SPEAKER_01: Merry Christmas, everybody.
SPEAKER_01: Turn to your neighbor and say Merry Christmas.
SPEAKER_01: Turn to your other neighbor and say, I didn't say say anything.
SPEAKER_01: Say you look good.
SPEAKER_01: It's always wonderful to be together right before Christmas and celebrate the birth of our Savior.
SPEAKER_01: It's just a joy, and it's always a wonderful service because we get to have the kiddos in the house with us, and they're going to play a special part in the service in just a moment.
SPEAKER_01: But before we get there, I feel the need for a dad joke since I didn't do one last week.
SPEAKER_01: Anybody else feel like a Christmas dad joke is in order today, Mike?
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for that affirmation.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, Brenda, don't hit him.
SPEAKER_01: He's just excited for the dad joke.
SPEAKER_01: All right, here we go.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the first dad joke.
SPEAKER_01: What kind of photos, what kind of photos do elves take?
SPEAKER_01: You're really Elfies.
SPEAKER_01: Elfies is what kind of photos elves take.
SPEAKER_01: Here's another one.
SPEAKER_01: What is a parent's favorite Christmas carol?
SPEAKER_01: Silent night.
SPEAKER_01: That's exactly right.
SPEAKER_01: All the parents said yes, please.
SPEAKER_01: And then one more, one more, and everybody's going to be so thankful for this.
SPEAKER_01: What do rain, why do reindeer like Miss Claus so much?
SPEAKER_01: Why do reindeer like Miss Claus so much?
SPEAKER_01: Well, she slays.
SPEAKER_01: You're welcome.
SPEAKER_01: I'll be here all holiday season.
SPEAKER_01: Merry Christmas.
SPEAKER_01: If you have your Bibles, grab those and stand with me this morning as we read God's Word.
SPEAKER_01: We're going to be in Luke chapter 2, looking at the story of Jesus' birth.
SPEAKER_01: Luke chapter 2, starting in verse 1, it reads this way In those days, Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.
SPEAKER_01: This was the first census that took place while Comarius was governor of Syria.
SPEAKER_01: And everyone went to their own town to register.
SPEAKER_01: So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth and Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem, to the town of David, because he belonged to the house and the line of David.
SPEAKER_01: He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and expecting a child.
SPEAKER_01: And while they were there, the time came for the baby to be born.
SPEAKER_01: And she gave birth to her firstborn son.
SPEAKER_01: She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger because there was no guest room available for them.
SPEAKER_01: Church, this is God's word, and the title of my message this morning is The Sound, the Sound, The Sound of Presence.
SPEAKER_01: The sound of God with us.
SPEAKER_01: Say that after me.
SPEAKER_01: God with us.
SPEAKER_01: Turn to your neighbor and say, God with us.
SPEAKER_01: Turn to your other neighbor and say, God with us.
SPEAKER_01: Turn around the person behind you and say, God with us.
SPEAKER_01: Is there anyone in the house this morning thankful that we serve a God who is with us?
SPEAKER_01: Father, we thank you this morning for your word.
SPEAKER_01: Your word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.
SPEAKER_01: It shows us the way to go and how to arrive there safely.
SPEAKER_01: And I pray this morning that we wouldn't just be hearers of your word, but that we'd be doers of it.
SPEAKER_01: In Jesus' mighty name, and everybody said, Amen.
SPEAKER_01: You may be seated.
SPEAKER_01: So we're gonna look into the Christmas story a little bit this morning, but I am gonna need a little bit of help.
SPEAKER_01: We've got kiddos in the house with us this morning.
SPEAKER_01: And so if you're elementary age, I want to invite you to come join me right down in front this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Church, we put your hands together for all the kids.
SPEAKER_01: You can have a seat right there, right there, down in front this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe a parent or an adult or two might join me this morning.
SPEAKER_01: No, everybody's saying you asked for it, you got it.
SPEAKER_01: Good luck.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, thank you, thank you.
SPEAKER_01: Don't these kiddos look great?
SPEAKER_01: You guys are awesome.
SPEAKER_01: And look beautiful this morning, look handsome today, and I just want to spend a minute with you imagining the Christmas story together.
