WEBVTT 00:00:00.280 --> 00:00:00.400 Well. 00:00:00.480 --> 00:00:01.360 Good morning. 00:00:02.380 --> 00:00:08.940 You know, all of that video was true this morning, except the church is full on Christmas. 00:00:10.200 --> 00:00:13.180 We had a great service last night, a candle light just in honor of Christ. 00:00:13.440 --> 00:00:20.660 But, one of the things that, is happening across the country on this day is that many churches are canceling service 00:00:20.660 --> 00:00:27.180 because they knew that a lot of people wouldn't come out for a Christmas service, and rightly so. 00:00:27.180 --> 00:00:30.040 A lot of us have built family traditions that we're a part of for Christmas. 00:00:31.300 --> 00:00:37.980 But one of the reasons we wanted to have a service this morning to whoever wanted to come and be a part, is that Christmas is about Jesus. 00:00:39.360 --> 00:00:46.380 And it's not that I have to go to church on Sunday, it's that I get to go to church on Sunday, and I get to 00:00:46.380 --> 00:00:49.540 worship the one who came to give his life for me. 00:00:51.020 --> 00:00:56.680 I know it's important to spend time with family on Christmas, but we wouldn't have Christmas without Jesus. 00:00:58.700 --> 00:01:06.380 And so I think it's important to, regardless of what day it is that Sunday falls on, to open up your doors and worship and see it as especially important 00:01:06.380 --> 00:01:07.380 for us to worship. 00:01:08.320 --> 00:01:08.820 When it's Christmas. 00:01:10.420 --> 00:01:17.420 And in my defense this morning, I just want to say the reason I don't like to sing We Three Kings is because the Bible doesn't say it was 00:01:17.420 --> 00:01:18.740 three wise men that visited Jesus. 00:01:20.660 --> 00:01:21.880 So there's logic to that. 00:01:21.940 --> 00:01:24.720 I am not a Grinch for Christmas. 00:01:26.040 --> 00:01:27.940 But you can read that story and see for yourselves. 00:01:28.260 --> 00:01:31.120 The Bible simply says that wise men came and they brought three gifts. 00:01:31.200 --> 00:01:34.370 So tradition has stated that it has been three kings. 00:01:34.600 --> 00:01:41.760 But when you're traveling across a distant land with a bunch of bandits in the forests, you're not going to travel 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:43.340 by yourself with all those gifts. 00:01:43.740 --> 00:01:46.150 So more than likely it was more than three kings. 00:01:46.280 --> 00:01:50.440 So just so you know, I know as a pastor, I like to keep in context of scripture. 00:01:51.020 --> 00:01:52.010 It's a great song. 00:01:52.920 --> 00:01:54.450 But in my defense, bah humbug. 00:01:55.060 --> 00:01:56.340 Just kidding. 00:01:57.960 --> 00:02:01.290 I know we got a lot of thoughts in our minds running through our heads for Christmas. 00:02:01.660 --> 00:02:08.000 And so this morning, what I really want to do is create in our minds just one thought on the idea of Christmas. 00:02:09.580 --> 00:02:16.640 We've been studying a series together on The Unbelievable Christmas, and I just want to remark on our last part of this series 00:02:16.640 --> 00:02:18.420 together and focusing on Christmas. 00:02:18.420 --> 00:02:24.700 By taking communion together, the very reason that Jesus came was to die for us, to be our ransom for our sin. 00:02:26.140 --> 00:02:33.330 Because we think about Christmas and we we'll get to this one thought that I want to get across as we just share an idea with us this morning. 00:02:33.340 --> 00:02:40.600 We've looked at this series Unbelievable Christmas, and we've gathered a lot of different thoughts and ideas of what has happened. 00:02:41.160 --> 00:02:45.020 Clean the air filter on as the technology demons there. 00:02:45.020 --> 00:02:46.470 Everyone see that, right? 00:02:46.520 --> 00:02:47.160 Unbelievable. 00:02:47.240 --> 00:02:47.820 Christmas. 00:02:47.820 --> 00:02:54.880 What it's been about for us as a church, we've seen how this unbelievable Christmas and what the journey intended for 00:02:54.880 --> 00:02:57.880 the people who originally celebrated the first Christmas. 