Divine Interruption | Karma Crusher | Pastor Scott Thomas

Hey, my name is Genesis. We are so glad

you decided to tune in with us,

especially during this Christmas season.

This time of year is full of

celebration, family, and a whole lot of

fun, but most importantly, Jesus. Here

at Free Life Chapel, we want to help you

discover and live the free life in

Christ. So, if you're ever in the

Central Florida area, we would love to

connect with you and your family this

Sunday at one of our three services,

9:00 a.m., 10:45, or 12:30. You can also

visit our website, freelifechapel.org,

to learn more about who we are, what we

do, and how you can be involved. For

now, grab a cup of coffee, hot

chocolate, or even some eggnog, and

let's enjoy this message together.

when you came in, hopefully you received

one of the uh love cards. Look at that.

We're giving out love today. Uh one of

the love cards. Uh we have been in this

series called divine interruption

talking about the advent of Christ, him

coming into this earth. And then week

number one, we addressed what part of

Advent?

>> Hope. Okay, very good. That's three of

you. It made radical impact. I can see

that. Hope was week one. Week number two

was peace. Oh, I heard a little bit more

peace. There you go. I had some peace on

week number two. Week number three was

>> joy. Joy to the world. And that today is

love. Right. Um these are this is a part

of the advent building anticipation

looking to what Christ was going to

deliver to this earth. And that's what

we're celebrating. But on the back of

these brief little thoughts and

devotionals to get us through up to and

through Christmas, all focusing on what

Jesus did for our life, we're going to

continue that today as we talk about

this love. Last night, Cindy and I went

over and we were watching Malachi and

Tia. That's our grandkids. And uh we

were hanging out with them, having a

great time. We have so much more fun

when uh Caleb and Elizabeth are not

there. And so we kind of kick them out.

And that means the refrigerator is open.

Eat what you want. Let's go. And and uh

so we have a we have Yeah. Well, there

you go. And so we have a we have a good

time. But but last night uh Cindy had

Tia and had given her a bath, getting

ready to put her put her to bed. And so

Malachi comes to me, goes, "Saba, will

you play with me?

Do I have have an option after you ask

that kind of question? Of course I

will." So we're in the floor. And so he

wanted to put together his nativity set

because baby Jesus is coming. That's

right. Let's do it. So he brings and he

dumps out all of his nativity set pieces

and um and we we have the the three

kings, the three wise men. Uh we we had

the three wise men put there and and

then we had then we had um we had the

camel and then we had the donkey and we

had uh Mary, we had uh uh Jesus's mother

and we had the the the the uh the manger

and the hay and we had the the the the

little little place where he was born. I

guess it was like a little barn, little

stall thing. We just couldn't find Jesus

anywhere.

We We not only could we not find Jesus,

we couldn't find Jesus's daddy. Like

Like Jesus and his daddy were missing.

Like we filed missing personal report.

Like they're both gone. Like can you

even have a nativity without Jesus and

without his daddy in the room? And well,

we we had we had a crisis. So what did

we do? We went on a search and rescue

mission. We were going through the

house. We were going through toy boxes.

We were going through looking under the

bed. Malachi was buried. I digging him

out. And I mean, we were on our hands

and knees pulling toys out everywhere.

We never found Jesus and his daddy. So,

if you ever if you all see Jesus and his

daddy around, we're looking for him. All

right, that's kind of kind of where we

left it. The search and res rescue. We

were trying to find him. Search and

rescue. I'm when I think search and

rescue, my my immediate mind goes to the

guys like like the Navy Seals who like

go in and cover ups overnight, right?

And and they're extracting people in the

middle of the night with night vision.

Okay, maybe it's my little uh delusions

of grandeur that I think I can still do

it. Okay, maybe not. But but but you got

the Navy Seals on search and rescue,

very calculated and precise. I I I'm

grateful for the first responders in

Pulk County who run into burning

buildings.

>> Yes, sir. Can you be thankful for first

responders? Yeah, there we go. That's

right. That's right. Who people who

respond in difficult times? They they

show up in those moments rescuing people

out of situations that they don't want

to be in right now. I'm I'm I'm grateful

for that. Jesus himself

came to earth on a search and rescue

mission. That's that's literally what he

did. His was different. His His was

driven by love. It's it's crazy. We he

we the people that he came to rescue

didn't know they needed to be rescued.

