The Lord that Restores | Christmas Time Week 3

“All you do is just take, take, take.” Ever felt that? Maybe you’ve said to an ex, wanted to say it to a boss, or feel like that’s just how life is. It’s true though—the authorities and powers of the world we live in are built around what they can take. Yet according to the Bible, Jesus came to be a very different sort of Lord—one that gives and restores. Join us today as Kyle talks about how Jesus came to be a Lord that restores us.

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    (cuckoo clock)
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    - Is Christmas cancelled this year?
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    - Does Santa have to wear a mask?
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    - Does Santa have COVID?
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    - Am I still going to get presents?
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    - Yeah, this year's a little cuckoo.
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    The good news, Christmas is coming,
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    a season of hope and light.
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    It might just be exactly what this weary world needs most.
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    Christmas Time 2020:
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    A new weekly series from Crossroads.
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    - Are we still having Christmas?
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    - Heck, yeah, we are, kid.
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    Check out the Crossroads app on your smart TV
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    or go to Crossroads.net/Christmas.
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    (cuckoo clock)
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    - Hey, welcome to Crossroads.
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    My name is Kyle, I'm one of the teaching pastors here
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    and the pastor for Crossroads Church online.
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    It is almost Christmas time, we're so close
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    which we're so happy about.
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    I've been waiting for Christmas for so long this year.
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    We put up our tree on November 1st,
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    and I know we're not alone.
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    So why is it that you and I want Christmas more than ever?
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    It's because we're looking for something powerful.
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    And I have good news for you today.
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    There is amazing power inside the Christmas story
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    that I hope to be able to unlock for you
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    that you may have never, ever heard before.
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    It's power to transform your life,
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    to take you as the old Christmas Carol says,
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    from feeling weary to rejoicing.
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    Let's start off by singing some Christmas carols
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    that can unlock some powerful truth for us today.
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    - A lot of the songs we sing
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    are like statement songs.
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    They say statements of truth,
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    statements about God and who He is.
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    A few of the songs that we sing are narrative songs,
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    but that's what this next one is.
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    It's a song that tells a story from start to finish.
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    And it's a song that
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    you probably grew up listening to, like I did.
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    And it paints this
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    little pretty perfect soft picture of Christmas.
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    But that's not what the story of Christmas was.
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    Jesus was born as a baby into chaos,
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    chaos like you're experiencing right now,
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    like we've walked through,
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    pain like we've walked through this year.
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    And so I want you to --
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    I want you to see this song differently
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    in this moment as you sing it.
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    Lean in differently and hear the story
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    of a Savior who comes to you and me into chaos
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    and brings rescue and freedom.
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    - Hi, I'm Kyle and this is Hannah, welcome.
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    Welcome to the Crossroads Christmas Workshop.
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    I got started on the gift wrapping.
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    I know we were going to do it together,
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    but I just went ahead and started going for it.
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    I need a little bit more taping.
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    To be honest, we're running out,
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    but I think it's going pretty good so far.
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    - Oh, you've got one right there. You can use that one.
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    - This can reinforce the corners.
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    - Kyle, A for effort, man.
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    I mean, wow, you're really getting into the elf spirit.
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    - At first I was bummed out.
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    I was like, "Oh, they're making us do this,"
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    you know, I was mad about it.
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    But now like, I don't know, I'm in.
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    - I see, all in.
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    - I'm just so happy about Christmas right now.
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    - Kyle wrapped up all the gifts
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    from the Christmas Gift Drive.
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    And well done to everyone who participated
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    in helping kids who wouldn't have otherwise gotten a gift.
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    If you still want to make a difference this Christmas
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    it's not too late.
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    You can head to Crossroads.net to give a year end gift.
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    - And you are giving has so many amazing things this year.
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    Actual amazing things, way better than this.
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    We've done things like we baptized hundreds of people.
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    We've sewn thousands of masks and given them away.
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    We've take care of child care needs
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    for front line workers.
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    Oh, and by the way,
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    we paid off $40 million of medical debt
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    earlier this year as a community.
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    - Amazing. - Unbelievable.
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    - Yeah. And that's just evidence
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    that we're not holding on to this money.
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    The money that you give, that we give
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    goes directly to the church to help people.
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    To see where the money goes,
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    set up a reoccurring gift, or make a year end gift,
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    you can head to Crossroads.net/give.
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    - This week we have got the best thing
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    since sliced gingerbread. - Oh, yeah.
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    It's the Crossroads Christmas special.
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    It's going to be amazing.
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    - It's going to be great.
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    It's going to be an incredible Christmas experience
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    that you can do right from home.
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    You can watch any time at Crossroads.net/Christmas
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    or download the Crossroads TV app
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    for the best viewing experience.
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    You know, Kyle's actually about to run off set
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    and get changed because we're going to pick up
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    with him when he talks about
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    how Jesus is more than just a baby in a manger,
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    He is Lord.
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    - Today is the third part of our Christmas series,
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    Christmas Time 2020.
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    The tagline for this series I love.
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    It's a weary world rejoices, taken from the old hymn,
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    Oh, Holy Night, one of my favorite hymns.
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    I won't sing it for you because I suck at singing.
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    But it just describes me perfectly
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    because right now I feel weary in my life.
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    I'm just weary of in the last year.
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    I've been stuck at home, stressed
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    and tired from the weight of trying to serve
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    and help lead our church and my family
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    through this incredibly difficult and confusing times.
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    In fact, for the first time in my life,
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    I've woken up some days
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    and I've just wanted to stay in bed.
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    If I'm honest, weary sums up how I feel perfectly.
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    I know some of you might hear that
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    and you think like, "Dude, you should stop complaining.
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    Honestly, if that's the worst you have
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    to complain about you should just stop right now."
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    I get it. I do.
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    I know that some of us have lost jobs this year.
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    Some have lost houses,
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    others have lost loved ones.
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    I don't know what you've lost this year.
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    I don't know what's making you feel weary,
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    but I know that you probably do feel that way.
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    We're, weary.
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    But the good news of this series is that
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    there are three aspects of Jesus
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    that He gives us as a gift
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    that can transform our weariness into rejoicing.
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    Week one, we looked at this idea that
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    Jesus is the gift of light,
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    that He gives us to Himself as light.
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    Now it's pretty obvious
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    how light can transform weariness, right?
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    If you're in the dark, now you can see.
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    Amazing, rejoice, no more weariness.
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    Week two we talked about how Jesus is the Lamb,
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    the sacrificial lamb that takes away our sins.
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    Again, kind of obvious.
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    I'm weary from the weight of my sin,
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    He takes it away. Awesome, rejoice.
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    This week, though, is a little less obvious
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    because this week we're going to dig into this gift.
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    The gift that he is Lord.
