Frankenstein Wise men (When Does Christmas End?) Matthew 2

a couple days after Christmas. I hope all of

your Christmases were enjoyable, whether you

spent them with family or were, what? Or, yep,

you can't talk. So anyways, I hope they were

enjoyable. I have no announcements, but I'm going

to do something right now. Tyler, there's a bag

on my seat. We bring up your seat. Just one announcement.

Squeaky. Thank you, sir. All right, so Christmas

was Friday, and there are two very special people

in this room that they give endlessly, and they

serve tirelessly, even if they do get tired sometimes,

I'm sure. So, Pastor Dan, Miss Sherry, on behalf

of New Heights Fellowship, we have a gift for

you. And in this gift, there's something that

you can do. out together and there's something

that you can do home together as a family. So,

for you both, that's for us. All right. And without

any further ado, RJ, will you open us up in prayer?

Father, I want to thank you for this time. Thank

you for the ability for us to be here. Thank

everyone for coming out. God, I pray for those

who are struggling right now because with everything

going on this year, it's just been rough. But

Lord, we know that You're still in charge and

that You still look over us and You still protect

us. And God, I just pray that we hear Your Word

today and that we learn something and grow in

some way, somehow. In Jesus' name, amen. Okay.

This was born in Bethlehem. And you know what

that word hallelujah or hallelujah means, right?

Praise the Lord. And so we sing songs of praise,

but we also speak praises. And one way that the

Lord is praised is when we speak what the Lord

would have us to speak, right? So you let God

use you to deliver his message. Maybe he spoke

to you in some way through his word, or he showed

you something as you were traveling along. or

He blessed you in some way, and you just need

to tell others that you're blessed. Whatever

it might be, one way that we praise Him is to

witness for Him. Our key verse for our church

is, we proclaim what we have seen and heard,

that you may have fellowship with us, and our

fellowship is with God the Father and His Son,

Jesus Christ. Sometimes I put them in the wrong

order, but yeah, that's right. Okay? It's 1 John

1 .3. And so we proclaim what we have seen and

heard. So I hope you've seen and heard something

this last week, and you'd like to tell us about

it now. That's kind of what this time is all

about. So what did you see, what did you hear,

what did you read, what have you studied, what

did you see along the way this last week? Who's

got something? It's been very busy. It's been

a little bit of a whirlwind for some folks. It

went by in a blur, but right now you're accessing,

I hope, the last seven days. Okay, what happened?

What was that all about? I got something, but

I haven't had time to look it up. Okay, go ahead.

We'll help you. I'll share a message for you.

Okay, share a message. So, I started about a

week ago, eight days ago actually, and I finished

it yesterday, which tells you it was a six -day

Bible study, and I finished it in eight days.

And I finished it yesterday. I started a Bible

study on manhood restored. Biblically speaking,

what does it mean to be a man? What does it mean

to have a man's relationship with other people,

a man's relationship with God? That's a pretty

good Bible study. We did it through YouVersion,

which is the Bible app. If you've never checked

that out, but you're capable of using your smartphone,

I highly recommend you do that. I'm not a super

fan of the Bible studies on there because a lot

of them come from companies that produce Bible

studies or specific... church ministries and

things like that, and sometimes they're not really

doctrinally correct. They're really more of a

commercial for that ministry than they are about

the Bible. I ran into too many of those in a

row, and so I sort of stopped doing them. But

then the Lord led me back around there this week,

and then I found out that Lifeway, which is,

if you didn't know this, Lifeway, which had the

Life of the Christian stores all across the U

.S., but they closed them this last year, ironically,

right before COVID roared, which is an interesting...

timing, that's the way God worked it out. But

LifeWay is owned by Southern Baptist, which means

indirectly through some intermediaries, we own

it. We own LifeWay. Because our agents then participate

at the national level and the national convention,

which we're a part of, owns LifeWay. And so I

thought, well, they're going to be doctrinally

correct because we believe in the Baptist faith's

message. So I looked at this Bible study and

it was really good. And I'll probably do more

Bible studies on there that are LifeWay Bible

studies and sort of avoid some others that I

don't know for sure where they come from. Anyway,

so I found this Bible study and I'm doing it.

And I don't even remember which day it was. Somewhere

in the middle. So probably three, four, something

like that. It struck me that... So we talk a

lot about how people are looking for Jesus, right?

And there's a gaping hole inside people who don't

know Jesus. And that's the way I was before I

got saved. There was a gaping hole inside me.

And that hole was causing me to do a lot of destructive

things. sometimes involving people around me,

so I was leading them to do destructive things,

or consuming the people around me, right? So

manipulating them, lying to them, doing things

behind their back, you know, whatever, because

I had this gaping hole inside me that was looking

for something, and it didn't have Jesus. So we

talk about that. And then in this Bible study,

it was talking about how Christian men... Now,

in theory, the hole is filled with the living

water that is Christ, right? And so now there

is the opportunity to live as a man in a way

that God intended. And the first couple of Bible

studies were about how to get there, right? So

it's a fall in Genesis, how man and God had a

breaking relationship, man and people had a breaking

relationship, man and creation had a breaking

relationship. A man and himself had a breaking

relationship and all that happened in Genesis

and then the Gospel. And now we're getting to

living with other people without having that

bad relationship that you used to have. And I

thought, that's it. That's the whole rest of

life. And I'm thinking about that. And I thought,

I have people in my life that I love. And if

I'm going to be a man, This is about just being

a man. If you're going to be a man, then you're

going to treat them a certain way. It's about

integrity. So you don't lie, you don't deceive,

you don't manipulate. You don't get angry and

loud to get them to do what you want because

even though that may get them to do what you

want, it's damaging or destructive. It's the

wrong way to go. You can oppose their wrong actions

like God does. You fight back a little bit. You

can resist allowing them to do things with their

kids especially, but as an adult, you can resist

allowing them to take you in a certain direction.

So, hey, let's go over here and party. You can

say, no, no, that's not for me. So then I got

to thinking about the first book I wrote, which

goes back to the day I got saved, and it tells

the story of how I got saved. And I thought,

that's what God told me when I first got saved.

before I got saved, and actually Sherry asked

me, she said, what's that going to mean when

you accept Jesus Christ, when you begin to follow

Jesus, what's that going to mean? And I said,

I don't know exactly, but this much I know, it's

going to change everything. So as I'm doing that

Bible study, I thought, I was thinking to myself,

that was supposed to change everything. And I

said, did it change everything? And I started

thinking, well, no, it really didn't change everything.

It was supposed to change everything, but it

did change everything. And then this is what

God said to me. In His great grace, He says,

don't worry, I'm still working on it. And I thought,

I've still got a long way to go. I'm still being

changed by God from the inside out. I'm still

growing. And so sometimes when people offend

you, or they do what wouldn't really be right,

or wouldn't really help you along, or whatever,

as a man, you have to be able to say for yourself,

hey, you know, God's still working on me, I still

make mistakes, and humbly say about that other

person, God's still working on them, they still

make mistakes too. And that's what it means to

be a man. To recognize our own mortality, because

that's being a man, you're mortal, to recognize

our own failures and weaknesses, and then to

give, I want to say, even more grace to others

in their failures and weaknesses because you

recognize your own. And last week in my sermon,

this is God's beautiful timing, last week in

my sermon I read that song, Hand in the Hand.

What's it called? Put Your Hand in the Hand.

Yeah. And in there it says, take a look at yourself

and you can look at others differently. And you'll

see others differently. And that's it. So if

we recognize that where we were and where God

is taking us to and that we're still on that

journey, then we can give other people even more

grace. And that's what it means to be a man.

It does not mean getting in your way. It does

not mean being loud. It does not mean being mean

when someone is mean to you. It doesn't even

mean defending yourself violently when someone

comes after you violently. That is something

you might have to do. You might have to defend

yourself violently. But that is not the definition

of being a man. It does not mean being better

at sports. It does not mean not being able to

pick a paint color. It does not mean leaving

your underwear laying on the floor. It means

doing what's right the best you know how and

giving others even more grace than you give yourself.

