WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.319 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:07.040 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.640 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:23.359 Good to be with you this evening. 00:00:23.839 --> 00:00:25.120 My name's Ryan Ingram. 00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:28.480 We're thrilled to have you join us today. 00:00:28.719 --> 00:00:32.159 And I want to show you a picture. 00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:36.079 It's actually one of my favorite pictures of all time. 00:00:36.159 --> 00:00:40.560 It's actually one of three pictures that are hanging in our house. 00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:42.000 Yes, we only have three pictures. 00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:43.920 I understand that's not very many. 00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:49.039 But it's made the top three for a decade so far. 00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:53.520 But to set it up, or at least give you a little bit of context, let me show you another picture. 00:00:53.679 --> 00:00:56.159 This is our Christmas card from this last year. 00:00:56.479 --> 00:00:57.119 There you go. 00:00:57.280 --> 00:00:59.600 And yes, we are very Swedish. 00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:00.320 I get that. 00:01:00.719 --> 00:01:01.119 There. 00:01:01.280 --> 00:01:04.000 And this is my incredible family here. 00:01:04.480 --> 00:01:05.840 Three beautiful kids. 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:09.680 My daughter's 18, almost off to college next year. 00:01:10.239 --> 00:01:13.840 Ryder, her name's Ella, Ryder and Miles. 00:01:14.239 --> 00:01:16.000 And then, hey, this is kind of fun. 00:01:16.319 --> 00:01:21.200 My wife and I just celebrated 20 years of marriage this last week. 00:01:21.439 --> 00:01:21.760 There. 00:01:22.079 --> 00:01:22.879 Ah, thank you. 00:01:23.040 --> 00:01:23.840 Thank you. 00:01:24.319 --> 00:01:33.519 Okay, so so 10 years ago, let's rewind and let me show you why this is one of our favorite pictures of all time. 00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:44.400 This was the first and the last time we took our kids to go see Santa Claus. 00:01:45.359 --> 00:01:47.200 Miles, we love Miles. 00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:54.799 We called him Miles of Smiles, and there was nothing we could do to get Miles to smile when he saw Santa that day. 00:01:55.200 --> 00:02:12.800 What you don't see, or you can't wouldn't know from the picture, is also at the same time was Ryder who is pretty literal, he told Santa Claus he wanted a skateboard, and then waited and stood there with his arms wide open, waiting. 00:02:12.960 --> 00:02:17.280 And I had to go to him and go, hey, bud, that's um that's not how it works. 00:02:17.439 --> 00:02:20.719 And he walked away empty-handed and disappointed. 00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:23.439 It was an epic failure. 00:02:23.599 --> 00:02:28.719 Uh and so let me ask you, what is your favorite part about Christmas? 00:02:28.879 --> 00:02:29.919 Go ahead, shout it out to me. 00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:30.400 Go for it. 00:02:30.560 --> 00:02:30.879 Come on. 00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:32.159 We'll be verbal. 00:02:32.400 --> 00:02:34.719 Jesus! Jesus, family. 00:02:34.879 --> 00:02:37.520 And there was a great murmuring in the church. 00:02:37.680 --> 00:02:40.000 Um okay, kids, hang on, hang on. 00:02:40.159 --> 00:02:41.520 Kids, you're doing it anyways. 00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:43.759 What is your favorite part about Christmas? 00:02:43.919 --> 00:02:44.479 Yell it out. 00:02:46.400 --> 00:02:49.199 Kids, Jesus, got a loud ones over here. 00:02:50.400 --> 00:02:51.039 Presents. 00:02:51.840 --> 00:02:54.879 Finally, we got somebody honest in the room. 00:02:55.199 --> 00:02:55.919 There you go. 00:02:56.080 --> 00:02:57.120 Yeah, presents. 00:02:57.280 --> 00:03:02.000 Isn't that the reason you go to see Santa in the first place is to ask him for presents? 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:07.039 And then, like you think about these presents, they're wrapped and they're under the tree. 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:13.039 And just remember, for those of us who aren't kids, remember how torturous it was, those presents under the tree? 00:03:13.199 --> 00:03:13.840 What is it? 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:24.080 And waiting to see, and you open it up either on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, depending on your tradition, to find out and discover is it the gift that you long for, you hope for? 00:03:24.240 --> 00:03:26.560 Uh, like an iPhone 14? 