Morgan Teruel: Thanks for tuning in to the Sandals Church podcast. Our vision as a church is to be real with ourselves, God, and others. We're glad you're here, and we hope you enjoyed this message.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown: Thank you so much for joining us at Sandals Church and sharing your Christmas with us. Man, I absolutely love Christmas. I love everything about it, family, friends, and our faith. But I wanna talk to you about what's the hardest part of Christmas. And for me when I was a kid, I don't know about you, but it was waiting for it.
When I was a kid in the seventies, we would make these rings, these rings of paper, and we would make it on December, 1st, and we would every single day up to the 24th, we would pull off a ring, and I was like, oh my gosh, the days are so long, when in reality I didn't know as a kid the days in December are short. But a lot of us have such a hard time waiting for Christmas. Just a confession, my wife decorated for Christmas before Thanksgiving. I feel like that's a sin, but you know what? I'm married so we just did it together.
But she just loves loves loves Christmas. If you struggle waiting for Christmas, I want you to know that the first Christmas, Jewish people had to wait for 700 years. One of the first prophecies in the bible is Isaiah 714. And it says, therefore the lord himself will give you a sign. Now this is important.
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and she shall call his name Immanuel. So Isaiah said this. It was a politically volatile time. People were wondering if God had forgotten them or forsaken them, but Isaiah said no no no. There's gonna be a day, there's gonna be a time when you celebrate that first Christmas when Christ comes.
But I wanna challenge you today. The hardest part of Christmas is waiting, but the most important part of Christmas is Jesus. I gotta imagine that many of you as families, you struggle just being here tonight. Like trying to get everything together, get all the kids together, getting all your family on the same page. It's hard to remember that Jesus is the reason for the season.
When Tammy and I were raising our kids, we struggled with this. How do we make sure that our kids know that it's all about Jesus? There's family pressure. There's traditions. There's your own beliefs.
And as Christians, it's sad but true. We struggle remembering that it's all about Jesus. And so everything I'm gonna talk to you today is comes from Luke chapter 2, and you can read this whole story when you go home tonight with your families. But Luke chapter 2 is a challenge. Joseph finds out that Jesus isn't gonna be born in Nazareth, and he's gotta take Mary all the way to Bethlehem, a 90 mile hike with a pregnant woman and a donkey.
And then they show up and there's no room for Jesus at all. Listen to Luke 26. And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. Think about it. We've been waiting all these years for this.
And she gave birth to her firstborn son and she wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth. And she laid him in a manger because there was no lodging available for them. So think about this, the world had waited for 700 years for his birth. 700 years since what Isaiah said. His birth was predicted by prophets, identified by the wise men from the east, and celebrated by angels, but the people of Bethlehem missed it.
And you wanna know why that is? Because it's easy to miss something when it's really important. Years ago, our kids would be checked into, Sandals kids and and one day I got done preaching, I got home, I sat on the couch and I was super excited and proud of myself for how I did, and the cell phone rang and it was Sandals church, and I thought, why is Sandals calling me? And they're like, you left all your kids at church. And I had gotten home and completely forgot my kids, even my my newborn son, Ethan, they're like, you forgot your my newborn son, Ethan, they're like, you forgot your one and only son.
And for a lot of us, as Christians, we forget God's one and only son at Christmas. And we get all caught up in the shopping, the cooking, the celebrating, and we forget to stop, to pause, and to celebrate, and remember that Jesus is the reason for the season. And that's why I'm so glad you're here. But our vision at Sandals Church is to be real, so if you've never been to Sandals Church, what I'm gonna say might shock you, but it's the truth. The most challenging part of Christmas, can I be honest, is the people?
Amen? Any of you gonna be celebrating with some people tonight that you hope aren't intoxicated, maybe they just won't show up at all? You see, when I was a kid, my favorite Christmas movie was Christmas Vacation, and I don't like it anymore. You wanna know why? Because what I thought was funny when I was a kid is now reality as an adult.
I look at that movie and I'm like, oh yeah, I got Crazy Cousin Eddie. And if you don't have one, it's you. And then you look at all the families and my mom's always like, I can see it twinkling in my eyes, Matt. And I'm like, oh my gosh, what happened? Family, friends, they're people, and people create challenges.
In Luke 28 through 12, it says that night there were shepherds staying out in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. And then suddenly, an angel of the lord appeared amongst them and the radiance of the lord's glory surrounded them and they were terrified, but the angel reassured them. He said, don't be afraid, he said, I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. Now listen to this news, the proclamation of everything the Jewish people had been waiting for, the angel says. He says the savior, yes the messiah, the lord has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David.
And he says and you will recognize him by this sign, he says you'll find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth. Now listen, lying in a manger. Now we translate that word manger but it's feeding trough. It would have been so weird to look for a baby lying in a place that was made for animals to eat food. When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, let's go, let's go to Bethlehem and let's see that thing that the Lord said has happened and has told us about.
Now we've all read this, we've all heard this, and it's such a fantastic story, but I want you to stop and think about just for a moment. Can you imagine some stinky smelly dudes crowding around your newborn? Like just think about that. I can't tell you how many times I've met a new mom and a new dad at the Lobby of Sandals Church and I'm like, hey, and they're like, we don't let people hold our baby. You know, and they just announce and like, I'm the pastor.