How do I know that? I know that because Jesus

was a man. And that's what he did. He gave us

all that grace while we were yet sinners. Christ

died for us. And while he was on the cross, those

who were crucifying him, he prayed for them.

Lord, forgive them for they do not what they

do. That's what Jesus did. And he could even

say he was still on the journey even though he

never sinned. So that was my Bible study. I was

in the middle of the Bible study. It ended with

some additional thoughts on how to carry that

out. But I don't know that God expressly spoke

to me at that time, but He spoke to me when He

said, don't worry about it. I'm still working

on it. And we're still a work in progress. Praise

God. Okay, I saw you may be queuing up a video.

Do you have a video that you'd like to say something

about? Alright, I'll move back here. Video, go!

I don't see you like I should You look so misunderstood

And I wish I could help But it's hard when I

hate myself arms open if this is it then i feel

hopeless and i wish i could help but it's hard

when i hate myself That's more deceit, more defeat.

This is really what I'm born to be. That's what

you keep on thinking you're unique. So poor,

but I'm so wealthy. Need help, but you can't

help me. What else can the world tell me? Tell

me lies. I still buy them like they're going

out of stock, but it's not healthy. I don't see

you like I should. You look so misunderstood.

And I wish I could help, but it's hard. I'm so

glad this is it, that I feel hopeless. And I

wish I knew how, but it's hard when I ain't lost.

Yeah, they might see the best in me. They know

how to get to me. Suicide dogs, come and go,

look at destiny. But I don't want to die, I just

want to get relief. So don't talk to me, what

you did was so successful. What is success? When

hope is left you, I am not a spokesman. See you

like I should You look so misunderstood And I

wish I could help But it's hard when I hate myself

Praying that with my arms open This is it then

I feel hopeless And I wish I could I walk through

the ashes of my passions Reminiscing with the

baggage in my casket Getting lost in the questions

I can't answer Can't stand who I am but it don't

matter We scream to be free but I stay captured

Knee deep in defeat of my own actions Feel weak

with the peace that I keep lacking Keep speaking

to me but I can't It's kind of hard when I hate

myself. I hate myself. It's hard when I hate

myself. does this song is because he writes about

how he feels. He writes about things in his life

that he's actually struggling with, which is,

for some people, very hard to do. I've struggled

with that my whole life. I'm not a very open

person. I don't like being an open person because

I feel vulnerable. And one of the lyrics in this

song... It says, suicide thoughts come and go

like a guest to me, but I don't want to die,

I just want to get relieved. So don't talk to

me like you think I'm so successful. What it

says when hope has left you. So he's what a lot

of people would see as a very successful artist.

He's had songs that went multi -plagued, and

he's well -known all across the country, and

even across the seas, but he says that what is

hope? What is success when there's no hope? If

you lose the hope inside you to keep moving,

if you lose that, then no matter what, you're

never going to get successful. There's another

song that he writes, and one of the lyrics is,

if you wake up every morning thinking you're

going to be defeated, then you're going to get

defeated. You're going to set yourself up to

fail. Something that I've been trying to instill

in my kids is you can't set yourself up to fail.

No matter how down you get, no matter how hurt

you get, no matter how hard something seems,

you have to keep pushing on. If you automatically

tell yourself, I'm not going to be able to do

it, then you're not going to do it because you're

setting yourself up to fail. So one of the things

that I like that I think I've done decent anyways

is a lot of the times when I get to a point and...

Some things, not all things, but some things

I get to a point where it's really hard and I'm

like, you know what, I just got to keep going.

You got to keep that push forward. But if you

lose that, then there is no amount of money,

no amount of success in this world that will

ever make you happy. So you have to remember

who you are inside. You can't lose that because

that is the only thing that is going to make

you successful is you. You can't let others push

you down. You can't let others get in your way,

but you also can't let yourself get in your way.

And when I was younger, that is something I struggled

with. I struggled with that a lot when I was

younger. I got myself in the way, and I'm like,

no, I can't do that. It's too hard. And then

as I got older, and the military actually helped

me out a lot with that, but it showed me that

you are capable of doing so much more than you

give yourself credit for. When we're walking

with God and we're praying to God and we're trying

to find His direction, just keep going forward.

Don't worry about what happened in the past.

The past is the past. You can't change it anyways.

So don't be so walled up in the past of what

you did before. Just look at that and be like,

okay, well, what I learned from that and what

you take away from that will help you move forward.

We're going to pray together at this time. I

do want to do a quick, just kind of inserted

into your mind, and that is that we are now going

to do our next spiritual discipline emphasis,

and it is on stewardship. So we decided in our

team meetings we would focus on stewardship between

now and May. In May, we will be five years constituted.

And so soon we'll be talking about trying to

figure out how under COVID protocols and all

that good jazz. that we can celebrate our five

-year anniversary at the Constantine Church.

And I'd like to go back maybe and invite some

folks that the Lord has led to move on and things

like that to participate with us. I think that

would all be a very good experience. But with

the stewardship emphasis, I just want to throw

these things out there. Number one, over this

next week, I want you to pray about and think

about what is it that you have. And by have,

I mean have control of, right? Because it really

all belongs to God. But what is it that you have?

where did it come from? What is it that you have

and where did it come from? And based on those

two questions, what you have and where did it

come from, what are you going to do with it?

And I think in its very simplest form, that is

the definition of stewardship. Knowing what you

have and where it came from and then what are

you going to do with it based on those two things.

If God gave it to you, then that last one should

line up with God's priorities, right? Somehow

or other, you know what you have and you know

where it came from. What are you going to do

with it? All right, so we're going to pray together

this time in tithes and offerings, a little more

worship, and then into the Word. And we don't

often get this opportunity, but I'm going to

ask Alicia, would you pray for us today as we

go forward? Dear Heavenly Father, I want to thank

you once again for this day, for bringing us

here to worship together, even in this crazy

time right now, Lord. I thank you for protecting

those of us that are here. in bringing us through

this pandemic, and I ask that you continue to

do so and help us in doing ministry and reaching

out to those. I also pray for the tithes and

offerings that we're going to give today that

may be used for your will, that we give to the

best of our ability, that we give more than we

feel we can. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. God

bless you. lay down his sweet bed. The stars

in the sky look down where he lay. The little

Lord Jesus asleep on the day. Beneath the Lord

Jesus I ask you to you does Christmas or the

Christmas season actually end? I heard a little

devotional a long time ago about leaving your

Christmas lights up. And there was a guy who

wrote the devotion who was quite angry with people

who leave their Christmas lights up until March

or April and then take them down. And his anger

is a little misplaced, of course, because it's

none of his business as far as when people leave

their Christmas lights up too. The bottom line

is, he expressed his frustration with people

who put Christmas lights up at Christmas time,

and sometimes they put them up in early November,

even at Halloween time, and leave them all the

way up to March. And he said he had a neighbor

who lived across the street from him, a few houses

down, and he asked his neighbor, what the heck,

man, why do you have your Christmas lights up

five months out of the year? Christmas time is

not five months out of the year. And the man

went on to explain to him, he said, the funny

thing about Christmas is, people don't really

realize it wasn't meant to end December 26th

or right after you get done making all your trips

to deliver gifts or after you've opened all your

gifts or after you've cleaned up the mess or

whatever. And he said that was such a good answer.

It got him thinking about it and he went and

prayed about it. And the Lord said that the man

who was leaving his Christmas lights up for five

months had a better understanding of the extension

or the lasting nature of Christmas than the guy

who was frustrated about his neighbor leaving

his lights up. And so if you're frustrated about

people prolonging Christmas or continuing Christmas

on when Christmas is over, hey, we got it done.

