208 00:26:22.165 --> 00:26:27.155 Well, we are finally, here it is finally Christmas. You know, 209 00:26:27.355 --> 00:26:30.955 I get to this time of year every year and I, I'm one of those people, 210 00:26:31.075 --> 00:26:33.035 I just happen to really love Christmas. 211 00:26:33.036 --> 00:26:37.075 And so I get excited when this time comes around and every year I look forward 212 00:26:37.095 --> 00:26:41.994 to it and man, every moment of it makes me smile because I love it, 213 00:26:42.075 --> 00:26:44.685 I love it all. I love the music, I love the decorations, 214 00:26:44.845 --> 00:26:48.525 I love everything that goes with this idea of Christmas. 215 00:26:49.225 --> 00:26:52.045 And I think back to like when it starts for me every year, 216 00:26:52.145 --> 00:26:53.525 and it starts at different times. 217 00:26:53.835 --> 00:26:58.125 Like every year is something different that lets me know that this is Christmas. 218 00:26:58.685 --> 00:27:01.365 It, it might be a song on the radio one year. 219 00:27:01.445 --> 00:27:02.885 Like when did Christmas start for you? 220 00:27:03.105 --> 00:27:07.565 Was it when you first heard Mariah Carey for the 985th time 221 00:27:09.565 --> 00:27:12.685 ? Somebody said, no, . 222 00:27:14.275 --> 00:27:16.685 When did it start for you? Was it when there was a cold spell? 223 00:27:16.825 --> 00:27:21.525 And you realize like this is winter in North Carolina, 55 degrees, 224 00:27:21.535 --> 00:27:25.085 right? , uh, wasn't when you put up the Christmas decorations, 225 00:27:25.185 --> 00:27:28.885 or maybe it was the day after Thanksgiving, uh, black Friday, 226 00:27:29.095 --> 00:27:32.165 maybe it was Cyber Monday, maybe it was giving Tuesday, 227 00:27:32.665 --> 00:27:35.525 but something let you know that Christmas was here. You know, 228 00:27:35.526 --> 00:27:38.244 who really knows this Christmas right now? Our kids? 229 00:27:39.275 --> 00:27:43.405 Because they are reminding us every day that something is coming and it's 230 00:27:43.605 --> 00:27:44.438 Christmas. 231 00:27:44.545 --> 00:27:48.005 And so we have a thing in our mind that we know that there's a day where we 232 00:27:48.006 --> 00:27:51.325 start thinking Christmas is near. Let me ask you a different question. 233 00:27:52.195 --> 00:27:53.365 When does Christmas end? 234 00:27:54.705 --> 00:27:59.125 Is it the day after Christmas when you take all of the decorations down and you 235 00:27:59.126 --> 00:28:02.484 put them in the box and you put the label on the front that you plan to put it 236 00:28:02.485 --> 00:28:03.318 in the garage? 237 00:28:03.465 --> 00:28:06.925 Is it in July when you finally take down the last string of lights from the top 238 00:28:06.926 --> 00:28:07.759 of the house? 239 00:28:08.895 --> 00:28:12.305 When does Christmas end and when does it begin? 240 00:28:12.965 --> 00:28:17.105 You know what's interesting is I know that every single year we create in our 241 00:28:17.155 --> 00:28:20.665 minds the day that Christmas begins and the day that it ends, 242 00:28:20.685 --> 00:28:23.505 and when it's over for us, we put it all in the box, 243 00:28:23.525 --> 00:28:27.505 we put it in the garage and we forget about it until the next year to come. 244 00:28:28.845 --> 00:28:30.065 And the problem with that is, 245 00:28:31.055 --> 00:28:35.955 is that the true meaning and feel and hope of Christmas 246 00:28:36.734 --> 00:28:38.755 was never meant to be put in a box. 247 00:28:40.185 --> 00:28:44.045 It was something that was meant to be experienced and lived into, you know, 248 00:28:44.046 --> 00:28:46.925 at Hope Community Church for the last few weeks we've been talking about the 249 00:28:47.105 --> 00:28:47.965 advent season, 250 00:28:48.385 --> 00:28:51.765 the idea that there were people who were waiting for Jesus to come into this 251 00:28:51.815 --> 00:28:53.445 world. And as they waited, 252 00:28:53.475 --> 00:28:58.285 they waited with great anticipation because the savior of the world was gonna 253 00:28:58.286 --> 00:28:59.119 be born. 254 00:28:59.985 --> 00:29:03.805 And they waited and they waited and they waited. 255 00:29:05.485 --> 00:29:06.318 And when he came, 256 00:29:07.245 --> 00:29:11.205 he brought great joy and great hope for all people. 257 00:29:13.345 --> 00:29:17.975 And every year we are supposed to have that kind of anticipation 258 00:29:18.845 --> 00:29:20.575 because when Jesus came to this earth, 259 00:29:20.835 --> 00:29:24.655 he came with a whole host of gifts that he brought to us that we get to 260 00:29:24.656 --> 00:29:25.815 experience. Even today. 261 00:29:25.905 --> 00:29:29.615 These are things that have transcended time and history and have come to us as 262 00:29:29.616 --> 00:29:33.215 gifts that we can unwrap every single day of our lives. 263 00:29:33.675 --> 00:29:37.575 It is things like peace, the peace that passes all understanding. 264 00:29:38.015 --> 00:29:41.525 So no matter how dark or crazy your world is, you can still have. 265 00:29:41.895 --> 00:29:42.728 Peace. 