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:28.479 Or was it socks? 00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:30.960 Why do we give socks on Christmas? 00:03:31.120 --> 00:03:31.919 I don't get that. 00:03:32.159 --> 00:03:34.080 Stop giving socks. 00:03:34.159 --> 00:03:35.840 Um, it they're always socks. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:37.439 Uh one year I got underwear. 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:38.560 That's a whole nother story. 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:41.840 That's worse to open up in front of people. 00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:43.919 Now, here's the interesting thing. 00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:46.639 Have you ever wondered, like, why do we wrap gifts? 00:03:46.879 --> 00:03:58.800 Like, we spend an incredible amount of time wrapping gifts, go to all this trouble, and and some of you, I'm not gonna mention who, but some of you are gonna spend most of tonight wrapping gifts. 00:03:58.879 --> 00:04:01.520 You're gonna get very little sleep. 00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:06.080 Why do we go to so much trouble wrapping all these gifts? 00:04:06.240 --> 00:04:12.400 Uh there's an anthropologist who's named Chris Cowell, and he wrote this great little article on why we wrap gifts in it. 00:04:12.479 --> 00:04:21.600 He writes, the wrapping of gifts points to a more essential experience of what humans have learned to frame objects to designate them as special. 00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:28.480 Wrapping an ordinary object is what transforms it into something extraordinary. 00:04:28.639 --> 00:04:33.600 In fact, we wrap gifts to take something ordinary and common and make it special, don't we? 00:04:33.759 --> 00:04:36.240 Because if I just handed you something, you're like, what is this? 00:04:36.319 --> 00:04:36.800 Is this a gift? 00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:37.680 I'm not even sure. 00:04:37.839 --> 00:04:41.519 But the minute I wrap it, it makes it a gift, doesn't it? 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:44.560 And it's wrapped, you're like, oh my goodness, oh, thank you. 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:48.720 And we wrap gifts to add that element of surprise too, right? 00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:54.879 And that element of surprise of what is it actually adds to the enjoyment of the gift. 00:04:54.959 --> 00:05:00.560 It actually adds to our level of gratitude when we experience the gift as well. 00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:07.439 We wrap gifts to take something that's impersonal, like an object, and make it deeply personal. 00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:07.920 Right? 00:05:08.079 --> 00:05:10.959 Every gift is has a giver behind the gift. 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:17.040 And often when we give a gift, we write a tag on it because we want people to know that was mine, right? 00:05:17.600 --> 00:05:23.920 And we even write a note and begin to share with someone, hey, we want to make this personal. 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:25.360 This is just for you. 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:31.680 I want you to know how much I think of you and you to feel really good. 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:37.360 Now, have you ever wondered why do we give presents on Christmas? 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:41.040 Other holidays we don't necessarily do that except for birthdays. 00:05:41.199 --> 00:05:45.199 Why do we take all the trouble and give presents and wrap them up? 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:50.639 Well, to understand that, we have to go back to the very first Christmas. 00:05:50.959 --> 00:05:52.319 And so let's take a look. 00:05:52.399 --> 00:06:04.560 And we read it earlier, the very first Christmas and the very first gift to discover and understand what's so significant about all the gifts that we're gonna do and partake in tomorrow. 00:06:04.800 --> 00:06:10.160 And if you remember, it was just read, Mary and Joseph, they're in Bethlehem. 00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:16.560 Mary gives birth to Jesus, and then there's shepherds in a field watching their flock by night. 00:06:16.879 --> 00:06:22.160 And then suddenly an angel of the Lord shows up to them, and this is where we pick up the story. 00:06:22.319 --> 00:06:26.079 But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid. 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:28.800 Now, why did the angel say, Don't be afraid? 00:06:28.959 --> 00:06:37.199 Because, by the way, contrary to public opinion, angels aren't cute, fat little babies with wings on it. 00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:41.360 Angels are brilliant, fierce warriors of heaven. 