We got it over with. You might want to ask yourself,

when does Christmas really end? Does it end when

all the gifts are open? Does it end when the

Christmas tree is taken? down and put out by

the road to be picked up by the refuse people

or burnt out by the burning can? Does it end

when all the lights are boxed up neatly for next

year when all the ornaments are put away? When

people stop saying Merry Christmas? I had a man

who messaged me Merry Christmas on Christmas

Eve and I never saw the message and so I messaged

him Merry Christmas back this morning. And I

thought, well, I should put Merry Belated Christmas.

Like when it's somebody's birthday and you forget

and then you go the next day, maybe it's Merry

Belated Christmas. And then I thought, no, in

light of my sermon this morning, I better just

put Merry Christmas. When does Christmas end?

When I was a kid, I had an uncle who was my best

and favorite uncle. He would play with me. We

made cardboard houses and crawled between, even

though he was 20 years older than me. He was

the youngest of his brothers and quite a bit

younger than my dad. He would play. We played

hide -and -seek. We played cops and robbers and

all kinds of things. On Christmas Eve, we would

meet at my grandparents' house and we would open

gifts with my grandparents. He would always buy

me a gift. I remember going there on Christmas

Eve and thinking, of course, he was going to

buy me the best. Christmas gift because he was

the one who always played with me. He understood

me the best. He cared about me and my strange

perception the most. I thought maybe even more

than my parents, you know, because he was always

there playing and we were having fun together

and all these things. And in my small child mind,

I thought maybe that meant he cared about me

more and I got a Christmas gift from him. And

it was a pretty good gift. But it wasn't great.

And I was a little let down. Does Christmas end

when the person that you thought would give you

the best gift actually gives you one that's kind

of trite? Or maybe something that doesn't fit?

When I was younger, I remember Christmas. I don't

know if you remember these days. I don't think

they're around as much anymore, but I remember

right after Christmas, starting on the 26th,

my mother would get out all the gifts that we

got that were the wrong size, and there were

quite a few of them, or that we already had,

there were quite a few of them, and we would

go around and hit all the stores and return all

the gifts or exchange the gifts. One year I got

a coat, a winter coat for Christmas, and it didn't

fit me. It was too small, maybe like I was in

a 10 -12 and it was like a 7 -8 or something.

It was quite a bit too small. And she went to

go return it to Kmart over on Navarre. And they

said, you can't return it. It doesn't have the

tag on it. She said, well, I received it as a

gift. Of course it doesn't have the tag on it.

And he said, well, you can't return it. It doesn't

have the tag on it. And my mom, being the indominant,

not giving up person that she was, indomitable,

she went out to the car and left the coat in

the car, went back in and bought a coat just

like the one that I received for Christmas, but

in my size. Then she went out to the car and

took the tag off the coat that she bought that

was my size and she put it on the coat that was

not my size and she took it back in and she returned

it for cash. And as she was walking to the car,

she said, good, now we're done with Christmas.

When does Christmas end? That's the question.

And I'm going to submit to you that for Mary,

for a human Mary, For a Mary that understands

God, but now has to get on to business, it sort

of ends in the story that we're going to read

today. I think that she will eventually learn

it didn't end here, but she feels like it did.

And so grab your Bibles if you will. Maybe say

Amen, Hoot, Holler, Yahtzee, Uno, whatever your

favorite game is. Or just say I won, or I will

win, or Jesus, or something. Say something as

we go to Luke 2, verse 21. Thank you for those

Luke 2:21

of you who participated. When we were worshiping,

I had to come over and ask you to be quiet. And

I asked you to be loud and you didn't say nothing.

What's going on? Alright. Okay, now everybody

be quiet for a second. Karina, we're going to

go to Luke chapter 2. Come on. Alright, there

Luke 2 · chapter mention

we go. We're in, baby. Luke chapter 2, verse

Luke 2:21

21. Here we go. Alright. And it says, And when

eight days had passed, so this is eight days.

after the first part of Luke 2, which was when

Jesus was born in Bethlehem. And when eight days

had passed before his circumcision, his name

was then called Jesus, the name given by the

angel before he was conceived in the womb. And

when the days for their purification according

to the law of Moses were completed, they brought

him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.

So they had to wait a certain period of time.

That was kind of the rule of... of the temple,

if you will, and they brought Jesus up to present

him to the Lord. Verse 23. In parentheses it

says, As it is written in the law of the Lord,

every firstborn male that opens the womb shall

be called holy to the Lord. Why do you think

that was? It's an interesting thing. That's not

what we're going to get into today, but it's

interesting that every firstborn male would be

called holy unto the Lord. It goes back to coming

out of Egypt, right? Alright. And the fact that

one firstborn male would eventually become the

Messiah. And to offer a sacrifice according to

what was said in the law of the Lord. A pair

of turtle doves or two young pigeons. So they're

going to go up and make this sacrifice. Basically,

it's praising God, right? Purification is pretty

much done. It's basically praising God for what

He's done. 25. And there was a man in Jerusalem

whose name was Simeon. And this man was righteous

and devout. That's a great description. Looking

for the consolation of Israel. He was waiting

for the way that God was going to take care of

everybody. And the Holy Spirit was upon him.

This is a guy. And it had been revealed to him

by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death

before he had seen the Lord's Christ. I would

like God to say to me, this would be awesome,

if God would say to me, in fact, it would probably

heighten my message a little, if God would say

to me, look, you will not physically die. Your

body will not stop working before Jesus comes

back again. I would like that, because that means

I won't die. I'll go straight to heaven. That

would be great. And also, I think it would heighten

your awareness. You'd live for the Lord daily

if you know. So if it's only at most, say, 40,

50 years, however old I'm going to live to be,

then I better live those years pretty good. And

this guy is doing that. He has been told that

he will see the Lord's Christ before he dies.

Verse 27. And he came in the Spirit into the

temple. So this is Simeon. He comes into the

Spirit. The Holy Spirit on him. He comes in the

Spirit into the temple. And when the parents

brought in the child Jesus to carry out for him

the custom of the law, then he took him into

his arms. Okay, we'll stop there for one second.

So this is Simeon. This is this old guy who has

been promised he would see Jesus, the coming

Messiah, the consolation of Israel, before he

dies. And he walks in, Holy Spirit on him, and

he takes Jesus into his arms to carry out for

him the custom of the law. Then he took him into

his arms and blessed God and said, so he speaks

well of God, and said, Now, Lord, you are releasing

your bondservant to depart in peace. In other

words, now he can die. Because now he's seen

the coming of the Messiah. He says, according

to your word. And here is, by the way, one of

the most clearest pronouncements in Scripture

that God's will and his speaking into the heart

of men is his word. The word is logos. Even though

we know there's no more Bible. There's no Bible

after this. This is it. Genesis through Revelation.

But when people try to say to you, there's no

more word, that's not true. There is a living

word who is Christ, and there is a God's will

word who is spoken into the hearts of men. In

fact, he said he would write it on the hearts

of men. And so the word of God came to Simeon

and now he says, Now, Lord, you are releasing

your bondservant to depart in peace according

to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation.

See, he had seen Jesus. Now, now I have seen

it, he says, which you have prepared in the presence

of all peoples. God did this in front of everybody.

A light of revelation to the Gentiles. That's

the part of the gospel that in this day sort

of... smacks a Jew man in the face because they

really felt they were the only ones by now. All

those prophecies in the Old Testament that the

Messiah would be for both Jew and Gentile, but

in this day, they have kind of turtled up. They

won't speak even to a Samaritan, which would

be a half -blood, half -Jew, half -something

else. They won't even literally be in their presence.

They would travel miles around through the desert

to stay out of Samaria because Jews are holy.

But he says, a light of revelation to the Gentiles

and the glory of your people Israel. And his

father and mother were amazed at the things which

were being said about him. Okay, now this is

good. Up until this point, this is really good,

isn't it? It's like the continuation of Christmas.

