Christmas Eve 2025

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- Hey, Merry Christmas. Thank you so much for joining us.

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Hey, my name is Andy Reider,

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Community pastor for Crossroads Anywhere.

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- And I'm Hannah and it's amazing to be with you.

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- Yes. Hey, thank you for sharing

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part of your holiday with us. We're so glad to have you.

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- I tell you what, Christmas Eve is such a special night

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because it's not just about making memories,

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even though those are amazing.

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Whether you're watching with your family

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or in a building having cocoa, whatever it is,

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it's also just an invitation to truly pause.

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- That's right.

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- And experience what is this all about?

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And remember why we truly celebrate Christmas.

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It's one of my favorite nights for sure.

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- We've got a really special time for you.

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But this isn't just about like you visiting

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our Christmas through a screen.

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No, we actually want you to be a part of this,

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and we'd love to see

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what your Christmas celebration looks like.

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We actually have a specific tool

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we'd love to get a glimpse into

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how you are celebrating right now.

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- That's right. So we're capturing photos on Tagboard,

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which this QR code link is right on your screen right now

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is so simple. You just scan it or go to the link

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and you just share your photo with us.

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So if you're in your PJs, having cocoa with your family,

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or just simply enjoying from a coffee shop

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or wherever you might be experiencing this right now,

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we want to know about your Christmas because

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it takes it from just being us talking to you,

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to you actually talking to us

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and experiencing the joy together. And we want that.

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- Yeah. That's right. So one of the things

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you need to know about Crossroads is like, man,

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there's stuff that you can watch.

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There's great stuff that you can experience

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through a screen, but that's not the whole thing.

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The best thing about Crossroads isn't what you can watch,

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

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So we'd love for you to get to experience that.

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There's loads of ways that can happen,

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but we just want to give you like the cheat code,

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like one simple way that wherever you are,

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you can be a part of this community.

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- Yeah. So that's a connect card.

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The easiest way to do that is this is at

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crossroads.net/Anywhere.

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And that connect card is all in the name.

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What we're trying to do through that is get to know you,

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be able to pray for you, be able to support you,

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and truly help you figure out how you might want

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to get plugged in at your church.

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That's the best way to do it is the connect card.

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- Yeah. That's right. Easy way for you to do that,

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you can just go to Crossroads.net/anywhere.

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That's right.

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Click on the connect card thing.

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And we've actually got a special gift we'd love to send

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to you for doing that that's going to help you

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set up your new year in a really, really special way

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and experience God, I believe, in a fresh way.

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Now, I got a question for you.

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- Okay, I'm in for questions.

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- You're kind of experiencing the Christmas vibes here.

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Hopefully you're having an incredible Christmas.

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You've got the all the stuff decorated.

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You've got gifts under the tree.

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And I think, I think this time will be a gift for you.

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But I have a question.

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What's the best gift you ever received ever?

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- Okay. The best gift is one time my mom gave me

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a Care Bear, which was not actually for me,

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but you could, like, write on this bear.

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And I used to, like, write little prayers and notes

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and it was just amazing. It was a fun little thing.

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I did write prayers.

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- You wrote prayers on your Care Bear?

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- Yes.

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- You're definitely more spiritual than I was.

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- Okay, I wasn't gonna say it, but you said it.

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No. Just kidding.

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But speaking of, I actually am going to go off

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to be with my family.

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You're going to take our people on a new journey

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into the auditorium, experience more of the night.

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But I'm going to go to my family now

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and I'll catch up with you at the end here.

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- All right. Get to it. Okay.

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So let me give you a sense of what you're going to --

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What you can expect, and what you're going

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to experience in our time together.

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Now, this is going to be meaningful.

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Like I think you're going to hear about Christmas

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and what it can actually mean for you.

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Not just another day on the calendar,

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but what it actually means for your daily life

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right here, right now, wherever you are.

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And we are a community all over the globe.

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We've got tens of thousands of people all over the US,

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all over the globe, even,

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even in prisons across the country.

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Hey, and if you are joining us from one of our prisons,

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man, we are so thankful to have you.

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We love you guys and girls. Thank you for joining us.

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Now. I want to let you guys know

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we're going to have some music.

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We're going to have a great teaching.

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But if you might be like me, you might have experienced

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I'm just a little behind on listening to my Christmas music.

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Hey, we're going to catch you up right now

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because we got in one medley over 25 Christmas songs

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jammed together. Thank you for joining us.

