WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:22.260 Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:00:22.780 --> 00:00:25.880 This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons. 00:00:26.080 --> 00:00:30.420 We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear 00:00:30.420 --> 00:00:31.260 the latest message. 00:00:31.680 --> 00:00:32.460 Thanks for listening. 00:00:45.940 --> 00:00:47.240 Well, Merry Christmas. 00:00:47.460 --> 00:00:51.960 So glad that all of you could join us and be with us this evening. 00:00:52.300 --> 00:00:55.620 You know, as a pastor, you get a lot of questions. 00:00:56.640 --> 00:01:05.080 Questions that you either draw from life experience, or questions that you draw from your seminary 00:01:05.080 --> 00:01:10.660 or theological studies, or sometimes you have questions that you get asked where you get 00:01:10.660 --> 00:01:13.760 to draw both from life experience and from study. 00:01:14.940 --> 00:01:17.820 Well, earlier tonight, I was asked a question. 00:01:17.980 --> 00:01:22.100 I won't tell you who asked me this question, but I'll tell you the question that was asked, 00:01:22.100 --> 00:01:27.140 because I feel like there may be some of you in here tonight that are maybe kind of wrestling 00:01:27.140 --> 00:01:27.820 with this. 00:01:28.740 --> 00:01:30.200 And here's the question. 00:01:31.980 --> 00:01:37.040 If you've got more than one sibling, and one sibling is nice, and one sibling is naughty, 00:01:37.440 --> 00:01:41.000 what's going to happen on Christmas? 00:01:41.100 --> 00:01:53.660 So I couldn't draw necessarily from theological experience, but I could draw from life experience. 00:01:55.500 --> 00:02:02.520 As the naughty child, my dad's here. 00:02:02.600 --> 00:02:03.420 He just said amen. 00:02:04.700 --> 00:02:07.380 I've never heard him say amen at church before. 00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:10.780 Tonight's the first time, right? 00:02:11.700 --> 00:02:12.680 Bless his heart. 00:02:12.820 --> 00:02:12.980 All right. 00:02:15.860 --> 00:02:18.320 Here's what I would say. 00:02:19.500 --> 00:02:22.360 Maybe you're that kid in here tonight, and you're wrestling with that. 00:02:23.880 --> 00:02:27.340 Santa gets grace, all right? 00:02:27.660 --> 00:02:33.420 He understands that, and it'll be good and special for all of us, right? 00:02:33.480 --> 00:02:36.820 Even us naughty kids that sometimes have to depend on that. 00:02:37.140 --> 00:02:38.480 But it is good to be here. 00:02:38.540 --> 00:02:40.560 It's good to be here and be a part of this. 00:02:40.640 --> 00:02:43.400 I always love Christmas Eve services. 00:02:43.400 --> 00:02:45.300 I love the Christmas season. 00:02:45.740 --> 00:02:47.500 I love every part of the decorations. 00:02:48.100 --> 00:02:48.960 I love the food. 00:02:49.300 --> 00:02:50.160 I love the presents. 00:02:50.520 --> 00:02:51.320 I love the family. 00:02:51.640 --> 00:02:52.500 I love the friends. 00:02:52.800 --> 00:02:53.620 I love all of it. 00:02:54.140 --> 00:02:55.060 I love the movies. 00:02:55.200 --> 00:02:56.240 I love the songs. 00:02:56.680 --> 00:03:00.020 I love every part of Christmas and what Christmas is about. 00:03:00.500 --> 00:03:05.680 And one of my favorite aspects of Christmas, one of the favorite things that seems to happen 00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:09.900 during Christmas season more times than any other time during the year 00:03:09.900 --> 00:03:12.460 are the surprises of Christmas. 00:03:13.140 --> 00:03:19.380 It seems that Christmas is filled with surprise after surprise after surprise. 00:03:19.760 --> 00:03:24.920 And for so many of us, when we think of the surprises of Christmas, we think of the surprises 00:03:24.920 --> 00:03:26.700 that come with Christmas morning, right? 00:03:27.140 --> 00:03:29.060 Especially those of us with young kids. 00:03:29.620 --> 00:03:33.660 There's nothing like waking up super early in the morning. 00:03:33.920 --> 00:03:35.020 All right, kids, listen to me. 00:03:35.380 --> 00:03:35.620 All right? 00:03:36.120 --> 00:03:39.360 Christmas time is not made for sleeping in. 00:03:39.940 --> 00:03:44.560 Christmas day is made for getting up as early as possible. 00:03:44.740 --> 00:03:44.940 All right? 00:03:45.160 --> 00:03:47.660 And your parents just need to be okay with that. 00:03:47.900 --> 00:03:52.680 In fact, at my house, my kids laugh at me because I'm not kidding y'all. 00:03:52.900 --> 00:03:57.180 I'll be up at 4 a.m. waking all of them up. 00:03:57.180 --> 00:04:02.460 And my daughter will wake up with the grunt that she gives me every Monday morning. 00:04:02.460 --> 00:04:03.780 I want to wake her up for school, right? 00:04:04.580 --> 00:04:04.980 Right? 00:04:05.080 --> 00:04:06.220 But here's where we're at. 00:04:06.620 --> 00:04:06.760 All right? 00:04:06.820 --> 00:04:07.980 I love the surprises. 00:04:08.560 --> 00:04:11.540 But it's not just the surprises of Christmas morning. 00:04:11.660 --> 00:04:13.180 It's not just the prizes of gifts. 00:04:13.600 --> 00:04:20.780 It's the surprise of the neighbor who brings over fresh cookies that are hot out of the oven. 00:04:21.540 --> 00:04:29.860 It's the surprise when you open the mailbox to find a Christmas card from a friend that you haven't seen or heard from in quite some time. 00:04:30.560 --> 00:04:33.120 As we all know, all too real. 00:04:33.980 --> 00:04:42.160 It's the surprise of finding out that even in Lexington, South Carolina, it can hit single-digit temperatures, right? 