 One of the things I want to share with you this morning is about this greatest gift that we have You know, and I don't know where you're at in your walk with God and your relationship with God For those who don't know like I didn't grow up in church Didn't grow up with religion. I Believed in God. I didn't know anybody who didn't believe in God lived in La Puente by Nogales High School and Everybody I knew was either Catholic or Jehovah Witness Everybody believed in God Not a lot of people practice religion and their faith. They just believed in God Maybe went through, you know first communion and things like that and that was about it Until I moved to Chino Two weeks before 10th grade we moved because someone was killed in a drive-by on my street and it played water polo and Swam at Don Lugo and my friend on my team was a believer and led me to Christ and I was praying like Lord, don't let me get emotional. I don't know why when I teach I get emotional and My life was changed ever since So the week after Easter that year I gave my life to Christ. I was invited to the youth group Praise God. I was invited to the youth group and then the week after I went to the church for the first time Because that first event was a special event at the beach and I surf I surfed yesterday. I was freezing and And I gave my life to Lord. It was the greatest gift I've ever received in my life And when we think about gifts like before that I looked forward to Christmas And I was thinking about it as I was thinking about the study this morning as thinking about you know gifts Remember when I got into skateboarding and it got my first professional skateboard And it was like what I couldn't wink to tell everybody and take it outside and hang out with my guy friends and stuff and skate around the neighborhood and do all these things and Now that I'm older I have my daughters who are 14 and 16 and I'm looking forward to Luckily they're old enough now that they didn't want to wake up early today But I'm looking forward to this afternoon watching them open their gifts Seeing the look on their eyes matter of fact yesterday My youngest helped me wrapped wrapped my oldest gift and She said she saw the gift and she looked at me and she looked at it She looked at me and she looked at it. She goes. She's wanted this forever. I go. I know She's gonna be so excited and She was so excited for her. She wasn't thinking about a gift for her anything else She was just so excited for her sister to get this gift And I think about that when it comes to our faith when it comes to knowing Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior Do we get excited about Jesus? Do we get excited about the gift that we have matter of fact? If you would in verse 10 and 11 it says the angel said of them Do not be afraid as he's as the angel was speaking to the shepherds for I bring you good tidings of great joy Which will be to all the people for there is born to you this day in the city of David listen a Savior who is Christ the Lord? Powerful a Savior The very thing you need see listen during that time the people were in need of deliverance They were longing because of the oppression and everything that was going on during that time They were longing for a savior the Bible says in Galatians 4 verse 4 and 5 But when the fullness of time had come God sent forth his son born of a woman born under the law To redeem those who are under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons and then when you read in Luke chapter 1 the whole story of John the Baptist Being born is a key is and the angel coming and they're all you know afraid of the angel and the angels like not This is all good You hear about Elizabeth how you know getting pregnant with with John and all these things and they're just overwhelmed with all these things and then Mary The Bible says in Luke chapter 1 That when all these things were said of her what's going to happen to her she simply asked how can this be? And in Luke chapter 1 verse 37 it says it's made possible by God's Spirit But what was made possible? She was counted worthy for what? Well, some of the things that we sometimes forget about she was counted worthy for her ridicule There's this woman who hasn't been with anybody and she's pregnant like Now I'm a youth pastor if a young lady comes to me and said Dustin don't tell my parents, but I'm pregnant like And she says I don't know how it happened Now if your child came to you and said that I'm sure that you probably wouldn't believe them, right and How's Mary like having to deal with this and then we look in chapter 2 and you see in verses 1 through 4 that the senses was taking place and they were traveling there from Galilee to Bethlehem which was 80 miles Can you imagine being pregnant traveling 80 miles in that day? I Mean to us for some of you you might travel 80 miles one way to work today Car train whatever it might be but back then Being pregnant 80 miles can't imagine and here's an interesting thing. She didn't have to go Joseph had to go he had to do the registry, but she didn't have to go. Why did she go? Maybe it was because The gossip the ridicule everything else that she might have been experiencing in her own hometown there But it's interesting how God took this census this governmental thing This thing that maybe people think oh, we shouldn't have to deal with this and all that the taxing of us and you know In God's like I'm gonna use it for my glory. I'm gonna use it to fulfill Prophecy that this child would be born in Bethlehem and It's amazing because I'm thinking about This year and I don't know I've mentioned this before like I don't know if you've ever had a no-good very bad day Starts off. No good ends up very bad And then it turns into 2020 The day went into weeks months But as we're this year has been so overwhelming politically Pandemically all these things and yet It's easy to look at these things that happen in our society and that we're dealing with and take our eyes off Jesus And when we take our eyes off Jesus, we realize we're heading we're lost and we become overwhelmed We're talking to Pastor David the other day and he was telling us about like during Vietnam Time that in the newspapers every day. It was talking about death tolls And it becomes overwhelming when you see another number another number another number and it's easy to become