The Story of Christmas // Week 4

Well, today we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. From my family to yours, I just wanna say Merry Christmas. And I love each and every one of you deeply. I say this often to people that are guests that are coming into our church, they always say how welcome they feel. And I always say these words, the love is real at Calvary Church. And it's because we love God that it's there able, that we're able to love people. And so today I wanna tell you the greatest love story of all time. Do you wanna hear it? Oh, come on, for our Christmas Eve story. Do you wanna hear the greatest love story of all time? All right, now work with me because the greatest love story of all time might not be what you think it is. And if you agree with me, I just need you as I go through these couple that it is not to just say amen. And for those that are new, we say amen around here. It's just some churchy language that we say, we say so be it or let it be so, that's what it means. So now you know, so you can do it with us, all right? We'll start here. The greatest love story of all time is not Romeo and Juliet.

And all of God's people said, the next one might upset you, but I need to say it and say it boldly. The greatest love story of all time is not Noah and Ali from the notebook. And all of God's people said, I know, I know I just upset some of you, but it's the truth. And the greatest love story of all time is not Jack and Rose from Titanic. And all of God's people said, because all of these love stories have really sad endings, don't they? I mean, think about Romeo and Juliet. They have this miscommunication and they both end up dying tragically. I don't even wanna say what happened to put that thought in your mind this Christmas week, but awful things happened to Romeo and Juliet. And then Noah and Ali from the notebook endured years of separation. And then finally they get back together and then they endure memory loss. And at the end of the movie, they both died together in each other's arms. Now, some of you, you're upset with me because I just gave away the end of that movie right there. And I would say to you, it's 20 years old, get over yourself. If you haven't seen it now,

you were never gonna see it, all right? Then there's Jack and Rose from the Titanic. Hanging on that door is Rose. And I just need to say this. If you look closely at that last scene, there was definitely room on that door for Jack. Come on, somebody. Get snuggled in, share some body heat and you both can live, right? Neither of those stories are the greatest love story of all time because the greatest love story of all time doesn't start with once upon a time. The greatest love story of all time starts with this, for God so loved the worlds. Now, some of you might be saying, yeah, Pastor Dan, but I know that story. And the main character in that story, he dies too. You're right. Jesus does die as well. He does die. But three days later, the stone was rolled away. The tomb was empty and Jesus rose from the dead and defeated death, hell, and the grave. And if the tomb is empty, anything is possible. The greatest love story of all time does not end in death, but it's a love story that conquers even death itself. And that's the Easter story. So let's back up to the Christmas story because that's where we're at right now.

Christmas is a love story. It's a love story, but it's not a traditional love story between a man and a woman. The story of Christmas is the love story about a father and a son. It's the love story of a father and a son. It's amazing to recognize 700 years before Jesus was ever born, Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 9, 6, which is known as the messianic prophecy. And he says these words, for unto us, a child is born. Come on, say this next part with me. For unto us, a child is born. Unto us, a son is given. For all eternity, before the world existed, before time existed, before even creation itself existed, before anything that was made was made, there was a father and there was a son. And the heavenly father loved his son more than any other father loved their son. And the son loved his father more than any other child could love their parents. And they had this uninterrupted oneness for all of eternity. Jesus even said this in scripture. He says, I, even I, and the father were one. I, even I, and the father were one. And then came the first Christmas when the father said goodbye

and sent his son from heaven. Galatians 4 tells us, when the set time had fully come, what did God do? God sent his son, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem us from the law that we might be called children of God. If you're a parent, you understand a little bit of the feelings of what God the father was feeling when he sent out God the son in that moment. Any parents in the room, remember the first day when you send your kids off to school? Happened to my daughter this past year, we sent her off to preschool and you wake up early in the morning and you pack their bluey lunchbox or their Spider-Man lunchbox or their Minnie Mouse lunchbox. box with extra love, you put a sandwich in there, you put chips, you put a little juice box, you write a little note in there, and then you put them on the front porch, and you take 48 photos of them, and you post them online, so everyone can say, oh, how cute is your kid? And then you drive them to school, and you drop them off, and you sit in the car, and you sit in that waiting line where you drop them off, and you bawl your eyes out for the next 30 minutes. Has anyone ever been there before? The feeling of dropping your kids off for the first time for school? How about this? I haven't gotten to this one yet. My kids aren't this old yet. Any parents in the room ever taught their kids to drive? It's amazing that you're still here, and you still have your salvation.

