WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 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. 00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:20.879 Well, good morning, Awakening. 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:22.399 Merry Christmas. 00:00:23.839 --> 00:00:24.640 That was pretty good. 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:25.839 Let's try it one more time. 00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:30.079 Merry Christmas! Ooh, that was incredible. 00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:31.359 Great to be with you. 00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:38.399 Thanks for joining us on a maybe a not-so traditional Christmas Eve service since it's not evening. 00:00:39.359 --> 00:00:40.880 But I do love traditions. 00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:46.159 I was thinking about some of our favorite traditions, and uh one of them on Christmas Eve. 00:00:46.240 --> 00:00:57.280 So obviously I work, our staff, our team works, and we get done generally later at night, and uh we go home uh with our family and have La Villa raviolis every Christmas Eve. 00:00:57.439 --> 00:00:58.560 Anyone else do that? 00:00:58.799 --> 00:00:59.840 Okay, we have a few. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:00.719 Thank God. 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:04.319 Last service I was alone, all by myself. 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:07.359 If you haven't done it, you you you you should. 00:01:07.519 --> 00:01:08.400 It's delicious. 00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:10.319 Uh we watch Elf though, also. 00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:13.120 Anybody else watch Elf Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? 00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:13.439 Yeah. 00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:15.599 Got a clap and a cheer for Elf. 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:17.200 That's fantastic. 00:01:17.439 --> 00:01:21.280 Um who opens a present on Christmas Day? 00:01:21.519 --> 00:01:22.959 Yeah, a few of you? 00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:27.519 Um, I mean Christmas uh Christmas Eve, thank you for correcting me. 00:01:27.599 --> 00:01:27.760 Thank you. 00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:29.519 Yeah, you're like, yeah, don't we uh? 00:01:30.079 --> 00:01:34.159 Um no Christmas Eve opens a present, like you can do one present. 00:01:34.319 --> 00:01:35.760 You ever do the one present? 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:37.840 And the one present's always pajamas. 00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:38.879 What? 00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:39.920 Right? 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:43.519 Uh who opens all their gifts on Christmas Eve? 00:01:43.840 --> 00:01:45.200 Oh, we're going to your house. 00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:45.760 Okay. 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:47.359 Yes, uh, we're going over there. 00:01:47.519 --> 00:01:49.760 They open all their gifts Christmas Eve. 00:01:49.920 --> 00:01:51.120 That's amazing. 00:01:51.280 --> 00:02:00.400 Uh I thought uh for our not-so-traditional Christmas Eve service, I'd read from a not-so-traditional Christmas story. 00:02:00.560 --> 00:02:05.519 We're actually really familiar with the Christmas story in the gospel account of Luke. 00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:17.520 Uh, Luke tells it from the purview or the perspective of Mary, and we get to see this incredible unfolding of uh how Jesus, the Son of God, entered the world. 00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:26.159 Matthew, the Gospel of Matthew tells it more from the perspective of, well, uh Joseph. 00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:33.120 And so we get to see this picture and how uh Joseph experienced the welcoming of the Son of God. 00:02:33.199 --> 00:02:47.199 And here's something I want to uh just maybe invite us in, because for many, not all, but for many, you've been to one, maybe two, maybe lots of Christmas Eve services. 00:02:47.439 --> 00:02:48.960 And here's what I want to invite you in. 00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:57.280 There's a there's been said before that in life we need to be uh reminded more often than we need to be instructed. 