SPEAKER_01: I imagine that for weeks you've been imagining what's under the Christmas tree.
SPEAKER_01: Have you been?
SPEAKER_01: Levi, have you been imagining what's under the Christmas tree?
SPEAKER_01: I know you, I know you, Addie, have you been imagining what's under the Christmas tree?
SPEAKER_01: I know you have, I know you've been imagining.
SPEAKER_01: We all are imagining what's under Judah, what you've been dreaming about underneath the Christmas tree?
SPEAKER_01: A baseball bat.
SPEAKER_01: I think, I think, listen, if your parents don't provide that, I'll I want you to go see Miss Julie Kent, and she'll make sure you get one.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Julie, I just saw you.
SPEAKER_01: He's got she's got him.
SPEAKER_01: We got you.
SPEAKER_01: You you've been imagining for weeks what is underneath the Christmas tree.
SPEAKER_01: But for a moment this morning, I want us to imagine the Christmas story together.
SPEAKER_01: The story that we just read is seven verses, but it tells a massive story.
SPEAKER_01: And so I want you to do something for me, right where you are.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to close your eyes for just a moment, because sometimes it's easier to see in the spirit with our physical eyes closed.
SPEAKER_01: Imagine with me for a moment that a decree goes out from a far, far away land.
SPEAKER_01: A Roman emperor by the name of Caesar Augustus issues a decree in Rome and sets the entire world into motion.
SPEAKER_01: People all across the known world are now scurrying their things together to observe the degree that Caesar has issued.
SPEAKER_01: They don't have a choice in the matter.
SPEAKER_01: If they don't do it, there'll be great punishment to pay.
SPEAKER_01: Rome is known for governing with an iron fist, so they have no choice.
SPEAKER_01: One man's word moves, puts the entire world in motion.
SPEAKER_01: And down in a little town called Nazareth, I can hear Joseph sigh.
SPEAKER_01: The decree is heard.
SPEAKER_01: And there's this deep breath, this deep sigh.
SPEAKER_01: See, he's in Nazareth, but he's from Bethlehem.
SPEAKER_01: Which means he's got to pack up himself, his wife Mary, some belongings, and begin the long trek to Bethlehem.
SPEAKER_01: This is no vacation, this is hard work.
SPEAKER_01: Bethlehem is a hundred miles away, and they've got to traverse it on foot.
SPEAKER_01: Over mountains, through valleys, across rivers.
SPEAKER_01: They've got to go.
SPEAKER_01: And so the weight of the moment, I imagine, begins to settle upon Joseph, knowing the difficulty of the journey.
SPEAKER_01: They pack a few things up, and I imagine they they they had a mule or a donkey to help them on this journey.
SPEAKER_01: Mary is very, very pregnant.
SPEAKER_01: This is going to be a very, very difficult task.
SPEAKER_01: And they begin their journey.
SPEAKER_01: I can I can almost hear their slow shuffle along the road.
SPEAKER_01: The roads in that day were pretty treacherous.
SPEAKER_01: They were dangerous.
SPEAKER_01: Bandits were hiding in every place.
SPEAKER_01: I'm sure Joseph and Mary's hearts were filled with worry and anxiety about not just the length of the journey, but the things that they would encounter along the way.
SPEAKER_01: Mary is incredibly pregnant.
SPEAKER_01: Church, how many of you guys know we kind of make the Christmas story a Hallmark movie, but this was no Hallmark movie.
SPEAKER_01: This is difficult days instigated by a decree from a man far, far away that has no clue the magnitude of what he is asking for this family in particular.
SPEAKER_01: After many, many, many days, it probably took them a minimum of a week, probably two, to get to Bethlehem.
SPEAKER_01: Can you imagine how exhausted they were?
SPEAKER_01: Can you imagine how relieved they were that they finally made it to the place they were called to go to so they could be counted?
SPEAKER_01: But when they get there, they find no room whatsoever.
SPEAKER_01: See, the the town is filled with families just like themselves who have come from all different parts of the globe to be counted, and door after door slams in their face.
SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_01: There's no room for you here.
SPEAKER_01: Over and over again, they hear rejection after rejection, and I'm sure with every rejection, Joseph's anxiety grows.