That's all I can say right there. You might not be a person of prayer, but I imagine when they're 16, and the first time you step in that vehicle with them, you are shouting the house down in tongues in that moment right there. Should have bought a Hyundai, but I bought a Mitsubishi, you know what I'm saying? Now multiply all of those feelings that you feel in that moment, those feelings of angst, those feelings of worry, those feelings of concern. Multiply all of those feelings by infinity, because the Father had never been separated from the Son. And Christmas is the moment where God sent Him away, because Christmas is the love story about a Father and a Son. But it's also a love story, number two, about a mother and a son. Christmas is also a love story about a mother and a son. The angel tells Mary in Matthew chapter one, she says these words, you'll give birth to a son, and you're to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. Christmas is a love story between a mother and a son. I know many parents can feel this and know this in the room today, that the love of a mother and a father is equal for their kids, but it's a different kind of love that's displayed. The way that I love my daughter, I like to roughhouse and play with her a little bit. We call it wrestling, and I say, Andy, do you want to wrestle? And she can't say the word wrestle. She goes, Daddy, do you want to muscle? You want to muscle? And we like to play, and we like to have fun in that way. But my wife is a little bit more nurturing, a little more comforting, a little bit more caring. While we equally love our kids, our love is displayed differently. And it's really, really hard to imagine a teenage girl named Mary who finds out she's going to be the mother of the Messiah, and will conceive and give birth, and His name will be Jesus, and He's going to save people from their sins. The angel Gabriel tells her this, and then she's got to tell her fiancé about this. Engaged, not married, haven't slept together. I just picture that has got to be the most awkward conversation ever. Hey, Joey, Joey Bear, Joey Jr.

We're going to have Joey Jr. I'm pregnant, and it's by the Holy Spirit. It's not by the guy down the street next door. And finally, Joseph gets himself all around and all on board. The angel of the Lord appears to him, and then suddenly they have this 90-mile trek that they have to take to Bethlehem. This long journey, and they get to Bethlehem, and there's no room anywhere. So she gives birth to her baby. She gives birth to her son. She gives birth to the Messiah in a manger. And then to make matters even worse, just eight days later, a man named Simon prophesies over her child and says these words. In Luke chapter 2, he says these words. The child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, but many others to rise. He's been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him. As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed, and a sword will pierce your very soul. This random guy shows up out of nowhere eight days after the Messiah is born and says, Mary, the mother of Jesus, your son. He was born to die. These are the words that no mom would ever want to hear, your son was born to die. This is a love story about a mother and a son, a love story about a mother who would have a son and she would never get to see him grow up and go to college, and would never get to see him grow up and get married, and would never get to see him grow up and have kids so that she could be a grandmother. This is the love story of a son who was given to her to pay the price for humanity once and for all. So today, the greatest love story of all time is not just the love of the father and the love of a son, and not just the love of a mother and the love of a son, but the greatest love story of all time is the love of the son, Jesus and us. John 3, 16 tells me these words, one of the best verses in scripture, it says, for God so loved the worlds. For God so loved you and me, bad people with bad morals and bad agendas. If you've sinned but one time, you have missed the mark and you are deserving of hell, separation from God for all of eternity. For God so loved the worlds that he gave his one and only son. Why did he do it? It was because of his love. That whoever believes in him would not perish, but have everlasting life.

I love verse 17. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world. God didn't send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world. to save the world. Some of you are here today and you hear about the love of the Father and you say, Pastor Dan, that's great to hear. That's great that the Father loves people. He loves church people. He loves people that are here today. That's great. But the Father and the Son could never love me. You don't know what I have done in my life. You don't know what I was even doing before this service today. You don't know the drugs that I'm addicted to. You don't know the alcohol that has held me so captive. You don't know the depression that is reeling in my, you don't know the doubt that I have. I don't know if I even believe all of this stuff. You don't know what I've done. You don't know my thoughts right now. My thoughts, they ain't good. And I would say so lovingly right back to you. Absolutely, I don't know everything that you've done and I don't know your darkest sin, but I would say equally, you don't know everything that I've done and you don't know all of my darkest thoughts. And if you probably did,