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    No, it's not -- No, it's not obvious
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    why that transforms weariness
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    That's what we're going to dig into it today.
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    But I want you to know from the beginning,
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    I think it's the most relevant truth
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    with the most power to help transform how you think,
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    how you act, how you feel right now.
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    In fact, I don't think it's a stretch to say that
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    while it may be one of the most quoted lines
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    in all of faith is "Jesus is Lord,"
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    it may be the most misunderstood concept
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    in the entire Bible.
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    And I believe that misunderstanding is a big reason
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    for your weariness and my weariness.
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    Today we're going to try to fill in that gap,
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    and if we can, I think
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    it can dramatically impact your life for the better.
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    It's the balm you need right now,
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    maybe more than any other time in your life.
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    To help you get it, we're going to take
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    a journey together through the Bible.
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    A journey that you may have never taken before.
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    As we do that, let's invite God
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    to be on that journey with us.
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    Pray with me.
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    God, I pray for the next bit of time
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    that we get to spend together You'll be with us,
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    that you'd unlock truth.
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    That you'd help us see the gift that it is
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    that You are Lord,
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    that You'd transform our weariness into rejoicing. Amen.
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    Now, I don't want to brag, but I do know
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    a lot about Lords, because I actually married one.
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    Literally, Sarah's maiden name is Lord, Sarah Lord.
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    She did not get an upgrade when she married me.
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    I never actually publicly apologized for this.
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    So, Babe, I'm so sorry.
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    You had the best last name and now your last name
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    is one that everyone thinks is Ransom
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    or Rancid, even worse. Perfect.
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    Anyway, sorry about that.
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    How is it possible that a Lord coming is a gift, you know?
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    Hey, congratulations.
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    I have a gift for you, someone to tell you what to do."
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    What?
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    "Somebody to impress,
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    someone to pay tribute to, someone to rule."
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    You know, that doesn't sound like a gift.
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    "Congratulations. You have a new boss.
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    His name is Lord Voldemort.
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    He's got some pretty strong opinions
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    and some big changes he wants to make around here."
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    You know, how could that be a gift?
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    Here's the thing you have to get from the very beginning,
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    because literally everything else hinges on it.
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    And it's this: Jesus is not like other lords.
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    Not at all.
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    Jeremiah 10:6 says this:
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    Now that verse applies directly to Jesus, directly to Him.
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    Why?
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    Because Jesus isn't like any other human who's ever lived.
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    Because he's not just human, see He is God.
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    Isaiah 9:6 is a classic scripture
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    used in conjunction with the Christmas story.
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    This is actually a prophecy of the birth of Jesus.
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    It says this:
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    It's crazy, this little baby is God.
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    The little baby is not normal.
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    They are artists for centuries
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    have been trying to capture this idea,
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    I think, quite poorly, by the way.
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    This idea that this baby is not normal, not usual.
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    They got a lot of things wrong, a whole lot of things.
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    Look at this one right here.
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    This is called Benjamin Button Jesus.
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    Like, why? Was he born at 85 years old?
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    I don't understand this at all.
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    It's very strange.
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    This one is called Mary is afraid to hold me Jesus.
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    He's like green.
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    I don't know, He looks very sick.
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    Oh, they're all white too.
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    I'm not sure whether that's the thing.
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    It's just ridiculous.
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    This is -- this is one of my favorites.
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    This is called male pattern baldness Jesus.
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    I'm born at 45
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    and my widow's peaks are already going back.
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    My forehead is becoming a five head. Pretty awful.
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    This is my favorite though.
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    This one - this is called Mary did you know
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    that your baby boy would never skip a leg day.
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    Seriously. Look at that, it's impressive.
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    Never skipped a leg day.
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    I could He could squat like 1,000 pounds,
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    He's got veins popping out places. It's ridiculous.
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    Still, for some reason,
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    Mary is obviously very, very disappointed
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    that this is her baby.
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    She's like, "I did not know.
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    I just want to be clear, I did not know."
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    It's crazy.
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    He is different.
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    Jesus is very different.
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    He's not a Lord like the others.
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    But before we can tackle the differences
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    between Jesus and the other lords,
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    let's nail down one thing that all Lords,
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    Jesus included, have in common.
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    It's pretty simple: Every lord rules a house.
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    And not just any house, usually a really, really big one.
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    See, it turns out that all of our issues,
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    all of our misunderstandings,
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    all the reason why we hear that Jesus is Lord
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    and we don't think, "Yay, a gift."
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    They all come from assuming that Jesus
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    is like all other lords when it comes to rules and houses.
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    Let's start with houses.
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    You know that lords have houses.
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    You know, usually it's a big, fancy, impressive house.
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    If you've ever watched Downton Abbey,
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    you saw Lord Grantham and his big, amazing house.
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    I've heard you can stay in that on vacation.
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    That sounds amazing.
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    I don't know anyone who's actually done that,
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    but looks it amazing. Big, fancy, impressive house.
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    By the way, I want you to know
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    I would love to recommend Downton Abbey
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    to you as a TV show.
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    I can't actually do that responsibly.
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    What I can say is that Downton Abbey
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    is like a Jolly Rancher.
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    Is it good for you? No. It's awful, it'll rot your teeth.
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    Is it tasty? Absolutely.
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    You can do with that whatever you want to.
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    They also see a picture of lords in the Crown,
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    another binge worthy show. Right?
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    Season four just came out.
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    Sarah won't let us watch it yet.
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    We are rationing it just like our ancestors
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    rationed meat and beans in the Great War.
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    We're rationing binge worthy TV.
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    They'd probably not be very proud of us,
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    but this is what we're doing right now.
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    Anyway, in the Crown, I know that
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    the queen's house is Buckingham Palace.
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    It's big, it's fancy, it's impressive.
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    In Star Wars, Lord Vader has a house.
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    It's the Death Star. Big, fancy, impressive.
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    See, the thing is, in each of these
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    the idea is that you go to the lord' house to serve them.
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    If you want to talk to them, you go to them.
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    As most other world religions,
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    the lords or gods are just like human lords.
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    Like the same.
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    They love big, fancy, impressive looking houses.
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    And the idea is you're supposed to go there
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    to worship and serve them.
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    Once this pandemic is finally over, please,
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    and you can travel again,
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    you can go to pretty much anywhere in the entire world
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    and you'll find big fancy houses
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    for all kinds of various gods, called temples.
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    You'll find them in Indonesia, England, Myanmar,
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    Egypt and Africa, China, India, Cambodia,
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    Central America, South America, Greece, Turkey.
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    This is a picture I personally took
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    of the Temple of Artemis.
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    Back in the day, it was one of
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    the seven wonders of the ancient world.
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    But now, as you can see, it's kind of crappy.