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:44.480 And so when they show up on the scene, you're going to be afraid. 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:46.079 He says, Do not be afraid. 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:51.279 And he goes on to say, I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all people. 00:06:51.439 --> 00:06:56.399 In fact, what I'm about to tell you, friends, this is gonna make your day. 00:06:56.639 --> 00:06:58.319 Oh, it's gonna make your year. 00:06:58.480 --> 00:07:01.759 No, it's gonna make your life. 00:07:02.240 --> 00:07:07.199 And it's actually significant that the angel showed up to shepherds first. 00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:11.199 It says, good news that causes great joy for what kind of people? 00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:12.000 Help me out. 00:07:12.959 --> 00:07:21.279 All people, not just certain people or special people, religious people, perfect people, but every single person. 00:07:21.920 --> 00:07:25.920 Shepherds in that day, um, well, they're social outcasts. 00:07:26.079 --> 00:07:29.759 They were often unclean, unkept, uncouth. 00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:32.399 All the uns, really, if you can think about it. 00:07:34.160 --> 00:07:41.120 They were not the type of people you would invite to in a baby shower or announcement of that. 00:07:41.680 --> 00:07:54.160 And God, as if with an exclamation point saying, It's good news for every single person, even shepherds who are ostracized from society and looked down upon, they get to news first. 00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:57.279 It's all people, you and me, kind of people. 00:07:57.519 --> 00:07:58.160 And goes on. 00:07:58.240 --> 00:08:00.160 The angel says, What is this good news? 00:08:00.319 --> 00:08:04.560 Today in the town of David, a savior has been born to you. 00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:07.120 He is the Messiah, the Lord. 00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:08.160 A savior. 00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:09.839 Well, do we need saving? 00:08:09.920 --> 00:08:11.360 What why do we need saving? 00:08:11.519 --> 00:08:12.560 Well, think about this. 00:08:12.639 --> 00:08:14.079 We all recognize this. 00:08:14.240 --> 00:08:16.240 The world's broken, isn't it? 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:19.199 Thank you, three of you, that said yes. 00:08:19.680 --> 00:08:22.959 The rest of you have been putting your head in never. 00:08:23.839 --> 00:08:27.120 The world, we look around and it's so broken. 00:08:28.240 --> 00:08:34.879 In fact, almost since the beginning of humanity, we've seen that all is not right around us. 00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:41.360 And for millennia after millennia, we've been trying to somehow fix and put things right. 00:08:41.519 --> 00:08:48.320 And yet, here's where we find ourselves today that it almost feels like it's just getting worse and not better. 00:08:49.200 --> 00:08:56.159 And we think maybe if we get more education, if we get more technology, then we can somehow fix all that is wrong. 00:08:56.399 --> 00:09:01.759 But at the heart of it, the root of it, isn't just that all is not right all around us. 00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:09.679 But the truth is, and you know this, I know this, we see this, is that all is not right within us. 00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:16.799 That we can't fix the brokenness around us because there's actually brokenness within us. 00:09:16.960 --> 00:09:21.679 There's an emptiness, there's a craving, there's there's an ache of the soul, isn't it there? 00:09:21.840 --> 00:09:27.519 That there must be a deeper, richer, more joy-filled life. 00:09:28.080 --> 00:09:39.840 And we spend our days kind of unwrapping presents, if you will, hoping this one will be the one that will satisfy, the one that will be the that fulfills your heart's longing. 00:09:39.919 --> 00:10:00.080 And maybe you opened the present of your career and you pursued that for years, and you said maybe that's the one, or you open the present of a relationship or of a friendship, of your marriage, of your family, and you're hoping that will be the one, or open the present of like one day when we're able to travel and do whatever we want to do, and we have this deep longing. 00:10:00.480 --> 00:10:06.720 And yet, as we pursue and open these, they never finally or fully satisfy, do they? 00:10:06.879 --> 00:10:11.840 They're good things, but they don't finally or fully satisfy our deep craving. 00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:24.720 And here's what the good news that causes great joy that the angel was declaring is the one presence that will finally and fully satisfy every single one of us arrived on the planet. 