WEBVTT 00:00:01.600 --> 00:00:04.080 Welcome to the Awakening Church Podcast. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:08.960 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:10.720 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:12.640 --> 00:00:14.160 Merry Christmas. 00:00:14.640 --> 00:00:16.239 Good to be with you. 00:00:16.719 --> 00:00:22.480 My name's Ryan, and we're absolutely thrilled to have you join us today. 00:00:23.120 --> 00:00:32.880 You know, I don't know if it feels uh any more Christmassy than gathering together in the cool, brisk night, hearing the kids singing. 00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:34.640 Um, you know what? 00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:38.560 Uh having the heat lamps warm us. 00:00:39.119 --> 00:00:40.640 These are amazing. 00:00:41.359 --> 00:00:44.799 So, those who are online, I just want to let you know we're warm too. 00:00:44.960 --> 00:00:53.119 Uh, you might be a little bit more cozy at your home next to your fire, but we have heat lamps lighting our way here. 00:00:53.759 --> 00:00:55.840 And it's an absolute thrill to be together. 00:00:55.920 --> 00:01:04.879 You know, this year feels just a little bit more special as um, you know, we weren't able to do this last year. 00:01:05.040 --> 00:01:12.719 In fact, our team last year was driving all across the bay, dropping off experience kits for people to do Christmas Eve at home. 00:01:12.799 --> 00:01:21.200 And I remember driving home, going to spend Christmas Eve with my family, turning on our service and watching myself preach. 00:01:22.959 --> 00:01:28.400 So I'm really grateful that we're here together today. 00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:40.000 And as we return to being able to have our Christmas Eve service, our prayer is that you would uh in this moment uh have a return to wonder. 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:55.760 You know, we've had a lot of returning this um, you know, Christmas season, a return to maybe some Christmas parties, some family events with friends, a return certainly of the chaos at the mall. 00:01:55.920 --> 00:01:57.439 Anyone go to the mall? 00:01:57.840 --> 00:01:58.719 Yeah, wow. 00:01:58.879 --> 00:02:02.959 I hate the mall already, but wow, wow. 00:02:03.519 --> 00:02:16.400 Just a return to all of the Christmas festivities and our prayer in this moment, may it be a pause, may it be a moments of wonder. 00:02:17.199 --> 00:02:20.000 Let me ask you this Christmas season. 00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:23.039 Have you stopped to wonder? 00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:30.159 Have you just stopped to wonder this Christmas season? 00:02:30.319 --> 00:02:35.120 To be in awe, to let your heart be captivated. 00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:36.000 A.W. 00:02:36.319 --> 00:02:39.199 Tozer once wrote this about Christmas. 00:02:39.360 --> 00:02:47.840 He says, it does seem strange that so many persons become excited about Christmas and so few stop to inquire into its meaning. 00:02:48.080 --> 00:02:58.639 But I suppose this odd phenomenon is quite in harmony with our unfortunate human habit of magnifying trivialities and ignoring matters of greatest import. 00:02:59.919 --> 00:03:01.759 What if this moment? 00:03:03.280 --> 00:03:08.319 What if this moment is a matter of greatest importance? 00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:19.199 What if this isn't just an ordinary Christmas Eve service or this is just what you do, you know, in the holiday season or time? 00:03:21.120 --> 00:03:26.000 What if this is a moment where God wants to meet with you? 00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:39.280 God wants to meet with us to awake our hearts to the wonder and reality of who He is, of the arrival of His Son on the planet. 00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:51.759 Now, in the first century Palestine, there was this deep anticipation and longing and waiting for the coming Messiah or anointed one. 00:03:52.159 --> 00:04:02.800 Uh, there were these prophecies of old that spoke of this coming one who would liberate Israel, free them from the tyranny of oppression. 00:04:02.879 --> 00:04:19.519 And so there was this angst and this longing and this waiting, and these prophecies spoke of this anointed one would come, you know, born of a virgin in the line of the great King David, and would even be God himself. 00:04:21.519 --> 00:04:28.240 You know, every Christmas Eve, we had a tradition in my house growing up because my mom loves Charlie Brown. 00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:32.000 And so we watched a Charlie Brown Christmas. 