that probably wouldn't be a good thing. You probably wouldn't come to this church and I probably wouldn't be your pastor. Come on, somebody. But I'm so thankful that God does not see me for my sin or my past. If I say yes to Jesus and I turn from my sin, I am a new creation in Christ. The message of Christmas is not that you stay in that sin, but that he does forgive you of all that sin and he offers you a better way. Jesus, all throughout scripture, I see this over and over and over again. He loved broken people. He loved people who were far from God. Jesus loved the woman at the well in scripture, looking for love in all the wrong places. Five different husbands that she has. And the one she's shacking up with right now, it ain't even her husband. Jesus looks at her and he goes, you're thirsty, but it ain't for water, it's for other stuff. He says, come, I'll help you never thirst again for I am the living water. Why? Because Jesus loved her in the midst of her sin. Jesus loved Peter after betraying him, one of his besties, one of his disciples. And he says, Peter, I see so much in you

that you're gonna lead the early church upon this rock, Peter, I'm gonna build my church because Jesus loved Peter even after betrayal. Jesus loved the woman caught in the very act of adultery. And in that time, in that culture, that was punishable by death. Religious leaders and the self-righteous said she deserves to be stoned. Jesus kneels down by her side, loves her with the father's love, shows her grace, and then also gives her truth and says, woman, neither do I condemn you, but go now and leave that life of sin. Jesus loved that woman in her sin. Jesus loves Zacchaeus, a tax collector, evil guy, swindler. He was spiritually curious, but he was taking advantage of people. And so one day he's watching Jesus from a tree and Jesus says, Zacchaeus, you come down from that tree. I wanna have lunch with you today. Jesus loves Zacchaeus over that lunch. See, what you have to do is you often have to connect with people before you correct them. And Jesus connects with them in this moment, shows him the love of the father and Zacchaeus' life is forever changed. Jesus loves Zacchaeus. Jesus loved the woman caught in adultery.

Jesus loved the woman at the well. Jesus loves you and he loves me. 1 John 4 10, this is real love. This is what scripture says. Not that we love God, but that he loved us. This is real love. This is what it's all about. This is what Christmas is all about. Not about the great dinner that you're gonna have tonight. Not about all the presents that you're gonna open over these next couple of days. This is what life is all about. Not that we could ever love God, but that he loves us. No matter what you feel, no matter what you've done, no matter how dark your situation is, no matter how lost you feel walking into this place today, you need to know this today. You are the one who Jesus loves. You're the one who Jesus loves. So I'm gonna lead us in a moment of prayer in just a moment. But right now I'd love for every single person, go ahead and pull that connect card out of your chair in this moment. I'm gonna respond just a little bit differently. Come on, everybody's doing it. Humor with me, work with me in this moment. Grab that connect card if you're in the front, it's on your seat.

And if you haven't, you can fill it out and start writing your prayer requests. But really today, I wanted to bring us to this point of decision because that's really what Christmas is all about. If you don't know Jesus, you're missing out on the greatest gift. And if today is a day where you say, I wanna commit my life to Christ, I wanna commit my life to Jesus, you just go ahead and check that first box. It's the best decision you ever could make, following Jesus with all of your heart, following him with all of your life. I can't promise that your life's gonna get easier. It's probably gonna get easier. Your life's gonna get easier. It's probably gonna get more difficult. I can just promise you this, he's with you in the middle of the pain, in the middle of the storm. Your most fulfilling life is found in Christ. Maybe you're here today and you've been in church for a long time, but you've walked away from God and today's the day to get to recommit. You can check box number two right there. I'm recommitting my life to Jesus. I've experienced his great love and I really now wanna walk this out

in relationship with him every single day. Maybe you're here and you're looking to take a next step. You wanna be water baptized. You can mark that as box number three, or you'd like to just talk to someone from our church about your next step. We're a church that believes in next steps, that it's not just a salvation moment here, but we want you to live this thing out, walk it out. So we'd love to help you, follow up with you on your next step. Every head bowed, every eye closed in this moment. Today, if you need Jesus, if you need forgiveness, if you need new life, if you need to step away from that guilt and step away from that shame and step towards His love, today, if that's you, and you wanna make a decision to follow Jesus or recommit back to Him today at this Christmas service, December 24th, 2005, I'm gonna count to three. If that's you, lift your hand in this moment. Ready, one, two, three. Come on, lift that hand loud and proud. Fantastic, I see all those hands. And hands all around the room, there's gotta be about 20 hands that are lifted up in this room. Come on, God's moving right here in this moment. You can throw your hand right back down. Just pray after me, repeat after me. Come on, no one prays alone, everyone prays together.

Because we're one church family. Say, Jesus, today, I receive your love. I receive your forgiveness. Jesus, save me. Be the Lord of my life. Fill me with your spirit. And today, I give you my life. In Jesus' name we pray.