Forrest: I'm so happy to see you this morning.
Forrest: Turn to your neighbor and say Merry Christmas.
Forrest: It's beautiful that we're gonna celebrate today.
Forrest: The coming of Christ, the Christmas morning.
Forrest: If I've not met you before, I'm forestly pastor here at Multipla.
Forrest: Our church is uh getting close to three years old.
Forrest: We're just two and a half years old.
Forrest: Yeah, we've been in this space since February, and so if you're new with us today, welcome.
Forrest: I'm glad that you're here.
Forrest: We'd love to connect with you.
Forrest: There's a card under your chair.
Forrest: We'd love for you to fill it out.
Forrest: Just uh get to know you a little bit and glad that you're here to worship with us.
Forrest: I've got uh something to share with you to celebrate.
Forrest: Last Sunday I got to share with you the fact that in our outpour offering just a couple of weeks ago, that we had 23 people who step forward in faith to give for the very first time.
Forrest: But I have I've got more to celebrate.
Forrest: I've got more to celebrate.
Forrest: Because last Sunday I said I said, I know that there's some people who are gonna take the step to trust God in their finances and to trust God with their life and with their heart.
Forrest: And over the last week, five new people took the step to give to the Lord.
Forrest: We celebrate the fact that 28 people have taken the step of faith to give and to in this season receive from God.
Forrest: And so I'm excited.
Forrest: I know you're excited, gifts are continuing to come in, and so we'll celebrate it in January.
Forrest: But I'm thankful today as we get to celebrate not only just the baby in the manger, but our risen king.
Forrest: Amen.
Forrest: As we're in this series, Christmas Collision, and today the message is heaven and earth collide.
Forrest: And I uh told you about the fact that in this season of Christmas, things feel like chaos at times, and there's some Christmas chaos going on.
Forrest: I told you last week that one in five car accidents happened in parking lots.
Forrest: You're never gonna believe what happened to me this week.
Forrest: Was in the car heading out of this parking lot, got a big truck, was rolling in, fixated on what parking spot he was going to pull into, even though there was like a million empty parking spots.
Forrest: And as I was uh driving towards him, I could see his eyes looking at the spot across from where I was about to drive, and as I got right next to his car, he finally realized as he was about to turn into me, and our cars were so close together that I literally rolled my window down like we were gonna have a conversation.
Forrest: He didn't roll his down.
Forrest: He just kind of sheepishly waved as I stared at him of like, what are you doing in this empty parking lot about to hit the one car that's driving?
Forrest: It's a Christmas collision, the Christmas chaos.
Forrest: We're distracted, we're thinking about all the things that we have to get done in this next few days.
Forrest: But it's not just a chaos in and out around Christmas.
Forrest: There's also an element to this that there was uh even on the night of Jesus' birth, there was this story that was under the radar of a cosmic chaos that was going on, that Jesus was coming to the earth to bring peace.
Forrest: The Prince of Peace.
Forrest: See, because what doesn't meet the eye in the beautiful telling of the story of the baby in the manger that we looked in in Luke chapter 2 last week, what doesn't meet the eye is that behind the baby was a battle.
Forrest: Behind the Christ child was a cosmic chaos that was coming into a season of eventual peace because the Christ child wouldn't stay a baby, but one day would go to the cross.
Forrest: See, there was a battle that was being waged, and heaven and earth were colliding in the night of Christmas.
Forrest: See, oftentimes we like to see Christmas as this sentimental time with cozy lights and family dinners.
Forrest: But there's more going on in the story.
Forrest: And we're going to take a look at the Christmas story from the Apostle John's perspective.
Forrest: In John chapter 1, he gives a heavenly perspective of the coming of Christ, of the Christmas scene.
Forrest: And he tells us about how heaven collides with earth and that light shatters the darkness and eternity stepped into time.
Forrest: And it wasn't just this silent night, but a victorious night.
Forrest: A victorious night.
Forrest: See, the chaos of Christmas is trying to keep us from focusing in on the true meaning of it.