00:04:43.300 --> 00:04:45.520 The news said this happened in the 80s. 00:04:45.560 --> 00:04:46.740 I don't believe that. 00:04:47.280 --> 00:04:50.040 I don't believe that anything has ever happened like this here. 00:04:50.820 --> 00:05:03.160 It's the surprise of opening an Amazon package, thinking that what is inside the Amazon package is the gift that you ordered for your spouse, 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:08.680 only to find out it's the gift that your spouse ordered for you, right? 00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:11.360 That happened this week at our house. 00:05:12.820 --> 00:05:13.060 All right? 00:05:13.580 --> 00:05:15.260 I love surprises. 00:05:16.740 --> 00:05:24.420 And each week as we've been reading through together the account of the coming of Christ, the birth of Christ, 00:05:25.440 --> 00:05:32.360 we've seen from the first week when the Bushes read to when the Fries read to the passage that we'll look at this evening 00:05:32.360 --> 00:05:38.800 that it is filled with surprise after surprise after surprise. 00:05:39.920 --> 00:05:45.780 But unlike us, they didn't have the benefit of knowing that this is the season of surprises. 00:05:46.860 --> 00:05:54.420 They didn't have that feeling that when they walked to the mailbox, the wondering if there would be a Christmas card inside or not. 00:05:55.460 --> 00:06:04.360 That the surprises that we read in the coming of Christ that bring us to the Christmas season were people who were living their everyday life, 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:09.540 doing what they were supposed to do, doing what they thought was for them that day. 00:06:09.540 --> 00:06:16.500 And then all of a sudden, a surprise encountered them that would not only change their today, 00:06:17.200 --> 00:06:25.720 but would change their eternity, and would change yours, and would change mine in the coming of Christ. 00:06:26.700 --> 00:06:32.880 The surprise where Gabriel shared with Mary the news that she, though a virgin, would conceive a son, 00:06:34.300 --> 00:06:35.560 and his name would be Jesus. 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:43.500 It was the surprise of Joseph, engaged to Mary, and torn about what to do. 00:06:44.820 --> 00:06:46.540 Should he stay? Should he not? 00:06:47.920 --> 00:06:54.480 Until an angel appeared to him in his dream to share with him the truth of her pregnancy, 00:06:54.900 --> 00:06:58.340 the truth of who the baby was in her womb. 00:06:59.780 --> 00:07:04.740 The surprise of Zechariah and Elizabeth, Mary's relative, who conceived a son, 00:07:04.740 --> 00:07:09.040 and what the Bible tells us, their older age, who would be John the Baptist, 00:07:09.240 --> 00:07:14.340 who would leap inside the womb of his mother when Mary would come into presence. 00:07:15.440 --> 00:07:18.440 Life in the womb. 00:07:19.840 --> 00:07:23.820 But the surprise that I want us to look at tonight in Luke chapter 2 00:07:23.820 --> 00:07:26.900 is one of my favorite surprises. 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:30.560 It's the surprise of the shepherds. 00:07:31.480 --> 00:07:38.200 Luke chapter 2 tells us that the shepherds were out in the fields doing what shepherds do. 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:41.140 They were watching over their flocks. 00:07:42.320 --> 00:07:45.840 But very key, Scripture tells us, they were doing this at night. 00:07:46.860 --> 00:07:48.320 Now, most of the time, I don't know about you, 00:07:48.420 --> 00:07:52.440 but when we think about that, we've even seen pictures of that, 00:07:52.520 --> 00:07:54.280 when we've heard stories told about that, 00:07:54.360 --> 00:07:57.560 whether it's even been a Christmas play that we've sat to, 00:07:57.700 --> 00:07:59.920 where it's acted out in front of us, 00:08:00.020 --> 00:08:04.840 we almost get this picture of the shepherds kind of out there on a camping trip, man. 00:08:05.400 --> 00:08:06.300 They're laid back. 00:08:06.380 --> 00:08:07.620 They got a nice little fire. 00:08:08.440 --> 00:08:09.520 They're just relaxing. 00:08:09.720 --> 00:08:14.120 There's a few sheep just kind of wandering around with where they are. 00:08:15.180 --> 00:08:17.580 But that's not at all what it would have been like. 00:08:18.940 --> 00:08:26.060 You see, Scripture tells us that the shepherds were out keeping watch over their flock at night. 00:08:27.180 --> 00:08:31.060 And that this was when the predators would attack. 00:08:31.660 --> 00:08:36.300 So for them at night would have been the time when their senses would have been heightened. 00:08:36.940 --> 00:08:40.840 At night would have been the time, not when they are preparing to relax, 00:08:41.080 --> 00:08:44.800 but at night would have been the time when they're preparing for a fight. 00:08:46.500 --> 00:08:52.820 And every noise, every sound, every bit of movement would have startled them, 00:08:53.720 --> 00:08:58.280 would have gotten them prepared for what was next. 00:08:59.280 --> 00:09:06.620 But what comes to them in Luke chapter 2 is a surprise like none they had experienced before. 