Hope Foretold: God’s Plan from the Beginning | Pastor Adam Mesa

Amen. Well, so good to see everybody on this Sunday morning.

Can you do me a favorite? Can you welcome all

of our campuses? Can you welcome Pomona, Alameda? We got

Corona not launched yet, but I know watching online. We

have some vision meetings this afternoon, so I want to

encourage you. If you're interested in Corona, and if you're

interested in Newport campus, then feel free after service you

could talk to some of our team. But Corona's meeting

in our Faith Journey room after second service, and our

Newport team is going to be meeting at our HQ

offices across the street after service. So you have any

interest in any of those, you can hang out after second service.

If you have your Bible, would you turn to Galatians

chapter four? Hold your finger there Galatious chapter four. We

won't go there yet, team, But first of all, I

want to encourage you. This church is thirty one years old.

I've heard Pastor diego for thirty one years during the

Christmas season say this. Remember during the Christmas season, it's

not your birth. We're celebrating, okay, And so before you

prioritize everything else in life, make sure you build in

your schedule. How am I worshiping and encountering the Lord

this season? How am I celebrating the Birth of Jesus

Because it's very quick and easy to get on Amazon.

Make sure we got the last minute Christmas presents that

niece you forgot about in Idaho that you have to

send something to, whatever it is, those are all going

to be fun and exciting times. But also it's a

time if make sure if you're in the area to

come on Christmas Eve at any of our campuses, because

it's a time where we focus on what truly matters,

the greatest gift of all, which is our Savior that

was born, and so we would love to see you

during our holiday services at this time. Also, I just

want to thank you, and I just want to celebrate

what God has done. A couple weeks ago, we had

Vision Sunday and we shared that as a church, anyone

that was wanting to to give to feed children across

the world through Convoy of Hope, we shared about something

called one Day of Hope where we would give one

day's wage, one hour wage, whatever it is that you

can afford to feed children in poverty at orphanages across

the globe, and so I just want to say thank

you so much on behalf of Patriot we're going to

be sending. I have it up on a screen over

forty eight thousand dollars. Forty eight four hundred and thirty

five dollars is going to go to one day to

feed impoverished children all across the globe. Thank you so

much for being a generous church. And this weekend is

the last weekend that will leave it open. Should anyone

want to give towards that after this weekend, it won't

be on our screen anymore, but you can always go

to Convoy of Hope's website and give directly if the

Lord ever prompts it on your heart. But thank you

so much for being a generous church. God is pleased

with what you do, with what you do with your resources.

And as a church, we fed families locally with family

to family, three thousand families, thirty one hundred families to

be exact. And then also we have begun to feed

the nations as well, So thank you so much for

doing that. Well, we're in Galatians chapter four. We're starting

a series called Hope through the Ages. It doesn't matter

what generation It doesn't matter what century, what era, it

is always relevant to talk about the greatest hope of

all and his name is Jesus. And so during this

month we're going to be talking about Hope through the ages.

And it's always a great time during the Christmas season

to refocus on what things are really about and what

life is really about. That God came down to earth

to redeem humanity. That's how much he loves us. And

so if you're ready for the Word, would you do

me a favor? Would you stand for the honor of

reading God's word today? You may be new to Patriot,

just visiting. We stand because the Word of God is alive,

it's active, and it's sharper than any two edged sword.

And so with that type of power, why not stand

in honor when the Word is read. Here's what the

Word of God says, just three verses today. It says this,

but when the fullness of time had come, God sent

forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law,

in other words, born Jewish, to redeem those who were

under the law, so that we may receive adoption as sons,

you and I who aren't under the law, who aren't Jewish,

he says, and because you are sons, you can also

fill daughters in there. God has sent the spirit of

his son into our hearts, crying Abbah, Father. So you

are no longer a slave, a slave to what, a

slave to sin, but a son, and if a son,

then an heir through God, you may be seated. Amen. Man,

that's just powerful. I love that right away. In Galatians,

he makes it abundantly clear. The apostle Paul makes it

abundantly clear that you and I are no longer under

the law because Jesus himself has fulfilled the law. And

when you say yes to Jesus, you receive an adoption

in not just the family of God, but to be

an heir of God. It's not like you've been adopted

into God's house and been given a closet. You've been

given access to the kingdom, access to the whole house.