00:02:59.660 --> 00:03:05.100 Zechariah and Elizabeth were the first to receive the message that Jesus was to come. 00:03:06.220 --> 00:03:13.280 How Zacharias was so shocked that God had spoken to him and promised him that he would bring John the Baptist in the world, who would 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:14.790 proclaim the coming of the Messiah. 00:03:15.640 --> 00:03:16.960 He found it unbelievable. 00:03:18.260 --> 00:03:25.540 In fact, in his disbelief, God gave him the ability not to speak, to reflect to the people that God had supernaturally 00:03:25.960 --> 00:03:28.880 done something in the life of Zacharias and Elizabeth. 00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:31.980 And to think about the life of Mary and Joseph. 00:03:33.360 --> 00:03:40.660 How unbelievable it must have been for Mary at such a young age to carry Jesus in her belly, and 00:03:40.660 --> 00:03:47.840 the mockery that her and Joseph would have received for having a child out of wedlock during the time when it was 00:03:48.440 --> 00:03:49.760 very unpopular to do so. 00:03:51.800 --> 00:03:57.880 Christmas is about an unbelievable journey we've seen in the life of Mary Joseph. 00:03:57.980 --> 00:04:03.880 Christmas is about an unbelievable gift to think in Roman and Greek culture. 00:04:04.120 --> 00:04:10.920 They their mindset of God was that these gods ruled in the heavens and all of them were angry with the people on earth. 00:04:10.940 --> 00:04:15.460 And so you had to live your life to please these gods, and hopefully they'd be satisfied with your deeds. 00:04:15.480 --> 00:04:21.560 And if anything bad ever happened, like a natural disaster or a disease, the gods were angry with you and you needed to try harder and do more. 00:04:21.820 --> 00:04:26.220 And then all of a sudden the message of Christmas comes to this earth, that it isn't about you doing more. 00:04:26.220 --> 00:04:28.780 It's that God desires to be with you. 00:04:30.060 --> 00:04:31.000 What an unbelievable gift. 00:04:33.160 --> 00:04:40.580 You know, when I think about Christmas, we have this unbelievable gift because of Jesus's unbelievable 00:04:40.580 --> 00:04:40.740 sacrifice. 00:04:43.620 --> 00:04:48.850 Christmas is about giving up of self to love someone else. 00:04:50.220 --> 00:04:56.440 When you read in the book of Philippians in chapter two, it tells us in verse six concerning Jesus and the idea of Christmas. 00:04:58.120 --> 00:05:05.380 It says, Although Jesus existed in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but he emptied himself. 00:05:06.620 --> 00:05:13.640 And he took on the form of a bond servant, and being made in the likeness of men, being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by 00:05:13.660 --> 00:05:18.400 becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 00:05:20.640 --> 00:05:23.720 Jesus's life is the Christmas example. 00:05:25.540 --> 00:05:28.900 It's a life of sacrifice to meet the needs of others. 00:05:30.200 --> 00:05:35.380 And as Jesus came to this world and he lived his life, he went all the way to the cross for you and for I. 00:05:35.540 --> 00:05:36.900 He had you on his mind. 00:05:38.680 --> 00:05:42.160 Do you know the only thing that exists in heaven that is man made? 00:05:42.580 --> 00:05:43.720 You ever thought about this for just a minute? 00:05:43.720 --> 00:05:46.120 Is there anything that's man made that exists in heaven? 00:05:48.180 --> 00:05:55.180 The only thing that we'll find in heaven that exists, that is man made, are the piercings in Jesus's feet, in his hands. 00:05:57.240 --> 00:06:04.340 It's a reminder to us of who we are apart from Christ and what Jesus has done to give us life through 00:06:04.340 --> 00:06:04.580 him. 00:06:06.100 --> 00:06:10.990 It's a reminder of love And Christmas is about sacrifice. 00:06:12.780 --> 00:06:13.360 To love others. 00:06:15.160 --> 00:06:22.480 I think in Philippians chapter two, if we were to read just the previous verse, it says in verse five, have this attitude in yourself, which 00:06:22.520 --> 00:06:23.980 was also in Christ Jesus. 