Forrest: My wife and I, we were laughing just last night because she looked at me and she said, I have a to-do list a mile long before Christmas.
Forrest: And you probably do too, if you do say amen.
Forrest: It's just a few more days, presents to get, trips to take, people to see, conversations to have, fruitcake to eat.
Forrest: Maybe not that part.
Forrest: But we see from the telling of the story of Christ coming to the earth that more than we think about the shepherds and we think about even Mary and Joseph and them being in the stable.
Forrest: There was something that was going on that was deeper, that was hidden, that was behind the scenes.
Forrest: And so we're gonna dig in for a minute into John's telling of Christ's coming, and we're gonna take some lessons from it about how God has come to be with us and how he's overcome the darkness and how he's smashed and crushed evil for all time.
Forrest: Are you ready for it?
Forrest: Are you ready to look at it together?
Forrest: Because, see, this this sermon today, this message today, especially if you're new and if you came in and you're like, oh, I'm gonna hear a nice cutesy Christmas sermon and get the warms and fuzzies.
Forrest: No, today we're talking about a battle.
Forrest: For the whole world and for your soul.
Forrest: Let's look in John chapter 1, verse 1.
Forrest: In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.
Forrest: He was with God in the beginning.
Forrest: Through him all things were made.
Forrest: Without him, nothing was made that has been made.
Forrest: In him was life.
Forrest: And that life was the light of all mankind.
Forrest: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Forrest: Somebody say amen.
Forrest: Verse 9 The true light has given light to everyone, was coming into the world.
Forrest: He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.
Forrest: He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
Forrest: Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right, everybody say right, to become children of God.
Forrest: Verse 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision, or of husband's will, but born of God.
Forrest: Verse 14.
Forrest: The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
Forrest: And we have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Forrest: And verse 16, out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.
Forrest: For the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Forrest: Heaven collides with earth.
Forrest: And God makes his dwelling among us.
Forrest: Verse 14 tells us the word, the logos, the everything of the cosmos, put on flesh in the form of a child, and humbled himself to be laid in a dirty, nasty, stinky trough, feeding trough, a manger, to enter into our story on that night of people who were lost in darkness and just waiting for the great light.
Forrest: The great light came in the form of a child.
Forrest: As heaven came to earth and made his dwelling among us.
Forrest: He tabernacled with us.
Forrest: He made his home with us.
Forrest: See, I don't know about you, but there's times in my life, even as a pastor, where God feels distant.
Forrest: It's like he's up there and we're stuck down here just to figure it all out.
Forrest: And there's times where we're wondering, God, where are you?
Forrest: Many of us live in this tension of feeling like that God is far away, especially when we're in pain, in chaos.
Forrest: Especially.
Forrest: God, where are you?
Forrest: And we see in verse 12 that John tells us not only did Jesus come in the form of the Christ child, but we have the opportunity to receive him.
Forrest: See, the Christ child came, the baby came for us and for salvation, but we have a part to play in receiving the light that has come.
Forrest: You have an active role in receiving the Christ, Jesus.
Forrest: Because John tells us that some people didn't receive him.
Forrest: Some people didn't recognize, they didn't truly understand.
Forrest: And so I want to ask you this Christmas to invite the divine into your Christmas.
Forrest: For you to actively be thinking about what it looks like for you to have a mind that is open, that is recognizing, that is aware of Jesus' presence dwelling in your life and in your home this Christmas.
Forrest: And in your heart.
Forrest: A weary world rejoices.
Forrest: Yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Forrest: Fall on your knees.
Forrest: Oh, hear the angels' voices, O night divine, O night when Christ was born.
Forrest: See, Jesus came and he put on flesh the word, that everything came and put on flesh and dwelt among us, and he didn't stay distant.
Forrest: He dwelled with us.
Forrest: He came so that he could be both present and personal in your life.
Forrest: That he could walk closely with you.
Forrest: And there's some, maybe even the room today, that you think this story of Christmas is just some cute old story.
Forrest: Oh, it's just some ancient fable, myth.
Forrest: We're just here on our own.
Forrest: You gotta figure out life on your own terms.
