Heaven Came Down | Part 3 | The Mess Became the Message

Heat. Heat.

Hey. Hey. Hey.

May I help

for a third night?

We need a room for two people with a

crib.

>> Yeah. Well, but it's not my baby. I

mean, it is my baby, but technically

it's not my baby. And Angel

is pregnant, but she's

It's hard to

know it sounds.

We've been to every town and every

town if I had a reservation here

unless anybody in your party allergic to

sheep. You got to have something. I am a

platinum holder and I don't feel as if

I'm being treated like

Caesar Augustus, but if you don't have a

reservation, they don't have a room.

Okay, we're back. There can't be that

many people that want to stay.

Is there a manager I can speak to? Sure.

I'm sorry.

All right. Well, you're going to get a

onear

and you're going to go down in history.

to stay in the barn. They do. We will

not stay in a flyest barnyard animal out

with donkeys and sheep dropping sausage

next to our sleep. I will accept nothing

less than I can offer you a complimental

rep. Okay,

>> man. What kind of church do we have

here? What kind of If you guys ever

wondered what type of reals show up in

my algorithm, it's this stuff, right?

Hallelujah. Well, hey, Grace Summit

Church, it is Christmas Sunday. Say,

"Merry Christmas."

>> Merry Christmas.

>> Well, merry Christmas back to you. Thank

you.

>> Hey, if you're a a first-time guest with

us, I want to say welcome and merry

Christmas to you. My name is Ben. Have

the opportunity to serve as lead pastor

here. And what a good day to be in

church. Uh Christmas Sunday. Amen. And

uh man, we already had we're at three

services today. We already had the the

early morning first service and I

preached, but I think this service is

going to be a little bit better. And

I'll tell you why. After the first

service, uh, somebody gave me a

Christmas gift. A young man in the

church gave me some new socks.

>> You guys want to see them? Look at

these.

>> Look at this. Oh, if I can get my leg up

here.

>> It says, "Awesome pastor."

And I said, "Man, I'm preaching the

second service with new socks."

And I don't know about you, but I think

new socks come with a new anointing. Oh

my goodness.

>> Hallelujah.

>> Yeah.

New socks for Christmas.

Well, we're going to get into the word

of God today. After a goofy video and

goofy socks, we should probably pray.

Pray with me. Father, we thank you,

Lord, for revival breaking loose on the

inside of every soul. Father, I thank

you for an anointing today that shatters

the yoke of bondage in our hearts.

Father, we came to hear from you, Lord.

And I thank you, God, that our spiritual

ears are in tune and receptive to

everything you're giving us today.

Father, we came to celebrate the birth

of Jesus.

And Lord, I pray that we celebrate God

Jesus on the inside of us, salvation and

freedom and power. And so Lord, I thank

you God for being in this atmosphere. I

thank you for your presence and I thank

you for speaking now in Jesus name.

Amen. Well, hey, we've been in a series

called Heaven Came Down. And uh man, we

we've been on a little bit of a journey.

We talked about gratitude a few weeks

ago, praising and uh gratitude, how it's

the key that opens the door. It releases

heaven on earth. We saw Paul and Silas

in the jail and and last week we looked

at uh Jacob's ladder and uh saw that God

shows up in our mess, not just our

success. Uh thankful for that. And uh

really God, as I was praying into uh

what God would have me to share with you

this morning, God challenged me last

week. Uh, I I gave you a quick oneliner

that the mess became the message. And

God said, "Hey, double down on that

because you're we're a mess. Look at

your neighbor and say, "You're a mess."

>> You know, on Christmas, we get all

cleaned up, don't we? Like to come in on

our nice Christmas. You guys like my new

sport coat?

>> Yeah.

>> You know, feeling good, all cleaned up.

And it's one thing to be cleaned up on

the outside. Can I say it's another

thing to be cleaned up on the inside?

>> Title of the message today is the mess

became the message.

The mess became the message. Uh I want

to read a scripture. You this won't be

on your screen because I just added it

between services.

Stick with me folks. Come on.

Uh, Matthew 1 and verse 23 says,

"Behold, the virgin shall conceive and

bear a son, and they shall call his name

Emmanuel."

