Being A Christmas Misfit

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- Well, hey Merry Christmas.

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I'm Andy and you are joining us

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for our Christmas at the movie series,

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where we're looking at some classic Christmas movies

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and discovering the profound spiritual truths

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hidden just below the surface.

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Now, the start of the Christmas season,

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to me, is always marked, always, by when

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the radio station starts playing Christmas music,

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right? I love it.

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And actually we're going to start

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by singing some Christmas songs today.

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But these aren't just Christmas songs.

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These are actually songs about and to God.

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Now He came as a baby at Christmas,

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but He wasn't just a baby.

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He was a King who came to save the world.

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And that's who we get to sing to

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with these songs right now.

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- You know, before we clap,

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let's think about that song and ask ourselves

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if we really want to sing that.

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Christ is the Lord. That's what it says.

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Christ is not my good luck charm.

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Christ is not the reason for the season.

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Christ is not, uh, the sweetness

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that makes my life taste good.

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Christ is not my copilot.

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He is my lord. Lord.

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That means when He says something,

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those of us who call Him our Savior and Lord,

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we do it. We do it.

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And He is the Lord because He's worthy

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and He's never wrong.

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He's always on time and He's never wrong.

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And because of that, we adore Him.

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We adore Him because we have this history

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of when we do what He says, it goes better

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than if I did it the way that I says.

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And I know that's bad grammar.

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He's the Lord. He's the Lord,

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and He's worthy of being adored.

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Why don't we do that last little section there. Okay?

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- You guys ready? Take a deep breath. Here we go.

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- I love, BT, thanks for coming up and saying that.

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I love it because I think as Americans

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we don't understand Kingdom. We don't.

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We don't understand what a crown means.

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It means authority.

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In a kingdom, you don't vote.

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It's just a loving King who says,

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"I created you and I know what's best for you.

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Would you let me be your King?"

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And so our natural response and it's --

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Let me say this, it's an unnatural response.

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It's an un-American response.

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It fights against my independence and the rebel in me

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to say, "I simply come before a king

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and I take my crown and I lay it down

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and then I just lift my hands and I worship."

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So, God, we come before you

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with our best efforts of laying down our crowns.

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- Christmas doesn't have to be like this.

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2000 years ago, a baby king changed the world forever.

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Discover the real story of Christmas

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and what it means for your life today.

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- Christmas is about God breaking through

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to take you and I spiritually to a place

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that we can't naturally go.

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- Start a new tradition this Christmas

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with Crossroads Church.

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- Now Christmas time comes with

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an expectation of hope, peace and joy.

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But that isn't always what we experience, right?

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It just being Christmas isn't enough to give us joy.

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This Christmas, we're going to uncover

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the real Christmas story and the peace

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that can only come from Jesus.

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We're literally watching the Christmas story

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unfold in the form of a pop up book.

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Except, well, the real version is actually

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eight feet by eight feet, it's going to be huge.

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And there's going to be

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an interactive digital experience

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that brings this pop up book to life

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in the palm of your hands wherever you live.

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And you don't want to miss Christmas service.

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It's going to be available anytime

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starting Friday, December 22nd.

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Now, I know the holidays can be

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a really hard time of year, and some of us

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would just prefer to turn the page

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and get to January as quick as possible.

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And I want you to know that we care

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and we have your back no matter what

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you're going through this holiday season.

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You can schedule a talk appointment

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with a member of our care team,

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or you can join one of our healing groups that meet online.

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Just know you don't have to go through the holidays alone.

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Learn more at Crossroads.net/anywhere.

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Now, at Crossroads we don't want anything from you,

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we want things for you.

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We want you to experience God.

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We want you to grow.

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And as part of that, there's zero obligation to give.

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We're just glad that you're watching.

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But I want you to know,

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there's a team of generous givers at Crossroads

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that have been having a huge impact

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and make what you're seeing right now

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and so much more possible.

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Just in the last year,

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our church has grown by thousands of people.

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And those aren't just numbers.

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Those are people just like you with a story.

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Those are people who are experiencing more of God.

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And if you're a giver, man, thank you

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because you've made that possible.

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If you want to make a year end gift

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or learn more about giving at Crossroads,

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head to crossroads.net/give.

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Lindsay and Digger are a part of Crossroads,

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and their story shows the true joy

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that can come from generosity and a life with Jesus.

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- Hi, I'm Lindsey. This is my husband, Digger.

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- And we've been going to Crossroads

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for about 8 or 9 years.

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So I first came to faith through, uh,

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raised in Catholic schools, Catholic Church.

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That part of my life taught me about who Jesus was.

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Kind of migrating from there to here,

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it's been more learning about a relationship with God.

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- I grew up in a traditional church, and,

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you know, growing up giving was always

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a part of our lives, but it was more about

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what's your standing with the church?

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- We always viewed money.

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You know, I have a financial services background for work.

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And it was always more of a data figure, you know, a stat.

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Giving, though, I think to us was never,

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uh, never something that we prioritized,

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mainly again, because I just don't think

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there was that relationship with God yet

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and really hadn't been educated on it.

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- Growing up in a traditional church

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where the giving aspect was,

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there was a stewardship required every year

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and once you gave, your name was on a list.

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So that list was public and that's what it was.

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So it felt really forced, giving felt really forced.

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But as, you know, about seven years ago

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when we sort of changed that mindset

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and we really learned what giving generously could mean.

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Now it's way more about my relationship with God,

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our relationship with God,

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and what He asks of us to give.

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- It's putting God first and then seeing

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what He does when you give and He multiplies that.

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And in turn, I think our faith has grown ten x, right?

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I mean, it's just been a game changer.

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- He asks us to give, we do that, He refills us.

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It grows our faith.

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It really what it does at the end of the day,

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it gives you so much joy and peace in it.

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- Money doesn't hold you captive.

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It's just a freeing feeling.

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Crossroads has built in a level of trust with our giving.

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They take a dollar and ten x it somewhere else.

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And the fact that they show us

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what they're doing with the money,

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does that help a trust level? Absolutely.