SPEAKER_01: He's looking at his wife and he knows it's not going to be long.
SPEAKER_01: Finally, they find a man that says, I don't have any room in my house, but but I have a barn.
SPEAKER_01: It's actually more like a cave.
SPEAKER_01: It's where I keep my animals.
SPEAKER_01: It'll provide a little cover, a little shelter.
SPEAKER_01: It's not clean, it's not sanitized, it's not a nice, neat, pretty little place, but it's better than nothing.
SPEAKER_01: And they say yes.
SPEAKER_01: So after a hundred miles walking, exhausted and tired, they try to settle into this cave-like barn next to animals.
SPEAKER_01: I bet animals, I bet a cow is probably moving, and sheep are bleeding, and maybe there's a dog barking in the distance.
SPEAKER_00: It stinks.
SPEAKER_00: It's a messy place.
SPEAKER_00: In the middle of the night, the sound shifts.
SPEAKER_01: Mary's pain begins to grow louder.
SPEAKER_01: Her pain begins to grow louder than the animals.
SPEAKER_01: I imagine the animals begin to quiet down at the sound of the pain of birth that is beginning to flow through Mary.
SPEAKER_01: And then in a singular moment, one voice rises above the rest.
SPEAKER_01: And it's the sound of a baby crying.
SPEAKER_01: It's the sound of God becoming man.
SPEAKER_01: It's the sound of God with us.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to know, boys and girls, this morning, the most important sound that humanity has ever heard in the entire history of humanity is the sound of that baby crying.
SPEAKER_01: Because that baby crying sounded our hope.
SPEAKER_01: It sounded our redemption.
SPEAKER_01: It sounded our salvation.
SPEAKER_01: It sounded God with us.
SPEAKER_01: Can I tell you what's really amazing about this story?
SPEAKER_01: It blows my mind is that the creator of the universe, the one whose hands flung the stars in the sky, has to be wrapped up with cloths so he doesn't get cold.
SPEAKER_01: He reaches for Mary's face to find comfort.
SPEAKER_01: And he does all of this, church, not in a royal palace, but in a messy manger.
SPEAKER_01: Why in the world would God choose to come to us in that kind of way?
SPEAKER_01: Why wouldn't he come through a clean hospital room?
SPEAKER_01: Or why wouldn't he come through a golden palace?
SPEAKER_01: Why would God choose to come to us through a messy barn?
SPEAKER_01: Because that's who he is and what he does.
SPEAKER_01: See, God comes into the most messy places and makes them holy because He is there.
SPEAKER_01: Anybody thankful today that God is willing to come into your mess, and his coming into your mess makes your mess sacred.
SPEAKER_01: It's it's a I want you to hear me this morning.
SPEAKER_01: God loves to come to right where you are because he's God with us.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't ask us to come up to him, but he comes to us and makes his habitation his home with us in order to change us because wherever he is, there is change.
SPEAKER_01: And boys and girls, this is what I want you to know.
SPEAKER_01: This is the story of Christmas, the story of God with us.
SPEAKER_01: When you came in this morning, Pastor Summer provided you a packet that helps to outline some of this story.
SPEAKER_01: And so I'm going to dismiss you back to your seats and back to those packets.
SPEAKER_01: Church, will you put your hands together for these wonderful children that joined me this morning down in front?
SPEAKER_01: I'm not going to be long, but I do want to just share a couple of thoughts with you this morning about this story.
SPEAKER_01: Pastor Noah alluded to it a moment ago.
SPEAKER_01: I am just absolutely amazed at the Christmas story more every year.
SPEAKER_01: The beauty of it, the majesty of it, the miracle of it.
SPEAKER_01: The Christmas story gives us a very special name for Jesus, and it's the name Emmanuel.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody say Emmanuel.
SPEAKER_01: And it means God with us.
SPEAKER_01: It is the name of God that helps to describe how John declared, the word has become flesh and made his dwelling among us.
SPEAKER_01: I cannot overemphasize the significance of Emmanuel because every other religion and every other God on the planet says, Come to where I am, and yet our God says, I'm going to come to where you are.
SPEAKER_01: That He comes to where we are in our mess, in our difficulties, in the hardest and the loneliest of our places, we have the confidence that God is with us.