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I hope you can catch them all right now.

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- Hey, Justin, you know what every sleigh ride needs?

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- Snow.

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- Yep. And you know what's the best thing ever to do with snow?

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- Snowball fight.

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It's the most wonderful time of the year.

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- Come on, sing.

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- Merry Christmas, everybody.

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- Give it up for 'em one more time. 25 songs in 3 minutes.

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All right, get it out of your system.

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If you've got a snowball,

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get them all to the front of the stage.

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On the count of three. One. Two. Three.

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Get 'em up here. Come on, let's have 'em.

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Yeah! Hey! All right.

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We, you know, these kids down here,

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these kids throwing snowballs at me right now,

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whose parents have left the building

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to go to Target and shop?

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Some of you kids are like, this is awesome.

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This is amazing.

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And if you're an adult in here right now,

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you're like, yeah, exactly.

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This is what Thanksgiving to New Years

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feels like all year long.

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It feels like somebody put me in one of those

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little snow globes, and they just start shaking it up.

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Anyone can identify with that? Yes. As I'm getting pelted.

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Hey, what do we have for you right now

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the rest of this time, it is a gift.

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It is a gift. It is a gift.

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So I want to invite you on your feet.

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Stand up on your feet.

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Maybe get your children if you've lost them.

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And we're going to sing about the joy

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that is coming to the world.

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- Merry Christmas everyone.

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The best time of this season is singing together.

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Let's sing right now. Sing. Joy.

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- Come on. Put your hands together like this.

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Come on, sing this out.

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- God, we are so thankful for songs and lyrics

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that just help paint this beautiful picture

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and remind us, God, that you sent Your Son

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to this earth as a baby in the form of a human

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to die on a Cross for us so that we can experience

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hope, salvation, Your redemption, restoration,

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God, through You and we say thank You.

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We love You, Jesus, and this is all for You.

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In Your name we pray. Amen, Amen.

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Can we just give it up for our God one more time?

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We're so happy that you're here with us tonight.

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Before you take a seat, go ahead

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and turn to somebody and say hello.

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- I got to clear out a space to talk up here.

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This is crazy. Wow. Hey. Welcome, everybody.

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Oh, I just got nailed. Oh, my gosh.

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Snowball fight is over in case -- Oh, boy.

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This is gonna go poorly. Wow.

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Hey, welcome to Crossroads, everybody.

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My name is Kyle, I we've never met.

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I'm our lead pastor here.

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I just want to say, on behalf of all of our amazing staff,

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the thousands of volunteers that make this place

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run every single week, it's an honor to have you with us.

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If you're in person at one of our sites.

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If you're joining us online.

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So glad that you are here today with us now.

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This is a family service. Kids are in the room.

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That's okay, parents, we understand

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you have squirmy kids next to you.

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And so I made a talk, I think, your kids are going to love.

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It's called the hypostatic union

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and the paradox of ultimate condensation

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in the Nativity story.

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It's about an hour or two long. You're going to really --

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Just kidding. No.

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Getting complicated with the Christmas story

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is wildly unnecessary, because the truth and the power

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in the Christmas story is so simple,

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even the youngest child can understand it.

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But adults do not mistake simple for shallow,

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because in the depth of the manger

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is every gift you've ever wanted

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and more than you can possibly imagine.

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Now kids, let's be honest for a second

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about the adults in your life.

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They want weird Christmas presents, don't they?

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I mean, think about your mom, think about your grandma.

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What do you think they're going to get for Christmas?

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Shout it out. What do you think they're going to get?

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Yes. Soap. Yeah. Perfume.

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Uh, maybe some jewelry, if your daddy is smart, you know.

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Maybe a vacuum, if he's not.

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We'll see. We'll see you soon.

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What about your dad?

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What do you think your dad is going to get for Christmas?

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Shout it out. A lawn mower, I heard, I don't know.

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It's winter, that's strange. Some tools. Right?

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Car parts, maybe a glass decanter

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he puts on a high shelf,

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hoping you don't break it. Exactly, exactly.

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Okay, now, here's the thing.

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Kids. Listen, focus for a second.

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What do you want for Christmas? Shout it out, kids.

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Yeah, video games and bikes and awesome stuff.

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Yeah, that makes so much more sense.

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Okay, now here's a question. Focus. Here's a question.