00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:29.600 Been foretold, it said the Messiah, this anointed one, right, that was to come. 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:33.120 Prophets, these are ones who spoke for God. 00:10:33.440 --> 00:10:44.559 There was this prophet named Isaiah, hundreds of years before this moment, he wrote about what type of person was gonna show up, and we're familiar with this verse around Christmas time. 00:10:44.639 --> 00:10:51.679 And he pinned these famous words, for to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. 00:10:51.759 --> 00:10:54.399 And what type of savior is gonna show up? 00:10:54.559 --> 00:10:56.639 Well, it's a wonderful counselor. 00:10:58.480 --> 00:11:12.799 When we need great direction and wisdom and don't know how to navigate this broken life and this broken world, he's a wonderful counselor, he's a mighty God in the midst of the storms and the chaos. 00:11:12.960 --> 00:11:21.840 This isn't just a person, this is God in flesh, come, an everlasting father who wants a personal relationship with you. 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:26.720 He's not like our earthly dads, no matter how good or not good they were. 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:28.960 He's a perfect heavenly father. 00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:36.159 He is the Prince of Peace, come to fill the empty spaces of our hearts and lives and bring wholeness and life. 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:40.480 That is the Savior today who showed up. 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:45.200 That is the good news that is caused for great joy. 00:11:45.440 --> 00:11:50.159 He's saying, This is what happened that day. 00:11:50.399 --> 00:11:54.879 And then the angel goes on and says, This will be assigned to you. 00:11:55.039 --> 00:11:59.519 You'll find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. 00:11:59.600 --> 00:12:03.120 And some of you remember, you'll find a baby in swaddling cloths. 00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:03.759 You remember that? 00:12:03.919 --> 00:12:04.480 Anybody? 00:12:04.799 --> 00:12:05.440 Three of you. 00:12:05.679 --> 00:12:06.080 Wonderful. 00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:07.759 We're doing good so far. 00:12:08.240 --> 00:12:11.360 You'll find a baby in swaddling cloths. 00:12:12.080 --> 00:12:15.759 Jesus came wrapped in swaddling cloths. 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:16.720 Now think about this. 00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:19.600 God came gift-wrapped for you. 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:21.039 He did. 00:12:22.159 --> 00:12:25.279 And he came, think about this, the mighty God, we just read that. 00:12:25.440 --> 00:12:28.240 The mighty God came in the garb of the poor. 00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:30.240 I like how my friend says it. 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:34.080 He says, There are no designer swaddling cloths. 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:40.399 No hipster parent is gonna fit their kid out in swaddling cloths. 00:12:41.440 --> 00:12:47.600 See, it was the garb of the marginalized and the poor, the clothing. 00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:56.399 And Jesus came, and when he showed up onto the planet, he didn't come in royal robes, but in swaddling cloths. 00:12:56.480 --> 00:12:59.360 Now, here's what's incredible and what's so significant and amazing. 00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:00.080 Think about this. 00:13:00.159 --> 00:13:01.120 This is amazing. 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:03.600 In Jesus, think about this. 00:13:03.759 --> 00:13:07.840 In Jesus, we see exactly what God is like. 00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:16.480 Like if you want to know what God thinks, if you want to know what God cares about, if you want to know what God's like, think about this. 00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:23.120 In Jesus, you get to see precisely, exactly what God is like. 00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:30.159 And when he showed up on the planet, he didn't come in royalty and palace and authority. 00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:39.600 He came in humility and vulnerability and accessibility. 00:13:40.960 --> 00:13:50.559 Humility, think about this is staggering, staggering, that the creator would step into his creation, take on flesh, and become one of us. 00:13:52.639 --> 00:13:58.639 The vulnerability of not coming in power, but coming as a helpless babe. 00:13:59.519 --> 00:14:06.240 And then the accessibility that even shepherds would come and gather around. 