God didn't say, oh, because you're not Jewish, or because

you're not this, or you're not that, you can come in,

but we have a back house for you that you

can hang out in. No, you have full rights and

privileges as any son and daughter would have. That's a great,

great thing about what Christmas is about its reminding ourselves

that you have access to God. But not just access

through a prayer, not just access through burning a crystal

or an incense or anything like that. You have access

through His son Jesus. And it's through the birth of

Jesus that you and I have the full rights privileges

access to the heavenly Father, not because of anything you

or I did. It's because of everything that Jesus has done.

That's what Christmas is about. It's not setting ourselves on

a mirror and looking at ourselves. It's about setting our

eyes on Jesus, the light of the world, the hope

of humanity. That's what hope through the ages is. And

every Christmas season people search for hope. They look for

it in family gatherings, they look for it in traditions

and gifts or closing out a long year. But Christmas

is not the story of people reaching up trying to

find God. Christmas is the story of God reaching down

to us. And a lot of times during Christmas you'll

hear that people say, Oh, I'm interested in Christmas, are

going to church because I'm interested in finding God. No,

the reality is you don't have to find God. He's available,

He's reached himself down. It's not about finding. It's about

now deciding to make God your lord and savior. It's

about deciding to receive Jesus, God's son into your life.

He's there and he's available. Timothy Keller, the Great Pastor,

said it like this. Christmas means that we are so

lost and so unable to save ourselves that nothing less

than the birth of the Son of God himself could

save us. That's what the Christmas season is all about.

And for us we see and we look at Christmas.

Christmas is not God reacting to humanity. Christmas is god

fulfilling and Christmas is the story of horpefuotold. So just

for a few moments what we read in Galatians, I

want to talk to you a little bit today about

God showing us that hope has been foretold. It's very

easy to think that through the Christmas story there was

thousands of years of humanity and God thinks to himself, Oh, no,

we did it wrong. Hurry up, let's try to find

a fix. Jesus, you're part of the Trinity. Are you

willing to go down there and save them? Now? The

story of Christmas is that God has had a plan

all along. The beauty about God having a plan all

alone means that there are no mistakes, no mishaps, and

no heirs. It means that God can take any moment,

any failure, any disconnection, and he can redeem it. That's

what the story of Christmas about. So if you take notes,

I just want us to see. The first aspect is this.

We see that when God knew what he was doing,

God's promise was pronounced. God made a pronouncement at the

foundation of the world. When Adam and Eve sinned, God

already knew that Jesus was gonna redeem humanity. It was

pronounced from the beginning. It wasn't like God was like, Okay,

Adam and Eve, you've sinned. You gotta leave the garden,

and you guys gotta figure things out for the next

couple thousand years. And then when I can figure out

what to do with you guys, then I'll let you

guys know. No, God from the moment said there is

gonna be a moment where I Am going to redeem

humanity and I'm gonna crush the head of this serpent

that deceived you. He says, it. I want you to

see in Genesis, chapter three, verse fourteen to fifteen, look

what the word says. It says the Lord said to

the serpent, oh, oh, because you have done this, cursed

are you above all livestock and above all beasts of

the field. On your belly you shall go, and dust

you shall eat all the days of your life. I

will put enmity between you and the woman, and between

your offspring and her offspring. So he's talking about the

demonic things. He's talking about the syntonic things. He says,

there's gonna be an attempt that you're gonna make on humanity,

and you're gonna try to make it towards Eve's children.

But here's what he says. But he says, there will

be a seed and he will bruise your head, and

you will try to bruise his heel. This is immediately

a picture of the cross. He says, there's gonna be

in a moment where Satan is gonna try to take

Jesus's life, and he he does succeed, He bruises his heel.

Jesus goes to the cross and he dies. But what

he didn't know that there was a plan that three

days later there would be a resurrection of freedom. What

Satan didn't know is that through the death of Jesus,

he would bear the sin of all the world and

redeem us. And then later on the word of God says,

and then what will happen is Jesus will crush the

head of Satan. And that's when we await for Jesus

return to this day where God will finally put to

death all the misdeeds of Satan and the enemy. But

here's the thing. Through Jesus, you and I have access

to God. This is a promise that God knew the

day that they sin, the day that Adam and Eve sinned,

God already knew. Like, have you ever made a promise

and struggled to keep it? Before? I know? I have.

