darkness

a light

has dawned

so in

the midst

of their

despair

Isaiah

is pointing

the people

to a bright

future

to the

hope

of a

new

savior

one that

can truly

save them

from their

darkness

that can

truly bring

light

into their

darkness

and then

he continues

with the

prophecy

and if you

have been

there for

Michael

Ramson's

talk

yesterday

he talked

about

a prophet

being like

a reverse

historian

not someone

that

looks ahead

in history

but

looks back

at history

to write

but he

actually looks

ahead

and gives

a prophecy

a promise

about what's

still to

come

and this

is what

we're seeing

here about

Isaiah

for us

for to us

a child is

born

to us

a son

is given

and the

government

will be

on his

shoulders

and he

will be

called

wonderful

counselor

mighty

God

everlasting

father

prince

of peace

of the

greatness

of his

government

and peace

there

will be

no end

what Isaiah

is pointing

the people

to and what

he's pointing

us to is

is that

great story

about that

true savior

that real

savior

he's pointing

us to

Jesus

and he's

telling his

people

that one

day a

child will

be born

and that

child will

bring salvation

if you have

been around

churches before

it's over

Christmas time

then you probably

have heard this

passage before

it's read a lot

through Christmas

when we anticipate

the celebration

of Christ's birth

and you may

have heard

messages about

the savior

being full

of wisdom

and mighty

and that

he is the

perfect father

and that

he brings

true peace

but today

I want to

focus on

what follows

in that

passage

it actually

says in

verse 7

and of the

greatness of

his government

and peace

there will

be no

end

the savior

that is

coming

as a

child

that Jesus

whose birth

we are about

to celebrate

of his

greatness

of his

government

and peace

there will

be no

end

it's not

a temporary

savior

like so many

saviors we

turn to

that work

for a while

but there

will be

no end

the hope

and peace

we find

him

is eternal

I think

this is

this amazing

story

this is what

Isaiah is

inviting us

into

and it's

that story

of that

eternal

kingdom

that is still

to come

that eternal

hope

that he

gives us

that glimpse

of that

future

that this

creator

of everything

who has

always been

and who

always will

be

is the

savior

to put

our trust

in

now this

child

being born

will also

one day

die on

the cross

but to

show the

world

that he

is eternal

and that

there is

no end

to his

power

he conquers

death

and he

rises from

the dead

to show

us that

in his

power

we can

put our

hope

and find

peace

that is

not

limited

even in

this

life

he is

the one

that speaks

into our

worries

and our

fears

into our

sickness

and he

even speaks

into our

fear of

even our

own death

and gives

us a

perspective

on life

that is

bigger than

anything

that we

could think

of in

this

world

now this

is the

part where

we could

stop and

just look

at this

future

promise

that story

that culminates

in that

kingdom

that is

still to

come

but then

I'm

realizing

that when

I first

explored

Christianity

I sometimes

viewed that

as kind of

like a little

fluffy religious

concept

it's like

there's this

future hope

like I know

that you are

suffering right

now and there

are pains

right now in

this world

but if you

just have

hope that

one day it

will all be

better

then that's

all you

need

and what is

amazing I think

about this

passage is

that it's

not just

a future

hope that

is being

offered here

but there

is a

present reality

to the

Savior that

is presented

here

for Isaiah

and his

people

there is a

prophecy about

this child

that will

one day in

several hundred

years come

and they don't

even know

about it

but what

happens when

you read

the accounts

of Kings

and the

Chronicles

you'll see

that actually

God shows

up to

them

when the

temporary

Savior of

politics

failed

and the

people

turned to

the true

Savior

God shows

up and

he defeats

the Assyrians

the superpower

of the time

180,000

strong army

is defeated

Assyria is

scrambled

it will never

rise to be

a world power

again

and this is

the way that

God shows

up to the

Assyrians

at that time

now when

Christ is born

when this

little baby

comes

and we

see God

in flesh

coming

we also

don't see

him only

talk about

this future

kingdom

but he

says

there is

a kingdom

that is

to come

but it's

also here

that as

he comes

the kingdom

comes and

he begins

to heal

and restore

lives as

he walks

around

Galilee

and Israel

and so we

see that

hope for the

future but

we see him

acting and

intervening in

the lives

right where

he is

and when

this Jesus

rises from

the dead

and is

about to

ascend to

heaven

he says

I will

always be

with my

people

he will

always be

with us

so this

hope is

not just

about one

that is

about that

kingdom

that is to

come but

it is a

hope that

the Savior

is here

speaking into

our lives

and I

want to

close with

one of

the passages

in the

book of

Acts

so

when I

see Christ

speaking to

the people

at his

time and

they have

seen the

miracles and

they have

seen the

Savior not

just talking

about this

kingdom but

as he

begins to

shape lives

and show

them that he

wants to

restore lives

right there

they begin to

form communities

and so in

Acts 2

44 we have a

picture of a

