The Choice That Changes Everything | Jay Hubbard | City Light Church

I am so excited to preach. My mission today is to preach the gospel to you and that a whole lot of people will get saved, amen? But here's the thing, I wouldn't be able to do that if it wasn't for an amazing leaders here of this church, pastors, Jabin and Shannon Chavez. So can we take a moment and just honor them in this beautiful building that we get to sit in, that we get to preach in, that we get to raise the house for the next generation in. It is an honor and a privilege. Thank you so much for entrusting me with this moment. I'm gonna dive right into the word, is that okay with you? I'm gonna preach today from a very prolific scripture, a very famous scripture, the most famous scripture in the entire Bible. Matter of fact, it's the most famous scripture probably in the whole world. Does anybody know what that scripture could be? John 3 16. Can you help me read it and recite it as they put it on the screens? I think we can do that, right? For God so loved the, that he gave his, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. I wanna preach a message to you today titled the choice that changes everything. The choice that changes everything. Let us pray, Lord.

We thank you for this opportunity. I pray for the person that is farthest from God. In this moment, may you soften their hearts that the word would fall on good soil. I pray for the one who feels close to you, Lord. Would you still speak to them today? Would you still reveal revelation to them today? Let it not be my words, let it be your words. In your name we pray, amen and amen. John 3 16. What I love about John 3 16 is it communicates one main theme, that before you could ever choose God, he already chose you. Point number one, God has already chosen you. See John 3 16, though it is a prolific verse and we put this verse on our eye black before we step onto the field for whatever sporting event or we put it on signs and poster boards and we stand behind broadcasters as we try to communicate and share the gospel. John 3 16 is actually a part of a great conversation that Jesus is having with a well-known teacher of the law in John chapter three and his name is Nicodemus. And Nicodemus is trying to rationalize and understand what Jesus is actually trying to teach him. See, Jesus is trying to tell Nicodemus that I am here to establish a new kingdom and Nicodemus is trying to rationalize the current kingdom that he is living in and Jesus says something.

He says, my kingdom is not of flesh and of bone, but my kingdom is born of the spirit. My kingdom bursts through eternity and comes into the present. My kingdom is not controlled by your systems of taxation and oppression. My kingdom is not bound to the heavy machinery of your earthly rule, but my kingdom is where hearts are reborn, where lives are remade and people are changed. That is the kingdom that Jesus is trying to establish and this is the beauty of Christmas. This is the blazing heartbeat of this holiday season that God so desired a relationship with you and I that he sent his son to this earth to don flesh and to don blood, not just to observe us, but to walk with us, not just to observe us, but to talk with us, to heal us, to save us. This is the beauty of Christmas. Now, I always find it interesting that God likes to use the most unique situations to accomplish what he wants to accomplish and so he chooses these people in loop two by the name of Joseph and Mary and we're gonna read some of that scripture here, Luke chapter two. We're gonna start in verse one. At the time, the Roman Emperor Augustus decreed that a census should be taken

throughout the Roman Empire. All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census and because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David's ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary to whom he was engaged who was now expecting a child and while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in snuggly and strips of cloth and laid him in a manger because there was no lodging available for them. I love that God uses the most unique situations. A lot of us, we read this story and we recount this story time and time again and I wanna tell you, if you feel overlooked today, God can still use you and here's why. Most people would say Joseph was a carpenter, correct? But a lot of people miss that Joseph was a carpenter with an emphasis on stone building. See, a lot of us think and it's common that the manger was built. built out of wood. It actually was built out of stone. I wanna tell somebody, God is already 10 steps ahead of you. Micah prophesied that there would be the coming of a Messiah and God had 700 years to find the right people,

the right place at the right time. He's already 10 steps ahead of your situation. He knew he needed a Joseph. He knew he needed a normal man with a really good trade that he could move from one place to another to eventually build what we know as a manger so we could take the chief cornerstone and we could set him in the stone. God knew all along that he would place that baby in that stone, that stone that people would come to drink and eat out of because if you need living water, he is the living water. The manger is already foreshadowing the sacrifice as to which Jesus is going to do for me and for you. And so I've come to tell you today, if you feel forgotten, if you feel like you're lost, if you feel misunderstood, if God can use Joseph, a stonemason, if he can use Mary, a virgin, a teenage virgin to carry out the will, he will use you. You think it was an accident that they went to Bethlehem? No, he decreed a census. Caesar thought he did it, God did it. He brought him there so we could have the perfect situation because our God doesn't make mistakes. So now that you know that God has already chosen you, point number two, now choose God. Can I have that gift? I love this gift. Y'all know Santa's here today, right?

