It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year - Pt 2
by Kevin Allen
December 8, 2024 · Centerpointe Apostolic Church (Murfreesboro, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Luke 1:5-7, Luke 1:20, Matthew 1:18-19, Matthew 2:13, Luke 2:33-35, Mark 3:20-21, Mark 3:31-35, John 1:1-5, John 1:14, John 8:10-11, Ephesians 4:15, Isaiah 49:15

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/kevin-allen--it-s-the-most-wonderful-time-of-the-year-pt-2
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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Today — so I want to talk about, obviously, it's the most wonderful time of the year. It is. That's our theme for the month. It's wonderful because he came. He came, he came, and he brought hope to us. And here we are, eight days into December, the Second Sunday, and we're going to look at this Advent season and why it's the most wonderful time of the year. I started last week talking about going home for Christmas, and how that word home often times invokes emotion to us. For many in the room, when I mention home, it brings back some kind of a joy, a warm feeling, a happiness that's there. But I also know — in a room this size, and I know many stories that live in this room — that when I mention home, home doesn't always bring back joyful, happy memories. For some, home brings back pain. It brings back sorrow. It brings back hurt. It brings back frustration. So I'm, I'm fully aware of that. And what I wanted to do at the very beginning of my message today is to, is to maybe make it clear who this message is for. Because the reality is this, ladies and gentlemen: if you live life at all, life brings to you difficult people. Has anybody ever noticed that? It's like a combo package. You know, you just want to order — you just want to order a little bit of life — and it comes with a side of difficult people. You know, it's like onions on a burger. You just want to sling them off. But maybe for some of you it's pickles, I don't know what it is. But there's, there's always that side little bonus that you get, that's there, that you're like: hey, I didn't order that. Well, sorry, it comes with the combo. So here's — I feel like this is good — I don't often do this, but I'm going to do this today for us, because this is, you know, a Christmas message, and they're a little bit more special. So here's who this message is not for, you guys, okay, if I do that. So if this is — I'm going to describe who this message is not for, and if this message is not for you, can feel free to get up and leave. I'll probably never, ever say that again in a Sunday service. But if I get done talking about who this is not for, you can feel free to say: hey, this — he already told me it's not for me. I'm not going to waste my time. I'm going to beat everybody to the restaurant.

So here's who this message is not for. It's — it, if, if there's anybody who, who, when you go home, you have no difficult people in your life. When you go to work, you have no difficult people. When you go to school, you have no difficult people in your life. This message is not for you. If everybody who's going to be around you during this Advent holiday season as a person of enormous emotional intelligence and rational maturity, then this message is not for you. If there is nobody around your scope of friends, in your circle of influence, who it's hard for you to track with — that, that they're not difficult, that they never bring conflict, they never get sarcastic, and nobody ever has a message that's Barbed underneath the surface. If nobody needs to talk about any problems or issues. If they don't drink or smoke too much, or brag too much, or they're not too opinionated or too political. If there's never been any rational difficulty in your family, never any divorces, the kids are perfect and smart and beautiful — then, then this message is not for you. If there's never any crying babies, if there's never any wounds at all, if everything is Picture Perfect in your world, and all that are around you, then this message is not for you. In fact, this church is probably not for you. Because this church is full of Brokenness and hurt and pain. That's full of people who have been discouraged. It's for people who have come through a lot of life. So if none of that fits you at all, then please get up now, and you can leave, and we're all going to look at you. That's what I thought. For everybody then that's still here, for everybody living in the real world, then I have on a show, in just a second, a clip of a movie that I feel like maybe expresses some feelings that we may have had at times. It's, it's from the original Home Alone movie. Now, that movie gets shown a lot, and many of us watch that during the Christmas time. And the main character, his name is — what a great name, I like this guy already — his name is Kevin. And what we're going to see here in this clip is that he's struggling a lot with his family. His family's on his nerves. They're driving him crazy. And we're just going to see a spectrum of emotions that are here, because his desire is that he could just maybe make them all go away. And that, that's what he's, that's what he's hoping is: maybe they could all go. I just want to show this little clip and see if maybe you can identify with this on any level at all. I made my family disappear. Kevin, you completely helpess. No, Kevin, you're what the French call — Kevin, I'm going to feed you to my Trula. Kevin, you are such a disease. There are 15 people in this house, and you're the only one who has to make trouble. Look what you did, you little Jer. I made my family disappear. For anybody who's ever had a thought of, I would like to be able to make my family disappear — there's actually a word for that. It's called Murder. And it's a good indicator if you have a heart issue that you need to let the Lord work through in you.