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    Sorry about your house, Artemis.
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    It didn't go well. I don't happened.
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    Anyway, most Lords love big fancy houses,
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    but not Jesus.
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    Because remember, He's not like the other lords.
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    Can we all agree, as the Lord of the universe,
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    He could have been born anywhere.
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    Could have made that happen. Right?
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    He could've been born in the fanciest house
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    in the most impressive room that He wanted.
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    He could have, but He didn't.
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    Instead, He chose to be born in a barn.
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    Why?
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    Let's check out the Christmas story
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    and see if I can find the answer.
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    You probably know the basics about the Christmas story.
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    You know, Joseph and Mary were engaged,
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    then Mary turns up pregnant.
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    Joseph is not super pumped about that,
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    assumes that she cheated on him, so decides
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    he's just going to kind of mercifully end the relationship.
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    He could have had her stoned, by the way.
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    He's a nice guy, decided not to do that.
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    But then an angel shows up and tells Joseph
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    that Mary didn't actually cheat on him.
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    Instead, God chose Mary to give birth
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    to the divine messiah, the Lord Himself, God's own son.
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    It's crazy.
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    The Bachelor has nothing on the Bible.
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    Anyway, Mary and Joseph have to travel to Bethlehem,
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    which is Joseph's ancestral home,
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    to be counted in a census.
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    The story reads this way in Luke 2:
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    They show up.
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    They get to the Bethlehem where he's from
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    and there's just no room.
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    You probably heard there was no room in the inn.
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    If you've ever watched
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    the Charlie Brown Christmas Special,
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    amazing Vince Guaraldi, incredible music. Amazing.
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    The picture is from that show. Right?
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    He's like the kind innkeeper.
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    The idea is that they kind of went to Bethlehem
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    and they didn't make reservations,
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    kind of irresponsible.
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    And they're knocking on all the inn doors,
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    looking for a Holiday Inn or wherever.
  • 00:22:12
    And there's no rooms, obviously.
  • 00:22:14
    But there's this kind innkeeper
  • 00:22:16
    who lets them sleep out in the barn.
  • 00:22:18
    Really nice story.
  • 00:22:19
    I mean, it makes for a great cartoon Christmas special,
  • 00:22:23
    but it's not true, like at all.
  • 00:22:26
    You've got to understand our houses
  • 00:22:28
    and how we use them are very, very different
  • 00:22:31
    than first century Jewish houses and how they used them.
  • 00:22:36
    Now, the goal is you grow up, you get a job,
  • 00:22:40
    and you move out of your parents' house.
  • 00:22:42
    I know some parent just elbowed
  • 00:22:44
    their twenty something on the couch next to them,
  • 00:22:46
    like, "Did you hear that? That's what George said."
  • 00:22:48
    Look, mom and dad, I was a kid
  • 00:22:52
    who spent a year living with my parents
  • 00:22:54
    in my early 20's while I kind of got my feet under me
  • 00:22:57
    and got my crap together.
  • 00:22:58
    Let me just say,
  • 00:22:59
    on behalf of your 20 something next to you,
  • 00:23:01
    they're not living the dream right now either.
  • 00:23:04
    Let me say to both of you, it'll be fine.
  • 00:23:06
    Just relax, enjoy the time together,
  • 00:23:08
    try not to kill each other.
  • 00:23:09
    Anyway, in the 1st century,
  • 00:23:11
    Jewish families don't live like we do. They didn't.
  • 00:23:14
    Instead, the entire extended family
  • 00:23:17
    lived in one house under one roof.
  • 00:23:19
    There's no idea of moving out, going away.
  • 00:23:22
    You stayed together.
  • 00:23:24
    So when Mary and Joseph show up in Bethlehem,
  • 00:23:26
    they would have showed up to Joseph's family house,
  • 00:23:30
    not the Holiday Inn.
  • 00:23:31
    See the reason we think it was an inn
  • 00:23:33
    is because of a misinterpretation that happened
  • 00:23:35
    when the English King James commissioned
  • 00:23:37
    the King James Bible back in the 1600s.
  • 00:23:41
    The word they translated as inn we now know
  • 00:23:43
    much more accurately means guest room,
  • 00:23:46
    a feature that would have been in every single
  • 00:23:48
    1st century Jewish family house.
  • 00:23:51
    When Mary and Joseph show up
  • 00:23:52
    and knock on their front door,
  • 00:23:54
    they're told they can't stay in the house.
  • 00:23:56
    Well, why?
  • 00:23:57
    My guess is because the family didn't like the fact
  • 00:23:59
    that Mary was pregnant before the wedding.
  • 00:24:02
    And so someone, Joseph's father in all likelihood,
  • 00:24:04
    says, "You guys can't sleep in here with the rest of us.
  • 00:24:07
    Your life's kind of a mess. It's messy.
  • 00:24:10
    It's kind -- I don't like it.
  • 00:24:12
    You're smelly,
  • 00:24:13
    and so you should go out in the barn with the animals
  • 00:24:16
    because that's basically what you like to me right now."
  • 00:24:19
    You know, not real nice, go out in the barn.
  • 00:24:21
    No big fancy house for you, Jesus.
  • 00:24:24
    Now, while that may have been a surprise
  • 00:24:26
    to Mary and Joseph,
  • 00:24:27
    probably not what they were hoping for,
  • 00:24:29
    it wasn't to Jesus.
  • 00:24:31
    Why do I think that?
  • 00:24:33
    Because the house the Lord wants
  • 00:24:35
    has never been a big, fancy, impressive one.
  • 00:24:41
    Which can be kind of confusing,
  • 00:24:42
    given all the big, fancy, impressive houses of God,
  • 00:24:45
    like this one, right?
  • 00:24:46
    This is one of our Crossroads sites.
  • 00:24:48
    It was once a cathedral called Old St George.
  • 00:24:51
    Now it's been renovated
  • 00:24:53
    and it's one of our church buildings.
  • 00:24:54
    And you may have heard places like this
  • 00:24:56
    called the House of God before.
  • 00:24:59
    It's big, it's impressive, high ceilings,
  • 00:25:03
    great architecture, stained glass windows,
  • 00:25:05
    the whole nine yards, all that stuff.
  • 00:25:07
    Here's the thing, this isn't the house of God.
  • 00:25:11
    In fact, no building, no cathedral,
  • 00:25:14
    no nothing that has walls and a roof
  • 00:25:17
    is the house of God.
  • 00:25:19
    Does that mean this place has no value?
  • 00:25:20
    No, of course not.
  • 00:25:22
    We love buildings.
  • 00:25:23
    They're incredibly useful, but they're just a tool,
  • 00:25:27
    a tool for people like you and me
  • 00:25:29
    to know and understand God. Just a tool.
