Christmas 2024

How are you? Merry Christmas, CDG. Thank you, thank you, but you all stand up and applaud now. Please make some noise for our dancers, our singers, our acrobats, our production people, our radio people. The vast majority of them are volunteers who serve and give their time. Thank you. Sit down. If you're busy, applaud. If you're busy, you might work in retail. Some people are busy. Restaurants, we've got restaurants that are busy. Traffic right now. Busy. Cops are busy, because we don't think this time of year. Cops are busy. Come to take care of traffic are busy. Everyone's busy. Everybody's busy. The airline is busy. The airport is busy. Students and teachers have been busy, just to finish this semester. Busy people everywhere. Amazon, you know, CUNY, Minnesota are busy. UPS is busy. FedEx is busy. Moms, moms are busy. Dads, not so much dads. I'm not saying we're not, we're not busy, let's be honest, right? Moms do all the heavy lifting. We've got a dad's list, which kind of goes from a mom's list to a dad's list like this. But a dad's list at that hour in time, it's done, correct? So, thank you for taking the time to work through your busy schedule. I try my best to get out at all of those times that you're busy every single weekend. And so, if you took time to be here, we're very grateful. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you enjoyed it. We try to get a little together, everybody. Beautiful people in the audience, the kids, everybody else, the Grinch, the Grinch. I love the Grinch. I love the Grinch. It's a grumpy charm. And by the way, you're watching on line right now. We're in Florida. Our campus is in Florida. Our state, we kind of feel like the Grinch if you have the Earth. So, we smile at you of South Florida, turning upside down. And it looks like the Grinch. It looks like the Grinch. It looks like the Grinch. I look at the Grinch and he looks like a Grinch. So, we do, like the Grinch and it's South Florida. So, which Christmas story are we going to be going to talk about? You have the story of the Wise Men, the Wise Men of the Star, with the original Grinch Herod. There was a psychopathic king who tried to assassinate Jesus when he was a baby. Bad dude, right? And he was talking about a baby or a bad person. We have the most famous account, Lucas' story, of the Shepherds, who were watching the dogs in the night, and the angels appeared. Isaiah chapter 9, the Old Testament, the Hebrew Scripture, describing the birth of the Messiah, Jesus, in detail. We're going to go into that at the end of the account for New Year's Eve, but I want to go to John. I want to go to John because John is the account of

Christmas for smart people. I was looking around the audience. This seems to be the case. I don't know if you agree. I know over the years, I've been in college and I've actually had high IQs now. This is what I look around, this is a smart audience. I think this is a proper job. I mean, sir, your audience is in the genius IQ, and I can tell you, a genius IQ. And you, man, I don't know how you graduate top of the class, and you probably only get second. But put that together, if you're a smart person, you're a smart person. Oh, my God, yeah, no doubt, I read the ground. So, just a couple of quick verses. So, John kind of takes a step behind the typical nativity scene. He's talking about the shepherds, the angels, the baby, the manger, and he explains the why, the why. I love the question, why. We invite people, there's a lot of people, John, who ask the question, why, why did God do this, or why does God in the Word say that? So, here's the why of Christmas. John chapter one, all the screen, verse one, we read the highlighted words. So, here we go. In the beginning was the, John, was the Word. So, he's talking about Jesus. So, why does John pick the Word, the name Jesus? Okay, so, Jerah is brilliant, he works for smart people, and he's trying to reach a diverse crowd. See, John lived in the first century, Roman Empire, very eclectic graphic backstage. So, John is a Jew, he's writing to a Jewish audience, and the Jews value the idea of the Word, the Word of God. And the God and his Word were almost synonymous, because God always speaks, speaks Scripture. And when God speaks, God takes off, and God keeps the promise every single time. So, John said the word, Word, and a Jewish reader would connect with that. But, see, when John was in the crowd, he had a wider audience, people were the smart people, the intellectuals of the Roman Empire, the Greeks, big world people, they had an idea called Logos, Logos. Now, Logos was written under Word, but Logos seemed to be more Logos. One, two, three, Logos. Look at who's speaking Greek, you're a smart crowd speaking Greek. So, Logos can be written Word or Reason. And the boxers had this idea that there has to be a reason behind everything they saw in the universe, in creation, there has to be a designer. the beautiful symmetry and symbiotic relationship ecosystem. But look at this happen, the circle like somebody had to draw the circle, look at the mathematical precision of the heavens,

it had to happen, there had to be a Lord God, there had to be someone by the name of Aristotle called Jesus the Great, unmoving movement. So I gave the whole thing for a push. So the man is brutally trying to communicate the God truth to multiple groups at one time. In the beginning, it was the Word, and the Word was with God. So Jesus didn't begin at Bethlehem, Jesus has always been in Genesis, he's back in Genesis, the beginning and the result of Jesus is what it was, is the coming, God and Omega. So he was with God already, and the Word was God. So don't make those mistakes, that cute little baby in me, just being so cute, that's the Word, oh my God, so cute, that's God. That is God in the flesh. That is the thing in the place that God became a human being. That is not just God, that is the King. He's the King. The scripture says, Jesus is the King of kings, the King of all kings, the King of kings and the Lord of lords,