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Would you -- You don't you don't actually know

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what you're going to get on Christmas yet.

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If you do know, you cheated and you shouldn't do that.

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You don't know what you get.

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Without knowing, would you trade your presents

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that you're going to get for the presents

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that your mom's going to get? No. Of course.

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Would you trade your presents

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for the presents your dad is going to get?

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No. Of course. Okay.

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Now, brothers in the room.

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Are any brothers in the room?

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Okay without -- The kid says it's me.

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I know there's a lot of you, kid. That's great.

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Brothers, would you trade your presents

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for your sister's presents? No.

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Sisters, would you trade your presents for your brothers'?

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No, no, no, of course not. Why?

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Because you have a hope that there's somebody who knows you,

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who loves you, who understands what you want,

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and has wrapped it and stuck it under the tree,

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that there's a good gift waiting for you.

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This past weekend, our senior Pastor Brian Tome

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gave one of my favorite messages.

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It was about the movie Christmas Vacation.

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It was awesome. If you missed it, go back and watch it.

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And he talked about how lights at Christmas,

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whether we realize it or not, all trace themselves back

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to the biblical story of Christmas because Jesus said

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He's the light of the world.

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And this message today is very simple.

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Jesus said He's the gift.

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The reason that there's any gifts under any tree

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across the world at Christmas is because of Jesus.

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Because God says He is the best giver of all good gifts.

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Says this in James 1:17, which parents,

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if you wanted a good verse to start your kids with

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and their life and understand the scripture,

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start with this one. James 1:17 says,

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every good and perfect gift is from above,

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coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights,

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who does not change like shifting shadows.

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See, that's the single, simple, incredible truth

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and power of the Christmas story.

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There's a God who loves you.

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There's a God who knows everything about you.

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And He has incredible good gifts planned for you.

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In fact, if you rewind all the way back 2000 years ago

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to the original Christmas story,

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that's pretty much exactly what the angels

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shouted out of the sky to the shepherds.

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The story comes from Luke 2.

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But rather than read it to you myself,

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it's a family service and so I'm gonna have

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a very special guest read it for us today.

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Welcome my daughter Gracie to the stage

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to read us the Christmas story.

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- Luke 2:8-14.

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And in the same region, there were shepherds

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out in the fields keeping watch over their flock by night.

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And an angel of the Lord appeared to them,

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and the glory of the Lord shone around them,

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and they were filled with great fear.

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And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold,

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I bring you good news of great joy

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that will be for all of the people.

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For unto you is born this day in the city of David,

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a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

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And this will be a sign for you.

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You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths

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and lying in a manger."

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And suddenly there was with the angel

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a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God

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and saying, "Glory to God in the highest,

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and on earth peace among those whom He is pleased."

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- Do you remember what it felt like

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to be one of those shepherds?

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Good news, good gifts coming your way.

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Do you remember what it felt like to be a kid

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and to go to sleep, dreaming that

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everything you ever wanted could be under that tree?

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- God, that's our prayer, that if You have good gifts,

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we would love to receive them.

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If You're more than we've imagined, we'd love to see it.

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God, I'm asking for everyone here,

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everyone watching online that we would see You

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and since you more powerfully this Christmas season

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than ever before. Amen. Amen.

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Well, that scripture that we heard, that was Luke 2.

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There's a piece of it I want to take us back to, Luke 2:11.

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The angel says to the shepherds, "For unto you

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is born this day in the city of David,

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a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."

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Not unto all humanity. Unto you.

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The shepherds specifically chosen a personal gift.

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To them that's incredible good news. \

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But the interesting thing is that

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when Jesus was announced, the shepherds run back

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and they tell everybody, "Oh my gosh,

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this is what happened. And it's crazy."

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It's not actually received as awesome news by the people.

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They receive it as the opposite.

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One of the other authorized biographies of Jesus,

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the book of Matthew, puts it this way.

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It says: now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea

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in the days of Herod the king.

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Behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem,

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saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?

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For we saw His star when it rose,

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and have come to worship Him."

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When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled,

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and all of Jerusalem with him.

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Troubled? Why?

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Because they didn't think it was actually a gift, that's why.

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They didn't think it was a gift at all.

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And adults, I know that many of us,

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we grew up in or around church

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and that's how Jesus actually felt to us.

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Not a gift. The opposite of a gift.

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More like an obligation. Not the arrival of peace.

