God Is Near | John Challinor

Morning, church. Good morning, Prescott Valley

Park Collective. Just so glad you're with us.

Glad that we get to do this together. I would

like to say Merry Christmas, everyone. We're

almost there. It's coming. It feels like Christmas.

I don't know how you feel about this time of

year. You may be the Grinch like Pastor Todd,

and that's okay. That's okay. you may be someone

who just loves it. And here's what's fun about

this time of year, right? Is waking up and it's

kind of cold and you get a hot drink and you

can actually see the steam coming off your hot

drink and you get to sit and maybe grab a blanket

and get to read. Maybe you start your day with

reading, whatever that looks like. But there's

just something that you go, this feels good,

the glow of the Christmas tree, and it just feels

warm. We were created for this. There's those

kind of moments that this just feels good. Anybody

else? That feel? Okay. And then if that's not

your thing, you're like, I don't do that, then

some of you... It doesn't get better. Football

is at its best this time of year, right? Like

cold games where they're talking about last night

that the heaters went out on one side of the

field. And somebody's like, are we going to talk

about football every week? Why, yes, we are.

Until the Steelers are done, yes, we are. Or

maybe Hallmark. If football's not your thing,

then maybe Hallmark. And you just go, oh, it's

a good time of the year. And we were watching

one the other night, and I completely checked

out. And I looked at my wife and I go, I think

your cheese meter is broken. And I'm like, how

do you not see how cheesy this is? And yet it

just gives her the warm fuzzies that I guess

cold football gives me. I don't know. But I say

all that to say this. You guys, we're just normal

people. Right? Like if you're here and you go,

like sometimes we can make church this space

where you got to be something to walk through

the door. You got to clean up or act a certain

way or be at a certain level. I just need to

know we're as normal as it gets. I'm going to

go home and put sweats on after this and watch

football. That's what my plan is. And I say all

that to say, sometimes we can take ourselves

way too seriously. Sometimes we make this way

too hard. And I don't think it was meant to be

hard. I think it was meant to live in your own

skin and enjoy who God made you and enjoy the

things that God made you while enjoying God.

I think that's what this life is about. And I

would love to do this. So I'm going to take today.

And yes, it's a Sunday. Yes, it falls in the

year and it's in the calendar. However. Couple

of days from now, the hope is that this room

is packed full, not because we like to pack a

room, but because you invited the people that

God told you to invite. And so what I would love

to do is talk to you today like a coach. OK,

I would love to get you ready for what is coming.

And what I mean by that is. is there are certain

things we have planned, certain plays we have

running, and they are very, very intentional.

And I don't want you as a family member to miss

the intentionality that is there for you. And

for your guests. Now, if you have been tracking

through Advent, you have made a list. And that

list includes all the people that God has put

on your heart. You have checked it twice, meaning

you have talked to the Holy Spirit and you've

gone through. Some of you are going to pick out

who's naughty and nice. But you've made your

list and you've asked the Holy Spirit, am I missing

anybody? And then on top of that, you have week

two prayed. You were encouraged to pray over

those people. over the names that are there.

Please don't miss, because you made a list, the

list is people, people that Jesus died for. Don't

miss that this is just a church activity. It's

not a church activity. This is kingdom and eternity.

This matters. What you are doing matters. The

people that God has put in your life, they matter.

And so you've made your list. You've kind of

gone through that list. You prayed for them.

And then last week you were encouraged to invite

them, but you're not inviting them to an event.

You're inviting them to come with you to hear

some good news. Right? And so here's what's going

to happen. When they walk up on Christmas, the

first thing they're going to walk into, hopefully,

is a tree lot. Right? Why? Why a tree lot? Well,

Jesus died on a tree if you want to get spiritual.

Or we could just go, it feels like Christmas.

Why does it need to feel like Christmas? Because

people that are coming that you have invited,

just maybe, just maybe they are walking up to

a church and there is fear and trembling in them

walking up to a church. And you know what a tree

lot does? This is normal. I can relate to this.

And all of a sudden walls begin to what? Drop

just a little. They begin to relax a little.

Maybe you get a cup of coffee and they go, the

coffee's free. You guys just hand out coffee

and hot chocolate and cookies. Why? Yes, we do.