00:06:25.720 --> 00:06:30.400 Now think about in church history how people have lived this verse out in their lives. 00:06:31.860 --> 00:06:38.200 Hundreds of years ago, there was an individual who was born in the fourth century, beginning of the fourth century. 00:06:39.300 --> 00:06:41.120 He became famous to all of us today. 00:06:41.260 --> 00:06:45.040 In fact, some of us might have shared with our children that he's come to visit them. 00:06:46.940 --> 00:06:48.340 You might recognize this picture. 00:06:49.120 --> 00:06:49.850 It's a little bit freaky. 00:06:51.140 --> 00:06:52.200 His eyes pierce your soul. 00:06:52.360 --> 00:06:52.760 Do you see that? 00:06:54.350 --> 00:06:56.830 Decorated him up a little bit and maybe put him in a red suit. 00:06:57.040 --> 00:06:57.900 You might recognize him. 00:06:59.480 --> 00:07:01.260 His name was Saint Nick. 00:07:03.280 --> 00:07:04.210 Lived in the fourth century. 00:07:04.520 --> 00:07:07.410 Was from a country that we call today Turkey. 00:07:09.600 --> 00:07:11.680 Saint Nick loved Jesus, and I can't help but think. 00:07:11.800 --> 00:07:16.820 But the reason and attitude that he carried himself was much like chapter two and verse five of Philippians. 00:07:16.820 --> 00:07:24.280 Having this attitude in yourself, which was also in Christ Jesus, a life that is about sacrifice and 00:07:24.280 --> 00:07:31.600 history, tells us the real Saint Nick, when he was alive and walking this earth in the fourth century, he 00:07:31.600 --> 00:07:33.520 loved Jesus. 00:07:35.200 --> 00:07:40.100 In fact, Saint Nick was one of part of one of the most historical events that happened in the early church. 00:07:40.220 --> 00:07:44.060 Saint Nick was involved in the writing of the Nicene Creed. 00:07:46.220 --> 00:07:53.300 Nicene Creed was a document that the early church put together to give a declaration of belief on what the followers 00:07:53.300 --> 00:07:54.660 of Jesus stood for. 00:07:56.440 --> 00:08:03.230 It's interesting if you study the life of Saint Nick, what you come to find out is that Saint Nick had a difficult childhood. 00:08:04.960 --> 00:08:11.560 It tells us he was from a wealthy family in history, but Saint Nick's mother and father died when he was still a boy. 00:08:13.340 --> 00:08:14.340 Saint Nick's mother and father. 00:08:14.420 --> 00:08:21.680 Though ingrained in the life of Nicholas their love for Jesus, and he continued to portray this love 00:08:21.680 --> 00:08:28.800 and his life at a time when it was difficult to stand for Christ, at a time when it would even cost your life 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:30.000 to stand for Christ. 00:08:31.760 --> 00:08:37.929 History tells us that Saint Nick was actually thrown into prison because of his faith in Jesus under the ruler Diocletian. 00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:42.840 While in prison, a new emperor came into power. 00:08:44.020 --> 00:08:44.740 His name was Constantine. 00:08:46.800 --> 00:08:49.100 Constantine legalized Christianity. 00:08:50.460 --> 00:08:53.180 Saint Nick and all of his friends were released from jail. 00:08:54.820 --> 00:09:02.020 When they were released from jail, they gathered together for what is called the Nicene Council, and they wrote a creedal statement of what 00:09:02.020 --> 00:09:03.020 the church believed. 00:09:04.160 --> 00:09:09.740 For the first time in all of history, Christians can come out of hiding and declare to the world that they follow Jesus. 00:09:09.900 --> 00:09:14.470 And for the first time in history, they could get together and show the world what it was they believed. 00:09:14.940 --> 00:09:21.520 And so Saint Nick and 300 other followers of Jesus got together and wrote this creed out that still stands in history today. 