I've made promises, promises to my wife. I've made promises

to my kids, and I feel terrible at times when

I can't live up to those promises. I grew up

as a child and there were things that I would

tell my dad oftentimes if he said, hey, you gotta

wait a little longer for this, or this isn't gonna happen.

The famous words of any child is this, but you promised.

You see, we don't always realize how powerful words are.

You know, we think that actions are powerful, but your

words are pretty powerful too. When you say that you're

gonna be somewhere at a certain time and you're not there,

that's pretty powerful. When you say that you're gonna do

something for a friend and you don't do it, that's

pretty powerful. When your wife says that I need a

date night and you say, let's do it this Friday,

and then Friday comes and she says, where are we

going and you say, I don't know. Not a big

deal to me. That's a powerful moment. Or on the verse. Wives,

if you tell your husband something's gonna happen Friday night

and he's waiting and you say you have a headache,

that's powerful. You made a promise and we're looking for

you to keep your promises. Words they matter, and words

affect people. You can build people up, you can tear

people down. Don't look at anyone today, I see some

people are some people were nudging somebody. Why I said that?

But promises and words they're powerful. And your words can

make things and your words can break things. And I

think to myself, a couple months ago in the summer,

we were going on family vacation, me Ashley and our

two sons, Matthias, and we were here at the Ontario Airport.

And I'm not going to say the airline in any way,

but there was an airline that we were flying with.

And you've noticed nowadays like we just automated everything and

so like no human wants to be attached to anything.

And so you know, you go to these airlines and

once upon a time you'd have fifteen twenty airline workers

that get you your ticket. Now there's fifteen twenty computers

and you got to type in your confirmation code, print

the ticket, put the ticket on yourself. Half the time

we don't even know. Like one day I bought because

I had I had some check in baggages on a

different airline, and the computer was telling me I had

to buy the check in baggages. And then so I

spent three hundred dollars buying checked in baggages. And I

went to the front and they said, oh, your ticket

included check baggages. I thought, well, tell the computer that

not me. So then we had to deal the whole thing.

So we're there and all these kiosks are open, so

there's twelve kiosks open. But for some reason, this worker

wanted us to wait in line one at a time

because she wanted to control how we were putting the

tickets on our bags and all that stuff like that.

And so Ashley and the kids they're waiting off to

the side and she can hear me in ears distance,

and I walk up and the worker says, this, please

get in line in order to get your tags and

check in for your flight. So what do I do?

The person in front of me is standing right here.

The kiosks are over here, but the person in the

front of the line is right here. So what do

I do? I stand behind them like this and the

woman goes, sir, stand in line. I said, That's what

I'm doing. And she says, where's the kiosk? But the

person's body was faced this way. I said, the kiosk

is over there, but I'm standing in line, and she goes,

did you go to school? Do you not know what

a line is? Oh? I'm like, it is four a

m And I got a four year old and a

seven year old here, and no, you know, you guys

know what I'm gonna say. And I got a black wife.

So I'm trying to protect you right now, like let's

calm down, hold on, and he and there's context and

so and so I tell her I'm standing in line,

and she goes, no, look at the kiosk and she

comes and she grabs my body and says, move here.

This is what a line is now at this point, see,

I'm you know, I know we have co lead pastor,

but that's more so so that Ashley can pastor the

women and stuff like that, Like, you know, Ashley, like,

I'm the one who's like I went to seminary and

I'm more date, like I have more than I got

to live up to her. She takes that title off

very fast at times. Me. I maintained that at all times,

I'm always aware she's not. And she Ashley now goes

Adam step aside. I was like, yes, ma'am, yes, ma'am.

And she says, my husband's not dumb, he's not an idiot,

and I'm like, thanks, maam, I don't think I am

said he did exactly what's all And then they had

a little bit of a friendly conversation, not an altercation.