And he comes with this mission driven by

love in order to turn situations around

in their life. But but this mission,

this love that he drove with, it's

crazy. It was reckless. It was selfless.

It was illogical. It was this

gracefilled pursuit of humanity. And he

broke every social and religious

boundary in order to reach people like

you and people like me.

>> How many you know you all are a mess?

>> The preachers. How many you know I'm a

mess?

>> Yes.

>> I figured the front row would answer

pretty strong right there. Yeah. Yeah.

Well, they're right. THEY'RE RIGHT.

WE'RE ALL A MESS

>> AND HE came for us. Now, now let me just

help you. I'm I'm not trying to mess

with your with your nice little tucked

in package just pristine view of the

nativity. Go ahead and keep that for a

little bit. But we do need some reality.

We need some reality added to our little

romantic sense of Christmas. We need to

we need to put it back into real terms

so that it's not just that far away

thing that really doesn't have any

impact. It doesn't mean anything to us

at all because it's just this removed

like a fable. It's just a myth. No, no,

no. We need to ground it and bring it a

little bit closer to our life because I

want you to hear me today.

Jesus was living a death warrant from

the time he was born.

He was born with death in mind. He

wasn't here to hang out and enjoy the

life like you and I are. He was here

living with an intentional date to die

because until unless he died and

resurrected, his birth changed

absolutely nothing. That's what that's

why we celebrate. When we celebrate his

birth, we have to equally celebrate what

he did in the end. That's what makes it

real. Because that manger that we

celebrate and it's your nativity at your

house or wherever you see the pictures,

there's more than just a baby, more than

an infant laying in that manger. That is

a warrior on a messy suicide mission to

save the world. This is the reality.

It's not this nice pristine put together

little holiday that we get to jump into.

We are celebrating the fact that a a

child was born in order to die a heinous

life and lived rough from the time he

was born all the way through to that

moment. That cradle was actually the

beast head. It was an insertion point

for this tactical assault that heaven

pulled on sin and chaos. It came through

Jesus to get it done. And that's why

we're here celebrating this today. Luke

2:es 10 and 11 speak to this on on how

it was announced. Listen to what it

says. The angel said to them, talking to

the shepherds, "Do not be afraid. I

bring you good news that will cause

great joy for all the people." Read

this. Today in the town of David, a

savior has been born to you. He is the

Messiah, the Lord.

In Jesus's day, whenever he was born,

the the word savior had a broader

meaning than what you and I think about

it. We think about being made

spiritually right with God. And it it

could include that, but it was even

broader because in Jesus's day, emperors

would also use that term. I am the

savior of this region. I'm the savior of

this domain. Meaning, I'm bringing peace

and security to all the citizens. That's

who I am. my authority and my rulership

does that for you. I am the savior of

this arena. So this this kind of moves

this concept of savior kind of out of

the clouds and brings it down to the

streets for you and I to to relate a

little bit more. While Jesus did come

without a doubt to bring us alive in a

relationship with God, he also came to

this earth in order to impact how we can

live and move and enjoy and function in

life right here. Is anybody glad that he

didn't just come to get you right there?

He came to get you right everywhere.

This is this is really good news. This

is really really good news. The Bible

says he's called savior. Savior was a

deliverer or someone who preserved. He's

also called messiah or the Christ. That

means one who was marked by God.

He's also called Lord. Lord means master

or the decision maker. In other words,

the angel came appearing and declaring

that he's a deliverer and a preserver

who was marked by God to master and make

decisions over your life. That's who he

is. He's not just fire insurance to get

you into eternity. He's not trying to

just save you from hell. No, he's trying

to get all the hell out of your life.

Not just at the end of time, but here

right now. I want some heaven where you

are. Jesus came to do that. You see, a

savior. He's a savior for the sick and

with the grieving. He's a savior for the

those with an empty bank account. He is

a savior for the 3:00 a.m. panic attack.

He He is a savior for those who feel

like they're lost and nobody cares. He

is He's a present help in those moments.

