Christmas with Crossroads

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- Today we're going to see the Christmas story unfold

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and what it means for your life today.

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Hey, welcome to Crossroads and Merry Christmas.

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I'm Andy, the community pastor for Crossroads Anywhere.

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And Crossroads is a church that you can be a part of

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no matter where you live or what you believe about God.

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We're so glad that you joined us,

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and we hope that you'll come back again

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and join us again in the New Year.

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New services come out every Saturday at 5:00 pm eastern,

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and you can watch anytime on your phone or TV

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just by downloading the Crossroads Anywhere App.

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Now let's all take a deep breath.

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Christmas can be stressful, right?

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But at the same time, it is supposed to bring us

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joy, peace and hope.

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The stress of family, shopping and traffic

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and all that at Christmas just couldn't be

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more different from what Jesus offers.

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So what are we missing?

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Sometimes I'm tempted to think that, like,

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just by being Christmas, I'm going to magically feel better,

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but that's not the way it works.

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We can't wait for the holidays,

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but then they've come and gone again.

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But what if Christmas is more than just a holiday?

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I believe that we can experience hope and joy this Christmas.

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And today we're going to hear from

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our senior pastor Brian Tome

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about the real story of Christmas

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and what it means for our lives today.

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Another really cool thing this year is

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at the end of the experience in the Crossroads App,

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you'll be able to explore

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an interactive digital Christmas story

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that goes along with today's service.

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It'll put you in the middle of the story,

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and it's a fun and a meaningful experience

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to share with family and friends this Christmas.

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There are so many opportunities that you can discover

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in the app made just for you, just to help you

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connect with God, like Healing Groups,

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Nights of prayer, daily journal,

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reading, all kinds of great stuff.

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We're going to start off our time

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by singing some classic Christmas songs.

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And these aren't just sing-a-longs,

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they're actually songs about and to Jesus.

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When we put our focus on Him,

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it takes it off of ourselves

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and the stress of everyday life

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and turns it towards that peace, that hope,

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and that joy that only Jesus can bring.

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Merry Christmas everyone. Let's sing Joy to the World.

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- It's so good to be together.

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I'm so glad you're here today.

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Hey, why don't you turn to somebody around you,

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"Just say Merry Christmas,

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glad to be here with you," then you can have a seat.

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- For hundreds of years, God told His family

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that he would send them a king,

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someone who would rescue them and make everything right.

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Now, when you hear the word king,

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you probably think of this, right?

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A powerful ruler with a crown and fancy clothes

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who's big and strong and cool.

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Well, that's what God's family thought, too.

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They were expecting a mighty leader and a powerful warrior.

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Someone who would defeat their enemies

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and rule with an iron fist.

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Well, finally, after all that time,

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God was ready to send the rescuer,

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His very own Son, Jesus, to be with us on earth.

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And when the rescuer arrived, He was a baby.

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Wait? A baby? Like a tiny, chunky, giggling,

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crying, constantly pooping baby?

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But people were expecting a powerful king,

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someone big and strong and fierce.

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And baby Jesus didn't seem to be

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any of those things at first.

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People probably wondered,

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could a baby king be a powerful ruler?

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Could a baby king defeat their enemies?

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Could a baby king do anything other than sleep and eat?

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Some people thought that a baby king

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just wasn't going to work,

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but others said, "You don't get it.

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This king is different," because as it turns out,

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yes, the baby king was going to make

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all the difference in the world,

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just not in the way people thought He would.

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As baby Jesus became a grown up, He loved his enemies

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and served others before Himself.

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He healed people of sickness

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and brought people back to life.

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He took care of the poor, gave His life for us,

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and rose from the dead.

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He showed us all what God's kingdom is like.

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And He did it by loving God and loving people.

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This is the King that God had promised,

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a good, loving, powerful, praiseworthy king

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born as a baby who was helpless and small

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and probably a little smelly.

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Matthew 2:3-11: When Herod the king heard this,

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he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

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And assembling all the chief priests

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and scribes of the people, he inquired of them

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where the Christ was to be born.

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They told him in Bethlehem of Judea.

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For so it is written by the prophet,

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"And you, oh, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

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are by no means least to a shepherd --

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I mean among the rulers of Judah,

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for from you shall come a ruler

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who will shepherd my people Israel."