It was what we would say is an edification moment,

and the woman said, I'm sorry. I didn't mean a

this said no, you called him dumb. You'd say he

didn't know what a line. He didn't know this, he

didn't know that. Now two things happen. Number One, one

person's words teared me down, and another person's words gave

me hope. My husband ain't this Michael, thank you? At

least someone don't think so. And in that moment, I

could have been caught up with the negative words or

I could have been filled with the words of hope.

I could have said, this person who doesn't know me

has affected me more than a person who does know me.

And you see, when Christmas season comes, it is not

a time where you and I are to look at

our brokenness, when you and I are to look at

our family drama, where you and I are to look

at our loneliness. The Christmas season is a season where

set this genesis God has said, I have a plan

for your life. I have a plan for humanity. It's

not as dark as it seems. It's not as quiet

as it seems. The reality is is it's bright. And

that's why Jesus is called the light of the world.

And the hope of the world, because there is not

a darkness that's dark enough that can hide this hope.

And so during the Christmas season, we can look at

what we see in the surroundings of the world, or

we can say, I see in my Bible. I see

in the word of God that God has had a plan,

and I see that God's words are bigger than any

person's word. Even if you think someone knows you, if

their words are tearing you down, they don't know you

well enough. And God's word always says something greater. That's

what this is. We see in the Fall in Genesis

that humanity falls, shame enters, the garden has broken, Adam

and Eve hide. Yet the first word God speaks after

the fall are not words of destruction. They're words of hope.

It's Adam and Eve, I know you've sinned. There's now

going to be a separation between us, but it won't

last forever. And through you there will be a child.

There will be a seed that will put to death

the misdeeds of the enemy. See, God has known what

he's doing from the beginning. You see. Charles Furgeon says

it like this. The Bible is a story of two seeds,

the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman.

And the whole victory of redemption belongs to the seed

of the woman. That's who Jesus is. Jesus is the

one who has walked in victory. You see in the

moment in Genesis, we see God speaks hope where we

expect judgment. That's his first words after he says why

are you naked? You would think he would say, what

do you doing this? And that just start tearing him down,

But he says, Hey, I got hope for you guys.

There's going to be a plan through this circumstance. And see,

the second thought I want to share with you all

today is not only do we see in the Book

of Genesis that the promise the promise was pronounced, we

see that the promise is preserved all through human history.

It's not like God made a promise and then all

of a sudden he doesn't show up again until the

Book of Matthew. That's not what happened. If you read

your Bible from Genesis, the rest of the Bible from

Genesis to Malachi, then going into Matthew, you see that

there's this scarlet thread that God has been preserving a

moment so Jesus can be born. And God was showing

humanity that our works cannot save us. God gives Israel

the law, and the purpose of the law is no

matter how good you think you are, you cannot attain perfection,

but you can receive a perfect savior. That's what the

Gospel shows us, and that's what history shows us. Someone

could argue, well, if you have Adam and Eve, how

come the next child they birth couldn't have been the Messiah. Well,

they wouldn't have learned what that brokenness, what that sin

actually had entailed. They wouldn't have known that God truly

was a savior. But God was also showing humanity that

he has a purpose. You see Genesis to Isaiah, God

weaves the promise of Jesus through the entire story of Scripture.

To Abraham, he tells, Abraham, through your seed, all nations

will be blessed. To David, he says, your throne will

last forever. And then to Isaiah the prophet, he says,

unto us, a child is born. You see all through scripture,

we see that God has weaved this scarlet thread through us.

The New Testament is hidden in the Old and the

Old Testament is revealed in the New Testament. That's what

Saint Augustine had said. Have you ever been given Does

your family at all have a family heirloom? By chance?

Anyone have a fan, maybe a necklace, maybe a watch,

maybe some type of be a cool that was passed down.

Maybe it's a letter, a scarf, whatever it is. But

families often have family heirlooms. Maybe it's a chair, a couch,

it was grandma's, it was great grandma. Some of you

may have a family heirloom who's lasted hundreds of years.

And see, for me, I don't necessarily have a family heirloom,

but I do have something that probably means one of

the most things to me. And when I was younger,

when I was about eight years old, for Christmas my

older brothers. So I have one brother that's two years

older than me, and then I have Nathan who's five

years older than me. And so Nathan being much older

than me, you know, he's very old at this point.