00:09:06.940 --> 00:09:09.840 It was not a wolf on a prowl. 00:09:10.860 --> 00:09:13.200 It was not a sheep who had wandered away. 00:09:14.460 --> 00:09:20.360 But instead what Scripture tells us is that the angel of the Lord appeared. 00:09:21.300 --> 00:09:25.160 And Luke chapter 2 says the glory of the Lord shone around them. 00:09:26.360 --> 00:09:29.760 Now in Scripture, when this has happened before, 00:09:30.520 --> 00:09:35.460 when an angel has appeared or the glory of God has been shown, 00:09:35.460 --> 00:09:40.620 when either one of those incidents happened, people were frightened. 00:09:41.520 --> 00:09:43.740 But here, both happened. 00:09:44.920 --> 00:09:50.480 And Scripture tells us in Luke chapter 2 that the shepherds were frightened. 00:09:51.980 --> 00:09:55.540 And look with me at Luke 2, verse 10 and 11. 00:09:55.540 --> 00:09:59.200 And the angel said to them, 00:10:00.400 --> 00:10:11.000 Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:22.060 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. 00:10:23.060 --> 00:10:32.280 So in that moment, in that moment where the shepherds would have absolutely been petrified 00:10:32.280 --> 00:10:37.180 for what they are seeing and what they are experiencing. 00:10:38.340 --> 00:10:40.840 An angel comes and speaks. 00:10:41.880 --> 00:10:47.560 So in this moment, what we began to see was fear or joy. 00:10:49.120 --> 00:10:53.720 Looking back at these other instances of what we've seen in the coming of Christ 00:10:53.720 --> 00:10:59.500 is also filled with a lot of scenarios where the people in them could have been afraid. 00:10:59.760 --> 00:11:01.180 In fact, they were afraid. 00:11:01.900 --> 00:11:09.880 Think back to Mary, a young, 13 to 14-year-old, teenage, soon-to-be mom. 00:11:11.460 --> 00:11:12.060 Petrified. 00:11:13.320 --> 00:11:15.680 Scared of what the future might hold. 00:11:16.880 --> 00:11:19.020 But yet the angel says to her, 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:21.420 Do not be afraid. 00:11:23.380 --> 00:11:31.380 Joseph, not ready to become a dad, much less to a dad, a dad to a baby that isn't his. 00:11:31.520 --> 00:11:37.200 But the angel said to him, do not fear to take Mary as your wife. 00:11:37.300 --> 00:11:39.020 That's where his fear was. 00:11:40.440 --> 00:11:42.120 The angel speaks straight to that. 00:11:42.200 --> 00:11:51.160 Do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 00:11:52.360 --> 00:12:00.520 Both of these instances, the angels speak into fear not because what's coming is joy. 00:12:00.520 --> 00:12:01.820 Back to the shepherds. 00:12:02.140 --> 00:12:05.320 The angel immediately speaks to their fear. 00:12:05.560 --> 00:12:08.460 The first thing the angel says is fear not, for behold. 00:12:09.560 --> 00:12:12.780 And what the angel is saying to them is, don't be afraid. 00:12:14.100 --> 00:12:15.100 And here's why. 00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:20.160 Don't be afraid because we've got something to tell you. 00:12:21.040 --> 00:12:29.920 Don't be afraid because what we're about to share with you is the opposite of all that is fear. 00:12:30.920 --> 00:12:36.060 Because we bring news and this news is of great joy. 00:12:36.060 --> 00:12:40.680 That the object of the good news is joy. 00:12:40.920 --> 00:12:44.960 That what they're going to find out is the baby that they're going to journey to see. 00:12:45.260 --> 00:12:50.000 That Jesus is not just, you're joyful because you're around a newborn. 00:12:50.300 --> 00:12:56.320 No, you're joyful because what you're before, what you're looking at, that is the essence. 00:12:56.320 --> 00:13:02.240 That is the physical manifestation of joy found in Christ. 00:13:02.580 --> 00:13:06.160 And that he, this joy, is for all people. 00:13:07.280 --> 00:13:11.860 That this joy that they will behold, this joy that they will see, 00:13:12.180 --> 00:13:16.280 is for shepherds and for kings and everyone in between. 00:13:18.140 --> 00:13:20.460 And then after the angel tells them this, 00:13:21.080 --> 00:13:28.000 scripture tells us in Luke 2 that an entire army of angels come before the shepherds. 00:13:28.880 --> 00:13:34.080 And there's a worship choir of angels praising God. 00:13:35.620 --> 00:13:39.480 And so the shepherds, when the angels leave, like, yeah, let's go. 00:13:40.640 --> 00:13:41.680 And so they journey. 00:13:42.800 --> 00:13:45.640 And the Bible tells us that they go and find the baby. 00:13:46.540 --> 00:13:47.580 They found Jesus. 00:13:48.280 --> 00:13:49.480 They found Mary. 00:13:50.260 --> 00:13:51.340 And they found Joseph. 00:13:52.300 --> 00:13:56.240 And that doesn't really tell us a whole lot of what happens in this. 00:13:57.500 --> 00:14:01.180 But I'll be honest with you, I think there was another surprise that happened. 00:14:02.540 --> 00:14:04.760 As Mary was surprised. 00:14:05.960 --> 00:14:08.400 Childbirth, now shepherds that I don't know showing up, right? 00:14:09.820 --> 00:14:10.940 And this is what happens. 00:14:12.120 --> 00:14:19.340 But scripture does tell us in Luke chapter 2, verse 19, the response of Mary after these. 