00:04:32.240 --> 00:04:33.360 Anybody else? 00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:34.240 A few of you. 00:04:34.319 --> 00:04:35.600 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:43.600 And if you've ever watched a Charlie Brown Christmas, you've heard one of these prophecies read by Linus. 00:04:45.279 --> 00:04:51.199 And I think for some, that might even be why the wonder is lost. 00:04:51.600 --> 00:05:06.399 It's because it becomes so familiar with the Christmas story, so familiar with the nativity that's wrapped up in our Christmas season that we lose the wonder, lose the majesty, lose the awe of the moments. 00:05:06.800 --> 00:05:13.759 Would you listen afresh to what the prophet Isaiah said of this coming one? 00:05:14.160 --> 00:05:32.480 He said, For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders, and he will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace? 00:05:33.279 --> 00:05:38.000 Don't we need a wonderful counselor this Christmas season? 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:51.360 I mean, in the anxiety and the uncertainty what we what we're living in and living through, don't you need one who will come alongside and bring counsel and guidance and help? 00:05:51.839 --> 00:05:56.399 Don't we need a mighty God this Christmas season? 00:05:57.279 --> 00:06:04.319 In a world of turbulence and unknown, and nevermore have we lived in a world where we just feel like things are out of control. 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:11.519 Don't you want a mighty God who is greater than anything you are facing or going through? 00:06:12.240 --> 00:06:22.639 Don't we need an everlasting Father, not just a distant God, an apathetic God, but one who loves you deeply personally. 00:06:24.160 --> 00:06:28.560 One who brings comfort and care and security. 00:06:29.199 --> 00:06:32.079 And all we need a Prince of Peace. 00:06:33.199 --> 00:06:51.519 In the midst of all the relational trauma that's been going on and the heartbreak, we need one that will not just bring an end to strife and hostility, we need one, we need one who will actually bring healing and wholeness, don't we? 00:06:52.160 --> 00:07:05.920 You see, Christmas is the celebration that the wonderful counselor has arrived as a baby on the outskirts of Bethlehem. 00:07:06.160 --> 00:07:10.959 Christmas that's all right, I'll pick it up later. 00:07:15.920 --> 00:07:22.560 Think about this, was laying in a manger to sleep. 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:32.000 That the everlasting Father took on flesh, that the Prince of Peace is Jesus. 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:47.199 Now, what makes this moment of greatest importance isn't just that Emmanuel, God with us, arrived on the planet. 00:07:47.360 --> 00:07:49.120 Certainly that is true. 00:07:50.240 --> 00:08:06.879 But what makes this moment, or part of what makes this so significant, this is incredible, this is amazing, is not just that God showed up to, but who God chose to first announce his coming. 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:09.439 To first announce his presence. 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:17.600 A significant part of what makes this moment of greatest importance is who God announced this to first. 00:08:17.920 --> 00:08:19.120 Now think about this. 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:26.800 If you had this news, if this prophecy was fulfilled and you knew God showed up onto the planet, who would you like to tell first? 00:08:27.439 --> 00:08:29.439 Who would be the person you would share it with? 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:39.360 Maybe it's somebody important that you know, a close friend, a close acquaintance, uh, maybe it's a dignitary or an influencer or somebody famous. 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:52.240 Now, when the early followers of Jesus heard who this was first announced to, when they heard about this, it was actually scandalous. 00:08:54.000 --> 00:09:06.080 And it speaks loudly, profoundly to why God visited the planet and his heart for you and I. 00:09:06.799 --> 00:09:15.759 You know, would you listen afresh to who God spoke to first? 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:20.480 This first public announcement, find it in Luke chapter 2, verse 8. 00:09:20.720 --> 00:09:29.440 It says, And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 00:09:29.759 --> 00:09:30.799 Shepherds. 00:09:59.519 --> 00:10:01.279 You know what comes to our mind? 00:10:01.519 --> 00:10:03.279 Or at least this is what comes to my mind. 00:10:03.440 --> 00:10:06.639 You know those little precious moments figurines, right? 