Forrest: Or maybe, or maybe you can trust what God said that He came to be with you.
Forrest: See, heaven collides with earth.
Forrest: So that we can rejoice in the truth of Christmas.
Forrest: That God is not far away, He is right here, and He is full of grace and truth, not just for me, but for you and for your children, and for your children's children, if you would receive the present, the gift that came on Christmas night 2,000 years ago.
Forrest: If you would receive the miracle of Christmas.
Forrest: How do you need to remember that God is with you this Christmas?
Forrest: In December of 1979, fifty-two Americans were taken hostage in the embassy in Tehran.
Forrest: They were enduring unimaginable isolation and fear.
Forrest: But on Christmas, on Christmas, the two pastors, Reverend William Howard Jr.
Forrest: and Cardinal Duval, were allowed to enter into that darkness on Christmas Eve and bring to those hostages simple gifts of Bibles, rosaries, Christmas cookies, and most importantly the message of hope.
Forrest: In this hostage situation.
Forrest: These pastors were there not to negotiate terms of the negotiation or to demand release.
Forrest: But they simply came to be with these hostages, to dwell with them in this darkness, and to remind them that they were not forgotten.
Forrest: Sometime later they were eventually released.
Forrest: I wonder how you need to remember that Jesus is with you this Christmas.
Forrest: There's some probably in our church and I know in our community that over the next last few days have actually lost loved ones.
Forrest: In the middle of this Christmas season.
Forrest: That you've experienced grief, that you've experienced loss, that you've experienced darkness.
Forrest: And in verse 5, John tells us that the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Forrest: There's so much darkness in this world, it feels like.
Forrest: Pain and brokenness and fear.
Forrest: Sometimes it can feel overwhelming.
Forrest: We've all walked through these dark moments in our life, and maybe right now, maybe you're one of the ones that you're struggling this Christmas to find hope.
Forrest: I want to encourage you to invite the light.
Forrest: Invite the light of Christ into your life.
Forrest: See the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it, and the dark won't overcome it now.
Forrest: Today.
Forrest: In your life.
Forrest: See, cold is just the absence of warmth.
Forrest: Silence is just the absence of sound.
Forrest: And darkness is just the absence of light.
Forrest: See the world saying, Hey.
Forrest: Things are getting worse.
Forrest: The world's crazier than ever.
Forrest: But the light of Jesus will never go out.
Forrest: Amen.
Forrest: It shines.
Forrest: It shines in the darkness as heaven collides with earth and the darkness doesn't overcome it.
Forrest: And we rejoice in the fact that no matter how dark it may seem, that Christ still shines.
Forrest: And who in the world do you need to shine the light of Jesus to this Christmas?
Forrest: Who needs that from you?
Forrest: Who needs the light of Jesus to interrupt the chaos of Christmas or whatever's going on in their life for you to shine the light of grace and truth that came not just for you, but for them as well.
Forrest: Maybe it's somebody in your family.
Forrest: Maybe it's a friend.
Forrest: Maybe it's somebody that's a phone call away.
Forrest: Maybe it's somebody that you know that's currently struggling.
Forrest: And you get the opportunity to shine.
Forrest: To be light.
Forrest: In the darkness.
Forrest: For somebody else.
Forrest: Now, here's where the story gets even bigger.
Forrest: Here's where everything just kind of shoots through the roof.
Forrest: Because behind this beautiful scene of Christmas, and God dwelling among us and the light shining in the darkness, there is this collision that is happening in heaven itself.
Forrest: There's a collision that is happening, and we see in Revelation chapter 12 the curtain be pulled back on this cosmic battle that's going on that erupts at Christmas.
Forrest: Just about every part of Revelation is debated and disputed by scholars.
Forrest: And has been for 2,000 years, and is going to continue to be debated among scholars until Jesus comes back.
Forrest: But in Revelation chapter 12, there's a pretty solid consensus that Revelation chapter 12 is telling the story of Christmas.
Forrest: But from a different perspective.
Forrest: From a heavenly perspective, from a cosmic perspective.