00:09:21.600 --> 00:09:28.800 I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth in Jesus Christ, his only begotten son, our Lord, conceived by 00:09:28.800 --> 00:09:31.030 the Holy Spirit, born of a Virgin Mary. 00:09:33.500 --> 00:09:40.600 I look at Saint Nicholas's life, and I could say to myself, if anyone had a reason to be angry in 00:09:40.600 --> 00:09:41.580 this world, it would be. 00:09:42.360 --> 00:09:49.030 Nicholas lost his parents at a young age, a time when he could say, God, why me? 00:09:50.240 --> 00:09:57.540 Thrown into jail for loving Jesus, a time when he was released, he could turn, turn around to the people 00:09:57.540 --> 00:10:01.260 who thrown him into jail and have anger and vengeance towards them. 00:10:03.460 --> 00:10:11.120 I can't help but think the words found in Philippians ruled in his heart, have this mind in you, which was also 00:10:11.120 --> 00:10:14.760 in Christ Jesus, who gave his life for others. 00:10:16.540 --> 00:10:17.520 Christmas is about sacrifice. 00:10:19.820 --> 00:10:27.600 To love others and rather than react with anger to those who hated Nicholas and what he stood for, he 00:10:27.600 --> 00:10:28.360 began to love them. 00:10:30.900 --> 00:10:38.020 As you study the life of Nicholas, you'll see that the wealth that he received from the death of his parents, he took that wealth, and he lived 00:10:38.020 --> 00:10:38.580 in poverty. 00:10:38.740 --> 00:10:41.060 And he gave gifts to others in need. 00:10:41.860 --> 00:10:44.960 Nicholas didn't just celebrate Christmas on December 25th. 00:10:45.860 --> 00:10:52.940 He celebrated Christmas every day, and whenever he saw someone who had a need, he did what he could to meet the need in the life 00:10:52.940 --> 00:10:53.510 of that individual. 00:10:54.800 --> 00:10:57.630 That through his love, they may come to see the love of Jesus. 00:10:59.720 --> 00:11:02.310 You know, it's interesting when you study Christmas. 00:11:02.620 --> 00:11:05.740 Christmas really isn't December 25th. 00:11:07.180 --> 00:11:08.920 Jesus wasn't born on December 25th. 00:11:10.260 --> 00:11:12.220 In fact, no one really knows when Jesus was born. 00:11:13.580 --> 00:11:16.700 Some people speculate it was in the fall, some speculate in the spring. 00:11:17.040 --> 00:11:24.060 The reason we say it probably wasn't in the winter time is because in the story of Christmas, what you find are the shepherds who were out in 00:11:24.060 --> 00:11:25.200 the fields tending the sheep. 00:11:25.600 --> 00:11:27.420 You tend to not do that when it's cold. 00:11:29.500 --> 00:11:36.980 But what happened when Constantine legalized Christianity is that many of the Christians, the Roman Empire had been overrun 00:11:36.980 --> 00:11:37.760 with Christians. 00:11:38.960 --> 00:11:46.100 And rather than celebrate the holidays of their pagan gods that they had done for centuries, they decided to begin to celebrate the life of Jesus and to 00:11:46.140 --> 00:11:48.360 turn holidays into the glory of Christ. 00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:53.840 Rome had a particular holiday in which they celebrated for their Sun God. 00:11:54.920 --> 00:11:56.000 It was December 25th. 00:11:57.980 --> 00:12:03.220 Christians began to celebrate the life of the real Sun on December 25th. 00:12:04.900 --> 00:12:10.820 Christmas is a reminder to us that the unconquerable gods of the past have been conquered by Jesus. 00:12:12.680 --> 00:12:14.560 Tertullian wrote this in the second century. 00:12:14.700 --> 00:12:18.320 He said, we as Christians were born but yesterday. 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:24.940 Yet we already fill your cities, your islands, your camps, your palace, your senate, and your forum. 00:12:25.820 --> 00:12:29.590 All we've left for you are only your empty temples. 00:12:31.580 --> 00:12:38.640 Nicholas, when I think about Saint Nicholas, I think about a man who celebrated Christmas every day because he understood the 00:12:38.960 --> 00:12:44.580 sacrifice that Jesus made for him and that loving sacrifice that Jesus gave to him. 00:12:44.960 --> 00:12:52.320 Nicholas sought to sacrifice himself to love others, a love that willingly and lovingly sacrifices for 00:12:52.320 --> 00:12:54.700 others, we find is contagious. 00:12:56.740 --> 00:13:03.760 Jesus, regardless of what other people think about him in the world, people tend to flock to the figure that is Jesus, because when he hung on 00:13:03.760 --> 00:13:07.360 the cross, rather than preach hate, he continued to say, father, forgive. 