CHRISTMAS AT QUAY CHURCH

all this evening. I am so grateful that

we are gathered together in this house.

And I'm grateful because today we are

gathering with much reason for

celebration as we are gathering on this

Christmas Eve. And so if you haven't

heard it from anyone yet, let me just

say from us to you, merry Christmas. We

hope you're having an amazing Christmas

season with your friends and your

family. And I want you to know that uh

we are not here to just kind of go

through the motions. Uh, I think there's

a real part of us that probably wonders,

you know, like as you get to uh, this

particular time of year and you're

thinking about Christmas gatherings,

you're just kind of like trying to

choose which one do we want to go at,

like go to that works for our schedule.

You know what I mean? Many of you,

you're like, "Hey, I realize the five is

going to be probably a little more

packed than the seven, but I must walk

outside to a dark uh, situation whenever

I realize that my candle has been

extinguished after silent night. It

cannot be daylight." That's some of you

in this room right now. Uh [snorts]

there's a couple claps for that. Uh

there are some of you that are like

quite honestly I need some things to

wind down at home and so that's what I'm

going to do and then I'm going to make

my way there. But whatever it is that

brought you to this particular

gathering, I think the truth of the

matter is and there's nothing wrong with

it. We all have different things that

led us to be here in this moment right

now. Though we knew we were going to be

at a Christmas Eve gathering together,

but here's the thing. We are not just

going through the motions. We believe

that our time together will be deeply

meaningful as we're reflecting on and

really remembering why it is that we

gather in this season. And truth be

told, uh it's bigger than that. It's not

just why we gather in this season, but

who we gather because of in every season

that we're here today because we are

celebrating that God has come to us in

the flesh, Emmanuel, in the person of

his son Jesus Christ. And so what I want

to do is open up the scriptures. We're

going to be in Luke chapter 2. Luke 2

Luke 2 · chapter mention

beginning in verse 25. And let me just

say as you're flipping or scrolling

there or just kind of hoping that it's

going to show up on the TVs. Uh that

there might be some of us in here that

are just uh maybe you're you're here

from out of town. Anybody here from out

of town? Uh anybody

>> remark? Okay, here we go. We got some

people from out of town. And so listen,

we understand that uh you're here

because uh you live in some god-forsaken

part of the country that's cold right

now and you got family that was smart

enough to move to Florida. And so you

were like, you know what? I don't want

to be here. Nobody else wants to be

here. Let's go somewhere where we can

breathe when we walk outside. And so

you're here today and we're grateful for

you. We knew that you would be here and

we've been thinking about you. But I

also know it's like Justin said earlier

that there's some of us in here that

quite honestly uh you find yourself in

this position where you kind of got

dragged here or this is just something

that you feel like you need to do and

this is a little bit uncomfortable for

you. Well, let me just say like we've

been thinking about you and praying for

you and you are welcome in this place.

But I want to read Luke 2 beginning in

verse 25. We'll go all the way through

verse 35 and then we'll jump in

together. But it says this. There was a

man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon.

This man was righteous and devout,

looking forward to Israel's consolation

and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had

been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit

that he would not see death before he

saw the Lord's Messiah. Guided by the

spirit, he entered the temple. And when

the parents brought in the child Jesus

to perform for him what was customary

under the law, Simeon took him up in his

arms and praised God and said, "Now,

Master, you can dismiss your servant in

peace as you promised. For my eyes have

seen your salvation. You've prepared it

in the presence of all peoples, a light

for revelation to the Gentiles and glory

to [snorts] your people Israel." His

father and mother were amazed at what

was being said about him. Then Simeon

blessed them and told his mother Mary,

"Indeed, this child is destined to cause

the fall and rise of many in Israel, and

to be a sign that will be opposed, and a

sword will pierce your own soul, that

the thoughts of many hearts may be

revealed." Would you pray with me for a

moment? Uh Lord, we are grateful to be

gathered here with uh unique

understanding about what this day means.

And so, Father, I'd ask two things

specifically. Number one, if there's

anyone in here that doesn't uh fully

understand or comprehend what uh the

gospel is or why it is that we're

celebrating today, would that be clear

and would there be response, Lord, a

recognition of why we're celebrating?

But then God, I would also ask that for

many of us that are in here where this

is really familiar and we're on on we

don't even know what Christmas gathering

where we celebrate every year and we're

saved and we know you, Lord, would we

not make good news old news in our life?