They're really still unwrapping the gift. They're

really still figuring out exactly how awesome

this gift of God, who is Jesus, is. So it's really

good up until here. And they're amazed. And it

isn't amazed like baffled. It's amazed like,

wow. This is awesome. I'm so pleased. In fact,

the word here that is translated amazed has an

undertone of appreciation. Like you received

the gift you really, really wanted, and then

not only was it what you really, really wanted,

but on top of that, it has features you didn't

even know it had. And that's where they're at.

They are amazed at what is being said about Jesus.

But hang on. 34. And Simeon blessed them. So

he blesses Mary and Joseph. And said to Mary

his mother, Behold! You're amazed at that? Watch

this. Behold! This child is appointed for the

fall and rise of many in Israel. In other words,

He is going to cause something. He is going to

be something. Something is going to happen that

will cause for the fall and rise of many. The

fall is when somebody moves out of grace. When

somebody moves from their position to a lower

position. The fall is when somebody falls, right?

And the rise is when somebody is lifted up. He's

going to reverse the order of things. There's

going to be a change. Some who are up are going

to go down and some who are down are going to

go up. And that's a little bit of a mixed blessing

depending on whether you think you're down or

up. Right? If you're up, you go, some are going

to fall. I don't want that to be me. If you're

down, you go, some are going to rise. I want

that to be me. If you start thinking you're up,

be careful. You might not actually be. And so

she's told now that he will be appointed for

the rise and fall of many in Israel. And that

would be kind of a mixed blessing. And then he

says, and for a sign to be opposed. That's kind

of rough. Now Jesus is going to be a sign who

will be opposed. He's going to have enemies.

He's going to have people that are against him.

People that are going to try to stop him from

doing what it is that he is trying to do. that's

definitely not really a mixed blessing. That's

just bad. I mean, he's going to live in the limelight.

He's going to be seen, so that might be good.

But then he's going to be opposed. That's not

so good. And things start to kind of go bad here,

right? And then he says in 35, and a sword will

pierce even your own soul. Ouch! So Mary's soul

will be pierced because of Jesus. And then specifically

because he says, to the end, this is how all

this will come out, that thoughts from many hearts

may be revealed. Which is interesting because

the one thing you really can't do with people,

and everybody seems to always be trying to do,

is understand the thoughts of people's hearts.

We're constantly questioning people's motivations,

right? He called me up to check on me, but does

he really want something from me? You know? He

says happy birthday, but is he really out to

get something or is she really out to get something?

Why did he get mad when I said that? We're constantly

questioning people's motivations all the time.

And Jesus would be used, this is the process

explained, we'll come back to it in a second,

but to the end that thoughts from many hearts

may be revealed. We're going to read just a little

bit more so that you understand how this went

down. And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter

of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher, who was, I

think, the eighth son of Jacob, and that was

the beginning of the founding of the tribe of

Asher, still exists, and they could trace their

lineage back, and she was of the tribe of Asher,

this older woman. She was advanced in years,

and had lived with her husband seven years after

her marriage. So she'd been married for seven

years, and then as a widow to the age of 84.

So afterwards she never remarried until she was

84 years old. She never left the temple, so all

the time. She is in the temple serving night

and day with fastings and prayers. At that very

moment, she came up. Now this is kind of like

where the dad says, listen, I'm going to punish

you. And the mom comes up and says, but know

that he loves you. He really does love you. He's

going to punish you for what you did wrong, but

he's not doing it. So now they're going to get

a little comfort from her after they got this

kind of rough news bringing their joyous time

of amazement to end. or could. At that very moment,

she came up and began giving thanks to God. So

she rejects the whole conversation about Mary's

going to be upset and stabbed through the soul

with a sword. She doesn't say it's not true.

It's definitely true. But she says, don't dwell

on that. Don't dwell on that there's suffering

involved. Don't get wrapped up in the difficulty

of this situation. But instead, bless God. Let

us give thanks to God. And she continued to speak

of Him, that is Jesus, to all those who were

looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. Now

before we get into the message for a moment,

we just should see that Anna's message is extremely

encouraging and very timely. Because it seems

like for Mary, Christmas, as we think of Christmas,

the coming of Jesus, is coming to an end. She's

getting the rude awakening that the gift does

have a severe downside. Right? But this encouraging

message is very timely that this woman brings.

Mary could have been crushed under the weight

of Simeon's message. But here comes an encouraging

message and let us praise God. And then also

I want you to notice here that Anna then goes

out and she's telling everyone who was looking

for the redemption of Jerusalem about the coming

of this baby. So I want you to think for a second.

We're just going to go aside for one second.

Jerusalem. Herod. Anna. She's telling everyone

in the temple about the coming of this baby who

will be the redemption, right? Somewhere in there,

you've got to figure, Herod could have heard,

certainly if he was looking for the redemption

of Jerusalem, right, he would have heard. Then

later, we're not going to go there, but later

when the Magi come, he reacts in a very interesting

way. If he had just been looking for the redemption

of Israel, He'd have heard about the coming of

Jesus here, and then he either could have said,

well, yeah, as long as you understand this guy's

not king, that's cool, and he could have embraced

Jesus. But he really wasn't looking for the redemption

of Israel, of Jerusalem, was he? He really wasn't

looking for God's will to be done. He wasn't

looking for the Messiah and so on. We see the

difference there between Herod and Anna and Simeon

and how God did this thing right under everyone's

noses. And then it takes a couple years for Herod

to catch up and want to do something about it.

In here it says that Jesus would be appointed

for the fall and rise of many in Israel and for

a sign to be opposed. And a sword will pierce

even your own soul to the end that thoughts from

many hearts may be revealed. And those are the

points of the sermon. So if you're a note taker

or amazingly somehow a sermon memorizer or if

you're a preacher and you want to pick apart

my style, those are the points of the sermon.

The first is that Jesus would be appointed for

the fall and rise of many in Israel. The fall

and rise. We've already talked about how you

can't fall unless you're up and you can't rise

unless you're down. You might think you're up,

you're not actually, and you rise up, right?

But the bottom line is unless you are mistaken

about your position, you cannot fall or rise

unless you are actually up or down. Jesus would

be a stumbling block for a lot of folks and that

becomes a major concern in the New Testament.

And I submit to you that anything that is a major

concern of the New Testament is a major concern

to us because we are New Testament Christians.

We are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ after

His death, His burial, and His resurrection in

presence of the Holy Spirit and filled with living

water. We are worshipers in spirit and truth.

And if that is who we are, then anything that

becomes a major concern of the New Testament

is a major concern for us. And Jesus would be

appointed for the fall and the rise of many in

Israel. Is that a bad thing? Peter would write

it this way, and coming to Him as a living stone

which has been rejected by men, but as choice

and precious in the sight of God, you also as

living stones are being built as a spiritual

house for a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual

sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

For this is contained in Scripture. And he's

quoting Isaiah. Behold, I lay in Zion. a choice

stone, a precious cornerstone, and he who believes

in him will not be disappointed. This precious

value then is for you who believe, but for those

who disbelieve, the stone which the builders

rejected, this became the very cornerstone, and

a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.

For they stumble because they are disobedient

to the word, and to this doom they were also

appointed. Do you hear that? There are people

that are not going to believe in Jesus. Now we

need to give everybody an opportunity to believe

in Jesus. You should be a witness and if possible,

spread the good news. But the bottom line is

there are people that are not going to believe

in Jesus. And people who disbelieve or refuse

to believe in Jesus are appointed to stumble

because they are disobedient to the Word. But

you are a chosen race. It's talking about us.