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But I don't think it would would prevent us from giving,

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knowing that we're writing those checks back to God.

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As soon as we get paid, we give.

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And I will text Lindsay the amount

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and we just kind of celebrate if we're together

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because God loves a joyous giver, right?

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And so we get hyped about it.

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- Do you have a text that you've sent

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that is around this?

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- Yeah. - Can you read it?

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- So this is a text I just two days ago sent Lindsay.

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It was after somewhat of a rough morning

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with the kids, but I said, "Hey,

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sorry for this morning, during busy season for work.

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It's just a lot of stress that creeps up and wears on me,

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not to mention a whiny three year old and twins.

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But they are healthy and we are incredibly blessed,

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especially as we send X amount to Crossroads today.

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Pretty incredible. Thank God for all this.

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Just a period of work in our lives right now."

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- That's pretty great.

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I mean, because that was a really tough morning

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and so we weren't on the best of terms.

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So it's funny, he'll text those things all the time

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because if you're having a bad day,

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it just switches your, your --

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Yeah to gratitude really quick.

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- Christmas at the movies

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is perfect with some coffee.

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Don't need that ring-a-ling,

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ding-a-dong, ding-a-ding, talking.

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So if we see the glow

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of cellular telephone

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will take 'em and we'll break 'em,

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and we won't say we were mistaken.

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You've been warned.

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Merry Christmas.

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- So today, today we are going to go vintage.

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Yes, today we're going vintage old school.

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We're going all the way back to the granddaddy

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of them all, way before Wi-Fi, way before cat5 lines,

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way before Dish Network, way before, cable bundling,

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way before Netflix and Hulu and all that stuff.

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Way back when you used to have a TV

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and it would be 19 inches and you had a shot

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for five things to watch on ABC, NBC, CBS,

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PBS, which is always the boring stuff.

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And then your local channel

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that always ran reruns from the 50s,

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that's all you had.

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And so when you wanted to get your Christmas on,

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what it looked like was here was your options.

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You had It's a Wonderful Life,

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which was in black and white.

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They didn't even show that in the 70s and 80s

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on TV because it's black and white.

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Miracle on 34th Street.

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There was a colorized version of that.

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Frosty the Snowman, White Christmas,

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and finally Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

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Now let me tell you about Rudolph the Red-Nosed reindeer.

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I know some of you really wanted me to do Die Hard today.

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I know you did. You're all about Die Hard.

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You're all about Die hard.

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Just so you know, Alli Patterson,

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did not put me down and keep me from doing Die Hard.

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I actually wanted to do this one.

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The other reason I wanted to do Die Hard

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is that she didn't want me to.

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So that kind of made me, made me want to.

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But this TV show has something dear to my heart

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and has had actually a very, very profound impact on me.

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Here's the history of it.

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Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

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was created in 1938 as a character in a poem.

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And that character became a song and then a TV special.

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And along the way, the person

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who really popularized this was Robert May,

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who used to work for the old department store

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Montgomery Ward, and they commissioned him

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as a writer to write something

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that would bring people into the store,

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and they would give people something free.

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And it was this story in 39 snippets

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that they consolidated into one.

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As you came into Montgomery Ward to

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shop, they would give you a little thing

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of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

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Now, Robert May is not a Christian.

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He was a Jew. And he didn't know it,

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but he was actually writing a Christian movie.

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He didn't know this.

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Uh, but let me tell you something,

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whenever something moves you artistically,

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the truth of God is in that thing.

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We're created in the image of God

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and so when we see something

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that somebody has created, whether they're a believer,

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whether they're a Buddhist,

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whether they're an atheist, whatever they are,

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when someone taps into the beauty of God

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and the transcendent of story of God,

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not even knowing that they are, it moves us.

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And that's what may happen today

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as I tell you the story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

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Let's pray before I go any further.

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God, I pray that we'd get real quick beyond movies

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and we would get to our hearts.

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I pray that we would get real quick beyond media

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and we would see You, we would see ourselves,

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and we would see this transcendent story of misfits

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and love and redemption and being used.

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And I'm asking You to help me be clear.

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These are very amazing concepts,

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I just don't want to mess them up.

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I want to give them the justice that they are due.

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So help me to help your people.

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And I pray these things according to

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the character identity of Jesus. Amen.

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So, like many of us, May had his pain points,

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significant pain points.

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He was Jewish, so he had a level of anti-Semitism

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he likely lived through.

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And he also had a wife that was dealing with a cancer diagnosis.

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So he pens, without him knowing it,

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he pens a story of biblical proportions,

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because the gospel of Jesus is about

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what God does for us as we're in pain,

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even if we don't know that we're in pain.

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It's a story about being a misfit.

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A story about not fitting in.

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Once Robert May created this story

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and it started going off really, really well

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in Montgomery Ward, an engineer at GE

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invented the incandescent red LED light bulb.

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And this was the beginning of the TV show

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called Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

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GE put $4.3 million into production.

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Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer came out,

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and according to Rotten Tomatoes,

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this is the longest running, most successful TV

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or Christmas special of all time.

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And there's a reason for it.

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And it's not the art of it, though I think it's pretty cool,

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especially for 1964 or whatever it was.

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It's not the art of it, it's that it has

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a transcendent message in it that taps into

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something deep inside of all of us.

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There is a deep wound that all of us have,

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there's a longing that all of us have.

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- I'm cute. I'm cuuute! - Magnificent.

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- I'm cute! I'm cute! She said I'm cuuuuute!

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- Not bad. Not bad at all.

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- Hey. You're okay? - She said I'm cute. Ha ha ha.

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- For crying out loud. - Fireball. What's the matter?

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- G-g-get away! G-g-get away from me!

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- Now, now, now, now. What's this nonsense here, bucks?

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After all? Gaa!

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[talking and laughter]

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- Hey, look at the beak.

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- Hey, Fire Snout!

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- Rainbow Puss! - Red Schnoz!

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- Stop calling me names!

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- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer! [laughter]

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- Donner, you should be ashamed of yourself.

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What a pity.

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He had a nice takeoff too.

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- [whistle] All right, all right, my yearlings.