Isn't that a good scripture?

>> Good Christmas scripture. You know, I

think about all of the kind of coined

scriptures around the Christmas season

and I think about, man, the nativity

scenes and all the different things. Uh

the Christmas story is something that uh

we in western civilization have kind of

romanticized a little bit, haven't we? I

mean just the way that we approach the

topic. Uh we kind of come at it. We have

the songs and and we watch the movies.

Elf, that's not a great representation

of the nativity, right?

Anyone in here watch any of the uh the

Hallmark Christmas movies? Those are

kind of fun, aren't they?

>> No. No.

Thank you, Miss Sandy. God bless you.

We kind of get caught up. We decorate

the house and and tell the stories and

kind of it's easy for our minds to get

locked into a specific image or an idea

of what the birth of Christ look like.

And I want to say this, never let

Hallmark or Hollywood be louder than

your Bible.

Man, I almost started preaching right

there.

>> And I mean, it's too easy for us because

we have so much information and media

coming at us trying to tell the story.

And if I was the enemy, I would want to

get in that narrative to mess you up.

Amen.

>> And so I want to preach today kind of

the raw truth behind the Christmas

story.

Man, we see that beautiful manger, the

silent night, the presence of the

angels. But I got to say, when I read

the Christmas story, I don't see a

Hallmark card. I see a mess.

Today, I want to give you five ws. When.

Five ws of heaven invading earth.

Number one is when God moves into your

mass. Say into. Luke chapter 2 and verse

Luke 2 · chapter mention

6

says this. And while they were there,

the time came for her to give birth. And

she gave birth to her firstborn son and

wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid

him in a manger because there was no

place for them in the inn.

I want to look at the mess just for a

minute. Uh let's paint the picture. This

is a 13year-old. Most commentators say

between 12 and 14. roughly a 13-year-old

young lady that was a virgin.

And now she's pregnant and she's

traveling with Joseph, not the father,

right? Uh it's kind of a mess. They walk

from Nazareth to Bethlehem. You guys,

that's about 80 miles

walking. Did I mention she's in third

trimester? Anyone in here have kids?

>> Third trimester. Uh, and I don't know if

you know this, but uh, we have snow this

time of year. They don't have snow. This

is desert, right? Yeah. Maybe even some

palm trees happening over there. You

know what I mean? And so 80 miles,

that's uh, about from here to Fischers,

Indiana. Anyone want to be third

trimester and walk to IKEA with us?

I mean, for the guys Cabelas, right? I

might walk 80 miles for Cabelas. I don't

know. There's some cool stuff in that

place.

They said it's about a 7 to 10 day

journey and uh my goodness uh this is

not the uh classic nativity that I think

of

we saw I just imagine Mary and Joseph

funny video but there's a little bit of

truth behind this right of going man I

got a pregnant wife here I mean this

kind of feels like a mess we made it

here now there's no play where where do

we go

and so they find the barn

the king of kings

was born in a barn, not a palace,

not a hospital, not even a decent hotel

room

with stable in a stable with animals.

And I got to say this, animal smells.

>> Yeah, this was not the glamorous

Hallmark setting that we think about.

And I want to say this, this was not

God's plan B.

This was not God's plan B. This was

strategic and intentional with purpose.

You think this was some accident like,

"Oh my goodness, she prayed we have a

place to stay. What are we going to I

guess we'll sleep out here at the bar?"

There was none of that.

>> God from heaven ordained their steps to

a specific location at a specific time

for Jesus to be born. This wasn't God

scrambling because the Bethlehem

Marriott was booked.

I don't think they had Marriotts back

then.

Write this down. God chose mess over

magnificence.

God chose mess

over magnificence.

Sometimes because of the way that we

view Christianity,

we get it in our mind that God only

shows up in the clean places,

in the pretty places or the put together

places. And when we see the reality of

the birth of Christ, we see the exact

opposite.

The stable wasn't a setback. It was a

setup.

It was a setup. And God specializes in

showing up really where we least expect

him.

And when you least expect him, God shows

up in the mess.

when heaven comes to earth and invades

earth and I don't even want to uh

hyperspiritualize that term. When God

shows up in your life, the mess becomes

the message. Amen.