00:02:57.680 --> 00:03:05.680 And today I want to remind you of some of the deepest, most incredible truths of all the universe. 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:16.240 And so if you got your Bibles or your phones or you just want to read on the screen, let's pick up the story of Jesus and how he entered the scene. 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:21.520 This is how the birth of Jesus, the Messiah, came about, Matthew chapter 1, verse 18. 00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:28.479 His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 00:03:28.719 --> 00:03:36.639 Because Joseph, her husband, was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had a mind to divorce her quietly. 00:03:36.879 --> 00:03:48.719 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 00:03:48.960 --> 00:03:55.360 She'll give birth to a son, and you're to give him the name Jesus, because he'll save his people from their sins. 00:03:55.599 --> 00:03:59.680 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet. 00:03:59.919 --> 00:04:10.719 The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they'll call him Emmanuel, which means God with us. 00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:17.920 You're to give him the name Jesus because he'll save his people from their sins. 00:04:18.800 --> 00:04:21.680 There's just something about the name Jesus, isn't there? 00:04:22.399 --> 00:04:23.439 Like it's powerful. 00:04:23.519 --> 00:04:24.800 We sang about it. 00:04:25.439 --> 00:04:33.680 I mean, why after 2,000 years later, are we still talking about this Jesus? 00:04:33.920 --> 00:04:38.879 And even in our culture, in our world today, just think about this. 00:04:39.920 --> 00:05:08.879 You've walked probably some malls that you were overcrowded, um, and parking spaces that were too tight, and you're in these stores, and songs are coming up, and yes, there's some about Santa Claus and some about other things, but then there's songs like the ones we sung that have these rich theology, like the name of Jesus is being spoken in and through every kind of department store across the United States. 00:05:09.040 --> 00:05:12.560 There's just something about his name. 00:05:13.199 --> 00:05:20.720 And so we want to just simply ask this question: what is it about the name of Jesus? 00:05:20.959 --> 00:05:22.480 Where did his name come from? 00:05:22.720 --> 00:05:24.000 Why is it important? 00:05:25.199 --> 00:05:31.279 And what significance does it hold for you and for me this Christmas Eve? 00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:33.360 You know, it's interesting. 00:05:33.439 --> 00:05:38.319 Uh, when you think about naming kids, um, if you haven't done this, it's a whole process. 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:43.920 Um, and sometimes when you name your kid, you don't want to tell anybody uh because then you get people's opinion. 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:46.639 You're like, don't give me your opinion on naming my kid. 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:48.160 Just back off, buddy. 00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:48.879 All right? 00:05:49.120 --> 00:05:52.000 Um, but but we, you know, we have three kids. 00:05:52.079 --> 00:05:54.720 My wife and I, uh, our oldest just came back from college. 00:05:54.879 --> 00:05:56.160 Ella, she's 19. 00:05:56.240 --> 00:05:57.600 We have, uh, yeah, woo. 00:05:57.759 --> 00:05:59.040 You wooed for yourself. 00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:03.920 Um oh, that was okay okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. 00:06:04.240 --> 00:06:06.879 Um that would have been awesome though. 00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:12.399 Uh so 19, then two boys, rider and mile, 16 and 13. 00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:17.519 I was just remembering like the process of naming, and my wife is very Swedish. 00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:19.600 She lived over there after college for a year. 00:06:19.759 --> 00:06:21.360 We wanted a Swedish name. 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:25.199 I thought I was Swedish and then did Ancestry.com. 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:27.839 Um, I've been living a lie, guys. 00:06:27.920 --> 00:06:28.800 I'm sorry. 00:06:29.040 --> 00:06:30.000 I I'm not. 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:31.920 I'm 6% Swedish. 