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It is a struggle to find joy when you look at this cursed world. But the “great joy” of the angel’s message applies even to today. This Christmas Eve message - Pastor Mike Novotny shows that the Lord Jesus still rules over this cursed Earth & proves the wonders of his love.
The episodes are the weekly sermons from 922 Ministries (St. Peter and The CORE) of Appleton, Wisconsin.
Christmas Playlist
Week 4 - The CORE
Pastor Mike Novotny
Good afternoon and Merry Christmas everyone. Thank you so much for being here today. So many familiar faces, members of our church family. All those of you haven't seen it a little bit and those of you are meeting for the first time. So cool to be with you today. Yesterday, we had our first Christmas Eve service and after the band warmed up I was listening. And the first family came in to sit in the back row and I said to the guy I bet you Twenty dollars you were going to love the music tonight. At church I said I owe you $20 cash if you don't love it after you leave and I was shaking hands with him. He comes, 20 bucks, cash right in my hand. So I said, I'll go again, take your money on Christmas. We said put it in the offering plate. So I just want to publicly say, the amount of time and effort that our musicians put in, they play the same group played last night at church, two times this morning at St. Peter, they zipped over here for this service, we're going to play another service. They join the ushers in the greeters, the church decorators, the sound people, the white people, the camera people are dozens and dozens of people that make this moment possible. So, would you join me in thanking God for them and their service?
Crystal good. I bet if I just said, amen, and they came back up and we're up at the surface, you can see no, it's a green Christmas Eve. But my pastor, I never pass up the opportunity to talk. So I would like to talk to you today about a classic Christmas song, Joy to the World. But there's this unwritten rule that you can't find anywhere in the Bible and they don't teach it to you. Officially at Bible college when you're training to be a pastor but they really should. And the unwritten rule is this to Christmas Eve Church. You have to sing Joy to the World. It is in everyone's best interest. If the worship leader or the pastor, make sure that either at the beginning or the end, we sing Joy to the World. You can ignore this rule at your own risk, but I can guarantee you, if you ever become a pastor, and you get to pick the music for Christmas and you skip Joy to the World. Even the nice little old church. Ladies will give you the stink eye in the lobby afterwards. Everyone thinks. When they come to church on Christmas, you're not going to sing some song. We've never heard before some obscure new to in the past, or the worship leader, made up, you're going to sing the classics. But nostalgic songs from childhood Christmas, the ones you hear on the radio. Well if you're not really a church person, that's why I just want to calm your nerves today. And let you know, before the service is done, we will be singing Joy to the World so you don't think that's threatening.
Look like we have its own idea past, right? It's gonna call me. We're going to sing it. But today, I don't just want to sing that song. I want to take a second to study that song. Joy to the World is over 300 years old, I think it was written in the year 1711 and it has survived generations and countries and continents of Christian worship. Not just because it's nostalgic or classic, but because it is packed with a message that all of us here today care about Joy. I might not know you're a whole spiritual story or your life situation, but I think the one thing that all of us have in common is a deep longing for lasting Joy. If you're a member of this church, who's here, every single Sunday, if you're the occasional Christmas and Easter kind of spiritual person, if someone invited you to the service or dragged along to the service, we're doing this to make Mom or Grandma happy. I bet no matter what your background, this is true of you. And it's true for me. That really wants more than anything in the world that Joy. We want a kind of happiness that doesn't fizzle out after the Christmas Feast is over. We want something that gives us hope to wake up in the morning and peace through all the ups and downs of Life. The one thing that all of humanity has in common is this deep like craving and longing in our souls for joy.