Uh where were you before Jesus came into

your life? You were a mess. I don't know

about what your salvation is, but my I

was a dumpster fire of a of a mess

before Jesus showed up in my life. And

aren't you thankful that Jesus didn't uh

go look for the people that had it all

together, that had things figured out,

but he found you

>> in your mass

>> and said, "That's the one right there

>> that I want to bless. That's the

location."

>> I think of the spots,

the physical locations that God spoke to

me.

doing foxhole prayers in my sin life

where God would show up. God shows up in

the mess.

And my experience is that God invades

our worst moments, not our best

performance.

In my weakness, he's made strong.

And I have the opportunity

to walk in humility and recognize my own

weaknesses, which makes an allowance for

God to show up.

Or in my own mind, my own flesh, I can

prepare and show up and perform.

And God sitting on the sidelines going,

"Man, I sure would like to help you out

here.

I've done it preaching before. It's a

horrible feeling.

That's an absolutely horrible feeling.

And how many times we we think we have

the perfect plan and the perfect thing.

We get it all figured out and and we've

rehearsed it in our head and you show up

and it's an epic fail.

>> I don't want my life to be like that.

I want a heart of surrender and a heart

of humility that says, "Man, God, I know

that I I'm I'm a mess.

And so I'm asking for you to do what

only you can do." And number two for

your notes is when nobody's

carry the news.

And dig a little bit deeper into the

reality of the Christmas story. Luke

Luke 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2

and verse 8. In that same region, there

were shepherds. Say shepherds.

>> Shepherds.

>> There were shepherds out in the field

keeping watch over their flock by night.

And an angel of the Lord appeared to

them and the glory of the Lord shone

around them. They were greatly afraid.

And the angel said to them, "Fear not,

for behold, I bring you good news of

great joy that will be for all the

people."

Isn't that good news?

We take that scripture and we write

songs around it and we and we build

plays around and all this stuff. But I

got to tell you, these are some simple

farmers,

some shepherds. And it says that the

angels appear to them and the glory of

God shone around them and it says they

were afraid.

Uh yeah, completely freaked out, right?

We're out here in the middle of the

night uh with our sheep and all of a

sudden angels are speaking to us in the

glory. Yeah, we're freaked out.

Yeah. Yeah. I just picture these dudes

being an absolute mess,

>> you know? And if this would be like one

of those things like if my buddy wasn't

standing here with me and saw it like

nobody would believe this mess, right?

And here here's what I want you to

understand. Uh the shepherds were not

influencers. They were not politicians.

They were not religious leaders in the

culture. They were ignored.

Uh let me dig a little deeper. Shepherds

in first century Palestine uh were not

the romantic figures we see in Christmas

plays.

They were the outcast.

They were really socially considered

unclean.

Unclean.

You guys know I grew up in the country,

right? I know about some unclean

farmers.

Yeah. Man, I had a really close friend

of mine went through all the way through

school and when we turned 16, man, he he

got a brand new truck. He was a farm

kid, right? And so some of those farmers

got money. We we we didn't have a whole

lot of that farm. I grew up brand new

truck, brand new Dodge truck. It was the

brand new body style when the cool ones

came out. Yeah. And I'm not even a Dodge

fan, but they were a cool looking truck.

And he he only had that thing just a

couple of weeks and I remember hopping

in it with him and it smells like a hog

farm.

>> I mean, just disgusting. And you know, I

think his grandpa bought it for him. he

uses on the farm. And he would actually

ask to borrow our vehicles to go on a

date because he was embarrassed of the

way that his truck smelled.

Ah, stinky old farmer.

No matter how hard you try to clean

pig stuff out of your truck, it still

smells like pig stuff.

>> Yeah. This is the shepherds here.

Th this is this is the people that God

chose to speak to with angelic hosts.

Nobody's carry the news.

They were considered unclean. They

couldn't testify in court

because their word was untrusted.

They were the bottom of the social

ladder.

Religious people avoided them.

Respectable people look down on them.

I'll say this. They were the last people

that you would invite to a royal birth.