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The arrival of religious obligations.

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Not not the arrival of hope, the arrival of judgment.

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Not the arrival of joy, the taking away of all freedom.

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That's what He felt like to us.

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And because of that, we've never connected

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with the idea of Him being a gift.

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It was all about say the right stuff

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and think the right stuff and do the right stuff,

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and none of that stuff turned out to be

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remotely helpful or encouraging or inspiring to us.

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And so we just sort of locked it away

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in this category called not actually a gift.

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If it felt like anything, like work.

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Which, by the way, some gifts turn out to be like that.

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Some things present themselves as a gift,

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and you'd be wise to know they're not actually a gift.

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Men, we need to have this conversation right now,

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actually, because on Christmas,

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you're going to get a gift, you're going to open it,

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and you're going to be like, "Awesome, I got a new drill.

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A new socket set. Yeah. Nail gun. Oh."

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And you're going to think you got a gift.

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You did not. You just got a job, brother. That's what you got.

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Because on December 26th, your wife is going to be like,

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"Hey, aren't you off work today?

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Didn't you just get that new drill?

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I was thinking that you could."

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And when you hear those words, run, just, just go.

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That's not a gift. That's work.

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And that's how God has felt so many of us,

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not actually a gift, just like work

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and work that we're not incredibly interested in.

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Like it's something worse than we imagined.

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But as kids, we have this hope, right?

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That we have this hope that the gifts

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we were going to receive were not just what we hoped for,

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that they'd even transcend that,

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that they would be better than we ever imagined.

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That's how Christmas felt to me when I was five years old,

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thanks in no small part to my older sister.

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And now I'm going to tell this story.

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But are there any older siblings in the room?

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Older brothers, older sisters, raise your hand.

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Okay. Keep your hands up.

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Now I'm going to tell you this story.

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But the problem with this story is it's going to tell you

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how to do something you should not do. Okay?

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And so I need you to promise me

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that you're not going to do the bad thing.

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So raise your right hand, all older brothers,

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older sisters, raise your right hand

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and repeat after me: I promise

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to listen to the handsome man on stage

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and not trick my younger siblings.

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Okay, now I'm trusting you.

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I was five years old.

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My older sister, Erin, this is Erin, by the way.

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Or as I called her, then, um, her other name:

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Liar is what we --

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And she wanted, for Christmas she wanted an artist easel.

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And she knew that I knew what she was getting for Christmas.

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Now why? Great question. Why did my parents tell me,

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a five year old, what she was getting for Christmas?

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This is a terrible idea, no offense, five year olds,

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not the most trustworthy people in the world.

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But I knew, she knew, I knew.

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And so she cornered me one day. She got me alone.

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She was like, "Listen, you need to tell me,

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what am I getting for Christmas?"

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And I was like, "I'm not telling you. Mom said not to.

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I'm not. I'm Fort Knox." I was unbreakable.

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You will -- "Doesn't matter. I will not tell you."

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And then she goes, "Well, I'll tell you what.

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Make you a deal. I know what you're getting for Christmas.

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And so if you tell me what I'm getting,

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I'll tell you what you're getting. And I'll go first."

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And I was like, "Deal? Sounds great."

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And so I told her, well, first she told me,

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she says, she goes, okay.

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And by the way, I wanted a remote control car,

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that was like my dream, a remote control car.

00:32:33

Just one that was like it just went fast, that's all.

00:32:36

It would be amazing. It's been incredible.

00:32:37

And so she gets me real close.

00:32:39

"Come here. Guess what you're getting.

00:32:41

You're getting a remote control car."

00:32:44

And I was like, "Yes!"

00:32:45

She goes it has big tires and it goes really fast

00:32:49

and it climbs walls." "Climbs walls?"

00:32:51

"It drives on the ceiling." "Drives on the ceiling?"

00:32:54

"It talks. It's a robot. It's crazy."

00:32:57

I was like, "This is better than

00:32:58

I could have ever imagined."

00:32:59

My little five year old mine was blown.

00:33:01

I never fathomed something so glorious was coming my way.

00:33:05

And so I told her what she was getting.

00:33:07

Now, technically, I did not do what my parents said not to do,

00:33:11

which is tell her directly.

00:33:12

I said, "What you're getting rhymes with weasel."

00:33:16

And so held a little bit of integrity still there.

00:33:19

And the next morning we go downstairs.