00:14:19.340 --> 00:14:20.520 It says, 00:14:20.680 --> 00:14:26.960 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 00:14:28.020 --> 00:14:39.400 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen as it had been told to them. 00:14:40.240 --> 00:14:48.680 So all that could have happened, all that could have taken place, all that the next day would hold, 00:14:49.320 --> 00:14:57.640 Mary, I assume Joseph, the shepherds, they all had their encounter, and they choose joy. 00:14:57.640 --> 00:15:09.460 They choose Jesus, that here in this moment, in spite of not knowing what the next moment, what the next day, what the next week, what the next year would hold, 00:15:09.660 --> 00:15:13.420 they chose and they responded in joy. 00:15:14.560 --> 00:15:24.640 Now for us, in the next 24 hours, it's going to be really easy to be filled with joy. 00:15:25.800 --> 00:15:35.440 The next 24 hours are going to be filled with presents, with family, with friends, with food, 00:15:35.900 --> 00:15:44.100 and maybe, maybe with a nice, good mid-afternoon nap, right? 00:15:45.400 --> 00:15:52.500 Joy will be easy, but it might be short-lived. 00:15:54.820 --> 00:15:56.700 Because then the next day is going to come. 00:15:58.140 --> 00:15:59.480 And then we're back at it. 00:16:00.800 --> 00:16:02.180 The tree is going to go up. 00:16:04.260 --> 00:16:05.960 We're going to go back to our schedules. 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:09.220 Kids go back to school. 00:16:09.520 --> 00:16:12.660 That's either a positive or a negative, kind of depending on where you're at on that, right? 00:16:13.900 --> 00:16:15.060 They're going to go back to school. 00:16:16.840 --> 00:16:18.700 The cookies are going to stop showing up. 00:16:19.680 --> 00:16:22.840 The cards are no longer going to be in the mailbox. 00:16:24.560 --> 00:16:28.360 And maybe Amazon slows down the deliveries to your house, right? 00:16:28.460 --> 00:16:29.560 Maybe, maybe, maybe. 00:16:31.560 --> 00:16:45.000 But if our joy is based in all of these external things, it's going to be short-lived if it isn't based in Jesus. 00:16:46.600 --> 00:16:53.420 I thought a lot about what we would look at in this passage and celebrate on this Christmas Eve together. 00:16:54.420 --> 00:17:00.960 And as I read through this passage of Scripture, it just stood out to me in verses 19 and 20. 00:17:01.680 --> 00:17:13.280 What we can learn from Mary and the shepherds as they returned after this day to their everyday life. 00:17:14.560 --> 00:17:22.600 Mary would return to being a young teenage mom, unsure and uncertain about what the next day would hold. 00:17:23.720 --> 00:17:28.600 Mary would return to the gossip and the words and the things that were said about her. 00:17:29.360 --> 00:17:36.780 Mary would return to the relationship that she was building with Joseph as they formed their new family together 00:17:36.780 --> 00:17:39.520 and what that would hold as they worked through that together. 00:17:40.160 --> 00:17:42.060 The shepherds would return that night. 00:17:42.280 --> 00:17:47.180 They would return back to their flocks, back to their fields, back to being the outcasts, 00:17:47.240 --> 00:17:49.480 back to being the ones who didn't get the news, 00:17:49.480 --> 00:17:52.980 back to being the ones that had the hard, difficult job to face. 00:17:53.560 --> 00:17:59.780 And if their joy was going to be found in the circumstantial things that awaited them, 00:17:59.920 --> 00:18:01.720 then their joy would be lacking. 00:18:02.380 --> 00:18:07.000 But Luke chapter 2 verses 19 through 20 tells us two things Mary did 00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:12.500 and two things that the shepherds did that I believe when we take root of those in our hearts 00:18:12.500 --> 00:18:16.680 and they're based in and on who Christ is and who Christ is for us, 00:18:16.680 --> 00:18:22.680 that we live with the joy of Christ, whether it's December 24th, 00:18:23.400 --> 00:18:24.660 or April 24th. 00:18:25.620 --> 00:18:30.020 We live whether it's the moment of the season or not. 00:18:31.340 --> 00:18:37.900 Luke tells us these four things that they did that I pray will ring true in us 00:18:37.900 --> 00:18:41.940 regardless if there's a tree in our home or not. 00:18:42.620 --> 00:18:46.220 The first thing that says that Mary treasured these things, 00:18:46.220 --> 00:18:52.560 Mary treasured Jesus, the value that Mary placed. 00:18:52.560 --> 00:18:56.160 When it says that Mary treasured Christ, 00:18:56.160 --> 00:19:01.680 that Mary treasured these things that were happening before us, 00:19:02.360 --> 00:19:05.740 I think it's important for us to know and to remember 00:19:05.740 --> 00:19:09.880 that Mary was not treasuring an event, 00:19:10.360 --> 00:19:15.040 but Mary was treasuring a relationship. 00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:19.800 That Mary within this, that when we treasure Christ, 00:19:19.960 --> 00:19:24.220 it's not about an experience that we have at a service, 00:19:24.220 --> 00:19:27.620 but it's a relationship that we have with him, 00:19:27.620 --> 00:19:31.880 that Christ is valued in with who we are. 00:19:31.960 --> 00:19:35.560 It says that Mary also that pondered these things, 00:19:35.800 --> 00:19:39.140 that Christ in in these filled her mind, 00:19:39.420 --> 00:19:43.920 that what filled her mind was not the what-ifs of tomorrow, 00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:47.480 but what filled her mind was the Son of God, 00:19:47.620 --> 00:19:50.920 that what filled her mind was not what next week, 00:19:51.180 --> 00:19:53.340 next month might hold for her, 00:19:53.480 --> 00:19:57.000 that what filled her mind was not the worry of the future, 00:19:57.180 --> 00:20:00.500 but what filled her mind, what she pondered on, 00:20:00.500 --> 00:20:04.680 what she thought on, what she meditated on was Christ, 00:20:05.200 --> 00:20:07.840 that Mary treasured, Mary pondered. 