00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:10.399 Absolutely staggering. 00:14:11.840 --> 00:14:13.679 Now what if there's more? 00:14:14.320 --> 00:14:20.799 What if there's more to Christmas than sweet traditions, twinkling lights, and the exchanging presence? 00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:28.159 What if the presence actually points to something more significant than you ever realized or imagined? 00:14:28.399 --> 00:14:37.840 What if the angels really did bring good news that is cause for great joy for all people, including you and me? 00:14:38.559 --> 00:14:51.440 And what if the gift of our heart our hearts ache for was found in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. 00:14:54.480 --> 00:14:56.480 You know, it's interesting. 00:14:57.919 --> 00:15:02.879 We actually find Jesus in the Gospels wrapped two other times in cloths. 00:15:03.519 --> 00:15:07.440 So he's wrapped in the claws of the poor. 00:15:08.320 --> 00:15:13.600 And then if we fast forward, it's near, well, is the night Jesus was betrayed. 00:15:13.840 --> 00:15:16.639 He's with his disciples and he's sitting around a table. 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:21.200 We would call it the Last Supper because it was the last one. 00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:28.639 Now, as he's sitting there, what happened just a couple hours before that moment is kind of mind-numbing. 00:15:28.799 --> 00:15:30.559 You're just going, like, how did you not get it? 00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:34.879 The disciples are arguing with one another who is the greatest. 00:15:35.039 --> 00:15:35.679 Think about this. 00:15:35.840 --> 00:15:38.080 Jesus just spent three years with them. 00:15:38.320 --> 00:15:45.600 He knows his time has come, and the ones that he spent and invested his life in are arguing with each other who is the greatest. 00:15:45.679 --> 00:15:47.600 And I love what the text says here. 00:15:47.759 --> 00:15:52.639 He says, He now showed them the full extent of his love. 00:15:54.000 --> 00:16:03.360 So, by the way, just when my kids are arguing, I don't think to myself, I want to show them the full extent of my love. 00:16:04.240 --> 00:16:04.559 Right? 00:16:04.639 --> 00:16:05.679 I just don't have that. 00:16:05.840 --> 00:16:16.639 And yet in Jesus we see exactly what God is like, and he sees in this moment and what he's gonna do instead of condemning, he's gonna show them the full extent of his love. 00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:23.200 And so he gets up from the table, he takes out off his outer garment, and then he wraps a towel around him. 00:16:23.600 --> 00:16:29.840 It's the clothing of a slave, the clothing of a servant. 00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:37.279 And he gets down on his knees and he goes one by one to each disciple and he washes their feet. 00:16:37.840 --> 00:16:45.840 He even goes to the disciple who would betray him, Judas Iscariot, and just a few hours later and he washes his feet too. 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:50.720 Jesus does for the disciples what the disciples were unwilling to do for Jesus. 00:16:53.200 --> 00:17:05.440 See, in Jesus, you see exactly what God is like, and a God who sees you, knows you, everything about you, even the hidden parts that you don't want anyone else to know. 00:17:05.599 --> 00:17:07.519 And he's not repulsed by you. 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:10.960 He's not turned off by you. 00:17:12.400 --> 00:17:15.440 He's moved by compassion to you. 00:17:16.720 --> 00:17:27.519 He's the God who stoops low to mend the broken places, to meet the needs, to cleanse the places that need cleansing. 00:17:28.079 --> 00:17:32.400 I like how pastor and author John Orberg says it about a gift. 00:17:32.480 --> 00:17:37.039 He says, if you want to make your life a gift to someone, look for what needs to be done and then do it. 00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:38.559 It's as simple as that. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:43.920 Jesus made his life, his life, a gift. 00:17:46.079 --> 00:17:50.000 And there's one other place we see Jesus wrapped in cloths. 00:17:50.319 --> 00:17:54.640 He took on the garb of the poor, the garb of a slave. 00:17:55.200 --> 00:18:04.079 The very next day after that moment, Jesus was arrested, he was uh tried, and then he was executed on a cross. 00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:10.480 As he hung there on the cross, he cried out, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. 00:18:10.720 --> 00:18:15.759 The very people who nailed him to the cross, he's crying out, forgiveness over them. 00:18:16.079 --> 00:18:17.920 That's your God, by the way. 00:18:21.039 --> 00:18:28.559 And after he breathed his last, his body was taken down off that cross. 