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Back to practice.

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Oh, no, not you.

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You better go home with your folks.

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From now on, gang, we won't let Rudolph

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join in any reindeer games, right?

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- Right. - Right. - Right. - Right.

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- That is outright rejection.

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We will not allow Rudolph to play with us any longer.

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He's not like one of us. He is improper.

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He is inappropriate. He is unusual. He is unique.

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He is whatever it is, he's not allowed.

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And we shun him and we reject him.

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And Donner, your father, you put

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the little cap over Rudolph's nose.

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You should be ashamed of yourself.

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Ashamed that you would try to bring a child

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like this to the games and a shame that

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you would try to get one over on Santa.

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Throughout this whole show,

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everybody is dealing with rejection.

00:31:00

Everyone is dealing with not being included.

00:31:05

Everyone is dealing with being a misfit,

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believing that they don't fit in,

00:31:09

every character virtually

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from the very, very beginning to the end.

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We'll see Hermey in little bit.

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Hermey's a misfit.

00:31:19

Uh, we're going to see that other people

00:31:22

in the whole program are going to be misfits.

00:31:25

The Abominable Snowman.

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I can't show you the clip from that.

00:31:27

I'm limited on how many clips I can show.

00:31:29

Abominable snowman. He's a misfit.

00:31:32

Cornelius, Yukon Jack, he's a misfit.

00:31:34

He's by himself doing something

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and no one wants to be around him.

00:31:38

Person after person after person is a misfit

00:31:41

and doesn't fit in.

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I wonder, I wonder who in here feels like a misfit.

00:31:46

I wonder in who in here feels like you don't fit in.

00:31:51

People stay away from churches all the time because

00:31:53

they feel like they're not going to be accepted.

00:31:55

They're going to be a misfit. I don't fit there.

00:31:57

They're not going to have me there.

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Let me tell you something.

00:31:59

Any church where you feel like you can't be

00:32:02

isn't a church because the church

00:32:04

is an island full of misfit toys,

00:32:07

where all of us come in with all of our problems

00:32:10

and all of our issues, and we feel like we don't fit.

00:32:13

You would be shocked how many people in here

00:32:16

feel like we don't fit, and that people

00:32:18

are stiff arming and shunning us.

00:32:20

That's why the Bible talks about this again and again.

00:32:24

It's a critical thing for the people of God to see this.

00:32:27

The book of 1 Peter chapter 2:9, it says this:

00:32:55

Let's talk, let's stop right there for a minute.

00:32:57

You are a chosen race. You know what that means?

00:33:01

That means that God has one race of people.

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That means when we get with God, God looks at us

00:33:07

and we are one unified race because

00:33:09

nobody is a misfit, nobody is outside,

00:33:11

nobody is different when we come to know God.

00:33:13

We are one.

00:33:15

I'm really sensitive to this right now because

00:33:18

I took a trip down to the Mexican-

00:33:21

US border this last week, just to see

00:33:24

what was going on with my very own eyes.

00:33:27

I've heard it's the largest humanitarian crisis

00:33:29

of our time, and I said, "I just want to go

00:33:32

and see and talk to people."

00:33:33

So I went down and spent about 36 hours.

00:33:37

So of course I'm an expert on it.

00:33:40

Talking with people, and it was, uh,

00:33:43

it was incredibly discouraging

00:33:45

and incredibly heart wrenching.

00:33:50

Spoke with border agents, border commissioners,

00:33:52

people in legal, law enforcement,

00:33:54

people who ran nonprofits for it.

00:33:56

And they all said the same thing.

00:33:57

They said, "America doesn't know what's happening here."

00:33:59

If you hear anything on Fox News, it's wrong.

00:34:01

They don't know what they're talking about.

00:34:03

If you hear anything on CNN, it's wrong.

00:34:04

They don't know what they're talking about.

00:34:06

Everyone comes down here for a sound byte

00:34:08

and they stand right where you are right here,

00:34:10

and get that fence wall thing over there.

00:34:11

And no one talks to us.

00:34:12

No one asks us what's going on.

00:34:14

No one does deep dive. We all have our narrative.

00:34:16

It's it's a horrible, complicated thing."

00:34:20

But I talked to people who I just walked up to,

00:34:22

they were standing in lines

00:34:23

and stuff and through a translator, and said,

00:34:25

"What's your story? What's going on?"

00:34:27

One guy, the minority of people, by the way,

00:34:29

who come over the border legally or illegally,

00:34:31

the minority are Mexicans.

00:34:34

The majority of them are beyond Mexico

00:34:36

and they've been they've been pilgrimaging

00:34:38

for weeks and weeks and weeks walking,

00:34:41

doing whatever they can to get to the US border.

00:34:43

One guy was from Venezuela I talked to.

00:34:46

And he had very white skin, and I asked him

00:34:50

why he came up, what his thing was.

00:34:52

He said, "Well, I'm not white, but I look white.

00:34:55

And so that meant that I just kept getting kidnaped.

00:34:59

They kept kidnaping me and holding me for ransom

00:35:02

because they assumed I had money.

00:35:03

And I finally got sick of getting kidnaped.

00:35:05

So I said, 'I may as well walk to America,

00:35:07

see if I can get treated any better.'"

00:35:10

Talked to another guy,

00:35:12

his family started off with four of them.

00:35:13

They started walking up and they lost their daughter.

00:35:15

The cartel took them.

00:35:16

The long story I can't get into,

00:35:18

but they ended up with the two of them.

00:35:21

They went through the Panama jungle for four days.

00:35:24

No tent, no sleeping bags,

00:35:25

sleep with snakes, all that stuff.

00:35:27

He said, "When we got up here, our horror story ended.

00:35:29

And then once we got the border,

00:35:30

a brand new horror story started."

00:35:32

And he was so shocked we were talking to him

00:35:34

because as he was from a Latin American country,

00:35:37

the reason why he was coming up was because

00:35:39

he was darker skinned than other Latinos,

00:35:42

and people assumed that he wasn't their race.

00:35:45

And so he was getting cracked on all the time.