00:33:21

Christmas comes next morning.

00:33:23

And right there next to the tree is her easel.

00:33:26

And she's pumped.

00:33:28

And I come down and I look under and there's a box.

00:33:30

I was like, oh, this is the box shape of a remote control car.

00:33:33

Awesome. So I open the box, I rip it open,

00:33:35

I open it up and inside is clothes.

00:33:40

So I go to the next box, "Oh, maybe it's this one."

00:33:42

And I open it up and inside is a dinosaur?

00:33:45

It's not bad. Not a remote control car, you know.

00:33:48

And I go after present after present after present.

00:33:50

And I opened all my presents

00:33:52

and guess what wasn't in any of them,

00:33:55

the remote control magical car

00:33:56

that drives on ceilings and talks, was not in there.

00:33:59

Why? Because she made it up. That's why.

00:34:03

Again, older brothers and sisters,

00:34:04

do not trick your younger brother and sister.

00:34:06

Do not do that because what will happen is

00:34:08

about 35-40 years later, they might be on a stage

00:34:10

like this and tell everybody about it. That's why.

00:34:14

Payback, it's coming.

00:34:16

Now, thankfully, thankfully, God is not like my sister,

00:34:20

who, by the way, is a very nice person now.

00:34:22

She's very -- she's a lovely person.

00:34:26

God doesn't promise good gifts that are just made up.

00:34:32

He doesn't make up stuff just to kind of trick us.

00:34:34

"Oh, I got you good. Ha ha."

00:34:37

That's not what He does.

00:34:38

See, when God promises something, He always delivers.

00:34:43

Always. Every single time.

00:34:45

That's not fanciful hope.

00:34:48

That's not naive wishful thinking.

00:34:50

That is quite literally, historically proven fact.

00:34:55

If you read the Christmas story in the Gospels,

00:34:58

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, you look in there

00:35:00

and find the details, you need to understand

00:35:02

what you're reading was actually prophesied about,

00:35:05

promised 700 years plus in many cases earlier.

00:35:11

In fact, many of those same images

00:35:12

that Luke references in Luke two,

00:35:14

those start 700 years earlier in the book of Isaiah

00:35:18

that promised the Messiah,

00:35:20

the child that would be given for us.

00:35:23

Isaiah 9:2 says: For to us a child is born,

00:35:27

to us a Son is given,

00:35:30

and the government will be on His shoulders,

00:35:32

and He will be called Wonderful Counselor,

00:35:35

Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace,

00:35:39

and of the greatness of His government and of peace

00:35:41

there will be no end.

00:35:44

See, when God promises something, you can count on it.

00:35:46

That's exactly what He delivered,

00:35:48

exactly what He delivered to the detail

00:35:50

of where He'd be born and how He'd be born

00:35:51

and all the incredible, God makes a promise.

00:35:53

You can count on it. It's proven.

00:35:56

It's actually one of the things

00:35:57

I'm most grateful for about Crossroads.

00:35:59

We're going to celebrate our 30 year anniversary

00:36:02

coming up in March of 2026 and over 30 years,

00:36:04

it's been incredible to watch God work here.

00:36:10

We've got no scandals, had no balls dropped,

00:36:13

had no lack of follow through.

00:36:15

It's not to say everything's gone perfect,

00:36:17

but we've seen the faithfulness of God.

00:36:19

We've seen His proven character, and we've been able

00:36:22

to mirror him according to His goodness

00:36:23

and His faithfulness to us. God is always faithful.

00:36:28

The question I have for you is, do you believe that?

00:36:32

Do you believe it for you?

00:36:33

For unto you a child has been given.

00:36:37

Do you believe that He's faithful to deliver

00:36:39

on his promises to you?

00:36:41

Now there's many promises, if you comb through

00:36:43

the Christmas story, promises,

00:36:45

good promises all over the place.

00:36:47

I'll read you just a few of them out of just the book of Luke.

00:36:51

The angel Gabriel says to Zechariah, Luke 1:14,

00:36:55

and you will have joy and gladness.

00:36:58

Same angel to Mary, Luke 1:37

00:37:01

promises that nothing will be impossible for you.

00:37:05

Mary then to her cousin Elizabeth, Luke 1:50,

00:37:08

His mercy is on those who fear Him

00:37:10

from generation to generation.