>> God putting on human flesh, showing up

here on earth. I mean, this is the last

people that you would invite. If I'm

putting together the the list, man, I'm

I'm going for the elite. I'm going for

the powerful. I'm going for the

influential. I want some movers and

shakers here for this for this thing

because the King of Kings and the Lord

of Lords is about to enter earth for the

very first time. And God says, "I don't

want any of them. I want the old stinky

farmers from the field to come and I'm

going to send my angels to speak to

them. I don't know who you are, but I

was a shepherd. I was a stinky old mess

out in my sin life doing what I did. And

God spoke to me and said, "Hey, there

there's one here that I want you to

receive. His name is Jesus."

That's what God does.

That's who God chooses.

He didn't choose the priests, the

Pharisees,

politicians, the powerful.

He chose the powerless,

the overlooked,

and the forgotten.

1 Corinthians chapter 1 really is one of

1 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

my favorite scriptures. Verse 27

says, "But God," say, "God,

>> God chose what is foolish in the world

to shame the wise."

The very first time I heard that

scripture, I said, "Man, I finally

qualify for something."

Because my my emotional and spiritual

resume doesn't qualify for much. But I

heard that one. I go, "My goodness, I

got a little now I'm looking for some

wise people. I'm going to shame you wise

people cuz I am a fool for Jesus." Amen.

>> God chose

what is foolish in the world to shame

the wise. God chose what is weak in the

world to shame the strong. God chose

what is low and despised in the world,

even things that are not, to bring to

nothing things that are.

Write this down. Your past doesn't

determine your invitation.

That's good news for somebody in the

house of God today.

Your past doesn't determine your

invitation.

God could have sent the angels to

Caesar's palace.

Could have announced Jesus's birth to

the religious elite in Jerusalem.

Could have chosen the influential.

Instead, he chose the shepherds.

Why?

Because the gospel is not for the

qualified.

It's for the disqualified.

Let me say that a little louder for the

people in the back.

The gospel is not for the qualified.

It's for the disqualified.

When heaven came down, nobody's carried

the news.

I love the song lyrics. Maybe you've

heard it. Says, "I'm just a nobody

trying to tell everybody all about a

somebody who saved my soul."

First time I heard those, I like, man, I

like that.

cuz that's me. I'm just a nobody. I'm

just trying to tell everybody about this

about this somebody that saved my soul.

Can I say this? If you think you're a

somebody in the presence of God, you

have missed the mark.

I I'm just a nobody.

Just a nobody.

God's invitation list

looks nothing like ours.

We have this tendency to invite the

impressive.

God invites the struggling, the broken.

We invite the successful.

We invite the put together. God invites

the falling apart. Can I challenge you a

little bit to use the same ideology

as God inviting you to recognize, man, I

was a mess. I was broken, busted,

disgusted. Couldn't be trusted when God

found me. And and I want to use that

same heart as I'm inviting people into

my world,

>> into my life, because I don't sometimes

we get cleaned up and we start thinking

that we're somebody

when Jesus is the one that made us

anything.

>> Hallelujah.

>> And then we start we get in our little

religious elite circles.

I was in a legalistic church once.

Yeah. Couldn't couldn't be around those

non-Christian people.

Yeah.

Won't even go to a restaurant that has a

bar in it.

Yeah. Get saved. That's what I say. We

don't We can't be out there smoking

cigarettes. Oh,

how dare them. I smoked for a decade.

Right.

Glad God delivered me from cigarettes.

>> Hallelujah.

Who are you inviting into your world?

Let's let's use the template of God and

say, "Who is it?" Now, now, now, if

you're tempted by that or that's going

to mess you up in your salvation with

God, you got to use some wisdom there.

But can I say that Jesus hung out with

sinners?

>> They accused him of being a drunkard and

a glutton. Why? Because he was hanging

around drunks and fat people.

So if you don't take anything else today

after you leave here, go find some

drunks and some fat people and hang out

with them and tell them about Jesus.

Amen.

>> Hallelujah.

>> Told you. I think it's the socks, man.

>> Yeah.

What's your invitation list look like?

You might be sitting in here going,

"Man, I think I'm the mess."

>> Bible says you're exactly who God's

looking for.

>> And the shepherds didn't get the

invitation because they were good

enough. They got the invitation because

God is good.