SPEAKER_01: He comes to a poor family, not a king.
SPEAKER_01: He comes to a feeding trough, not a throne.
SPEAKER_01: He comes to shepherds, not socialites.
SPEAKER_01: He comes to a world that is not ready, that is not tidy, that is not peaceful, and says, I will be with you.
SPEAKER_01: See, I believe that the greatness of God, that God's greatness is his nearness.
SPEAKER_01: It's what David declared in the Psalms.
SPEAKER_01: He said, Where can I go from your presence, O Lord?
SPEAKER_01: If I go to the heights of the heaven, you are there.
SPEAKER_01: If I go to the depths of the sea, you are there.
SPEAKER_01: If I cross or traverse the world, you are there.
SPEAKER_01: That is the greatness of our God.
SPEAKER_01: That He's with us on the mountain.
SPEAKER_01: He's with us in the valley.
SPEAKER_01: He's with us as we're going through the most difficult and darkest days of our lives.
SPEAKER_01: He never leaves us, he never forsakes us.
SPEAKER_01: He's a friend that sticks closer than a brother, a very present help in time of trouble.
SPEAKER_01: Emmanuel is with us.
SPEAKER_01: It's the beauty of who God is.
SPEAKER_01: That means when you're scared, he's with you.
SPEAKER_01: When you're sad, he's with you.
SPEAKER_01: When you're laughing, playing, he's with you.
SPEAKER_01: When your family is doing great, he's with you.
SPEAKER_01: When it's going through a hard time, he is with you.
SPEAKER_01: If you don't hear anything else this morning, I want it to drill down into the depths of your heart today.
SPEAKER_01: There's no place you can go that God's not there.
SPEAKER_01: This is the greatness of who he is.
SPEAKER_01: When I say God is, I want you to say with us.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody say God is God is God is God is God is God is when I'm scared, God is when I'm doing God, God is God is with us through every situation and circumstance of our life.
SPEAKER_01: The greatest gift of Christmas is not a present.
SPEAKER_01: It is present.
SPEAKER_01: We look underneath the Christmas tree and we wonder at the presents that are there.
SPEAKER_01: Those aren't the greatest gift.
SPEAKER_01: The greatest gift is Emmanuel.
SPEAKER_01: I'm so thankful today.
SPEAKER_01: That God's not just with us when it's good.
SPEAKER_01: I'm even more thankful that God's with us when it's not.
SPEAKER_01: I'm thankful that he never leaves us.
SPEAKER_01: Never forsakes us.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is God saying, I'm not just sending you something, I'm sending you myself.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible tells us that God is the giver of all good gifts, and the greatest gift that he could ever give us is himself.
SPEAKER_01: It's not a present, it's his presence that we most desperately need.
SPEAKER_01: And that's what we are celebrating today.
SPEAKER_01: That's what Christmas is all about.
SPEAKER_01: Christmas is about the celebration of a God who has come near to us to be with us for all time.
SPEAKER_01: I want to go back to the manger for just a moment as I wrap this up.
SPEAKER_01: I told you I wasn't going to be long this morning.
SPEAKER_01: For once, a pastor was telling the truth when he made that statement.
SPEAKER_01: The manger is an interesting image that we have in this story.
SPEAKER_01: Manger is a fancy way of saying feeding trough.
SPEAKER_01: That's what the manger was.
SPEAKER_01: It was a stone feeding trough that was used in barns of that day to feed animals.
SPEAKER_01: So think about this with me for a moment.
SPEAKER_01: Later in his life, Jesus called himself the bread of life.
SPEAKER_01: The bread of life.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody say bread of life.
SPEAKER_01: So the bread of life was laid in a feeding trough.
SPEAKER_01: In a place called Bethlehem.
SPEAKER_01: Do you know what Bethlehem means in Greek?
SPEAKER_01: It literally translates house of bread.
SPEAKER_01: So the bread of life was laid in a feeding trough in a place called the house of bread.
SPEAKER_01: From his inception, it was like God was saying, through this child, I'm going to feed all of humanity for all of time.
SPEAKER_01: The bread of life, born in a place called House of Bread, laid in a feeding trough, so that whosoever would would have the opportunity to come and partake of a bread that never grows old, that never grows stale, that always is fresh, is always on point in every way to feed us every morning.