Uh but would that constantly be fresh on

our mind and something that is almost

new for us in a way to where we feel

what it is that makes us so joyful in

this season which is to know you. And so

Lord, we just love you. We praise you.

We ask these things in Jesus name. Amen.

I'll be curious. Anyone in here ever

seen the movie uh It's a Wonderful Life?

Anybody in here ever seen It's a

Wonderful Life. There's a couple of us.

You a little Okay. All right. So there

we go. Couple of us have seen It's a

Wonderful Life. Listen, I feel very by

myself up here if you don't participate

in some of these things. All right,

you've seen It's a Wonderful Life. Good

to know. There's a couple people in here

that have seen It's a Wonderful Life.

Let me go ahead and tell you if you

haven't seen it, uh you're like 80 years

late. All right, this came out like

1947.

So, I'm going to I'm going to ruin the

movie for you, okay? I just need you to

know that upfront. What I also need you

to know, it's still worth seeing. Uh,

but I I'll tell you in case you're

unfamiliar. It's a Wonderful Life is

this film that ends up tracking the life

of a man by the name of George Bailey.

And George Bailey uh is a normal

ordinary guy that's living in the small

town of Bedford Falls. And we see that

he's a dreamer. Uh he dreams of

adventure, of building an extraordinary

life. He wants to escape from this small

town on some level and travel and see

what the world has to offer. But we see

that unfortunately for him, his father

will end up passing away and he has to

remain relatively grounded in the small

town of Bedford Falls. In fact, he ends

up inheriting the family business, small

loan business and building to go with

it. So, as a result, he finds himself in

a place where he's going to have to stay

grounded and help other people with

their dreams rather than pursuing his

own. And as a result, he becomes a

staple, a pillar in the community. Like,

people love this guy. He helps countless

people purchase their first homes. He

finds himself in many good Samaritan

situations. He helps a local pharmacist

in Mr. Gower, who's apparently not that

great of a pharmacist, uh, make sure

that he doesn't accidentally put poison

in a prescription pill bottle. Uh, he

finds himself in a place where he's

going to afford people the opportunity

to go pursue their dreams through

different avenues than having to go to

the evil Mr. Potter who could give them

the loans that they need to make their

dreams happen. but he's also interested

in the acquisition of their assets to

build his own portfolio where he could

eventually take over the town. And so we

see that he's doing all of this good

work and yet he feels like a failure. He

feels like his life is completely and

totally unsatisfactory. He's not

pursuing his own dreams. Sure, he's

helping other people, but he doesn't

feel all that great about anything. And

so when his uncle ends up misplacing a

large sum of money, and he realizes that

the family is not only facing scandal,

but potential prison time, he really

starts to hit rock bottom. That on

Christmas Eve night, he ends up finding

himself alone with a drink and

contemplating life, wondering if this is

what he should even be doing. And then

going down an even darker trail of

wondering, "Hey, is my life even worth

it? Would it be better off if I had just

never been here in the first place?" And

it's there that you'll see that the

stumbling bumbling guardian angel in

Clarence will burst onto the scene and

Clarence will provide him with an

alternative vision to a world that would

be if he was no longer in it, if he had

never been there in the first place. And

we see that in this vision, George

Bailey will get an opportunity to see

that Bedford Falls is particularly dark

and corrupt. Many of the individuals

that he's helped purchase homes are

homeless. We see that his younger

brother, who he saved from a potential

drowning incident earlier on in his

life, actually ended up perishing in

that accident. He'll see that really

this town is run by despair and greed.