266 00:29:43.555 --> 00:29:46.275 I mean, what an amazing gift It it's gifts like joy, 267 00:29:46.835 --> 00:29:50.075 a joy that the world doesn't give and the world can't take away. 268 00:29:51.255 --> 00:29:53.995 And when people try to ask like, why do you have that joy? Well, 269 00:29:53.996 --> 00:29:57.395 it's because of Jesus. And then there's the gift of hope. 270 00:29:58.415 --> 00:30:03.195 The hope that this world, the darkness that exists is not all that exists 271 00:30:04.535 --> 00:30:08.825 because one day all of this pain is gonna be over 272 00:30:10.365 --> 00:30:13.765 and there is something greater ahead. You see, 273 00:30:13.766 --> 00:30:17.325 Jesus brought all of that with him and then there was this other gift. 274 00:30:18.835 --> 00:30:23.725 It's the gift that keeps on giving to us. It's the gift of love. 275 00:30:25.005 --> 00:30:28.905 And the gift of love is a powerful gift and it's a a different kind of love than 276 00:30:28.906 --> 00:30:32.505 what maybe we experience here in America. Because when we talk about love, 277 00:30:32.506 --> 00:30:34.625 what we really usually are talking about is like, 278 00:30:35.845 --> 00:30:39.105 but the love that Jesus has shown us is a different kind of love. 279 00:30:39.615 --> 00:30:41.145 It's a supernatural love. 280 00:30:41.535 --> 00:30:44.225 It's a love that doesn't keep records of right and wrongs. 281 00:30:44.226 --> 00:30:46.865 It's a love that meets us exactly where we are. 282 00:30:48.615 --> 00:30:52.465 It's an unconditional love that Jesus gives. You know, 283 00:30:52.466 --> 00:30:55.585 there's a passage of scripture in one John that speaks to that kind of love. 284 00:30:55.825 --> 00:31:00.385 One John chapter four verses nine and 10 says that God showed how much he loved 285 00:31:00.405 --> 00:31:05.145 us by sending his one and only son into the world so that 286 00:31:05.245 --> 00:31:08.505 we might have eternal life through him. 287 00:31:10.045 --> 00:31:13.545 It goes on to say that this is real love, 288 00:31:14.965 --> 00:31:19.745 not that we love God, but that he loved us and sits his son as a sacrifice. 289 00:31:20.125 --> 00:31:23.305 Why? To take away our sins. 290 00:31:24.705 --> 00:31:27.485 You know that word, sins, the idea of missing the mark. 291 00:31:27.505 --> 00:31:31.275 And there's not one of us here that hasn't missed the mark, 292 00:31:32.825 --> 00:31:37.275 that hasn't strayed away from God's best, from his plans for our lives. 293 00:31:38.715 --> 00:31:40.455 But even while we were sinners, 294 00:31:41.915 --> 00:31:44.175 he loved us so much that he sent his son. 295 00:31:45.665 --> 00:31:49.265 And when baby Jesus came into the world, he brought all those gifts and more. 296 00:31:49.605 --> 00:31:52.985 And these are gifts that you can't buy. These are gifts that we don't deserve. 297 00:31:52.986 --> 00:31:54.585 These are gifts that we didn't earn, 298 00:31:54.765 --> 00:31:59.625 and they're gifts that are only truly unwrapped when we put our trust in Jesus 299 00:31:59.725 --> 00:32:03.355 Christ. And maybe today, 300 00:32:05.185 --> 00:32:06.955 like those people so many years ago, 301 00:32:08.685 --> 00:32:13.085 you have been waiting for something to change. You know, 302 00:32:13.086 --> 00:32:15.565 when we get to this time of year, there's so many of us 303 00:32:17.065 --> 00:32:21.365 who've been clouded by so much activity and darkness and frustration and 304 00:32:21.605 --> 00:32:24.685 challenges that it's hard to even see Christmas on the horizon. 305 00:32:26.665 --> 00:32:28.565 But maybe just maybe this is a day 306 00:32:30.765 --> 00:32:32.125 And we can hit the reset button 307 00:32:33.905 --> 00:32:38.685 and accept the gifts that God so graciously gives us a 308 00:32:38.686 --> 00:32:41.765 peace, hope, joy, and love 309 00:32:43.305 --> 00:32:47.245 by putting our trust in him and choosing to follow him with our lives that can 310 00:32:47.246 --> 00:32:51.255 be ours. Even today. You know, 311 00:32:51.495 --> 00:32:53.175 Christmas was never meant to be put in a box. 312 00:32:55.015 --> 00:32:59.795 It was meant for us to experience. And so the waiting 313 00:33:01.995 --> 00:33:05.655 it can end today, let me just ask you, 314 00:33:07.325 --> 00:33:11.425 what are you waiting for? You know, 315 00:33:11.426 --> 00:33:14.545 as you unwrap the gift of Jesus Christ, uh, 316 00:33:14.605 --> 00:33:18.185 he brings that light that he once brought into the world into our lives, 317 00:33:18.285 --> 00:33:23.185 and he lights our lives up from the inside out and it changes everything about 318 00:33:23.245 --> 00:33:26.545 who we are. Everything about the existence that we once had. 319 00:33:26.725 --> 00:33:30.705 We get to spend time with the true and living God and he becomes a real part of 320 00:33:30.706 --> 00:33:32.945 our lives. And so let me just ask you one more time, 321 00:33:34.705 --> 00:33:35.755 what are you waiting for?