Home For Christmas: Christmas Celebration Service 2025 | Elevation Church Hills

[bell]

[music]

What are you?

>> [bell]

>> Hey,

hey, hey.

[music]

>> [music]

[bell]

[music]

>> Oh come let us adore

you.

Oh come let us [music and singing]

adore

thee.

Oh come let us adore

him.

Oh come let us adore

you.

Oh come let us adore

him in Christ.

the Lord.

Well, happy Christmas celebration

service. Why don't you stand to your

feet? Sing along with us as we celebrate

the birth of Jesus Christ. [music]

Oh,

we sing. Oh, come [singing]

ye faithful,

joyful and triumphant.

Oh [singing] come ye, oh come [music] ye

to

earth.

Come and behold [music]

him for the king of [music and singing]

angels.

Oh come let us adore

him.

>> [singing and music]

>> Oh come let us adore

him. Oh [music] come let us adore.

He is Christ

the Lord. [music]

[music]

Sing words of angels

sing [music and singing] in exaltation.

Sing all [singing] ye citizens

of

the world.

Glory

to God.

Glory [music and singing]

in the highest.

Oh come [music and singing] let us adore

you. Oh [music] come let us adore

him. [music]

Oh God, [singing] let us adore.

He is Christ

[music] the Lord.

>> [music]

[music]

>> The herald angels [singing]

sing glory to the newborn [music] king.

Peace on earth [singing] and mercy mild.

God and sinners [music]

reconciled.

Joyful [singing]

all ye nations rise. Joy the triumph

[music]

all the skies with angeling [singing]

hopes proclaim.

Christ is [music] born in Bethlehem.

Hark the herald [music and singing]

angels sing. Glory to the newborn

king.

[music]

Sing

Christ by highest [music and singing]

heaven adore. Christ the everlasting

[music]

Lord

in [singing] time. Behold him come

offspring [music] of the virgin's womb.

Fail in the flesh [music and singing] of

God and see hail in God.

Please [music]

man to dwell. [singing]

Jesus [music] our Emmanuel.

All the herald angels [music] sing.

Glory to the newborn

king.

[music]

Hail the heavenborn prince of peace.

Hail the son of righteousness. [music]

Light and [singing] life to all he

brings ris with healing [singing]

in his [music] wings. While he lays his

glory. [singing]

For that man [music] no more may die.

Born to raise sons [singing] over

to [music] give them second [singing]

birth. Hark the herald angels sing.

[music]

Glory to the newborn

king.

[music]

>> [music]

[music]

>> who's excited to be here for Christmas

services this morning.

Merry Christmas to everybody here. We're

so excited for what we have prepared for

you today because we don't take anything

half-hearted around here. I was talking

to the team earlier. We bring our best

and let God do the rest. And you know,

Miles and I were looking at the run

sheet earlier before and we saw that a

lot of this team have been here by 5:00

a.m. So, can we just thank this amazing

team?

They're phenomenal.

I don't know if you know, but we are in

the series Christmas. It's Christmas

celebration, but we're doing home for

Christmas. And is it if this is your

first time here, we would like to

welcome you. We're thankful that you

took the time for this Christmas season

to come to our church. And we want to

welcome you home.

Let's welcome everybody that's new. Hey,

if you are new and you'd like to know

more about what we have going on in the

life of this church, you can get this

hello card that's in the seat back in

front of you. Fill it out and pop it in

a red spot. We also have something, a

prayer and praise report card. This time

can be hard for a lot of people. Perhaps

you're in need of food, shelter, or

clothing or prayer for something. Please

fill that out so that we as a team can

contact you and help you any way that we

can. Also, if you're new today, we have

a special gift for you. My husband's

holding it right here.

>> I like this gift. It's got a little bble

to put on your tree and uh it says

planted. And our heart is that you would

be planted in the house of the Lord. And

our prayer is that it'll be here. Keep

coming to this church, meet people, love

the Lord, his presence, his power, and

see your life changed as you planted.

So, grab one of these at the Connect Hub

after the service. And and I'd love to

say hi, and Bonnie would too, just to

know you and your story. We're very

honored that you're here with us today.

>> The verse that is resonating for us as a

church is found in Ephesians 3:17. It

Ephesians 3:17

says, "So that Christ may dwell in your

hearts through faith." And that's our

prayer that not only did God send his

son into this world, he also sent him

for of for us as well. And so our prayer

as we sing and worship him is that you

sense the Holy Spirit personally in your

life this morning.

>> Now Christmas at Elevation, it's more

than just coming to church. It's more

than just coming to a celebration

service. It's about going and taking the

good news to the world. at elevation all

six locations over,200

gifts have been given to those less

fortunate than us. That's what we're

here for to make a difference and extend

the kingdom. Please be seated as you

look at the screen and see the great

work that has been done through your

generosity.

>> Hi Elevation, thank you so much for your

generosity. We are just wrapping up

here, pardon the pun, for our stack the

slay 2025. Uh we partner with the

Salvation Army, Majuba Special School,

Yahweh House, and the Pregnancy Support

Center. And we're bagging the last of

the gifts today here at Melbourne West.