You know, he's very very old, but he's five years

older than me. So I remember was a big deal

was for their birthdays or Christmas. My grandpa my dad's dad,

and we called him Papa Diego. And so now my

dad's called Papa Diego, and his dad, who's still with us,

is just old Papa because he's earned the old Papa,

you know. And so what happens is is my brothers

had gotten these bibles when they were teenagers for Christmas,

and like eight years old, I would tell my grandpa

I want a Bible. I want a Bible, and he'd

say things like, you're not ready. Maybe when you get older,

whatever it is. And I had like a little children's Bible,

but my brothers had like a real proper adult Bible,

and I really wanted one, and he said, not until

you're thirteen. Not until you're thirteen. And so what happens

is two years earlier, in two thousand and one, I

opened up a gift from him on Christmas and he

gave me this Bible right here. I still have this

to this day, over twenty years later. And here's what

it says. On the front page. It says given to

Adam Mesa, given by Grandpa Diego. Date because it was

after Christmas. I didn't see him on Christmas Day, February

eighteen or January. Yeah, February eighteenth, two thousand and one,

says it right there, and I Bill at this age

have the first Bible that I was given over twenty

years ago. I've been given a lot of gifts over

my life, especially for past twenty years. I've been given

a lot of gifts. I've been given a lot of

gifts from my parents. I've been a lot of gifts

from my wife, and honestly, probably majority of those. If

you ask me where they're at, my answer would be,

I have no idea. I have no idea, but for this,

this is something that more than likely I will carry

for the rest of my life. I've had this since

I was eleven years old. This is something that will

go with me everywhere that I go, and probably it'll

be passed down to someone in my family one day,

as will the Bibles of my father and anything that

my grandfather has. Why do I say that, because there

are some things that are given to you that honestly

you forget about. And there are other things that you're

given that you cherish, that you hold on to, that

you pass down to the next generation, that you give

to Why Because they meant something to you, and you

see the Christmas story is the story of God preserving

the greatest family heirloom that could ever happen. You see,

when you celebrate Christmas, you're not just celebrating Christmas and

honoring Jesus's birth for yourself or for your family. You

are participating in God's family heirloom that he has preserved

since the beginning of humanity. It is a promise that

He has given. It's a promise through Adam and Eve

he had given. It's a promise he had given to Abraham.

It's a promise he had given to David. It's a

promise that he spoke through Isaiah, and then it's a

promise that he spoke through Mary. And then what happens

is is you and I to this day we carry

this heirloom named Jesus the Light of the World. And

it's just something's passed by a Bible that's passed. It's

passed in the message of hope. And a lot of

times we're always looking for the material things that we want,

the material thing that we need, the material things that

we want to pass down. But the greatest heirloom you

could ever pass down to the next generation is knowing

who Jesus is that's the only eternal thing that goes

with them. It's the only thing that lasts forever. And

see you and I when we celebrate Christmas and we

honor Jesus for his birth, what we're doing is we're

recognizing that God did leave us with something. And if

you and I are like Galatians tell sons and daughters

of God, and he says that you are heirs to

his kingdom. The question I have is someone came to

me and said, Adam, I just found out that you

happen to be related to someone in England or Spain

a very long long time, and you're an heir to

a duke or a duchess or whatever. I'd say, Hey,

that's a cool title, but like y'all got anything for me?

So that come with land? Maybe a sword would be cool,

a crown, that would be great, Like what man? I

love being an heir, that's great, But outside of the title,

like what do I possess as an error? You see,

when God says that you are herits to the kingdom,

your thoughts should go, well, then what do I possess

If I'm an error to the kingdom and you possess

access to God, and you possess Jesus as your Lord

and savior. And if you read Romans hate what comes

with that possession, that comes with being sons and daughters

of God, that comes with the spirit of God, that

is alive and active in your life, that comes with

God's feeling and leading in your life. It means there

is never a moment where you are alone. There is

never a moment where you are broken by yourself. It's

God with us, Emmanuel, what heirloom? What else do you want?

The mansion you can't take with you, a car you

can't take with you. But a Manuel God with us.

