Jimmy Stewart, John McClane, And Why They Still Can’t Beat A Baby In A Barn

What keeps pulling us back to a manger while our screens glow with holiday blockbusters and beloved classics? We open the door on a 2,000-year-old story and find a fresh surprise: its strength isn’t in spectacle but in how it reframes power, dignity, and love. Instead of palaces, we find a young couple with little to their name. Instead of elites, we meet shepherds from the margins and travelers from far away. That casting choice isn’t an accident—it’s the message. The good news is wide, the welcome is real, and value doesn’t trickle down from power; it rises from being seen and loved.

Together we trace why this story endures when the credits roll on even our favorite films. Yes, we tip our hats to nostalgia and joy, but we keep returning to Bethlehem because it hands us a way to live. We talk about how humility disarms fear, how inclusion expands community, and how love moves from sentiment to action. The shepherds remind us that hard, hidden work matters. The magi show that seekers from outside the circle still belong at the table. And the setting—rough, ordinary, close to the ground—teaches that hope can start anywhere and spread everywhere.

This conversation isn’t about memorizing a scene; it’s about practicing a story. If abundant life is real, it looks like presence over pretense, care over cynicism, and a daily choice to notice the overlooked. We invite you to carry that rhythm past the holiday—into your home, your street, and your work—so the next chapter is written in how you welcome, serve, and love. If this resonates, share it with someone who needs a gentle word today, subscribe for more reflections like this, and leave a review to help others find the message. What part of the story will you claim as your own this week?

Transcript

The Enduring Christmas Story

Pastor Darren 0:00

It's an interesting story. In way interesting in the sense that it is so simple and so basic, a 2,000-year-old story. And yet so many Christians come together every year on this night, and we retell this very same story, the same story. Joseph and Mary coming together, traveling to Bethlehem, having trouble getting into the inn, right?

Pop Culture Holiday Classics

Pastor Darren 0:35

Then the shepherds are told about this Jesus being born. Wise men are told about this baby going to be born. Angels appear. It's this event that in some ways magical and in some ways pretty darn basic and simple. And here we are telling this tale every single year. I'm here to tell you, we got a lot of good Christmas stories in our culture that we could use on Christmas Eve night. This is what I'm telling you. We've got good stories. How many of you have already watched It's a Wonderful Life for this year? Did you get it in? Some of you, I guess. You're not committed, you're not of the the church of It's a Wonderful Life. Miracle on 34th. Anyone got fans of that? A few of you over there. Okay, some of you. Now, those are some good, some good movies, right? The stories of Christmas. There's these values that are being lived out, right? And we've got uh Jimmy Stewart of all people fighting for the folks, fighting for deep, deep inner values. And boy, when he's hurting, we're hurting too, because it's Jimmy Stewart. And then the town comes together for him, and Mr. Potter doesn't get to win, right? Good stories about Christmas, right? Miracle 34th Street, too. We get to believe in Santa Claus and good things like that. Right? We watched uh Elf just the other day. Even that one, kind of silly, but still this sort of fun value of the spirit of Christmas being awakened by this nutty elf that finds his way into the real world. Well, not really an elf, but you know the story, I'm sure. But here's this good story of the spirit of Christmas, these great stories that we got. And diehard. Am I right? We got John McClain out there fighting to protect whatever building it was he was protecting from Hans Gruber, who was just a simple robber, nothing better, had no values. Good Christmas stories. Am I right? We've got these stories, and yet we don't turn to them on Christmas Eve.

Why We Keep Telling This Story

Pastor Darren 2:57

We turn to this simple, simple story every single year. Two thousand-year-old story. I don't know if you ever ask yourself why we land there every year. Because it's not really the story that we're um tied to. I think it's more the story is pointing to some deep, deep beliefs and values that we as Christians hold really, really dear. These values and understandings about how the world works that are so important to us.

Humble Beginnings And Inclusion

Pastor Darren 3:41

Like just the idea that when God was taking an opportunity to come to this world, God didn't come to the leaders of the world, God came to these fairly low people, Joseph and Mary. Didn't seem to have too much wealth, too much power. There's a value there that's getting expressed by the Christian faith about how God appreciates all people, and not just those who are in power. I like too how the story includes shepherds and these wise men, these magi, the shepherds. I've preached before about shepherds. You ever been a shepherd before? Do you ever want to be a shepherd? It's a little bit of a rough life. You're out there, your best friends are sheep. You're hanging out with it's kind of dirty, a little bit lonely out there. Those are not jobs that people are hunting down. It's not definite, it's not folks uh uh beating down the door to get these shepherd jobs. These are people who are on the economic scale fairly low. And yet angels are sent to bring them to the party here.

Shepherds And Magi, Near And Far

Pastor Darren 5:02

And the wise men, the magi, were told that they come from far-off places. Not necessarily from this one spot, but from a broader sense of the globe, at least as they understood it in those days.

Love As The Central Message

Pastor Darren 5:18

I hear values getting expressed in this story, this simple story about how God was not trying to reach a small amount of people, God was trying to reach the whole world. And when we tell that story, when we hear it again year after year, we're reminding ourselves of that value that God has, of that God that we worship, that we follow, that we appreciate. Finally, I think maybe maybe most important about this story is the fact that God, the God who created all that we understand, at least in our belief system, the God that created everything that we understand to be, also loves that creation and loves the people in this world, uh the children of God, so much so that God sent God's Son to come and to be amongst us and to teach us about what life abundant was supposed to look like, how we were supposed to live in this world, how we were supposed to find richness in this world, how we were supposed to bless our lives in this world. I'd like

Make The Story Your Own

Pastor Darren 6:40

to think it has something to do with an individual thing, but I think it's a communal thing too. God wanted us to understand the depths of love that were present in our world and all around us. And on this day, when we celebrate the birth of Christ, it's a day where we remind ourselves of that belief that God loves this world and loves the people in it and wants us to share that love. So it's not just this simple, simple story. It's a simple story full of eternal truths that we want to embody, that we want to own. It's a story that we hear, but it's also a story we want to make ours. And my prayer for you is that here in this Christmas season, you might be able to here on Christmas Eve and maybe Christmas tomorrow, be able to claim that story as yours. Be able to believe with some depth about that the reality of love in this world, and then dare I say, go on and live your lives beyond just tomorrow in that belief. That it won't be just this story or the Christian story, but it'll be your story. Amen.