Forrest: In verse 5, Revelation says, She gave birth to a son who was to rule all the nations with an iron rod.
Forrest: And her child was snatched away from the dragon and was caught up to God and to his throne.
Forrest: And the woman fled into the wilderness where God had prepared a place to care for her for 1,260 days.
Forrest: And then there was a war in heaven.
Forrest: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and his angels, and the dragon lost the battle, and he and his angels were forced out of heaven.
Forrest: This great dragon, the ancient serpent called the devil or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world, was thrown down to the earth with his angels, and Jesus won.
Forrest: The woman, Israel, the people of God, saw this baby be born.
Forrest: And of all the plans and the schemes of the devil to try to kill the Christ child through the Emperor Herod to try to stop the plan and ministry of Jesus, nothing could stop the light.
Forrest: The darkness cannot overcome it.
Forrest: And in one verse, all of Jesus' ministry is summed up to him now seated on the throne in heaven, inviting you and inviting me into his victory.
Forrest: Invite the victory.
Forrest: This Christmas, invite the victory into your life.
Forrest: See, Christmas wasn't just this beautiful scene.
Forrest: It was a battle.
Forrest: And evil was trying to stop God's plan from the very beginning.
Forrest: And the weight of this battle in your own life may be weighing you down.
Forrest: The struggles of the sin that's in your life that you commit, that you feel like that you can't escape and that you're trapped in.
Forrest: Or the spiritual attacks that are coming against your life and your family and your finances and your job and the people that you know and your friends.
Forrest: And you feel like the darkness is winning.
Forrest: Step into the victory.
Forrest: The fact that Revelation 12 it shows us that the enemy tried to stop Jesus, but he failed.
Forrest: And the Christ child was born to rule the nations.
Forrest: And Jesus won a victory.
Forrest: And hurled Satan down.
Forrest: See this.
Forrest: But we're the ones that have hope in the fact that our victory has already been won.
Forrest: Our victory has already been won.
Forrest: Heaven collided with earth.
Forrest: So that the light would overcome the evil, and the enemy cannot overcome it even still today.
Forrest: It's Jesus that secured the victory for us.
Forrest: That day of Christmas, a battle ensued.
Forrest: And Jesus won victory over sin and over evil on the cross.
Forrest: And what battle do you need to surrender to Jesus this Christmas?
Forrest: I've seen this picture of George Washington like, I don't know, ten thousand times maybe.
Forrest: Maybe you have too.
Forrest: Maybe that's a little much, maybe a thousand.
Forrest: And textbooks and museums, and you've seen it as well.
Forrest: But you probably didn't know that this happened on Christmas.
Forrest: In 1776, the war was not going too good.
Forrest: The winter was not going too good for General George Washington and the Continental Army.
Forrest: The battle for independence for the United States.
Forrest: They had suffered many defeats over a matter of a few months.
Forrest: They had been pushed out of New York and out of New Jersey, and they were residing in Pennsylvania, and the troops morale was low, and Washington needed to renew the faith of these troops in the battle for independence.
Forrest: And so he decided on the night of Christmas that he was going to surprise the enemy.
Forrest: Knowing the British and their mercenaries were stationed across the river in Trenton, New Jersey, figuring that the enemy would be groggy after all of their Christmas celebrations that night.
Forrest: They planned an attack.
Forrest: And late on Christmas night, Washington's troops, they hopped on boats and they waded across the Delaware River.
Forrest: And at dawn, December the 26th, 2,400 frozen continental soldiers pushed into Trenton and surprised the enemy, and they surrendered in an hour and a half.
Forrest: This mission that one day will be known as the Battle of Trenton that was of huge significance, that gave confidence to the Continental Army that the war could possibly be won, the independence could happen.
Forrest: And in the middle of the night, heaven was split in two.
Forrest: And angels came to pronounce the fact that there was a battle that was going to ensue for all of mankind.
Forrest: And that Christ child was laid into a manger.
Forrest: And in the humble feeding trough was a savior for the entire world.
Forrest: A savior for you that can overcome anything that the enemy throws at you.