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When Herod summoned the wise men secretly,

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and ascertained from them what time

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the star had appeared, he sent them to Bethlehem,

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saying, "Go and search diligently for the child.

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And when you found Him, bring me word

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that I too may come and worship Him."

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After listening to the king, they went on their way.

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And behold the star that they had seen

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when it was went before them until it came to rest

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over the place where the child was.

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When they saw the star,

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they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.

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And going into the house they saw the child

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with Mary, his mother, and they fell down

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and worshiped Him.

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Then opening their treasures, they offered Him gifts,

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gold and frankincense and myrrh. Amen.

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- Ascertained, exceedingly.

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Someone's been having their parents read to them.

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Impressive. Way to go, Wyatt. Way to go.

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Hi, my name is Brian Tome.

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I'm what's known as a senior pastor around here.

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It's great to have everybody here

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as we celebrate Christmas Eve.

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Let's pray before we go any further, okay?

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God, thank You for giving us time to slow down

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and also to look up, to look up to the greatest --

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One of the greatest things that's ever been told.

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And it's true.

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Help me to talk about it clearly,

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and I pray that You would clearly work

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in every heart right now, no matter where we are.

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And I pray these things according to the character

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and identity of Jesus.

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You know, Christmas is a beautiful time,

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and I want to talk about the basic story of Christmas.

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But I also know that a picture is worth a thousand words.

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So we're going to take a a little stroll

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through a book today.

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This is sort of classic Christmas, isn't it?

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Just beautiful images., snow, even though

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there's very rarely snow in the Middle East,

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reindeer, nature scenes.

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There's something great about the nostalgia of Christmas,

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the beauty of Christmas, and I might even say

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the actual transcendence of Christmas.

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And probably all of us in here

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have something that makes us love Christmas.

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You have some favorite Christmas memory.

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For me, my favorite thing is my kids have gotten married.

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And what happens is, obviously, LiB and I,

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we're the least important of all of their in-laws

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because we don't get them on Christmas Eve

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or Christmas, we get them the day after.

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So they all go someplace else, then we finally

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get them actually on the evening of Christmas,

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which actually works out really well for us

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because we have a bit of a longer holiday that way.

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And whether it's Christmas night, Christmas Eve,

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whatever it's been, everyone comes over

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and we light every candle we possibly can

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in the kitchen and we put all kind of finger foods out

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and we talk about things and we set like dreams,

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like what would be dream things

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that God might do in our lives over the next year.

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We write them down, and we also revisit

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from last year what people said.

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It's wonderful.

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And that's just one of the many memories I have.

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I love Christmas.

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Except there's one thing I don't like about Christmas.

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You know what that is? That's the stress.

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I don't like the stress of Christmas.

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I don't like the chaos of Christmas.

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I don't like the endless meetings that have to be had,

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the endless holiday parties, the endless expectations.

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It's stressful.

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In fact, some of you may be here

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and you're stressed to be here.

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You're stressed you had to deal with traffic.

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You're stressed you're going to have to

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deal with traffic on your way out.

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You're stressed because maybe your friend invited you,

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and you're just trying to make that friend like you

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so they keep you as your friend.

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And it's like one more obligation.

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And many of us, Christmas is just chaos

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and calamity and stress.

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Today we're going to use one of the things we got,

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we're going to use this today.

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And uh, if you're if you're streaming with us online

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or wherever you are right now, uh,

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you could just have a pen of some sort

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and you can write on something,

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you can still be able to do this exercise.

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What is it about -- What is it about stress?

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Do you know what stress is?

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Whatever you stress as most important in your life

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is what brings you stress.

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Our stress comes from what we stress.

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So if you stress cleanliness, then you stress

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when your baseboards aren't cleaned every week

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or every month, whatever it is.

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If you stress finances because that's kind of,

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like, the most important thing,

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then you stress whenever the stock market takes a dive.

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And many of us, for our whole life,

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we've been told to have a family and family beautiful.

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We've been told what a picture of a family is,

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and we stress that family is important.

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And then we find ourself in a place of life

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where my life doesn't line up with the Hallmark ideal.

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And I've been stressing this important

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and now it doesn't fit and now I'm stressed

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because what does this mean for me?

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We go from the beauty of Christmas, the serenity.

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But unfortunately there's just chaos and stress for us.