00:35:47

So what do you know?

00:35:48

Every country apparently has a race problem,

00:35:51

and every person thinks

00:35:52

they're superior in one way, shape or form.

00:35:54

So he came up and it was horrible.

00:35:55

And as I looked at these folks and get their stories,

00:35:58

my heart was breaking because they didn't fit.

00:36:01

They didn't fit in Venezuela.

00:36:02

They didn't fit in Guatemala. They didn't fit.

00:36:05

Doesn't look like they'll fit in America right now.

00:36:07

They're not sure how to get there.

00:36:08

And many of us feel like we don't fit.

00:36:10

But there is, when you come into relationship

00:36:12

with God, you get into one race.

00:36:14

Let's keep going here. The next verse on this:

00:36:31

Sometimes some things aren't going to get mercy.

00:36:34

This last year, I got my first buck that was mountable,

00:36:36

and I decided to not give that buck mercy.

00:36:39

And in honor of Rudolf,

00:36:40

one of my favorite Christmas movies,

00:36:42

I decided to do something a little special

00:36:44

with the mount, and there he is right there.

00:36:47

I know some of you are really upset,

00:36:48

"Hey, we have kids in here."

00:36:49

No, you shouldn't have them.

00:36:50

That's why we have Kids' Clubs.

00:36:52

So if you don't -- if you don't want your kids

00:36:54

to see dead animals, then take them to Kids' Club.

00:37:00

Rudolph. Rudolph. He is a deep, profound story.

00:37:04

That passage says that once you had not received mercy,

00:37:08

now you have received mercy.

00:37:10

For all of us who are misfits,

00:37:12

for all of us feel like we've been rejected,

00:37:14

for all of us who feel like there's not a place for us,

00:37:17

understand there is a place for you,

00:37:19

it's in the family of God.

00:37:21

Understand there is a place for you.

00:37:23

It's in a relationship with Jesus.

00:37:25

Understand He's the one, no matter what your pains,

00:37:28

what your problems, He gives mercy.

00:37:30

Sometimes mercy, though, is a long, painful walk.

00:37:37

- See, all the toys Santa brings are made by these elves.

00:37:42

These elves have that certain knack for toy making.

00:37:47

All except for this -- this one misfit.

00:37:52

- Hermey! Aren't you finished painting that yet?

00:37:57

There's a pile up a mile wide behind you.

00:38:01

- What's eating you, boy? -

00:38:03

- Not happy in my work, I guess.

00:38:05

- What?

00:38:06

- I just don't like to make toys.

00:38:09

- No. Well, if that's all --

00:38:11

What, you don't like to make toys?

00:38:15

- No.

00:38:16

- Hermey doesn't like to make toys.

00:38:20


00:38:21


00:38:23


00:38:24

- Oh, shame on you!

00:38:26

- Do you mind telling me what you do want to do?

00:38:29

- Well, sir, someday I'd like to be a dentist.

00:38:33

- A dentist?

00:38:36

- Well, we need one up here. I've been studying.

00:38:38

It's fascinating. You have no idea.

00:38:41

Molars and bicuspids and incisors.

00:38:43

- Now, listen, you.

00:38:45

You're an elf, and elves make toys.

00:38:48

Now get to work.

00:38:51

[whistle] Ten minutes break.

00:38:55

Not for you.

00:38:58

Finish the job or you're fired!

00:39:10

- [singing] Why am I such a misfit?

00:39:13

I am not just a nitwit.

00:39:16

You can't fire me, I quit!

00:39:19

Seems I don't fit in.

00:39:24

- Why am I such a misfit?

00:39:28

It's interesting that they give him an occupation,

00:39:31

which is a misfit occupation. Dentists.

00:39:34

He says I want to be a dentist.

00:39:37

It's one of my favorite lines, "I want to be a dentist."

00:39:40

And of course, we have the overbearing foreman.

00:39:42

Oh, just do it like this.

00:39:45

Yeah, that was back when America got stuff done,

00:39:48

factories having foreman demean people

00:39:50

and yell at them, "Dooh!"

00:39:53

It's wonderful.

00:39:54

But I wonder why they choose dentists.

00:39:56

Maybe it's because for many of us, we shun dentists.

00:39:59

We're afraid of dentists.

00:40:00

My dentist is awesome. Doctor Powers,

00:40:02

if you're listening, sorry. You do a great job for me

00:40:04

I'm not talking about you, but dentists

00:40:06

for many of us, freak us out.

00:40:09

I went to a dentist when I was a little kid.

00:40:11

At one point, I think I went 12 years

00:40:13

without going to a dentist.

00:40:14

That was a 12 years after I got out of my parents house.

00:40:17

I was like, "I'm not going back to a dentist,

00:40:19

not gonna do it. I'm just not going to go back."

00:40:22

My dentist would come in, he would come in.

00:40:24

He had a cigar, he'd be chomping on an unlit cigar

00:40:28

that had previously gone out, chomping on a cigar.

00:40:31

No lie. He'd come in, he put me in a headlock.

00:40:33

Take that, take that silver pick thing.

00:40:35

Just jam on me and put it in there.

00:40:38

It was horrible. It was utterly brutal.

00:40:42

Most of us don't look forward to going to the dentist.

00:40:44

Many of us have deep, deep fears.

00:40:47

I wonder if they choose to be a dentist

00:40:50

because some of us, again, it makes them

00:40:52

maybe feel like a misfit.

00:40:54

Misfits are everywhere.

00:40:57

It's part of the human condition.

00:40:59

You're not the only one.

00:41:02

If you feel like a misfit,

00:41:04

you're what's called normal.

00:41:08

One of my favorite specials I finished on Netflix

00:41:11

was The Crown. Any Crown fans in here?

00:41:14

The Crown is all about the royal family

00:41:18

over in England, and one of the subtexts

00:41:20

as you go through that is everybody feels like a misfit.

00:41:25

The Queen feels like a misfit as culture progresses,

00:41:29

and she's an old fuddy-duddy

00:41:30

and she's out of touch with culture. She's a misfit.