00:37:12

In other words, if you follow God,

00:37:13

if you believe in His promises for you,

00:37:15

God's mercy won't just be on you and your house.

00:37:18

It'll be on your kids and their kids and their kids,

00:37:22

generation after generation.

00:37:24

Zechariah's prophecy, Luke 1:71 says,

00:37:27

we should be saved from our enemies.

00:37:30

Whatever enemy you have in your life, God says,

00:37:32

"I promise I'll save you."

00:37:34

The angels to the shepherds, Luke 2:10 says,

00:37:36

I bring you good tidings of great joy,

00:37:39

which will be to all people.

00:37:42

See, the promise of the Christmas story is that

00:37:44

your future,

00:37:45

the future you spend so much time worrying about,

00:37:48

so much time fretting about.

00:37:49

As a parent, you fret for your kids

00:37:51

and their future and what's going to happen

00:37:53

and how do I protect them and how do I control? And how do I?

00:37:55

Guess what, it's in the hands of a good Father

00:37:58

who loves you and who has good gifts prepared for you.

00:38:01

That's the promise of the Christmas story.

00:38:03

Doesn't mean that everything is

00:38:05

going to bounce exactly your way.

00:38:06

I'm not saying go out and play the Powerball

00:38:08

and you're going to win. It's not, it's not --

00:38:10

It doesn't mean bad things won't happen to you.

00:38:12

Doesn't mean you won't experience pain.

00:38:14

It means something, though, I would say better.

00:38:18

It means something better.

00:38:19

Yes, yes. Eternity spent with God.

00:38:22

Yes. An eternity free from pain and problems.

00:38:24

Yes, yes, yes, but not just heaven someday.

00:38:26

If you think that's the promise of the Christmas story,

00:38:28

you missed the whole thing.

00:38:29

It's not a promise of just heaven someday.

00:38:32

It's a promise that here and now, you can experience

00:38:34

the good gifts of a Father who loves you.

00:38:38

Jesus was born in Bethlehem, called the City of David.

00:38:42

David was one of the ancestors of Jesus, King David.

00:38:45

He wrote many of the Psalms in the Bible,

00:38:48

including this one.

00:38:49

That's one of my favorite sections in all of Scripture.

00:38:53

David wrote in Psalm 27:13,

00:38:55

I remain confident of this: I will see

00:39:01

the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

00:39:05

Not someday, not a long time from now.

00:39:08

David says, "I'm confident that here and now

00:39:10

I will see His goodness."

00:39:12

And so he says, "Wait for the Lord. Be strong.

00:39:14

Take heart. Wait for the Lord."

00:39:16

Guess what? People who believe that,

00:39:18

they want to be around God, and because they believe

00:39:21

that He has good gifts for them, they get close to Him

00:39:24

and they do things like talk to Him on a more frequent basis.

00:39:26

They pray. And when you do that, guess what God does?

00:39:29

He gives you more gifts.

00:39:31

Again, that's not just my opinion.

00:39:33

That's actually now statistically proven fact.

00:39:35

We did a survey a few months ago.

00:39:37

We surveyed thousands and thousands of people,

00:39:39

and we asked them two questions.

00:39:41

How often do you pray?

00:39:43

And have you seen a gift in your life

00:39:45

in the past 12 months that you would say,

00:39:47

yes, had to come from God?

00:39:49

And this is the result. Kids, this is a chart.

00:39:51

I promise it won't be up very long.

00:39:53

It's going to remind you of school.

00:39:54

Don't worry about it. It's very important though.

00:39:57

All the way on the left, if you did not pray at all,

00:39:59

13% of people said they saw God give them a gift.

00:40:03

On the other side, if you pray every day,

00:40:05

90% of people said in the past 12 months

00:40:09

I received a gift that could have only come from God.

00:40:14

See, when you believe there's a Father who loves you,

00:40:17

when you take a step closer to Him,

00:40:19

when you hold out your hands like a child and you say,

00:40:21

"God, if You have a good gift for me, I'll take it."

00:40:23

Guess what He does? He fills your arms up.

00:40:26

That's what He does. That's what He does.

00:40:28

By the way, if that piques your interest around prayer,

00:40:31

and you'd have to be in a coma for that

00:40:32

not to pique your interest around prayer.

00:40:34

But maybe prayer has always been a thing that

00:40:36

you just never quite understood how it works.

00:40:38

Or maybe you grew up and it was like magical words

00:40:40

you had to say, and you could get it wrong or whatever.