SPEAKER_01: I'm thankful for the bread of life today.
SPEAKER_01: What's amazing is later in his life, his death and his resurrection turned that feeding trough we call a manger into the very first communion table where all of us are invited to partake of bread that leads to everlasting life.
SPEAKER_01: In just a moment, we're going to take communion together to celebrate the bread of life.
SPEAKER_01: You should have received that when you came in this morning, the communion elements.
SPEAKER_01: If you don't have any of those, please raise your hand and one of our ushers will be happy to serve you those elements this morning, guys.
SPEAKER_01: We have some people with their hands up.
SPEAKER_01: If you could help me with that, I would appreciate it.
SPEAKER_01: I can think of no better sacrament to participate in today than communion.
SPEAKER_01: Because in Jesus' birth, he was pointing us to his death to give us life evermore.
SPEAKER_01: Have a few more over here to my left, I think, guys.
SPEAKER_01: If you could help me with that.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
SPEAKER_01: Anybody else?
SPEAKER_01: I want you to stand with me where you are this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Before we take communion, though, which is an acknowledgement of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, and our commitment to following and serving Him.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to give you an opportunity, if you don't know Jesus, to come to know Him.
SPEAKER_01: With every head bowed and every eye closed this morning, if you're here today worshiping with us here right before Christmas, and you've not given your life to the bread of life, I want to give you that opportunity today.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible tells us that if we acknowledge Him as Lord, recognize that He is the Son of God and has come to take away the sins of the world, that He gave His all so that we might have life and it more abundantly.
SPEAKER_01: If you're here today and you've not given your life to Jesus, I want to pray for you.
SPEAKER_01: So with every head bowed and every eye closed this morning, if that's you, would you just raise your hand?
SPEAKER_01: I want to pray for you today.
SPEAKER_01: If there's anyone here, I'll just wait just a moment.
SPEAKER_01: Anyone here today?
SPEAKER_01: Pastor, I want to give my life to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: I'll wait just a moment longer.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, you can look at me.
SPEAKER_01: Church, we're gonna participate in communion today.
SPEAKER_01: I celebrate that every person here today knows the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: In order to lead you in communion, I need somebody to bring me some communion elements, though.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Pastor Noah.
SPEAKER_01: You're always on point.
SPEAKER_01: If you would take the bread today.
SPEAKER_01: Right before Jesus was betrayed, arrested, crucified, he gathered his disciples around him.
SPEAKER_01: And he says, This is the bread of the new covenant.
SPEAKER_01: This is representative of my body that is broken for you.
SPEAKER_01: And by my stripes, you're healed.
SPEAKER_01: Anybody thankful for healing today?
SPEAKER_01: Father, we acknowledge you, your son, as the bread of life and his body that was given for us that we might have it in everlasting life.
SPEAKER_01: Today we partake of the bread and say thank you for life and healing in every way.
SPEAKER_01: In Jesus' name, you may partake of the bread.
SPEAKER_01: If you would peel back the next layer and you'll find the juice there.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus then took the cup.
SPEAKER_01: He says, This is the cup of the new covenant.
SPEAKER_01: This juice is representative of my blood that I shed for you.
SPEAKER_01: This is so important because without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.
SPEAKER_01: There is no remission of sin.
SPEAKER_01: But when Jesus shed his blood on Calvary's hill, we, when we acknowledge him as Lord, receive salvation, forgiveness, and redemption.
SPEAKER_01: Anybody thankful for forgiveness today?
SPEAKER_01: Lord Jesus, we thank you for your blood that you shed to earn our salvation, to earn our forgiveness.
SPEAKER_01: So today, we say thank you with every fiber of our being.
SPEAKER_01: We say thank you, Jesus, that you loved your life not unto death, but you gave it freely that we might have forgiveness, that we might have grace upon grace, upon grace, upon grace.
SPEAKER_01: God, we thank you for grace today.
SPEAKER_01: We take the cup and say thank you, Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: You may take now.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus, we say thank you today for your wonderful, miraculous goodness and graciousness to us today.
SPEAKER_01: We worship you this morning.