00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:15.279 That's what comes to mind when we think about shepherds, or maybe it's some cute kid with a painted-on beard and a blanket over his head. 00:10:15.440 --> 00:10:24.879 And this is what comes to mind when we think about shepherds who were first, were the first ones to hear this news. 00:10:25.120 --> 00:10:28.080 The greatest news this planet has ever heard. 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:36.879 Now, shepherds in the ancient day were notorious for being the wrong kind of people. 00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:41.279 Shepherds were social outcasts. 00:10:41.519 --> 00:10:46.399 They had a dirty job and were considered fairly dirty people. 00:10:47.919 --> 00:10:52.240 They were the kind of people that you avoided and you looked down on. 00:10:53.440 --> 00:11:00.320 They were actually known, I mean, they were known for being uh cheats and swindlers and being kind of a rough and rowdy crew. 00:11:00.399 --> 00:11:01.360 Think about this. 00:11:01.679 --> 00:11:30.720 When God showed up on the planet and Emmanuel, God with us, the wonderful counselor, the mighty God, he chose for the very first people to hear this good news were shepherds, the wrong kind of people, a rough kind of people, social outcasts, looked down upon by the religious elite. 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:37.039 Why in the world would God choose these people? 00:11:37.600 --> 00:11:42.879 Well, the angel's response gives us insight into why. 00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:51.600 Verse 9: an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 00:11:51.919 --> 00:11:57.360 But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, I bring you good news that will cause great joy. 00:11:57.600 --> 00:11:59.279 Now, can you read this with me? 00:11:59.600 --> 00:12:02.799 For all yeah, let's try it again. 00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:06.000 It was okay, but it we can do better. 00:12:06.080 --> 00:12:06.559 It's fine. 00:12:06.639 --> 00:12:07.039 It's fine. 00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:08.320 I'm not I'm not hurt. 00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:09.919 I'll cry later. 00:12:12.799 --> 00:12:16.720 And I lost my I'm I'm making fun of you, and then I lost where I was in the text. 00:12:16.879 --> 00:12:20.080 I'm like, my it's so small I can barely read it. 00:12:23.919 --> 00:12:27.120 I know, I'm trying to find it so I can pick up to it. 00:12:27.360 --> 00:12:28.080 There we go. 00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:28.960 Thanks, D. 00:12:29.600 --> 00:12:30.639 Do not be afraid. 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:33.039 I bring you good news that will cause great joy. 00:12:36.399 --> 00:12:37.919 Praise the shepherd. 00:12:38.159 --> 00:12:41.519 Today in the town of David, a savior has been born to you. 00:12:41.679 --> 00:12:43.440 He is the Messiah, the Lord. 00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:45.200 This will be assigned to you. 00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:49.120 You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. 00:12:49.279 --> 00:13:00.639 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angels, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests. 00:13:01.039 --> 00:13:10.480 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about. 00:13:10.639 --> 00:13:13.840 So they hurried off and found Mary. 00:13:15.919 --> 00:13:21.120 When the angel showed up to the shepherds, he said, I bring you good news. 00:13:21.279 --> 00:13:30.000 We already covered this, that will cause great joy for all people. 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:33.759 We'll be here all night. 00:13:36.159 --> 00:13:37.279 Think about that. 00:13:39.519 --> 00:13:50.559 When the God chose to announce this first news, not to royalty in a palace, not to priests at a temple, but shepherds in a field. 00:13:51.519 --> 00:13:53.120 The wrong kind of people. 00:13:53.919 --> 00:14:10.559 As if he wants to go to the greatest extent to say, I am showing up not just for special people, not just for religious people, not just for the quote right people, but for every single person I have come for. 00:14:12.559 --> 00:14:14.720 It's this grand declaration. 00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:28.960 In a culture, in a society that said you had to look a certain way, be a certain way, and live a certain way, and only if you fulfilled those things in those order, in that order, then you were acceptable. 