00:40:42

We're doing a whole teaching series on the weekends,

00:40:45

on Sundays in January called Pray Wild Prayers.

00:40:48

We'd love to have you come back.

00:40:49

Doesn't matter if you've ever been here before.

00:40:51

Doesn't matter if you believe in God.

00:40:52

Love to have you check out that series.

00:40:54

Worst that happens is you waste a couple hours of your life.

00:40:57

Best thing that could happen to you is

00:40:58

your life is transformed and you come to meet a God

00:41:01

who knows and who loves you.

00:41:03

Love to have you back from that.

00:41:04

So you'll learn to talk to a God

00:41:06

who is better than you can imagine.

00:41:08

God doesn't just say, "Dream up

00:41:11

the heights of your imagination and I'm that good."

00:41:14

God says, "No, no, no, I go way past

00:41:17

your puny little imagination,

00:41:19

way past whatever you think is good.

00:41:22

I'm so much better than that."

00:41:24

Ephesians 3:20 says: Now to Him who is able

00:41:27

to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.

00:41:33

That's the character of God.

00:41:34

That's the arrival of Christmas.

00:41:36

It's not the arrival of religious obligation.

00:41:39

It's the end of it.

00:41:41

It's not the arrival of judgment in your life.

00:41:44

It's the final word spoken over your life

00:41:46

so there never is a judgment.

00:41:48

It's not restriction in your life.

00:41:50

It's the beginning of freedom.

00:41:52

This is the message and the promise

00:41:54

and the power of the Christmas story.

00:41:56

It is why Jesus said, you got to become like a child

00:41:59

to receive the gift.

00:42:00

Because, see, adults, we get a little squirrely

00:42:02

when it comes to gifts.

00:42:03

Kids, this is a weird thing about us as adults.

00:42:05

It's really strange, when people want to give us gifts,

00:42:08

we get all like, "I don't know, do I deserve it?

00:42:13

Have I earned it? What's the catch?"

00:42:15

We wonder all these things.

00:42:16

And so Jesus says, "No, you got to become

00:42:18

like a little child if you want to receive Me."

00:42:20

It says this in Mark 10:15, Jesus says,

00:42:22

I tell you, anyone who will not receive

00:42:24

the kingdom of God like a little child

00:42:26

will never, ever enter it.

00:42:29

And so, kids, I need your help one last time.

00:42:33

Let's imagine that on Christmas morning

00:42:36

you get that present, the number one present

00:42:39

that you want the most. Let's imagine that you get it.

00:42:42

When that happens, will you say. "No? I don't deserve this?"

00:42:47

No, you probably won't say that, will you?

00:42:50

Will you be like, "I don't know if I've earned it"?

00:42:52

No, no. Will you say, "What's the catch?" No.

00:42:59

When you receive the gift that you hope to get, kids,

00:43:05

instead, what you'll do is you'll just say thank you.

00:43:11

That's right. I like that kid. Yeah.

00:43:16

That'll work. How about a yeah and a thank you.

00:43:18

But we'll get to that. It's fine.

00:43:20

Yeah. You just say thank you.

00:43:21

That's what it means to receive as a child.

00:43:25

One of the most brilliant theologians

00:43:28

of the past century put it this way.

00:43:31

He said that the child doesn't have to struggle

00:43:36

to get himself in a good position

00:43:38

for having a relationship with God.

00:43:40

He doesn't have to craft ingenious ways

00:43:43

of explaining his position to Jesus.

00:43:45

He doesn't have to create a pretty face for himself.

00:43:49

He doesn't have to achieve any state of spiritual feeling

00:43:52

or intellectual understanding.

00:43:54

All he has to do is happily accept the cookies,

00:44:00

the gift of the kingdom.

00:44:02

This is the Christmas story.

00:44:04

The Christmas story is that there was a God

00:44:08

who had everything He could have ever wanted,

00:44:11

except for you.

00:44:13

And so He came, born humbly in a manger,

00:44:18

as a gift to be the final gift you'd ever want

00:44:21

and ever need in your life.

00:44:23

If you've never received that gift,

00:44:25

maybe you want to right now.

00:44:27

Or maybe you have before, but you want to again.

00:44:29

Maybe this has been a year where you felt

00:44:30

some distance between you and God.