A royal priesthood. A holy nation. A people for

God's own possession so that you may proclaim

the excellencies of Him who has called you out

of darkness into His marvelous light. For you

once were not a people, but now you are the people

of God. You had not received mercy, but now you

have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as aliens

and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which

war against the soul. Keep your behavior excellent

among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which

they slander you as evildoers, in other words,

that which they think you are wrong, they may,

because of your good deeds as they observe them,

glorify God in the day of visitation. Now may

our God and Father Himself and Jesus our Lord

direct our way to you. He wanted to come unto

them. And may the Lord cause you to increase

and abound in love for one another. Listen to

this. And may the Lord cause you to increase

and abound in love for one another and for all

people, just as we also do for you. And then

13, and this is the most important one, so that

He may establish your hearts without blame in

holiness before our God and Father at the coming

of our Lord Jesus Christ. with all His saints.

What is that which allows God to establish you?

Remember, this is about the fall and rise. Do

you want to fall? Or do you want to rise? Right?

You've got to have a firm surface to rise from.

You've got to have somewhere to stand in order

to climb. Right? Even if you're climbing a rope,

it's a lot easier with a knot. to climb on, or

at least a thick rope to get a good grip. When

you're climbing a rope and there's nothing below

you, the grip itself is what you stand on. Do

you want to fall? Or do you want to rise? Peter

says, this is it. This is the thing. So that

He may establish your hearts without blame in

holiness before our God and Father at the coming

of our Lord Jesus with all His saints. We already

talked about how you'll stumble at the stumbling

block if you disbelieve or are not obedient to

His Word. Those are not the qualifiers. That

wasn't where he went. He actually said, and may

the Lord cause you to increase and abound in

love for one another and for all people just

as we also do for you so that He may establish

your hearts without blame and holiness. It's

the loving others The loving one another that

allows God then to establish us in the presence

when Jesus comes. In holiness before our God

and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with

all His saints. It doesn't stop. It doesn't say,

if you believe today, you'll be good then. It

doesn't say that. Now that may be true. We believe

that if you earnestly believe in Jesus, you will

have eternal life. I was talking to Ariana during

her devotional. In fact, it was last night. And

we were talking about forgiveness and how God

forgives sins. And in the devotional, it talked

about how you should pray to God or talk to God

after you sin. You realize you sin, you talk

to God and confess your sins to God and let God

forgive you of those sins. And she said, but

actually, Daddy, we don't have to do that, right?

And I said, What do you mean, exactly? She said,

well, because we have believed in Jesus as Lord

and Savior, all of our sins are forgiven. Past,

present, and future. Now, this is a six -year

-old, right? And I'm like, well, yeah, that's

true. It is true, right? So you will definitely,

if you have believed in Jesus, if you have accepted

Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you will definitely

go to heaven. So you have a forgiveness, if you

will, that you will definitely go to heaven.

John writes then that you should confess, you

should admit. So if you do something wrong, you

have to admit that you did it wrong. To lie about

it would be to do something additional wrong.

So let's say mom and dad told you to go to bed,

and instead of going to bed, you went and played.

And then I said... I come out. You jump in your

bed real quick. And I said, have you been in

bed? And you said, yeah, I've been in bed. I

said, Arianna, you've not been in bed. I heard

you playing. And you said, no, no, I wasn't playing.

I was in bed. So now, not only did you not do,

you disobeyed in the first place, but now on

top of that, you're lying about it. Right? And

I actually read her the passage from 1 John.

We talked about how we confess our sins. But

you notice in there, He is faithful and just

to forgive us. Jesus. Right? So we're forgiven.

But then also to cleanse us of unrighteousness.

So when you will not admit, when you not confess

that you have a sin, I explained to her, you

want to be cleansed of the effect of the sin.

You want to put it away. You want to feel better.

You don't want to have the ramifications of it.

You don't want to be stuck in it and keep going.

Right? And doing more. You want to stop. So you

confess to God. Okay, God, I admit that I have

this sin. Actually, that same passage of Scripture

goes on to say that if you lie about it and you

say you don't have sin, then you make God out

to be a liar. And if God is a liar, by the way,

then none of us are saved. Because we're saved

by the promises that God gave to Abraham and

displayed and brought through Jesus to us. We

are saved by the seed of Abraham. Right? That's

what we read last week in Romans. Alright, so

the fall and the rise of many. You want to stand

or be established at the moment. Here's what

I want to say to you. That because people will

not love others, they do not continue in ongoing,

abiding, unstopping, always loving, because they

don't do that, then in the moment that Jesus

comes, they will not be established in holiness

at the coming of Jesus. So there are people who

sort of love themselves, but it's not a very

good way. And they sort of love others, but it's

not a very good way. and then when Jesus comes,

He says, get away from me, I never knew you.

Because they don't love after having been loved

by God. We love because He first loved us. So

then we leave the love out and when you leave

the love out, then Jesus comes and there will

be the rising and the falling of many. Don't

you remember the parable of the sheep and the

goats that Jesus said in Matthew 7? He said,

there will be those who say unto me, Lord, Lord,

but will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Those

people did a lot of amazing things and they said

they believed. They called Him Lord. But they

don't get to go in. What's really interesting

is the response of people. Jesus says, you come

in because I knew you and they're coming in.

And he said, you took care of me. You did this

for me and you did this for me. And they said,

Lord, when do we see you and do those things

for you? And what are the things he's talking

about? He's talking about expressions of love.

Right? And John writes and says, if you love

another, we read this last week, if you love

another, then... You are loving as God loves.

You truly love. You are in love. And being in

love, being encompassed, or abiding in love is

how we know that we are saved. And this is how

they will know that you are His disciples by

the way you love one another. So the bottom line

is, Jesus will be the perfect example of love,

and He will mark out how there will be a falling

and a rising of many. And it is not as simple

as, it definitely is based in, and it's fundamental,

it has to have belief, but it's that belief then

flowing into the love, becoming the love. If

Jesus loved you so much that He would die for

you, how much should you love those that Jesus

loves the same way? It's about the love. If there's

no love, Get ready for a fall. I understand it's

about belief as well. God says He's the only

begotten Son, so whosoever believes. But the

belief is translated into actual love. Now that

talks a lot about last week. But here is Mary

in the temple being told by Simeon that He will

be a sign for the fall and the rise of many.

appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel.

So there are going to be people who are devout

Jews who claim the name of Abraham, claim the

name of Jacob, claim the name of God's people,

God's favored people, and because they will not

believe in Jesus, they will fall. And that's

not all that bad of a thing, really, because

she's a poor girl. She's going to flee and run.

She's going to go through some real hard times.

She's young. But I want to say to you that Jesus

was appointed that she would rise. And maybe

it's the same thing for us. Notice, secondly,

that he would be assigned to be opposed. An indeterminate,

seeming, unendless effort goes into teaching

against the truth that is Jesus and his provided

salvation. We were watching... Power Rangers,

one of my sons, Ariana was really watching it,

and this is what happens with Power Rangers,

and she watches it, and the whole family will

eventually get sucked into watching Power Rangers.

And so we're watching, and one of my sons says

to me, I just don't understand why the robots

just don't win. They never have to sleep. They

could fight 24 hours a day. There's no reason

why they just don't win. And I said, well, actually,

it's interesting you say that. Most of the shows

have built into it a reason why the robots can't

fight 24 hours a day. They don't have enough

fuel to make enough robots. One is destroyed

and they have to wait to make another one or

things like that. There are reasons. But some

of them don't. And the fact is, if the enemy

in the show never quits, never sleeps, never

stops, then... Nobody should resist. Eventually

you will lose. If you face a bigger number and

they never quit, they never stop, and they're

powerful, you will eventually lose. And that

is exactly what we are facing. An indeterminate,

seemingly unendless effort goes into teaching

against the truth that is Jesus and His provided

salvation. I want to read briefly from 1 Corinthians

written by the Apostle Paul to the church at

Corinth. It's in chapter 1. verses 20 -31, and

it says this, Where is the wise man? Where is

the scribe? Where is the debater of this age?

Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

For since in the wisdom of God the world through

its wisdom did not come to know God, in other

words, they had access to the wisdom of God,

and then they interpreted it their way, and they

didn't come to know God. God was well pleased

through the foolishness of the message preached

to save those who believe. For indeed, Jews ask

for signs and Greeks search for wisdom. But we

preach Christ crucified to Jews a stumbling block

and to Gentiles foolishness. I hope you understand

the context of what he's saying here. He's saying,

as smart as you may ever be, as much learning

as you may ever get, as practiced as you might

be in various steps of religion, whatever, this

crucifixion that wins the day, it's baffling.

It's amazing. It's blinding even for those who

just will not accept that sins must be paid for.

That propitiation can only be through blood.

That a sacrifice, that all those sacrifices that

they did all those days and years in the temple

were all pointing to one sacrifice. If you can't

grasp that concept, then this crucifixion of

Jesus that pays for sins becomes a stumbling

block. It becomes... Seems like foolishness.

We preach Christ crucified to Jews a stumbling

block and to Gentiles foolishness. But to those

who are the call, both Jews and Greeks, Christ,

the power of God, and the wisdom of God. In other

words, if you are the ones, if you are willing

to accept, to believe, and to live out what Jesus

would have you to do, if you are the ones favored

by God to believe and continue in the faith,

then... It is the power of God and the wisdom

of God, this crazy message that we have that

one died for all. Because the foolishness of

God is wiser than men. And the weakness of God

is stronger than men. For consider your calling,

brethren, that there were not many wise according

to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble.

But God has chosen the foolish things of the

world to shame the wise. And God has chosen the

weak things of the world to shame the things

which are strong. and the base things of the

world, and the despised, that means look down

on, God has chosen the things that are not, so

that He may nullify the things that are, so that

no man may boast before God. But by His doing,

you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom

from God, and righteousness and sanctification,

that means progressively becoming more holy,

or holiness, sanctification is holiness, and

redemption, brought back. So that just as it

is written, let him who boasts, boast in the

Lord. Listen to me. If the enemy army opposes

the truth, Jesus was assigned to be opposed.

If he opposes the truth, I want you to ask yourself

now, I want you to decide in your own heart,

who is stronger? Every worldly person in the

world? Every worldly TV station? Every demon

and every evil spirit? Or you? Who's stronger?

But greater is He who is in you than he that

is in the world in every context and in every

piece. I know as a Christian you want to say

you're stronger, but let's be realistic. It is

not me that's stronger. I'm not stronger than

a demon. I'm not stronger than Satan. But God's

power in me is stronger. See, Jesus would be

assigned to be opposed, and oh, he has been opposed.

I think you sometimes get a picture of this opposition

when you examine what happens in the political

or social arena. Whether it be running for president,

or whether it be becoming a popular movie star,

people become very popular. And then somebody

goes after them. And scandals happen. No one

cares to scandalize me or you because we're just

not popular enough. The people who become popular

or politically correct, they get scandalized.

And if you started leading people to Jesus, and

if you start telling them about Jesus, and they

start getting saved, this is what will happen.

Through evil spirits, through your flesh nature,

through the ways of the world, you too would

be scandalized. The enemy wants to stop you.

You better decide right up front that Jesus is

assigned to be opposed. There is opposition.

in the world. There are people that hate God.

The enemies hate God and because they hate God,

they can't get God. They can't win over God because

God has already won. It's already settled. So

they will come after the one that God loves and

that's Christians or even non -Christians. They're

making every effort to keep people from coming

to Christ and have a proper relationship. I think

it's very interesting, the song that RJ played.

I was really grateful that the artist repeated

the lyrics like, what, four times because he's

so fast, I couldn't understand what he was saying

and I couldn't read fast enough because he was

going faster than I can read, right? But he repeated

the lyrics like four times. But it's really interesting

that he was talking about how somebody who hates

themselves has a hard time seeing others in the

difficulty that they're in and caring about them.

It's interesting, isn't it? Now, it's a little

worldly to say you have to love yourself first

before you love others. I don't even think that's

biblical. I do think maybe it's biblical to say

you have to love God first before you can truly

love others and understand what love is. We love

because He first loved us and we learned how

to love from Him. And I want you to look at the

example of Jesus and compare it to the example

of most of the people that we know. And how many

people are going around loving people the way

Jesus loved people? So your brother, your sister,

your cousin, your mother, your uncle, your friend,

the person you work with, never carries a burden

alone. If you have ever carried a burden alone,

except with Jesus, obviously if you're saved,

Jesus is with you. He walks with everybody and

helps with the burdens. If you have ever carried

a burden alone, just you and Jesus, then you

know there was probably somebody who claims to

be a Christian who should have been there for

you to help you carry that burden. That's pretty

interesting. Christians are not loving people

the way Jesus loves people. And we need to repent

and turn to God and understand that if we do

not learn to love people the way Jesus loves

people, that we may not be established in holiness

at the coming of Jesus. Jesus would be assigned

to be opposed. Because there is opposition, there

must also be allies. I want to be your ally.

Others in this room want to be your ally. The

church is a unified body of Christ representing

Jesus in this world and we are supposed to work

together. Every time you use your spiritual gift

in the body, it strengthens other believers.

Every time you choose not to use your spiritual

gift in the body, you weaken other believers

and that is not love. Every time you get too

busy in your own life to show up and serve, give,

care, every time you think you need the money

more than God, should get the money every time

you think you have an appointment that keeps

you out of worship or that you have a friction

or a struggle in your spouse and you come with

the wrong heart to worship or the list just goes

on. Every time you allow anything of the world,

and believe me, there is a very active opposition.

So the truth is, you could have found a hundred

reasons not to be here today. Some of you are

thinking of reasons right now why you should

not have been here today because that's what

the enemy does. There are more reasons not to

follow Jesus, more reasons not to follow the

Lord, love the Lord, follow and love others,

serve, give, stretch yourself, sacrifice yourself.

There are more reasons not to do that than there

are to do it. And the enemy is perfectly happy

to point them all out to you and to me. Jesus

would be assigned to be opposed and that's painful

enough. But then also, a sword would pierce even

her own soul, he said to Mary. The woman who

said, Lord, your maidservant I am, do whatever

you would. Just go ahead and invite it. Essentially

invite it, although she was told it was going

to happen, but essentially invited God to come

into her bed if that's where she was and to impregnate

her without a man and to set her on this amazing

journey which she could have been stoned to death,

but of course God provided and He spoke to Joseph

and made a way and it just all goes on. But when

would that soul of Mary be pierced? I submit

to you, it began maybe on Christmas night. It

began when she received what she thought was

an awesome gift from God that she thought she

knew. And she thought, man, this is going to

be awesome. We've come to see the child. For

an angel appeared to us and said, I am bringing

you good news of great joy for all people. To

you is born this day in the city of Savior, who

is Messiah the Lord. Then a chorus of angels

began to sing to us. This is the shepherd speaking,

of course. Glory to God in the highest in heaven

and on earth. Peace among those whom he favors.

Man, that's good wrapping paper. And there she

was set up, if you will. And here she begins

to see the pain in relief. But what was Mary's

piercing? Was it we have to leave our home and

everything we can't put on the back of a camel

or two or a donkey or two. We're going to use

just the money and gifts that the Magi bought

and whatever we have and we're going to flee

to Egypt. We're going to leave everyone and everything

we know and really only just me and you and the

baby. And maybe a couple of others or whatever,

but we're all going to leave here and flee to

Egypt and leave our life behind. Or was it just

getting the word that every baby around her that

was less than two years old was going to be killed?

Including hers. Would that have pierced your

soul if you were a mother? That sounds pretty

harsh. Was it as Jesus came up? Was it when she

said, Honey, can you make this water into wine?