Why? Because you're a guest in our home. And

so we're going to treat you like a guest and

we're going to honor you. And so as they come

in, I'm not going to tell you what's happening

in here because I want it to be a surprise for

you too. But I can tell you this about in here,

what they will hear is good news. And the good

news, the good news hopefully is what they carry

out of here. We will do everything we can to

treat them kindly and well. We will do everything

we can to treat them like they deserve to be

treated. Now, when you leave here, everything

that has been created is intentional. And here's

what I mean. When you go out through these doors

and you go, there will be a bistro over here,

right? And when you go to the bistro, guess what?

You're going to get soup. And when you get soup,

you sit at a table. And when you sit at a table,

guess what happens? Conversation. Everything

has been created for you to slow down with who

God has put in your life so that you can relationally

talk to them and encourage them with the good

news. Ask them questions. And then. You might

get up and come back in here because there's

a photo op right outside these doors. And you

may go, well, I like the photo op because it's

for my family. Can I encourage you? This is not

about your family this year. Right? You got a

phone. You can get a picture anywhere. Get your

picture. The idea is this, that you would take

who came with you and you would stand in line.

What happens when you stand in line? You just

talk. And hopefully you talk about the good news

as you move along that line. Then you get in

the picture, invite them into your family picture,

create a memory, right? So that you can look

back, you can send it to them in January and

go, hey, it was so fun to have you. It was so

fun to get to join you and be with you. And so

now you're creating something that's larger than

just one moment. The hope is that if you go outside

and you're in this phase of life, right? You

got kids and your kids love throwing snowballs.

We've got a snowball arena. Why a snowball arena?

Because while the kids are throwing snowballs,

guess what the parents are doing? A lot of them

are just standing with who? With who they invited

and came along. And so now conversation is happening.

Can I help the gentleman in the room out? Gentlemen,

we do really good in conversation shoulder to

shoulder. We don't do real good when we have

to sit face to face, right? It's just a fact.

That's why football games, right? Why do dudes

like football games? We can sit here and look

at that and maybe we'll talk, right? The idea

of snowballs is dad, you get to talk. Moms will

naturally do it. Right? Your kid might be like

my kid. My kid loves animals. So we got the petting

zoo, right? You know what I'll get this year?

I will inevitably get some picture of my kid

holding some animal, normally a chicken, because

she loves the chickens. Right? But you know what

happens while she's playing with the chickens?

We stand and talk. We have meaningful conversation

with those we're with. And maybe the cookie decorating

that's happening. You know what happens with

the cookie decorating is dads sit down with their

kids and guess what they get to talk about? What

do you think about the good news? What do you

think about that? And it's happening with another

dad across the table that came because they were

invited by the other dad. And now you've got

this conversation. You guys, you realize everything

is intended and has been built intentionally

for you to have meaningful conversation with

those that God has put in your life. This is

just a conversation starter. What happens in

this room, it's just to start a conversation

around the good news of the person of Jesus Christ

in a way that hopefully, hopefully hits their

soul that you then can follow up and walk alongside

them with. It's beautiful. You have such a gift.

I will give you a warning if you show up and

you do not have a guest and you are not a guest.

Okay, so if you're here and you're like, John,

I'm just checking this out. You are welcome.

Come take a place. You're a guest. We love you.

If you are part of the family and you go, I am

part of the Heights family and you do not bring

a guest, then be ready for Pastor Ben or myself

to come out here and go, hey, we need you to

get up and give your seat. We need you to go

over to Overflow in H2, please. Why? Because

our guests deserve the best seats. And we're

not going to be people that when we invite you

to our home, we don't give you a seat. And so

it may mean that some of you, and I'm telling

you now so you don't send me an email after because

you're offended that you got asked to get up.

Right? This is about our community and who God

is doing and them hearing the good news of Jesus

because it matters more than you having a comfy

seat. It matters, church. And so everything that's

been created is wrapped around this idea of good

news and those that are in your life hearing

it. And today, I would love to share with you

some of the hopes when it comes to good news,

some of the hopes that we are kind of leaning

on and asking God to provide for people this

Christmas. And so in Luke chapter one and verse

five, So Luke begins the Christmas narrative,

and it's not with Jesus. It's not where you would

maybe expect the Christmas narrative to begin.

He begins this way. In the time of Herod, king

of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah

who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah.

His wife Elizabeth was also a descendant. So

you have Zechariah and you have Elizabeth, and

what we're told about them is that they have

prestige in their lineage. They are anchored

into, both sides are anchored into the priestly

line, which means that any offspring of theirs

would be within the priestly line. But we're

being told right up front, kind of their pedigree,

if you like, within the religious system. And

then verse 6 says this. Both of them were righteous

in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's

commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were

childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive.