00:44:32

Maybe some things happened and there was a time

00:44:34

you felt close to Him

00:44:35

and you felt close to the Christmas story,

00:44:38

but as time has gone on, you've just felt distant.

00:44:40

If you want to receive that gift, it's so easy.

00:44:43

You just have to be like a child.

00:44:45

You just hold out your hands and you say, "God."

00:44:48

In the quiet of your heart right now you can pray this prayer.

00:44:50

You say, "God. Thank You for the gift of Jesus.

00:44:57

I'll take Him." It's all you have to say.

00:45:00

Let me pray for you. God, thank You so much

00:45:03

for the power of the Christmas story.

00:45:05

Thank You for the simplicity and the depth of the manger.

00:45:09

God, I believe that everything I could ever want

00:45:10

is found in You.

00:45:12

I'm asking for all of us with a yes in our heart

00:45:14

towards you, God, that this would be a year

00:45:16

we receive the gift, more of you than we can imagine.

00:45:21

You make us look more like You.

00:45:22

That we experience more of You,

00:45:24

more of Your hope and Your peace and Your joy.

00:45:25

That You would fill us and You'd fill our families.

00:45:29

Amen, Amen.

00:45:31

Well, before we run out of here,

00:45:33

I know you've got more chaos and more busyness,

00:45:37

and you've got dinners to go to and stuff to do.

00:45:40

Before it gets all busy and crazy again,

00:45:42

we're just going to take ten minutes, just ten minutes

00:45:46

and reflect on the beauty and the power

00:45:48

of the Christmas story together.

00:45:49

Would you go ahead and stand up?

00:45:51

We're going to sing some of the most powerful,

00:45:54

profound Christmas songs that have ever been written

00:45:58

as we close out our time together.

00:47:40

00:52:16

- It's time, you got one of these when you came in.

00:52:19

Kiddos, you got a glow stick.

00:52:21

And if you haven't cracked that thing yet,

00:52:23

I am thoroughly impressed.

00:52:25

Go ahead and light that thing up.

00:52:28

You know, the gift of Christmas, it has spread

00:52:32

for over 2000 years, the same way that this light

00:52:36

is going to spread from one side of this room to the other,

00:52:39

one person at a time, one person who's received the light

00:52:45

and who passes it on to another.

00:57:42

- Christmas is a reminder that God has gifts for us,

00:57:47

that He wants to show up in our lives

00:57:49

and to help us experience more hope, more life,

00:57:51

more transformation.

00:57:53

- And so this Christmas, we are just so excited

00:57:55

because we have something for you.

00:57:57

We have this gift that Kyle talked about,

00:58:00

and the best way for you to get that

00:58:01

is to have this connect card.

00:58:04

It's the only way we can really get in contact

00:58:06

and not just give you the opportunity to know us,

00:58:08

but give us the opportunity to know you.

00:58:10

So take just one minute, that's all it takes to fill that out.

00:58:13

And I know that you won't be sorry that you did.

00:58:15

- Yeah, we won't spam you.

00:58:17

It's just a way for us to keep up with you and to help you.

00:58:19

I mean, really, the whole reason our church exists

00:58:21

is to help you take just that next step in your walk with God.

00:58:24

And these connect cards help us do that.

00:58:26

We'd love for you to fill out.

00:58:28

It'll be like me or someone from my team

00:58:30

reaching out to connect with you

00:58:31

and just see how we can help you grow.

00:58:33

And in the same way that we sent these

00:58:35

as a gift to folks that we had their information,

00:58:38

we're able to send it to them as a Christmas gift.

00:58:40

We actually have another gift coming up

00:58:42

that's actually this is a little bit behind the scenes.

00:58:44

It's actually a tool and a resource that

00:58:46

our staff has used for years to kind of tee up

00:58:49

our prayer life and how we kind of go to God

00:58:51

and kind of set the tone for the whole year.

00:58:53

So we'd love to have you fill out the connect card.

00:58:56

We'll send you a free download of a prayer guide

00:58:59

that will help you set up your next year really, really great.

00:59:03

- Well, we do hope you'll join us

00:59:04

for our online experience that will be all about

00:59:07

what we want from God in 2026, before we head into

00:59:11

our series, which you're talking about,

00:59:13

prayer is the next series that's coming up.

00:59:15

But if we don't see you before that,

00:59:16

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

00:59:18

We are so glad that you joined us tonight

00:59:20

and we can't wait to see you next time.

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