  • 00:25:32
    You know, whenever we've opened a building at Crossroads,
  • 00:25:35
    we have a ceremony.
  • 00:25:37
    It happened in this building
  • 00:25:38
    when it was opened just down front.
  • 00:25:40
    If you go up to the front, you'll find
  • 00:25:42
    a coffee stain on the rug,
  • 00:25:45
    which is every time we have a ceremony,
  • 00:25:46
    we'll have big worship music, inspiring message,
  • 00:25:49
    you know, pray and thank God for giving us the building
  • 00:25:53
    and ask that He uses it and all that stuff.
  • 00:25:55
    And then we do something that makes people
  • 00:25:58
    honestly like just gasp every time.
  • 00:26:01
    We take a coffee cup, we take off the lid,
  • 00:26:04
    and then we do this,
  • 00:26:06
    we just pour it on the floor.
  • 00:26:09
    And everyone's like, "Stop.
  • 00:26:10
    What are you doing?
  • 00:26:12
    You're ruining God's house."
  • 00:26:13
    No, we're not. This is a tool.
  • 00:26:16
    You know what tools are for? To be used.
  • 00:26:18
    The best compliment you could possibly give a tool
  • 00:26:22
    is it's all scratched and dented because you've used it.
  • 00:26:25
    This is just a tool.
  • 00:26:27
    It's not the House of God, not at all.
  • 00:26:31
    Well, so if this isn't God's house, what is?
  • 00:26:35
    Well, here's a history of God and houses,
  • 00:26:38
    because God does have a house.
  • 00:26:41
    It's not what you think.
  • 00:26:42
    Now, the warning I have to give here is that
  • 00:26:44
    some of the things I'm about to share are just my ideas.
  • 00:26:47
    You don't have to share them at all
  • 00:26:48
    to be part of Crossroads.
  • 00:26:50
    Here one of the things I love about us is that
  • 00:26:52
    we say we major on the majors and we minor on the minors.
  • 00:26:55
    It's okay if we disagree.
  • 00:26:57
    I'm just telling you what I've seen
  • 00:27:00
    as I've been studying this idea through scripture.
  • 00:27:02
    Now the first house God ever has in scripture
  • 00:27:05
    is actually a tent. It's called the Tabernacle.
  • 00:27:08
    It was pretty cool.
  • 00:27:09
    He designed it himself, and it actually
  • 00:27:12
    moved with the people wherever they went.
  • 00:27:15
    It's really clear that God wanted it.
  • 00:27:17
    There are actually six and a half chapters
  • 00:27:20
    of God telling Moses precisely how to build it.
  • 00:27:22
    Six and a half. Not recommended reading, by the way.
  • 00:27:25
    I mean, the Bible, everything in it is good.
  • 00:27:27
    I'm just saying, not like a page turner,
  • 00:27:29
    but it's in there are six and a half chapters,
  • 00:27:31
    because God cares so much about it.
  • 00:27:33
    The thing is, it's not just a tent. It's a humble tent.
  • 00:27:38
    It's made of like wood and animal skins
  • 00:27:40
    and not super nice.
  • 00:27:42
    God's priority wasn't big and impressive.
  • 00:27:46
    God's priority was to have a house
  • 00:27:48
    that could go with the people wherever they went.
  • 00:27:52
    And so it was designed to be packed up
  • 00:27:54
    and moved really quickly.
  • 00:27:55
    It's interesting. Right?
  • 00:27:57
    From the beginning, God's house was different
  • 00:27:59
    from all the other Lords, all of them.
  • 00:28:04
    Now, that humbled traveling tent was God's house
  • 00:28:08
    for hundreds and hundreds of years
  • 00:28:11
    until a guy you may have heard about named King David
  • 00:28:15
    conquers Jerusalem and builds a big old fancy house
  • 00:28:18
    for himself right in the middle of a city.
  • 00:28:20
    Right? Just kind of like all the other lords
  • 00:28:22
    around him had big, impressive, fancy, you know, amazing.
  • 00:28:25
    Then one day, David's sitting
  • 00:28:26
    in his big, fancy, impressive house
  • 00:28:28
    and he feels guilty about how nice it is
  • 00:28:30
    in comparison to God's old humble traveling tent.
  • 00:28:33
    You know, it's like he looks out the window like,
  • 00:28:35
    "Oh, jeez, oh, man.
  • 00:28:36
    I can't have a nicer house than God.
  • 00:28:37
    This does not look good at all, you know?'
  • 00:28:40
    So he decides he's going to fix his guilt
  • 00:28:42
    by building God a bigger, fancier house than his.
  • 00:28:45
    Boom, did it, right?
  • 00:28:47
    Problem is, God says, "Um, hey, David,
  • 00:28:51
    I don't want a big, fancy, impressive house.
  • 00:28:54
    Please don't build it for me."
  • 00:28:56
    These are literally God's words in 1 Chronicles 17:
  • 00:29:30
    God says, 'Did I ever say I wanted
  • 00:29:33
    a big, fancy, impressive house? No.'
  • 00:29:37
    The message He's trying to send is this:
  • 00:29:39
    I'm not like the other Lords.
  • 00:29:42
    I don't want to live in a big, fancy,
  • 00:29:45
    impressive mess free house.
  • 00:29:47
    And that, my friends, is incredibly good news.
  • 00:29:58
    That's really good news because that's what I'm like.
  • 00:30:03
    I'm not big, I'm not fancy, I'm not impressive.
  • 00:30:06
    My life is messy and has problems.
  • 00:30:09
    I've got habits I can't beat.
  • 00:30:11
    I've got hang ups I have.
  • 00:30:13
    I have things I'm trying to get right in my life,
  • 00:30:16
    but I still screw up again and again and again.
  • 00:30:18
    When I hear that story, I would be Mary and Joseph.
  • 00:30:21
    You know?
  • 00:30:22
    The people who show up, like, "You're too messy.
  • 00:30:24
    You need to go out in the barn."
  • 00:30:26
    So when I hear that Jesus was born out there,
  • 00:30:30
    it makes me wonder, maybe, just maybe He would be for me.
  • 00:30:37
    It's good news that He does not want
  • 00:30:40
    big and fancy and impressive.
  • 00:30:42
    Friends, He doesn't.
  • 00:30:44
    If your life feels messy,
  • 00:30:46
    if your life feels like it has problems
  • 00:30:47
    you have things you can't kick.
  • 00:30:49
    You'd love to be big and fancy, but it's not.
  • 00:30:52
    Good news, He doesn't need it to be.
  • 00:30:55
    He doesn't want that.
  • 00:30:57
    He doesn't want big, fancy, impressive. He doesn't.
  • 00:30:59
    Parents, have you ever had your kids
  • 00:31:01
    make you something you didn't want, you know?