00:06:32.079 --> 00:06:34.639 I know you look at me and go, Swedish. 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:36.399 Um, no, I'm not. 00:06:36.480 --> 00:06:37.920 Uh it was very disappointing. 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:40.879 But back then I really thought I was like half Swedish. 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:46.000 Um, and so we wanted to name her Emma because it was just a beautiful Swedish name. 00:06:46.160 --> 00:06:56.079 And then there's this TV show called Friends, and as they had a baby on that show, they named their baby Emma, and it was the number one name in the country. 00:06:56.160 --> 00:06:57.279 And we were like, you know what? 00:06:57.439 --> 00:07:05.759 Since we grew up with names that we had two, three, four people in our class, Ryan and Jenny's, uh, we decided let's try something unique. 00:07:05.839 --> 00:07:10.720 Uh, and so we've we went with another beautiful Swedish name, Ella Marie Ingram. 00:07:11.279 --> 00:07:13.199 Well, then we got another woo. 00:07:13.439 --> 00:07:13.680 Okay. 00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:23.680 Um and then when Ryder came along, there there was another constraint of naming the names, because uh, well, my granddad, he's Ralph Brown Ingram Sr. 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:28.639 And then my dad is actually Ralph Brown Ingram II. 00:07:28.879 --> 00:07:33.519 I know some of you know him as Chip, and yes, I did just that's the cat's out of the bag. 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:37.040 I the insider, don't let that go beyond this room. 00:07:37.279 --> 00:07:42.399 Um, but he's Ralph Brown Jr. 00:07:42.720 --> 00:07:46.000 Chip is a nickname for you know a junior chip off the old block. 00:07:46.079 --> 00:07:50.079 And so when I was born, they didn't want to name me Ralph, which I'm grateful for. 00:07:50.319 --> 00:07:59.360 Uh and then they named me Ryan Brandon, so they kept the RB and they literally put I'm RBI on my birth certificate, RBI the third. 00:07:59.600 --> 00:08:03.759 Uh and so I'm like, we're gonna keep the RBI theme going. 00:08:03.920 --> 00:08:06.240 And so I needed a great R name. 00:08:06.319 --> 00:08:08.560 And by the way, Jenny really named all of her kids. 00:08:08.639 --> 00:08:10.160 She's great at naming everything. 00:08:10.319 --> 00:08:12.399 She actually named Awakening, too, by the way. 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:12.959 Yeah. 00:08:13.199 --> 00:08:16.800 Um, so if you need a name, go to her, not me. 00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:21.680 Um, but I I, you know, there's not a ton of great R names, like Rufus. 00:08:21.920 --> 00:08:23.519 I'm like, ah, just a little time. 00:08:24.079 --> 00:08:28.399 Um and this is not a lie, this is absolute truth. 00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:35.759 Um, I really wanted to name uh Ryder, that's his name now, but I wanted to name him Rhythm. 00:08:36.639 --> 00:08:39.039 I thought it was gonna be great. 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:44.879 It got vetoed not only by Jenny, but everybody else that I told. 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:47.679 I thought it would be the best and be like, what up, Rhythm? 00:08:47.840 --> 00:08:48.799 I thought that's what his friends would say. 00:08:48.879 --> 00:08:50.240 They'd be like, what up, Rh? 00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:54.240 You know, Rhythm and Blues Ingram, you know, RBI, we had it. 00:08:54.399 --> 00:08:55.360 It yeah. 00:08:55.600 --> 00:08:57.039 I know, I know. 00:08:57.679 --> 00:08:58.639 I know now. 00:08:58.960 --> 00:08:59.840 We didn't go with it. 00:08:59.919 --> 00:09:27.519 So it's Ryder Britton Ingram III, and then Miles, our youngest, was named after Jenny's grandfather, never had a son, Miles Johnson, who was a Cal Poly professor, wrote all sorts of poetry and theology, incredible man, and one of the real special things was before Miles, uh grandfather, passed away, he got a hold of his great-grandson of whom his namesake was, and just really special. 00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:29.840 You know, there's just something about naming. 00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:40.559 We name our kids for all sorts of different reasons, whether it's popular or whether it has a meaning, whether it's after someone significant in our lives. 