I'm not a stinky shepherd, but people are protective of their babies. And so these guys show up, and I don't know if you've ever smelled sheep, but they stink. They have these glands in their eyes and in their feet that excrete a smell that is god awful gross, and we even talked about the fact that they're covered in wool that attracts everything else that comes in and out of their bodies. Sheep smell and shepherds reek. That's why they weren't invited, that's why they're way out.
And let me just say this, if you are truly going to have Jesus to be the king of your life, listen to me, then you're gonna have to welcome difficult people in your home. One of my favorite holiday stories comes from my friends. They all showed up and they gathered around for a holiday, and they had family there and friends there and they were celebrating. But one of their family members is a good friend of mine, and we went to college together but she battled, brain cancer towards the end of her life and eventually she lost that battle and I got to speak at her her funeral this year. But right before she died, she did some unusual things.
Cancer changed the way she thought and the way she acted. And so they're having this holiday moment, they're having this festivity of family gathered together, and my friend shows up with a homeless guy she found on the street. She just started talking to him and she just brought him right into their house and everybody's like, oh lord, who is this guy? And some are like, oh sweet that sounds so precious because it wasn't your home. And all my friends were freaked out.
But here's the funniest part of the story, people didn't know what to do, they didn't know how to interact with him, they didn't know how to talk to him or approach him, but finally somebody asked him his name. And do you wanna know what he said? He said his name was Jesus. Now I don't know if his name was Jesus or not but that'd be kind of unfortunate, amen? If Jesus shows up at your house tonight and you have no room for him just like Bethlehem had no room for him.
So we've talked about a couple things about Christmas, the hardest part is waiting for it. Now I know there's kids that are like wrap it up pastor, we wanna get home and unwrap some gifts. We've talked about the fact that the most challenging part is people and the most important part is Jesus. But here's the best part of Christmas, the best part of Christmas is the songs. Whether you're a Christian or not, whether you know Jesus or not, Christmas songs are something that bring us together.
Tammy and I were traveling in another country where we didn't speak the language and we were in an Uber and we didn't know how to communicate with the person, but all of a sudden, Christian music came on and I said, excuse me, are you a Christian? And instantly we were bonded. There's just something amazing about singing songs to Jesus that bring us all together. I've been in Muslim countries, Buddhist countries at Christmas time and they sing Christmas songs because the world longs for and hopes for the peace that Christ promises to provide. So in Luke 2 13 through 14, it says suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of other armies of heaven, praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest heaven and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.
Some of you may have never noticed this, but one angel announced Jesus. But an entire army of angels sang about Jesus. I wanna encourage you to sing today, to sing with us. The songs of Christmas are powerful reminders of the truth of Christmas. You see, when you are truly excited about something, when you are truly ready to celebrate something, you announce it, you celebrate it, you sing about it.
This past year has been an exciting year for our family, and we were celebrating mother's day and we were sitting around a table. Our kids took Tammy out to lunch for mother's day because she's the mom, and they took me because I'm the dad which means I'll pay, and so we were all sitting there together celebrating Tammy. And we have unwrapped this gift and my wife held up this little baby outfit and I just stood there in shock. And I didn't get it at first and it took a second and then I realized, our daughter's pregnant. And this Christmas season, we're celebrating the birth of our first grandchild.
And without thinking, without asking permission, I stood up in the restaurant in Palm Springs and I said, I need everybody's attention. And I said, I'm gonna be a grandpa. And this woman next to me is like, you don't look old enough to be a grandpa, which is kind of a compliment, but she was kind of a Debbie Downer. My kids were embarrassed, my wife was embarrassed, but I didn't care. I was so excited, I wanted to celebrate because something that we had longed for, something that we had waited for, something that we had hoped for happened.
And when that happens you celebrate. So I wanna invite you to celebrate with us, to sing with us. Christmas is a time of hope and celebration. It's a time to remember that God doesn't just promise great things, but he comes through with great things. And so just like the Jewish people had to wait 700 years for him to come, we're waiting for him to return again.
But just like he came the first time, we know he's gonna come the second time. So I'm gonna close in prayer and I'm gonna invite you this Christmas to celebrate with us at Sandals Church, the birth of Jesus because his birth changed the world and his life can change your life. Let's pray. Heavenly father, we pray in the name of Jesus that this Christmas would be a special time. Lord, that we would celebrate your birth, Lord, and that your life would change our lives.
Lord, fill our homes with joy and peace. And, Lord, let us be reminded as we sing these songs of the truth of Christmas and its meaning in our lives. Bless us all we pray as we celebrate your birth, Jesus. We pray this in your name. Amen.
Morgan Teruel: Hey, everyone. My name is Morgan and I'm a part of the digital media and online team that reaches tens of thousands of people every week through content just like this. In everything our team creates, our hope is to serve you as you grow in your own spiritual journey. Before we end the year, I wanna take a moment to ask, has this podcast inspired you, challenged you, or helped you grow closer to God? You grow closer to God?
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