Because we seem not to have gotten enough. And

he said, but mother, it's not my time yet. But

then he did make the water into wine, didn't

he? Was it when he came on the scene and everyone

was speaking against him? And she started hearing

all the rumors? Was it when she decided? Remember,

she decided after everything, all of this. She

decided that her son Jesus was nuts. Was it when

she decided that he was crazy and she and his

brothers came to take him home? Or was it when

Jesus himself said, and by rumor it was passed

to her, and he said, no, these who gather around

me and listen, they are my mother and brothers.

So if your child said to you, no, Mary Kay is

my mother. If Rayleigh grew up and became a teenager

and said, no, you're not my mother. Mary's my

mother. Would that not run a sword through your

soul as a parent? Was it when he came home to

visit and all the miracles that he had done in

so many places, but when he came back to where

he kind of came from, He could do very few miracles

because the people around him were despising

him. They were thinking so little of him and

thinking, well, it's just Joseph, the carpenter's

son. He's nobody special. And he only did a few

healings there. And she thought, man, when he

comes back home, he can't hardly do anything.

But elsewhere, everywhere else in the world,

to all the strangers, he's great. But to me,

to us here, was it when she came to the cross

or watched him? beaten, his skin filleted off

his back and she could see the tendons hanging

out, carrying his cross to Golgotha, was that

when the sword ran through her soul? It was when

she stood at the bottom of the cross and he was

clearly and evidently going to die and he was

suffering horribly for those six hours, I think

it was, and he couldn't exhale. And she had to

watch him push with his feet off the nail in

the cross and grind the flesh off his back some

more in order to be able to let his breath out

so he could take another breath and then sag

back down in agony with a crown of thorns. Is

that when a sword was run through her soul? Maybe

yes, maybe all of it. So many words spoken against

Jesus. Jesus hung on the cross. Jesus beaten

just short of death. Was it when He hung on the

cross just short of death and her heart's in

bitterness and she's losing her son and He prayed,

Lord, forgive them for they know not what they

do. And suddenly, she realized that everything

that she had ever been told about Jesus was now

coming true and that He loved those who were

crucifying Him. Because I guarantee you, she

didn't. Well, I don't know the answer to that

question. But I know for a fact that the prophecy

was fulfilled. A sword would pierce even her

soul. So Jesus was appointed for the fall and

rise of many in Israel. For a sign to be opposed.

And the opposition has been much and continues

unendingly without lack of endurance. And a sword

would pierce even her own soul. To the end, that

thoughts from many hearts would be revealed.

God knows. And in the end, if I could say it

this way, everyone will know. On the day when

all is settled and done. everyone will know.

Everyone will know whether you were lying about

being a follower of Jesus. Everyone will know

whether you were loving others or just doing

things to try to get ahead, manipulate, whatever.

Everyone will know about your anger outbursts

that you try to conceal or try to play off as

no big deal. Everyone will know about your stingy

heart or your nasty preferring yourself or preferring

your certain loved ones over others. And everyone

will know. Because that is why Jesus came. Because

in the hearts of men, there are truths that simply

must be revealed. You could go to heaven and

go, it's not fair. Pastor Dan didn't make it

in. He preached the Gospel. I heard. It's not

right. He's not here. He seemed to love me so

much. He seemed to stand up for me so much. But

listen to me. If by some chance that would happen,

understand, the truths of hearts will be revealed.

You may be surprised at who doesn't make it in,

but you won't be baffled as to why. Because every

heart will be exposed to the end that thoughts

from many hearts may be revealed. 1 Thessalonians

3, 11 -13 says it this way, Now may our God and

Father Himself and Jesus our Lord direct our

way to you, and may the Lord cause you to increase

and abound in love for one another and for all

people, just as we also do for you, so that He

may establish your hearts without blame and holiness

before our God and Father at the coming of our

Lord Jesus with all His saints. I want to go

in. I'm begging God to teach me to love other

people. We began by asking ourselves, when does

Christmas end? When does Christmas end? Why don't

we love all year long like we supposedly love

at Christmas? A couple months back we were at

the life station and we consistently give away

groceries. and we were giving away groceries

then on delivery every two weeks, and we give

away groceries. People can come for a referral

to Front Door monthly, and then plus they can

come get pantry support weekly. And I had somebody

come, and they said, well, so -and -so is running

a pop -up pantry down there, and they've got

all this stuff they're giving away. And they

said, well, why don't you give away that much

stuff? Because they were giving away more than

we were. They were comparing what they were giving

away that day to what we were. And I said, I'm

sorry, we don't have it. this, that, and the

other, what you just described. I said, well,

we do have all of this, and we're happy to give

it to you, and we want to serve you. And I said,

also, next week, you can come back again. Did

you rush out and buy Christmas presents for your

family? Did you rush out and buy, or did you

plan ahead? Judy used to start buying her Christmas

presents in May, and finish up about the beginning

of November. Not because she was specifically

trying to follow Jesus, but because she just

really liked to shop for people. You know? She

really liked to think about how awesome it's

going to be when they open that gift and they

see it and how good it feels. Did you do that?

Why do you only do that in December? Do you want

to try to make the statement? Do any of us want

to try to make the statement that that kind of

giving, that saving up money and buying nice

gifts and unwrapping things, that that somehow

honors Jesus on His birthday? That that's specifically

about Jesus' gift to us. Now this would honor

Jesus if you did that every day. Could you do

it every day? No. Because we've made such a process

out of it. We've made it such a big deal. This

is how Sherry and I started. We said, well, we've

got this much money. We have a spending plan.

We've accumulated this much money and we want

to buy it. We tried to make a list of everybody.

We for sure absolutely wanted to. And then we

added people on throughout because we found other

people that were like, oh, I think they would

love that. I want to buy that for them. I just

want to do that. I just feel led of the Lord

to do that. And so the list kept being amorphous.

It wasn't settled. And then there were even some

people on the list that, and I'm just going to

be plain to you, I don't buy junk presents. I

don't buy stuff just to buy stuff. I don't believe

in that. I think that dishonors Jesus. So I had

a couple people on my list that I really wanted

to buy for, but I just couldn't think of what

to buy for them, so I didn't buy them anything,

because if God wanted me to buy them something,

He would have shown me what to buy. And that's

the way you're supposed to do it. You should

buy gifts that are meaningful, because Jesus

is a very meaningful gift. But wait, I think

we've already determined that the whole buying

of gifts thing and giving it on Christmas Day

or Christmas Eve probably isn't about Jesus anyway,

right? If it was, we'd be doing it all year long.

You say, but I don't have the money to do it

all year long. Maybe that's because we think

that you have to buy something in the store and

give them a gift receipt and wrap it up and give

it to them in order to express love to them or

in order to express how Jesus came. Or something,

I don't understand. Use your spiritual gift in

the church. Give of your time year -round. Listen

to me. I want to say, this the Lord says, Holy

Spirit backed, I believe this 100%. If you hear

about a need in the church, a brother or a sister

that is struggling, doesn't matter what it is,

they need it, even if it's their fault, and you

hear about a need, don't assume somebody else

knows, don't assume somebody else is going to

do something about it, and don't stop until the

problem is solved. That's how Jesus loved. That's

the love that he's talking about when he says

we need that in us, acted out through us in order

to have a firm foundation and be established

in holiness on the day that Jesus comes. If you

don't do it that way, if you hear a brother or

sister who is in need and you don't, the bare

minimum if you pray about it, but I submit to

you if you pray about it, that's just the beginning.

Then out of that you should have some kind of

solution, some kind of step you can take. If

you can't figure it out, you go to Brother Tony

because that's kind of like his, that's his,

That's what He can figure it out. He can do it.

