What is Christmas All About? | Christmas 2023

Thanks for tuning in to the Sandals church podcast.

Our vision as a church is to be real with ourselves, God and others.

We're glad you're here and we hope you enjoy this message.

Merry Christmas and welcome to our Christmas Eve service here at Sandals Church.

I'm Fredo, the online pastor.

And as we celebrate Christmas today, we're going to hear a message from the story in the

life of Jesus brought to you by our lead pastor, Matt Brown.

So let's get ready to hear from him.

We're so glad you joined us.

Hi, guys, and welcome to Sandals Church.

And I just want to say merry Christmas, man.

I don't know about you, but my wife and I, we like to talk about our favorite Christmas

memories.

And hers are always so special, so know, family oriented.

And mine are all about gifts.

Amen.

I mean, I'm just so, so missed the Christmas spirit.

My first Christmas memory is waking my parents up, hitting them on the heads with

lightsabers.

I think it was 1978 and Star wars was born.

And my brother and I, we were making the sounds because back then, the lightsabers didn't

make any sounds.

You had to make your own.

I was like, get up, dad.

And the next year, my parents had not a curfew, but an absolute time where you couldn't be

up.

We had to stay in our rooms till a certain time because I think it was like five a and I

was whacking my dad.

Get up.

Get up.

Not only was Jesus born, but jedi's were know we were so excited.

But for most of us, when we think of Christmas, right, we think of looking back, looking

back to our childhood, looking back to favorite Christmas memories.

But here's the thing.

I want to remind you about Christmas, and this is so important for those of you that are

hurting, those of you who've had a tough year, those of you who are struggling, number one,

Christmas is a time everyone can look forward to.

It's an amazing, amazing time.

And I realize things are difficult, things are challenging.

The world is uneasy.

There's a lot of political turmoil.

There's been wars.

We've had Covid, we have economic challenges, we have all of these issues.

And I want you to know this.

The world has always been that way.

But hundreds and hundreds of years, somewhere between 709 hundred years before the birth of

Jesus, there was a prophet named Isaiah.

And his time was just like us.

He had leaders that he didn't choose, but that were chosen for him.

There was political turmoil, there was racism, there was war, there was conflict, there was

famine.

And Isaiah looked forward to something he would not see in his lifetime.

Think about that.

Every single one of us in this room gets a Christmas every year.

Isaiah never saw a Christmas, but he dreamed about it, and he prophesied about it.

And here's what he says in Isaiah 96.

He says, for us, a child is born to us, a son is given to us.

And this is no ordinary child.

This is a special child, he says.

And the government will rest on his shoulders.

Now think about the people that are running our government.

Anybody want some new ones?

Okay.

I don't care if you're a Democrat or Republican.

Like, we could change them in for Jesus.

Amen.

But it says, the government rests on his shoulders.

And what that means in the Hebrew is it fits.

You see, we got a lot of people in this world trying to lead, and they were not made for

leadership.

Jesus was born to lead.

The government fits on his shoulders.

And he will be called wonderful counselor.

Maybe this is a verse you read when you gather around with family members, and some of them

need counseling.

Amen.

Just kind of say, hey, Jesus is for you.

Free therapy.

But more than that, right?

He's mighty God.

He's everlasting father.

Think of all the kids in our world today that don't have a dad.

He's a dad to everyone.

And then think about this.

He's the prince of peace.

He brings peace.

And that's the gift of Christmas.

It's a time of peace.

And we can all look forward to this.

But here's the thing.

Some of you are saying, yeah, but I'm not religious.

I just got dragged here because my grandma made me.

And that's why I'm here.

Here's the amazing thing about Christmas.

Christmas number two is even for the people who feel disconnected from God, if that's you

today, I want you to know that Christmas is for you.

The very first Christmas, the people that God chose to reveal himself to were the furthest

away from God.

You see, there was a time in jewish history where shepherds were very, very special people.

They were honored.

They were considered servants of God.

It's where we get our english word pastor.

It comes from the word shepherd, but kind of like our day and age where we've lost an

appreciation for working class people, the people that actually make our lives better, the

people that actually work, to make things work.

Shepherds were forgotten.

They were considered disgusting.

They were not allowed in the city.

They were considered ignorant, illiterate, not God's people.

And isn't it interesting?

In Luke, chapter two, the very people that God announces the birth of Christ to isn't the

rich, it isn't the famous.

It's the forgotten.

It's the disenfranchised.