We are continuing our partnership with

Helping Hands Mission. This year, we

want to give 200 gifts so that children

might wake up at Christmas and find a

present under the Christmas tree. Thank

you for your generosity. You're making a

difference in Melbourne's West. So guys,

we're so excited for this time of year

with Stack the Slay here at Penri. We

are so proud and fortunate to be working

with the Penri Community Kitchen. The

guys do amazing work from providing

meals to families to getting into

schools and providing meals for the kids

um at the school setup and then also

just bringing the joy of Christmas

together and providing Christmas meals

and lunches together for the community

as well. [music] Here in elevation

manager, we've partnered with Operation

Christmas Child and have filled 196 of

these boxes which go to underprivileged

children across the world. What a great

joy it is to partner with those who are

doing it tough this Christmas and bring

the love of Christ to their lives. This

year at Elevation Cans, we have

partnered again with Mission Australia

for our stack the sleigh campaign. As

you can see, the sleigh is filling up

with tons and tons of gifts. We know

it's going to impact hundreds of

families right around our community that

are doing it tough this Christmas time

to bring some hope and some joy to them.

We're also going to be giving away a or

making a large donation to Mission

Australia as well to just help them at

this tough time to make sure they can

meet the needs of people.

>> This Christmas we are partnering with

Wesley Mission to bring over 200 gifts

to many children in our community who

are vulnerable this Christmas. We also

get to give over 50 campers in our local

community. We have to go into our

workplaces, neighbors, friends and

family and show them the love that we

can give this Christmas season.

>> Thank you so much for your generosity.

Your giving makes a difference in the

lives of hundreds of families. Thank you

so much. We are praying that you also

have a very merry Christmas.

>> Yeah. So good. Now, I don't have

favorites, but Hills was my favorite

because we we didn't give 200 gifts. We

didn't give 300 gifts. Over 400 gifts we

gave away because of your generosity.

Thank you humbly. It's wonderful. At

Elevation, one of our values is fun. We

like to fun it up. That's why we got Jif

with his hat on. We love fun. And uh it

wouldn't be a year of Christmas at

Elevation without

>> the Jingles.

>> Have a look.

Going to church to spread some

Christmasing

together.

[screaming]

Oh no. Oh no.

Um um our Christmas chariot of tear just

broke down.

>> Santa's going to lose his mind.

>> Santa's going to kick us out of the

North Pole.

We're going to be the biggest

embarrassment to all elf kind.

>> Oh no. Quick, we got to do something.

Anything. Go, go, go.

>> [screaming]

>> Christmas.

>> Hello, Mr. Engine.

>> We wish you a merry Christmas and a

happy new year.

>> I don't get it. None of our Christmas

elf training is working. All the

singing, dancing, and Christmas

enhancing

just not working.

>> If we don't get to elevation jar,

I fear

that we might not be elves by the end of

the year.

We'll [crying] be cast out.

We'll be sh [laughter]

again.

>> Oh,

jingle jingle jingle. I forgot it. Oh,

>> reinforcement.

>> Oh, my jingle bell.

Hello, North Pole. This is Bingle Jingle

and Jingle Jingle.

What do you mean? What did we do this

time?

>> Oh no, [laughter]

we're done for. Send reinforcements.

Send the big guns.

The Junior Jingles. [screaming]

>> Wait a second. How will the Junior

Jingles know where to go?

>> No.

[screaming]

>> Hang on a second. I have an idea.

>> What?

We need to

>> tell me. We need to break the fourth

wall.

The fourth wall.

Hello.

Are you home?

>> Hi. Hello. If you can hear us, I want

you to say Merry Christmas.

>> Merry Christmas. [screaming]

>> It's definitely working.

>> It's working. Oh my goodness. We are

going to send the junior jingles to you.

to.

>> We're using elf echolocation for them to

find

>> to find you at your location.

>> That's right.

>> All you have to say is jingle jingle

jingle jingle.

Jingle jingle jingle.

Here they come.

[cheering and applause]

>> [music]

>> in a onehorse opening

all [singing] the ways

[music]

rings

bright. What fun it [singing] is to ride

and sing a sleigh song tonight. Oh,

jingle bells, [music] jingle bells,

jingle all the way. Oh, what fun it is

to ride in a one-horse open [music]

sleigh. Hey, jingle bells, jingle bells,

jingle all the way. Oh, what fun it

[music and singing] is to ride in a

one-horse open sleigh.

Now the ground is white. Grow it while

you're young. Take the girls tonight.

Sing [music] the slaying [singing] song.

Get up till baby

[music]

sleigh and crack.

Jingle bell, [music] jingle bell, jingle

all the way. Oh, what fun

[music and singing] it is to ride in a

water horse opening sleigh. Hey, jingle

bells, jingle bells, jingle all [music]

the way. [singing]

Oh, what fun it is to ride in a

one-horse open sleigh. I'm so tired.

>> We ran so far.

>> Jingle jingle jingle [music] bells.

Can't you hear those jingle bells?

[music]

Jingle jingle jingle bells. Can't you

[music] hear those jingle bells? We're

laughing and we're loving and we're

kissing and we're hugging as we're

jingle all the way.

[screaming]

>> Jingle [music] bells, jingle bells,

jingle all the way. [music]

Oh, what fun it is to ride in a onehorse

open sleigh.

Jingle bells, [music] jingle bells.