And they were both very old. Okay. There are

some... Things within what we just read that

go together. And there's some things that need

an and to join them. So righteous, that they

had right standing before God, that they had

right action before God that led to right standing.

It says that they were righteous. And you could

put a plus sign, also blameless. Meaning they

were so righteous and their actions were so right

that you couldn't blame them. or call against

them to their account. So they are above reproach

would be another way to say it within scripture.

They are above the ability for somebody to come

and say, well, wait a minute. And then you have

an and. So they are righteous plus blameless

and unable to have children. Barren. And that

may not seem like a big deal to us, but in this

culture at this time, if you did the right things,

the thought was that if you are good, God blesses

those who are good. And to not have children

was extremely shameful in this context, like

God was punishing you in this context. So what

you have is you have righteous and blameless

don't equal being barren. You instantly have

provided within the story attention. You have

people doing the right thing, but God not showing

up the way he would be expected. Isn't it interesting?

We wouldn't ever hold to that because we know

things like grace, but how many times we are

doing the right thing and we're frustrated because

we feel like God is not doing, right? There's

a tension that's created. And it says, once when

Zechariah's division was on duty, he was serving

as a priest before God. Okay, I just want to

pause for a second. It says they were very old.

Okay, now when the Bible emphasizes very, I don't

know what age category that puts them in, but

it's very. They are aged. And what I want to

draw attention to is this. That if we humanize

the story, right? That they prayed for a child

when they were young. And when they were a little

bit older, they're still praying for a child.

And when they're a little bit older, they're

still praying for a child. At what point is it

realistic to say that they had... They were waiting

now beyond what was hopeful. At what point is

it okay to say that the tension that's now entered

in is that they're waiting to the point where

they've lost hope. Why? Because it physically

doesn't make any sense. Logically, it doesn't

make sense. And they've now waited past the point

of hope. And the reason I pause here is because

the next thing we read is once when Zechariah's

division was on duty, he was serving as a priest

before God. Wait. Okay, so quick catch up on

the religious system. It was an amazing machine

that ran. It was, there was believed at this

point in time, there was 20 ,000 priests and

the 20 ,000 priests were on a rotation. And so

there was 24 divisions. So that meant that twice

a year, one week at a time, as a priest, you

would go and serve in the temple and think like

a firehouse, right? Like that was your shift.

That week was your shift. You would sleep there,

right? You would be there the whole week and

then you would go home after. Well, when his

division, so his division is on duty and it says

that Zechariah was serving in the temple. Why

is that such a big deal? Because we just learned

that he's waiting beyond what? Hope. There's

disappointment. There's discouragement. There's

pain. There's God, this didn't work out like

I thought it would. There's God, you haven't

answered prayer. And yet he's still showing up

and what? Serving. He's serving in the midst

of the pain. His own pain wasn't a reason not

to serve and honor God. Isn't it interesting

that we're so weak culturally? We cancel people

for the quickest thing. We break relationships

for the slightest thing. And yet what we see

in scripture is I'm still going to show up and

serve even though I think God has wronged me.

Even though God has disappointed me. Even though

God hasn't maybe come through how I thought he

would. I'm still going to show up and I'm going

to serve. He was chosen, verse nine, he was chosen.

So Zechariah is chosen by Lot, according to the

custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple

of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time

for the burning of incense came, all the worshipers,

all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.

Okay, so he's now in the inner part of the temple.

So there was the Holy of Holies where God existed.

There was a big curtain that divided it. Then

there was another room kind of built around those.

He's in that. And the altar of incense is close

to where the very presence of God is. He's been

drawn by Lot. This is once in a lifetime, Zechariah,

maybe twice that you get to go and have the privilege

of burning incense that close to the presence

of God. There's a whole back narrative. You can

read the Old Testament of God taking up his dwelling

within the temple and why they believe that he

was there in person. And so now he is that close.

closest you can get to the presence of God. He

is there burning incense. Why is this so significant?

Because he is carrying into that space all of

his unanswered prayer. And what is burning incense?

If you've been around the church, we sing that

song, night and day, day and night, night and

day, let incense arise, right? The prayers of

his people arise. Incense is deeply connected

to prayers. What is he doing with the burning

of incense? It is offering up the prayers of

the people before the very presence of God. That

the aroma would fill the very presence of God.