>> Here's what's beautiful. When the

shepherds heard the news, they didn't

stay in the field. Luke 2:15 says, 'When

Luke 2:15

the angels went away from them into

heaven, the shepherd said to one

another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem

and see this thing that is that has

happened, which the Lord has made known

to us." And they went with haste and

found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying

in a manger.

I think that's a word we need to bring

back into culture is the word haste.

They went with haste. They made haste.

That means get up and go. That means

hurry. That means there's an urgency.

That's that's what you would use if if

the house was on fire and we got to get

out. We go with haste.

They weren't sitting around.

They worked through their fear of seeing

what they saw. And now they said, "Hey,

we we got to go, man. Let's let's go

check this thing out." They went with

haste. They didn't clean up first.

clean the smell of animals off of them.

Shepherds

sleep with the sheep, eat with the

sheep. I mean, they're out there for

weeks and months on end away from I

mean, these guys stunk. They didn't say,

"Oh, man. We got to I got to go get my

Sunday best on before I can I got to go

buy a new sport coat,

maybe a white one."

>> Um, I just have to say the best sport

coat in the house is Carrie Gerber in

the back.

Carrie, stand stand to your feet for a

minute. Cameras, get over here to Carrie

Gerber. Look at that SP. Can we just

celebrate that?

That coat is fabulous, man.

They didn't go get their Christmas sport

coat on.

They didn't get permission from anyone.

They didn't procrastinate and wait for a

better time. Any procrastinators in the

house? God said it 20 years ago. What

are you waiting for?

I've talked to these guys. Well, I felt

called into the ministry back in 1976.

And I go, "Well, why haven't you served

in ministry then?

I felt like God called me to preach and

I've never been able to shake it." I'm

like, "It's been 40 years, man.

Might want to get going."

These guys didn't say, "Well, God God

appeared to us and spoke something to us

and I don't know, we'll just hang out."

I mean, they went with haste.

God said it. I go

learn a lot just from that.

They went immediately

just as they were. Look at your neighbor

and say, "Come as you are."

The first people to hear the heavenly

host were the ones most ignored by the

earthly host,

the shepherds.

And I want to say this, God doesn't just

tolerate your brokenness. He targets it.

He targets it.

You're not an accident. You're not a

mistake. You're not too far gone.

You're exactly who heaven came for.

Somebody needs to hear that. You're

exactly who heaven came for. I think

about Jesus, the good shepherd. He left

the 99 to go find the one that was out

in a mess.

Amen.

>> Your mess is on his heart. I think of

that shepherd Jesus standing there. He

my goodness, the 99 are there and he's

saying, "Hey, hey, you guys are all

together. You're you're going to be

fine. You got each other, but but

there's one that that's missing." And I

and I think they're in a mess. MAYBE

THEY'RE CAUGHT in a fence or in a valley

or whatever. Maybe the wolf is around. I

want to go find that one that's in the

mess.

Your mess is on his heart.

That doesn't mean stay a mess so you can

be on the heart of God.

But let him turn your mess into the

message.

Here's what I want you to get in your

heart today

is that you are heaven's target, not

heaven's afterthought.

Number three for your notes. When

silence

sets up a shout.

When silence sets up a shout. before

this moment when Christ was born. Uh we

have an estimated 400 years of God being

silent.

A lot of times we start the story with

the birth of Christ. And what we don't

realize is that there was a Jewish

people awaiting their coming Messiah

with all of these old prophecies.

Many have said that Jesus coming

fulfilled over 300 Old Testament

prophecies of the coming Messiah.

There was 400 years

of nothing.

Man, we used to sing that old song. It's

four days late but right on time

talking about Lazarus.

Yeah.

Can I say that God is always on time?

400 years there was no prophets, no

miracles, just waiting. Say waiting.

>> That baby's cry in that manger

was the sound that shattered 400 years

of silence.

And maybe you've been in a season of

silence. I've been there.

Maybe you've been praying and it feels

like heaven is quiet.

Have you been there?

I've been in that season, man, where I'm

just pressing in and I feel like I need

to hear from God and and my prayers feel

like they're bouncing off the ceiling,

coming right back at me.