I don't think he rode in on a Harley. It's a pretty cool gift bag, right? A gift, no matter how beautiful or valuable, has zero impact if it stays unopened. You can admire it, beautiful bag, Santa's riding a Harley, pretty cool. You can carry it, you can even talk about it. Man, look at this really cool gift somebody gave me. But the gift has no impact if it remains unopened. I have a slight ick I'd like to share with you all this morning. Are you ready? Buckle your seatbelts. There are two types of birthday parties. There's one birthday party you show up to and you see little Timmy and he is so excited because it's his birthday. There's a bouncy house, there's pizza. It might be a little cold if you got there late. And everybody's running around having a good time. And then you sing happy birthday to little Timmy. And you keep eyeballing the gift that you spent your money on, hours at Target, trying to make sure it was perfect. The gift that you inevitably had to buy a bag for because you didn't have any bags at home. And then you realize the gift didn't fit in that cool bag so you had to buy a bigger bag that was like $10. It's a struggle. And you brought that gift, you turn around,

you're like, where'd all the gifts go? And at some point in the party, little Timmy's mom took all the gifts and she hid them in the closet. And you're going home wondering, man, I wish I could have saw Timmy open our gift. Unfortunately, we're not gonna get the opportunity to do that today and we're gonna go home now. What a waste. Then you have these other parties that you go to and there's nothing but cakes and bouncy houses and clowns and Anna and Elsa. Sometimes kind of like a bootleg version of them but it was a valiant attempt. And you're there and the party's awesome and everybody's having fun and Domino's is on rotation and it's always hot and it's always fresh because they're delivering it like every half hour. And you're like, this is an amazing party. And you bring that gift to little Timmy and you sing happy birthday and then little Timmy's mom goes, all right, everybody gather around, we're gonna open the gifts. And you're like, yes. And you watch little Timmy open that Mario Kart Nintendo Switch game that he wanted so bad and he's smiling ear to ear and you're smiling ear to ear because you know better it is to give than it is to receive.

And you're standing there and he's opening and he's ripping the paper and he's like, oh my gosh, I got a Nintendo Switch game. And you're like. Like, I did that. Friend, I've come to tell you today, salvation is one of the same. What good is the gift of salvation if you choose to leave it unopened? C.S. Lewis has an incredible quote. He says, the beauty of Christ is in the gift of salvation. Christianity, free will, though it makes evil possible. People always ask, why does evil happen? We're not robots. God's not up here puppeteering. What is he? Though it makes evil possible, it is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. God instilled in you free will. He already chose you. Now it's your turn to respond to him and choose him because his gift that he has for you, once opened, not only changes your past, but it changes your present and it changes your future. All of eternity, this one gift on one holy night when he stepped into darkness as a newborn baby to live a perfect, sinless life, to die on a cross in our place so that you might have eternal life.

And all you have to do is say yes. And so that's what we're gonna do right now in this moment. We're gonna give everyone in this room an opportunity. It is no accident that you are here today because our God doesn't make mistakes. So whether you've come in here today because your mom invited you, whether you came in here today because your aunt invited you, maybe you just thought you were gonna come see a really cute, excellent, wonderful, adorable kid's production. And you're like, afterwards, we're gonna go to lunch, which is a great plan, by the way. God has a plan for you. There's a reason why you're here today. And I've come to tell you that God's not mad at you. He's madly in love with you. And if you're questioning and reasoning in your mind right now, am I even worthy enough to be in the room? The answer is yes, you are. Yes, you are. This is a hospital for the broken. And Jesus loves you. You might have stumbled in here today from the nightclub or the rodeo. God has a plan for you. But I can't put the bottle down. God has a plan for you.

Man, I just, our marriage is in shambles. God's got a plan for you. There's so much unknown in our life right now. God's got a plan for you. He's already working it out. And I'm not gonna lie,