He is a savior who is with you right

here, right now. That's why he is called

Emmanuel,

God with us. Not just God for you, God

with you.

>> That matters on many levels. You see,

it's this it's this reckless, selfless

love of God that that refused to stay in

heaven while you and I were struggling

on the deep end of the pool. Cuz life

does not work without him. I don't care

how good you are, how much money you

got, how many followers you have on

social media. Without Jesus, you're

flopping. You're you're you're you're

not living the life that you could live

once you surrender it to Jesus. And I

want to talk to you today about that

Christmas love that Jesus brought with

him. Because before he brought it, it

didn't exist.

In fact, I would go so far as to tell

you this. Even if you have rejected and

said no to Jesus, he has still impacted

your life with his love in ways that you

don't see or don't even understand. None

of us have the ability to divorce oursel

from the impact of his love. That's how

broadreaching and how deep his love has

been that has affected our world. But

here's how I would describe it. His love

was reckless and unorthodox.

In other words, let me put it this way.

He didn't wait for you and I to get

ourselves together before he decided to

love us. How many you know that if if he

was waiting on that, he probably still

would not love us right now.

>> Would you turn to someone, tell them, "I

know you're a mess." Ju just tell them,

"I know you're a mess. I I I I got a

hard time loving you myself right now.

Like you you are a mess.

>> That his his love is reckless. And I

don't mean I don't mean reckless in

meaning in in being careless, but I mean

reckless in absolutely disregarding his

own safety and his own reputation in

order to connect with you and I

understand. Ladies and gentlemen, God in

heaven comes to earth, wraps himself in

flesh, and submits himself to things you

and I go through. That's reckless love.

That doesn't make sense. Luke 15, Jesus

gives us the parable of the shepherd

who's watching this flock of sheep. And

99 of them are all together, but there

is that one boneheaded sheep.

Thank you.

There's that. That's the best response

I've had all day. That's the best. Amen.

There's that one boneheaded sheep that

keeps WANDERING OFF. LOOK, THE WHOLE

BRO, THE WHOLE GROUP IS THIS WAY. HOW DO

YOU KEEP ending up lost by yourself? And

then you raise your head. Where'd

everybody go? Oh my lord. We have an

issue on aisle three right now. Are you

serious? And the Bible says Jesus as the

great shepherd leaves the 99 to go find

the one. Y'all, that is a non no in

first century culture. No shepherd in

their right mind would leave all 99 to

go find one. That's what was so

controversial about this sweet little

parable. It caused problems.

They're like, "You're going to you're

going to leave all them to go find him?"

And Jesus said, "That's exactly what I'm

going to do. That's exactly why I'm

here. That's exactly why I'm called."

Because Jesus is saying, "I'm here to

prioritize the individual over the

institution.

>> I care about the one.

I care about the one that you all have

forgotten about. I care about the one

who's missing, but you're partying so

hard you could didn't even know they

weren't here. I'm looking for that one."

How do you miss one out of a hundred

when they all look the same,

>> act the same, eat the same? You must

have been looking individually, not just

corporately. And that's what he does.

That's exactly what he what his heart

is. And here's what amazes me. The one

that he goes to rescue,

it's probably not the first time he

rescued that one,

>> right?

>> Cuz he's so boneheaded. He's done it

again and again and again. And can

anybody say I can I can relate with that

sheep right there? Like I I I am that

boneheaded sheep that keeps disappearing

and he's like, "Where are you? Come

here." And he gets us back and we're

like, "Oh, thank you so much. Thank you

so much." And two days later

and we all out there again doing

foolishness and he got to go rescue us

all over again. That's exactly what the

heart of this shepherd is. In fact, the

religious beat Jesus up. They called him

a friend of sinners because he was

hanging with the wrong people. Messy and

unorthodox. you as a rabbi don't hang

with people like that. Tax collectors

and sinners and people who get drunk.

What is wrong with you? But Jesus was

breaking all of those man-made holy

rules so that he could get some holiness

to broken people. Ladies and gentlemen,

I'm so glad that we serve a God that is

not waiting on you and I to get good

with him before he can do something for

us. But he says, "I'll love you right

where you are. Bring your stuff. Bring

your issues. Bring your failures. Bring

your mess. Bring your brokenness. Bring

your crazy ideas. Bring your pride.