If He can't figure it out, He knows who He can

ask. We've got to just step up and cover the

bases and make sure that our people are not suffering

needlessly and definitely not suffering alone

because Jesus does not allow people to suffer

needlessly and He does not allow them to suffer

alone. If you spend $150 on presents for somebody

at Christmas time, why not spend... $15 a month

on them all year round. And buy a meaningful

gift every time. And if you miss a month because

you can't think of a meaningful gift, then spend

$30 on them the next month. You say, I can't

do that because I have to pay my bills. If that's

true, then you just blew it with Christmas because

you spent $150 on Christmas that you actually

are saying you couldn't afford to spend year

round. When does Christmas end? God gave us Jesus'

gift. When did He take Him back? When does Christmas

end? Christmas Jesus' way, Christmas God's way,

does not end. I was talking with a young man

who told me that he really isn't that fond of

Christmas carols. And I said, well, there are

some Christmas carols I love, and there are some

Christmas carols I could give or take. And I

said, I know exactly what the difference is.

The difference is, I love the Christmas carols

that are about Jesus. And a Christmas carol that's

about Jesus isn't a one month out of the year

or a two month out of the year thing. It includes

the message. Have you listened to the lyrics

of Hark the Herald Angels Sing? Do you know what

in excelsis Deo means? Glory in excelsis Deo

means glory to God in the highest or in the absolute

most amount. We went to a Christmas concert a

few years ago back at Northwood. They sang that

song. It was more than a few years ago. I think

it was Amalia was back there then. Maybe you

and Alicia too. It was about five, six years

ago in the choir. They sang that song. And guess

what happened? 300 people in the audience, 250

people, whatever. They all sang it. Atheists,

people who hate Jesus, people who hate the church,

the entire audience sang Gloria in Excelsis Deo

because God did this right in front of everybody.

I submit to you, He's still doing Christmas right

in front of everybody. There's only one day of

the year that I would ever consider not celebrating

Christmas. And it's Easter. Because that's the

day we celebrate specifically the death, burial,

and resurrection of Christ. When does Christmas

end? The answer is, according to God, it does

not. Jesus was sent. He was sent. for the rise

and fall of many, and by the way, still. So it

began, and so it continues. He would be assigned

to be opposed. Is Jesus assigned to be opposed?

Yes. So it began, and so it continues. And a

sword would pierce even Mary's own soul. So it

is for all the favorite of God who have to go

through the kinds of things. There is sorrow

and sighing on the highway of holiness. When

we get to heaven, there will be no more tears.

But in the meantime, you will suffer. I will

suffer. Bad things will happen. And all of this

is to the end that thoughts from many hearts

may be revealed. So if there is an answer to

the question of when Christmas happens, What

is the answer? When it ends, what is the answer?

It ends on the judgment day. That's when it ends.

Because that's when the process of revealing

the truth of the hearts of men will be concluded.

That's when Christmas ends. Put your Christmas

lights up. Go ahead. Wrap your presents. Go ahead.

Put the Christmas tree in there. Keep it alive

for as long as you can. But let us not forget.

That Christmas doesn't end on December 26th or

with the giving of a bad present or forgetting

something or after all the cleanup and everything's

put together and all the returns are done. Christmas

doesn't end until Jesus comes again. Let me pray

for you. Father in heaven, you are our awesome

father. You orchestrated this. You did this in

front of everybody. And some folks blinded by

the God of this age simply will not believe.

I believe, Lord. Help me with my unbelief. Help

me practice the giving, loving spirit. That people

try to embody in a fat man in a red suit with

a corncob pipe and the ability to scoot up and

down chimneys. Help me practice the living and

giving, loving spirit that is practiced on Christmas

every day of the year. Help me never set aside

a need. Without speaking to you about it and

determining how I can make a difference. I know

already because I've seen it so many times that

when I get tired, you will recharge me. I know

already because I've seen it so many times that

when I am under attack, you will defend me. I

know already because I've seen it so many times

that when I am dismayed, or feel like I am, I

will be reminded that I should not be dismayed.

And your word will come again. Your spirit will

exhibit himself again. Your people will step

up again. Lord, in the middle of the craziness

that has been 2020, The gospel under attack.

Even our way of life, outside the gospel, seditiously

under attack. Now living in a world where people

think they can just redefine words, and they

have enough authority, enough followers on Twitter,

they can take a word like love, or a word like

marriage, or a word like serving, or whatever,

that we see as a principle from scripture, and

they can totally redefine it. And they can begin

to force it on anybody they want. You set our

definitions. You govern us. You send us. You

strengthen us. You protect us. And you give us

a job to do. And let us be reminded very plainly

today. That whether or not we are standing firmly

in holiness, the next coming of Jesus, of course,

requires belief. But it's really wrapped up in,

really determined by whether or not we love one

another and others who might come to you. Help

us, Father. or we've pitched the wrapping paper,

we've burnt the wrapping paper, in a number of

days we'll put the tree away or put it out by

the curb. We'll be done giving gifts for the

2020 Christmas soon. And we've mistakenly believed

that another Christmas will have come and gone.

And that's not what happens at Christmas time.

It doesn't come and go. There is only one Christmas.

And it's still going on. Our Christmas time is

just a time when we try to remember. We try to

act out and do the things that we're supposed

to do. Sometimes compelled to buy gifts that

we wouldn't even buy left to our own devices.

Because a holiday is coming. Sometimes compelled

to spend money. And I can't count enough Christmas

gifts that I received when I was a child to even

feel my fingers and toes. But I do remember the

time that was spent and the expressions of love.

And I believe that we can do that all year round.

That we can care. That we can love the way we

were loved. And now we will. I believe we must.

I believe if we do not, that we will be amongst

those who fall rather than amongst those who

rise at the coming of our Jesus. Forgive us,

Lord, for we knew not what we were doing. Help

us to love this way. Pour out upon us the Holy

Spirit of love, the Holy Spirit of peace. Make

us generous and compassionate, kind, forgiving,

humble, Let's start finding out when people's

birthdays are. Let us find out what people's

favorite candy bar is. Let us start finding out

what people's struggles are. Let us start finding

out what kind of words most encourage us individually.

Let us start finding out how to show up and practice

the love that is celebrated on Christmas Day.

but has been going on since that first Christmas

so long ago. Let us proclaim what we have seen

and heard so that others may have fellowship

with us and let our fellowship be with you, Father,

and your Son, Jesus Christ. We pray this in his

name. Amen. I ask the praise team to come forward

then and we're going to sing Closing Hymn. But

if you're here today and the Lord has spoken

to your heart and you need to share what he has

said, If you either get my attention where you

are or walk forward in front of the room, I'll

give you an opportunity to speak. If you're here

today and you would say, I need to accept Jesus

Christ as my Lord and Savior and begin to live

for Him in earnest for the first time ever, regardless

of what anybody else thinks, I am following Jesus.

And you make this decision today to know what

it is. If you're already a follower of Jesus,

but you realize today that you have not been

loving the way that Jesus would have you to love,

and it kind of scares you to think that you're

not on stable ground, and that Jesus would come

and you would not be considered established in

holiness when He comes. then you turn to God

today. You're not turning to me or this sermon

or even the Bible, but you turn to God today

and let God forgive you and cleanse you of all

unrighteousness. And then I would suggest proclaim

that and say, hey, God has done that in me today.

As we sing the song, would you stand with us?

And this is our final hymn. And then this is

your opportunity also to make public any decision

that you have made today. What an appropriate

song it is. are concluding our services at this

time, and we'll have a short break, and then

come back in for the membership meetings. The

membership meeting is where we talk about, quote,

important things that all members should know

and have an opportunity to speak to, understand,

vote on, that kinds of things. And so everyone

is welcome, whether you're a member or not. And,

in fact, we welcome your input. We've had a number

of times over the years where non -members have

been present and felt like God really spoke through

them, and the body said, yes, that's exactly

what we need to know. So we definitely welcome.

need to be with us. That is also the place at

which you would handle any membership questions

like if you wanted to join the church or if you

were transferring your membership or if you had

accountability, something you were doing with

somebody and it reached the point of bringing