So if I could ask you kind of a personal question, it's Christmas. How's your joy? If I would do a quick focus group with your family and friends and ask them about you, is she a joyful person? You see the kind of guy who's full of joy? If your heart was a gallon jug how far up with the Joy gets? And if I asked you that question, if we had time to pass the microphone around, I bet the answers would really depend on what kind of year it's been for you. Depends, what's going on with your body and your physical health. It depends, what's going on with your bank account, your finances. It depends what's going on with your family and your friendships and your relationships. Whether you're dating. If you want a date, whether you're getting married. If you want someone who will commit, whether you're holding a baby, in your arms is Christmas. If you want to expand your family, I bet you talk to me about work. You talk to me about life, you talk about a thousand different things, and your joy would be dependent on those things. Which is the tricky thing about Joy. You want it? I want it. Sweet ache and crave for it. But joy is pretty tricky to get, and then to hold on to.
If you are taking notes in your program today, I want to explain to you why if you're watching a home graphic and write this now? And I think one of the reasons that so many of us have sold little Joy, Is because the people who would help us get more joy, they can't. And the people who maybe could help us get more joy, They won't say that again. I think that you and I would have a lot more joy if it wasn't for this fact that the people who really would love to help us be happier and improve in life, they can't fix our problems. And maybe the people who could fix our problems, they don't have the passion or the desire, they won't. It's the people who would can. So people who could won't let me give a few examples. Let's imagine this Christmas. You're stressed because of finances, right? You can't take the Christmas vacation, you can't buy the gifts that you want. You got credit card debt, you're struggling to pay the rent, maybe live in a nice home, but people just don't know the pressure of business and payroll and all the bills. And the tuition, like, you would be happier. You wouldn't be trying to sleep in Heavenly peace. When you're tossing a turn because you're broke. Well. I've been there. A whole bunch of people in your life, who would love to fix that problem? But they can't. You're sure your financial situation with your best friend over coffee and she wishes she could fix it, pull out the checkbook and write it six figures. But you can't. It breaks your mom's heart, but she's paying her own bills, you're not related to Elon Musk.
So, yeah, the people who love you would love to take that burden off your shoulders, but the fact is they can't. And there are people who could fix that problem. But they won't. Elon Musk could be waiting in your driveway when you get home after church today. You could just give you a blank, check whatever you want, nine figures, who cares. But don't hold your breath, you want with their millionaires or billionaires, who could give 1% of their wealth and end all your financial problems forever, but will they? You see the problem with joy people who would cancel people who could won't Our second example, what we think about your family situation, You're not, everyone needs to date or get married or have children, Jesus didn't. And that was cool. But lots of us. Lots of us want that happy family. I want to meet that. Someone fall for them. Want them to fall for us who want to commit to them. They wanted us. When I have two kids, maybe three it's like those Christmas cards do get as many of these as I do. I would like the dad who is surprisingly handsome with the perfect hair and the wife and aside, they look so close and they have the kids and all the whole families. Wear these, like matching Lumberjack jammies to get these kinds of goods cards or so. Jordan was like the perfect family and maybe you want that and you don't have that. And the people who would love to help you get that, They can't.
But your mom maybe wishes her son, or her daughter would meet that special someone, but she can't control who falls for you or who commits to you as your best friend. Maybe you wish you could have a baby like she did. But just no control or authority over human fertility, they would. But they can and maybe the people who could. The girl you really like at work. The guy that you're dating could DM you during the Christmas service to bring joy to your world. He could propose this Christmas Eve but you can't, you can't force people to love you so we try to find joy in the perfect relationship and family but would, could, can't, won't. Maybe this year you did something honestly, that you really regret.
If you relapsed into an addiction, if you just had a falling out with someone in your family and you wish there was some like rewind button and your best friend does too, but she doesn't have a button like that and you don't have an app like that on your phone, you can't go back and make better choices. You can't rewind and not say those things and sin. I could give you 10 more examples, all of us in so many areas of life would love to live with joy in our world. But there's this human dilemma that all of us end up with the people who would help us against people who could help us phones.
But, what if? Is my big question for tonight. What if there was someone who was both? And would? What is there someone, you could meet this Christmas. Who could someone with the resources and the connections? The power, the ability, The Authority who could help you with your worst problems and what if that same person would They wanted to help you. They cared about you. They want to ignore your calls, your emails, your request. What if there was someone was like the perfect combination of power and love who had Authority and concerned if they came with all the authority needed and yet all the compassion for you as a person, what if there was a person like that.