00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:33.200 And the outcast had no hope. 00:14:34.960 --> 00:14:37.440 And God says, no, no, no. 00:14:38.559 --> 00:14:40.799 I came for them. 00:14:42.080 --> 00:14:44.159 I came for you. 00:14:45.519 --> 00:14:48.080 He came for me. 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:54.320 It's good news, not just for the perfect people, but for us. 00:14:54.960 --> 00:14:58.480 A Savior has been born for you. 00:14:59.679 --> 00:15:02.720 A Savior has been born for me. 00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:06.080 God's favor rests on you. 00:15:08.879 --> 00:15:12.159 This is good news for all people. 00:15:12.960 --> 00:15:14.080 Even shepherds. 00:15:15.200 --> 00:15:17.519 Especially shepherds. 00:15:18.960 --> 00:15:22.480 A number of years ago, I got invited to this event. 00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:28.240 It was uh at this incredible home in the Palo Alto Hills. 00:15:28.559 --> 00:15:33.679 Um, this big, beautiful house set uh amongst a vineyard. 00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:40.639 As a drive up, I'm pretty in awe of the place and uh you know, walk in the doorway, and we're in the grand living room. 00:15:40.720 --> 00:15:42.159 Yes, it has a grand living room. 00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:44.559 I just have a living room, they have a grand one. 00:15:45.440 --> 00:15:51.919 And as I take my seat with the others, I can't help but notice their Christmas tree. 00:15:52.480 --> 00:16:04.799 And right in the center of the grand living room is a twelve-foot-high, brilliantly white Christmas tree, perfectly decorated. 00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:07.679 It's stunning, it's the centerpiece of the room. 00:16:07.919 --> 00:16:09.840 I'm just staring at this. 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:13.519 And then the tree began to bother me. 00:16:14.480 --> 00:16:17.200 And here's why it bothered me. 00:16:18.159 --> 00:16:28.320 This beautiful, incredible Christmas tree in the center of this perfect, lovely, grand living room was fake. 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:33.840 Now, I'm not here to argue which is better, real or fake. 00:16:34.320 --> 00:16:37.679 I've come to appreciate both as I've grown up. 00:16:38.879 --> 00:16:51.200 However, then I couldn't understand why in the world, in this beautiful home, they would have a fake Christmas tree. 00:16:52.639 --> 00:16:54.639 And then I realized why. 00:16:56.399 --> 00:17:02.399 It is the centerpiece of the room, and they needed it to look good from every angle. 00:17:02.960 --> 00:17:05.839 It needed to be perfect in their perfect living room. 00:17:05.920 --> 00:17:19.519 And so, no matter where you sat, no matter where you were you saw this beautiful, full, perfect tree, all with the lights in impeccable placement. 00:17:20.400 --> 00:17:29.519 And as I was looking at the tree, a wave of superiority began to kind of flow into my heart and mind. 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:36.799 Because I looked at the tree and I said, Well, that's a nice tree, thank you very much, but at least I have a real Christmas tree. 00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:46.640 You know, I went all the way out into the wilderness of Home Depot to pick up the Ingram family Christmas tree. 00:17:46.720 --> 00:17:57.519 We strapped it to the roof of our car, brought it home, and I kind of felt like just a little sense of I'm a little bit better, perhaps. 00:17:58.319 --> 00:18:11.839 And then I began to realize my tree isn't as great as I thought it was because we we brought it home, and um, well, it's not perfect from every side, and you go, you real tree people know that. 00:18:12.880 --> 00:18:34.079 In fact, this tree had a little bit of a hole, and so our tree's in the corner, not in the center, it's in the corner, so you put the hole in the corner, and then what we would do is you would decorate with the ornaments and the light to cover up any per imperfections on the tree, and then we would even trim the tree to help it, you know, be a little bit more symmetrical. 00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:49.680 And as I was thinking about their fake Christmas tree that was perfect from every angle, and our real Christmas tree that we began to hide the imperfections. 00:18:49.759 --> 00:18:55.039 I thought, man, that's so much how much how we go about our lives. 00:18:57.200 --> 00:19:06.319 Some of us, some of us are working so hard to present this like fake reality. 00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:12.960 Like you live this Instagram perfect life, everything's curated, right? 