and we'll be coming to that passage in 1 John towards the end of our message today.



 You may not have thought as you came to church that you'd be seeing a Coca-Cola advertisement, but there's actually a very good reason why you'll be seeing a Coca-Cola advertisement today. And that is that we live in a world that bombards us with all kinds of messages.



 And as we head into this Christmas season, we need to become people who can differentiate the truth from the weird messages we get from advertisers. Now, I mentioned at the start of the service for those who are with us, as we dive into the Coke commercial shortly, it is kind of a personal penance kind of thing. Our family brought on my mum's side, the Ambrose's, bought Tea Up Soft drinks. That was their company on the northwest coast of Tassie and they brought Coca-Cola to Tasmania. And as I said, at the start of the service, they managed to sell it the year it became profitable. Anyway, as we begin to talk about advertising, you need to understand that the truths and wrestle behind the advertising industry are actually one of the most major themes in the Bible. The truths and understanding behind the advertising industry are one of the most major themes in the Bible, starting with Genesis chapter three. In Genesis chapter one and two, we see, which is the first book of the Bible, the very first book, but in Genesis chapter three, we see that God had created the world and it was good in Genesis one and two, but in Genesis three, another story comes in. Somebody tries to tell a different narrative than God's narrative. And the basis of the different narrative, we see the snake tempting Eve and the basis of the temptation was a couple of things. One was that you become like God. You get to be your own God, you don't need someone else telling you what to do. And the other one is she looked at the fruit. There were three things she liked about it. One is it looked good. The other is it looked like it would be useful for food and it looked like it would taste good. And the third thing is she thought this is going to make me smarter. So it was about her needs. And usually the alternate story to God's story is about meeting your needs. That's what the evil one wants to come in and do. And every time Satan turns up in the Bible, starting there in Genesis three, but we also see him turn up in the book of Job and then in the temptations of Jesus, we see him turn up and it's not like he has some big army or some big complicated thing. The one thing he does is try to get you to believe a lie. The one thing he does is try to get you to believe a lie. And this is the heart of the spiritual battle. He wants you to build your life on lies. Jesus said of Satan, the evil one, that he was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth because there's no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language because he's a liar and the father of lies.



 At the heart of the Christian message is this, you will find life as you face truth. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life. Christians should never be scared about discussions about truth. You will find life as you step into truth. Now, one of the things we have to come to terms with is the world we are in, which is most typified, I think, by the advertising industry, but the world we are in is designed to get you to believe a lie. The world we're in is designed to get you to believe a lie. Now, what is complicated is that the Bible uses the word world



 three different ways. The Bible uses that word three different ways. One way is it uses the world, probably similar to most of us, to refer to the big blue and green ball that spins in space and has everything on it, all of creation. It uses the word world to refer to that. It also uses the word world specifically to refer to humanity and just all people. So, sometimes when it's talking about world, when it's like one of the most famous verses in the Bible, John 3 16, for God so loved the world that He gave His only Son so that anybody who believes in Him will not die but have eternal life, that world there is speaking about people. But in the New Testament, probably the major meaningful world is not those two things. It is a system, a system that sets itself up to get you to believe a lie. John Mark Comer is an author I appreciate and he says, "The world is a system of ideas, values, morals, practices and social norms that are integrated into the mainstream and eventually institutionalized in a culture corrupted by the twin sins of rebellion against God and the redefinition of good and evil." Rebellion against God and the redefinition of good and evil. What Satan was doing with Eve was encouraging her to say, "No, I know God said not to do that but I'm going to do it anyway." And he redefines what is good and evil. He helps Eve see the fruit is going to be a source of good for her, not understanding it's actually going to be a source of evil for her. And so, the world is a system and you'll see if you've got your sermon notes which are available in the Bible app, if you just search for citywide in the Bible app or if you're here in Hibert it'll just pop up. Jesus is clear that Satan is the prince of this world. The world doesn't happen accidentally. There's this sense that there is a dark power behind the system of the world that is trying to get you to believe stuff that is just frankly not true and stuff that will rob you of life. And that's why we need to look at the advertising industry because advertising, I reckon, is the the sharp edge of the world. We need to talk about what advertising is. It's an attempt, let's be honest, by somebody with a vested interest to communicate a message in order to encourage you to do something for their benefit.



 Advertising is a form of communication by somebody with a vested interest communicating something to you to get you to do something for their benefit. And they'll normally tell you it's for your benefit.