00:41:33

Lady Di, she felt like a misfit. Prince Charles.

00:41:38

King Charles from his early childhood on up,

00:41:41

he felt like a misfit.

00:41:43

It's a common narrative because

00:41:45

it's part of the human condition.

00:41:47

We feel estranged from God

00:41:48

and estranged from other people,

00:41:50

so therefore we feel like we're a misfit.

00:41:54

Steve Jobs, entrepreneur, tech guru,

00:41:59

hero of many people in the masses.

00:42:03

His biographer Walter Isaacson, who he chose

00:42:06

to write his biography, said this about Steve Jobs:

00:42:37

So Steve Jobs, according to biographer,

00:42:40

felt like a misfit, felt rejected,

00:42:42

and he always felt like he had to prove something.

00:42:44

This is why many people are very, very successful.

00:42:46

It's not that they're self-confident,

00:42:48

it's they're trying to prove to people

00:42:50

that they fit in, that they're effective,

00:42:52

that they're successful.

00:42:53

This, according to his hand-picked biographer,

00:42:57

was Steve Jobs.

00:42:59

Now, to be very, very clear,

00:43:01

there are some people who just don't fit in.

00:43:05

It's called people who own Android phones.

00:43:08

You don't fit in.

00:43:12

We don't like to see the green bubbles.

00:43:15

We like to see blue bubbles. Ha-ha-ha.

00:43:19

Yes, I know, I know you think green is better

00:43:22

as you're wearing your green sweater over there..

00:43:24

I get it, I get it.

00:43:26

But I relate to Steve Jobs' story.

00:43:29

I've gone to in depth.

00:43:30

I'm not going to go into depth today, but I'm adopted.

00:43:33

My mother made a very, very loving choice

00:43:35

to give me up for adoption instead of do away with me.

00:43:38

And I'm very, very thankful for that.

00:43:40

And yet it still did come with some difficulties.

00:43:44

Psychology would say there was a primal wound

00:43:47

that I had, because the only person I knew

00:43:49

that I was in sync with her heartbeat

00:43:50

in her symbiotic fluid, I was immediately rejected

00:43:54

by her as the way my little baby brain felt it,

00:43:56

abandoned.

00:43:58

And I've carried that for much of my life

00:44:00

that I try to impress you,

00:44:01

or I put on a hard exterior to protect myself

00:44:03

because I'm confident you're going to reject

00:44:05

a misfit like me.

00:44:08

I feel this all the time. It's why I have a heart.

00:44:10

And I want to go to the go down the border.

00:44:12

I have no answers for the border.

00:44:13

All I know is this I feel horrible because

00:44:15

I know what it's like to feel like

00:44:17

you're a misfit and rejected.

00:44:18

I want to include people.

00:44:20

It's part of why church is the size it is

00:44:22

is I'll never stop including people.

00:44:24

I don't care how big or how small Crossroads is,

00:44:27

there's -- I find somebody,

00:44:28

I meet somebody who who's disconnected,

00:44:30

I want to include them becaue I know

00:44:33

they may feel like a misfit with God.

00:44:35

And I've been there, I know that, I understand it.

00:44:37

And people reinforce that I'm a misfit,

00:44:40

it seems like everywhere I go.

00:44:42

There was some people on that border that we did,

00:44:46

that border tour that we did.

00:44:48

And a guy said, "You just don't fit

00:44:54

what a pastor of a mega church is.

00:44:57

You just don't fit."

00:44:58

Like, "Uh, tell me why." And he told me why.

00:45:01

I was on a podcast, actually, I replayed

00:45:03

that podcast on my Aggressive Life podcast,

00:45:05

and the female said, "You just don't fit

00:45:08

what a pastor is. You don't fit."

00:45:11

When I went elk hunting, I had a guide

00:45:14

this last year and he said, everyone says,

00:45:16

"You don't fit. I don't understand you. You're not--"

00:45:19

And part of what they're doing is

00:45:21

they're trying to encourage me.

00:45:22

They're saying you don't fit

00:45:24

this negative, stereotypical model or you don't fit this.

00:45:28

That's part of what they're saying, I think.

00:45:31

But nonetheless, what's being told me

00:45:34

is you don't fit. You don't fit.

00:45:38

When I go to pastor retreats,

00:45:41

it's very clear I don't fit.

00:45:46

Just I just don't -- I don't -- I don't fit.

00:45:50

The fact that I'm a hunter and I live in city limits

00:45:53

and I don't know, I didn't know anybody else

00:45:55

who hunted at all because it's not an urban thing,

00:45:58

makes me a misfit. That I ride a motorcycle

00:46:02

and I've been known to do it without a helmet

00:46:03

makes me a misfit.

00:46:06

All kinds of choices, all kinds of things

00:46:08

that just I feel, I feel that I am out of sync.

00:46:14

And here's the thing, here's the thing,

00:46:16

here's the thing, and this is my story for you.

00:46:18

You may feel like a misfit, but you may not be a misfit.

00:46:23

Our feelings don't always indicate reality,

00:46:27

especially when it comes to the feelings of God,

00:46:31

because that's really all that matters.

00:46:33

Does God feel like we are a misfit?

00:46:37

Does God feel that we are unredeemable?

00:46:40

Does God feel that we are unusable?

00:46:42

Let me give you the answer to that, it's a big fat no.

00:46:45

No, He does not.

00:46:47

So it doesn't matter what we feel,

00:46:49

it's what God feels.

00:46:50

And I want to spend the rest of our time

00:46:52

helping you understand what God feels about you

00:46:55

and what God has done for you

00:46:57

to bring you into His race,

00:47:00

to bring you into His family.

00:47:03

He knows about this because Jesus came

00:47:07

and Jesus lived as a misfit.

00:47:11

Jesus's life did not start in Bethlehem

00:47:14

when He was born physically.

00:47:17

The Bible is very clear Jesus existed in heaven

00:47:20

before all of that happened.

00:47:21

He's existed in heaven as God Himself.

00:47:24

He comes down and takes on flesh and he is a misfit.

00:47:29

He doesn't fit in.