Bring the addiction. Bring the failure.

Bring it. Bring your reputation. Bring

it all. We're good. I've got you just

like you are. If you could if you if if

you could clean yourself up, you would

have done so by now. It's proof that you

need Jesus. You and I can't fix oursel.

I need him in my life. That's what Jesus

is telling us. It's why we come to him.

Because I can't and he can. You see,

human logic tells us this. Only invest

your best resources in that that's going

to give a good return to you.

>> Right. Right.

>> That's that's called wisdom. Right. You

don't put your money in an account

that's dying.

>> No. With emotionally in your energy in

relationships, in your friendships. If

you keep giving and giving, if they keep

taking and taking and it's depleting

you, you're like, "Back up. Time out.

I'm out. See you." And and we back up.

That's how we look at it. We think in

this term, love those who will love you

back. You love me back. You got it. You

got it. That that that's how we roll.

But but the love of Jesus is way beyond

anything we can conceptualize or mimic.

And I want to talk to you about that

love. His love is supernatural. That

means evolution, psychology, biology,

it's all going to fail. It can't explain

it because it comes from a source that

is outside of nature. You can't study it

because it can't be held and it's

greater than what can fit inside the

human mind. Because our love, our human

life love, it has a breaking point.

>> In other words, put it this way. We love

until it hurts too much and then I stop

loving.

>> I'm going to love you. Love you. Love

you. Ouch. Love you. Love you. Ouch.

Love you. Kiss my grits. I'm out.

We bounce. I'll give you some time, but

then I'm I'm I'm not hanging out for

that. I'm going to hang until their mess

starts to threaten my peace. And the

moment you start costing me my then then

you know what? I got a jet. And there's

something good about healthy boundaries

in our life. I'm not mad at that. But

but our world, it operates in this

mindset. You got to earn stuff if you're

going to get stuff back. We call it

karma. Karma. K A R M A. Karma. It's

it's the karma. In other words, you get

what you deserve. Something bad happens

to you, someone shout karma. You had it

coming.

>> That that that's how we think. That's

how our world operates. Jesus came to

crash your karma, baby, is what I'm

trying to tell you. And to give you a

life you don't deserve, to take away

what you do deserve, pour his love into

your life and rebuild you and give you a

brand new start. Ain't nobody doing that

for you except for Jesus in your life.

Jesus came to crash your karma.

His love is is unhuman. It doesn't have

a kill switch.

It doesn't override and then done. It it

it doesn't work that way. He doesn't

have the human reflex to quit.

That's crazy to me. Reject him, he's

there. Push back, he's there. Flip him

off, he's there. Curse him, he's there.

At a party,

he's there. You ever had Jesus mess up a

party?

Like you ever been somewhere that you

knew you shouldn't have been doing

something you knew you shouldn't have

done and you trying to enjoy yourself

because you thought it was going to be

fun and you get there and you got your

little thing. You got your little

umbrella in it. You got it all going on.

The music is bouncing and you're trying

to do your thing and you hear Jesus back

here going, "We need to get out of here

right now. What? Who? Who invited you?

What in the world?" And and you're just

trying to go but but he that that love

that love is just haunting. It's it's

that hound dog from heaven who's just a

he he's after you. He you cannot push

him away. You can't get him off of you.

HE'S ALWAYS THERE. That's exactly who he

is. He doesn't run from our mess. He

runs into the infection. He runs into

the chaos. He runs into the burning down

uh home and family and life that we're

living in. And and and even the kill

switch of death couldn't shut him down

because he bounced back from that to

keep showing I love you and I'm here.

And if I can raise up myself, I can

raise your life back UP AS WELL. GIVE ME

A chance to heal and put you BACK

TOGETHER AGAIN. THAT THIS IS WHAT I

DON'T WANT YOU to miss the reality of

this Christmas. Don't let it be so

social and COMMERCIAL THAT WE MISS THE

DEPTH, THE POWER, AND THE VALUE of what

happened because that sweet little baby

boy was born with the love that required

the heart of a warrior. And if you're

not careful, you and I will continue to

see him as a baby for the rest of his

life. He came as a baby. But ladies and

gentlemen, I got good news. He grew up.