  • 00:31:02
    Of course.
  • 00:31:03
    Are they with you right now?
  • 00:31:05
    Hey, kids, let me just clear something up.
  • 00:31:07
    Mom and dad, we love all the stuff you've ever made us,
  • 00:31:11
    especially that macaroni necklace, it was so cool.
  • 00:31:14
    How did you know that we needed that?
  • 00:31:15
    It matches our shoes, amazing. Okay, cool.
  • 00:31:18
    Here's the thing, this house thing is like that.
  • 00:31:20
    God actually told his people a few different times
  • 00:31:23
    not to build Him a big fancy house.
  • 00:31:25
    In Isaiah 66:1 it says this:
  • 00:31:41
    He goes, "You're going to build me a house?
  • 00:31:43
    It doesn't make any sense.
  • 00:31:45
    I'm the God of the universe.
  • 00:31:46
    I made the whole thing.
  • 00:31:47
    Don't build me a house, David, please."
  • 00:31:50
    What does David do?
  • 00:31:52
    He built it anyway. He does.
  • 00:31:54
    It's what's known as the very first temple
  • 00:31:56
    or Solomon's Temple.
  • 00:31:57
    But make no mistake, the Bible's really clear,
  • 00:31:59
    David did most of the work for it.
  • 00:32:01
    Scripture says that he made extensive preparations.
  • 00:32:04
    That means he used his own money to buy every log,
  • 00:32:07
    every brick, every rock, all the gold,
  • 00:32:09
    all the silver, all the everything.
  • 00:32:11
    Weighed it out, each individual bowl and lamp stand
  • 00:32:13
    and all the stuff that would go in there,
  • 00:32:15
    made every single preparation.
  • 00:32:16
    And then with his last dying breath,
  • 00:32:18
    commanded his son Solomon to build it.
  • 00:32:21
    So Solomon does, so it's Solomon's temple.
  • 00:32:24
    It takes a while to build.
  • 00:32:25
    It's finished around 957 B.C.
  • 00:32:27
    What Solomon does, he holds a big ceremony,
  • 00:32:29
    makes lots of sacrifices.
  • 00:32:30
    He puts God's law inside of God's house.
  • 00:32:35
    But while the tent that God wanted
  • 00:32:37
    lasted hundreds and hundreds of years,
  • 00:32:40
    do you know that big fancy house He didn't ask for
  • 00:32:44
    only lasted 30 years before it was destroyed
  • 00:32:47
    by an attacking enemy.
  • 00:32:49
    Hundreds of years, humble tent.
  • 00:32:52
    Big, fancy house, 30 years,
  • 00:32:53
    lets it be completely destroyed.
  • 00:32:55
    After that it spends almost 300 years mostly in ruins.
  • 00:32:59
    The fact that it falls into such disorder
  • 00:33:01
    that they actually lost the book of God's law
  • 00:33:04
    inside the house.
  • 00:33:05
    It gets lost in the rubble and the crap inside the temple
  • 00:33:07
    to the point where this guy finds it one day,
  • 00:33:10
    one of the priests, and he's like, "What is this thing?"
  • 00:33:13
    So he takes it to the king, a guy named Josiah.
  • 00:33:16
    And Josiah is blown away when he reads it.
  • 00:33:18
    I mean, utterly just blown away.
  • 00:33:20
    He does something really interesting.
  • 00:33:22
    You see, Josiah is a man after God's own heart.
  • 00:33:24
    So rather than be concerned about the placement
  • 00:33:26
    of God's law inside the building, of the temple,
  • 00:33:29
    Josiah commits to its placement inside of him
  • 00:33:34
    and inside of the people.
  • 00:33:35
    He gets all of Israel together
  • 00:33:37
    and he reads the entire Book of the Law to them.
  • 00:33:40
    It's recorded in 2 Chronicles 34, it says:
  • 00:34:06
    Josiah goes, "God, in me, Your law will rule.
  • 00:34:11
    You'll be the Lord of me."
  • 00:34:14
    Josiah is great, Israel flourishes while he's king,
  • 00:34:17
    but it doesn't last.
  • 00:34:19
    The next three kings are complete turds,
  • 00:34:22
    like completely, so much that they let
  • 00:34:24
    God's law and covenant fall back under all the dust.
  • 00:34:27
    And God begs them, "Please follow Me.
  • 00:34:30
    Please listen to Me.
  • 00:34:31
    Please make Me Lord of you, not this building."
  • 00:34:34
    But they don't listen and so He does something crazy.
  • 00:34:38
    He mobilizes one of their enemies
  • 00:34:40
    to completely destroy their capital city, Jerusalem,
  • 00:34:44
    and every single thing in it,
  • 00:34:46
    including His big fancy house.
  • 00:34:49
    It's written in 2 Chronicles 36, it says:
  • 00:35:05
    This is crazy, we've got to get this.
  • 00:35:07
    God actually causes the complete destruction
  • 00:35:11
    of the house they built Him, completely,
  • 00:35:13
    just lets it be blown up.
  • 00:35:15
    For 70 years there's no temple at all,
  • 00:35:18
    nothing, just a pile of rubble.
  • 00:35:19
    And then a new generation comes along
  • 00:35:21
    who is more interested in God,
  • 00:35:22
    and they start to rebuild a new one in the year 516 B.C.
  • 00:35:25
    And that version, the important thing to know about it,
  • 00:35:27
    it was really humble, wasn't nearly as big,
  • 00:35:30
    not nearly as fancy, didn't have all the money
  • 00:35:33
    that David had to sink into it, all the gold,
  • 00:35:35
    all the silver, all the stuff. Kind of humble.
  • 00:35:38
    Interestingly, do you know that God
  • 00:35:40
    let the humble one survive the longest?
  • 00:35:43
    It actually stayed intact for 500 years,
  • 00:35:48
    to the point of King Herod comes on the scene
  • 00:35:51
    just about 10, 15 years before Jesus is born,
  • 00:35:54
    and he decides he's going to renovate the temple,
  • 00:35:56
    like a massive remodel.
  • 00:35:57
    So massive it might have been easier
  • 00:35:59
    to just completely rebuild a new one,
  • 00:36:00
    but he does a remodel.
  • 00:36:02
    Kind of like Chris loves Julia, follow them on Instagram,
  • 00:36:04
    like they should have just ripped down
  • 00:36:05
    their entire house and started from ground floor.
  • 00:36:07
    Anyway, the remodel took until 64 A.D.,
  • 00:36:09
    it's an 80 year long remodel.
  • 00:36:13
    The end result of that is it's the biggest,
  • 00:36:15
    fanciest house of God ever, ever.
  • 00:36:18
    It's amazing. Better than the first one.
  • 00:36:21
    How pumped is God about it?