he's the King, amen. The problem is, he didn't look much like a king, he looks like a baby. And here we are guys, in fact, we're going to do a quick quiz, it's not a pop quiz, I'm going to do something more than a pop quiz, I'm going to give you a kingly quiz. I'm going to check out the conditions of the world, I'm going to put on the screen some kings, and when you see the king, if you recognize the king, you're thinking damn, I'm a good king, you're going to say no, you're going to be fine, goodbye. But when you recognize the king, I want you to shout the name of that king. Here we go, kingly quiz, ready everybody? Okay, first king, boom, who? It is Simba, so the lion, the lion, the lion king, look at that, you know the first one, because the second one is a larger, larger climate than normal, which caused problems in New York, and problems with the law and all of this,

and here on the screen, his name is King Kong, the King Kong king, and one of the favorite athletes on the planet, probably two, and he's from the Miami Heat, so contributing at a high level, here we have LeBron James, or his nickname was King James, the King James. So, this last one, my favorite fast food sandwich as a young person, I love me the Whopper, the organization of the World Organization, the Burger King. Can you recognize these kings? What about this next king? Who's this king? Who's this king? Oh my God, this one was this, this is King George V of England, he reigned in the early 19th century, and his kingdom was the largest kingdom in the history of humanity. The Brits had a presence, they were in control, 24% of all the population of the world, he was a powerful king, and we didn't recognize him. Okay, let me show you now,

Christmas card, a baby Jesus. Oh, how cute, how sweet, a baby, but it's one of those kings. That is the maker of the universe, that is the king of the cosmos, he is the king of all kings, don't forget Simba, he is the lion of the tribe of Judah, who has conquered, he is the lion king, amen? So he's a king. At the same time, as by John, he's so smart, he's the gospel for smart people, this king, God became human being. God did not become human being. The doctrine of incarnation, Jesus is fully God, and fully human being. Sometimes that's hard to embrace, you really have to be human being. You don't have to be like the appearance, or a façade, no, no more than that.

He became a person, not a façade. Let me give you a quick example. If there's sports fans here in the house, who loves basketball? Basketball fans, basketball fans, who loves God's favorite sport, football, football, from the very life? So I grew up in a football family, Elisa grew up in a basketball family, Elisa, she's a baseball player, but only in college. Her dad was a chaplain for the league, so she knows basketball, but my family did football growing up, and we went to a basketball game for a hundred years, and the football game, and one of the first times we went, we had a number of Dolphin players, who came here to visit the day, and they gave Elisa some sign line passes, to wait, sign line passes, so we got to the side, and we had the players warming up,

and we were just barking out their instructions, this is the first time, look at how little our kids are now, Charlie and Victoria, I was wearing the typical guy's uniform, that I would wear to the Dolphin game, that's what we would wear to the Dolphin game, new balance, white socks, shorts, and a jersey. And Elisa was not paying attention to me, until she was there on the sign line, And he goes, listen, listen, listen, and he goes like, what are you wearing? What are you wearing? I'm wearing a jersey, a Zach Thompson jersey, riding on a jersey, like 50-50 on the stadium, but I'm wearing my jersey, I'm wearing a jersey. And he goes, what are you waiting for? Are you waiting for one of the coaches to tell you to be there so you can play? Hey, you, 54, get in there. And I said, do you think that would happen? Do you think that would be amazing? I'd go to the parking lot of my house, I'd start stretching out, I'd go and get ready, because no matter how hard I was able to play, one game, I could get inside and play, right? But the coach never did that.

Why? I wasn't a player, I was a poser. I was the closest guy. I was wearing a jersey of another guy who was half my age, almost half my age, who was the real thing. The incarnation that happens at Christmas is not God coming to Earth and putting on the humanity jersey. His face on this side became one of us. Hebrews says, Jesus is a great high priest, sympathizes with our weaknesses. It means something about Jesus becoming a man, becoming a king, becoming a man. He understands everything you feel. I mean, Jesus was tough. Jesus had to balance stress. Jesus had a physical body, meaning his gut had bad breath. As a teenager, Jesus had to balance, right? He navigated all the emotions we deal with. He was lied about, he was betrayed, he was abandoned, he was marginalized, he did unholy things and people used that against him. He knew his head's emotional pain, he knew he was going to do it, but it was physical agony. He gets this. Your God understands everything you are going through. And quickly, back to John 1, chapter one, I'll take verse four, this is the last verse, and then I'll take the last verse and I'll show you.

Let me read it right now. Read the whole letter once. And Jesus is saying, it was a good job and the power to bestow life. And the life was the light of men. All right, if you understand the Bible, I believe it's the authority of God's word. I believe in the word of God. Every single word in the word of God, if God says something one time, it's in the word of God's word. But if God says something three times in one verse, husband, if your wife calls you three times, it's better if you listen. Young people, if your mom calls you three times, and the third time calls you with the second name too, God says three times, here's what Jesus came for. Life, life. You want to know what God's agenda is for you. What's God's desire? God, I believe you, I know you, but what do you want for me? And the word is life. The word is life. He wants a life that is powerful, and eternal, and eternal. He wants life. The word life is 36 times, and in John's Gospel, it's twice, and in the New Testament, it's repeated so many times.