You can take that heir limb with you, not only

just to everywhere that you go, but you can should

you close your eyes on this earth, you can take

that with you into eternity. That's God with us, That's

who he is. You may be a fan of Jay

Vernon McGee. Here's what he says. He says Jesus did

not begin in Bethlehem, where the Bible says he was born.

He stepped out of eternity into time. Jesus began in eternity.

He stepped in to the beginning of creation. John one

says he was there from the beginning. Here's the last

thought that I have for you. Not only do we

see the promise was preserved all through scripture, but lastly

we see on Christmas, when we celebrate Christmas, and when

Jesus was born, the promise is presented to us. Here

he is. It's the big reveal of God. And you

see that in the Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John

that it's the moment where God says that all of

humanity since Adam and Eve has been anticipating, waiting. Who

is the promised seed of God that will save us,

will redeem us. You see, Jesus has presented the world

as more than a child. In Matthew one twenty one

says she will bear a son, and you shall call

his name Jesus, for he will save his people from

their sins. And in Matthew one twenty three declares him

Emmanuel God with us. Luke one thirty two to thirty

three reveals he will be great, and he will be

called Son of the Most High and of his kingdom.

There will be no end. John one point fourteen announces

the word became flesh and dwelt among us. John one

to nine calls him the true Light, which gives light

to everyone. In Jesus' hope, promise becomes hope presented to us.

The beginning of all the books of the Gospel start here.

He is. It's not just birth of a baby. It's

a grand reveal of God's promise that's being presented to

us to say, there is a ram in the bush,

there is a promise savior, there is someone that will

redeem us. And then they're asking themselves, well, where has

been God this whole time? He's been through it all.

You read the Bible, He's been through all of it.

And what happens when we reached the New Testament. We're

not stepping into a random moment. We're stepping into the

exact moment Heaven had been counting down since Genesis. That's

what I love. Here's what happens. So I don't know

if you ever played a board game or whatever before

where you've had to use one of these sand timers

and clocks, just to think that, you know, not too

long ago they actually had to use this to like

count time and stuff like that. Now we got our

iPhones and all that stuff like that. But you have

one of these, right, So I want you to imagine

what happens is according to the Word is in Genesis.

You know, theoretically God presents Adam and Eve with one

of these, and he says, this, here's what's gonna happen

is is what's gonna happen is there was gonna be

an appointed time, an appointed time where Jesus, the seed

of Eve, will be revealed to humanity. And when that happens,

I'm gonna have been doing everything in the in between

and preserving the whole time. And he says, what happens

is when this sind when it runs out, hope will

be presented to humanity. And what will happen is is

I want you to imagine what will happen is not

only will this go through humanity, not only will this

timer run through Genesis all the way to Malachi to

the Matthew. You see that the sand has run out,

and here is Jesus. He's born. But what happens is

in our own life what God does when Jesus, it's

not that he reversed times, it's that God's kingdom is

fully revealed. And then this sin it flips and it

says now that Jesus has come and redeemed Us in

giving access to its kingdom. Now we await for his return.

But you think to yourself, what do I do when

I wait for his turn? Well, God goes from humanity's

responsibility to when Jesus redeems Us. He gives you and

I the ability to take personal respect onsibility to receive Jesus.

And in your own life, I want you, I want

to encourage you, and I want you to see this.

Don't matter what season you're in, It doesn't matter where

you find yourself today. You have one of these. And

there is a time in your own time, in your

own life. You may be towards the end of your life,

you may be towards the beginning of your life. But

at any point you can rotate this and you can

start a journey with God that He's intended since the

beginning of humanity, where He's given you and I access

to God. But the reality is God will not force

it on you. He gives you an opportunity to say, God,

I reverse my life in the sense that I give

my life to you Jesus. I start my life as

the Bible says as a new creation. So as God

has been doing this in weaving this through all of humanity,

He's also been weaving this in your own life. And

for every single one of us, there becomes an appointed

day where we will stand before God. But here's what

we got to see through the Christmas season. Before we

stand before God, he's giving you access to Him through Jesus.

And at some point we all have to make a decision.

Is am I gonna let this clock run out on

my life without ever making a decision to follow Jesus?

Or am I gonna say God, I receive your plan

from my life. No matter where you are in your journey,

what happens is you can start a new walk with God.