And his mission was on full effect to

reach for you and to reach for me and to

violate all social conscience to let you

know I'm fighting for you. I'm fighting

to pull you in. Others are fighting to

push you away, BUT I'M AFTER YOU. I see

you as worthy. I'm leaving the crowd to

come find you. I'll chase you into the

party to talk to you and remind you that

I love you and there's a life better

than this. You don't have to live this

way. I came to lift you. I'm not

throwing elbows. The church did that.

Religion did that. I didn't throw elbows

on you. I love you right where you are.

Give me a chance to hug the hell out of

your life and let's rebuild this thing.

That's exactly who he is.

This love is scandalous.

It insults our idea of fairness.

You ever had somebody on your list that

you thought God ought to just slap them

one good time?

>> You put them on your naughty list.

>> Oh, you better watch out. Better not

cry.

I got a naughty list. The only problem

with that is when I tell God about my

naughtiness, he goes, "Yeah, and I got

your name on mine."

>> Because if we're going to talk naughty,

>> would you tell someone tell you that

pastor was just talking about you? Just

just go ahead and just just pass that

on. Don't take that. Just pass it on. He

was just talking to you right now. We

all got jacked up areas of our life. We

all got issues where we struggle. And

the moment I'm pointing out somebody

else's, he's reminding me, Scott, YOU

GOT NO ROOM TO JUDGE. THERE'S STUFF

THAT'S OUT OF ORDER. I I'm I'm not into

fairness. Do you understand? JESUS WAS

TALKING TO THE GUY WHO WAS CRUCIFIED,

THE THIEF RIGHT BESIDE HIM. AND IN THE

CLOSING MOMENTS, THE LAST FEW BREATHS OF

THIS THIEF'S LIFE, JESUS SAID, "TODAY

you're going to be with me IN HEAVEN."

WHAT? He didn't get THE CHANCE TO GET

BAPTIZED. He never been to church. He

never sang A WORSHIP SONG. WHAT'S HE

going to heaven for? Because whenever

somebody reaches for Jesus and embraces

him, Jesus has always been reaching for

him. even when dying in the closing

moments OF YOUR LIFE. THAT'S HOW

hardreaching the love of Jesus is for

us. Ladies and gentlemen, do not make

this cute and candy canesish. This is

serious stuff that changed all of our

life. Jesus, he violates our sense of

justice with his love, his grace, and

his mercy. It's illogical.

It's it's absolutely it mess with your

head because the love of Jesus doesn't

care about the math of life.

Math doesn't math when it comes to him.

Like you can't add it up. Okay, karma

and they deserve this. Oh, this is why.

No, it just doesn't work because Jesus

spends everything on a bad investment.

I'm not a good investment.

He has no hope of a good return with me.

But he risked it all and extended his

grace for me so that as I get to know

him, I'll keep getting up and moving

towards him. But I have nothing perfect

to give him.

>> This is all of us in this room here. His

His love is rebellious. His love is

relentless.

He rejects your no as an answer.

You need me. I don't want you. Okay, I'm

still here.

Get out of my face. No, I'll be behind

you. I'm going to be in your head when

you lay down to sleep at night. I'm

going to talk to you cuz I love you like

that. I'm not letting you go. You're

fearfully and wonderfully made. My My

fingerprints are all over your life. You

were made for more than how you're

thinking right now. I want to elevate

your life. And I know you keep pushing

back thinking you got it all together.

Okay, you go, boo. But I'm just telling

you, there's a better life on the way.

Let me do this for you. He's He's

relentless. We we we get upset. We build

walls.

Jesus, he builds bridges. He keeps

coming after us. He doesn't play by our

rules. And he doesn't use our social

debt that we apply to other people. That

love is real. His It's extravagant. And

quite honestly, it looks wasteful. He

expends too much. He gives more than

seems necessary for the rescue. But he

comes after us that way. Philippians 2:7

Philippians 2:7

has a p is a powerful verse. And I want

you to read the first three words loud

and proud. Are you ready? Here we go.