00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:12.240 And the shepherds, they left. 00:20:13.880 --> 00:20:17.280 And Scripture tells us as they left, they did two things. 00:20:18.320 --> 00:20:22.620 First, they glorified God, they glorified Christ. 00:20:23.460 --> 00:20:25.460 Now that's a word that we use a lot. 00:20:26.020 --> 00:20:27.920 We're going to glorify God. 00:20:27.920 --> 00:20:32.580 And that word, when it's broken down in its original meaning, 00:20:32.860 --> 00:20:35.400 means to make much of. 00:20:36.280 --> 00:20:43.520 To live our life in a way that reflects and makes much of who he is. 00:20:44.340 --> 00:20:48.560 It wasn't just simply what they did in a moment. 00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:52.460 It wasn't just simply what they said in a moment. 00:20:52.460 --> 00:20:59.000 But they left there in their being, making much of who he is. 00:21:00.380 --> 00:21:04.780 And they praised Jesus. 00:21:04.880 --> 00:21:08.520 They praised him. 00:21:09.480 --> 00:21:14.340 That what they had seen, what they had experienced, 00:21:15.080 --> 00:21:16.680 and who they had met, 00:21:17.760 --> 00:21:22.820 had so deeply penetrated who they were, 00:21:23.820 --> 00:21:26.840 that they left speaking about him. 00:21:27.560 --> 00:21:29.920 They left telling about him. 00:21:30.680 --> 00:21:35.000 They left praising him with their mouths. 00:21:36.200 --> 00:21:45.840 This evening, I want to invite you to join me in experiencing the joy of Jesus. 00:21:46.800 --> 00:21:48.700 If you're here with us tonight, 00:21:50.180 --> 00:21:53.580 maybe you came as a relative who's in town. 00:21:53.680 --> 00:21:57.020 Maybe you came as someone's invited a guest here to worship with us. 00:21:57.080 --> 00:22:01.340 Maybe you came because you needed a church to find to be here on Christmas Eve, 00:22:01.360 --> 00:22:04.440 because that's what you feel like you wanted to be a part of and you needed to do. 00:22:04.580 --> 00:22:05.420 And you joined us. 00:22:05.480 --> 00:22:07.620 First of all, I want to say, we're so glad that you're here. 00:22:07.800 --> 00:22:10.200 We're so glad that you're worshiping with us. 00:22:10.440 --> 00:22:13.060 We kind of bless that you were here with us this evening. 00:22:14.360 --> 00:22:15.640 But you'd be missed. 00:22:16.640 --> 00:22:21.440 You'd miss the point if you walk out of here hoping to just experience a service. 00:22:21.440 --> 00:22:26.360 And what we want to invite you with is not a story about Christ, 00:22:26.500 --> 00:22:28.680 but a relationship with Christ. 00:22:29.460 --> 00:22:33.480 That the joy of Christ is found in a relationship with him. 00:22:33.940 --> 00:22:38.900 That joy came, the good news of Christ is found in the Christmas story 00:22:38.900 --> 00:22:45.580 as God took on flesh, born of a virgin, laid in a manger, lived a perfect life, 00:22:45.880 --> 00:22:49.740 died the death that we deserve, and overcame the power of the grave 00:22:49.740 --> 00:22:52.980 so that we too might walk in the newness of light in him. 00:22:55.200 --> 00:22:59.220 And you're called and invited in to a relationship with him. 00:22:59.780 --> 00:23:01.600 To admit that you're a sinner. 00:23:02.480 --> 00:23:08.520 To believe in who Christ says he is, the one and only Son of God, 00:23:08.600 --> 00:23:11.440 and to confess him as Lord and Savior. 00:23:12.640 --> 00:23:18.240 And in that you can begin to experience the relationship and the joy of Christ. 00:23:19.020 --> 00:23:23.980 But if you're here tonight, and you already have a relationship with Christ, 00:23:24.520 --> 00:23:31.680 we're going to experience and partake of this joy in Christ together by taking part of the Lord's Supper. 00:23:32.640 --> 00:23:38.020 In just a moment, the worship team is going to come back up on stage and lead us in a song. 00:23:39.380 --> 00:23:45.260 And during that song, I'm going to ask that you respond, not to the team, not to the song, not to me, 00:23:45.420 --> 00:23:52.780 but respond to Christ, to treasure him and who he is and the relationship that you have with him. 00:23:53.460 --> 00:24:01.860 To ponder on him, to fill your mind with the things of the Lord and the faithfulness that he brings and the faithfulness that he is to you. 00:24:02.380 --> 00:24:10.600 To glorify him, to make much of him and make much of what he's done as you give your life fully to him. 00:24:11.320 --> 00:24:18.400 And to praise him with the words that you sing and the words that you speak. 00:24:19.500 --> 00:24:24.260 Hopefully you're able to grab one of the Lord's Supper elements as you came in. 00:24:24.940 --> 00:24:28.760 If you didn't, when the band begins to play, you can make your way back to the back. 00:24:29.060 --> 00:24:30.840 We have some that are available back there. 