You can have a fresh start. That's what hope through

the Ages is all about. It's not just us seeing

that God has had a plan in humanity. It's that

God has had a personal plan in your own life.

This isn't just a plan for someone else. This is

a plan for you and I. Because what happens is,

as Abraham receives the Promise, more sand fALS. As David

receives the Covenant, more sand falls, and Isaiah says a

child will be born more sand false. God does not rush,

God does not delay, and God does not improvise. That's

not something that God does. And the hourglass was moving

exactly according to his plan, and then at that perfect moment,

the final grave fell and heaven touched earth. That's what

this story is, and every prophecy points to this one child, Jesus,

the seat of a woman, the seed of Abraham, the

son of David, and the light of Isaiah Tetcha. Bonhoeffer

says it like this, in the birth of Jesus, God

comes to earth not in power, but in weakness. Yet

in this weakness is our hope. Hope is not a feeling,

it's not an idea, it's not a seasonal emotion. Hope

is a person and his name is Jesus. And in

our own life we can make a decision to follow him,

to look to this light and receive it. If you

feel that there has been darkness in your life. Everyone

that has been born is born into sin because of

Adam and Eve, and it is through their seed that

we're born in the sin. But it's through the seed

of Eve that we find redemption in Jesus. And you

find a hope and you find a promise, and that's

what God's purpose into our life. And because Jesus came

in the fullness of time, you're redeemed, you're adopted, you

are filled with the spirit, and like Galatian says, you

can cry Abbah Father, you can cry out to God

whenever you need. And you're no longer a slave. You're

an heir to God. That's what the message of Christmas

is not about all about. It's not just the arrival

of Jesus. It's God giving you an identity. It's God

giving you a name, son and daughter. It's going as

Roman says, it's going from aliens. It's going from people

that were once slaves and now we become children of God.

But it's every single person that has an availability to say, God,

I receive you writing my story. I accept that through

Jesus you have given us hope. And what happens is

you and I can start with a new purpose, a

new hope, a new redemption. And it's not in possessions,

it's not in career, it's not even in people. What

happens is the real hope of Jesus, the real hope

of God is found in Jesus. So I want to

encourage you here today as we begin to close that,

as we set our sites for the next thirty so

days of the Christmas season is there's a lot of

fun and where you're gonna sing Christmas carols and you're

probably gonna watch The Grinch or whatever other movies that

put you home home alone, or whatever it is. And

we're gonna put lights around our tree, and you're gonna

have cookies and you're gonna have cake, and Christmas Eve,

you're gonna celebrate Christmas Day. There's a lot of things

that are filled with fun and family and this and that.

But the greatest thing we could do in the Christmas

season is pause and say, Lord, I thank you that

for all of humanity, you have had a purpose. And

if God has had a purpose, then that means He

has had his eyes on you throughout that whole thing.

God is not unaware of what He's going on. God

is not unaware of how far or distant you are

from him. God is near, the Bible says to those

that are broken hearted, those that are searching for him,

He's near. And the Christmas season, if we can do

anything as believers, is we can make sure that we

let the world know that Jesus is the reason for

the season. There's a reason it's not just happy holidays.

There's one holy day during Christmas, and it's the birth

of Jesus. And so as people we walk out, other

people can say what they want, but you and I

know that this season, the reason why there is lights

anywhere or anything like that is because it points to

the greatest light of all and his name is Jesus.

And you can say, well, how do I take that

with me? You can be the light. You could be

the light in your living room, you could be in

the light at your work place. You could be the

light in your marriage, you could be the light to

your children. Because if you've become heirs of God, it

means you have access to God. And so if you're

here today, I want to encourage you as we begin

to close. If you've never made Jesus Christ your personal

Lord and savior. I've shared it already that Jesus Christ

was born to die. He was born that on his

thirtieth year or thirty third year, he'd be taken to

a cross. Satan would think he had victory because he

killed Jesus. But three days later that tomb would empty

and Jesus would be risen, and he would show the

world that he conquered death, that he conquered sin, and

he's put Satan in his place. And it's through the

work of Jesus that you and I can be heirs

of God. And so, if you're here today and you're saying, man,

I want that relationship with God. I want to receive

Jesus as more my lord and savior, I want to

encourage you right now, wherever you're at, if you're watching

online cafe courtyard, are in this room, would you do

me fair? Could we bow our heads and close our eyes?