 My first job was in radio in a little out back town of Broken Hill. I love Broken Hill. It's one of the most beautiful places on earth and part of that challenge and eventually the part of the reason I left was as a DJ on radio you had to be ready to write and voice ads for things you really didn't believe in and you were selling things to people they really didn't need at prices they couldn't afford and you were successful if you achieved that outcome. We need to understand the reason billions and I mean billions of dollars are spent on advertising is because it works.



 It changes how you think and how you behave and that's why we want to take these next four Sundays to see if we can learn how to think critically about the messages behind the ads and to compare the truth they're trying to sell with the truth of God's Word which I actually think is one of the most important skills that human beings can have in this moment.



 Do you know that Americans are exposed to between 4,000 and 10,000 ads in a day.



 Americans are exposed to between 4,000 and 10,000 ads in a day. You wouldn't think would you that this space we're in is a church you wouldn't think there'd be many ads in here would you but if you just look around and they won't be obvious but if you look at people's shoes many of them will have some kind of logo on them or some kind of brand name on them. It's amazing how many t-shirts will have some kind of brand name on them.



 And as you look around it's not that all advertising is bad we actually have advertising up the back for Baptist World Aid and the Christmas store where you can give a Christmas gift but it's intentionally trying to get your attention and get you to do something. We need to learn that advertising is part of our life. The one study I could find from Australia is that Australians see 2,808 ads a day half of which we pay attention to.



 So that is conservatively 1,400 messages from vested interests trying to get you to do something you hadn't wanted to do before you heard the message. So that's why it's important for us to get our heads around this. Effective advertising the most effective advertising does two things.



 It identifies a human need and then it connects a product or a service to that human need.



 Effective advertising identifies a human need and then connects a product or service to that human need. It's not that the human need isn't true it's just that you know McDonald's isn't going to fix it for you and that's why we need to learn to say behind all ads when they go to marketing the school they are very clear you've got to learn to tell the truth just slightly distorted towards the product you wanted to sell and when Satan comes to Jesus he doesn't come and say hey you're not the Messiah you don't know who you are he doesn't come and try and tell a direct lie what Satan actually tries to come and take the truth and just bend it a little bit. That's exactly what advertising does and we need to learn the two-step process of advertising. It is help the person identify with the truth and then attach a product or service to that. Now there are some kinds of advertising that look more informational like your Coles brochure or your JB HiFi catalogue. The truth is they know that you know you already have a need they don't need to create the need. They've usually done some work to try and place themselves in the marketplace and they know their task isn't so much about telling a big story it's about getting you into the shop and then trying to get you to buy things that are more expensive than you actually wanted to buy in the first place. So it's a different kind of job but it's still the same it's still the same thing. All ads come from somebody with a vested interest trying to get you to purchase or do something for their benefit and so that is why we need to learn to be wise as serpents and gentle as doves. We need to learn to work out what are the messages we believe because I don't know how to break the news to you there are lies you believe about yourself and there are lies you believe about other people and there are lies you believe about products and surfaces and we the task of discipleship is to learn to step into the truth.



 So what we're going to do over these next few weeks is play an ad and see if we can identify what are the truths behind the ad and what are the lies behind the ad and what would the Bible say about those lies what is the alternate truth. So before we go too much further we're going to play this this is all the ads we're going to show in the next four weeks are ones that have been released in the last few weeks they're this year's Christmas ads some from Australia and some from overseas today's is a global one it's the Coca-Cola ad so brace yourself let me and and as you watch it watch critically and and understand behind every frame of this ad is a marketing guru trying to sell you something and notice what they say and what they don't say so let's watch this ad that tells us the world needs a lot more Santa Clauses



 I'm underfoot but where the pillow from the bed I could be Santa Claus oh and he won't come face and tongue I fantasized it a lot with his head upon my head and his suit of Christmas red I could be Santa Claus and with his ho ho ho I'd be going down the chimneys with his eye and although my curls may be showing I'll make sure they only see me from the back



 yes anyone can be Santa a tantalizing remote oh though his boots are not my size here the twinkle in my eyes I could be Santa Claus