00:24:31.100 --> 00:24:34.380 We'd love to have you have these so that you can take them with us. 00:24:35.360 --> 00:24:42.160 And then after the team gets done, I'll come back out onto stage as we take part in the Lord's Supper together. 00:24:42.720 --> 00:24:43.620 Would you pray with me? 00:24:45.720 --> 00:24:53.340 Lord, I come to you this evening thanking you for who you are, Lord, for what you've done. 00:24:55.380 --> 00:25:03.800 Father, I thank you that you sent your son in a humble manner. 00:25:05.360 --> 00:25:06.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:06.360 --> 00:25:07.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:07.360 --> 00:25:08.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:08.360 --> 00:25:09.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:09.360 --> 00:25:10.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:10.360 --> 00:25:11.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:11.360 --> 00:25:12.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:12.360 --> 00:25:13.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:13.360 --> 00:25:14.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:14.360 --> 00:25:15.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:15.360 --> 00:25:16.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:16.360 --> 00:25:17.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:17.360 --> 00:25:18.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:18.360 --> 00:25:19.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:19.360 --> 00:25:20.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:20.360 --> 00:25:21.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:21.360 --> 00:25:22.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:22.360 --> 00:25:23.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:23.360 --> 00:25:24.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:24.360 --> 00:25:25.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:25.360 --> 00:25:26.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:26.360 --> 00:25:27.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:27.360 --> 00:25:28.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:28.360 --> 00:25:29.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:29.360 --> 00:25:31.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:31.360 --> 00:25:32.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:32.360 --> 00:25:33.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:33.360 --> 00:25:34.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:34.360 --> 00:25:35.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:35.360 --> 00:25:36.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:36.360 --> 00:25:37.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:37.360 --> 00:25:38.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:38.360 --> 00:25:39.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:39.360 --> 00:25:40.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:40.360 --> 00:25:41.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:41.360 --> 00:25:42.360 Father, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:42.360 --> 00:25:43.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:43.360 --> 00:25:44.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:44.360 --> 00:25:45.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:45.360 --> 00:25:46.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:46.360 --> 00:25:47.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:47.360 --> 00:25:48.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:48.360 --> 00:25:49.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:49.360 --> 00:25:50.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:50.360 --> 00:25:51.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:51.360 --> 00:25:52.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:52.360 --> 00:25:53.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:53.360 --> 00:25:54.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:54.360 --> 00:25:55.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:55.360 --> 00:25:56.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:56.360 --> 00:25:57.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:57.360 --> 00:25:58.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:58.360 --> 00:25:59.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:25:59.360 --> 00:26:00.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:00.360 --> 00:26:01.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:01.360 --> 00:26:01.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:01.360 --> 00:26:02.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:02.360 --> 00:26:03.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:03.360 --> 00:26:04.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:04.360 --> 00:26:05.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:05.360 --> 00:26:06.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:06.360 --> 00:26:07.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:07.360 --> 00:26:08.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:08.360 --> 00:26:09.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:09.360 --> 00:26:10.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:10.360 --> 00:26:11.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:11.360 --> 00:26:12.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:12.360 --> 00:26:13.