And I get it in my mind, the the

timeline when I'm praying and I say,

"God, let's go ahead and do that now."

>> Yeah, let's go ahead and

Can I say this? Don't do this to God in

prayer.

If you don't let your kids do it to you,

don't you do it to God in prayer.

>> My goodness.

>> Yeah. I There's some different parenting

styles out there, but if my kids came up

and been like, "Hey, if you could get me

that Xbox now," I'd be like, "So, you

ain't never getting an Xbox now.

Better go get a job, fool."

Heard they hire 11 year olds at

Chick-fil-A. Go check that out.

>> Yeah,

my timeline is not God's timeline.

His thoughts are higher than my

thoughts. His ways are higher than my

ways.

And my track record isn't good. Can I

say this? Uh, when I get my own mind in

it and I get my own initiatives in it,

man, I I I I think it should happen

right now.

I think thousands of people should get

saved today and come to church next

Sunday

>> right here.

>> That's what I think. And I'm like, God,

if we could if we could get that done,

that'd be cool.

>> I think that our new building should

have been built yesterday.

Yeah. So God, if you could just that $2

million check show up, if we could get

that done.

Yeah. God says, "No, in the right time,

I'll show up." And God likes to get me

in position. I don't know about you, get

me in position where I feel like I know

nothing about nothing. I identify with

Paul when he said, "I I I resolve to

know nothing except Christ crucified. I

don't know anything about anything. All

I know is that I know him." And he's the

one prompting. He's the one leading.

He's the one ordaining each step. And

and because of that, God's going to show

up when God shows up and do things that

no human can do.

>> Can I say this? God's silence is not his

absence.

It's his alignment.

Silence for 400 years before the birth

of Christ.

He was setting the stage. He was

positioning the players. He was

preparing the world for a shout of

praise when their Messiah comes to

earth. Zechariah 2:10, an Old Testament

Zechariah 2:10

uh word says, "Shout and be glad,

daughter of daughter of Zion, for I am

coming and I will live among you,

declares the Lord."

400 years before Jesus ever came. I've

had times when God has spoke to me and I

knew it was God to go do this thing and

I'm going all right let's go let's go

and God says

not right now and I'm going but why not

now I mean this is a good thing you

showed it and I want to I want to can

Dad please can we just go

he says no I'll show you when

I'm still holding on to things that God

spoke to me years ago that I know that I

know that I know that God has shown me.

And I'm still waiting.

I'm still waiting.

I'm still waiting. There's some unsaved

loved ones that I know are going to get

saved, but I'm still waiting.

I'm still waiting.

Some prophecies to be fulfilled.

Your silent season is not your final

season. It's God setting you up for a

shout.

Silence of God is not the absence of

God. Galatians 4:4

Galatians 4:4

says this,

"But when the fullness of time has

come,"

oh my goodness,

the fullness of time,

the fullness of time had come, God sent

forth his son to redeem those who were

under the law.

Here's the biggest when that I want to

give you today. Number four is when a

savior takes your place.

When a savior takes your place.

I give you a little bit of a theme that

we see in the Bible and creation. The

Bible says that the earth was without

form. It was dark. And one translator uh

says that it was chaos. And the Hebrew

really means that the earth was chaotic.

There was chaos and God stepped in and

brought order to the chaos

and he did it with a word spoken. That's

a big God.

Creation account is bringing order to

the chaos. Christ being born to live and

to die is God again bringing order to

the chaos.

When you accept Christ and through him

become born again, God steps into your

life and brings order to the chaos,

turning the mess

into the message.

Jesus Christ became the substitute

to make the payment for your sin so you

don't have to

to make the payment for your sin.

You ever been You ever just had that

bill that that you couldn't couldn't

swing it and man it's it's hanging out

there and the it's just too big. It's

just not even realistic. You ever I

don't know if you've been broke before.

I've been broke before, right? and and

that that bill coming and you just go,

man, how how in the world, you know,

that weight

of not being able to make the payment.

That weight is on the soul of a sinner

because there is a payment to be had for

your sin.

And without Jesus, you don't have what

it takes in the bank account to make

that payment. The wages of sin is

>> death.

But Jesus came as the substitute. And

and in that spiritual realm, Jesus steps

in and says, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa."