So with his own unanswered prayers, he is carrying

the prayers of all the people outside. You feel

the tension in the story? All right, maybe you

can relate. I've got unanswered prayers, but

I'll pray for you. I've got unanswered prayers,

but I'll choose to ask God to answer yours. It's

a beautiful testimony, but at the same time,

it really captures this word hope. It really

brings into what hope actually means. In the

Old Testament, there's... A Hebrew word that

is used for hope in multiple ways. We were in

our teaching prep this weekend. Those of you

that know Nathan, Nathan's amazing. He works

with elements, just phenomenal. He goes, hey,

that reminds me, I heard this somewhere. And

so he sent me the audio and I got to listen to

it, explaining this word hope. And the word hope,

the way it was used was in the story in Isaiah

chapter five. And it's a vineyard and God is

planting a vineyard. And then there's a moment

when God goes within the vineyard. He goes, I

planted the vineyard. Everything is in place

for fruit to grow, right? And he's talking about

the nation of Israel. I planted this. It's a

picture of the nation of Israel. I planted you,

Israel, and I'm just waiting for the fruit, right?

And that word, that word that is used when it

says that God planted and then he kavod is the

word that's used. Now the word kavod, in that

sense, is he is looking for, waiting for, anticipating,

he is expecting fruit. And it says what he got

from the nation of Israel was stinky grapes.

He compared them to stinky grapes, like the fruit

just was not good. But it says that he kavod,

he did everything and then he waited and he looked

and he had anticipation. Now the word Kavah is

also used in Psalm 25, that no one who kavahs

on the Lord will be put to shame. The word kavah

in that sense, right? Like no one who hopes,

no one who waits on the Lord will be put to shame.

So there's this word kavah in the Hebrew language,

and it's one of the words that's used and translated

as hope. Now, what's interesting about the word

kavah is it comes from the root word kav. Now,

you may be like, this is way too technical. Stay

with me. It's worth it. I promise. We'll get

back to football in just a second. Okay. Kav,

which is the root word, is a cord that measures.

Okay, so you think about a cord that measures,

right? Like you have, you ever seen the Olympics

where they roll out the string, roll out the

tape to measure how far the disc is thrown, right?

Like it's that idea. It's a large cord that's

rolled that when unrolled, it's designed to measure.

Maybe a simpler sense, but if you are into football,

maybe and you're watching football. On the sidelines,

they have what? They have the yardage marker,

and they're trying to make it 10 yards. Now,

the person almost makes the first down. They

don't do it anymore because they moved the digital.

Something was lost in that, but that's okay,

right? What happens is those guys take the yardage

markers, and they do what? They go out on the

field, put it down, and what happens on the other

side? Coach, what happens? They measure, but

what do they have to do with the chains? Stretch

it out. Kav is a cord that measures. Tu kavah,

which is what the vineyard owner did. The vineyard

owner kavahed. He looked, waited, anticipated.

He stretched out. And there's tension. You cannot

take the cord to measure without what? Stretching

it out and putting tension. And the key to the

word kavah is that if you are going to have hope,

you have to have tension. It's in the tension

when you think it's going to snap. That's what

it means to hope is that I wait on God. And the

tension has to be present. The anticipation,

the waiting and expectation, that's what it means

to hope, which is why the tension here in the

story is so significant, because the tension

is all wrapped up in hope. I have my own answer

prayer, and I'm praying for yours to be answered.

Then the angel of the Lord appeared, verse 11,

then the angel of the Lord appeared to him. Standing

at the right side of the altar of incense, when

Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped

with fear. But the angel said to him, do not

be afraid, Zechariah, your prayer has been heard.

What was that? Your prayer has what? Huh. Huh.

Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son. and

you are to call him John. Those of you that are

coming to the Christmas services, remember this

guy, okay? That's the only clue you're getting.

He will be a joy and delight to you, and many

will rejoice because of his birth. He will be

great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to

take wine or other fermented drink, and he will

be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he

is born. He will bring... back many of the people

of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will

go on before the Lord in the spirit and the power

of Elijah, who was a great prophet, to turn the

hearts of the parents to their children and to

the disobedient, to the wisdom of the righteous,

to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

Okay, 400 years of silence. And here's the first

breakthrough right here. 400 years of silence.

And a prayer that was offered by two parents

that they thought went unanswered, that they

had all this tension around, that they're holding

hope, but they're losing hope because they're

getting beyond what's logical. And in the midst

of all that, God's timing, that it breaks through.

And then any parents in the room that if God

showed up and they go, hey, your kid will be

a joy and a delight. You're like, that's enough.

I don't need the rest. I'll stop there. Many

will rejoice because of your kid's birth. He

will be great in the sight of the Lord. He will

be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he

is born. He will prepare a people, make them

ready for the Lord. Wow, you would go as a parent,

you're like, this is more than I ever could have

prayed. This is more than I ever could have imagined.

