Christmas Eve 2024 | The Curse Of Settling with Chris Schlotterbeck

Hey, good evening everyone.

Merry Christmas.

We're so excited that you chose to join us here at HCV.

If you're joining us from home, thank you for welcoming us into your space.

And like I said, during the season, during the Christmas season, there's a lot of things

you can be doing this time of year.

Life is busy.

There's places you need to be.

And thank you for just slowing down and making Jesus our priority.

You know, it is so unique that every year during this season, people gather all over

the world to worship and adore a baby born in a stable to peasant parents.

We're living thousand miles from a no name city and thousands of years since this took

place yet still people gather together to worship and adore this baby who would become

a man named Jesus.

Now, I don't know about you, but maybe you've played the game, Telestration's before, or

maybe you're familiar with how the game works.

Each player is put on a team and then each team is given an object or phrase that has

to be drawn out.

A teammate, when given the prompt, draws on the card who then passes it to the next teammate

who then looks at the drawing and writes down what they see.

Then after writing it down, it's passed on to the next teammate who has to draw the picture

of the word written down.

And this continues through the entire team alternating between drawing and answering.

By the time the tablet has been passed to the last teammate and the answer is given,

teammates quickly realize that they started with this phrase or this word and what they

ended up with is completely different.

In fact, you can YouTube and watch different individuals playing the game and in one instance,

a team was given a prompt for a pot of gold.

And by the end of the game, it had become a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs.

This is familiar with the telephone game that we may have played when we were in elementary

school, when the phrase is given to one student and then is passed through all the entire

class and by the end of the line, with people whispering in one another's ears, what was

started is completely distorted and messed up by the time it gets to the last person.

Now, some of you are sitting there thinking, Chris, what does this have to do with Christmas?

Well, messages that get lost in translation has a lot to do with Christmas because Jesus

was born more than 2000 years ago.

Since then, the church, not a building, but the people of God, those that follow Jesus

were responsible to share the good news or draw a picture of what God looks like in this

world, saying, hey, this is who God is.

This is God's message to the world so that everyone who hears the message would want

to follow him and become a part of his family.

However, something has happened to this message.

Not everyone clearly understands who Jesus is and why he came into this world.

And it's very interesting when you talk to people about Christmas, most people are warm

to the idea of Christmas.

They are open to the idea of generosity and hope, peace on earth, family and friends gathering

together with lights and presents and Santa calls.

The entire spirit of joy and happiness is welcomed.

But when you mention a God connected to Christmas, suddenly people's body language changes.

Their postures change.

And suddenly the conversation about joy and happiness turns to confusion.

Maybe for some people, maybe they are afraid of God.

Maybe they are indifferent toward God.

Maybe some are unaware and maybe some are just angry at God.

And I think that all this confusion comes from the different places across culture that

influence who we are.

Social media, YouTube, Facebook, Tik Tok.

And unfortunately for many people, the message they have heard from the church is just religion.

Do more, try harder.

Put your head down.

Do everything you can to be morally good and accepted by God.

And that leads people to believe that God is angry with them because they are not living

a good enough life.

And it leads other people to believe that God is just out there somewhere, distant,

not interested in them.

Whatever the case, the message of Jesus and the idea behind all of it has gotten lost

in translation over the years.

Which brings us to Christmas.

See there are many reasons that Jesus came to earth, but one of the most important reasons

leads us to our first thought.

See Jesus gives us an understanding of who God really is.

Jesus came to bring clarity to you and me about God and what he wants for our lives.

See Jesus was 100% God and 100% man.

He is God in a body.

Colossians 2, 9 tells us, for in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.

John 14, 9, Jesus' own words.

Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.

So why are you asking me to show him to you?

In other words, if you want to know what God is like, just look at Jesus.

Look at the way he lived.

Look at the way he loved.

Look at the way he served.

Jesus is born and throughout his life he wants to give us a picture of what God is like and

what it means to know God.

And not just to know the character of God, but also know how God feels about you and

me.

The truth that God wants a relationship with you, a personal, unhindered, unhibited relationship

with you in this relationship is not just a means to get to heaven, which is true, but

there's so much more.

In John 10, 10, Jesus says, my purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

See Jesus desires that we have a full life, a rich life, a meaningful life, a life of

purpose.

And that's where it gets interesting.