00:18:29.680 --> 00:18:32.240 And his body was wrapped for burial. 00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:41.200 The author of life wrapped lifelessly and laid in a tomb. 00:18:42.240 --> 00:18:54.000 The creator was pushed out of his creation onto a cross to mend the brokenness in us and bring wholeness to us. 00:18:55.359 --> 00:19:00.160 That he took on the greatest problem, the ultimate problem. 00:19:01.200 --> 00:19:01.599 Death. 00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:06.960 For you, and for me. 00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:13.119 Pastor Timothy Keller wrote this great little book called Hidden Christmas. 00:19:13.200 --> 00:19:20.799 And in it he writes, he says, if God had really been born in a manger, then we have something that no other religion even claims to have. 00:19:21.039 --> 00:19:25.440 It's a God who truly understands you from the inside of your experience. 00:19:25.680 --> 00:19:36.400 There's no other religion that says God has suffered, that God had to be courageous, that he knows what it's like to be abandoned by friends, to be crushed by injustice, to be tortured and died. 00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:39.920 Christmas shows he knows what you're going through. 00:19:40.079 --> 00:19:44.160 And when you talk to him, he understands. 00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:53.200 We talked about gifts and why we wrap them to make them special, that element of surprise and to make it personal. 00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:58.000 That wrapped in that manger is the eternity. 00:19:58.480 --> 00:20:02.000 It has eternal significance and special. 00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:13.759 Surprising the posture that the God of eternity would take for you and for I. 00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:19.440 He didn't come to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom. 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:23.680 Oh, what a surprise. 00:20:24.400 --> 00:20:31.920 And then, even more surprising than all, it was deeply, profoundly, unquestionably personal. 00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:34.720 Think about this. 00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:40.880 God didn't even just send a prophet to tell you how to get to God, how to find God. 00:20:41.200 --> 00:20:50.400 He came to find you and longs to have a personal relationship with every single one of us. 00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:55.440 God became gift wrapped for us. 00:20:56.160 --> 00:21:06.160 And so let me ask you one more time what if the gift your heart aches for was wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in the manger? 00:21:06.400 --> 00:21:08.720 What if it is really true? 00:21:09.039 --> 00:21:21.200 What if all the other gifts you've been pursuing and unwrapping the gift of your career, the gift of success, the gift of your family, and wonderful things, what if they're actually all pointing to the ultimate gift? 00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:24.720 See, we give gifts at Christmas. 00:21:24.880 --> 00:21:26.640 This is where it originated from. 00:21:27.200 --> 00:21:33.359 To remind ourselves that God, on the very first Christmas, gave the gift of his son. 00:21:33.759 --> 00:21:35.039 He is the ultimate gift. 00:21:35.119 --> 00:21:38.799 And when we pass them, here's what the here's the way this tradition began. 00:21:39.039 --> 00:21:43.759 When we pass them, as we give gifts to each other, it is to remind ourselves. 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:49.119 These are wonderful and good, and reminds us of the ultimate gift. 00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:54.960 The good news that causes great joy for all people. 00:21:57.039 --> 00:21:59.839 You know, you know what you do with a gift. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:00.720 Right. 00:22:01.119 --> 00:22:02.880 Kids, what do you do with a gift? 00:22:03.279 --> 00:22:03.759 Open it. 00:22:04.240 --> 00:22:05.200 Open it. 00:22:05.759 --> 00:22:06.400 Yeah. 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:09.759 Here's the reason I ask kids because us adults, we overthink it, right? 00:22:09.839 --> 00:22:11.200 You're like, what do we do with a gift? 00:22:11.279 --> 00:22:11.599 I don't know. 00:22:11.759 --> 00:22:12.640 He's gonna say something. 00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:13.839 What am I supposed to say? 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:14.559 I don't know. 00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:15.920 I want to be Jesus. 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:17.119 That's the right answer in church. 