Forrest: For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
Forrest: And what we want to do is that if you're a follower of Jesus or you're not yet a follower of Jesus, but you need to be a follower of Jesus, you need to take a step for you to stand in God's presence, for you to shine his light to a broken world, and that you need to stand in the victory of Christ.
Forrest: And stop fighting the battle that Jesus has already won.
Forrest: But trust in his power.
Forrest: Can you imagine?
Forrest: Can you imagine what would happen in your life if you actually lived like heaven collided with earth and gave you the confidence of the fact that God is with you?
Forrest: If you believe it, say God is with me.
Forrest: He wants to help you to shine the light into the darkness and to have the joy in the victory of a defeated Satan in your life.
Forrest: Because Christmas is not just about a manger or a cradle, it's about the cross.
Forrest: And I wonder if today you will let heaven collide with your heart.
Forrest: Will you recognize the fact that you're a sinner, in need of a savior, and allow what transpires over the next few days to invade your heart and your soul so that you can be with God one day in heaven and he dwell with you today.
Forrest: Would you bow your heads?
Forrest: All across this room, there are so many homes that are represented.
Forrest: And God, right now I want to pray over each home that is represented in this room.
Forrest: That over the next few days, as we come to celebrate you as Savior, you as Christ the Lord, and the fact that you're not still in the manger, but that you grew up, lived a perfect, sinless life, and you died on the cross in our place so that we could be forgiven and free in paradise one day with you in heaven.
Forrest: God, thank you, thank you that you broke up in the clouds and you invaded earth so that we can have Christ and the security of our salvation, that we cannot buy or do for ourselves.
Forrest: So, Father, right now I pray all across this room for anyone who is a follower of Jesus, who calls themselves a Christian, that this Christmas, that Father, they would shine your light, that you would shine your light through them into darkness, to bring hope to the home to the hopeless, to bring peace to those that are in fear, to bring love to those who feel rejected.
Forrest: And God, right now I pray in this place, if there's anybody in this room who has not received you as Savior, to be forgiven and free.
Forrest: And so that their name is written down in heaven, and that one day when they pass away, that their last breath on earth will be the next breath in heaven with you, God.
Forrest: And today I pray, Father, if there's anybody in this room who needs to receive you as Savior, that today would be the day that they do it, that they would pray right now, Jesus, save me.
Forrest: In their heart and their mind, Jesus, save me.
Forrest: I believe that you're the Son of God, that you died on the cross for my sins, that you were raised to life.
Forrest: Forgive me so that I can be free.
Forrest: Wash me.
Forrest: Cleanse me so that I can be in heaven one day with you.
Forrest: Thank you from thank you for coming from heaven to earth for me.
Forrest: I give you my life as you gave yours for mine.
Forrest: Thank you for saving me.
Forrest: Heads bowed, eyes closed, you're in the room today, and you prayed for that moment to happen in your life to receive Christ as your Savior, to be forgiven, to be in right relationship with him, to be in heaven one day, by trusting in Jesus, and you prayed that today, to receive him.
Forrest: I want you to take a sign towards heaven by raising a hand at the count of three.
Forrest: If that was you today, to receive Christ as Savior.
Forrest: When I count three, I want you just to raise that hand so I can pray for you.
Forrest: There's a sign towards heaven.
Forrest: If that's you, ready one, two, three.
Forrest: Raise that hand.
Forrest: Anybody in this place?
Forrest: To receive Jesus as Savior.
Forrest: I see you.
Forrest: I see you in the back.
Forrest: Anybody else?
Forrest: Father, right now, with hands raised to heaven, we praise your name that salvation has come today.
Forrest: Father, we thank you, God, that you gave your son Jesus to die in our place so that we could be made right with you, that our destiny would change, and that we'd be in heaven one day.
Forrest: So, Father, thank you for the miracle of Christmas and for the blessing of the cross.
Forrest: And we worship you and praise you in the strong name of Jesus.
Forrest: Everybody said amen.
Forrest: Church, will you stand to your feet now as we celebrate and sing together and worship?