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We have stress over finances maybe.

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I've learned that, uh, I read in the New York Times

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last couple of weeks that young entrepreneurial kids

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who are tech savvy are now making

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PowerPoint presentations for their parents

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on the gifts that they should get for Christmas.

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Yeah, yeah, apparently it's pretty, pretty effective.

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Here's what young one young lady says. She says:

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We need to somehow get away from the stress

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and get connected to the classic Christmas story.

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And who better to tell us the classic,

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classic Christmas story than Macy's?

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- The holidays are here, so head to Macy's

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for unbeatable deals on a winter wardrobe

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for the whole family.

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Men's Blazers starting at $49.99.

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Cashmere tops for her from $79.99.

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And for your little ones, Macy's has

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the festive fashions that'll have them saying,

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- "It's too hot!" - "It itches!" - [crying]

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- Tis the season for wrestling

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your wiggly little monster into thick winter clothes.

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So all month long we're taking 25% off

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boys merino wool sweaters

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that won't fit over his head.

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- If you stop squirming, it would be on already.

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- And 40% off cozy corduroys that'll pinch his little nuts.

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- Can't he just wear his jeans?

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- You don't wear jeans to church.

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- And for your little girl, it's half off

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all hard, shiny shoes that hurt.

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- Ow, my shoes hurt.

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- Welcome to being a woman, Kylie.

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- And 30% off all holiday rompers

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she'll never get off in time.

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- It's wet.

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- Okay, you have to tell mommy when you have to go.

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- And save an extra 10% on snow boots

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that are so hard to put on,

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it'll strain your marriage. - Sorry.

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- You need to put her foot in sideways and then twist it.

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- Well, if you can do it, then do it.

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- And deals so hot, even frosty --

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- Okay, well, if this is going to be your attitude,

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maybe we should tell my mom we're not coming.

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- And deals so -- - Oh, no.

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- Get down to Macy's.

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They clothes they'll hate create the memories you'll love.

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- And somehow, in the chaos of all of this

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we're trying to remember the beauty of this

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and actually get connected.

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Can I get connected not just to Christmas,

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but can I get connected to Christ?

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Can I get connected to the original story

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that started it all?

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Can I get connected to the One who changed history

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and who we date time after?

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Is there a way for me to get in sync with Him?

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Yes, we can.

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Let's let's turn the page and let a picture talk for us.

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Here we have the the classic,

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the classic manger scene, the classic nativity set.

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And you wouldn't know it by looking

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at these things that we may have,

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maybe in your entryway or under your tree,

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this classic creche

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or the family of Jesus at Christmas.

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You wouldn't know this, but for them,

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this was unbelievably chaotic and stressful.

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Giving birth, first of all, is very stressful,

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if you've ever done it or you've seen it, very stressful.

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Giving birth, when the rumor has it that you say

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you're born -- you're you bearing a child

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and you've you're a virgin.

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This caused a great deal of turmoil

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and a great deal of stress for Mary and Joseph,

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as they were under communal pressure

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and they were being shamed.

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Add to that they're a family that is on the run.

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They're also a family that's the working poor.

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How do we know that?

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Well, we know that because when Jesus

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is wrapped in swaddling cloths, that sounds so cute.

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But it's not cute, it's a sense of stress because

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they don't have enough money to buy a full size blanket.

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So they grab -- Logs? Logs, crabs? No, neither one of those.

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Rags and cloths and wrap it around their baby.

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They don't have a crib, so they put them in a manger.

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A manger is a feeding bowl for cattle inside of a stable,

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which is where Jesus was born,

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because there was no room at the inn.

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This is chaos.

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This is actually, I might even say,

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terror inducing for them.

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This is stressful for them.

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So if you are Christmas are ever stressed out

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or chaotic, the good news is

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you're getting back to the original Christmas.

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Screams and cries and blood and unmet expectation

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and not fitting in, all of this is part of

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this beautiful, serene scene that wasn't that serene.

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In the book of Luke 2:13 it says this

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as an angel comes the shepherds.

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Peace.

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You may see inside of your little creche

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or inside of your manger scene

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if you have one of those at home,

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or if you've seen one of those,

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you've got barn animals in there.

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There's no reference of barn animals in the Bible account.

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Maybe they were there since it was a manger.