community that

understood what

he was talking

about let me

read that to

you in the

bulletin as

well in

Acts 2

44 it

actually says

all the

believers now

don't just

read over that

all the

believers every

single one of

the believers

who had put

their hope in

Jesus as the

one true

Savior all the

believers were

together and

they had

everything in

common they

sold their

property possessions

they gave to

anyone who

had need and

every day they

continued to meet

together in the

temple courts they

broke bread in

their homes and

they ate

together with

glad and

sincere hearts

praising God

and enjoying the

favor of all the

people and the

Lord added to

their number daily

those who are

being saved I

don't know about

you but I look at

this passage and

I'm incredibly

challenged but I'm

incredibly encouraged

that this community

that saw Christ

actively intervening

in their lives

what I see them do

is that they begin

to bury all their

little saviors

now when we

think about what

that would mean

for us

they are

burying their

savior of

personal space

they actually

invite everybody

into their lives

they're burying

their savior of

material possession

they say everything

I have I give it

to the I share it

with the community

I invite the

community to

participate in that

they bury their

savior of putting

their work and

their lives and

their interests and

their goals first

but instead they

center everything

around coming

together daily and

worshiping the one

savior

now I look at this

picture and I

wonder what does it

mean for us

what does it take

for us to be a

community that lives

in a way that

people see at the

Christian community

and knowing that we

are worshiping one

savior that people

would be daily

added and attracted

to that way of

life that there's

this hope in the

savior that is

bigger than all the

other saviors and

as I look at my

life I see I have

so many little

saviors in my life

that keep me from

living this so I

think this Christmas

the challenge that I

want to take on

myself and that I

want to put out

there for us as a

community is what

does it take for us

what are the steps

that we want to take

in living with

Christ as the only

savior what does

it mean for your

life personally

whether it's your

studies your work

your family where

have you built up

savior that stop you

from lifting up the

one true savior the

savior is the one

who is a wonderful

counselor he's the

one that all our

wisdom comes from

he's the mighty

God he has the

power to change

our life's

serving service

he is the

everlasting father

the perfect father

and he is the one

that brings true

peace and his

kingdom will have

no end so I

want to pray with

us and just as we

go into this

Christmas season to

reflect on on this

savior and looking

at examining our

own hearts and

where we are

wrestling with

allowing him to be

the one true savior

in our lives let me

pray with us

father I just want

to confess first

that I have a lot

of small saviors in

my life that I put

my hope in and

in an increasing

rental market and

there are the

worries that come up

and we are clinging

to our own security

and we want to be in

control of our own

lives and I see that

in my life all over

again and everywhere

so father as we just

go into this Christmas

season may you be the

prince of peace the

one that isn't just a

small little savior but

that we would turn to

the one true king who

brings peace who

points us to this

eternal kingdom that

is still to come in

which everything will

be restored but may we

also see that that you

are the one who longs

to be our savior now

that you would reach

into the worries and

despair and the

darkness of every

single person here you

know where we all are

father so I just pray

that that you would

touch people just where

they are and soften

hearts to invite you

into being the one

true savior and I

know that so many

times even when we

have walked with you

for years and years

we begin to rely on

ourselves again so

much and so I just

pray that this Christmas

time we would again

see the miracle of you

stepping into history

to be our savior I

pray this in Christ's

name amen

happy birthday to you

happy birthday to you

happy birthday dear Jesus

happy birthday to you

happy birthday Jesus

happy birthday Jesus

I'm so glad it's Christmas

happy birthdaying

happy birthday dear teachers

happy birthday Jesus

happy birthday Jesus

happy birthday euro

happy birthday Jesus

happy birthdayertos

All the carols and bells

In the hall that they swell

And all above you

Happy birthday, Jesus

Jesus, I love you

Happy birthday, Jesus

I'm so glad it's Christmas

All the tinsel and lights

And the presents are nice

But the real gift is you

Happy birthday, Jesus

I'm so glad it's Christmas

All the carols and bells

In the hall that they swell

And it's all about you

Happy birthday, Jesus

Jesus, I love you

Happy birthday, Jesus

I'm so glad it's Christmas

All the tinsel and lights

And the presents are nice

But the real gift is you

Happy birthday, Jesus

I'm so glad it's Christmas

Happy birthday, Jesus

All the carols and bells

In the hall that they swell

And it's all about you

Happy birthday, Jesus

Jesus, I love you

Jesus, I love you

Happy birthday, Jesus

I love you

Happy birthday, Jesus

I love you

Happy birthday, Jesus

Great, that was great

Can I hear, that's amazing

I mean, I shouldn't even come up

You can't follow kids, right?