>> He emptied himself. All right, I need

you to read with the outside voice.

Ready? 1 2 3. He emptied himself by

taking on the form of a servant by

becoming like other humans by having a

human experience.

Jesus poured out everything

that he was. He poured all of it. He was

God, divinity. And that's the that's the

the the the difficulty that we struggle

with. 100% man, 100% God at the same

time, but he's he submitted himself to

getting cut, to getting stung by a bee,

to having his heart broken, to being

rejected, it hurt, and all those. He

submitted himself to that so that his

creation had the ability to actually

cause the creator pain. He submitted to

that right there so that we would have

everything that we need and have nothing

that we deserve.

>> This is why he did what he did. He

emptied himself. First John 4:9 puts it

1 John 4:9

this way. Read this with me. God showed

how much he loved us by sending his one

and only son into the world so that we

might have eternal life through him.

He showed us how much he loved us. The

word love there is a very specific word

in the original language. There's

there's four or five different words for

love that could have been chosen for

that verse. One specific word was

chosen. Uh one option is stgos in the

Greek and it means the love of like a

parent to a child. That's a pretty

strong love right there. Pretty strong.

But he said, "No, go around that one."

Well, there's another one called aeros.

Aeros is like when a a husband and wife

are in that are coming together

intimately and sharing that love. And he

goes, "Yeah, but that that that's no

something much stronger than that."

Okay. Well, there's another word called

filio. Filelio is a brotherly love.

That's where we get Philadelphia from.

Fil. Yeah. But and and as as great as

that is, doesn't do it. So, which word

are we using here in this in this

capacity? The word that is chosen to

identify the love of God towards you is

called agape.

Agape love is different. It means

unconditional.

It is reckless. It is unearned. It is

illogical. And it's sacrificial.

It cannot be stopped.

It is unending.

He

loves you with an unconditional,

reckless, unearned, illogical,

sacrificial

love. You've never been loved like that.

You have never in your life encountered

anybody that loved you like that.

Nobody.

He did.

And that's why we sit here today in this

place of celebration and gratitude. And

he does this agape love. It acts out

regardless of the worthiness of the

object because we can't be worthy enough

to deserve agape.

It it it it messes with your mind

because it's beyond what is even humanly

understandable. But this is what the

Bible lays out that he is that his love

is three things. Number one,

sacrificial, unconditional, and

transformational. Everyone says

sacrificial

>> sacrificial

>> unconditional

>> transformational

In 2005,

there was a man named Kevin

who reached the point of his life that

he was done.

Had a lot of pressure going on. He was

dealing with major depression already.

Had a baby on the way in the house. They

were dealing with major major financial

pressure. And he just reached his

boiling point. It's a true story.

and he climbed the railing of the Golden

Gate Bridge,

stepped out over onto that 4-in pipe,

looking 220 ft down to the water, and

decided, "This is where I'm I'm done.

Life is over. I can't take this anymore.

It's it's beyond my capacity to deal

with."

There's a man named Kevin Briggs. He's a

California Highway Patrol officer, and

he is known he was known then as the

guardian of the Golden Gate.

Officer Briggs was was regularly called

to situations where somebody was going

to take their life at the Golden Gate

Bridge and he was called in to try to

handle the situation.

History tells us that as Kevin was on

the edge and Officer Briggs gets there,

he approached he approached Kevin not

with authority and and and with with

with this I've got it together and let

me let me strongarm you down. They say

that officer Briggs, he approached. In

fact, this was Kevin's report. He he he

walks up to the edge and he leans out

across the edge out there matching where

Kevin is where they could feel the wind

blowing and they were actually he was

putting himself almost in a very

vulnerable spot as well. Far enough from

Kevin that Kevin didn't have to worry

about it, but close enough that they

were they could talk. And and and Kevin

talked about he didn't he didn't come to

try to fix me or correct me. He just

came with his presence.

He was there. He was available. He

didn't lecture me. Kevin goes on to say,

he didn't he didn't give me reasons why

I shouldn't do this or why I should do

that. For 92 minutes, the officer just

leaned over that rail and they endured

that wind whipping past them as they

just sat there. And Officer Briggs just

let Kevin talk and pour out his heart.