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:13.360 --> 00:26:15.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:15.360 --> 00:26:16.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:16.360 --> 00:26:17.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:17.360 --> 00:26:18.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:18.360 --> 00:26:19.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:19.360 --> 00:26:19.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:19.360 --> 00:26:20.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:20.360 --> 00:26:21.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:21.360 --> 00:26:22.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:22.360 --> 00:26:23.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:23.360 --> 00:26:24.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:24.360 --> 00:26:27.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:27.360 --> 00:26:28.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:28.360 --> 00:26:29.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:29.360 --> 00:26:30.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:30.360 --> 00:26:31.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:31.360 --> 00:26:32.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:32.360 --> 00:26:33.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:33.360 --> 00:26:34.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:34.360 --> 00:26:35.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:35.360 --> 00:26:36.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:36.360 --> 00:26:37.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:37.360 --> 00:26:38.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:38.360 --> 00:26:38.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:38.360 --> 00:26:39.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:39.360 --> 00:26:40.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:40.360 --> 00:26:41.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:41.360 --> 00:26:42.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:42.360 --> 00:26:43.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:43.360 --> 00:26:44.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:44.360 --> 00:26:45.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:45.360 --> 00:26:46.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:46.360 --> 00:26:47.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:47.360 --> 00:26:48.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:48.360 --> 00:26:49.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:49.360 --> 00:26:50.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:50.360 --> 00:26:51.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:51.360 --> 00:26:52.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:52.360 --> 00:26:53.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:53.360 --> 00:26:54.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:54.360 --> 00:26:55.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:55.360 --> 00:26:56.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:56.360 --> 00:26:57.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:57.360 --> 00:26:58.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:58.360 --> 00:26:59.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:26:59.360 --> 00:27:00.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:00.360 --> 00:27:01.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:01.360 --> 00:27:02.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:02.360 --> 00:27:03.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:03.360 --> 00:27:04.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:04.360 --> 00:27:05.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:06.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:06.360 --> 00:27:07.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:07.360 --> 00:27:08.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:08.360 --> 00:27:09.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:09.360 --> 00:27:10.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:10.360 --> 00:27:11.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:11.360 --> 00:27:13.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:13.360 --> 00:27:14.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:14.360 --> 00:27:15.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:15.360 --> 00:27:16.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:16.360 --> 00:27:17.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:17.360 --> 00:27:18.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:18.360 --> 00:27:19.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:19.360 --> 00:27:20.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:20.360 --> 00:27:21.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:21.360 --> 00:27:22.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:22.360 --> 00:27:23.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:23.360 --> 00:27:24.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:24.360 --> 00:27:25.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:25.360 --> 00:27:26.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:26.360 --> 00:27:27.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:27.360 --> 00:27:28.