I love

>> Oh, what fun it is to ride in a onehorse

open.

Oh, what fun it is to ride [music] in a

one horse.

Ladies and gentlemen,

You wouldn't believe every year.

>> Weren't they amazing?

>> Wow.

>> Weren't they just razzledazzle?

>> Absolutely.

>> Sparkle, glimmering, shining,

glamouring,

gladly glinking.

Merry [screaming]

Christmas. Yes.

Oh,

oh, come, oh, [singing] come

and [singing] ransom captive

that mountain in lonely

[music and singing]

until [singing and music] the son of God

appears.

Rejoice,

[singing] rejoice.

Imuel

shall come [singing] to thee, O Isel.

[singing]

Oh come [music] thou [singing] days

spring come

and cheer

>> our spirit by thine [singing and music]

>> dispers [music]

the gloomy [singing] cloud. out of night

and death shadows [singing]

to fly.

>> Rejoice,

rejoice. [music and singing]

Emmanuel

shall [music and singing] come to thee,

oh Isel.

Rejoice,

[music and singing] rejoice.

Emmanuel

shall [music and singing] come to thee,

oh Israel.

Oh,

[music]

come thou [singing] king of David

come

>> and [singing] open wide our hands.

home.

>> Make safe [singing] the way that leads

on high

and close [singing] the path to misery.

Rejoice,

[singing] reju

[singing]

shall [music] come to thee, O Isel.

>> Rejoice,

[singing] rejoice.

Emmanuel [music]

[singing]

shall come to thee, oh

[singing]

[snorts]

700 Years before the birth of Christ,

the prophet Isaiah spoke these words.

The people who walked in darkness have

seen a great light.

Those who dwelt in a land of deep

darkness.

On them has light shone.

For to us a child is born.

To us a son is given.

And the government shall be upon his

shoulder, and his name shall be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Behold,

the virgin shall conceive and bear a

son,

and shall call his name Emmanuel.

And then at the appointed time,

the promise began to unfold.

>> The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a

virgin betrothed to a man whose name was

Joseph of the house of David.

And the virgin's name was Mary.

And he came to her and said, "Greetings,

old favored one.

The Lord is with you."

But she was greatly troubled at the

saying and tried to discern what sort of

greeting this would be.

So the angel said to her, "Do not be

afraid, Mary, for you have found favor

with God.

Behold, you will conceive in your womb

and bear a son, and you shall call his

name Jesus.

700 years before.

Oh little town of Bethlehem,

how still we see the light

above thy [singing] deep and dreamless

sleep. The silent [singing] stars go by,

yet in the dark [music and singing]

streets shine,

the everlasting

[singing] light.

The hopes and fears of all the years

[singing] are met in thee tonight.

Oh holy child of Bethlehem,

descend to [singing] us [music] we pray.

Cast out our sin and enter.

Be born in [singing] us today.

We hear the [singing] Christmas angels,

the [music] great glad [singing] tidings

tell.

Oh come [singing] to us, abide with us,

oh Lord Emmanuel.

Oh come to us, abide with [singing] us.

The Lord Emmanuel.

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place

in this way.

When his mother Mary had been betrothed

to Joseph,

before they came together, she was found

to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

And her husband Joseph being a just man

and unwilling to put her to shame,

resolved to divorce her quietly.

But as he considered these things,

behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to

him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of

David,

do not fear to take Mary as your wife,

for that which is conceived in her is

from the Holy Spirit.

She will bear a son,

and you shall call his name Jesus,

for he will save his people from their

sins."

In [music] those days, Caesar Augustus

issued a decree that a census should be

taken of the entire Roman world. [music]

And everyone went to their own town to

register.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee to

the city of David, which is called

Bethlehem,

because he was of the house and line of

David,

to be registered with Mary, his

betrothed,

who was with child.

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 end.

And in the same region 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, and they were filled with

fear.

The angel said to them,

"Fear not, for behold, I bring you good

news of great joy that will be for all

people.

For unto you is born this day in the

city of David a Savior,

who is Christ the Lord,

and this will be a sign for you. You

will find a baby wrapped in swaddling

cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly there was with the angel a

multitude of the heavenly host praising

God and saying, "Glory to God in the

highest,

and on earth peace among those

with whom he is pleased

Ally,

all is [singing]

all

is bright. [music]

Round [singing] your virgin

mother and child

holy

air [music] and so tender [singing] and

sleep in [music] heaven.

Sleep in [music] heavenly

peace.

Silent [singing]

night, [music]

holy

night,

shepherd's

way

at the [singing and music]

glory

stream from heaven. [singing and music]

Every

[singing] hope sing [music]

hallelu

Christ [singing]

the [music] Savior is born.

Christ the [music]

Savior is born.

>> [music]

>> Holy

[music] manger [singing]

for you and for me.

Bow [singing]

[music] down.

Come rest your [music and singing] eyes

on the king.

Jesus of heavenly

king. [music]

>> [singing]

>> Silent [singing]

night

and holy

night

of God

loves [singing] pure light

rain

in beams

from thy holy [singing]

faith

with

the dawn of redeeing [singing]

grace.

Jesus

[singing] Lord at thy birth.

Jesus [singing]

Lord at thy birth.

[singing]

Oh,

[screaming]

[music]

[singing]

for you and for me.