Because see, if God is the creator and we are his creation, then he would know what

is best for us, true or false.

He would obviously know what is best for us.

He would know how to lead us and guide us.

He knows what satisfies us.

He knows how to sustain us and fulfill us.

He would know the direction we should go in our lives and would be fools not to listen

to him.

And yet for many of us, there's this gap between the life God wants for us and the life that

we are living.

And listen, this is not necessarily a bad thing.

It's a good thing.

We're all trying to figure out this thing called life.

We're only given 80 years or so to try and figure it out, to determine the difference

between right and wrong, to answer the question, how did I even get here?

What happens after I die?

What is the purpose for this life?

And listen, these are all good questions to ask.

But I want to take this a step further.

I want you to honestly reflect on where you are in this life and what you believe.

Because I've been pastoring this church for the last 18 years, I've been pastoring in

total for 25 years.

And what I've discovered in talking with people over the years and their search for significance

leads us to our next thought.

See, in their search for significance, humanity tends to settle.

In our attempts to settle our lives, to understand it all, we settle.

And what I'm trying to say is we actually settle for less than what God wants for our

lives.

I'm not trying to step on anyone's toes, but I believe that God wants us to live in

HD, in high definition, but humanity settles for SD, standard or average.

God wants us on the varsity, but we settle for JV.

God wants us to live in abundance.

Again, Jesus says, my purpose to give them a rich and satisfying life.

And to pursue this message, let's return to the Christmas story and hear how it was originally

communicated through the Gospel of Luke.

Luke was a physician who interviewed eyewitnesses so that he could discover what happened at

Jesus' birth.

And this is what we read at Luke 2, 8 through 12.

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

sheep.

And if you've never heard it before, the shepherds were the least forgotten in the outcasts of

society.

So if you feel that way, you're welcome here.

You are welcome here because that's who God spoke to first.

Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them and the radiance of the Lord's glory

surrounded them.

They were terrified.

And some of you are thinking, terrified at Christmas, why?

Well, it was the middle of the night.

It was dark.

It was empty.

They were watching their sheep and suddenly the sky lights up.

You would be terrified.

Okay?

You would wonder what was going on.

And by the way, God hadn't spoken to his people in over 400 years.

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

He said, I bring you good news that will be great joy for all people.

But unfortunately, for some of you, you don't believe this is good news because of your

interaction with other Jesus followers, because of the church, because you see religious judgmental

hypocrites who don't make the world a better place, but actually cause confusion to the

original message that Jesus brought.

But the angel goes on.

The Savior, yes, the Messiah, the Lord has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of

David, and you will recognize him by this sign.

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

Good news of great joy.

At the core of it is a God who loves you, a God who cares about you, a God who values

you and is concerned about what goes on in your day to day life.

And in our attempts to settle our lives, to figure it all out, we become tired and weary.

We become overwhelmed and stressed out.

And I believe that God wants more for your life during this season.

This Christmas, we need to be reminded that the God is not just for us, but he loves us.

And he not only wants to love us, but he wants to propel us onto a course where we are living

a version of life that just pales in comparison to what we're living right now.

There was a man who went on a mission to prove the Christmas story in Christianity wrong,

false.

This man was fully convinced that Christianity was false and ridiculous and there was no

God.

So he started studying the Bible and the practices of God.

He began to interview different people that believed.

He began to visit different biblical sites.

And in his effort to prove Christianity was false, he became a follower of Jesus.

In his research and study, God spoke to his heart and God changed him.

This man became a scholar, a theologian, an author, a just overall brilliant man and his

name was C.S. Lewis.

In the weight of glory, C.S. Lewis writes these words.

It would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.

In other words, we settle.

We are half-hearted creatures fooling about with drink and sex and ambition with infinite

joy is offered to us every day.

In other words, we settle for the pleasures of this world when God is offering us the

riches of heaven.

Lewis continues, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because

he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.

We are far too easily pleased.

In other words, we get distracted and we settle.

And Christmas is screaming to us that God wants more for us than we want for ourselves.

And this is good news of great joy for all people.

Which leads me to share with you so that we can experience and welcome and embrace three

truths God wants for every single one of us this Christmas.

See, there is power in the birth of Jesus.

And the first truth is we can experience peace beyond our circumstances.

See, I believe all people want to experience peace in this world.