It's like everything is written about life, not just the Bible, all literature in John's Gospel. In John chapter 14, verse six, Jesus answered on the way, and said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. In John 10, Jesus says, I have come to give you life, and I will give it to the full. I love when it says, in chapter six, verse 35, Jesus says, I am the bread of life. And then in chapter 11, he says, Lazarus died, but it seems like God proclaimed it. But he says, once, I am the resurrection, and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he will live. And John 3, verse 16, for God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, so that all who believe in him may not perish, but have everlasting life. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you for that applause. Thank you for that applause. Take out your phone. Take out your phone right now. Everybody take out your phone right now. You want to know, one thing God wants for you, is life. Is life powerful?

Is life a tremendous purpose? Is life a meaning? Is life a significance? Do you set goals? Because you're a group of people, and you achieve that goal, and you feel good for a day and a half. Then you go, he wants your life to have such impact, to be a spiritual significance. He wants your life to be a life without fear, a life without regrets, a life that got regret, a life that blessed with everything. He wants your life. Resurrection in our life. One, two, three. Resurrection in our life. Don't miss the one more point of this sermon. Jesus wants to bless you with a supernatural life. Okay, so how does God, does this message about life communicate to people? Because we're on earth, we're finite, we're smart, we're good, we're smart, we're limited, and he's unlimited. And how does he communicate that? The answer is creatures. And my neighbors in this room, and Carly, so good to have you guys with us. We have creatures in our backyard, don't we? We live in a place where we have creatures.

There are forests, a swamp, and there are some of the animals that I've seen in our backyard in the last few years. Some of them will surprise you, toads, iguanas that are in Florida, rabbits occasionally, even a coyote a couple of times. We've had a wildcat in our backyard. But the good news is that no one has ever entered the house. Now, if you're looking online, the animals that enter our house in the south of Florida are lizards. Who has seen lizards in your house in the last few months? It happens in the spring, in the fall, and the lizards that we have are geckos. Like this one right here. They sell insurance. That's a gecko. And these kinds of geckos are pretty. They're cute. So they tend to show up on the walls. But they show up in my bathroom when I'm going to shower. And they're there, they go to the shower, and then they can't get out. So I've learned not to take off my clothes when I'm going to shower, but I leave my shorts on. Because there's always a lizard and I don't want to kill it. They're cute. The other insects eat them, so I try to catch them. But they're fast, and they're small. Here's a picture I took a few months ago. I don't want to kill them. So I find myself doing this workout in shorts, trying to catch that lizard so fast. And more than once, I've found myself talking to the lizard. Saying, hey buddy, I don't want to hurt you. I'm your friend, I'm going to help you out. And I've discovered that they don't speak English. And I also think they don't speak Spanish, Creole, or Portuguese. But if I can become a lizard, if I can become a little gecko, maybe I can communicate with them. That illustration is a terrible injustice to the magnitude of the incarnation.

But I think God loves us so much that we have life. And He wants to understand us. He wants to understand our sadness, our rejection, our pain. And every time this happens, He says, I understand you. He wants to give you life. But how do I embrace this life? How do I get it? Here's a verse that is the clearest of the relationship with God and our salvation. He says, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is the Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, then you will be saved. Saved means you're forgiven, you're accepted. It's not about a religion, it's a relationship that will infuse you with life. And the best part of saving is this life goes on forever. This life continues when this life on earth is done. That's what God made you for. God, I know you didn't come today to make a decision, but if you're ready, I think it's just two simple steps. You've got to have a way of thinking. I know you've heard, like, a question, how is your faith? I've got a thousand, a hundred questions you've got to be able to answer. I think you've got a little speck across your seat of faith. And the Lord, Lord is, well, Lord God, there's no such thing as Lord, King. He wants to be the King. In one place, Herod made some sense. He was a psychopath. He didn't recognize Jesus was the King. He came to take over.

There's some Christians here, you've made Jesus your Lord, but not your King. He wants to take over, and he wants to take on everything you do. But if you want to see God and live your life, don't leave this in salvation prayer. No one leave it early, please. You're busy, I get it. I want everyone to close their eyes and bow their heads, and we'll lead you in a Romans 10, salvation prayer. Just pray something like this. You don't need to pray out loud. God's a genius. He can read your mind. Just pray. Okay, God. Amen. I'm saying yes. I want all of that. I want forgiveness. I want freedom. I want that relationship. And I surely want heaven. And I believe. Yes, God, my belief has got a small spiritual. I believe Jesus was the Son of God and died on the cross to pay for my sin. I believe he rose again, he's alive right now, and I make him Lord, the King of life now. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for saving me.

You always keep your promises. And I make this prayer. And I make this prayer in the name of Jesus. And the church says, Amen.