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You've got magi we'll talk about in a moment.

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You've got shepherds.

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You've got people from every economic spectrum.

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The shepherds were the were the grunt worker,

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blue collar guys who weren't respected at all.

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And they hear from the shepherd.

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The Magi were the elitists from the East

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who had very, very, very high incomes

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and brought expensive gifts.

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And all of them get to be in on the peace.

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I love this: peace, peace on Him who is pleased.

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Have you ever considered that God's pleased with you?

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You ever considered He's not an angry entity

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up in the skies, making a list and checking it twice

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and can't wait to whack you?

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Have you ever considered that God's actually for you?

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Have you ever considered that God actually likes you?

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Have you ever considered that God's actually in a good mood?

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I was out on a bike trip years and years ago,

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and I was over in Albuquerque.

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And Albuquerque is sort of the --

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This festival they had is sort of

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the Mardi Gras of Albuquerque.

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Our trip was ended.

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We just needed to find a place to have a shower.

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So we went in and spent the night.

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And it was pretty fun.

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In the midst of all the cacophony that was happening,

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somebody was holding this sign up:

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God is in a good mood.

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I like that, God is in a good mood.

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He's in a good mood and He brings peace

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on whom His favor rests.

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Here's the thing. Here's the thing.

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God doesn't necessarily bring a party.

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God doesn't necessarily bring a pay raise.

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God doesn't necessarily bring

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the perfect person into your life.

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All those things are fine

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and getting those all those things is fine,

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but none of those things will actually bring you peace.

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A little shot of happiness,

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but not actual bring you peace.

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When Jesus comes into your life,

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when Jesus comes to the world,

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He brings actual peace that actually lasts

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and there's a favor from God,

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this verse says that's actually on your life.

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Let's turn the page.

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Let's allow a picture to be worth a thousand words.

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I think this is the world's largest pop up book,

00:29:52

I'm just saying.

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I have to be very tender with it.

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Here we have what's known as the Three Magi

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or the Three Wise Men, even though we're not sure

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that there was three.

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And even though the Bible has a word for them,

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which is most likely translated Magi, which means

00:30:14

that these were likely people from the Zoroastrian cult

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that were in the Far Eastern region

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who were very, very spiritual and very, very well healed.

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But they likely didn't understand

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the actual God of the Old Testament.

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But they were spiritual people

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or people who were interested in the non-material.

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I find it interesting that these guys

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make their way to see Jesus, and they're maybe

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among the least qualified people to do this

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because they don't believe in the Bible.

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They're not keeping the rules in the Bible.

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They don't know things that are in the Bible.

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They're not trying to play some religious game.

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And that's the way many of us are.

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Many of us don't come to God because we're, like,

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"I don't know all the rules.

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I don't know that I can keep all the rules.

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I don't know that I understand all the ins and outs.

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I don't know that I can do that.

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It's just overwhelming. I'm just not going to do it."

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It's like someone trying to pick up a golf club

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as an adult when you never had before.

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It's just overwhelming. I can't start now.

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I can't do it now. I can't try a new thing.

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And many of us can't try a new spiritual thing,

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won't try a new spiritual thing because

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we think we're not qualified

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because we think we'll never be good enough in it.

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That's how religious people think.

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Jesus didn't start, come to start a religion.

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He came to start a relationship with you.

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And these folks didn't understand the rules,

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all they knew was something was happened

00:31:44

and we have to go there right now.

00:31:46

Here's how Matthew 2:1 puts it,

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which is a section that's right before

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what we just read earlier. It says this:

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The religious leaders, they didn't come to find Jesus,

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but these people came to find Jesus.

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They were seekers.

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There's kind of a cheesy saying, but it's true.

00:32:26

Sometimes things are cheesy are still true.

00:32:29

The saying is, you may have seen on a bumper sticker,

00:32:31

wise men still seek Him.

00:32:34

Wise men, wise women still seek Him.

00:32:37

We realize I can't bring peace to myself.

00:32:41

I can't handle the chaos that's in the world.

00:32:44

I can't save myself.

00:32:46

There's certain problems we get up against that

00:32:48

I just need God, I can't -- I can't do it.

00:32:52

And I believe part of the reason why

00:32:53

there's so much mental illness in our world,

00:32:56

so much suicide, all those statistics of emotional

00:32:59

and spiritual well-being, all of them are tanking,

00:33:01

I think it's because our culture

00:33:03

is increasingly believing you're on your own.