00:09:40.720 --> 00:09:46.720 And I don't know if you notice as we're reading, but actually God named his son, which is pretty cool. 00:09:46.960 --> 00:09:50.399 He took the time to name his son and he told us why. 00:09:50.799 --> 00:09:55.440 And it wasn't because it was a popular name in that day, Jesus, though it was. 00:09:55.600 --> 00:10:06.240 If you uh study, I don't know why you would, but if you did, um you would find out that Jesus was probably in the top 10 of baby names in ancient Palestine when Jesus was born. 00:10:06.399 --> 00:10:07.759 It was a popular name. 00:10:07.919 --> 00:10:16.720 Uh, and it was also a family name that would have been a name within the lineage of Jesus' line, kind of distant uh there, but there are still people in that line. 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:27.919 It was also the name of someone who was an incredible leader, so a hero of old, uh, because Jesus is actually the Greek version of the Hebrew name Joshua. 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:34.960 And so we know Joshua, if you know the Old Testament story or the Hebrew scriptures, of he led Israel into the promised land. 00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:36.720 And God's like super queer. 00:10:36.879 --> 00:10:41.120 I'm actually not naming Jesus for any of those reasons. 00:10:41.440 --> 00:10:54.399 In fact, there's something about the very name of Jesus, the meaning itself, is the reason I'm naming, because I'm sending my son, and he is the embodiment of this name. 00:10:55.039 --> 00:11:01.360 This is not just like a name, this is what it means in the flesh. 00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:04.480 And this is what Jesus means. 00:11:05.120 --> 00:11:10.320 Jesus in Hebrew, Yeshua, means God saves. 00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:12.720 God helps. 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:16.320 God is my salvation. 00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:20.960 You shall name him Jesus. 00:11:21.360 --> 00:11:24.159 You shall name him God help. 00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:31.519 You shall name him God saves, because he'll save his people from their sins. 00:11:32.080 --> 00:11:41.679 You shall name him God is my salvation, like my salvation has arrived on the planet in the person of Jesus. 00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:44.639 Jesus is God's salvation. 00:11:44.799 --> 00:11:47.360 That's the reason he named him Jesus. 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:49.840 I like how theologian Del Bruner says it. 00:11:50.080 --> 00:11:58.159 Jesus, also known as God help, is God's personal answer to humanity's primal cry. 00:11:59.039 --> 00:12:02.480 Jesus, God help. 00:12:02.960 --> 00:12:06.720 Every time you say the name Jesus, it's God help. 00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:19.279 So the primal cry of your heart, my heart. 00:12:21.360 --> 00:12:25.759 That prayer that we utter, that longing, that hoping. 00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:28.320 God help. 00:12:29.679 --> 00:12:32.000 God help, I just feel so hard. 00:12:34.559 --> 00:12:37.759 Jesus arrived at the scene for you. 00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:44.159 God help, I'm paralyzed by anxiety and depression. 00:12:45.440 --> 00:12:49.279 Jesus changes everything. 00:12:50.320 --> 00:12:54.240 Yeshua, I don't know how I'll get through this. 00:12:55.279 --> 00:13:00.159 And every time you say the name of Jesus, you don't maybe didn't even realize it. 00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:05.279 You're uttering the most fundamental, foundational prayer of the heart. 00:13:05.519 --> 00:13:06.559 God help. 00:13:07.039 --> 00:13:08.799 God, I need help. 00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:10.720 God save me. 00:13:10.960 --> 00:13:13.519 I don't know how I'll get through this. 00:13:14.240 --> 00:13:15.120 Jesus. 00:13:15.679 --> 00:13:18.159 A biopsy report shows cancer. 00:13:20.559 --> 00:13:25.200 It's not the most wonderful time of the year. 00:13:27.039 --> 00:13:29.120 God save my marriage. 00:13:29.759 --> 00:13:31.519 God save my marriage. 00:13:34.080 --> 00:13:35.600 God save my son. 00:13:37.120 --> 00:13:38.080 My daughter. 00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:42.799 God save my future. 00:13:42.960 --> 00:13:44.000 Save my job. 00:13:44.159 --> 00:13:45.759 I I feel like I'm wandering. 