And beyond that, he'll see that all of

his friends are devastated in some way,

that his wife's life is a mess, that

when he's able to see life through the

lens of what truly matters the most,

everything changes for him. In that

moment when he goes back to the reality

of Bedford Falls with him within it, he

will find all of this renewed sense of

hope, peace, joy, and love in his life

that he's running through the snowladen

streets of the town shouting merry

Christmas with this new perspective that

it's a wonderful life is truly an

opportunity for us to think about life

and go, you know what, it's not all that

bad to live a faithful and a sacrificial

life that he thinks that he has really

lived his life in a way that's small and

wasted and feeling like he's maybe

insignificant on some level only to

discover that when you look at life

through the lens of what matters the

most, all of a sudden you do realize it

is indeed a wonderful life. Now, you

might be here and you might be going,

uh, what does that have to do with

Christmas? And I would say to you, well,

number one, I wanted the opportunity to

take a Christmas movie and use it in a

Christmas sermon. So, please and thank

you. But I would also like to tell you

that the truth of the matter is that

when you look at a guy like Simeon, what

you're really looking at is what is

essentially the George Bailey of

scripture. You see a guy that's just

faithfully, quietly living his life,

waiting on the Lord's promises to come

to fruition. And as he does, he'll end

up not only seeing the infant Lord Jesus

Christ, but he'll also end up taking him

up into his arms and recognizing

something that I hope we'll recognize

that Jesus is not just what Christmas is

about, but really what life is all

about. And as you look at Luke chapter

Luke 2 · chapter mention

2, beginning in verse 25, it says,

"There was a man in Jerusalem whose name

was Simeon. This man was righteous and

devout, looking forward to Israel's

consolation, and the Holy Spirit was on

him." Now, there's really three

essential and integral characteristics

that we see listed here about Simeon

that allows us to look at him and

recognize this is a guy that is in

position to not only see life rightly

through the lens of what matters most,

but to understand what he's looking at.

The three things that are listed here

are number one, that he's righteous and

devout. His devotion and dedication to

God. You see that it says that the Holy

Spirit was on him. He has communion and

fellowship with God. He knows God, loves

God, seeks God. But in between those two

things, something interesting is said

there. You'll notice it says that he was

looking forward to Israel's consolation.

Now, in your translation that you could

be reading, it might say waiting on the

consolation of Israel. And I say that

for this reason. Looking can also be

translated as waiting. And that's

significant because the verb means to

move in the particular direction of or

towards something or someone or even to

welcome and anticipate something or in

this case someone that you'll see that

Simeon is an individual that is living

with messianic hope because he knows

what God has said and he is walking with

God in his life. And as he is waiting,

he's also looking. That looking is a

lifestyle for Simeon. that as he finds

himself waiting on the Lord's promises,

he's looking throughout his life for the

Lord's hand at work. And I say that to

you because I'd like to put a pin right

there and remind some of us that as we

get to this Christmas season, it often

feels like we're waiting on something.

For many of you, you're waiting on 2025

to be done. And you're very excited

about starting 2026 because the truth of

the matter is when you walked into 2025,

you were telling everybody this was your

year. You thought this was going to be

it. You thought it was going to be

amazing. You had your word ready to go.

My word is disciplined. Whatever it is,

you were letting all of us know even

though we don't care. And as you were

putting it out there for all of us to

keep keep you on, you don't even

remember what your word was to start

this year. And as you did that, you

realize like March, you're like, I don't

think 2025 is my year. I don't think

it's it. It's not going well. But now

you're here and here's what you're going

you're thinking. But you know what? You

want to know something? You want to know

something God and everybody else? I got

a new word in 2026. That's my year. This

is going to be my year. And about

February, you're gonna be like, I don't

think that was it either. I don't think

that's it. But I got news for you. 2027

and just rinse and repeat.

[snorts] And I say that to you because I

think often times what happens is we're

waiting on things to kind of like break

loose in some way. I'm waiting on the

business to take off. I'm waiting on the

family to get back together. I'm waiting

for things to just kind of fall into

place. And there is nothing in this

world that is capable of supporting the

weight of all your all of your hopes,

joy, trust and dreams. It is not

possible. And so we see that in Simeon

there is an individual to remind us that

as we are waiting, are we waiting with

hope in the right things and in this

case the right person of Jesus Christ

looking for God's hand at work in our

lives and not looking with our heads

down but looking up hopefilled not

inwardly but outwardly. God, what are

you doing in the world? And we see here

that's what Simeon does. And he's so

attuned with what God's doing that it

says in verse 26 that it had been

revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that

he would not see death before he saw the

Lord's Messiah. Now, it says that the

Lord revealed to him that he wouldn't

see death before he saw the Lord's

Messiah. But it doesn't say uh how that

happened. Could have been an inkling on

the heart. Could have been something he

experienced in prayer. Could have been

the fact that you see words like

revealed or warned used in other

instances in scripture like in Matthew

Matthew 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2. We see that the wise men will

find themselves in a place where they're

warned in a dream not to go back to

Herod. And so, as a result, you go,

maybe he was warned in a dream. Maybe

this was through prayer. Not really

sure. But what's critical is what we're

told. And that is that Simeon is not

going to see death before he sees the

Lord's Messiah, which should make some

of us go, but as soon as you see him,

you're going to know death is on the

table. And so, we see here that Simeon

is in a position to understand that. And

as he is led by the Holy Spirit into the

temple, it says that the parents brought

in the child Jesus to perform for him

what was customary under the law.