00:33:07

You're an accident of evolution,

00:33:09

and there's goo, and then there is you,

00:33:11

and you have no backstop. You have no safety net.

00:33:14

There's nobody who really loves you who's really powerful.

00:33:17

And if I didn't believe and know that there was a God

00:33:21

who did love me and has shown His power for me,

00:33:24

I don't -- I don't -- I'd hate to think what I --

00:33:26

Where I would be or what I would do.

00:33:29

And so we seek Him, we don't have all the answers,

00:33:32

but we seek because we want to find

00:33:35

the peace that passes understanding

00:33:37

and we want to worship Him.

00:33:39

These wise men came to worship Him.

00:33:43

These Magi came to lay down their gifts,

00:33:45

expensive gifts, gold, frankincense, myrrh.

00:33:48

It's a whole other talk to talk about those things.

00:33:50

But just suffice to say,

00:33:52

these people laid down things of value.

00:33:56

And today we're going to have the ability

00:33:58

to lay down something of value.

00:34:00

Why would they do this?

00:34:02

They did this because they wanted to worship this King.

00:34:04

In the book of John 1:1-5,

00:34:07

has one of the best descriptions of who Jesus was.

00:34:09

Because Jesus didn't originate in Bethlehem

00:34:12

at Christmas time, He's always been is God.

00:34:15

Here's how John puts it:

00:34:36

It says that at the beginning of all of creation

00:34:39

Jesus was present.

00:34:40

When He goes from heaven and He takes on flesh

00:34:43

and is born, it is a massive sacrifice.

00:34:46

It is chaotic for Him.

00:34:50

This would be like going from being in the heavens,

00:34:53

being worshiped by angels, to now being a human.

00:34:58

Not only that, a baby.

00:35:00

Not only that, a baby in poverty.

00:35:01

Not only that, a baby that has a scandalous start

00:35:05

by many people's estimation.

00:35:07

I mean, it's as hard as it could be.

00:35:11

It'd be like you or I becoming a slug,

00:35:14

you or I becoming a bedbug.

00:35:17

Like, I don't want to be that.

00:35:18

I know, I know, God didn't either, I don't think.

00:35:21

But why did He do that?

00:35:22

He did it so that you and I would understand God.

00:35:26

He took on flesh so we could get Him.

00:35:28

If you want to understand what God is,

00:35:30

you look to Jesus.

00:35:31

Jesus says, "When you've seen Me,

00:35:32

you've seen the Father."

00:35:33

He says, "I and the Father are one."

00:35:37

These folks go on a journey and they seek the One who is.

00:35:43

What they laid down is something

00:35:47

we're going to be able to have a moment with right now.

00:35:50

Go ahead and take that crown out

00:35:53

and maybe take your Sharpie out as well.

00:36:05

This represents the final chapter for us today.

00:36:25

The crown is the thing that you stress.

00:36:29

The crown is the thing that's the most important thing to you.

00:36:33

It's the thing that your life revolves around.

00:36:36

When the wise men come to Jesus,

00:36:38

when the Magi come to Jesus, they lay down

00:36:41

their gifts and they lay down their crown.

00:36:45

They say, "You're here and we're here.

00:36:48

Even though you're a little baby,

00:36:49

in terms of spiritual authority and importance,

00:36:53

You are more than me."

00:36:55

And they weren't playing games with Him at all.

00:36:58

They came as seekers and they found Him

00:37:00

and they bowed down and they worship Him.

00:37:02

What does it mean to worship Him?

00:37:03

We can worship Him when we sing.

00:37:05

That's fine, that's good.

00:37:06

But the ultimate worship God is looking for

00:37:08

is will you and I lay down our crown?

00:37:11

Will we lay down the thing that stresses us?

00:37:15

Will we not stress over the thing that stresses us?

00:37:19

Because that is the most important thing to me:

00:37:21

my family beautiful, my body beautiful,

00:37:24

my financial picture beautiful,

00:37:26

my whatever it is beautiful,

00:37:28

will I lay that down and recognize that

00:37:31

that thing is actually my crown, that's my identity?

00:37:35

That's the most important thing to me.