I want to talk about the Christmas story. And I want to talk about these three wonderful gifts that I feel like are evident in Scripture, that he has given to us through what he did in this story. But before I get to the gifts, I want to talk a little bit about who all it was that was a part of the Christmas story. Because I believe it's important. Because I feel like maybe we, at some level, will find oursel at times thinking to oursel: you know, if Jesus had to live in the world that I'm living in today, if he had to be around the people that I'm around all the time, I think he'd have a little different opinion about loving everybody. So before we allow that thought to stick into our mind too much, let's just talk a little bit about who was around during the Christmas story, together. I'm going to talk about several different kinds of people. One of the first types of folks that were in the story was disappointed people. Anybody ever been disappointed before? It's not a trick question. It's okay. Anybody ever been disappointed before? Yeah, yeah. There were some disappointed people in The Christmas Story. And there's going to be people that have feelings like: I wish my life had not turned out the way it did. Maybe you've had that feeling before. I'm not going to ask you to raise your hand on that. But just go with me for a minute. Has there ever been a moment, maybe, when you're like: man, I wish my life was just different. Why does it have to be like this? Why did it have to be this set of circumstances that I'm dealing with? Why do others have this, and I don't have that? Why do they get to do that, and I don't get to do it? Or whatever the case may be. I feel like if we're honest, we all, we all have felt disappointment at times in our life. But beyond us feeling disappointed, there are probably people that we are close to, in our circle of friends and family and influence, and that, that are disappointed people. They talk about it. Well, there was disappointed people, the Christmas time story, that was there. There were, there was a heaviness that was there. And what happens is, often times, that heaviness has a, of infecting all that are around them.

There was this couple named Zachariah and Elizabeth. And what we know about them is that they're old. And that's not their problem, right? I mean, if you live long enough, you just become old. Kind of has a way of sneaking up on you. Just wake up one day and you're like: you know what, I'm old. Look in the mirror, and you're like: there's an old man there. Look down at your hands, and you're like: why do my hands look so old? There just old. That is there. It sneaks up on you. Well, we have a couple here, and we see that they're advanced in years. Not only that, they have — by what scripture tells us — they have spent their life devoted to living for God. They were righteous folks, good people. Now, when I say that, I think our default way of thinking would be to say: well, they, they've, they've lived a long life — we know that — and we are also told that they lived a long life devoted to God. It would be those kind of folks who we would probably — our default way of thinking would be to say to ourselves: I bet they lived a great life, because they Liv for God. I bet they had everything they ever wanted, everything they ever desired. I bet, I bet things just worked out for them. But guess what? That was not their story. Because as we're being told about where they are in life, and as we're told about how that they lived a life that was righteous and devoted to God, we're also told that they were Barren, that they were without children. Some of you in this room know what that pain is like. You've had a desire to have a child, and for whatever reason it hasn't come to pass. That you've felt that sting of disappointment, like Zachariah and Elizabeth have felt. But I wanted you to know that it was a little bit more intense for them, from this respect: that in the ancient time in which this was written, it was, it was something that people viewed as, you were living a life that God was not pleased with. That's why you can't have kids. Because if you have been doing everything that was right, if you truly were righteous, if you truly were doing the things according to the God's plan for you, then he would bless you, because children are a blessed. And the fact that you don't have a child, it's evident then that you are not doing what you should be doing. So you can see and sense and feel this disappointment that they have in their life.