It's the left out.

Oftentimes, when we read the story of Christmas, we focus on this verse.

There was no room for Jesus in the end.

You want to know who else wasn't welcome in Bethlehem on Christmas night?

It was shepherds.

They were filthy, stinky and gross, and they were out in the fields nearby, but not in

town.

But isn't it interesting?

Those are the exact people that Jesus wanted to reach.

If you're a christian today, I want you to think about who are the people that are far from

God that you need to reach?

Who's the person that you need to announce the goodness of Christmas to?

And so I just want you to know that if you feel far from God, Christmas is not about you

reaching out to God.

Christmas is about God reaching down to you.

One of the names that Jesus has given, besides mighty God, wonderful counselor, prince of

peace, is a name called Emmanuel, which literally means God with us.

And that's the beauty of Christmas.

And right now, whether you know it or not, or you feel it or not, God is here and he wants

to be with you.

So that night, there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of

sheep.

Like, worried about work, worried about making a dollar.

That's where some of you are today.

How am I going to pay my rent?

Oh, my gosh.

Anybody been to the grocery store lately?

I mean, it just blows my mind.

Just this week, Tammy and I, we ordered four tacos, okay?

And no more letters from my hispanic people.

I love you.

We ordered four tacos.

And the guy told me the price.

And I was like, no, we just said four.

Not 40.

But a lot of us are just wrestling with, oh, my gosh, how am I going to pay the bills?

Some of you are worried, or, how am I going to pay for these gifts that I already bought?

And the shepherds are in the fields, not celebrating.

They're working, they're worried.

And suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared among them.

Isn't that amazing?

Among them, not above them, not around them.

Among them.

Right with them.

You see, that's the goodness of God.

He doesn't want to be above you or around you.

He wants to be with you, among you.

And it says, and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them all of a sudden, in their

filth, in their mire, in their darkness, there was light.

And there was beauty.

And the Bible says they were terrified.

They were terrified.

But the angel reassured them, don't be afraid.

Don't be afraid, he says, for I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all

people.

The savior.

Yes, the messiah.

The Lord.

The one that Isaiah prophesied about hundreds of years ago, the one that many people had

forgotten or given up on or just thought it was a myth, a fairy tale.

That Messiah has been born tonight in Bethlehem.

Some of you have given up on God because it's been too long since you connected with him.

You said, oh, he's forgotten me, or, he doesn't care about me.

You see, what Christmas reminds us is that God's promises are true no matter how long ago

he made them.

They said, he's born today in the city of David, and you will recognize him by this sign.

By this sign.

And some of you, you've been christians your whole life, and you've never thought about why

this is a sign.

We're going to get to this later in the message, but this is a sign.

You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth lying in a manger.

This is a unique child in a unique situation.

And these shepherds are looking for a very, very special sign that makes Jesus very, very

different from any other child in the city.

Number three.

Christmas is a time to celebrate the goodness of God.

Boy, it's easy to forget that, isn't it?

It's easy to forget that with all of the.

Just the angst, the worry, the conflict, the violence all around us, it's easy to forget

how good God is.

And you want to know why that is?

Because we're too focused looking here and not up there.

In Luke, chapter two, verses 13 through 14, it says, suddenly the angel was joined by a

vast host of others, the armies of heaven.

And some are like, I didn't know God had an army.

Yeah, you might want to write that down.

And they don't lose ever praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest heaven.

The highest heaven, and listen to this and peace on earth to those with whom God is

pleased.

And he said that to shepherds.

They never thought they'd pleased anybody in their life.

They weren't invited to anybody's home that first Christmas.

Nobody thought about them, but God thought about them.

And God was pleased to reveal his goodness to them.

Some of you come to church and say, why do we sing?

Why do we got to sing?

We sing about the goodness of God.

We praise God for his goodness and there's something special about Christmas songs that

remind us, no matter where we are, no matter how stressed we are, of the goodness of God.

And so I don't know how your 2023 has been, but my prayer for you in this Christmas is that

you would be reminded of God's goodness, of the truth of that, and maybe for the first time

in your life, you could join with angels and sing glory to God.

Some of you've never sang to God.

Some of you've never worshipped God.

And at the end of the service today, I'm going to give you an opportunity to sing that for

the first time as a believer.

And maybe this is the first Christmas where you get Christmas music, and it's no longer

something that's just kind of background noise, but it becomes present worship for you.

And you realize, oh, my gosh.

God has been moving through history just for me.

Just for me.

Next Christmas is a time to understand why Jesus was born.

You ever wonder that?

Why was he born?

Why did God choose this way in order to bring his presence into our lives?

All of the Hebrew Bible testifies to the coming messiah.

He's going to come.

Isaiah tells us he'll be a child.

He tells us he'll be a son.

Other places tells us he'll be born of a virgin.

There's all these signs to let us know this is no ordinary child.

But in Luke 215 through 16, when the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to

each other, let's go to Bethlehem.

Let's go.

Let's see the thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.

And they hurried to the village, and they found Mary and Joseph.

And there was the baby.

Do you see it lying in a manger?

Now, if you've been a Christian your whole life, I'm about ready to wreck your whole view

of Christmas, okay?

So just be prepared and write all of your notes to pastor Dan Zimbardi.

Okay?

But what I want you to do is I want you, in your mind to think of a manger.

Get a picture of a manger.

What does it look like?

And I'm guessing it looks something like this right here.

Is that what you got?

Is that the picture that you created?

We've all been raised with this.

We've gone to church plays, kindergarten plays.

And baby Jesus is placed in this snuggly little wood thing made by a carpenter.

Well, let me show you a picture of an actual manger from the first century.

What does that look like to you?

It looks like a tomb to me.

You see, in Jesus'time, there wasn't a lot of wood, but there was a lot of stone.

So I want you to envision a sleeping baby Jesus in that it doesn't look like a birth.

What does it look like?

A death.

That's the sign from the moment he was born.

He was born to die for you.

That's the beauty of Christmas.

Now, a lot of theologians and historians, they argue about what's the oldest christian book

in the Bible.

Most people, myself included, think it's the book of Galatians.

It's the first book written.

It's the first letter ever written to Christians from a Christian.

Think about that the next time you read the book of Galatians.

It's older than Matthew, it's older than mark, it's older than Luke, and it's older than

John.

It's the first letter ever written that Christians for 2000 years would call.

Listen to this scripture.

And right there in the first couple of verses, Paul in his own way, in his own signature,

saying, says this grace and peace to you.

And listen to what he says in the fourth verse of the first chapter of the first letter

ever written to Christians, Galatians one four, Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as

God our father planned.

In order, listen to this, especially if you're not a Christian, especially if you don't get

God.

If you've ever asked yourself why, if God is so good, is the world so bad?

In Galatians one four, Paul tells you, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which

we live, man, if you hate this evil in this world, guess who else does?

God does.

But more than hating it, here's what the Bible says over and over and over again.

A better word that God uses is grief.

God grieves.

In Genesis, chapter nine, when the world had become so evil, God had to start over.

It doesn't say that God hated the world.

Listen to this.

It says, God grieved.

It grieved his heart how terrible mankind had become.

And so God decided to start all over.

And guess what happened?

We made the exact same mess.

But God promised he would never judge us again in that way for our sins, he decided to

judge himself.

Now, we don't get a lot of rain in Socal, but the next time we do, I want you to look for a

rainbow.

Because the rainbow is God's sign that he will never, ever judge the entire world for their

sins again.

But in the hebrew language, the rainbow is not a rainbow.

It's a warrior's bow.

And I want you to imagine when you look at the rainbow, if you were to shoot an arrow,

which direction would it go?

Straight to heaven.

You see, God shot himself, pierced himself to save us from our sins.

That's the beauty of Christmas.

That's why we sing.

That's why we're so excited, because Jesus Christ was born.

Listen to me.

So we don't have to die, and we get to live, as the scripture says, forever.

Forever.

Number five.

Christmas is a time to share the love of Jesus with others.

When's the last time you just unapologetically share Jesus?

Look, everybody shares everything.

Everybody's pushing everything.

And I work out at a gym, and some of the people in my gym are christians.

Most are not.

Okay, most are not.

I'm making a guess there, but based upon the attire, I'm guessing not.

And, you know, people just push everything.

Oh, you need to be drinking this.

Oh, you need to be doing this.

You know what I say?

You know what you need Jesus.

You need.

Just because that's the truth, we need clarity.

When's the last time?

And you know why you need Jesus?

Because God loves you and God gave you Jesus.

And you're missing out on this.

You're missing out on this.

In Luke 217 through 18, after seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened.

Some of you have been christians your entire life, and you've never told anyone what has

happened.

They met Jesus one time.

One time.

They didn't even get to hear him preach.

Maybe he cried and pooped.

That was it.

But they were inspired because of what the angels had told them.

When's the last time you shared the reason for the hope you have in Jesus?

Just tell people, here's what he did for me.

Here's what he's done for me.

Matter of fact, some of you, you have family members that are gathered with you at a church

service, and they don't even know why.

Maybe tonight, around the tree or whatever your family tradition is, you could just tell

them, why church?

Why Jesus is so important to you.

And you don't have to be nasty like me at the gym.

You could just be nice and just say, hey, here's what Jesus means to me.

And I hope one day, as my family and my friends, he will mean the very same thing to you.

Now here's the thing.

All who heard the shepherd's story were astonished.

Were astonished.

They didn't see Jesus.

They hadn't met Jesus.

They didn't meet the angels, but they were astonished.

What is this about God that I'm missing.

What is this about God that I don't know?

And here's the thing.

So many people judge God and they don't even know him.

They've never heard about him, they've never met him.

People have all kinds of ideas about church, about pastors, about christians, and largely

that is framed by the media, by social media or something they've heard or something that

someone else said one time, maybe as a Christian this Christmas, the gift that you could

give someone is the gift of actually meeting a real Christian and saying, this is who I am.

This is what I'm about.

And I'm not perfect, but I do know and worship someone who is next.

Number six.

Christmas time.

Christmas time is a time to change my life.

That's what babies do.

Babies change your life.

If you've been at sandals for years, you know the story.

When our first child was born, I think I'd held an infant once.

I'd never watched an infant.

I'd never been responsible for an infant.

And they need, like, 24/7 watching.

You can't just leave them with the dog and go out.

And I was scared to death.

I was so scared, I had a panic attack.

I left Tammy at the was.

She needed rest.

I don't know what was going on, so she was passed out.

I had a panic attack.

I left.

And I remember I went home and I said, God, I'm not ready to be a dad.

I said, I don't even know how to feed the dogs.

Every day, like, we had two dogs, and some days they ate, and some days somebody forgot.

I don't know who it was, but I said, I'm not ready for this.

And I remember what the Lord said, you're not ready.

But he said, I am.

And he sent me back, and I've been a dad ever since.

You see, here's the thing about babies.

They challenge you to grow up.

And not everybody grows up, but you should grow up.

It says, mary kept all these things in her heart.

She's a teenager.

She still has zits, but her life just changed forever.

Can you imagine?

You give birth to a child, and all these people are coming and saying, oh, my gosh.

Angels of God told me all these things about your baby.

And she pondered all these things in her heart.

You see, children help us grow up.

If you're new to Sandals church, our vision is being real, and this is hard for a lot of

people.

Some people come to sandals as it's just too real, it's too raw.

And I understand that.

But I think life is real and life is raw.

And we need a church that meets us where we really are.

So there was a couple that came up to me this last Sunday after church at our Hunter park

campus.

And they said, would you say a prayer blessing over our child?

He was a beautiful little boy.

I said, what's his name?

And I'm not going to tell you his name because I don't want you to know.

It was.

But it was a name with a.

I mean, if you're going to name a kid, don't put pressure on your kid, okay?

Like, don't name your kid Socrates.

You know what I'm saying?

Because how is Socrates going to handle getting spelling test wrong?

It's a lot of pressure.

But they named this boy a name like Socrates.

And it's just a lot of pressure.

But they said, would you pray over him?

And I said, sure.

Why is that?

And they said, we came to church for the first time a couple of months ago.

And they said, we have been sleeping together and we're not married.

And we were thinking about having an abortion.

But we came here and you said, and I don't know if you remember, Pastor Matt, but you said,

there's no such thing as an accidental child, only accidental parents.

And we chose life, pastor.

Amen.

Would you.

Would you pray over our son?

I said, I'll do more than that.

I said, I'll pray over him.

And this church will help you raise him.

This church will help you dedicate him.

And I said, listen to me.

Both of you are going to need to grow up.

You're going to need to change your life.

But as a church, we're going to be right there with you.

Christmas is a time to change.

You ever wonder why God would send a baby?

Babies remind us we need to grow up.

We need to protect.

We need to be better.

You know what babies do better than anything else?

They show you how selfish you are.

Why are you crying?

I need to sleep.

Baby doesn't care.

Baby doesn't care.

And you got to learn to grow up real fast.

Next.

Look at this.

In Luke 220, the shepherds went back to their flocks.

But listen this.