Merry Christmas, everyone. I know a guy, I know a guy, his name is Jesus. And if you don't know much about Jesus, you're going to learn a lot about Jesus. Before I say, Amen, tonight, I have a singular goal and it is this to prove to you that Jesus can and Jesus will. What if you follow Jesus, if you trust in him, write down these words that Jesus can He? He is totally capable. Absolutely powerful, omnipotent and authoritative. He is a king and a Lord. He is the very Son of God. He can And what makes the same Jesus so amazing is that He will. He wants to help you. He cares about you. Even if no one else in the world does. He loves like no one loves? He feels like no one else. Feels he reaches out when no one else is reaching out. Today, I want to preach to you the name of the Jesus who can and the Jesus who will. So here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna go back to that classic song. We all love to hear on Christmas. Joy to the World. I'm gonna break down the three stanzas and I'm going to show you within that song. This message up, incredible joy that you two can find in Jesus because he can and he will Stanza one versus one of the classic him Joy to the World, which says this.
Joy to the World. The Lord is come. Let Earth receive her King. Let every heart, prepare him room, and heaven and nature, sing, and heaven, and nature, sing and heaven, and heaven and nature, sing and heaven, and nature are singing. They’re joyful, they're singing, they're singing, singing. What are they singing about? Here's what they're singing about. The Lord is come, the king of the Earth has finally arrived. The song from the very start wants to remind you that Jesus might look like a little baby in Mary's arms. But he's actually a very big baby. We call him the little Lord Jesus. Don't get distracted by the little, because he is the capital L Lord. He's just a little kid there with 10 fingers and 10 toes. But he's not just a little kid. He is not just a King. He is the king of kings and the Lord of Lords, if you could shop for Jesus, you cannot buy them at the dollar store. You'd have to go to Costco because he's a big Lord. If you've watched the office, I would say to this the kid in the manger is not the assistant to the regional manager. He is a king sized Christ, a double XL Lord, the Bible calls him Emmanuel, which means god with us. The reason that Jesus can help you and bring more joy into your life is because not just some guy is not just a good friend, he's not just a counselor, he is God in human flesh.
And that means that you better pay really close attention to this little line from a song. Let every heart prepare Him room.
You've noticed the capital H on that word.
Jesus wants to find room in your heart. Every single order, doesn't matter how broken or bad, you've been. Jesus wants to move in, right, here in your heart. But here's what you need to know, if Jesus comes in He's going to take a lot of room. He's not some Google God, you stick in your pockets and search for Spiritual answers when you're in distress. He's not some on call counselor whose number you save and say Jesus. I need your help. Know if Jesus is going to live into your art. He's going to come with all of himself with his bigness. His lordship is kingship and his authority. The question you need to ask yourself, a Christmas. Is there room in my heart for each Jesus? Who's that big? Makes me think of the Jesus who lived in my house?
A couple years ago, my family and I found this on Amazon. This is a 12-inch stuffed version of Jesus.
And he currently lives on my youngest daughter. Maya is bed with like 47, other stuffed animals, Cranston kids like this and this is why Jesus is so small like we love him a little smile on his face, but this Jesus is so small that we lose him all the time. It's lost under the sheets, gets lost under the pillows and times. He likes lips behind the crack of the bed. Sometimes it's underneath like a bunch of sloth stuffed animals. He's Jesus, but he's so small. We sometimes lose him easily. But a couple years after we bought this Jesus, We bought. I found this on Amazon so we call this guy Jumbo Jesus, like six months though this is a six foot tall Jesus. Makes you bring jumbo Jesus on all our family vacations, and road trips with us. He sits in the back seat. The best part is, whenever I'm like in a big metropolitan city in a kind of a sketchy parking spot. I always put Jesus' shotgun. And if anyone tries to break into my car, they have to steal it under the watchful eye of our Lord and savior, what's the time? I put a little bible open on his lap and he's pointing right to the passage that says, you shall not steal. So this brings Jesus. Brings us to join them, you know, I'm driving the minivan. I looked in the rearview mirror. Here's his big old smile. Jesus looking back, and here's what I've learned about Jumbo Jesus. He takes up a lot of space.