  • 00:36:23
    How long does he protected and let it stand
  • 00:36:25
    so people can come to His house and serve Him?
  • 00:36:27
    A thousand years?
  • 00:36:29
    No.
  • 00:36:30
    A hundred years?
  • 00:36:32
    Nope.
  • 00:36:33
    Ten years?
  • 00:36:34
    Nope.
  • 00:36:35
    Six years. Six years. That's it.
  • 00:36:38
    Now, I find this fascinating.
  • 00:36:41
    The fanciest house ever built for God
  • 00:36:45
    only lasted, I can't do it, six years. That's it.
  • 00:36:49
    I was going to do seven, no, six years.
  • 00:36:51
    It was completely burned to the ground by Rome.
  • 00:36:53
    And here's the thing, it hasn't been rebuilt since.
  • 00:36:56
    I've been to temple area in Jerusalem.
  • 00:36:59
    There's a Muslim mosque there now, Al-Aqsa
  • 00:37:01
    and the Muslim monument, the dome of the Rock.
  • 00:37:04
    The crazy thing there, God's literally given that area
  • 00:37:07
    to a completely different religion, completely.
  • 00:37:11
    Now, the building that I'm in,
  • 00:37:12
    if you think about this in comparison,
  • 00:37:14
    this was built in 1873.
  • 00:37:17
    It survived a fire, has been renovated.
  • 00:37:19
    It's lasted for 147 years,
  • 00:37:23
    24.5 times longer than the big fancy house.
  • 00:37:28
    That's crazy. What does it all mean?
  • 00:37:30
    I think it's clear,
  • 00:37:32
    Jesus isn't a Lord like the other Lords.
  • 00:37:36
    Friends, He doesn't want a big, fancy, impressive house.
  • 00:37:38
    It's not where He wants to rule.
  • 00:37:39
    It's not where He wants to put His law.
  • 00:37:41
    It's not -- That's not it at all.
  • 00:37:43
    Do you know where He wants to rule?
  • 00:37:45
    In a humble tent.
  • 00:37:48
    Which one? You and me.
  • 00:37:51
    That's the language that Paul, the writer
  • 00:37:53
    of most of the New Testament, uses for us.
  • 00:37:56
    He actually harkens back to the imagery
  • 00:37:58
    of this tabernacle that God treasured,
  • 00:38:00
    that God planned out, that God loves so much.
  • 00:38:03
    He says our bodies are like it,
  • 00:38:04
    we're the temporary tents,
  • 00:38:06
    and that while we're in them,
  • 00:38:07
    God wants to dwell with us
  • 00:38:10
    and travel with us wherever we go.
  • 00:38:13
    He doesn't need us to build a house for Him.
  • 00:38:16
    He's actually building an eternal house for us.
  • 00:38:19
    Paul writes these words in 2 Corinthians 5:
  • 00:38:32
    God says, "I don't want your house built by your hands."
  • 00:38:36
    That's a misinterpretation that tragically misleads
  • 00:38:39
    that Jesus is comfortable
  • 00:38:41
    in perfect, breathtaking splendor.
  • 00:38:44
    No, no, He's comfortable at home
  • 00:38:47
    in unsophisticated, humble messes,
  • 00:38:51
    like you and like me.
  • 00:38:53
    That's where He wants to be, with you.
  • 00:38:54
    I don't know what problem you have in your life.
  • 00:38:56
    I don't know what habit you can't kick.
  • 00:38:58
    I know what you did last night that you're not proud of.
  • 00:39:00
    I don't know what you're doing right now,
  • 00:39:01
    you're planning for tomorrow.
  • 00:39:02
    I don't know what it is.
  • 00:39:03
    I don't know what kind of debt you have.
  • 00:39:05
    I don't know what hang up you have.
  • 00:39:06
    I don't know what addiction you're struggling with.
  • 00:39:07
    I'm telling you though, it doesn't matter.
  • 00:39:09
    If you're messy, God wants to be with you.
  • 00:39:12
    He wants to be the Lord of your house.
  • 00:39:16
    You know, scripture actually says that
  • 00:39:18
    you and I have a door on our heart.
  • 00:39:21
    That's the imagery used.
  • 00:39:22
    He says Jesus is on the outside
  • 00:39:24
    and He's just knocking and He's wanting to get in.
  • 00:39:27
    Hey, hey. Anybody hear me? Here I am.
  • 00:39:30
    These are his words and Revelation 3, it says:
  • 00:39:44
    It sounds like a nice invitation, doesn't it?
  • 00:39:46
    "Hey, I'm outside. If you just let me in,
  • 00:39:47
    I'd love to like hang out, have a good meal together."
  • 00:39:51
    It's a nice one, right?
  • 00:39:52
    So why don't we let Him in? Why not?
  • 00:39:56
    But because I think that we --
  • 00:39:58
    Just as we incorrectly assume He's like
  • 00:39:59
    the other lords when it comes to houses,
  • 00:40:01
    I think we also incorrectly assume
  • 00:40:03
    He's like other lords when it comes to
  • 00:40:05
    what His rule is like.
  • 00:40:07
    He'd be about, you know, telling us what to do
  • 00:40:09
    and knocking us down and putting us in it's place.
  • 00:40:11
    And it's not true either.
  • 00:40:12
    See, all other lords want to rule over you.
  • 00:40:16
    They use their power to take from you.
  • 00:40:19
    That's actually what God said,
  • 00:40:20
    it's how He describe human lords.
  • 00:40:22
    He actually promised it to Israel.
  • 00:40:24
    There's a moment where they didn't have a human king
  • 00:40:27
    and they wanted one like, "Oh, man,
  • 00:40:29
    we really want a human king.
  • 00:40:30
    Can we have one, God?"
  • 00:40:32
    And God's like, "No, you don't. You don't want that.
  • 00:40:36
    I promise you, it's not going to go well."
  • 00:40:38
    It happens in 1 Samuel 8.
  • 00:40:40
    If it were a text exchange,
  • 00:40:42
    it would kind of look like this:
  • 00:41:06
    Seriously, that's what it'd be like.
  • 00:41:07
    If you don't believe me, here's God's
  • 00:41:09
    actual description of human lords from 1 Samuel 8:
  • 00:41:51
    What do humans lords do?
  • 00:41:53
    How do they operate?
  • 00:41:54
    They take and they take and they take and they take.
  • 00:41:57
    That's what God says, all they do is take.
  • 00:41:59
    That's exactly what happens.
  • 00:42:01
    The first King, Saul, is mostly terrible.
  • 00:42:03
    He takes everything he can to build himself up.
  • 00:42:05
    That's what he does.
  • 00:42:06
    He lords over the people just like God said he would.
  • 00:42:09
    The second king is David.