I just want to encourage you as you're in the

house today, if you're ready to make a decision, or

wherever you're at today, and you're ready to start a

personal relationship with God, and you're ready to receive Jesus

Christ as your lord and savior, if you're ready to say, God,

I'll repent of my sins and I'm ready to walk

with you now after this moment, you won't live a

perfect life. It's not about you becoming perfect. It's about

you setting your eyes on the one who is perfect.

It's about being led for the rest of your life

by the Spirit of God and allowing God to guide

you no longer your own thoughts, no longer your own

quote unquote intuitions as the world puts it, but saying God,

I receive you into my life and I allow my

life to be led by you. And so, if you're

here today and you're ready to make that decision, this

prayer is not the thing that saves you at all.

The Spirit of God is already at work in your heart.

When we say this prayer, all we're doing is affirming

what the Holy Spirit is already doing. And so, if

you're ready to say this today and make a confession

of faith, would you join me in saying this. Dear

Lord Jesus, In this moment, I confess my sins, and

I believe that Jesus Christ died for my sins and

rose in victory. From this day forward, I call Jesus

my Lord and Savior. I thank you God that you

are with me. From this day forward, I choose to

follow you for the rest of my days in Jesus' name. Amen, Hey,

We're gonna do one more thing. You already hear people

clapping because we celebrate those that have given their life

to Jesus. Wherever you're at, if you're in the courtyard, cafe, online,

or in this room. On the count of three, if

you've made that decision for the first time, or maybe

you rededicated your life and you've set it for the

last time, on the counter three, would you raise your

hand just so we could celebrate with you. The Bible

says if one person gives their life to Jesus. In

the Book of Revelation, it says, all of Heaven rejoices.

So all we want to do is mirror what already

is happening in heaven. They've already started the party. We

just want to join in right now. So, if you

gave your life to Jesus, hey, would you raise your hand? One? Two,

one two three? Raise your head? Hey, God bless you,

my friend. I see that head. I see that head,

I see that hand, I see the hand, I see

that hand, I see that head, I see both those hands.

Welcome to the family. What an incredible decision. I may

not see you online or in the cafe, courtyard or campuses,

but we but God sees you. That's for sure. Here's

what I want to do before we dismiss. If you

raised your hand today, we have a book that we

want to get in your hands. So, if you gave

your life to Jesus, we have a free resource for

you called Following Jesus a Family Journey. This is our

gift to you. We want to walk alongside of you

in your faith. So when you exit today, you're going

to see some signs that say faith Journey KIOSK. If

you leave and you leave today, want you to go

ahead and grab this as a gift to us family.

You've already heard it on Vision Sunday. If you want

to buy it, you can go to the bookstore and

you can buy it. This is a gift for those

that have FAI for the first time. But I'm gonna

pray and I'm gonna bless this out. Make sure as

you leave, if you gave your life to Jesus, to

grab that as we leave today. If you need any

prayer at all for the maybe the holidays are hard

for you, maybe you're grieving through some things, or maybe

you got some things coming up and you just want

your church family to pray with you and for you.

Then I want to encourage you as I close right now.

If anyone needs prayer at all up here at the altar,

our elders, deacons and prayer team will be up here

at the front and they would love to pray with you. Also.

I'll be over here near our sound booth. I'd love

to say hi to you if you'd like to say

hello as well. God, we thank you for the word today,

Father God. I pray that as we leave here, Lord,

every time that we're reminded of this Christmas season, may

our eyes and our thoughts first focus on Jesus. We

thank you that Jesus is the light of this world

and the hope of humanity. Father God, maybe be quick

to share that hope with other people that are walking

out in our sites and in our regions. Father God,

may we not hide this heirloom. This is an heirloom

that God has given us that he said is free

for anyone. So maybe we share and partake with people

of this heirloom that God has passed down to us

through the ages. We honor you and bless you. Lord.

I pray you bless and protect every person in Jesus' name.

Amen and Amen, God, bless you family. We'll see you

next weekend,