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:47.360 I don't know which way to go. 00:13:47.519 --> 00:13:52.000 I just I'm so turned around. 00:13:54.159 --> 00:13:57.759 God save my broken world. 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:04.879 You're to give him the name Jesus. 00:14:07.360 --> 00:14:12.240 Because he's the answer to the primal prayer of your heart. 00:14:15.440 --> 00:14:24.399 And to all the prayers that we utter, that we whisper, that we can't even barely get off our lips, and maybe not even off the ground or out of our hearts. 00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:26.480 It's just the longing, the inkling. 00:14:26.720 --> 00:14:28.799 Jesus says, I arrived. 00:14:29.519 --> 00:14:30.480 I'm here. 00:14:32.159 --> 00:14:40.559 And then he defines it and begins to help us see like the point because there's all those areas, there's all those things. 00:14:40.639 --> 00:14:56.000 And we go, my marriage, my kids, my world, and we just see the chaos around us, and we're like, if if you could just fix that, and God says, actually, I want to go so much deeper, so much bigger, so much better than that. 00:14:56.799 --> 00:15:03.039 You're the name of Jesus because he will save his people from their what? 00:15:03.200 --> 00:15:04.240 Help me out. 00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:05.519 Sins. 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:07.679 We don't like the word sin anymore. 00:15:07.759 --> 00:15:08.720 I get it. 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:17.360 And part of it is we have this worldview, it's popular in our day-to-day, is to go, you know what? 00:15:17.759 --> 00:15:20.559 Humanity, people, we're basically good. 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:22.799 We're basically good people. 00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:31.279 And actually, it's the constraints, the contamination of culture, it's the societal norms that are just pressing in on us. 00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:37.279 If I could just be me, if I could just be free to be me, the world would be a great place. 00:15:37.440 --> 00:15:46.799 Don't change me, just love me, just let me be me, live my truth, and we'll somehow all live our truths and have this utopian society. 00:15:47.840 --> 00:15:53.679 And the truth is we've poorly and badly misdiagnosed the brokenness in our world. 00:15:54.159 --> 00:15:57.440 Because the problem isn't just out there. 00:15:58.399 --> 00:16:03.360 The problem, fundamentally, for all of us, is in here. 00:16:04.960 --> 00:16:11.759 In fact, if you ever spent any time with a toddler, you'll see the most basic truth about humanity. 00:16:12.639 --> 00:16:13.360 Totally. 00:16:13.759 --> 00:16:19.759 Because you'll see two things that are absolutely true but are contradictory. 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:25.360 One, you're made in the image of God and so have intrinsic worth and value. 00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:29.200 You see this precious child, and you're like, that is so precious. 00:16:30.799 --> 00:16:40.000 Two, you are broken and fallen, and there's something inside you that pulls away from all that is good. 00:16:41.919 --> 00:16:42.320 Right? 00:16:42.559 --> 00:16:43.440 I mean, you just see that. 00:16:43.519 --> 00:16:46.639 You're like, this most precious child, and then what just happened? 00:16:46.799 --> 00:16:47.919 Oh my goodness. 00:16:48.159 --> 00:16:48.480 Right? 00:16:48.639 --> 00:16:50.399 I mean, that's just it's what happens. 00:16:50.480 --> 00:16:53.679 And you don't have to teach a toddler to lie. 00:16:54.399 --> 00:16:55.600 They do that all on their own. 00:16:55.679 --> 00:17:00.639 You don't have to teach a toddler to cheat, you don't have to teach a toddler to hide, you don't have to teach a toddler. 00:17:01.039 --> 00:17:02.000 Uh, you don't. 00:17:02.399 --> 00:17:08.000 They will hide and sneak and throw tantrums and yell and say, mine. 00:17:10.640 --> 00:17:12.240 All on their own. 00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:14.640 With no help of you. 00:17:17.119 --> 00:17:26.640 Because there's something inside them that pulls away from the good, the kind, and the generous. 00:17:27.119 --> 00:17:38.319 And the truth is there's something inside all of us that pulls away from the good, the kind, the generous. 