00:13:09.320 --> 00:13:13.810 And I think that we enjoy the celebration of Christmas as we look at the route in which it started. 00:13:14.300 --> 00:13:21.140 It's the same idea of Christ that we take the time and then, and the sacrifice of our giving. 00:13:21.160 --> 00:13:22.440 We seek to love one another. 00:13:22.660 --> 00:13:24.000 Christmas is contagious. 00:13:27.220 --> 00:13:29.500 We think about Christmas in our own lives. 00:13:31.600 --> 00:13:35.500 We celebrate Christmas when we give ourselves to love others. 00:13:37.720 --> 00:13:44.700 We can learn from Philippians chapter two having this mind which was also in Christ. 00:13:46.380 --> 00:13:53.600 And rather than stand up for our rights, which were so good at as Americans, maybe relinquish those rights for 00:13:53.600 --> 00:13:54.220 the sake of Jesus. 00:13:56.780 --> 00:14:02.180 We're always interested in giving our opinions and how things affect ourselves at the expense of other people. 00:14:04.400 --> 00:14:10.680 There was a man in the first century who was watching the course of Christianity unfold. 00:14:10.680 --> 00:14:11.620 He himself was a Christian. 00:14:13.660 --> 00:14:20.760 He was looking around at his brothers and sisters in Christ, who were going to jail and being killed for their faith and following after Jesus. 00:14:22.260 --> 00:14:24.450 And he thought to himself, what do I say to him? 00:14:25.760 --> 00:14:27.640 Do I tell them to stand up and fight back? 00:14:29.300 --> 00:14:32.170 Do I tell them to make the sacrifice and just love them? 00:14:33.540 --> 00:14:40.840 He began to think about this, and archaeologists have actually uncovered the letter that he wrote to his brothers and sisters in Christ who were laying down 00:14:40.840 --> 00:14:41.360 their lives. 00:14:42.820 --> 00:14:46.900 Actually, this letter has been found multiple times from the first and second century. 00:14:46.920 --> 00:14:48.480 You can find copies of it. 00:14:49.440 --> 00:14:54.850 The gentleman who wrote this, he said, do not repay evil with your own evil, or insult with your insults. 00:14:56.340 --> 00:14:58.280 On the contrary, repay evil with blessing. 00:15:00.400 --> 00:15:03.020 Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 00:15:04.800 --> 00:15:05.900 Think about that for a minute. 00:15:06.620 --> 00:15:11.700 How difficult is it for you to hate someone who just wants to give you a hug and tell you they love you? 00:15:12.120 --> 00:15:15.360 You know, it's much more difficult to punch them in the face, isn't it? 00:15:17.240 --> 00:15:21.300 He says but even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. 00:15:23.280 --> 00:15:25.950 You take a minute and think about what he's talking about here to Christians. 00:15:26.460 --> 00:15:29.140 And life doesn't always go the way that we want it to. 00:15:30.280 --> 00:15:37.580 In the midst of adversity that we face, we have the opportunity to sit and think, yeah, maybe this situation isn't the way that I would want it to go, but man, 00:15:37.620 --> 00:15:41.480 God has given me the greatest gift he could have given me himself. 00:15:43.240 --> 00:15:45.920 And I know him and I'm so blessed. 00:15:47.700 --> 00:15:53.700 So many people in this world fight for just today and maybe tomorrow, but not thinking ever about eternity. 00:15:53.700 --> 00:15:59.760 But if you have your faith in Jesus, you have the promise of today and tomorrow and all of eternity with Christ. 00:16:00.660 --> 00:16:01.030 You are blessed. 00:16:03.420 --> 00:16:05.160 It says, do not fear their threats. 00:16:05.160 --> 00:16:08.460 Do not be frightened, but in your hearts Revere Christ as Lord. 00:16:09.440 --> 00:16:16.520 Regardless of what other people may do to you, Jesus is still in control and always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who 00:16:16.520 --> 00:16:19.360 asks for you to give the reason for the hope that you have. 00:16:20.440 --> 00:16:22.180 But do this with gentleness and respect. 