I think it's good to desire a life that is content and happy, a life that is void of

stress and worry that allows us to sleep good through the night.

A life where we feel good about our family and friends, our job, and we are passionate

about the upcoming days and weeks that they will bring.

It's a good desire to have, however, without Jesus does our society even attempt to have

peace in their life.

Right when we leave Jesus out, what does society do?

Well some people focus on their income, their money, and all the wealth they can gain and

pour into their 401k so that one day they can retire and rest and relax and have a life

full of peace.

While others use their possessions, a larger house, a new car, a new pair of shoes, a new

outfit, and there is nothing wrong with any of those things.

However, guess what?

They're not going to bring you peace.

Still others focus on their health, what they eat, what they do, how they exercise, that

they can run faster and lift more.

And if they're healthy, their life will be good.

Which is, it's good to be healthy.

I believe in health, but health does not bring peace.

And there's a part of society that believes that politics is the answer.

That if the politicians would just get it right, our country would experience peace.

Newsflash, they're never going to get it right.

They're always going to be divided.

And when we put all of our life and want this peace into us doing it, whether it be our

health or our money or our politics or whatever it may be, our possessions, basically we're

just playing a big game of Jenga with our life.

We're just pulling one block out and putting it on top, making our life bigger and better.

But yet at one point, we're going to pull a block out and it's all going to come tumbling

down.

There's so many people working so hard, focused on their money and their health and their

career and you don't even realize that none of it will bring you peace.

But Jesus will.

Christmas says peace is not in the stuff, it's in the person.

It's in the baby born in a manger, Isaiah 9, 6, for a child is born to us, a son is

given, the government will rest on his shoulders and he will be called wonderful counselor,

mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace.

Luke chapter two, suddenly angel was joined by the vast host of others, the armies of

heaven, praising God and saying glory to God.

In the highest heaven and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.

See Jesus is Emmanuel.

We sung about it, which means God is with us and this means God is connected to us through

all aspects of our life.

See if we are searching for peace in this world, you're not going to find it in a relationship

or money or possessions.

However, you can open the gift of peace every single day when Jesus tells us in John 14,

I'm leaving you with a gift, peace of mind and heart.

And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give, so don't be troubled or afraid.

And see not only do we want peace this Christmas, but we also want our next truth, purpose within

this life.

I believe everybody wants to have purpose in this life.

If you believe your purpose is simply playing video games, you've believed the lie.

There's so much more to life than playing video games.

See look, like I said earlier, we're only given one life and for many of us we're only

given 80 years.

And when you come to the end of that life, you have to ask yourself a question.

Did I live a life that mattered?

Or was I just focused on myself building my own plateau of Jenga blocks, building my own

plateaus of education and money, or maybe so focused on my kids or my grandkids because

I missed out on life?

For some of you it's the ability to perform, watch me, I play at a high level, I can sing,

I can build, I can teach.

And listen, none of those things are bad.

But if you believe that is your only person you're missing out on so much, that simply

building your own kingdom, in your own strength, welling up with inside of you, eventually

you're gonna fail.

You're gonna become weak and you're gonna fall, yet deep within your heart you're hearing

God cry out, there's more for you.

Because in Ecclesiastes 3 we read, yet God has made everything beautiful for its own

time.

Notice what he's done.

He's planted eternity in the human heart.

But even so people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end.

See we weren't designed to focus on ourselves and to build our own kingdom.

We were created to give back, to serve, to give, to care for, to love, all for God's

kingdom.

And if you're in a relationship with Jesus, God bless you, but in Proverbs 19 says, you

can make many plans, but the Lord's purpose will prevail.

And if you're here tonight, God's will will eventually prevail in your life, no matter

how hard you fight it.

Because one day you're gonna realize, Ephesians 2, 10, for we are God's masterpiece.

He has created us anew in Christ Jesus so we can do the good things he's planned for

us long ago.

Listen, if we live like we're masterpieces, and we do the good things God has planned

for us, you will then die a person who had purpose.

If we invest in the kingdom of God, then nothing you do will be ever lost, forgotten, or stolen

because that's what matters.

Which leads to our final truth.

Jesus becomes the source of our righteousness.

And righteousness is the idea of being in right standing with God and with others.

I believe everyone wants to be considered a good person.

We don't want to be on the fourth level naughty list.