overwhelmed with life and even today you know thinking about Christmas and gifts and Maybe not being able to give what we want it to or whatever But we have the greatest gift of all in Jesus Christ our Lord our Savior and And God took this situation of the census Joseph having to go to the Galilee to bring to truth to to fruition this This prophecy about Jesus Now it's interesting because when we think about our lives, it's been said that and I believe this sometimes we prefer peace and abundance, you know Again, one of the things is being a youth minister. I like to be as real as I can with the students and saying listen God's gonna give you joy. He's gonna give you peace. He's his grace his love and mercy, but your life is going to be difficult It will be hard to follow Christ The world will try to knock you down Satan will want to attack you your life will be difficult But don't give up and don't quit because the Bible says he'll never leave us nor forsake us and The Hebrews reminds us to look unto Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith and we go through tough times And in these tough times, how do we? stand You know as we think about Christmas and stuff, you know, it's interesting to see us Lewis once said God whispers to us in our pleasures speaks in our conscience But shouts in our pain and it's his megaphone to rouse our deaf world And see perhaps through all that we're going through God may be Using these things To speak into your life to draw you closer to him There's a song I first heard David Crowder sing and then Josh our junior high youth minister sent it to me the other day and It's a here's my heart But and he sent it to me and it was Lauren Daigle singing it Here's my heart Lord speak what is true speak what is real and It's just one of this most incredible powerful songs and so when we're going through things and everything where we're going through trials We're suffering when we're we easily forget what life is all about Even for Christmas we forget what life is all about we think it's about gifts. We think it's about all these things It's about the greatest gift. It's about Jesus Christ who came When we think about it, it says in John chapter 1 that in the beginning was the word and the word became flesh and dwelt among us And they traveled to Bethlehem, which means house of bread the birthplace of Christ It's interesting because it knowing that he was born in a manger It's been said that he was placed in a manger that people who act like beasts might partake of the bread of life In John chapter 6 verse 35 and says this that Jesus declares that I am the bread of life He who comes to me shall never hunger and he who believes in me shall never thirst Now it's interesting because I want to point out this story as they get there It says in verse 6 it was the days were completed for her to be delivered and so she brought forth her firstborn son wrapped him in a main wrapped him in swollen claws and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the end and so This manger this trough this feeding trough for animals No room for them in the end Nobody would make room for this pregnant woman You know, I don't know like when I was taught, you know Hey, you're in a crowded room and there's ladies standing up like as a gentleman stand up and give her your seat at least offer Nobody offered this pregnant woman something of comfort and then it says that The shepherds the shepherds who living out in the fields verse 8 keeping watch over the flock John talked a little bit about that how they would keep watch over the the sacrificial lambs This is an angel the Lord appeared And they were greatly afraid now Shepherds again as John mentioned last night. They're just the common folk They weren't considered any They were ceremonial unclean dealing with the animals And yet they're just the common folk if you would And then angel the Lord appears to them And I don't know about you, but if an angel the Lord appeared to me, I'd be afraid too Like what's going on? And here's the thing that I want to point out this morning as we think about christmas I think sometimes when we think about religion we think about our faith when we think about all these things One of the things I love about christianity one of the things I love about the bible is the reality of it because It's not that god came for the rich and famous It isn't that god's like hey, I want everybody to be rich and famous and I want to show you the world and now he's like listen I came for you the common folk I wanted you to see the love and the grace and mercy that I've poured out for you And the thing about that is is I think it's important for us to understand because when we think about christmas And this gift Have you ever gotten a gift that you feel like I don't deserve this I have some of the greatest youth leaders That walk this earth that serve alongside me and recently for my birthday they blessed me and I opened this package and I I I cried And I'm like no no no you guys like I don't serve with you To I don't want this from you guys like I don't want it to be like that. That's not what our friendship is about And they sat there and go we know We just love you we wanted to bless you and they were all excited to bless me Sorry, it's overwhelming because it's like Our friendship isn't like that. I don't serve alongside you so I can get something like that I serve alongside you so that we could love jesus together and love the youth together And they wanted to bless me And it was just powerful. It's still overwhelming And one of the things today, it's interesting because I don't know if you do this in your house I would presume when you open gifts you probably start with stockings The socks The Let's open all these first gifts, right and then You know that your child is maybe like but wait, where's the one? Right, you know like where's that thing? Oh And for those of you who've stayed up all night Over the years Maybe even last night putting together that thing God bless you And then you give them that gift and they open it and you You're so excited And they're so excited and they're screaming and shouting and dancing and all these other things going off You remembered you knew And your face lights up Knowing the gift that you gave And I want you to notice that as the angels had appeared to the shepherds. It says in