You guys, amazing

Very good

What a blessing

Hey, I'm going to keep this

After that

I just need to keep it short

And sweet

Remember, you can't go out

That door where you locked

We electrified that door

So don't go out that door

We want everybody to exit

This way

There's food

We'd love for you to stay

With us and hang out

We do meals as families

And so that's what we do

In community

So please head out

That way afterwards

I want to just

One thing I want us

To pray for as a community

We believe that God

Has put us here

As a church

To reach out to people

Who aren't in church today

Right?

And so we sent out

20,007 of these flyers

To the households

In this area

It talks about the outreach

In December 21st

At Cyberport

We're going to be doing it

For a week as a church

Over here

All the community groups

Are involved

And then we talk about

December 25th

The Christmas outreach service

Here

So we want you guys

As a church

To pray about this

To take some of these

And invite your friends

Personally to come join us

And be a part of this

And that people

Would be able to sing

Happy birthday Jesus

Again for the first time

As a family

Okay?

So will you commit

To do that?

Also one of the sad things

About

I just don't know

If I can trust you guys

Behind me, huh?

One of the sad things

About our

Fun

But sad things

About being in this community

Is that people come and go

And so we are saying goodbye

To two people

Who have been amazing

Servants in the church

And you're going to see

How amazing they have been

When they stand up

And so the first one

Is Jeremiah

So Jeremiah is leaving

You want to stand up?

So Jeremiah is kind of like

From my hometown

In Austin, Texas

I knew his pastor there

He came

He raised his support

To be here

To serve the church

We had no idea

What we were doing

We were still trying

To work out this idea

Of interns

Church planners

And staff

And so he was

One of our guinea pigs

And so he has been here

For six months

And so he is heading out

This week to go back

And continue his education

And studies

And so you'll see

We're missing a drummer now

So Mark

You're going to come up here

And start drumming, right?

And then Yuma

Yuma, will you stand up?

Okay

Yuma's story is amazing

Yuma is from Japan

And Yuma came to know the Lord

Two weeks before he came to Watermark

He was in Japan

And someone led him to Christ

He came to Hong Kong

He wanted to get plugged into a church

And he has been serving us

For seven months now

Just tirelessly

And just amazing

And he's been growing

In his walk with the Lord

And God has put upon his heart

A burden to go back

To Tokyo

And to be with his people

And to share the gospel with them

Osaka

That's right

Tokyo got destroyed by Godzilla

In Osaka

That's right

And so

So we are going to really miss

Both of you guys

And so I want to

I want to pray for you guys

And just

We will stay in touch

To hear how God

Uses both of you

Back in Texas

And in Osaka

And I know that he's going to do

Amazing things

And so let me pray for us

And you are dismissed

To go eat some amazing

Great Christmas food

I would have been instructed

To say Christmas food

Father we just thank you

For this day

We thank you for

How you bring our lives together

How you

We are like these threads

That you grab

And you change

And you interweave us

To make this amazing picture

Of the body of Christ

And as we think about

What you've done

With these children up here

As they sing songs

And they've been taken

Off the streets

We just

We thank you

For what you've done

Lord

We thank you for

You brought people like Melissa

And Charles to lead the choir

And have the patience

And for Edmund

And Lincoln

And Steph

And all the other volunteers

Who come and love on these kids

In their place

Where they're not loved

And for all the parts

You brought together

To make today happen

So that we would

We'd worship you

We'd sing your praises

And your glory

And we'd fall more in love with you

And so Lord

In the midst of that

As we have this

Bittersweet experience

We pray for

Jeremiah

And we pray for

Our brother Yuma

As they go back

To their hometowns

And they continue

To walk with you

Lord

We pray that you

Would go before them

We pray that

They would find

Your mercy and grace

Abundant

Every moment

We pray that you

Would open doors

Of favor

As they walk

And as they share

The most important thing

In their life

Your son

Lord

We pray that you

Would do amazing things

To them

That you would

Surround them

Immediately

Into a community

That loves you

And goes on that

Journey with them

And so we thank you

For this very short time

You've given us

To be with them

And we look forward

To getting together

In heaven

For eternity

And just talking

About your wonder

And your mercy

And how you weave

Us together

In the incredible

Things you do

In this world

So Lord

We wish you

Happy birthday

We love you

We need you

We pray for this food

And this fellowship

That we're about to partake

That it would honor you

That we would have fun

That we'd realize

That we're a family

And that we walk

Together

In this

We pray all these things

In your son

Jesus name

Amen

God bless you

We'll see you back here

Next week

But not before

We see you at the dinner table

Take care

Bye