You got to squeeze the wife and two kids. And for suitcases and the coolers in the backpack, sometimes there's not room for a Jesus in this game. We're planning a camping trip. So, we got to bring the sleeping bags and sleeping pads, the tent, and the portable stove. And I'm starting to think is there going to be enough room for all the stuff we want? And a Jesus of this size too.
And when I get, where I'm going, The question, all of us have to ask at Christmas is what size Jesus do we believe in? We're lots of us want a big Jesus who is mighty and powerful. He has the authority to like workout plans for our life. Help us forgive us, save us, get us to heaven. But the question is, if that kind of Jesus exists in your heart, he's not going to come in a small mini form. It's going to come with bigness and with power, authority.
Someone said this Jesus away.
I need to ask you a really huge question.
The song that we've been singing says, let every heart prepare. Capital H Him room.
And the question is, is there room in you for a Jesus of that size? A king who comes and give commands to how you should live. Oh Lord, who will listen to your every word but in the end He always gets the last word because He's God Jesus, to be honest, who kind of smirks when we use the phrase, my truth? Because He is the truth. A Jesus. Who cares about what you're going through but you're not going to outvote him or change him. Instead he will change you. Is there room inside of your heart for a “capital J” Jesus.
All right, let me get specific and make it a little uncomfortable. If the real Jesus through his word looked at the kind of the priorities in your schedule and then your life and told you that things needed to change.
You for a Jesus like that?
If He looked at you and said, “what you claim to follow me, but how much time do you actually spend following me?”
Would you listen to Him or kick Him out of your heart?
If Jesus, frankly said to some of you, you can listen to my word once a year on Christmas. And then not again, and claim we're good. Do you have any relationship that works on one our year?
And if he told you to change, wWill there be room with you for that?
If Jesus wasn't listening to what the world says, but what the Word says, and He wanted to talk to you about sexuality and marriage and relationships and Hhe said that this is good and this is not, but this is of God and this is not, would you change what you think, what you believe, and how you behave as you bend the knee to an authoritative King? Or are you? So, the authoritative voice speed. Yours.
If a big Jesus would come to your next holiday party and tell you to love her, even despite the things that she said to forgive him for the thing, he did years ago. Would you listen to him? Would you try? Would you go on doing your own thing? Living your own life abiding by your own truth. This is always the question that Christianity has asked. If you want Jesus, you can have him. But there is no miniature version of Jesus. There's just Lord and King, Savior, and God,
My fear for too many people today. Is that their hearts are just like that in Bethlehem?
There's just no room.
So today, you just like me. We're going to have to decide will every heart prepare Him room. Will we shrink Jesus down to some size that we can control. So we feel spiritual even though we're being our own Gods or will it be repentance will it be change. We confessed to Him and follow His name.
Can you answer that question? I need to share what verse 2 of his classic song says,
Maybe at this point you're thinking this doesn’t sound very joyful. Jesus telling me what to do, Jesus telling me how to live, Jesus saying, I can't do that anymore. Jesus trying to change me or that sound like joy to my world. That's what you're thinking, listen to what words say.
Joy to the World, the Savior Reigns, let men their songs employ.
While fields and floods, rocks, Hills and plains,
repeat the sounding Joy, repeat the sounding Joy,
repeat repeat the sounding Joy. There's a lot of joy in that verse is there not? They repeat it, and repeat it, the men in the fields, and the floods, and the rocks, and the hills and the planes, they keep singing Joy to the World. And here it is again because he's reigning, he's ruling with authority and power. Why would they be so joyful about someone telling them what to do? And the answer. Did you see it? Is in the wording of who is doing the raining.