He must have what? What did he say? The

Samaritan card.

>> Samaritan Express.

>> Yeah.

Got me a sugar daddy in the spirit.

Daddy steps in and says, "Whoa, whoa. I

got the bill. I got the bill."

Yeah.

to make payment

for your sin so you don't have to. I

just want to say the Christmas story

isn't a Hallmark story.

It's God saying, "I'll come into your

mess.

I'll live and I'll die for you

so you don't have to." It's God stepping

in and saying, "I'll take your place."

And he was your substitute before you

even knew you needed one.

John 1:29 says, "The next day he saw

John 1:29

Jesus coming toward him and said,

"Behold, the lamb of God takes away the

sin of the world."

Number five in your notes,

when your mess

becomes his message.

I think about the word mess

and all you have to do is add three

letters a ge for the mess to become the

message

for God to step in and make payment for

you right into your mess. Jesus comes

and makes payment. And the Bible says in

Revelation that they overcame the evil

one. They overcame him by the blood of

the lamb and say and

>> the word of their testimony.

That's how you overcome the enemy in

your life through the blood of Jesus

Christ making payment for your sin and

through the word of your testimony that

your mess becomes his message that hey I

I was lost. I was hurting. I was broken.

I I had depra. Whatever your test,

whatever your story is that you share

that mess now through Christ as his

message.

>> I was saved for a few years,

went back, got my high school diploma.

Tell you, I was a mess.

Got called in the ministry, went to

Bible college. Amazed that they even

accepted me at a college. made me take a

special test to even get me into the

college.

I wasn't a dummy. I just never went to

school in high school, right? Took the

test, got in serving God, serving in my

local church, and really fell in love

with God. And from the mess that I was

in, I had the long hair and the and just

the mess. I was just a mess. And now I'm

saved and I got the haircut. I'm cleaned

up. I I started I was a drug addict,

right? So, I started doing normal things

that normal people do like eating food

>> and sleeping, you know. So, I'm looking

a whole lot better than what I did last

year. And I would run into people, they

would see me and they go, "Whoa, what in

the world happened to you?"

I go, "Well, I got a job. I'm going to

college now." Yeah.

I go I go through the list. Look, look

at my ride, man. I got I got some

greens. I got some money now. Hey, you

know, I started I and me and I and I was

not giving God the glory.

Do you know in that pride I backslid,

dropped out of Bible college and ended

up on a six-month run back in my sin

life.

Can I tell you that making his your mass

his message is the path to victory

>> to live in that humility.

first started preaching, I didn't know

how to accept a compliment. People say,

"Good job." And I'm like, "I'm not

taking credit for that.

Praise God." Because I know what I am

without him. I'm not a preacher. I'm a

train wreck.

Let your mess become his message. The

Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5,

"Therefore, we are ambassadors for

Christ,

God making his appeal through us.

You're an ambassador for Jesus

and God wants to speak through you

to hurting people.

Christmas story isn't just what happened

2,000 years ago. It's what's happening

in you right now.

What's God doing through you today?

Yeah.

just a nobody

trying to tell everybody about somebody

that saved my soul.

Matthew chapter 5, Jesus said, "You are

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

the light of the world."

He said, "Let your light shine before

others."

Spurgeon said this. He said, "God's

grace is most clearly seen when it

shines in the darkest places."

Don't just let your light shine on

Sunday morning when we're in this place.

Oh, I've watched the Sunday Christians.

Sunday morning, I I just love Jesus. God

bless you. Bless you, brother. Bless

you, sister. Oh, yeah.

He didn't know I saw you at Meyer on

Tuesday.

Cursing at your kid in public.

He He didn't know that I heard the

story. Can I say this? Let your light

shine before men.

>> Not just saved on Sunday.

I'm also saved on Monday,

Tuesday, and Wednesday.

Not saying we're perfect.

You might have a moment, a mess up, a

hangup, and that's okay. Pick yourself

up and keep moving.

I just want my mass to be his message.

I just want to tell the world about this

Jesus that saved me.

Maybe you're sitting here and you're

going, "Man, I

my life's a mess. I identify with that."

Congratulations.