Here's the thing. Uh whenever a

firstborn male was born to a family, uh

that individual was supposed to be

consecrated to the Lord according to Old

Testament law. And so you see that

Leviticus would list a couple of

different acceptable sacrifices to offer

in order to consecrate that child. And

if you were somewhat loaded, then you

could find yourself offering like a year

old male lamb. But if you were

struggling more financially, you would

offer turtle doves, which we see Joseph

and Mary are doing here, right? And so

it says in verse 28 through33 that

Simeon took him up in his arms. He

praised God and said, "Now, master, you

can dismiss your servant in peace as you

promised. For my eyes have seen your

salvation. You've prepared it in the

presence of all peoples, a light for

revelation to the Gentiles and glory to

your people Israel." his father and

mother were amazed at what was being

said about him. It's amazing. It says

you can dismiss your servant in peace.

And it's interesting that it says that

because in the original language, this

is tough for us to think about, but word

order doesn't matter a whole lot. It

does, but it's more flexible than the

way that we structure our language. And

so, as a result, words can be moved

around and they're moved around in order

to emphasize certain words. And the word

that's really being emphasized here in

this sentence is the word peace. And

that's significant for us to understand

because upon seeing his king, Simeon is

also recognizing, hey, death is coming.

[snorts]

Like death is now on the table. And yet

he's filled with all of this peace. Why?

Because he recognizes that death is not

a door that's closed, but rather one

that's going to be open to him. And he's

filled with this sense of peace because

he says, "My eyes have seen your

salvation." Which is interesting. I

don't know how you think about peace,

but I don't tend to in in my flesh go,

you know what's going to be really

peaceful? Death. I'm really excited

about dying. I don't do that.

And I think Simeon has walked with the

Lord and has a different understanding

of what peace is. Many of us, we tend to

think about peace as being the absence

of problems, but really it's the king

invading in the middle of our problems.

We think that it's the absence of chaos,

but it's the king bringing order to the

chaos in our lives. We often think it's

when our outer life is feeling all calm

and tranquil. If any of you get to that

point, please let me know how you did

it. But really, it's when you have an

inner life that's fortified and

unshakable in the midst of storms. That

Simeon experiences a peace that we can

experience, too. But how? When you

recognize who it is that is our rescuer

and redeemer that has been sent to save

us. And when you realize that it's in

him that I can find peace, hope, joy,

and love because he is the one who can

carry the weight of my eternal hope and

also who can deal with all the

difficulties I experience in my

temporary nows. That you see that Simeon

understands this. He understands this

piece. But it's interesting. There's a

comment that's made about the parents

that makes you wonder what is it exactly

that they're thinking here. It says that

they were amazed at what was being said

about him. Joseph and Mary are in this

unique position to where they have to

raise the son of God,

which is crazy.

And as they're in that position, it's

interesting. It's likely that they

probably didn't understand Old Testament

prophecy the way that many individuals

in their time didn't as well. They

probably thought the son of God was

going to come to rule and reign like any

other earthly king, only to find out

that that is not the way that Jesus was

coming to rule and reign. that the scope

and situation of how it is that he would

rule and reign was something that they

quite honestly [music]

don't seem to get a whole lot. And it

kind of makes you think, uh, Mary, did

you know?

Some of you get that. Some of you don't

your baby boy would one day walk on

water. Mary, did you know it's your baby

[music] boy? Save our sons and

daughters.

We got six minutes. We could sing it

together right now.

I'm not doing that. I don't know who's I

ain't doing that. I heard that.

And it it says that Simeon Simeon does

something interesting. [music]

He blessed them and told Jesus, "Mother

Mary, indeed, this child is destined to

cause the fall and rise of many in

Israel, and there'll be a sign that will

be opposed, and a sword will pierce your

own soul that the thoughts of many

hearts may be revealed."