Not the Lord Reigns. Not the king Reigns, not God Reigns. The song gets to the heart of Christian Joy by saying:
Joy to the World, the Savior Reigns…
The joy of Christianity is in the fact that the one who has all the power and all the authority is so loving and compassionate that he came to save. He could have just chilled on the couch in heaven. Scrolling TikTok. Watching Hallmark movies. Staying comfortable. He did not instead, he came down, giving up everything. That was rightly his to rescue you to save you. To take everything you regret everything. You've done wrong. Everything. You can't rewind and undo. Just wanted to highlight all of it and push delete. That's why He came by the Angels on the day that Jesus was born. Said this. Do not be afraid. I bring you good news, that will cause great joy for all the people so you can catch it today in the town of David, a savior has been born to you. He is the Messiah, the Lord. What causes great joy is when the Lord is your savior.
Your friend can't save you from your sin. But a Lord could. Your mom might love you but she doesn't have the authority to get you to heaven. But the king of Heaven does. If Jesus comes with all this Authority and speaks words not to hurt us or judge us or condemn us, but the save us, forgive us and cleanse us. Then we can sing with joy in our hearts. Come into my heart. Jesus, Take All of Me, change me because I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you want. What's best for me.
When I think of this kind of Jesus power love Lord and Savior. I obviously think of iconic Mexican actor Danny Trejo. like 186 thousand different movies, always really tough. Be if you bad guy that you don't want to mess with or meet in a dark alley, I recently read Danny Trejo's biography and in it, his friend Donald tells an amazing story about Danny's power and his love, by turns out, the two were shooting a scene on the old movie reindeer games. It sounds familiar to some of you. And the director on the set was incredibly stressed, daylight was fading. That one last chance to get the shock right in this particular shot. Danny and Donald were climbing the snow-covered ladder. The set people kind of put freshly fallen snow and it was like no one had climbed it. They're running away from the bad guys. I think we got one last shot. Everyone knows like we mess this up. The sun's going to set. It will be done for the day. The directors already ticked, he's going to snap, it's going to be a terrible thing. So they're getting ready seconds away from the shot when Donald slips.
Loses his grip on the snowy ladder. It starts to fall. And if he does, he's done. Early in his career. The director would have blackballed him. He would have been done. He was falling with no way to catch himself.
But that's when Danny saved him.
With one mighty Mexican arm, he, Donald says, Danny Trejo reached out and grabs him by the scuff of the coat hanging onto the snow-covered ladder, with the other. With one arm, he holds up his 200-pound friend, 200 pounds with one arm, the director doesn't see a thing. Danny Trejo is holding his friend in midair and before the director can see he sets them back on the ladder leans over and Whispers, I’ve got you.
Exit.
All the power. And so much love.
And that's why I love Jesus. If so much power, you can take the hardest parts of this year and you can turn them for good. You can take your struggles with mental health, at death, in your family, to divorce that you've been through the pain in your body. You so much Authority. He can actually work out human history to work it for good. Or when you slipped and you fell this year, when you did something morally said, something you can't take back that, you know, is not good and it wasn't of God. You can't catch yourself from sin. So Jesus reaches out. With all of his power, he grabs you before you plunge into hell, he sets you back into the family of God, he whispers “I got you.”
Christian's love to obey Jesus. We love to submit to Jesus. We love to follow Jesus. As challenging as that might be because when we slip Jesus uses his power and his love to catch us. Don't take this today, that same. Jesus is coming back soon. And he's going to use that same power and love to fix everything. Two thousand years ago, Jesus came with power and love to save you from your sin. And sometime very soon, maybe before this year is over, he's going to return to the end, everything wrong with life.
That's actually what Joy to the world is about.
Kind of crash your Christmas party. Did any of you here know Joy To The World is not a Christmas song?