00:17:38.960 --> 00:17:56.480 Like all the brokenness in our world, all the messy relationships, all the things, whether it's a family dysfunction or uh, you know, something in the world, it goes back to the roots of this idea sin. 00:17:57.119 --> 00:18:08.240 And sin is simply this: sin is the cancer of this world that perverts or distorts all that is good and beautiful. 00:18:08.559 --> 00:18:13.119 The root issue behind every problem, sin. 00:18:13.759 --> 00:18:16.720 And every single one of us is infected. 00:18:16.880 --> 00:18:30.000 Our souls are contaminated, our relationships are contaminated, and it breaks relationships and friendships and our own well-being. 00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:45.680 And then you see toddlers do this as well, because it's back to our nature, is as we do that, sin, it actually causes us to seek hiddenness and separateness and isolation. 00:18:47.119 --> 00:18:53.599 That when we do those things, we just instinctively, it's amazing, kids will instinctively hide. 00:18:54.720 --> 00:18:58.960 We withdraw, we pull back, we pull away from people. 00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:13.839 In fact, I like how pastor and author Tim Keller wrote, he said, we have a profound, inescapable sense that if we were to exam, if we were examined, we'd be rejected. 00:19:14.559 --> 00:19:19.759 Like if you were truly examined, if people truly knew you, you'd be rejected. 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:30.079 We have a deep sense that we've got to hide our true self or at least control what people know about us, which we do so expertly on social media. 00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:34.000 Secretly we feel that we aren't acceptable. 00:19:34.559 --> 00:19:42.640 That we have to prove to ourselves and other people that we're worthy, lovable, valuable. 00:19:46.319 --> 00:19:48.160 Because I don't feel worthy. 00:19:48.400 --> 00:19:49.920 I don't feel lovable. 00:19:50.400 --> 00:19:51.920 I don't feel valuable. 00:19:53.119 --> 00:19:53.920 Gotta help. 00:19:57.440 --> 00:20:05.279 And if you really knew me, you wouldn't really want to be around me. 00:20:08.079 --> 00:20:14.880 If you knew everything about me, you would want nothing to do with me, and we live like that. 00:20:19.039 --> 00:20:21.680 And so the question then is how does God help you? 00:20:23.920 --> 00:20:25.039 How does he help? 00:20:25.119 --> 00:20:34.400 And we see another name, Jesus, one we're so familiar with at Christmas time, and they will call him Emmanuel. 00:20:35.839 --> 00:20:36.880 God with us. 00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:39.599 And they'll call him Emmanuel. 00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:46.240 Like Jesus, God help, is God with us. 00:20:47.039 --> 00:20:48.640 He's the with us God. 00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:50.960 Like that cry, God help. 00:20:51.119 --> 00:20:55.440 I don't know what's gonna happen to my future or my relationship. 00:20:55.759 --> 00:20:59.119 God, I don't know what's gonna happen with my broken world. 00:20:59.279 --> 00:21:03.440 And I don't want anyone to see the actual real world of me. 00:21:03.599 --> 00:21:07.119 God sees all of it and he says, I'm coming to you. 00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:08.799 I'm coming with you. 00:21:08.960 --> 00:21:11.839 I'm connected, I'm not pulling away. 00:21:12.079 --> 00:21:16.079 In fact, I'm not rejecting you, I'm coming for you. 00:21:16.319 --> 00:21:26.480 This is the greatest promise this planet has ever heard that God is not just above us, but he became one of us and among us. 00:21:27.279 --> 00:21:31.599 That God is not, you know, somehow distant or aloof. 00:21:31.680 --> 00:21:34.160 He says, I'm right in it with you. 00:21:34.400 --> 00:21:38.240 I promised you my presence, and then I became one of you. 00:21:38.400 --> 00:21:42.880 It's what Christians call the great stoop of Christmas. 00:21:43.759 --> 00:22:03.920 When Almighty God became a little human, vulnerable, became one of us, entered the mess of our world, leaned into the messiness, and even Took on our mess on himself. 00:22:05.839 --> 00:22:10.640 You shall name him Jesus, for he'll save his people from their sins. 00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:15.279 And they'll call him Emmanuel, God with us. 00:22:16.079 --> 00:22:19.440 God help, Jesus, God help is personal. 00:22:19.759 --> 00:22:23.119 God help, Jesus, God help is present. 00:22:23.680 --> 00:22:29.039 Did you know that the most often command in the Bible is do not be afraid? 