There any moms in here?

It's not a trick question. Like you you

know what I mean? Like some of you are

like, "I don't know. I birth kids,

honey. Is he talking about me?" Yeah,

that's you. I'm talking to you. Not

going to call on you. Any moms in here?

Can you come on up here? No, I'm messing

with you. Like, [laughter]

uh, [music] sorry, it's the last one.

Sorry. Uh

he did.

>> But

moms

are really proud of [music] their kids

immediately.

I mean, until they can like talk back,

then you have some questions. But still,

like you're you're pretty stoked about

your kids, right?

I always think it's interesting like we

have to pretend that they're cute, fresh

out the womb and stuff. We're like, "Oh,

oh yeah." Like maybe one day.

Maybe one day.

Oh, you know, so you send pictures and

we're like, "They are so cute." And then

we're behind your back like, "Woo, baby,

[laughter]

I hope the Lord's at work here." Um,

y'all think your kid is like a genius.

Oh, there's no mom that's just like, "Oh

man, I don't know. I don't I don't know.

We got the brightest bulb in the box."

Every every mom like 8 days in is like,

"You know what? He's just so smart.

She's [music] so smart." Like 8 days in.

Really? So, yeah. tell you he's she's

already drooling at 8 days in. Did your

kid drool in 8 days in? It's like, you

know, I mean, is that the mark of an

Einstein? I don't know. Like, like we

got a real Nostradamus among us. So, I

don't

You're proud of your kids. Why wouldn't

you be proud of your kids?

Be infatuated [music]

with this new little life.

Mary's not only carrying this new little

life, the son of God.

And in the process of that, Simeon has

to deliver a devastating,

devastating word to her. How's that?

She's ecstatic and filled with all of

this joy. And he's like, "Oh, mama,

I I know how you feel right now, but

you're going to experience an agony and

a suffering that nobody else

has ever or will ever experience.

That joy you're experiencing, that's

real joy, by the way. That's a joy that

all of us who have placed our hope and

trust and faith in in that child, we've

experienced that joy too because of that

same child.

But those little fingers that are

struggling to even get around [music]

your finger are going to be stretched

out for the salvation of the world.

>> [music]

>> And that little boy that you rocked to

sleep every night in a cradle is going

to wake the rest of the world up as he's

hoisted upon a cross for you, mom, and

for everybody else to see and realize,

I've got to have a response to this.

[music]

Why do we celebrate Christmas?

We don't celebrate Christmas because

we're just like, you know what? Like, he

was like a pretty inspirational guy.

The unique thing about Jesus is that all

of us in here, we were born and we will

die. [music]

He died and he lived and he's still

alive.

And the unique [music] thing for all of

us in this place

is that you have to come to terms with

the fact that there's nothing else in

this world that can bear the weight of

your [snorts] faith, hope, trust, joy,

all of that.

But he can. And he did. He lived a

perfect sinless life [music] that you

and I could not. And he willingly went

to the cross in our place.

And he paid for our sin with perfect

innocent blood. That for those of us

that repent of our sins and put our

faith in Jesus Christ, we can know that

he takes away [music] our sin past,

present, and future. He's buried in a

tomb for three days and rose to life

again. And because Christ lives, we can

have life in his name.

And so I want to pray for us and just

[music] ask a question if you'll bow

with me here and and just and just ask

is there anyone in here that's like you

know what I've been putting

all my eggs in the basket of my business

bringing me joy or

even my marriage, my relationships,

whatever that might look like. And it

it's just not working. I've tried

everything.

pleasure, money, it's not working.

And I've never put my faith in Jesus,

but I'd like to make that decision

tonight.

If that's you, would you slip your hand

up? And if [music] you're willing, would

you pray this prayer with me and just

say, "Father, I'm a sinner in need of a

savior.

Believe that you live the perfect life

that I could not. That you died the

death that [music] I deserved willingly.

Repent of my sins and place my faith in

you and your finished work upon the

cross.

believe that your blood takes away my

sin. Believe that you were buried in a

tomb for three days and rose to life

again. And because you live, I can have

life in your [music] name, Jesus.

And Lord, for the rest of us, would this

good news not become old news?

Will all of the festivities of tonight

and tomorrow not take away [music] from

what actually matters the most?

that [music] it's more than a wonderful

life, but we have eternal life

in Jesus.