00:16:23.180 --> 00:16:28.500 Keeping a clear conscience, you think about people who challenge you in your walk with Christ. 00:16:29.980 --> 00:16:35.220 When people rise up to say vicious things against you, how do you respond in those moments? 00:16:37.200 --> 00:16:40.470 This author is saying to speak into the hearts of other people. 00:16:40.480 --> 00:16:48.840 You need to do it with gentleness and respect, always opening a door of love and sacrifice for their well-being, so 00:16:48.840 --> 00:16:55.840 that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior for Christ may be ashamed of their slander, for it is better if it is God's will to suffer for 00:16:55.840 --> 00:16:57.680 doing good than for doing evil. 00:16:58.660 --> 00:17:03.780 Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous to bring us to God. 00:17:05.060 --> 00:17:06.540 Who in the world wrote this letter? 00:17:06.819 --> 00:17:08.950 You might ask, how about that? 00:17:09.940 --> 00:17:10.480 It's in your Bible. 00:17:12.420 --> 00:17:17.500 It was a response of Peter to the Christians who were facing adversity for their faith in Christ. 00:17:19.400 --> 00:17:20.359 Give of yourself. 00:17:22.099 --> 00:17:29.160 Rather than thinking about fighting for your rights, or rather than thinking about the hurt that you're feeling inside, think about the need of these people who may be harming 00:17:29.160 --> 00:17:29.540 you. 00:17:31.080 --> 00:17:38.100 You want to find most powerful about this passage of Scripture that we just looked at is, if you read the first eight verses just before this, it's 00:17:38.160 --> 00:17:39.800 talking about the context of marriage. 00:17:41.860 --> 00:17:43.500 And then Peter follows up with this statement. 00:17:45.380 --> 00:17:52.380 And I think in our marriages, a lot of times what we do with one another is we do battle Rather than think about 00:17:52.380 --> 00:17:55.980 the needs of someone else, we think about our own needs and what's being hurt. 00:17:56.440 --> 00:17:57.820 Rather than think about when. 00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:05.200 When my spouse responds to me in a negative way or a hurtful way, rather than stop and think, man, maybe did I just do something to them that caused 00:18:05.200 --> 00:18:06.910 them to respond that way? 00:18:08.220 --> 00:18:15.640 Peter is saying to us, sacrifice rather than first think about your own needs or the 00:18:15.640 --> 00:18:17.620 problems that you're facing in your life. 00:18:17.640 --> 00:18:20.240 Think about the needs of other people and seek to meet those needs. 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:24.320 And in meeting their needs, you might find that your own needs are being met as well. 00:18:25.900 --> 00:18:27.040 We talk about Christmas. 00:18:27.180 --> 00:18:30.040 We talk about sacrifice to love others. 00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:36.130 Can I tell you this morning one area I think we get Christmas wrong. 00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:46.280 One area I think we oftentimes make a mistake, and I and I fear that when we leave here today, we could make the mistake in thinking about Christmas this 00:18:46.280 --> 00:18:53.500 way this morning is that when we talk about sacrifice and we read in the context of what we've seen in Peter 00:18:53.500 --> 00:19:00.860 and in Philippians, is that we continue to still think that Christmas and sacrifice is about giving of your possessions, 00:19:03.160 --> 00:19:11.620 when in fact Jesus just shared with us in Philippians two through his example that it's not about giving of your possessions, but 00:19:11.620 --> 00:19:12.620 about giving of your position. 00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:16.140 Does that make sense? 00:19:18.360 --> 00:19:19.660 I mean, big deal. 00:19:19.880 --> 00:19:24.920 In America, one of the wealthiest countries to exist, that to show the love of Jesus, you can give a gift. 00:19:25.760 --> 00:19:26.740 Any American can do that. 00:19:29.120 --> 00:19:30.210 But what about on Christmas? 