00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:36.240 And depending on your version that you read, it's in there up to perhaps 365 times. 00:22:36.319 --> 00:22:38.720 Some have suggested one for each day of the year. 00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:43.839 But did you know what's coupled with that command? 00:22:44.880 --> 00:22:47.519 Most often, all those times? 00:22:47.839 --> 00:22:49.440 Do not be afraid. 00:22:49.680 --> 00:22:51.680 Not because life's easy. 00:22:52.160 --> 00:22:55.279 Because life's way harder than we care to admit, isn't it? 00:22:56.480 --> 00:22:59.680 Do not be afraid because I'm gonna fix it all. 00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:07.920 Do not be afraid because uh, well, there's nothing to be afraid of. 00:23:09.039 --> 00:23:17.039 Now he says, do not be afraid, and most often coupled with it, for I am with you. 00:23:19.279 --> 00:23:31.279 Like God thinks that no matter what you're going through, his presence is enough for you and changes everything about it. 00:23:32.400 --> 00:23:50.799 Like God seems to think that his presence, his withness, the almighty one, his presence with you, the wonderful counselor, the mighty king, the everlasting father, his presence with you is enough for everything you go through. 00:23:51.839 --> 00:23:56.400 Years ago, we were vacationing at a beach, and it was so fun. 00:23:56.720 --> 00:23:58.079 Both my wife and I are beach kids. 00:23:58.160 --> 00:24:11.599 We grew up in Santa Cruz, and um Ella was like four or five, and I was paddleboarding, having a time in my life, going out, you know, coming back in, going out, uh, surfing, and then hanging with the family. 00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:15.519 And one time Ella says to me, Dad, I want to go out with you. 00:24:15.599 --> 00:24:17.200 Can I go out and ride with you? 00:24:17.359 --> 00:24:18.240 And I said, Absolutely. 00:24:18.400 --> 00:24:20.079 I'm like, I gotta share this with her. 00:24:20.240 --> 00:24:25.680 And so we put on a live vest and we begin to go past the surging breakers right at the beginning. 00:24:25.759 --> 00:24:28.160 They were small, they weren't that big, but you know, some bumps. 00:24:28.240 --> 00:24:30.960 But I wanted to get out where it was a little bit smoother, right? 00:24:31.039 --> 00:24:32.640 You know, you're not in the break. 00:24:32.720 --> 00:24:42.079 And so we paddle out there, and we're it's starting pretty well, you know, and so she's sitting in the middle just like this, and she's got hands on her knees looking around. 00:24:42.160 --> 00:24:47.920 But then all of a sudden she notices that she's way farther from the shore than she's ever been before. 00:24:48.160 --> 00:24:51.200 The waves, you know, I mean, you can only imagine at four or five. 00:24:51.279 --> 00:24:53.680 This is the waves seemed huge out there. 00:24:53.839 --> 00:24:59.359 And and then, you know, she's looking and going, like, the water's deep, she can't swim yet. 00:24:59.440 --> 00:25:07.920 Yeah, I mean, she's got a life vest on, but it's just all of a sudden what started out as an adventure turned to just tear. 00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:13.920 And she just grabs her knees like this, and she starts to shake and she's dad, take me back. 00:25:14.480 --> 00:25:15.680 Take me back. 00:25:16.160 --> 00:25:19.680 It's like the waves are too big, I'm too far from shore, it's so deep. 00:25:19.759 --> 00:25:21.839 Take me back, I'm scared. 00:25:23.279 --> 00:25:30.480 And I leaned over and I whispered in her ear, suck it up. 00:25:36.720 --> 00:25:38.240 I didn't say that. 00:25:42.559 --> 00:25:44.319 What did I say to her? 00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:47.200 I said, it's okay. 00:25:48.960 --> 00:25:50.640 Your dad's with you. 00:25:52.000 --> 00:25:53.359 It's okay. 00:25:54.240 --> 00:25:56.000 Your dad's with you. 00:25:56.799 --> 00:26:04.319 Because honestly, if at four or five, if she's on her own in the middle of the ocean, that's a frightful thing. 00:26:05.759 --> 00:26:13.359 That that would be treacherous, and you certainly could get caught in a riptide, swept off to sea, you know, a wave taker out. 00:26:13.759 --> 00:26:24.559 I get it, but if you're on your own, and to be honest, there's some of us that are on our own going through life, you had no idea that that uttering of the primal cry, God help, he said, I'm with you. 00:26:24.640 --> 00:26:32.319 And you've been trying to navigate it, and it is a frightful thing, and Jesus says, I'm here, and that's the beauty and the gospel and the good news of advents. 