verse 10 It tells them the angel says don't be afraid I bring to you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all the people good tidings means good news I literally means we're proclaiming the gospel And so what was happening was god was openly revealing how much he loves us When it talks about this joy It's joy because you can be set free set free from sin and I don't know about you I could tell you when I first became a christian And I still remember to this day because I still feel it where all of a sudden It wasn't somebody told me hey dust and stop doing this and stop doing that But it was when the lord started showing me hey, that's not what I have for you And he started taking things out of my life and adding things into my life he Whether it was music It was friendships. It was all these things And he would add things into my life and he would take things out of my life and I I never realized what true peace was what love was. Oh, I was loved by my parents and They still love me there. I'm so blessed to come from an incredible family But always looking for my identity always trying to be somebody And yet I found myself in christ great joy For all the people And here's the thing. Maybe you feel like you don't deserve peace You don't deserve joy Yes, you do You might say dusting, but you don't know what I've done I probably don't want to know and you probably don't want to say it Even john last night said that there's sins that he's committed that he's asked the lord for forgiveness of that only the lord knows We all know them We all believe it But here's the thing When I think about christmas and this gift the gift of life See jesus we think about his birth we celebrate the birth of christ because we think about the fact that he came to die that we might live And we think about the fact that we have forgiveness that we have the ability to be set free from sin Because a savior is born And it says this will be a sign A babe wrapped in swatting claws lying in a manger And it says in verse 13 and suddenly there was with the angel of multitude a heavenly host praising god and saying Glory to the god and the highest and are on earth peace goodwill towards man Listen I really believe today the lord would say to you don't be afraid Because in first john chapter 4 verse 18 it says there is no fear and love But perfect love casts out fear because fear involves torment But he who fears has not been made perfect in love See you don't say to someone who's happy and fearless Don't be afraid But listen we're living in a world lacking joy We're living in a world right now that is oppressed We're living in a world right now that has turned their back on god And I believe just like in the biblical times we could say today i'm bringing good news The savior is alive and well and brings great joy Listen When we think about this savior christ the lord what he's done for us What he's done for all And this glory that's been shown One of the things that I want to point out is this christ who is our peace has been given to man Jesus is is not simply bringing peace. He is our peace He is our peace One of the things that's interesting when we go through hard times and we suffer Maybe you've seen this or maybe this has been you at some point. We run from god Hey, where's god when I needed him he didn't answer my prayer Why try? He ever said that before why try why care? What's the point that thing never goes my way? It feels like the world like benefits from being worldly And it seems like my life every time I try to get closer to the lord and and serve him and all this other stuff More hard things happen difficult things happen and all this And the bible tells us so but you're just like all right lord come on like really I'd like a break here And yet this peace The peace that he can even call him a storm remember when they were crossing the sea And his disciples were afraid and that they were going to drown and Jesus is sleeping in the boat and he wakes they wake him up and said Don't you care they were drowning And he wakes up and he says to the storm peace be still and he calms the storm And he looks at them and he says where why are you doubting? I want to encourage you this morning as we think about christmas as we think about our saviors Listen, you and I need to put our trust in the gift that's been given to us and our hope in him and know that He never leaves us nor forsake us. You know when we think about gifts You ever gotten a gift and your kids opens it and they're all excited and then you're like, oh, it needs 12 AA batteries and I didn't buy back And they're all excited and you're like, okay Hopefully the gas station has batteries because it's only open right now I'm trying to find batteries so they can use the gift the one thing that you were excited that they were excited to have And then what happens? Those 12 batteries end up dying eventually We get something and and it gets worn out and sometimes gifts or Use, you know, we get family members a gift card, you know for a restaurant or this and that they use it They're blessed and it's done We have the gift of life eternal life never ending in christ He's with us always He'll never leave you nor forsake you and so when we think about christmas when we think about this And we think about is the glory that's been revealed I wanted to point out in verse 15 What the shepherd said it says now let us go to bethlehem and see this thing That he has come to pass What's the lord has made known to us and verse 16 it says and then it came with haste You know, it's interesting because I don't know if you ever want to show people things on social media Like oh, you got to watch this video. You got to see this thing Or when there's an accident what we have is lucky lose, right? For those of you who drive the freeway all the time to and from work And there's an accident on the other side of the freeway And there's nothing wrong with your side, but all the lucky lose got to see what's going on over there The car that's just parked on the side of the road There's nothing wrong with it not even dented But for some reason it's making your drive an hour longer Because everyone's got to see it But when there's other things Where's this coming from? I want to see it. I want to get to it I I I want to show you something check this out The shepherds were like we want