 with his reindeer and his sleigh I'd be up up and away I could be Santa



 I could be Santa I could be Santa Claus



 there you go now a couple of things to note as we begin to unpack what that is and one of the truths it's trying to tell and one of the lies behind the ad you'll notice even when the word Coca-Cola isn't in frame the Coca-Cola color is in frame because marketers know that colors are powerful and that particular shade of red particularly if they can put white with it will evoke Coca-Cola wherever you see it do you know that part of the reason Santa wears red and white is because of a 19 early 1900s Christmas advertising campaign by Coca-Cola up till that point Santa sometimes wore red but he often wore green and all kinds of other colors but we have red and white Christmas Santa Clauses thanks to Coca-Cola which is interesting isn't it the other thing to note is Coca-Cola on a health kick they're no longer trying to sell you Coca-Cola they're trying to sell you Coke Zero Santa doesn't drink Coca-Cola anymore which is just something to note and the frame changes every five seconds we have a limited attention span apparently we as human beings over the last 50 years our brains have been rewired to filter out a whole lot of things and all ads have an advertising has got a lot more complicated and advertisers have to do two things in order to get your attention they have to either surprise you or entertain you and they've got to get through that filter and they they know they've only got five seconds to get you in



 now in that ad there was a whole lot of little micro stories did you notice that there was a whole lot in in in any story there is a sense of attention and a resolution of the tension



 and there is a truth that is behind the whole ad so what I asked you to do is to see if you could see in that ad what were the truths that this ad was trying to tap into and then we want to unpack what are the things that it's what are the lies behind it so we're going to take now a moment to see if we can identify and this is something for people at home as well we're going to put up a mentimeter and ask what were the truths you saw behind this ad this ad was trying to tell you what was it trying what was the truth it was trying to tap into so if you've got your phone and can you pull out your phone right now and we're going to chuck up a slide and what we'd love you to do turn around to people who don't have phones and write down their answers and talk about just for a minute talk about what was the truths behind this ad what was what was the truth it was trying to tap into what was the truth it was trying to get you to believe so let's see if we can start so this QR code will take you to the to the place where you can put in your answers you can or you can just go to mentimeter.com and type in that code it is actually very important to see if you can work out what is the truth behind the advertising and where does it go wrong but let's starting with what is the truth so let's see if we can start to get some answers what what truth did you see this ad was trying to tap into so if you've got a phone turn around to people who don't have a phone and if you're at home we want to hear from you too and and matt let's just start to see some of the answers as they come in so so some of the truths that it's trying to tap into family kindness generosity holiday spirit helping others is good loving others coke what does it say coke evokes community that's interesting that that's a uh small actions matter we're stronger it's part my goal at the end of these four weeks is that you will never see an ad the same way again my goal at the end of these four weeks is that you'll never see an ad the same way again that that each week we'll be unpacking okay what are the truths behind these ads and and what are they trying to get you to do it is interesting is kindness is the number one thing that's emerging isn't it we all we all want kindness really encourage you to keep uh giving your answers in and this mentimeter will stay open



 but what i i i actually think we're naming i think the truth that i'm sure a panel of marketing experts came up with with coca-cola that uh it's interesting the words there kindness generosity sharing family giving caring uh matt we can take that off the screen now and people can see my ugly face again uh i i am sure a marketing guru went into a board room and said people are feeling isolated and scared the stuff that's happening in Ukraine they wouldn't have yet known about what was going to happen in the middle east that the the big truth behind the ad is that people are feeling insecure and they are longing to experience kindness and grace that this is the big need that the ad is trying to evoke there which is not a bad thing that to to realize that people are wanting kindness and grace and generosity that's fantastic



 what what is the lie behind the ad



 what is the lie behind the ad



 well i i think there are two lies behind the ad one is yep yep good on you mate yeah i think i think you're right that the brand coca-cola



 is associated with that kindness and happiness and things we all want that is the ultimate lie behind it and the other one is all that needs to happen for kindness and grace to be you know let loose on the world is for all of us to act like santa claus



 that all we need is everybody to you know just be santa claus to each other



 who didn't think of that you know



 one of the this is and this is where it's quite important for us to undifferentiate santa from jesus because the the kind of cheap grace that santa typifies when he comes down your chimney wiggles his nose and all the presents appear



 is completely as is as fake as santa is himself sorry for anybody you know my wife's a bit worried that i said santa was fake this is a this is a church people can cope but there's there is this lie that we want to buy into that somehow everything can be made better if somebody wiggles their nose that grace has no cost let's have a look at the bible one john chapter four if you've got your bibles pull them out and matt can we have the house lights up just so that people can read their paper bibles one john chapter four it's a bit brighter enough listen to this if anyone acknowledges that jesus is the son of god god lives in them and they in god and so we know and rely on the love god has for us god is love whoever lives in love lives in god and god in them



 what john is writing here is he's saying look there if you are desperate for connection if you're feeling powerless and lonely there is an answer and it's not santa clause and it's not coke