>> [music]

>> Come [singing] rest your eyes on the

king.

Jesus [music and singing]

our heavenly

king.

Jesus our heavenly

king.

>> [music]

>> What child is this

lay

[singing]

with

While shephers

watch are keeping

[singing]

So bring him

[singing]

to [singing]

him. The king [music] of kings.

Loving

hearts and

hands.

>> [music]

>> raise

the [music and singing] song on high.

The virgin sings her la.

Joy, [singing]

joyful, Christ [music] is born. The gave

the [singing] son of Mary.

Oh, [screaming]

this is Christ alone.

Oh,

[screaming]

this is Christ the Lord.

Heat. [screaming]

Heat.

[music]

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of

Judea in the days of Herod the king,

Behold wise men from the east came to

Jerusalem, saying,

"Where is he who has been born king of

the Jews?

For we saw his star when it rose, and

have come to worship him.

When Herod the king heard this, he was

troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

And assembling all the chief priests and

scribes of the people, he inquired of

them where the Christ was to be born.

They told him in Bethlehem of Judea,

for so it is written by the prophet,

"And you, oh Bethlehem

in the land of Judah,

are by no means least among the rulers

of Judah.

For from you shall come a ruler

who will shepherd my people Israel.

>> [music]

>> Then Herod summoned the wise men

secretly and ascertained from them what

time the star had appeared.

And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying,

"Go and search diligently for the

child."

And when you have found him, bring me

word

that I too may come and worship him."

After listening to the king, they went

on their way.

And behold, the star they had seen when

it rose went before them, until it came

to rest over the place where the child

was.

When they saw the star, they rejoiced

exceedingly with great joy.

And going into the house, they saw the

child with Mary, his mother,

and they fell down and worshiped him.

The first

well [singing]

the angel did say

was to search and shepherd

in fields [singing] as they lay

in fields

where [singing]

They

lay

their sheep

on a [singing] cold win

that was so deep.

Noel,

Noel, [singing]

Noel.

Born is the king

of [singing] Isel.

They [singing] look

at us

and saw

a star

shining in

the

beyond.

and to

the earth

it gave

great light [singing]

and so it continued [music]

all day

and night. [singing]

Noel,

Noel.

Born is [music] the king

of Israelel.

[music]

Then let

us [singing] all

with one

accord

sing praisees

to

our heavenly

Lord. Lord [singing]

that hath

made heaven

and earth

of [singing] no.

that with

his blood

mankind

have bought. [singing]

No well,

no well,

no well

on is the king

of Isel.

No well, [music and singing] no well.

Noel,

no.

Born is the king.

Born is the king. [singing]

Born is the king

of Isel.

[singing]

[music]

Can we thank Joseph and Mary? Come on,

make some noise for Joseph and Mary. How

about the angels? You're amazing. What

about the shepherds? Go the shepherds.

If you have your Bibles with you today,

uh please turn to Luke 15 verse 11. This

Luke 15:11

parable we're going to share together

really captures the heart of the father

and captures the heart of Christmas.

It's a powerful parable that reveals who

our God in heaven is. If you're new to

church, a parable is simply a short

story that carries a powerful spiritual

truth. And this parable was the

inspiration for the whole four-week

series of our Come Home for Christmas

and the artwork that you see behind me.

Uh does anybody know what the parable is

yet? Let me give you a hint that there's

a a house on a hill and and I love that

it's a Queenslander and it's not some

snowy building in America. I Oh, we're

Aussies, right? And uh the I I I I you

know, I've seen this picture for many

weeks now as I'm in church multiple

times and I I start my mind wanders and

I'm like, how many people drove up and

down that driveway to create the ruts?

How many visitors, family members, how

many people went to that home? Then I'm

thinking, I wonder if they get Uber Eats

out there. Do you think Uber would get

out there and is NBN there? And maybe

they got to go Starlink. And man,

there's some firewood cuz I got two

fire. I'm I'm just I'm my mind is just

it's I'm I got a problem, right? You got

to help me and pray for me. And and but

this image is central to the theme of

Christmas

because this parable is about a father

looking for his son.

Does anybody know what it is? Kids,

anyone know what it is? About a dad, two

sons? Anyone? Anyone kids? It's the

parable of the prodal son.

There's a story of a son who left home

and a son who stayed at home and a

father who longed for both to return. At

Christmas, we're reminded that God sent

his son to seek and to save the lost, to

reach you and I. Because all of us,

we're born with this longing for love,

longing for acceptance, longing to

belong, to be respected, to be valued.

We're born with this. And the world

tries to fill it, but it doesn't satisfy

only God through relationship with Jesus

Christ. And maybe today you're lonely.

You You're kind of homeless in your

heart. You say, "Mos, I don't have a

home. I I don't have a place I belong. I

don't have a place I feel respected and

and cared for and valued with a hope of

the gospel and this parable is that God

wants everyone to come home today. Luke

Luke 15:11

15:11 Jesus continued, "There was a man,

two sons." The younger one said,

"Father, give me my share of the

estate." So, he divided his property

between them. Now, there's a recent

trend I've heard. It's about early

inheritance. It's where parents will

give their children their inheritance in

their 30s and 40s rather than wait till

they die and pass on and receive it in

their 60s and 70s. Really not not a bad

idea. Now, I don't want you going to

your parents and saying, "Pastor Miles

said, I need my inheritance early. I I

want show me the money. Let me this this

is not about your inheritance. This is a

bigger picture that that we're got I

always wonder about my kids. But I feel

bad for them because five kids, they

only get 20% each and so they they they

don't get as much as say a single kid

that gets 100%. But anyway, that's just

the the reality of having multiple kids.