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:28.360 --> 00:27:29.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:29.360 --> 00:27:30.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:30.360 --> 00:27:31.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:31.360 --> 00:27:32.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:32.360 --> 00:27:32.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:32.360 --> 00:27:33.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:33.360 --> 00:27:34.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:34.360 --> 00:27:35.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:35.360 --> 00:27:36.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:36.360 --> 00:27:37.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:37.360 --> 00:27:38.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:38.360 --> 00:27:39.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:39.360 --> 00:27:40.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:40.360 --> 00:27:41.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:41.360 --> 00:27:42.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:42.360 --> 00:27:43.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:43.360 --> 00:27:44.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:44.360 --> 00:27:45.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:45.360 --> 00:27:46.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:46.360 --> 00:27:47.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:47.360 --> 00:27:48.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:48.360 --> 00:27:49.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:49.360 --> 00:27:50.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:50.360 --> 00:27:51.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:51.360 --> 00:27:52.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:52.360 --> 00:27:53.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:53.360 --> 00:27:54.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:54.360 --> 00:27:55.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:55.360 --> 00:27:56.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:56.360 --> 00:27:57.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:57.360 --> 00:27:58.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:58.360 --> 00:27:59.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:27:59.360 --> 00:28:00.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:28:00.360 --> 00:28:01.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:28:01.360 --> 00:28:02.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:28:02.360 --> 00:28:03.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:28:03.360 --> 00:28:04.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:28:04.360 --> 00:28:05.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:28:05.360 --> 00:28:06.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:28:06.360 --> 00:28:08.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:28:08.360 --> 00:28:09.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:28:09.360 --> 00:28:10.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:28:10.360 --> 00:28:11.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:28:11.360 --> 00:28:12.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:28:12.360 --> 00:28:13.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:28:13.360 --> 00:28:14.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:28:14.360 --> 00:28:15.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:28:15.360 --> 00:28:16.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:28:16.360 --> 00:28:17.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:28:17.360 --> 00:28:18.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:28:18.360 --> 00:28:19.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:28:19.360 --> 00:28:20.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:28:20.360 --> 00:28:21.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:28:21.360 --> 00:28:22.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:28:22.360 --> 00:28:23.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:28:23.360 --> 00:28:25.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:28:25.360 --> 00:28:26.360 Lord, I thank you that you've done. 00:28:26.360 --> 00:28:34.360 Lord, and I pray for all of us as we prepare our hearts to partake in the Lord's Supper 00:28:34.360 --> 00:28:35.360 together. 00:28:35.360 --> 00:28:43.360 Lord, I pray that under the guidance of your Holy Spirit, Lord, you would reveal to us the 00:28:43.360 --> 00:28:49.360 areas of our life that we need to repent of, the relationships that need to be restored 00:28:49.360 --> 00:28:59.360 so that we can come to you and worship. 00:28:59.360 --> 00:29:01.360 And it's in Jesus' name we pray. 00:29:01.360 --> 00:29:02.360 Amen. 00:29:19.360 --> 00:29:23.360 Thanks again for listening to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:29:23.360 --> 00:29:26.360 We hope that you enjoyed listening to this week's message. 00:29:26.360 --> 00:29:31.360 If you'd like to learn more about who we are or explore additional resources, visit us online 00:29:31.360 --> 00:29:38.360 at www.willowridgechurch.com or by searching for Willow Ridge Church on Facebook and Instagram. 00:29:49.360 --> 00:30:19.340 Thank you.