We all want to be on the nice list.

However, without Jesus, what is your standard?

How good is good enough?

What do I need to achieve?

What do I need to do in order for me to be a good person?

And who decides that level of acceptance?

Here's the reality.

Jesus came into the world to be a savior because we're all sinners.

For everyone is sinned, Romans tells us, we all fall short of God's glorious standard.

No one is righteous.

We've all committed cosmic treason against God, against our creator.

And because God is perfect and holy, there's nothing we can do in our own strength that's

going to make us righteous enough.

We need someone to make a way for us, and that's why we celebrate Jesus being born.

Ephesians 2, God saved you by his grace when you believed.

And you can't take credit for this.

It's a gift from God.

Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about

it.

The baby would become a man, a man that hangs on a cross, dies on a cross for our sins,

but rises on the third day to provide a way for us to reconnect with God that loves us

so deeply.

Friends, this is the gift of Christmas.

Don't be afraid, he said, I bring you good news that will be great joy.

See, God gave up his one and only son so that we can live life in abundance.

And here's the reality.

Tomorrow, all of us will wake up and open a few gifts for some more gifts than others.

And those gifts will bring us some temporary joy and happiness, but eventually that joy

will wear out and eventually that happiness will break.

And there's only one gift that really matters at Christmas, and that's the gift of Jesus.

And here's the reality.

This message clearly understood, clearly heard, elicits a choice.

If you clearly hear me saying that Jesus is a gift, the only way to experience peace,

purpose, and righteousness in this life, the only way to connect with the Creator, there

are only two responses.

Either you open the gift and you worship him receiving abundant life, or you say, this

is the stupidest thing I've ever heard, can we please light the candles and get out of

here?

That's it.

There is no in between.

You can't just consider the Christmas story a nice story that we read every single year.

C.S. Lewis says it this way in Mere Christianity.

A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great

moral teacher.

He would either be a lunatic on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg, or

else he would be the devil of hell.

You must make your choice.

Either this man was and is the son of God, or else a mad man or someone worse.

You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon, or you can

fall at his feet and call him Lord and God.

But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher.

He is not left that open to us and he did not intend to.

He is either savior and Lord, or he is a liar and a lunatic.

And this morning, it is not morning, this evening.

What do you hear Jesus speaking to you?

A few years ago Verizon had a commercial that said this guy running around saying can you

hear me now?

Can you hear me now?

Can you hear me now?

And he would go all over the world saying can you hear me now proving that Verizon had

the best cell phone coverage.

You see I believe that if Jesus walked into this building tonight, he would be asking

many of us the same question.

Can you hear me now?

I want so much more for your life.

More than you could ever imagine or believe.

Are you willing to take that step of faith?

Are you willing to go all in and say Jesus I want it all.

I am tired of settling and I am tired of letting life pass me by.

Will you stand with me?

As we recognize and celebrate the birth of Jesus, here at HCV we pray a simple prayer

every single time we gather because we believe God brings people into our midst that are

distant, far from God, removed from God or are settling for less.

We all pray this prayer together whether we are a believer or not because we don't want

to single you out, we don't want to make you come up front, we don't want to make you do

jumping jacks for believing.

We just want you to believe and go all in.

Amen?

So let's pray together.

Jesus I am broken.

I am full of doubt, shame, regret, sin.

Change me.

I believe you are God's son.

I believe you died for me.

Make me new.

Set me free.

Fill me with your spirit.

Help me God.

To serve others.

In Jesus name.

Amen.

Now listen, if you prayed that prayer, we have a baptism gathering coming up on January 12th.

You need to get wet.

You need to come out and say I am a follower.

I believe I am going all in.

That's your opportunity.

Now as we close, we are going to light our candles.

Can we start lighting our candles?

There we go.

The reason we do this every year, listen friends, the reason we do this every year.

A candle lighting service just simply means these candles reflect the light God has placed

in our life.

We are to carry this light to all places throughout the world.

Here in the tri-state area and beyond.

Because we carry the hope, the meaning, and the message that Jesus brought at Christmas.

So as your candle is lit, the band will begin to play and sing joy to the world.

And I want to encourage you.

You be the choir.

You sing louder than them because that's what the church is called to do.

So Merry Christmas.

Thank you for being here.

We look forward to all that God has for us in 2025.

Now let's sing together.

Amen.