00:22:17.279 --> 00:22:18.559 Okay, I don't know. 00:22:20.240 --> 00:22:21.440 You open it. 00:22:21.599 --> 00:22:22.880 It's a gift. 00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:25.039 That's what you do with gifts. 00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:28.559 You can't work for a gift, you can't earn a gift. 00:22:28.799 --> 00:22:32.960 All you can do is receive a gift and open it. 00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:43.200 That's why the most famous verse in all of scripture, and even if you've never been in church, you're probably familiar with it because you saw it, you know, at a football stadium behind a goalpost somewhere. 00:22:43.440 --> 00:22:44.880 John 3, 16. 00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:47.359 For God so loved. 00:22:47.519 --> 00:22:54.720 Like that's his disposition, his attitude, his outlook on you is one of love, that he looks at you and he loves you. 00:22:54.799 --> 00:22:58.480 He doesn't loathe you, he wants you, he chose you, he came for you. 00:22:58.720 --> 00:23:01.839 For God so loved you. 00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:06.319 And don't you ever forget it, that he gave. 00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:10.400 It's a gift, his one and only son. 00:23:12.079 --> 00:23:13.359 God for us. 00:23:14.880 --> 00:23:18.240 God among us, God with us. 00:23:18.559 --> 00:23:19.680 It's personal. 00:23:20.319 --> 00:23:36.960 That whoever believes in him or places your trust, places the weight of your life, and earlier in John it says, to those who receive him, a gift do you receive, to those who believe on his name, he gave the right to become children of God, to join the family of God. 00:23:37.119 --> 00:23:42.480 Whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. 00:23:42.799 --> 00:23:47.599 That's not just heaven later, which is wonderful and amazing and true, but it's heaven now. 00:23:47.759 --> 00:24:06.559 It's actually heaven invading the spaces of your heart to bring peace and purpose and his very presence into every part of your life to fill that to fill that space, that deeper longing that we keep searching for. 00:24:07.920 --> 00:24:23.920 You know, um, the amazing part about the gift of Jesus is unlike Ryder was Santa Claus, where he was standing there waiting, and he walked away empty-handed. 00:24:25.200 --> 00:24:29.839 Anyone who turns to Jesus will never walk away empty-handed. 00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:35.119 He responds to every single one of us. 00:24:36.559 --> 00:24:41.200 And today, maybe you've never received the gift. 00:24:41.440 --> 00:24:53.440 Maybe you never knew you had a God who loves you, who's for you, who's wild about you, who loves you and adores you, who's not down on you, who who will take all of you. 00:24:54.799 --> 00:25:00.000 And he says, I want to stoop low and bring life and wholeness and peace. 00:25:02.079 --> 00:25:03.440 And you just receive him. 00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:06.720 Where you just welcome him into your life. 00:25:10.160 --> 00:25:11.599 What are you waiting up for? 00:25:13.279 --> 00:25:26.960 I want to take just as we close, just a moment to pray and invite you, if you've never started a personal relationship with Jesus, never received the incredible gift, to do that today. 00:25:27.599 --> 00:25:36.160 And if you would just pray with me, and just in the quietness of your heart, of your mind, and prayer isn't something mystical, it's just a conversation with God, it's just talking to God. 00:25:37.279 --> 00:25:39.519 And I just want to pray, and would you pray after me? 00:25:39.599 --> 00:25:40.960 And it's how we receive the gift. 00:25:41.039 --> 00:25:42.640 We just put our confidence and trust. 00:25:42.799 --> 00:25:44.799 Would you join me? 00:25:45.839 --> 00:25:50.480 Heavenly Father, thank you for your love. 00:25:51.519 --> 00:25:53.680 Thank you for the gift of your son. 00:25:54.720 --> 00:25:57.039 Thank you that you came for me. 00:25:59.359 --> 00:26:01.359 That you stooped low for me. 00:26:04.079 --> 00:26:10.400 That you want a personal relationship with me, and I want a personal relationship with you. 00:26:11.039 --> 00:26:13.039 Today I received the gift. 00:26:13.920 --> 00:26:17.599 Jesus, would you come into my life and make me know? 00:26:20.480 --> 00:26:26.559 And everyone who calls upon the name of Jesus will be saved. 00:26:28.079 --> 00:26:38.559 And heaven ushers in into our heart to fill the empty spaces with his peace and his presence. 00:26:38.799 --> 00:26:41.039 In Jesus' name, amen. 00:26:42.559 --> 00:26:44.799 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:26:44.960 --> 00:26:49.440 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:26:49.599 --> 00:26:51.680 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:26:51.839 --> 00:26:57.759 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash card.