Isaac Watts. The original author was writing a song based on Psalm 98 and Psalm 98 is not about cows and mangers in a virgin giving birth. It's about the Return of the King of kings and Lord of Lords who comes with power and love to restore the universe. So heaven and nature, sing the rocks that heals the planes and all of mankind, who knows and follows him verse enjoy because death is over and pain is over and loneliness is over and depression is over. The struggle is over, anxiety is over, back pain is over, migraines are over. Our Jesus with power, strength and love. He came, once he is coming again to make everything new and I want to tell you today, he is not just the Lord, he is the Lord Of Love.
That's why verse 3 of this classic song puts it all together? I'll go quickly. It says that Jesus rules the world with truth and Grace and makes the nations prove the glories of His righteousness and wonders of His love. You roll with truth. He's King and Lord, but He rules with Truth and Grace. undeserved love, forgiveness of sins given at a cross. And that's why people around the world and many nations who are gathered in this room right now, are proving that he's worth it. We're singing the glories of his righteousness. How wonderful is the love of Jesus. I can think in this room right now are people from America.
Mexico. Bangkok. From Brazil. Italy. For Vietnam.
And it's not just us this weekend. I think of this billions of people with a B, billions of people, will likely sing these same songs lifting up this same name because there's only one name among all the nations who has so much power and so much love to save you from everything. Jesus is the secret to Joy to the World.
That's why I have a Christmas gift for you today. Little book waiting for you. In the lobby, called the basics. If you're a guest here at our church, I would love for you to grab a copy. We have hundreds and hundreds of them stacked up. One for every single family. It's a little book. It's going to tell you how faith in Jesus gets a person like you to God for watching online. You can find your copy for free at Time of Grace dot-org. I want you to pick this up because last year at Christmas Eve, We saw this little book bring joy to a young man's world.
I met him. He was sitting in the back row right about there. I made the same offer, if you're guests, grab one of these folks, he did, he went home and his family later told me the rest of the story. That will they jump back into the Christmas, traditions, the food, the festivities, presents the gifts. He grabbed the book and found a quiet place in their homes, their to read. It turns out this young man wasn't raised with room for Jesus in his heart, his family was atheist and they taught him to be the same. That religion was evil, that church is bad. Like, God is a myth. This could read page 1 and page 2 for chapter 1 and chapter 2. Apparently he came out of the room where he was reading to get a pen, went back in the room to write notes. Avenge the book, you know, a single session, and not long after the new year. He came back to our church, you know, I had exchanged small talk but it really know anything about him and until in the lobby right over there. Where you get the coffee, the sound man stops. Maybe says, “Pastor? I used to be an atheist. But now, I believe in Jesus.”
And there was so much joy in my world and if you could see it, He was losing something: his autonomy, his own authority, he knew he was gaining infinitely, more a God would love him.despite his sins. God would go to a cross to cleanse him from everything wrong. He had, ever done a God, who would save him now and would come again to save him a second time. I want to say no matter who you are.
How this year has gone, no matter what you've done, where you've been? How were you raised? Jesus wants room in your heart. He wants to come as Lord and Savior to rule over you with truth and Grace, save you now from your sin and forever from your pain. So brothers and sisters make room Because Jesus and only Jesus. Brings eternal joy to your world.
That's right. After Jesus, you are the king of all Kings. It's how we don't have to be afraid of anything, your Sovereign and authoritative and powerful over our bodies over governments over countries over years. Over Millennia, there's nothing that escapes your notice and there's nothing that is not under your control. Whenever we worry God, you are not worried. Whenever we feel anxious you're never anxious. You're absolutely in control. If you are a God who can do that much, we never have to be afraid. And if your God loves us, when we don't deserve to be loved. If you're God, who didn't stay away up and having but came down to the bottom to find, Sinners like us. We can know who we are, your children and we can know where we're going to spend forever with you. So I pray to God that everyone who is here. Today, I would have hearts that are filled with joy parts and have room for Jesus parts, that are ready to sing Joy, to the World. Because of the Lord also, the Savior has come. It's in his glorious name, that we pray, all of these things and all God's, people join their voices and they said, Amen.