00:47:31

He's not used to surroundings.

00:47:33

He's not used to limitations.

00:47:35

He's not used to difficulty at all.

00:47:38

He's royalty. He's up in heaven.

00:47:40

He has all the perks of it.

00:47:41

And He comes here and He's born into poverty as a misfit.

00:47:46

So much poverty that his mom and dad,

00:47:48

they wrap him in swaddling cloths.

00:47:50

And we think, "Isn't that cute,

00:47:52

He's wrapped in swaddling cloths?"

00:47:53

No, it's not cute, it's sad

00:47:56

because it shows that Mary and Joseph

00:47:58

didn't have a full size blanket.

00:47:59

They were in poverty, so they took little strips,

00:48:01

whatever they could, to wrap around their baby

00:48:04

and to make Him comfortable.

00:48:05

They didn't have a cradle.

00:48:07

They took Him and they put him in a manger,

00:48:09

which is not the cute thing you have on your coffee table.

00:48:12

It's a feeding trough for cattle.

00:48:16

His first crib was something

00:48:19

that a cow had been slobbering on.

00:48:22

He goes from the throne of heaven

00:48:25

to being in a cereal bowl for cows.

00:48:31

He is and felt like a misfit.

00:48:36

As He is going through His life,

00:48:38

it says in the book of Hebrews

00:48:39

that Jesus grew in wisdom and stature.

00:48:42

So as His body was growing physically,

00:48:45

His awareness of who He was and His wisdom

00:48:48

was also growing, it was also increasing.

00:48:53

Too many people just think that He was born

00:48:55

into this royal family and had it easy.

00:48:57

He didn't. His whole life He struggled with this.

00:49:00

This whole idea of of virgin birth,

00:49:03

that Mary gave birth without ever having had sex

00:49:06

before she conceived Jesus.

00:49:08

It was actually God who put it in her.

00:49:10

The writers of the New Testament, the early church,

00:49:13

they knew this was really crazy sounding.

00:49:16

They understood enough about how the baby process worked.

00:49:19

But if we ever pray and we ever ask God for something,

00:49:22

we're asking Him to suspend something that is natural

00:49:24

and He suspends something that's natural

00:49:26

to put His seed inside of a woman.

00:49:28

And the people who are aware of this,

00:49:31

they don't buy it at all.

00:49:33

In the book of John 8:41 and following,

00:49:36

we see a glimpse of how rejected

00:49:39

and how Jesus felt like a misfit.

00:49:41

And he finally, in this scene, we see

00:49:44

a bit of His anger come out.

00:49:45

He's spending time as an adult with some religious people.

00:49:48

Religious people always think they have all the answers,

00:49:51

and they always think if your answer is wrong

00:49:52

than theirs, then you're an idiot.

00:49:54

And so this is the way they tried to make Jesus feel.

00:49:57

And so here's what it says, they say.

00:50:00

They say to Him -- Uh, Jesus says,

00:50:03

"You're doing the works your father did."

00:50:14

They're saying to Him, "Yeah, virgin birth.

00:50:16

We understand this. Your mom was sexually immoral.

00:50:20

She cheated while she was betrothed.

00:50:23

She had sex with somebody else.

00:50:25

Don't give us this crap about you being born of a virgin.

00:50:28

You're not. You're a bastard," is what they're saying.

00:50:30

And they taunted him with this all the time,

00:50:34

and it continues:

00:50:57

He was a murderer from the beginning.

00:51:00

Pretext. And you're going to murder me

00:51:03

because you're of your father, the devil.

00:51:06

Do you see this interplay?

00:51:07

This is a misfit who's powering up appropriately.

00:51:11

Oh, yeah. Right. Yeah. You -- Come on.

00:51:13

You just don't fit in. We know.

00:51:15

Everybody knew this, that's why they put it to Him.

00:51:18

And they they poked Him.

00:51:20

If you feel like a misfit, that people look down on you,

00:51:25

that you're viewed as a second class citizen

00:51:28

or not a citizen.

00:51:30

If you're viewed as being irredeemable,

00:51:33

unusual, odd, not worth the time,

00:51:36

you have something in common with Jesus.

00:51:39

Because that's how He was treated as a misfit.

00:51:43

All of us, all of us have a narrative

00:51:46

we're going to tell ourselves.

00:51:49

And one of the things that we'll tell ourselves

00:51:51

to get us out of our misfit ways

00:51:53

and out of being hurt, is we'll tell ourselves,

00:51:56

"I have to be independent."

00:52:07

- Oh, is this your snow bank?

00:52:10

- No. Who are you?

00:52:12

- Well, actually, I am a dentist.

00:52:15

- A dentist?

00:52:17

- Well, I want to be someday.

00:52:20

Right now I'm just an elf.

00:52:23

But I don't need anybody. I'm -- I'm independent.

00:52:28

Yeah? Me too.

00:52:31

I'm whatever you said, independent.

00:52:39

- Hey, what do you say

00:52:40

we both be independent together, huh?

00:52:45

- You wouldn't mind my red nose?

00:52:49

- Not if you don't mind me being a dentist.

00:52:53

- It's a deal.

00:52:57

- We're a couple of misfits.

00:52:59

We're a couple of misfits.

00:53:01

What's the matter with misfits?

00:53:03

That's where we fit.

00:53:07

- Oh, we're a couple of misfits. Misfits.

00:53:12

These misfits end up going to see

00:53:16

an island of misfit toys.

00:53:18

And on this island of misfit toys,

00:53:20

we have a not a Jack in the Box.

00:53:22

We have a Charlie in the Box.

00:53:23

We have not a water pistol, but a jelly pistol.

00:53:26

We have a doll named Dolly who doesn't have a nose.

00:53:30

And actually, people have been interviewed

00:53:32

years after it was made, said they actually

00:53:33

created her to have psychiatric problems.

00:53:36

One of the conspiracies you can see on the internet.

00:53:38

We see a choo-choo train that has square wheels.

00:53:42

And as Rudolph goes to visit it,

00:53:44

he goes to the King of Misfit Island,

00:53:46

who happens to be a lion.