00:37:37

And will I take that off

00:37:40

and put it at the feet of Jesus?

00:37:44

If you know what that is for you,

00:37:45

if you know what the source of your chaos is,

00:37:48

if you know what it is that you stress,

00:37:51

that brings you stress, what it is,

00:37:53

in other words, that you worship,

00:37:54

even though you may have never put it that way.

00:37:56

I want you to just write it on there.

00:37:58

Write right down that thing. What is it?

00:38:17

I've got a sweater on, by the way, I put on their aging.

00:38:24

I have a sweater on.

00:38:25

You know, it's, uh, kind of ugly.

00:38:27

I know, I know it. You tell me. I know.

00:38:31

I've been wearing this sweater for 25 years

00:38:33

on Christmas Eve. 25 years.

00:38:35

Pull it out because I have

00:38:37

a lot of memories associated with it.

00:38:38

And I just realized, my goodness, 25 years.

00:38:41

How long have I been doing this for?

00:38:44

What's going on with me?

00:38:46

I don't look the same as I did way back when.

00:38:49

Things are changing in my life,

00:38:50

things that need to change in my life

00:38:53

and will I embrace the things

00:38:54

that need to change in my life

00:38:57

and go with the seasons,

00:38:58

the new seasons God's taking me in or not?

00:39:01

Is that my crown? What is yours?

00:39:03

What is the thing that everything revolves around?

00:39:07

Let's get ready to worship God right now.

00:39:10

We're going to have a really profound moment with this.

00:39:13

Just when you think the service is over, it's not over.

00:39:15

Hold on just from a very profound moment with this,

00:39:19

but let's use our voices right now

00:39:21

and let's stand and let's worship Him.

00:39:26

- Put your hands together like this. All together.

00:39:34

We're going to say Your kingdom come

00:39:35

and Your will be done.

00:40:22

- This Christmas can be different

00:44:23

because of the story of Jesus.

00:44:25

He wasn't just a baby, He was a King.

00:44:27

And when we recognize that and put Him first in our lives,

00:44:30

we get the real hope, peace, and joy of Christmas.

00:44:33

Like Brian said, this is a choice for you to make.

00:44:36

Will you lay down your crown to Jesus and leave it behind,

00:44:38

or will you keep doing what you've been doing?

00:44:41

We're going to have a chance to do this right now

00:44:43

wherever you are.

00:44:45

In the Crossroads Anywhere App, if you click on

00:44:47

the Interactive Christmas Story, you'll have a chance

00:44:49

to put yourself into the Christmas story.

00:44:51

There's a quote that I love that I heard

00:44:53

that it says that the Bible isn't just

00:44:56

the story of things that have happened,

00:44:57

it's the story of things that are still happening today.

00:45:01

And I think that's so true.

00:45:02

The story of Christmas, of God, of Immanuel

00:45:05

coming to be with us in a world that's hurting

00:45:07

and broken, of God's light shining

00:45:10

in the midst of darkness, can be as true

00:45:12

for you right now, right now, wherever you are today

00:45:15

as it was 2000 years ago.

00:45:18

Download the Crossroads Anywhere App,

00:45:20

click on the interactive Christmas story

00:45:22

and you'll have a chance

00:45:23

to lay something down at the feet of Jesus,

00:45:26

to put a crown at the feet of His throne,

00:45:28

and to choose to move forward on a new path

00:45:31

and to take a next step on your journey with God.

00:45:35

And don't forget, as we wrap up Christmas

00:45:36

and head towards the end of the year,

00:45:38

we actually have a year end service.

00:45:40

It's online only and we don't want you to miss it.

00:45:42

It's going to set us up for a fantastic 2024.

00:45:45

We hope to see you then.

00:45:46

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

00:45:51

- How are you going to spend your year?

00:45:55

Are you going to do the same thing you've always done?

00:46:00

Or are you going to go on a new adventure?

00:46:03

Are you going to play it safe or take a risk?

00:46:06

What if this year you pushed yourself,

00:46:10

got outside your comfort zone, helped other people,

00:46:13

went somewhere extraordinary?

00:46:16

What if you discovered what God wants for your life,

00:46:19

made new friends and laughed until you couldn't breathe?

00:46:23

There is no limit to what 2024 can look like for you.

00:46:27

Don't miss next year with Crossroads.

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