But the days of Jesus, an early

inheritance

was basically saying to your parents, I

wish you were dead.

It was an act of rebellion

and rejection. You see, the son didn't

walk away just from the home. He walked

away from a relationship with his dad.

Luke 13 15:13 continues, "A few days a

later, the son packed up his belongings

and moved to a distant land and he

wasted

all his money in wild living." The word

prodal comes from the Latin word uh

progus and and it means to be wasteful.

And we all have a bit of prodal in us,

don't we? We can all be wasteful. We can

all pout. We can all get upset with our

God. We can drift. We can not realize

the great things that our father in

heaven has. We can be impatient. We can

be demanding.

We We can be entitled. We can throw a

pity party. So even though I'm a pastor,

something I do, it's not who I am. I I I

can be like this. I I can find myself

kind of angry with God for not doing

enough. The other day I had my son's car

and he gave it to me on empty and it

broke down on the side of the road. I

had 1% left on my phone and I used it to

call RACQ only to find out I didn't have

roadside assistance. And I'm like, I'm

pouting. I'm like, God, I'm a man of the

cloth. I I'm pastoring your sheep and

and I'm doing the work for the Lord. How

can this happen? It's not right. It's

not fair. Don't you know I'm preparing a

sermon? Don't you know I I went to the

prayer? Don't you know, God, I tithe?

Don't you know I I gave a gift at Stack

the Slay? I even handed out an invite

card. How dare you let me suffer? And we

can find ourselves being rebellious,

ungrateful, kind of mad at our God. It

really comes down to self-centered. And

so the story continues. The son went on

a far off country and spent his wealth

and wild living. Wasn't long before he's

broke, alone,

empty, and hungry. And he considered

eating the food that was he was giving

to the pigs as his job as a farmer's

hand. Think about that. Think about your

scraps that are in that green wheelie

bin for a week. Think about opening it

up and thinking that's all you've got to

eat. These were desperate times. And he

suddenly realized something. [snorts]

And this is where the most powerful

scripture

comes to light. Th this to me is the

heart of God, the heart of the prodical

son, the heart of the story and and the

heart for you and me to embrace today.

Luke 15:17, when he came to his senses,

Luke 15:17

when he came to his senses, that's what

happens when the spirit of the Lord

stirs someone's heart. When there's a

longing for home, when there's a desire

for meaning, for love, when there's a

searching for more, when Christmas comes

and you realize, oh, I may not be where

I should be. This longing brings

repentance and that's what changes our

heart. It's the same for us. We can

drift, be rebellious,

we can be self-righteous.

We can drift from God in our heart. And

the way we come home to the Lord at

Christmas is when we embrace the fact

that we need to come to our senses. We

need to come to our senses and we need

to take inventory of our relationship

with God. Do you have a relationship

with God? How was your conversation

today? Are you spending time with him?

Is God something you pursue or you just

wait for him to chase you?

Some of you need to repent today. Some

of you need to come to your senses and

say, "God, I haven't been living the way

you want me to. I've been in church, but

my heart is far from you." Suddenly, the

son realizes, "What on earth am I doing

here? Eating the scraps to these pigs."

He saw that and remembered that his

servants are better off than this. So he

decides to go home not because he

deserves it, not because he earned it,

but because he remembered what his

father is like. So when we come to our

senses, we then realize that there is a

loving father who unconditionally

welcomes us home. Not based on our good

works, but at Christmas time, we can

come home to a father who's longing to

be with us. Some people think God is

distant and angry and disappointed. But

this story shows us what God is really

like. He's a kind father looking out

daily to see if you would come home. He

doesn't lock the door. He doesn't demand

things from you. Doesn't demand you to

repay what you've lost or spent. He's a

kind father that leaves the porch light

on for you. And the son begins his

journey home. Verse 20. While he was

still a long way off, his father saw him

and he was filled with what? Say that

word with me. He was filled with

compassion for him. And he ran to the

sun. He threw his arms around him and

kissed him. I want to talk about this

word compassion. The original language

was Greek in the New Testament. And this

is more than just what we think the word

compassion is. It it comes from the

Greek word. I'll I'll tell you what it

sounds like.

>> There's no way I'm saying what that word

is.

And it means to be moved from your inner

deepest area of your life, your inner

boughs. And this Greek word was often

used when Jesus would look out upon the

multitudes and he would have compassion

nemi that there's this yearning, a

yearning, a a deep conviction.

And that's who our God is. He's got this

compassion, this deep love and

conviction. What an image. And he proves

this longing and yearning by running

because he'd been watching and waiting

and hoping. And before the son could

give his well rehearsed speech or offer

an apology or interest payment to get

the money back, what does the father do?

He runs.