So when I evaluate and see what's going on here in Zechariah, Elizabeth's life, and this disappointment they're dealing with, and what they do every day, and they're asking God: why, when I'm doing everything I'm supposed to be doing — I'm living according to your word, I'm living according to your plan, I'm working for the Kingdom — why is it that you are withholding this from me? I think it's natural human instinct to ask God: if I'm doing everything I know within my power that is right, then why are you keeping this from me? Anybody know that kind of disappointment? Anybody ever felt like this is what's going on in your life, this strain and this pull that is there? Then one day, they find out they're going to have a child. And you would think this is going to make everything great. You would think. But it's a little bit complex. We see this fold in Luke 1, verse number 5: there were in the days of Herod, the King of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of abijah. And his wife, the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the Commandments and ordinances of the Lord, blameless. They were righteous and they were blameless, but they had no child, because Elizabeth was Barren, and they were both well advanced in years. About you — but we feel like everything's going good, and then, man, it just punches you in the mouth. But then we see here, so it was, verse number eight, that while he was serving as the priest before God, in the order of his division, according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn incense, and he went into the Temple of the Lord. Give you the short version of that: it was his shift work. So he's going into work, and the whole multitude of the people were praying outside, the hour of incense. And the angel of the Lord appeared into him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zachariah saw him, he was troubled — that's funny — and fear fell on him. But the angel said to himo: not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard. And your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many Will Rejoice at his birth.

Now, this is, this is funny to me, because the Bible has a lot of funny in it. That we have a righteous, obedient man, who's been living his life doing everything right, but yet they're Barren. And he's at work. And conveniently, his work is in the house of God. And in the house of God, while he's doing the work, an angel of the Lord appears to him, and he's afraid, a little bit shocked. I'll be honest with you: if I was by myself here in the church building, and an angel appeared for me, I would be a little shocked. That's not a normal experience, okay? Sometimes I run into Pastor Michael in the dark, because he likes to lurk around. He's kind of like an angel in some ways — messes with you. But the part that's funny to me is: he has been praying. That the angel says to him: I've heard your prayer, and you're going to have a kid. And zachariah's response is not: well, all right, that's awesome, I'm going to be a dad. He starts to argue with the angel. Are you sure? Are you sure? I'm, I'm, I'm old, and my wife, she's not young either. And you don't believe me — this is the story. He begins to say all the reasons why it shouldn't happen. Because often times, that's what happens with disappointed people: is when they get disappointed long enough, that even when God sends an angel to them, they argue with God. This is what's going on here. I don't know if you may, may — maybe this time of year, you may have someone you run into that's a disappointed person. And these, These are the kind of folks who show up in the Christmas story. The Angel says: okay, you don't believe me. Go to verse number 20: but behold, you will be mute, and not be able to speak, until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their own time. I don't know how this happened between Zachariah and Elizabeth, but I wonder, I wonder how that, how that, how that played out for him. Because he comes out, he can't say anything. And they're all like: well hey, evidently something great happened while he was burning incense. But he can't say a thing. She goes through nine months of pregnancy. He can't say a thing. He has no — he only has to come home and hear her commentary for nine months. There's no ESPN he can watch. He just has to sit and listen. I guarantee you, he won't struggle to listen to an angel anymore, next time one speaks to him.

This first couple I bring up: disappointed people. Life is going to bring you disappointed people. Life's also going to bring you stressed people. There going to be people in your life, and there's going to be people around you during this holiday time, that are going to be stressed out. And I want to tell you about two people who lived in the most stressful conditions in the history of the world. Again, I'll take you to the manger scene. And it's almost always, when you look at Mary and Joseph, they look so Serene and so Blissful. I spoke about this before. You don't walk up to a n, nativity scene, and you look in there and think to yourself: man, they look like they're distressed out of their mind, right? Mary, Mary's always there, and she's always got her veil around her head. And you know, it looks like she's just kind of calm. And the baby's this, and you know, Joseph's got that — yeah, that's just what he looks like, right? I, you look at those, and you don't ever see — then, you and I both know that's not real. If they took a snapshot of what was really going on there, I guarantee you, Mary didn't have anything on her hair. