 Good afternoon pastor David. Hi John. Welcome everybody to a random moment with pastor David unfiltered in Tomorrow's Christmas Eve and it's an exciting time of the year We have Christmas Eve service tomorrow at 7 p.m. And then Christmas morning at 9 a.m What it went you guys to invite your friends and family to come on out But you know pastor in this time where we celebrate the birth of Christ and it's Festive and it's a time of giving it's a it's an amazing time But there are those who I know and you know firsthand that Has had a very very difficult time whether it's a loss of a loved one a loss of a job a loss of health and During this time as it can be a time that it's very difficult for a lot of people How is a pastor would you encourage? Those who are going through a difficult time during this season What encouragement would you be able to bring all I think that sometimes the season is a Is a synthetic emotion anyway I Happened to unfortunately for some and fortunately for others be a guy that doesn't put a whole lot of Emphasis on Christmas, I mean I can go without a Christmas tree very easily in my own home I I don't have a Wish list, you know and things of that nature. So For me Christmas is never really for many many years Been a significant day simply because It's a day that's kind of open to dispute in terms of is it an actual date versus is it a mythological date? and not in the sense of the birth of Christ, but in the selection of the date seeing that they The church borrowed the date from the pagan Romans and Saturnalia and all of that And so it's not that I'm opposed to it. I'm not it's just that I have never never seen for the longest time Christmas has been that much of a Of a big quote-unquote deal in my life on a personal level, and I'm not negating the value of it Or all the goodness of it. I'm not I'm simply saying from an emotional level It's never held that much significance to me Easter does because I know that Christ was raised on Easter's Easter Sunday Easter does because that's a date. I I know and I can celebrate with certainty So because of that, I'm not really the best person when it comes to saying how can I help people? who or have a word of encouragement for people who may be going through a downtime simply because The atmosphere that we have is artificial anyway, you know the emphasis is on man-made traditions all you need to do is watch TV or even see some Movies that are based on a Christmas theme and there's never the center of the birth of Christ other than a mention and so I think a lot of the The celebrations that are associated with Christmas are Not much different than celebrate celebrating somebody else's birthday or whatever, you know, you have a party you eat You have friends over and all of that So what would my advice be? Well, I would suppose that if I were to say I had Advice to give to anybody Focus on the actual reality of the birth of Christ focus on what that means focus on the fact that we're just pilgrims passing through and that the real destination and Where we set our attention our eyes our hope and our faith on is is is still yet to come and So take the opportunity of giving it To spend time with friends to spend time with family don't worry about the gifts that come and take more pleasure in the gifts you can give and Enjoy the times that you might have if you should Be able to or choose to Spend time with friends and family if you don't have a group of people friends and family and you feel alone use that time to relax and the Lord into and to celebrate in your own heart the things that he he means to you and And move on to the next day because they're you know, I just don't I just don't see that the Importance of stressing over what I didn't get or who I'm not with I just don't see that and Someone says well, that's that's easy for you to say because you're a person surrounded By numbers of people staff members. I have a growing in a good-sized family It's easy for you to say Pastor David because you don't you don't suffer loneliness And I would say that that's anybody who says that Doesn't know what a pastor goes through Because I often have said when it comes to simply a sense of being alone That the senior pastor in the average church is probably the loneliest loneliest guy in the church When it comes to that because very few people of any who are not in the ministry and are not full-time pastors Would understand what we feel, you know, and so I've learned to to take value in the things that matter to me and matter to those who know me and My family and all and and I just I'm not that guy that you can buy a gift for and I'm just not my my wife knows that about me. I I don't put that much stock on gifts, you know, if I get one bless the Lord I thank you. I don't I just I I'm okay with that see so My ideas of Christmas when it comes to how do I encourage somebody who's going through a hard time? they're not they're not the average ideas John because That holiday season has not taken the place of my daily walk with Christ So I enjoy his presence every day. I enjoy his presence on eat on Christmas as well as the month before it, you know, and so I Would say take each day at a time enjoy each day as it's given to you when given opportunity to spend time with friends family Church members be in a church service take advantage of those things Enjoy enjoy giving it's more blessed to give than to receive so begin to learn saying I just want to see your smile when I give you something because that gives me greater pleasure Then when I receive something those are things you learn and and those things are actually after Now a growing longer life that I have Experienced I do have a greater joy when I am able to give something That one of my kids or one of my grandbabies Really wanted and that that makes me happy to be able to see them go on I'm happy to receive this and so it's not wrong to rejoice at being given a gift It's not wrong to have joy in those things. I think that's that's part of the season and all of that But I just don't place that much value on that by itself. I I'm getting a much. What's the word more of a long-term view of life? I'm closer to heaven's gates now than I've ever been and And So I'm I'm more preparing for the eternal gifts Rewards if you will then I am for the Christmas gifts Amen, and that's a great site to keep our eyes on that's what I do And a lot of times people can get busy with the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season and that can you know can Can be in itself a difficult thing but to keep our eyes on Jesus, you know And if there are someone out there who may be feeling that they are alone we have Christmas Eve service coming up We have Christmas morning service. Yes, then the day after that we have Sunday morning. That's right And then the following Wednesday, right? You know what there are things that they can participate in if they're able Several days a week here, you know Monday we have a young adults kind of study. We have women and men's studies We have a Tuesday morning men's study. We have a Wednesday study. We have for those who are dealing with With alcohol or drug dependency or obsessive behaviors. We have our lion-tamer Ministries on Tuesdays and Fridays We have such a variety of things that people if they want to and they have the ability to and Emotionally are strong enough to sometimes they're going through hard times now There are various things that if they take advantage of that that they're going to discover that They may just have a friend waiting to meet them. Yes, amen to that. So family invite your friends and family to come join us and again We do have our Christmas Eve service at 7 p.m. on tomorrow Friday and tomorrow evening and then Sunday morning at 9 a.m. Tomorrow night is going to be amazing It's going to be a time of worship. We're gonna hear a Bible study And so I'm looking forward to it and and if you know those who are out there who may be going through a difficult time I would encourage you to come join us and and just hear from the Lord and and hear from him and receive some songs Yes, enjoy Jesus. So thank you friend pastor David. Thank you so much. Merry Christmas church family. Merry Christmas We'll see you tomorrow tomorrow. God bless you