He was just simply listening.

He didn't use force.

He didn't give him answers. He didn't

write him a check. There was nothing

circumstantial that changed in Kevin's

life. But what Kevin said did change is

I felt heard.

Someone cared enough that they were

there. And after 92 minutes of their

meeting in the middle of that darkness,

that dangerous spot, Kevin climbed back

over the railing to come on this side.

And when asked, "Why is it, Kevin, what

what made you come back?" Here's what he

said. Someone chose to stand in the wind

with me.

I wasn't in it alone.

History goes on to tell us these two

guys did not see each other for another

eight years. It wasn't until 2013 that

they met up again. And the reason they

met up the second time is because Kevin

was now a suicide prevention advocate.

He began to stand up and help others

that were going through the situation he

was and actually invited Officer Briggs

to come because he wanted to give him a

an award for saving his life. And now he

was able to pass it on and save

countless other lives. And when they

brought them back together, here's what

Kevin said. You gave me the one thing I

didn't think I deserved and that was

your time.

I couldn't I Nobody was listening. I

felt alone. But you moved into my

darkness and you moved into my

loneliness and you stopped and you

listened.

Ladies and gentlemen, I want to remind

you this gives a good picture as to what

the Christmas story is all about. This

is God leaning into our broken, windy,

dangerous world. When you and I have

lost hope and we see no way out. We've

got issues mounting all around us.

Circumstances we don't know how to fix

and we think we have reached the edge.

And Jesus walks in and he leans into our

darkness. And he didn't stay for 92

minutes. He stayed for 33 and 1/2 years

as he leaned into us to get to know us

and to feel our pain and put his

presence in our life so that we could

realize he's not here throwing elbows

and just trying to fix me or correct me,

but he actually cares and he's got a

plan that can rebuild and restore my

life. You see, the goal was not to keep

Kevin alive. The goal that that that was

important, but the but the goal was

actually to restore him back to his

family and to his purpose. Let him see

beyond his present situation. That's

what the officer did and that's what

Jesus does in our life. His love is

sacrificial because he shows up in our

dark place. He doesn't have to be there.

He's there and he cares. It's

unconditional. That's what his love is

cuz he's not there to punish us. He's

not He's there with his presence. I'm

just want to know I love you and I care.

I'm a very present help in the time of

trouble. Don't do life alone. Let them

walk out. I'm stepping in. I'm on a

search and rescue mission. I'm no longer

a baby in a manger. I grew up and I grew

up for you. The whole reason I came was

I'm fighting to get you in. I love you

like this. And his love is

transformational because he brings life,

restoration, and purpose back to

everything. Would you stand to your feet

in this room?

There's no way for us to qualify or

quantify what the love of Jesus has done

for our lives.

But I can tell you one thing.

I'm a living result of what that love

will do.

I don't like to think where I would be

right now if I didn't know Jesus loved

me and I wasn't responding to him. I

don't like to think where I would be,

where my mind would be, where our

marriage would be, where our home would

be. I can't imagine it without his love

pulling and fighting for, leaning into

our dark places, speaking to us at times

that we didn't even know it was him. But

a peace, a hope, a comfort. Can I remind

you that everything in the advent is all

based on his love?

>> Oh, yeah. Hope is based on his love.

Yes, it is. Peace is based on his love.

joy based on his love. 1 Corinthians 13,

the love chapter says this. In the end,

everything is gone. Three things exist.

Three things make it to the end. Faith,

hope, and love. But the greatest of

these

is love. Because it's the foundation of

all of it.

Today, if you feel unloved and alone, I

got good news. Jesus is here.

and he will lean into your life, his

presence. And by the way, not just

Jesus, a bunch of other folks who have

experienced his love as well. Not

because we're great, but the love that

touched and changed my life. I want you

to experience as much of that as I can

give away. And that's what the house,

that's what this place is about. Don't

you do it alone. Some of you are hanging

off the edge of the bridge looking right

now. And I want you to know that Jesus

is right there with you. His presence

changes everything today. That love is

going to change your life. Would you bow

your heads in this room?

If you're here and you say, "Scott, I

got stuff.

I got issues. I got struggles."