to go see Jesus We want to see this very thing that's been talked about And it says that they went without haste And they found Mary and Joseph lying in a manger And could you imagine just being there? Running, getting to this place where they see Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus And everything that's going through their head right now That it's all coming to pass what was just told to them and they're just pondering these things But one of the things that they didn't do is just keep that to themselves It says that At verse 18 and all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told to them By the shepherds And verse 17 it says and when they had seen him they made widely known the same which was told to them Go and tell You know as we celebrate Christmas and hopefully if you're going to your whether you're going home or Zooming with your family We have that scheduled this afternoon to zoom with some family members But however you might be Communicating with family and friends My encouragement to you is this we have an opportunity to go and tell I love the fact that now before we open gifts I read this christmas story to my daughters We stop and pray before we open gifts and the chaos that might happen in our living room with unwrapping presents I want to give them jesus I want them to know the same Gift that was given to me that they can have The same gift that was given to their mama My wife they can have I want everybody to know it I want to share with the world this greatest gift As we celebrate christmas you and I have a great opportunity To share what we know to share what we've seen That we don't hesitate always to run to jesus That everything in my life. I want to just run to jesus. I'm hurting. I want to run to jesus. I don't want to run from him I want to run to jesus What i'm doing great. Lord. Thank you. I'm gonna run to jesus My question to you this morning is this I know sometimes people and maybe this is you and if it's not god bless you Thank you for being here But sometimes people come to church on religious holidays like easter and christmas and if that's you Join us stay a while Come be part of our family May you know how much the lord loves you. Don't just hear a message May your life evolve around christ because he loves you so much He loves you so much the bible says that he demonstrated his love for you while you were yet a sinner. He died May you know that May you know that he gives the greatest gift that any gift any price any Can never be given And it's his life That you might have life That you might have forgiveness to sin that you might have hope Notice it says that the shepherds In verse 20 they return glorifying and praising god for all the things that they heard and seen I'm so thankful That the lord has given me my family my friends And most of all my salvation That I have a hope of eternal life a matter of fact the bible says that hope is like an anchor for a soul No matter what happens on this earth we get so Crazy about politics we get so crazy about pandemics We get so crazy about finances and all these things and I'm not saying we don't care about those things we should What I am saying though is The bible is clear that says seek first the kingdom of god and his righteousness The bible says that we should be lights and soul The bible says that god has come to give us life and life more abundantly Your role in mind as children of god is to allow the father to love you To hold you And so as we celebrate the birth of christ We remember god's love for us And my encouragement to you this morning is that Even as the angels brought to the shepherds Good tidings of great joy And then the shepherds went and told these stories And as they've ranted to see jesus as they made haste Maybe true of us that in everything that we do that we make haste to Go see the lord Maybe true of us that we go and preach The gospel the good news to our friends and our family Maybe true of us that we know and seek to find out how much more he loves us And may you be reminded this morning that he loves you knowing that you're just a common person he took Ordinary people and did extraordinary things And god has a plan and a purpose for your life no matter how old or how young you are God is going to do incredible things this side of heaven until he takes you home All he wants from us is to say here i am lord I want to be a part of this family. I want to continue to be a part of this family lord I want you to use me for your your glory A prayer for you this morning this christmas day Is that you know how much god loves you he loves you so much that he sent his son To be born That you might know That one day he will die on a tree for you Because he loves you and he gave himself sacrificially for you for me and so Instead of worrying about all the bad things you've done Why not just say lord i'm sorry forgive me Lord i want you lord i don't want to run from you anymore lord i want to run to you And lord help me to understand you better today. Help me to know you more See here's the thing when we put things together For christmas most of us people we don't read instructions we just like i'll put it together I don't know if you ever put a cabinet together or something and then you put it together You're like all of a sudden it's like wait it's backward And then you read the instructions and on the first page it says these go this way And you didn't do that because you thought oh it just looks like this And if you would have just read the instructions It would have spared so much time and so much heartache Our instructions It says i love you i want to show you i want to tell you i want you to know about this love Don't run from me Run to me Is it going to be hard yeah i'm going to tell you it's going to be hard Is it going to be rough yep i'm going to tell you all about that I will never leave you though I will never forsake you though I will always be with you though These are the promises we have as we celebrate christmas as we think about our savior And so my encouragement One if you have it today may you receive christ as your lord and savior Two if you have continue in that three don't run from him run to him Run to the lord always may he be your strength and your weakness May he be The one who energizes you and gives you light so that you might be a light to this world