  • 00:42:10
    He does a little bit better job,
  • 00:42:12
    but he is the one who decides to build
  • 00:42:13
    the big fancy house for God.
  • 00:42:15
    But here's the thing,
  • 00:42:17
    Jesus is not like the other lords. He's not.
  • 00:42:20
    Rather than take from you, He wants to give to you.
  • 00:42:26
    That's the message of Christmas.
  • 00:42:27
    He's doesn't want to take things from you.
  • 00:42:29
    That's not --
  • 00:42:30
    He wants to give to you.
  • 00:42:32
    I wonder, have you been assuming He's like other Lords,
  • 00:42:35
    that if He were to rule your life,
  • 00:42:36
    it would be just like that thing
  • 00:42:38
    we just read: take, take, take, take.
  • 00:42:39
    That's not it at all. It's not it at all.
  • 00:42:42
    You know, Jesus is at the door knocking.
  • 00:42:44
    Do you know what He would do
  • 00:42:45
    if He walked into your house?
  • 00:42:47
    I'll read it to you, John 13:3-5:
  • 00:43:15
    See, Jesus, when He shows up, you let Him in,
  • 00:43:18
    comes to get that meal that He's been asking you for,
  • 00:43:21
    He doesn't show up and Lord over you.
  • 00:43:23
    When He walks into your house,
  • 00:43:24
    He goes to one spot and one spot alone.
  • 00:43:27
    He goes to your pantry, your cabinets,
  • 00:43:32
    and He pulls out your cleaning stuff
  • 00:43:34
    and He starts cleaning up.
  • 00:43:37
    He says, "What's messy here? How can I serve you?
  • 00:43:40
    How can I make things better?"
  • 00:43:42
    See, He doesn't come to Lord over,
  • 00:43:45
    He wants to Lord under you.
  • 00:43:48
    When He walks in your house, He doesn't condemn it.
  • 00:43:50
    He doesn't rip it to shreds.
  • 00:43:52
    He doesn't say, "This place isn't nice enough for me."
  • 00:43:54
    He doesn't hold his nose,
  • 00:43:55
    doesn't demand you clean up first.
  • 00:43:56
    There's no judgment, no long speeches
  • 00:43:58
    about you should know better.
  • 00:44:00
    There's no disapproving eye rolls.
  • 00:44:02
    Not, "I can't believe that's in your house.
  • 00:44:03
    What's that, ugh?"
  • 00:44:04
    None of that, the passive aggressiveness.
  • 00:44:07
    He gets under you and He lords under you.
  • 00:44:11
    Did you catch what that scripture said?
  • 00:44:13
    He has all the power in the universe
  • 00:44:15
    and He walks in and then gets down and serves.
  • 00:44:20
    That's the kind of lord He is.
  • 00:44:22
    The biggest misconception is that when you
  • 00:44:25
    make Him Lord and you allow Him to rule your life,
  • 00:44:27
    you're going to end up with less. It's not true.
  • 00:44:29
    His rule in your life will always lead to more. More.
  • 00:44:36
    He'll give you the very best stuff.
  • 00:44:39
    You know, when Sarah and I got engaged,
  • 00:44:41
    we made a hard decision.
  • 00:44:43
    It was a really unpopular decision then
  • 00:44:44
    and I think even more so now.
  • 00:44:46
    Before I say it, please, seriously,
  • 00:44:48
    if this isn't a decision you've made in your life,
  • 00:44:50
    if you made a different one,
  • 00:44:52
    please don't hear condemnation from me or judgment.
  • 00:44:54
    That's not the point of this story.
  • 00:44:56
    The point is this.
  • 00:44:57
    We saw in the Bible a clear directive
  • 00:44:59
    when we got engaged that we weren't supposed
  • 00:45:01
    to have sex until we were married.
  • 00:45:03
    This is not the best news.
  • 00:45:04
    And it was like, "Huh? Well, crap."
  • 00:45:08
    The problem is when we got engaged
  • 00:45:10
    we decided to buy a house, same exact month.
  • 00:45:12
    And at that point I was living with my parents.
  • 00:45:15
    That's what I mentioned earlier, not that fun.
  • 00:45:17
    I was ready to move ou.
  • 00:45:18
    Couldn't wait to get out, actually.
  • 00:45:21
    And so we just thought, "We'll just move in together."
  • 00:45:24
    We tried out all the arguments, you know.
  • 00:45:26
    We tried this one out, the classic, "I mean,
  • 00:45:29
    we've already committed to each other.
  • 00:45:30
    I mean, we're probably married in the eyes of God,
  • 00:45:33
    like we're probably basically already married."
  • 00:45:36
    The problem with that logic was that
  • 00:45:37
    if you asked anyone like our family, our friends,
  • 00:45:41
    the government, like, "Are we married yet?"
  • 00:45:43
    They'd go, "No, you got engaged.
  • 00:45:46
    You made a promise to get married in the future.
  • 00:45:49
    You haven't committed to each other yet."
  • 00:45:53
    It's frustrating. We couldn't shake it.
  • 00:45:55
    And so we saw this line,
  • 00:45:56
    this decision that we had to make:
  • 00:45:58
    who would be lord of our house?
  • 00:46:01
    Would it be us? Would be our ways, our rules?
  • 00:46:06
    Would we be our own Lord, or would it be Jesus?
  • 00:46:11
    Would it be His ways, His rules?
  • 00:46:13
    Would we allow Him to be Lord of our life?
  • 00:46:16
    It really came down to this:
  • 00:46:18
    Do we think Jesus wants to lord over us
  • 00:46:21
    to take something from us or does He want
  • 00:46:25
    to lord under us to give to us?
  • 00:46:28
    And for us, we decided to bet on the latter.
  • 00:46:30
    So when we signed the mortgage on the house,
  • 00:46:32
    Sarah moved in and I stayed at home with my parents.
  • 00:46:36
    It was not fun then, but years later,
  • 00:46:38
    I can honestly say that decision to say,
  • 00:46:41
    "As our family is being established
  • 00:46:43
    right now in this moment, we're going
  • 00:46:44
    to make Jesus the lord of our house,"
  • 00:46:46
    has paid infinite dividends.
  • 00:46:49
    There may be no bigger decision
  • 00:46:51
    we've ever made in our life.
  • 00:46:52
    And it's just because at that moment
  • 00:46:54
    we decided from the very beginning,
  • 00:46:56
    "Jesus will be the lord of our house."
  • 00:46:59
    It set our family on a path
  • 00:47:01
    to be blessed beyond measure, experience thing.
  • 00:47:04
    He's given us so much more.
  • 00:47:06
    There's not a thing He's taken,
  • 00:47:08
    except things that were hurting us to begin with.
  • 00:47:11
    That's it.