Now the

culture of the Jewish in the Jewish days

running for a older man was very

unbecoming and older men would simply

not run. They'd have to lift up their

garments to be able to run. But that was

his heart that the father didn't care

about what he looked like. Didn't care

about the embarrassment the son had

brought to his family. didn't hold the

shame up in the mirror and tell the son

how bad he was. The father

runs unconditionally with compassion

towards this son. It was undignified for

an old man to run in Jewish culture, but

he did it because

compassion doesn't care about

appearances.

>> [snorts]

>> Uh this this whole story was a real hard

foreign concept for me to understand

about my heavenly father because I would

view my heavenly father through my

earthly dad. My earthly dad, he didn't

know Christ. He he wasn't a Christian.

So I don't blame him. He didn't know any

better. But we got divorced. My parents

got divorced and mom moved my sister and

I to the Gold Coast when I was about 14.

And mom would put me on a bus, Macaffies

or

Greyhound, whichever had the cheapest

rate, single mom. And she would put me

on a bus at 14 to visit my dad at school

holidays. And it was like 14-hour trip

in those days. I mean, you needed a

tent, you needed a sleeping bag, you

needed, you know, five C meals. It was a

long trip. And I would get to Hornsby,

which was the central bus station, and

my dad was never there.

And there would be a taxi to pick me up

and the taxi would drive me to Avalon.

By the way, the taxi costs more than the

whole bus trip in 14 hours. And a young

14-year-old looking for his dad never

showed up. He I I would get to his house

and he wouldn't even be there. In fact,

he would have a list of jobs

for me to do.

And so to think that there is a father

that looks for me and loves me was a

really foreign concept for me. Some of

you, you've had abusive dads.

You've had dads that have taken

advantage of you verbally, physically,

emotionally.

And this can be a hard parable for us to

realize that there is a loving father

that shows compassion for you. But we

can't let our life or or what man does

to us stop us from understanding the

greatness and the grace of our loving

God.

Maybe you're a parent today and you're a

good parent and you did everything you

could, but your child, your son, your

daughter has run away and they're a

prodal and you're hoping and you've been

praying and decades have passed and they

still haven't come home.

I love this parable because it's a

parable of hope. It's a parable of

restoration. It's a parable that for the

parent, they can keep trusting that

their child will come back to the Lord.

It's a parable where we as children who

have run away can come back to the Lord.

The parable reveals the heart of the

father. That's the power of this

parable. God is running to humanity and

he reveals his heart at Christmas time

when the word became flesh and Jesus

made his home amongst us. He's still

running to you today. He's running hard.

2,000 years he's still running to you.

Next, the father turns to his servant

says, "Quick, bring the best robe and

put it on him. bring a ring on his

finger and a sandal on his feet. This

isn't just about forgiveness. This is

about restoration. The robe speaks of

honor. The ring speaks of authority. The

sandals speak of freedom. The servants

were barefooted, but the sons wore

shoes. And the father says in verse 23,

"Let us have a feast. Let us celebrate

for the son of mine was dead

and is alive again. That's what happened

when someone's comes to the Lord through

Jesus Christ and is saved. They were

once dead and they come alive again. He

was lost and he's found. The heart of

your heavenly father isn't to scold you

or to tell you I told you so or lecture

you. No, no, no. His heart is to

celebrate you, to love you, to throw a

party. And that's the heartbeat of our

church. It's the heartbeat of this

series, Home for Christmas. It's more

about returning to a place. It's about

returning to a person. That's God

through Jesus Christ. Verse 23. If

anyone will love me will obey my

teachings,

my father will love them and will come

to them and make our home with them.

That's what God wants to do today in

your life. He wants to make his home in

your heart. For Bonnie and I, we love

the local church. We grew up in the

local church. It's where I found loving

spiritual fathers. It's where I found

loving spiritual mothers and brothers

and sisters. It's where we found each

other and got married in a little

church. It's where we've raised our

children, all five, all in church. And

we value the local church because it's

where God can reveal and show his love

through others. We got a story, a

testimony we want to show you of a whole

family coming back to the Lord. Have a

look at the screen.

Hi, I'm Joe.

>> Hi, I'm Ben.

>> Hi, I'm Alissa.

>> Hi, I'm Angelica.

>> We're the CHS family. I just needed to

see my kids back in church. Brought them

right through their lives going to

church and then co hit and we it's all

stopped

>> and my heart was just burning to have

kids back in church. So, when the girls

started coming, it was so exciting, you

know. And then I saw them take the next

one and the next one and I'm going,

"Yes, thank you, Jesus. They're all

going back to church. So, that really

was special for me. You want your kids

to to have a faith in God and to not

just have a faith, but act out on that

faith.

Very early on, we [music] got to witness

baptisms at Elevation. It It was nothing

like we had seen. We were so shocked to

see so many people spontaneously being

[music] baptized. Then, when the next

round of baptisms came on the drive

there, we go, "Oh, mom, you're going to

you're going to spontaneously be

baptized." And she's like, "I'm not not

going to do that. And then next thing

you know, she's looking at me and she's

going, "I'm going to do it. I'm going to

do it." And then, you know, we're me and

mom are in the foyer getting towels and

clothes and I see Ben coming out and I'm

like, "Wait, what are you doing?" And

he's like, "I'm going to get baptized."