When you were talking about Kevin on a

bridge, that's how I feel in my mind, in

my emotions. I feel like I've reached

the limit. And I don't know that there's

much to keep going for. And I need that

presence that changed Kevin. I need I

need Jesus. I need that love. I need

that embrace. I need that hope, that

peace, that joy. I need something not of

this world. I've tried to live off of

human love. I've tried to live off of

human acceptance for so long.

But I need to feel his love.

And I'm finding out today that Jesus is

not the one that I've got to go find.

He's been searching for me. I'm the one

that's lost. And he's coming for me. And

I want to say yes to Jesus today. If

you're in this room and you want to say

yes to Jesus, him entering your life.

Not that you're going to live perfect.

Not that you've got it all together, but

you're going to give him your chaos,

your mess, your brokenness, your

struggles, your secrets. I'm just giving

you all of it. Cuz that's what he's

asking for. And in turn, he's going to

give you that love, forgiveness, hope,

joy, a new start. If you're saying, "I

want that today." When I count to three,

I want you to shoot your hand in the air

saying, "Scott, I want to pray this

prayer. I want to give Jesus my life." 1

2 3. Where are you? Where are you? My

goodness. Yes. Hands everywhere. You can

pull them right back down.

Would you look this way? We're going to

pray. Look this way at me.

Some of you are still at a place where

you're struggling right now. I feel this

right here, and I want to talk to you.

There's no good reason that you have as

to why you would reject Jesus today.

You have no reason to say no to him.

It's cost you nothing. It cost him

everything.

And that love that he has for you

doesn't come with strings attached where

he throws elbows and he calls you out.

His arms are wide open to embrace and to

love you. And if you didn't raise your

hand and you don't have any intention in

praying this prayer, I'm still reaching

and I'm including and I'm inviting. Why?

Because that's exactly what the spirit

of Jesus does. I'm coming after you

again and again.

If you raised your hand, if you didn't

raise your hand and you want to get it

right, I want you to just pray this

prayer with me. Say, "Jesus,

everyone, Jesus, I give you me.

>> I give you.

>> Come into my heart.

>> Come into my life.

>> Take it all.

>> Take it all. The mess,

>> the chaos,

>> the failure,

>> the questions,

>> the fear, the breakdown.

>> Take it all.

>> I need you

>> as my Lord.

>> And my savior.

>> Forgive me.

>> Change me.

>> Rework me,

>> help me

>> to live a life

>> that pleases you.

>> I'm yours.

>> And you're mine.

>> You're mine. in Jesus name. Amen. Amen.

Can you put those hands together and

celebrate those those declarations that

embracing

embracing that love? Father, I pray

today for my friends in this room

that Lord, whether they just prayed this

prayer saying yes or they've known you

for a while, I pray you would awaken and

refresh that love that you have for us

on the inside to the point that it makes

us uncomfortable to the point that we

struggle trying to articulate the

gratitude that we have of knowing that

we are loved by you. Knowing that we're

loved by you quite honestly is the

highest, most important thing in all of

life. Knowing that makes life bearable.

Knowing that makes me gives me the hope

to get through life because you love me

despite what life says and despite what

people say, you do. And we can build

everything on that. And I I pray for my

friends today that that love would heal

broken hearts. Some have been through a

difficult year and maybe they lost loved

ones that are not here for this

Christmas and they're broken heart and

they've got an empty place in their

life. I pray you would be with them and

fill in the gaps. those who are arriving

to the end of this year with more

questions than answers. They've got

concern about 26. I pray God that you

would be your your son would be that

savior who would rush in by their side.

Be Emmanuel. Let your peace and your

strength take up residence on the inside

and give us a hope and a joy that

doesn't make sense. Let your love accost

us. I pray on this search and rescue

mission that you would pull us in and we

would experience that unconditional

love, that joy, that hope that only you

can give. God, thank you for your son

Jesus. Thank you for spending 33 years

on this earth with us. We worship you

today. We love you. We're grateful in

Jesus mighty name. Everybody said,

"Amen." Amen.

>> Thanks for watching this message. For

more messages like this, head over to

our website, freelifechapel.org.

We hope to see you next time.