00:19:13.279 --> 00:19:29.440 And you want to present to the world that you have it perfect, you have it figured out, and you you know, you have the perfect family, the perfect, you know, marriage, you go on these great trips and you see every sunset, and however your phone gets those sunsets, that's amazing. 00:19:32.079 --> 00:19:44.400 But you present to the world this life that isn't really life, and on the inside you feel the emptiness, you feel the ache, you feel the longing for hope and peace and life. 00:19:45.599 --> 00:19:47.519 And then there's others of us. 00:19:48.720 --> 00:19:52.400 We're not trying to fake it till we make it, we're just like, we're authentic. 00:19:52.640 --> 00:19:53.920 It's gonna be real. 00:19:54.960 --> 00:19:56.000 It's us. 00:19:56.799 --> 00:20:02.160 And there can be even a sense of pride in a world that's so surface-y of like, no, it's really me. 00:20:02.880 --> 00:20:04.240 Just showing up. 00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:14.559 But the truth is, no matter how authentic you are, not how authentic I am, there's always a part of us we hide, don't we? 00:20:15.279 --> 00:20:23.119 There's always a part of us that we'll never really show because we're afraid if we really showed it, then we wouldn't be accepted, then we wouldn't be loved. 00:20:24.079 --> 00:20:26.799 People wouldn't want to be with us. 00:20:28.079 --> 00:20:31.519 Pastor and author Tim Keller writes this. 00:20:31.680 --> 00:20:41.279 He says, We have a deep sense that we've got to hide our true self or at least control what people know about us. 00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:52.079 Secretly, we feel that we aren't acceptable, that we have to prove to ourselves and others that we are worthy, lovable, valuable. 00:20:52.880 --> 00:21:06.640 And if I'm honest, when I think about the arrival of the wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the Prince of Peace, the everlasting Father. 00:21:08.799 --> 00:21:14.079 Like I go, I I don't necessarily identify with shepherds, I don't think I'm notorious. 00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:18.880 And certainly being a pastor in Silicon Valley, people avoid you. 00:21:21.599 --> 00:21:34.000 But if I'm really honest, I feel a little bit more like, yeah, I get that God would show up, but I don't know that He wouldn't come for me. 00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:37.759 Because I know me. 00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:41.599 I know my brokenness. 00:21:42.720 --> 00:21:45.119 I know the hidden self. 00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:59.359 And what's so incredible and what's so amazing is the gospel is this that God is so wild about you. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:21.680 About me, and though we are hiding ourselves, and though we somehow try to fake it till we make it, God sees you, and He sees me, all of us, and He says, I love you, and I want to be with you, and I've come for you. 00:22:22.559 --> 00:22:36.319 And the entire narrative of the Bible is one grand exclamation of the God who loves you, who's come for you, who wants to be with you no matter where you've been, what you've done, what you think. 00:22:37.759 --> 00:22:44.160 Whether you feel like you have it all together or faking it till you make it, or you feel like you're at the bottom. 00:22:45.119 --> 00:22:50.319 You know one other part that I like about the shepherds in this story? 00:22:51.200 --> 00:22:57.279 It's just not that they were announced to first, is that then God showed up unannounced. 00:22:57.680 --> 00:23:00.079 Have you ever had guests show up unannounced? 00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:03.200 In fact, my I wasn't gonna share this, but I will now. 00:23:03.359 --> 00:23:06.319 Um my parents showed up today unannounced. 00:23:07.519 --> 00:23:08.319 Hi, mom. 00:23:11.119 --> 00:23:17.279 And they came and it was wonderful, they're bringing by gifts, and if you're gonna show up unannounced, that's the way you should show up. 00:23:20.319 --> 00:23:23.440 But we didn't have time to clean up. 00:23:23.680 --> 00:23:33.119 In fact, uh, on the ottoman right next to the couch were my socks that I had taken off the night before as I was watching the Warriors game. 00:23:33.359 --> 00:23:35.680 Hey, they won, okay. 00:23:36.240 --> 00:23:38.720 Always gotta work in a warrior stuff curry. 00:23:39.440 --> 00:23:42.960 Easter, Christmas, it never fails. 00:23:46.880 --> 00:24:05.599 See, I love that God showed up unannounced because the shepherds had no chance to fix up their lives, to clean up their act, to somehow make themselves a little bit better. 