And that's our God. You need to see the picture

of who our God is. This is how he works. As he

will always do more than you could ever imagine

in the midst of your tension and your hope. In

the midst of being pulled so tight that you're

like, I think it's going to snap at the weakest

point. Zechariah asked the angel, how can I be

sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is

well along in years. He's also a wise man. For

all of the rest of human history, his words got

logged out. How do you like that, guys? I'm like,

dear God, please no. Don't record my words for

this long. The angel said to him, I am Gabriel.

I stand in the presence of God and have been

sent to speak to you and tell you this good news.

This is good news. I'm here to tell you this

good news. And now you will be silent and not

able to speak until the day this happens because

you did not believe my words, which will come

true at their appointed time. It's interesting.

We don't have time for it here, but there's a

whole thing. I kind of went down this rabbit

hole this week. It kind of feels like he gets

put in timeout, right? It kind of feels like,

it kind of feels like, wait, so Gabriel shows

up and I don't know about you, I would be scared.

I'm all in on the scared part. I'm all in on

the angel telling me, do not fear, which I'm

like, I don't think that would help me, but thank

you, you know? But at what point did you miss

the glowing white levitating off the ground?

Like, at what point did you miss that, Zechariah,

that you're like, I don't know, right? But it

kind of feels like a timeout. But here's my question.

Is it actually a gift? Is it actually a gift?

And what I mean by that, God makes them silent.

What do we do in silence? We have to go before

God with all of our concerns and all of our worries

and all of our, like when we get silent before

God, solitude is a gift that we are given. Silence

is a gift. When we get silent before the Lord,

something special happens within our soul. And

I think it's interesting that maybe this was

the greatest gift God could have given him. So

let his soul catch up to what God is doing in

his life. Meanwhile, the people were waiting

for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so

long in the temple. There's something beautiful

right here. Meanwhile, the people were waiting.

Okay, so waiting takes time. So they have time

on their hands. They're like, huh, this is weird.

My prayers normally done by now. In the waiting,

they're forced to wonder, right? You know one

of the lost arts of our culture? Wondering. We

don't wonder anymore. What do I mean? I got a

14 -year -old. You know what a 14 -year -old

does if I say something they don't know? Hey,

Siri. Hey, chat. But what happens in waiting,

waiting creates space for wonder. Waiting creates

space for you to take to the almighty, for you

to take to your neighbor and go, hey, I don't

know about this. What do you think about this?

And it's interesting that we've lost the art

of wonder and yet we were made to wonder. Do

you know they've done scientific research on

the brain and that the brain is struggling and

becoming dull in certain parts of the brain because

we don't wonder anymore? That's crazy. You were

made to sit in attention going, I don't know.

And instead, where are we at right now? You whip

out your phone, chat GPT, chat GPT gives you

an answer that could be right, maybe. You don't

know. And you're like, I got the answer. I know

now I don't have to wonder no more. And I think

we've lost something because there's value to

the sitting and the wondering. Mary finds out

that she's pregnant with Jesus. And what does

she do? She treasures them. She ponders on them.

She wonders about them. I mean, can you imagine

the questions Mary had? Hey, Siri. Can a virgin

be pregnant? And Siri goes, only by God. I don't

know where that came from. Verse 22. When he

came out, he could not speak to them. They realized

he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept

making signs to them, but remained unable to

speak. When his time of service was completed,

he returned home. What do you think he did when

he got home? What do you think he did? Elizabeth's

waiting. Oh, Elizabeth, the journey was so long

today. I don't know. It's just... How's work?

Oh, it's fine. An angel showed up. No. How do

you think he returned home? Elizabeth! You got

to hear this! And what did he share? He shared

good news that he was given. Now, I want to give

you four things because it's important to our...

Christmas Eve and Eve gatherings. Four things

about good news that are true. He returns home.

After this, his wife, Elizabeth, became pregnant.

She became pregnant. You know what it confirmed

for her? That God hears. The good news confirmed,

it declared to Elizabeth, God hears me. What

the good news does is it confirms that God hears

us, right? When I share with you a story of good

news about healing for somebody, right? Because

they prayed and gathered and God answered the

prayer. All of a sudden you go, hey, good news

is telling me that if he can hear your prayers,

then maybe he's hearing mine. It reminds us that

God hears. I just need you to know today, if

you're sitting in the tension, I get it. I've

got unanswered prayer in my life. That I long

for God to answer. The way I want him to answer,

by the way. I long for him to answer. And he

hasn't. So when I hear this, I go, oh, he hears

me though. He hears me. The next thing, she became

pregnant, and for five months, she remained in

seclusion. Whole message about remaining in seclusion.