00:53:50

In the Bible the King is ultimately looked at

00:53:53

as the Lion of Judah, and the lion says,

00:53:57

"All I ask of you, if you get off this island,

00:53:59

you come back and you rescue these misfits."

00:54:04

And these people go along feeling like

00:54:08

I've got to be independent, yet can't resist

00:54:11

the urge to band with other people.

00:54:14

This is part of our problem.

00:54:15

When we feel like a misfit or we feel like people

00:54:17

reject us, we just push everybody else away

00:54:19

and we try to be independent.

00:54:21

We think that's a sign of our maturity. It's not.

00:54:23

Spiritual maturity operates

00:54:25

different from physical maturity.

00:54:26

Physical maturity, as I mature,

00:54:28

I become more independent as I mature

00:54:31

because someone's putting diapers on me and then I mature.

00:54:34

Spiritual maturity, as we mature,

00:54:36

we actually become more dependent.

00:54:39

We become more dependent on God.

00:54:42

We become more dependent on the Holy Spirit.

00:54:44

We become more dependent on His words in the scriptures.

00:54:48

And whenever someone doesn't want to become

00:54:50

dependent on God, we choose our independence

00:54:54

and we can't progress.

00:54:56

This is the thing that misfits do.

00:54:58

We think the thing to get us out of it

00:55:01

is to just withdraw.

00:55:02

In reality, we need to lean in.

00:55:04

And even though Hermey and Rudolph

00:55:07

are saying that they want to be independent,

00:55:10

they need each other and they hang with each other.

00:55:12

That's why certain bands of misfits always hang together.

00:55:16

Whatever, whatever the addiction,

00:55:18

whatever the hang up, whatever the vice,

00:55:20

whatever the brokenness is, whatever the problem,

00:55:22

whatever the tension, misfits tend to hang

00:55:26

with other misfits of similar categories.

00:55:29

That's probably not a bad thing.

00:55:31

It just happens because we realize, "I can't.

00:55:34

I can't handle this on my own,

00:55:35

and when I do handle it on my own, bad things happen."

00:55:39

Men are killing themselves

00:55:41

four times more frequently than women are.

00:55:45

It's because men try to be independent.

00:55:48

It's because men think that we can do it on our own.

00:55:50

We can't.

00:55:52

A new stat I saw from a study called

00:55:55

The State of the American Man 2023 said

00:55:57

44% of men consider suicide once every two weeks.

00:56:04

So, 44% of men consider suicide once every two weeks.

00:56:10

Why? Because we feel like a misfit.

00:56:12

We are independents.

00:56:15

And despite of all of this, people need this misfit.

00:56:27

- I've got some bad news, folks. - [murmering]

00:56:31

- Christmas is going to be canceled. [gasping]

00:56:33

- There's nothing I can do. This weather --

00:56:38

Rudolph. Rudolph, please,

00:56:41

could you tone it down a bit?

00:56:43

I mean, that nose of yours --

00:56:45

Uh, that nose.

00:56:49

That beautiful, wonderful nose.

00:56:53

- Huh? - Rudolph, Christmas is not off.

00:56:56

And you're going to lead my team.

00:57:00

- I am? - Yes, sir.

00:57:02

You and that wonderful nose of yours.

00:57:05

- My nose, sir. - Ho, ho, ho.

00:57:07

From what I see now,

00:57:09

that'll cut through the murkiest storm they can dish up.

00:57:12

What I'm trying to say is,

00:57:15

Rudolph, with your nose so bright,

00:57:18

won't you guide my sleigh tonight?

00:57:22

- It will be an honor, sir. [cheering]

00:57:26

- I knew that nose would be useful someday.

00:57:29

I knew it all along.

00:57:33

- Ready, Rudolph? - Ready, Santa.

00:57:36

- Well, let's be on our way.

00:57:38

Okay, Rudolph, full power.

00:57:46

First stop, the Island of Misfit Toys.

00:57:51

Up. Up, up and away!

00:57:59

- Yes, it's very fun.

00:58:01

God never wastes anything.

00:58:03

Rudolph's nose ends up saving the day.

00:58:06

Very frequently, the very thing that

00:58:09

you think disqualifies you,

00:58:11

qualifies you for a job God wants done.

00:58:15

Very frequently the thing that

00:58:17

is your biggest pain point will be

00:58:19

your biggest source of healing somebody else,

00:58:21

because you get it as a misfit.

00:58:24

Very frequently the thing that plagues you

00:58:28

is the thing that God plays to bless another person.

00:58:32

Very frequently the problems that we think

00:58:34

we can't get over, we actually go through

00:58:37

as we run to somebody else

00:58:39

and we're the answer to their problem

00:58:40

because we bring the grace of Jesus to them.

00:58:44

And we need each other.

00:58:45

This is part of the Christmas story.

00:58:47

Mary is tempted to to leave.

00:58:50

And why does she not leave

00:58:51

and go off by herself and be independent?

00:58:53

Because she needs Joseph.

00:58:55

And God tells Joseph, "No, what Mary says is true."

00:58:59

And I believe that God chooses Mary

00:59:01

to have this amazingly important task,

00:59:03

in part at least, because she had a man

00:59:06

that was beside her that would stick with her

00:59:08

because He knew that Mary couldn't do this independently,

00:59:12

and neither could any man.

00:59:14

And what is this?

00:59:16

This is a thing, a task that God has called them to.

00:59:21

1 Peter 4:10 says this:

00:59:32

This island of misfit toys

00:59:35

leads to the concluding crescendo of the TV show for me.

00:59:40

When Rudolph gives Santa the message

00:59:43

that's come from the King, that it's time

00:59:46

to go to the island of Misfit Toys

00:59:51

and to find them a home.

00:59:55

- Looks like we're forgotten again.

00:59:59

- But Rudolph promised we'd go this time.

01:00:03

- Oh, guess the storm was too much for them.

01:00:08

[bells jingling]

01:00:11

- Might might just as well go to bed

01:00:14

and start dreaming about next year.

01:00:16

- I haven't any dreams left to dream.