00:26:32.640 --> 00:26:41.759 That when you say, God help, he says, I'm with you, I meet you, I save you, and I'll never, ever leave you. 00:26:43.519 --> 00:26:52.480 But I think there's some of us, some of us who have cried, God help, this Christmas season. 00:26:53.279 --> 00:26:55.440 We've gone through the motions. 00:26:56.319 --> 00:27:04.400 We know the songs, and we know the passage, and like I said, I'm just reminding you of something you already knew. 00:27:05.759 --> 00:27:16.160 But I think so often we go through life thinking it's all on our shoulders and forget that God's with us. 00:27:16.559 --> 00:27:23.119 And our eyes are focused on the wind and the waves and the shore and the depth of the ocean, and we're like, I don't know what to do. 00:27:23.200 --> 00:27:27.920 And God's like, I'm right behind you, I'm right with you, I got you. 00:27:29.039 --> 00:27:35.279 In that moment, I remember, I just so wish Ella could see things from my perspective out there. 00:27:35.920 --> 00:27:38.079 Like how that would have changed. 00:27:38.240 --> 00:27:43.920 It wouldn't have changed the circumstances, but it would have changed the way she experienced them. 00:27:46.240 --> 00:27:49.920 Yeah, the waves, they're bigger than you're used to. 00:27:50.640 --> 00:27:53.440 We are farther from sea, from the shore. 00:27:53.759 --> 00:27:55.200 And it is deeper. 00:27:56.480 --> 00:27:58.799 But you're also on an adventure with your dad. 00:27:59.920 --> 00:28:01.920 You're also on an adventure with your dad. 00:28:02.240 --> 00:28:03.519 And he's got you. 00:28:03.759 --> 00:28:07.839 He's with you, he's for you, he's leading you. 00:28:08.559 --> 00:28:14.079 See, the reality is, is you're gotta get through today one way or the other, right? 00:28:14.160 --> 00:28:16.160 I mean, you just gotta get through it. 00:28:17.759 --> 00:28:19.039 We all do. 00:28:20.079 --> 00:28:24.960 And you're either gonna do it with God or without God. 00:28:25.839 --> 00:28:36.240 You're either gonna do it with an awareness that your Heavenly Father is with you, beside you, right next to you, or you're gonna do it without God. 00:28:36.640 --> 00:28:40.160 And he's still with you, but you're just not aware of it. 00:28:42.720 --> 00:28:52.079 And so I want to invite us this Christmas season to maybe do a not so traditional Christmas Eve. 00:28:52.480 --> 00:29:00.960 Because I think our traditional Christmas Eve for many of us is come sing the songs, maybe feel warm, fuzzy, and go on as life as usual. 00:29:02.960 --> 00:29:10.400 A not so traditional Christmas Eve, maybe for the first time, or maybe just being reminded. 00:29:10.720 --> 00:29:13.039 Would you welcome Jesus this Christmas? 00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:16.000 Would you welcome God help? 00:29:17.599 --> 00:29:23.200 Would you welcome God with you into your everyday life? 00:29:23.599 --> 00:29:28.720 You can go through it with God, with his love, with his protection, with his presence. 00:29:30.319 --> 00:29:35.759 And so I just want to invite all of us, one simple prayer. 00:29:35.839 --> 00:29:37.279 It's a welcoming prayer. 00:29:39.440 --> 00:29:42.799 He responds every time, the name of Jesus, God help. 00:29:43.039 --> 00:29:45.039 He responds with his presence. 00:29:45.519 --> 00:29:47.920 Every time I'm with you. 00:29:48.799 --> 00:29:55.519 And so, would you just kind of take a moment to pause in the busy, hurried chaos of the season? 00:29:56.720 --> 00:29:58.480 Settle into your seat. 00:29:59.920 --> 00:30:03.599 Where has the Spirit of God been working and moving inside of you? 00:30:04.559 --> 00:30:05.839 Take a breath. 00:30:07.680 --> 00:30:09.920 Close your eyes if you're comfortable. 00:30:13.279 --> 00:30:14.799 It's simply this. 00:30:16.319 --> 00:30:18.960 Just one little sentence to make it your prayer. 00:30:20.240 --> 00:30:24.000 I open myself to the love and presence of God. 00:30:27.200 --> 00:30:29.920 Jesus, you are with me. 00:30:33.920 --> 00:30:38.000 I open myself to the love and presence of God. 00:30:38.960 --> 00:30:42.000 Jesus, you are with me. 00:30:43.920 --> 00:30:46.240 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:30:46.400 --> 00:30:50.880 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:30:51.039 --> 00:30:53.119 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:30:53.279 --> 00:30:59.119 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.comslash card.