00:24:05.839 --> 00:24:09.039 It just was how they were. 00:24:09.440 --> 00:24:12.799 And God said, I showed up right where you're at. 00:24:14.720 --> 00:24:31.519 See, we have this internal thing that we have to somehow fix up our lives, this internal drive that somehow we have to make our lives better, and we know that with other people that like we have to have this incessant trying to become the right person, right person, right person, and we never quite do. 00:24:31.599 --> 00:24:35.359 And so that's why we fake it, and that's why we hide. 00:24:36.880 --> 00:24:44.240 And God says, I see you right where you're at, and I love you. 00:24:45.920 --> 00:25:00.559 I see the real you beyond the curated filtered post, and beyond the hiding, I see every part of you, and I've come to be with you. 00:25:02.079 --> 00:25:06.960 I love you profoundly, constantly. 00:25:07.680 --> 00:25:10.880 The wonderful counselor has come for you. 00:25:11.200 --> 00:25:14.559 The mighty God is not against you, he is for you. 00:25:15.759 --> 00:25:21.359 The everlasting Father longs to welcome you home. 00:25:23.119 --> 00:25:24.960 The Prince of Peace. 00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:42.720 In this moment, with the anxiety and the hurry, maybe with the conflict that's going on in your home or with a relationship or just the dissonance of your own soul. 00:25:45.119 --> 00:25:50.160 The Prince of Peace longs to bring healing and wholeness. 00:25:51.279 --> 00:25:52.160 What if? 00:25:52.880 --> 00:25:59.599 What if this moment is a matter of greatest importance? 00:26:00.480 --> 00:26:05.119 That this moment is actually connected to that moment in the field. 00:26:06.880 --> 00:26:24.880 When we look up and when we recognize that it wasn't just a moment for way back then, it wasn't just a moment for those shepherds in a field or for the first century followers, but it was a moment that he is the eternal, everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. 00:26:25.039 --> 00:26:29.279 And it's a moment for you and I right now. 00:26:32.319 --> 00:26:34.079 Follower of Jesus. 00:26:35.599 --> 00:26:37.680 Would you wake up to that wonder? 00:26:39.519 --> 00:26:41.279 Would you wake up to that reality? 00:26:41.440 --> 00:26:44.880 Maybe you have just gotten into a rut. 00:26:46.720 --> 00:26:48.799 I'm just doing my thing. 00:26:51.359 --> 00:26:58.319 Would you allow the wonder of the incarnation to captivate your heart afresh? 00:26:59.359 --> 00:27:06.880 And maybe you're here and you've never realized that God loves you. 00:27:07.200 --> 00:27:08.240 He's for you. 00:27:09.279 --> 00:27:14.400 That you don't have to fix up your life, you don't have to somehow try to do better. 00:27:14.720 --> 00:27:17.839 He came for you right where you are. 00:27:18.640 --> 00:27:28.880 And in this moment, I just want to give you an opportunity to respond to the good news that God loves you. 00:27:29.759 --> 00:27:32.319 Good news that God wants to welcome you home. 00:27:32.720 --> 00:27:40.079 The good news that you can have a personal relationship with your Heavenly Father. 00:27:41.680 --> 00:27:50.160 The good news, you are wildly loved beyond what you could ever imagine. 00:27:50.799 --> 00:27:55.759 And if that's where you're at and there's something stirring your heart, would you just pray with me? 00:27:56.640 --> 00:28:00.480 I just want to invite us all to pray as I close, but would you just pray? 00:28:00.559 --> 00:28:13.200 And then in this moment, you can invite Jesus, who showed up in that day to come and show up in your life today, and he will. 00:28:13.759 --> 00:28:15.039 Would you just pray this? 00:28:15.279 --> 00:28:23.920 Heavenly Father, today I want to have a relationship with you. 00:28:25.759 --> 00:28:27.519 I believe you love me. 00:28:28.319 --> 00:28:31.839 I believe you see me, you know me. 00:28:33.279 --> 00:28:38.319 And though you see everything about me, you still want to be with me. 00:28:40.400 --> 00:28:44.160 Would you come into my life and make me new? 00:28:46.640 --> 00:28:48.480 Thank you for Jesus. 00:28:48.799 --> 00:28:53.839 Thank you for coming to be my Prince of Peace and my counselor. 00:28:54.160 --> 00:28:55.119 I need that. 00:28:56.079 --> 00:29:02.160 And thank you for coming, not just for special people or chosen people, but for every person. 00:29:02.559 --> 00:29:04.640 Thank you for coming for me. 00:29:05.359 --> 00:29:08.400 Today I place my trust in you. 00:29:09.359 --> 00:29:11.200 In Jesus' name. 00:29:11.680 --> 00:29:12.319 Amen. 00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:16.319 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:29:16.559 --> 00:29:21.519 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:29:21.759 --> 00:29:24.000 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:29:24.240 --> 00:29:30.240 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.comslash card.