And then the next round of baptisms to

come and you've got, you know, your

nephew being baptized on his birthday

and and your brother your brother

baptizing your nephew and then next

minute your sister's on stage and then

Angie's on stage in board shorts. Um,

>> it's it's crazy to see them all so

confidently stand there and my my heart

was just so full to see them boldly

declare their love for Jesus, not only

in front of their family, in front of

their whole church to boldly do that.

>> It was just so powerful. It's so

beautiful knowing [music] that the kids

have recommended themselves to the Lord

and they're really, really doing it

right this time. My biggest [music]

prayer is that God will be real in their

lives and that they will know the love

of Jesus.

>> So good to see families actually was

Bonnie and my prayer that this Christmas

we would see entire families come to the

Lord and see entire families come back

to the Lord. The parable doesn't end

with that one son. There's a second son.

It's an older brother and he refuses to

come to the celebration feast for the

younger brother. He's angry. He's

bitter. He's jealous. Could say he's

religious.

His father said to him, "My son, you've

always been with me and everything I

have is yours." A lot of people miss

this second [music] son. Because some of

us are like him. There were two sons

invited home. One from rebellion, the

other from religion. God doesn't care

about religion. Religion is works.

Religion is what we do. God seeks a

relationship. And maybe that's where

you're at in this room today. You're

you're you're like that second son. And

you're in church, but you've closed your

heart to the Lord. You're in church, but

you don't have a personal relationship

with him. You you've wandered. You've

gone grown cold and and and and sort of

cynical in your heart.

Will you come home today? I'd love to

pray for two groups of people with your

eyes closed

and your heads bowed. Firstly, you're

that second son. You're in church, but

you know it. You're far from God.

Today's the day to come home, recommmit

your life. Say, "God, I need you. I

repent. I come to my senses. You're a

loving God, a good God." And I believe

many people, this is a a call out to

you. Would you respond? Would you

respond? Would you would you come home?

Would you come home? Secondly, I want to

pray for those you've been running. Not

literally, but in your heart. You're

doing life on your own terms, and you

feel empty and alone, tired, exhausted,

far from God. And now is your time to

come home. Why? Because the father's

calling you with eyes closed and heads

bowed. You want to pray this prayer. You

want to make this decision for Jesus to

be your Lord and your Savior. You want

to make a decision to come home to the

Lord for Christmas. You want to make a

decision to open your heart, to come to

your senses to say, "God, I need you.

I'm sorry. I repent. Would you accept

me?" Cuz he's coming for you, but you

have to let him in. He stands at the

door of your heart and knock. The Bible

says, "Would you let him in? Would you

come home today? Would you come home?

Would you come home? Would you come

home?" Eyes closed, heads bowed, that's

you. On the count of three, would you

boldly raise your hand and say, "Yeah,

that's me. I want to come home." One,

two, three. Raise them up high. I want

to come home. Up the back there, I see

your hand, sir. Others of you. Anyone

else? Raise your hand. You want Jesus to

be your Lord and your savior. Thank you.

In the middle there, I see your hand

down front, young man. I see your hand.

Others, just boldly raise your hand. You

want to come home. Thank you. I see your

hand. Well done, young man. Others,

boldly lift it up. This is why you're

here. Come home to the Lord. He's

calling you. He's longing. He wants you.

He cares about you. Would you raise your

hand? Say, "Yeah, Jesus, be my Lord. Be

my savior. I want to come home."

Thank you. I see your hand. Well done.

Four. Five. Others.

Right over the side there. Six. Thank

you. Well done. Others. Seven. Up the

back there. Thank you. Anyone else?

Raise your hand. Raise your hand. Let me

see it. Let me see it. Come home. Come

home. Yeah. See your hand. Yeah. Over

there, sir. I see your hand. Well done.

Eight. N others.

Others. Yep, [music] I see your hand.

Thank you. Others, raise your hand. Come

home. Come home to the Lord. Come home

to the Lord. Come home to the Lord. To

be loved, to be cared for. Come home to

the Lord. Church, let's pray with all of

those who raise their hands. Let's pray

this prayer out loud in support. Jesus,

I'm not running anymore. I'm coming home

to the Lord. Would you receive me? Would

you accept me as your son and daughter?

I give my life to you. Be my Lord.

Forgive me of my sins in Jesus' name.

[music] Everyone said, "Come on, let's

celebrate how great our God is."

>> Church, let's stand. We're going to

worship [music] together.

Oh, holy night.

The stars [singing] are brightly

shinarior.

[singing]

Long

[singing]

in sin and

[singing] till he appeared.

And the soul felt it worth

a thrill [music] of hope.

The weery world [singing]

rejoicees [music]

beyond the grace.

A new and glorious [singing and music]

morning.

Fall

[singing]

on your [music] knees.

Oh, hear

the [music] angel voice.

>> [singing]

>> Oh

divine.

[singing]

Oh,

when [music] Christ was

he [singing] taught us to love [music]

one another. Father,

His [singing] Lord is love and his

[music] gospel

is peace.

Chains he shall [music and singing]

break. For the slave is our brother

[singing] and in his name

all [music] oppress

shall sing.

Sweet hymns [music] of joy

in grateful chorus [music and singing]

praise we let all within

us [music and singing]

praise his holy name.

Christ

is the Lord.