Anyways, 25. The Lord has done this for me, she

said. In these days, he has shown his favor and

taken away my disgrace. The Lord has done this

for me. What is she saying? The Lord sees me,

and he's working on my behalf. The Lord sees

me. I don't know where you are today. I don't

know how far you think you are away from God.

I don't know how given up of hope you are. I

don't know how far past hope you are. I don't

know what struggles you have. I don't know how

dark it is for you, but I need you to know this,

that God sees you today. The good news declares

it. The good news declares that he sees every

tear you cry, every moment your mind wanders,

he sees you. And then the next part, she says,

in these days, he has shown his favor. That word

favor is grace, right? It's a reminder that God,

good news reminds us that God is for us. You

know, God's for you today. I don't mean just,

I don't just mean like, I kind of like that person.

He is for you and for your good. And he is working

on your behalf right now, even though you can't

see it or feel it. Right, there's a story after

story after story in the Bible, right, in the

scriptures that we get. There's story after story

after story in our church family of what? Of

people who go, man, I did not deserve this, but

by grace, I got it. Why? Because God's for you.

And his grace will not run out. There is a cross

that is stained red and an empty tomb for all

of eternity that proves that God is for you today.

And I don't care how bad you think you are. I

know how good God is. And his good is always

better than your bad. So he wins. His grace doesn't

run out. And he has taken away my disgrace among

the people. End of the story is found in verse

39. Mary finds out she's pregnant. At that time,

Mary got ready and hurried. If you're not sure

who Mary is, let me catch you up. Mother of Jesus.

There we go. At that time, Mary, no, I'm being

serious. Like sometimes we throw out names and

we don't know who they are. At that time, Mary,

who was pregnant with Jesus, got ready and hurried

to a town in the hill country of Judea where

she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth.

When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby

leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with

the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice, she exclaimed,

blessed, blessed. Are you among women? And blessed

is the child you will bear. But why am I so favored?

Why am I so covered in grace that the mother

of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the

sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby

in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who

believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises

to her. Verse 41 captured this part. was filled.

When the greeting happened, Elizabeth was filled

with the Holy Spirit. What good news tells us,

what good news reminds us, is that God is near.

God's near. How near? That she is filled with

the Holy Spirit, which means that she is filled

with God. Right? That's how close, that the very

breath, it's a reminder. That how close does

God want to get? How close the nearness of God

in Christmas? We see it because he becomes a

baby. It gets even better because as you follow

scriptures, it ends up with God living in you.

And that's the hope of glory, right? That God

would live in you and be so close as your breath

today. Good news reminds us that he is near.

Now, okay, God hears. That's what good news does.

It declares to us that God hears us. Good news

declares that he sees you today. That you're

not just in a crowd. You're not just lost. Good

news declares that he is for us today. And good

news reminds us he is near today. So here's my

question for you. Remember, I'm coaching you

today. Who in your life Who in your life? Holy

Spirit, put names on our mind right now. Who

in your life needs to know that God hears them

today? Who in your life needs to know that God

sees them today? Who in your life needs to know

that God is for them today? And who in your life

today needs to know that God is near? If anyone

came to mind, You need to pick up an invitation

and on your way out, write their name. Will you

come to hear some good news? Why? Because we

know that the good news will what? Let them know

he hears them, he sees them, he's for them, and

he's near them. And so you're on mission, church,

because Christmas is not about us. It's not about

us. We've got a kingdom mission in front of us.

and people that need good news in our community.

And we have the privilege by a simple invite

of going, will you come hear some good news?

And would you be reminded of those things? Would

you maybe see them for the first time? And so

who is it that God put on your mind? Let me pray

for you. God, we thank you today for Jesus. We

thank you for the good news of Jesus. We thank

you for the Savior, our Savior. God, we are grateful

people. God, out of our gratitude, Holy Spirit,

would you bring faces and names to mind? Holy

Spirit, would you give us courage to step out

and invite somebody to come along with us to

hear the good news of Jesus? You are the one

who changes everything. through the power of

your death and burial and resurrection. And so

we thank you for hearing us. We thank you for

seeing us. We thank you for being for us. We

thank you that you are near as our breath today.

We are grateful people and everybody said, amen.