01:00:19

We'll never get off this island. Never.

01:00:22

[bells jingling]

01:00:23

- Wait a minute. What's that? Is it. Is it?

01:00:28

- It sure is. It's Santa.

01:00:30

And look, Rudolph is leading the way.

01:00:33

- You can see his nose from here.

01:00:42

- Well, let's be on our way.

01:00:48

Ready, Rudolph? - Ready, Santa.

01:00:51

- Okay, Rudolph. Full power.

01:00:58

Up, up, up and away!

01:01:02

- Aww, all ends well and all is good in the world.

01:01:07

The misfit toys find a home and the misfit toys

01:01:12

get to be a blessing to somebody,

01:01:14

and they get to be used.

01:01:15

If you know me at all

01:01:17

and have spent any time with me,

01:01:18

there's two things you're going to hear me say

01:01:20

again and again and again that come from this movie.

01:01:22

One is this: I want to be a dentist.

01:01:25

Hermey wants to be a dentist.

01:01:27

Which I've learned that that second part

01:01:29

isn't actually in the movie. I just inserted that.

01:01:31

But the first part is.

01:01:32

The second thing I say all the time

01:01:35

in response to things is: ready, Santa.

01:01:40

I love that. I love that willing heart by Rudolph.

01:01:43

Are you ready? Ready, Santa.

01:01:47

I asked myself, God gives me assignment,

01:01:50

am I going to say to him, "Ready, God, ready.

01:01:54

Ready, Jesus. Ready"?

01:01:56

Here's the thing, here's the thing about Christmas.

01:01:58

While everybody's focused about getting

01:02:01

their Christmas on for their own jollies,

01:02:03

Jesus is focused on reaching misfits.

01:02:07

While everybody wants their personal holiday

01:02:10

to be actualizing themselves,

01:02:13

Jesus wants us to actually reach

01:02:16

and include other misfits.

01:02:19

I want to know, is there anybody who says,

01:02:21

"Ready, Jesus, ready, ready.

01:02:24

I will go to the misfits. I will love the misfits.

01:02:27

I will invite the misfit. I will include the misfits."

01:02:32

This is the heart that God wants,

01:02:34

a heart that's ready for action,

01:02:36

a heart that's ready to lead,

01:02:38

a heart that's ready to say, "Maybe the things

01:02:42

that I feel disqualify me, actually qualify me.

01:02:46

Because I get it, I understand.

01:02:49

Maybe, maybe my weakness

01:02:51

is actually something he makes me strong in

01:02:54

because then He gets the glory because

01:02:55

I know it was his ability and not my ability."

01:02:59

This Christmas, be a Rudolph.

01:03:02

Be about somebody other than yourself.

01:03:05

Be like Jesus in the first Christmas

01:03:08

who was about other people,

01:03:10

which is why He came to this earth

01:03:12

and endured the shame of being a misfit

01:03:14

and dying as a misfit on a bloody cross.

01:03:18

He does it because it comes to rescue misfits

01:03:21

like you and I and tell us, "I understand your pain.

01:03:25

I understand how outside things you are

01:03:29

because I've been naked in public as well.

01:03:32

It's not fun, but I've come for you

01:03:35

because I love you.

01:03:37

And there's a place with Me right now for you."

01:03:42

Maybe you want to receive Him right now.

01:03:45

You just have to say a prayer something like this.

01:03:48

Lord, I want to jump in.

01:03:51

I want to be found.

01:03:54

I don't want to be on my own anymore.

01:03:57

I want to be in relationship with You.

01:03:59

I give my life to You.

01:04:01

I ask for Your forgiveness.

01:04:03

And I ask You to fill me with Your Holy Spirit.

01:04:07

As best I can, I will be ready, Jesus.

01:04:10

I will be ready for the rest of my life.

01:04:12

In Your name I pray. Amen.

01:04:16

All right, misfits, we'll see you next week.

01:04:19

- Way to go. You watched church this week.

01:04:21

But I want to encourage you,

01:04:22

don't let your experience end here.

01:04:24

If your week is anything like mine, it's going to be hectic

01:04:27

and it's going to be stressful at times,

01:04:29

and I just have to remind myself to slow down

01:04:32

and to spend time with God daily.

01:04:34

That's actually why we made

01:04:35

the Crossroads Anywhere app.

01:04:36

It will help guide you through

01:04:37

different exercises like gratitude,

01:04:39

prayer, journaling, and more.

01:04:41

And you can actually ask others

01:04:43

to pray for you too during this holiday season.

01:04:45

And you don't have to share any specifics.

01:04:46

But honestly, what do you have to lose?

01:04:49

Try the app and see if it helps make

01:04:50

your week, your month, or even your next year better.

01:04:54

And as we always say,

01:04:56

Crossroads isn't just a video or even an app,

01:04:58

it's a community that you can actually belong to.

01:05:00

And some of the best parts of Christmas

01:05:02

and the holidays happened around a dining room table.

01:05:04

But that idea of connecting with friends

01:05:07

or families around a meal

01:05:08

is so much bigger than the holidays.

01:05:10

It's actually always been a part of

01:05:12

what it means to be the church.

01:05:14

I want to show you an example of this.

01:05:16

Nick and Paige in Georgetown, man, felt this calling,

01:05:20

this urge to practice biblical hospitality.

01:05:22

So they just open up their home for a meal,

01:05:24

started inviting people in their apartment complex.

01:05:27

Man, it has been an amazing, amazing opportunity

01:05:29

for people to feel connected instead of isolated

01:05:32

and to feel like they have family right where they are.

01:05:35

Hey, if you're interested in making your table

01:05:37

a place where people can connect all year long,

01:05:40

hey, we have a training session in January

01:05:42

to help you get started so that you

01:05:44

can join people making community around the globe

01:05:47

in dorm rooms or dining rooms

01:05:49

and coffee shops or cafes.

01:05:50

This can be anywhere you are.

01:05:53

Learn more and sign up at Crossroads.net/anywhere.

01:05:56

Hey, we'll see you next week

01:05:58

for the last week of Christmas at the movies.

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