You're a candidate for a miracle today

because you're the target

of the love of God.

Maybe God spoke to you to

go into the ministry, whatever that is,

and you just feel disqualified.

Maybe just in life, period, you feel

disqualified.

We had four kids in four years.

That was a miracle in itself.

It

>> all happened so quick and it was a

season that I had workaholic tendencies.

So there there was this times we just we

sat in our living room and there's these

four little people and I'm like where

did all these little people come from?

At number four, my dad did get with me

and say, "You know how that happens,

don't you?" Yeah. Yeah.

But I remember looking at my children

and I've had this a few times going, I

don't feel qualified

to parent you

different seasons of their life. Now

they're getting into teenagers, teenage

years. And I look at teenagers sometimes

and I go, I don't know if I'm qualified,

especially teenage girls. Some of the

stuff they're asking me, I'm like, I

don't even know what we're talking

about.

>> Don't have a clue. You're really going

to have to talk to your mom on that one.

You ever get a job and you just don't

feel qualified?

Feeling disqualified. Congratulations.

It's exactly where the king likes to set

up his throne

right in the mass.

I want you to stand to your feet all

over this house.

I'm going to ask our worship team to

join me up here.

The challenge I want to give you today

is to not just admire the message, but

become it. We we look at the Christmas

message and sometimes we glamorize it

and we we look at it through the

Hallmark lens. Can I tell you not just

to admire the message, but become the

message of Jesus Christ.

And if you're in this space and you're

going, "Man, my life's a mess and I

don't even know where to get started."

Today can be the day of salvation for

you. That you can invite the creator of

the universe into your mass.

Bring order to your chaos.

What a Christmas present

to give your life to Jesus. Today

you celebrate Christmas,

the birth of the savior

and with the savior in your heart.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you Lord

for salvation.

Father, I pray now over every soul in

this room.

God, we're all in different places,

different thoughts and different things,

Father, but I thank you for meeting each

of us right where we sit. in this moment

in time

where we are in life. Father, I pray God

that nothing would hinder anyone in this

room from receiving you in fullness.

Praise you, Jesus. We're going to

continue in prayer for just a moment

with eyes closed. If that's you this

morning, if you say, "Pastor, pray for

me. I I need to give my life to Jesus."

I'm not going to embarrass you this

morning, but would you just lift your

hand towards heaven and say, "Pastor,

pray for me."

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Praise you, Jesus. You can put your hand

down. There's hands going up around the

room. Praise you, Jesus. Father, we love

you today.

>> We thank you that that today is the day

of salvation, the day of freedom, the

day of reconciliation, God, that you can

receive back unto yourself your

children.

Praise you, Jesus. And father, I pray

for those that lifted their hand and

said, "Today is the day.

Father, I pray for authentic, divine,

miraculous salvation.

Praise you, Jesus.

Thank you, Lord." Saints, let's just all

pray this prayer together. And if you

lifted your hand, pray this prayer. Uh

this isn't a surefire way. You just got

to believe it in your heart and pray the

prayer. And the Bible says you'll be

saved. Can we pray this together? Say,

"Father in heaven,

I receive you now.

>> I receive you.

>> I receive Jesus

>> I receive

>> as payment

>> for my sin.

>> for my s

>> I confess with my mouth

>> that Jesus

>> Jesus

>> is now Lord of my life

>> now Lord of my life

>> and according to your word

>> according to your word

>> I'm saved

>> I'm healed

>> I'm delivered

>> and I'm set free

>> I'm set free

>> in Jesus name

>> Amen. Can we celebrate the work of the

Lord today?

Now, I need to pray for the rest of you

cuz y'all are a mess.

Hallelujah.

Thank you, Lord. Praise you, Jesus.

Father, I pray for every soul in this

room, God, that you would continue to

meet us in our mass and that we would

continue to shout your message.

Father, I thank you God for the work

that you're doing in hearts and minds in

this fellowship of believers.

Now bless each one I pray in Jesus name.

Amen. Our prayer team is going to come

forward. We're going to close the

service uh with worship. If you need

prayer for anything, I want to invite

you to an altar of prayer and let us

pray with you. But I want to say this.

Merry Christmas and God bless you.