They were never the same.

They were at the beginning of the evening, far from God and alone with themselves.

And listen to this.

And it ended.

Glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen.

Why listen to this?

It was just as the angel had told them.

Exactly like that.

You see, Christmas is a great time to change my life.

Some of you, you know this.

You have not lived 2023 the way you should.

You know, you should be better.

You know, you need to change.

Like, how many of you guys, you.

You know, there's.

There's some aspect of your life that needs to change.

Raise your hands if you're honest.

Okay?

Raise your hands and your hands not up.

Lying.

That's what needs to change.

But changing is hard, isn't it?

Especially if it's a necessary change.

This last year, I realized I need to make some changes.

I found out in my family that there's just a disease that I've now seen in three

generations of my family.

My great grandmother had it.

My grandfather had it.

My dad has it.

There's a good chance I'm going to get it.

And so I was doing some research and talking with some doctors, and they recommended some

changes.

So the disease that runs in my family is a mental disease.

It's dementia.

And I met a doctor who said I was trying to understand why you should give up alcohol.

And this is what he said, anything that affects your brain, affects your brain.

So alcohol was easy.

Here was the killer.

Sugar.

I know you're never coming back to church.

I get it.

There's probably somebody right now licking a candy cane.

And here's the thing.

I would have never said I had a problem with sugar.

I would have said, some of you have a problem with sugar.

I would have said that I never had a problem with sugar.

I gave sugar up.

I woke up the first day.

When I said, no more sugar, I woke up.

Literally, my first thought was licorice.

I don't even like licorice.

Isn't it amazing how hard it is to change, even if you know your life's at risk?

I mean, you know, you should go out for a walk, but this gouge is so comfy.

You know, you should get up in the morning.

But why is the best part of sleep right when you wake up, you're like, I will never leave

this bed.

It's hard, isn't it?

Hard to make the right changes.

Man, that's the amazing thing.

God knows how hard it is to change.

So he's created a way where if we ask, he'll change us.

Isn't that incredible?

In two corinthians 517, the apostle Paul writes some of the most beautiful words that have

ever been written.

If you need a fresh start, if you know your life needs to change, if you're tired of not

being able to do what you know you should do, you want to be a better father.

And maybe for you it's not sugar, but it is alcohol, it's drugs.

And you've tried so many times, why don't you let Christ try for you?

Here's what Paul says.

Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person.

Listen to these words and be set free.

The old life is gone and here's the beauty.

A new life has begun.

Christmas reminds us that we need new life.

I don't know about you, but I know some people in my life that need to change a lot of

things this year.

I had to change for my health.

I had to change for my health.

I had to make a lot of changes.

But if you're headed in the wrong direction and you need to change, why don't you just ask

Jesus to change you?

Because he will.

That's why he came to rescue you.

To rescue me?

To rescue us from this world that is overcome with evil and darkness.

That is the hope of Christmas.

That is why we gather, that is why we are here.

Because God did not abandon us, but he sent his very own son to save us from ourselves and

from this place.

So if you bow your heads and close your eyes, just want to ask you, is there anybody here

watching online or is in a worship service at one of our campuses?

If you know you need to change, I just want you to say quietly to yourself, Jesus, I need

to change.

And I know some of you have tried so many times, but here's how Jesus changes you.

You repent of your sins and you place your faith and trust in him.

And here's what the Bible says.

No matter what you've done, no matter where you are, no matter who you are, the Bible says,

all who call upon the name of Jesus, he's the Lord, will be saved.

He answers every prayer.

If that's you and you need to be changed, you need to be saved this Christmas, I just want

you to raise your hand, put your hand up, and I'm going to ask right now that you would

feel the presence of God, the presence of Jesus, reach down from heaven and take your hand.

And here's the thing.

If you're really ready to repent and you're ready to believe, he will change you and he

will save you and he will never let you go.

Because here's the thing that Christmas reminds us.

When God makes a promise, it always comes true.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, you see every hand raised, you know every heart, you know every story.

Father, I just pray this Christmas their life would be changed.

This Christmas they would start over and it would be this Christmas that like the angels,

the light came on and they saw your son for who he truly is.

Bless them, Lord, with truly a merry Christmas.

We pray this in the name of Jesus and all God's people said amen.

As we respond to God's word, preach.

We have an opportunity now to give back.

We do this as an act of worship, and I would love for you to participate with us in this

moment.

To do so you can go to give sc we're so glad you joined us.