  • 00:47:13
    Now, here's the thing,
  • 00:47:15
    when you make Him lord over your house,
  • 00:47:18
    He becomes your landlord.
  • 00:47:20
    Think about this in the best way possible.
  • 00:47:22
    See, when you're the lord of your house
  • 00:47:24
    and something breaks, it's up to you to fix it.
  • 00:47:26
    There's no one to call.
  • 00:47:28
    But when you have a landlord, something breaks,
  • 00:47:30
    something's messed up,
  • 00:47:31
    something's not working the way it's supposed to,
  • 00:47:33
    what do you do?
  • 00:47:34
    Just call him up, he comes and takes care of it.
  • 00:47:38
    That's what you have.
  • 00:47:41
    That's the gift of Jesus being your Lord.
  • 00:47:45
    He's not asking you to work for yourself weary
  • 00:47:47
    trying to build a satisfying life,
  • 00:47:49
    trying to fix all of your problems.
  • 00:47:52
    He wants to do that for you.
  • 00:47:56
    Are you tired?
  • 00:47:57
    Why not make Him Lord?
  • 00:47:59
    Why not let him build you and take care of you?
  • 00:48:02
    Psalm 127 says:
  • 00:48:23
    Are you weary?
  • 00:48:24
    Invite the Lord, who's not like any other,
  • 00:48:28
    to come in and build your house for you.
  • 00:48:31
    Experience rest, experience sleep.
  • 00:48:34
    To a weary world He'll give what we need the most.
  • 00:48:39
    Turn that weariness into rejoicing.
  • 00:48:42
    If you want to invite Him to be your Lord
  • 00:48:44
    maybe in a way He hasn't been before in your life,
  • 00:48:46
    I want you to pray these words with me.
  • 00:48:49
    Jesus, I invite You to come into my life.
  • 00:48:55
    I want to open the door of my heart to You
  • 00:48:57
    and invite You in. You're welcome here.
  • 00:49:00
    Would You be my Lord?
  • 00:49:02
    Would you fix up my house?
  • 00:49:04
    I will follow you and I'll submit to Your rule
  • 00:49:07
    because I know You're not a Lord who wants to take.
  • 00:49:10
    I know You're a Lord comfortable in the mass
  • 00:49:12
    who wants to give to me. Thank you so much, Amen.
  • 00:49:17
    If you've prayed that prayer,
  • 00:49:19
    that's amazing, we would love to know.
  • 00:49:20
    You can chat in with u.
  • 00:49:21
    Go to Crossroads.net, click the chat button, let us know.
  • 00:49:24
    We'd love to pray with you and encourage you.
  • 00:49:27
    What we're going to do right now is sing a song,
  • 00:49:29
    a Christmas Carol called Away in a Manger.
  • 00:49:33
    We're going to worship the Lord who's comfortable,
  • 00:49:36
    not in the big fancy houses,
  • 00:49:38
    but in the mess in the manger of our lives.
  • 00:49:40
    Let's sing together.
  • 00:50:32
    - Thanks for joining us today.
  • 00:50:33
    I hope that today helped unlock
  • 00:50:35
    some new things for you and helped you
  • 00:50:37
    experience Christmas more personally
  • 00:50:39
    and powerfully maybe than ever before.
  • 00:50:41
    Hey, don't miss the Crossroads Christmas Special.
  • 00:50:44
    We've been working really hard on this,
  • 00:50:45
    and it's available right now at Crossroads.net/Christmas.
  • 00:50:50
    If you go there, you can also find out
  • 00:50:51
    service times for local Christmas Eve services near you.
  • 00:50:55
    In January to start a brand new series called:
  • 00:50:57
    #GOALS; Blazing A New Trail.
  • 00:51:00
    We'll see you then.
  • 00:51:02
    (singing) Can I come in from the cold?
  • 00:51:05
    - This holiday season, come in from the cold
  • 00:51:07
    with Crossroads Christmas Special
  • 00:51:09
    featuring Grammy Award winners Lecrae and Amy Grant,
  • 00:51:14
    Brian Tome giving fresh perspective on Jesus's birth,
  • 00:51:18
    original arrangements of beloved Christmas songs
  • 00:51:21
    by Crossroads music
  • 00:51:22
    and the shepherds' story brought to life.
  • 00:51:25
    Ignite the spirit of Christmas for your family this year.
  • 00:51:28
    Get air dates and times at
  • 00:51:29
    Crossroads.net/christmasspecial.
  • 00:51:34
    - The best way to watch Crossroads Church
  • 00:51:36
    is on your smart TV, because
  • 00:51:37
    that's where your family hangs out
  • 00:51:39
    and plus taking a break from your phone
  • 00:51:41
    and tablet feels good.
  • 00:51:43
    Download the Crossroads TV app on your smart TV
  • 00:51:46
    and your TV becomes a place to hear from God,
  • 00:51:50
    a window into life change,
  • 00:51:52
    a spiritual rhythm,
  • 00:51:53
    your "I finally went to church this week."
  • 00:51:57
    Set a time to experience church on your TV.
  • 00:52:00
    See, you've already made your TV smarter.
  • 00:52:03
    Download the Crossroads TV app.
  • 00:52:05
    It'll give you the boost
  • 00:52:06
    you and your family need for your week.

Process, journal or discuss the themes of this article - here's a few questions to get the ball rolling...

Welcome to the Weekend Follow-Up. The questions below are for the weekend of Dec 19th & 20th.

  1. In just a few days, many of us will be sharing Christmas gifts with loved ones. Share the story behind the strangest or most memorable gift you have ever received.

  2. Read Luke 2:6-7. Jesus was born with a humble beginning in a barn and what was most likely a horse trough. How does this choice of entry impact your view of Jesus as Lord?

  3. Read Isaiah 66:1-2. God chooses his home to be in us, not in elaborate buildings like other kings. Now, we all have those closets we throw stuff in right before guests come, or rooms we don’t want them to see. How can our lives be more of an inviting home for Jesus to live in, maybe even in those places we don’t want to let him in?

  4. Read Matthew 11:28-30. Jesus is a Lord who wants the best for you. He promises good things, and he’s ready when we want to invite him in. Identify one way you can invite Jesus to be Lord this week and share what you’ll do with the group.

  5. Close your time taking turns praying for each other, or read this over the group. “Jesus, we invite you to come into our lives today. We welcome you into every part of our hearts and our lives, mess and all. You are Lord unlike any other, and we can trust you as we follow you. Amen.

More from the Weekend

We have a one-of-a-kind Christmas experience for the entire family to watch at home by the Christmas tree. You will be incredibly encouraged and inspired. It’s available right now. Invite your friends and family to join you. Check out more details here.

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Dec 19, 2020 52 mins 34 sec

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