00:19:30.300 --> 00:19:37.060 Rather than giving of your possessions, you gave of your position rather than just giving a gift. 00:19:37.060 --> 00:19:41.260 And we're so good at giving gifts, we can give gifts that we don't even care about to people we barely even know. 00:19:43.040 --> 00:19:43.780 What about your position? 00:19:45.900 --> 00:19:52.140 What about the next time you're in a dispute with someone, whether it's over your faith, whether it's over the fact that they've hurt you? 00:19:52.380 --> 00:19:53.400 What if you give up? 00:19:55.420 --> 00:20:00.110 What if you give up the argument and you just stop in those moments and you say, you know what's most important? 00:20:00.460 --> 00:20:00.850 This whole thing. 00:20:00.980 --> 00:20:02.740 It's not that I'll walk away feeling better about myself. 00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:05.760 It's that we walk away and you know that I love you. 00:20:07.940 --> 00:20:09.710 It's not that I get my rights necessarily. 00:20:10.180 --> 00:20:17.280 Every time that I fight the battles to get my rights, every time it's that I pause in these moments and remind you that I'm here to serve 00:20:17.280 --> 00:20:18.540 you and love you. 00:20:21.080 --> 00:20:24.700 My history has told us about a passage like this when it's lived in our lives. 00:20:24.700 --> 00:20:26.820 Rather than give possession, we give of our position. 00:20:27.600 --> 00:20:28.490 It's that it's contagious. 00:20:30.760 --> 00:20:37.780 It's that through the life of Jesus and through the life of Nicholas that's been played out for centuries now, we can see love above everything. 00:20:39.880 --> 00:20:46.940 It's that on Sunday morning we still continue to worship this Christ who gave everything for us, because he lowered himself in his position 00:20:46.940 --> 00:20:50.360 to serve this world, that we may have hope through him. 00:20:53.540 --> 00:21:01.600 The Bible tells us this Philippians chapter two and verse three do nothing 00:21:01.600 --> 00:21:09.280 from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, regard 00:21:09.280 --> 00:21:11.360 one another as more important than yourselves. 00:21:12.980 --> 00:21:17.460 Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 00:21:19.520 --> 00:21:22.220 Can I just share a crazy thought this morning? 00:21:24.320 --> 00:21:28.520 I think in marriage or any relationship that you have. 00:21:30.500 --> 00:21:37.500 If you just stop in the arguments and the challenges you face and you 00:21:37.500 --> 00:21:42.260 just think about loving that person, that person will respond and love to you. 00:21:44.460 --> 00:21:45.160 Love is contagious. 00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:51.600 Peter said it is difficult for someone to hate you when you're loving them. 00:21:53.900 --> 00:21:59.260 If we take the moment of Christmas, we think of God's intentions of Christmas. 00:22:01.240 --> 00:22:07.480 Christmas is about sacrificing of your own rights and of yourself to love others. 00:22:09.220 --> 00:22:16.580 It's about giving, not of your possessions, but of your position and thinking of the well-being of 00:22:16.580 --> 00:22:19.820 another beyond yourself. 00:22:20.420 --> 00:22:23.910 In honor of Christmas, Mark, I'm going to invite you to go get the communion. 00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:34.280 The best way for us to commemorate what Jesus has done for us this morning, and thinking about sacrificing for others, I 00:22:34.280 --> 00:22:35.420 think, is to partake of communion. 00:22:36.900 --> 00:22:39.900 Ultimately, Jesus came to give himself for us. 00:22:41.740 --> 00:22:48.960 It's important for us to reflect on Jesus sacrifice for our lives, because when we find encouragement in this, we can also encourage others 00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:51.940 to seek the face of Jesus in their own lives and find healing. 00:22:53.860 --> 00:23:01.140 What makes Christmas unbelievable for us, as we've seen together, is that Jesus has come to this world for you, and 00:23:01.140 --> 00:23:06.800 he sacrificed himself for you, that you can experience his love and hope.