[singing]

Oh, praise

his name forever [music]

his power

and glory. [music]

Heaven [singing] bro

his power

and glory.

Tell the world. [music]

>> [music]

>> Oh

me [music]

who

[music]

the angel voicees

Tonight

[music and singing]

when Christ was Oh,

[music]

all night.

Oh, divine.

Jesus, we thank you for your birth. We

thank you for your life. We thank you

for your [music] life surrendered on the

cross.

One who the son sets free is free

indeed.

How could [singing] I express

I could sing [singing] these songs

as I often do.

[singing]

So I throw [music] up my heads and

praise you again and again

cuz all that I have is an hallelujah

[music]

[singing]

for a king

except for a God sing hallelujah.

[music]

I've got [singing] one response. [music]

I've got just one move.

With my arms just wide, [singing]

I will worship you.

[music] So I throw up my head and praise

you again and again.

The song that I [music] have is

[singing] a hallelujah.

[music]

Hallelujah.

And I know it's not much, but I'm

nothing else for [singing] a king

[music]

except for a heart singing hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

Oh, come on.

[music] Oh, don't you get shy [singing]

on me. Lift up your

[music]

lion.

Get up and praise the Lord.

Oh, come on my soul. Oh, don't [singing]

you get [music] shy on me. Lift up your

soul. Cuz you got a lion inside of

[singing] those songs. Get [music] up

and praise the Lord.

Oh, [music] come on my soul. Oh, don't

you get shy of me on your soul. to my

[music] ling.

Get up and praise the Lord. [music]

[music]

>> [music]

>> Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord.

We say [music]

I throw up my head and praise [music]

you again and again.

All that I have is a highle.

[music]

I know it's not much. Nothing else could

forget

except for a heart singing highle.

[music]

Hallelujah.

Heat. Heat.

[music]

Hallelujah.

[music]

Hallelujah.

Let's raise it up for Jesus this

morning. [music] Let's honor him for his

birth

with grateful hearts before God this

morning. We remember and we honor his

birth and also the message that he

brings to us of hope,

>> of peace, of love, and for joy. We thank

you so much for being part of our 11:00

a.m. service this morning.

>> Oh, yes. Sorry. My name's Sanjie. This

is Joselyn. We're your location pastors.

Have a seat.

>> Hey, uh, who enjoyed uh the 11:00

service? Yeah. Come on. Hey guys, can we

just thank all our car park ushers, our

cafe people, all our teachers at the

kids, our kids kids church, our audio

visual, our team here on stage. Come on.

How about our kids? Come on. [cheering]

Even though Judah ran off midway through

the performance, it's okay. You know, we

love our children. So, we thank our

volunteers and our staff. And friends,

we're just going to close out very soon.

But before that, it's so important that

we understand the miracle of the manger.

What happened? And Jesus is the reason

for this season, friends. And uh he came

to give us joy. Joy for all mankind. And

as a church, when we go out of this

service this morning, we want you to uh

spread that joy. And the way we're doing

that, it's a heavy hamper. We've got

hampers.

>> Yeah. Now, before you leave, uh grab a

hamper. They're in the sleigh. Grab one.

Take one to a neighbor, to a friend, a

work colleague,

>> maybe somebody that's that's that's uh

lost their way from God. Yeah. As Miles

preached, you know, a prodigal that's

that's lost their way.

>> Give them the hamper, friends.

>> Give them that one more moment of hope,

that one more moment of joy,

>> you know, that one more miracle or

healing that they need. It's in your

hands, friends. It's a challenge. I'm

calling you to take a hamp up. One more

for Jesus. Can you do it? One more for

Jesus. Come on, friends. So, I'll just

pray out a short prayer of we just thank

you, Father, for 2025, for everything

that you've done in our life. And for

2026, Father, we expect your goodness in

2026. Uh we just thank you, Father. May

uh your blessing and protection be over

the homes of everyone here and every

person. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Hey friends, can we rise to our feet as

we sing our last song, Joy?

>> Come on, church. I'm going to sing Joy

to the World.

>> Joy [singing] to the world.

Let [music and singing] earth

Receive

the king.

Let every

heart

prepare him.

Heaven and nature sing. [music]

And heaven and nature sing.

And heaven.

Just [singing]

[music] see.

You know the world, joy to the world,

the savior.

Joy [singing] to the world, the singer

reigns.

and [music and singing] made this home

and

while fields and [music and singing]

blood

rocks hills and

repeat the sounding joy. [singing]

Repeat the sounding [music]

joy.

Repeat,

repeat [music]

the sound,

[music and singing]

judge of the world. [music]

[screaming]

He rules.

He rules the world with truth and grace

and makes the nations

[music and singing]

prove

the [singing] glories

[music] of his rightuousness

and wonders of his love. [singing]

and wonders [music] all of his

and wonder.

[music]

Join

[music and singing]

[music]

us today. Have a very merry Christmas.

God bless.

Heat. Heat.

Hey. Hey. Hey.

Hey,

hey,

hey.

Hey.

[music]

>> [music]

>> Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

[music]

Heat. Heat.

Hey,

hey, hey.

Come on.

Yeah. Heat. Heat. N.

Heat. Heat.

[music]

Hey,

hey,

hey.

Hey,

hey,

hey.

Heat. Heat. N.

Here

we go.