 we can rely on jesus we can live our lives john say in him



 now he goes on and says this is how love is made complete among us so that we'll have confidence on the day of judgment in this world we're like jesus there is no fear in love but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment the one who fears is not made perfect in love don't know if you've noticed it but that ad with all its little micro stories actually tried to tap into fear a whole lot of natural fears that many of us have some of them are silly fears like losing a sock in the laundry others are more substantial fears like if you've been away from home for a long time and sometimes it can be a real insecurity and coming back into family networks



 or if you don't have you ever missed a train you know and feeling like you're running late and and in each one of those micro stories the ad tried to put up a a moment of tension or a moment of fear when the the vending machine doesn't give you a coca-cola it's interesting the way it works that there's a whole lot of little stories and then the big heroic moment is when santa shares his coke with the other santa which is typified as the moment of grace one of the things we have to come to terms with is that loving other people isn't easy grace isn't easy you don't just wiggle your nose if you notice that loving people particularly people you find painful



 is not simple you don't just drink a can of coke and all of a sudden you love people but what the central truth that one john here is saying is this because we're loved because we are loved we can love other people the foundation of grace is not cheap it's not simple the foundation the foundation of grace is the foundation of a cross



 jesus didn't come to earth and wiggle his nose and come down the chimney



 he came and died and said



 this was my turn and as the father sends me so i send you we don't need a whole lot more santa clauses because santa clause doesn't produce anything of lasting value what we do need is people who are willing to pay the real price of grace and connection which is a dying to yourself and the second thing behind this what john is saying here



 is that as a follower of jesus we actually don't need to feel powerless or fearful



 so the ad shouldn't work on us



 the need that this ad is trying to tap into of insecurity and powerlessness and loneliness the more we hang out with jesus the more you find you actually don't need coca-cola to meet that need for you that need is met and met in jesus now john goes on and he says we love because he first loved us whoever claims to love god yet hates a brother or sister is a liar it's pretty full on in it isn't that full on



 for whoever doesn't love their brother and sister whom they have seen cannot love god who they haven't seen and again this is where the truth of the gospel message comes clashing with the fluff of the christmas message christmas says grace and joy and peace are all wrapped up and neat and fluffy because santa tells you so jesus comes and says grace and joy and peace are beautiful truths that we're all destined to experience but they're not light and fluffy they they come at a price



 and the only way to be able to step into those things is to know you are loved in and through jesus there is no cost to santa's grace he just turns up and smiles and with rid off the red nose reindeer drops from presents and flies away



 there's an incredible cost to real grace



 to really love other people is costly but that's how they experience the grace and hope and truth that coca-cola is wrongly telling them they can experience through a can of coke



 john finishes the chapter by saying he's given us this command anyone who loves god must also love their brother and sister



 and so the people around us should not need to look to santa clause



 the people what john is saying the people around us should be experiencing the connection and grace and love that coke is trying to sell them but they should be really experiencing it not with some fake marketing thing i mean i don't know if you saw the the tagline of the ad



 that coke real magic that that tells you something



 they they are trying to take the depth and breadth and weight of the christmas message away and equate it to some magical mystical thing you'll find that i actually think brian adams was right with a song he wrote he said there's something about christmas time i think there is something about christmas time because all human beings long for love and joy and peace



 and christmas promises it and what satan has done is he's come and taken and said look yes yes have a bit of that and all you need is a santa clause and get everybody together



 and everything will be okay over a bottle of coke it's not an accident that the the worst



 time for divorce and families falling apart is post christmas because everybody comes with a dream of what it's meant to be and then the reality comes that santa didn't bring me everything i wanted this christmas and some of my family members are still hard to put up with and i'm going to find an easier option i i think it's it's essential for us to learn to be able to exegete the messages of this world



 to learn that for many of us we still we're not even conscious of it but we we buy the the messages behind the ads and the incredible truth is that no matter what the advertising tells you no matter what the messaging tells you it will only ever be a pale imitation of the life and joy and peace that is found in and through jesus and that's why it's good to sort of step back and say okay what is the truth here and then what is the actual truth for us let's pray



 jesus we realize that marketing people are clever and they are trying to tap into our desperate need for kindness and our desperate need for hope but they're pointing people in the wrong direction i pray for our community thank you for all those who've been asking us for prayer over the last little while i pray that our community would discover that hope isn't found in coca-cola or even in santa claus but that hope is found in you so help us be open to all you have for us we ask this in your name amen we're gonna stand and sing for one last song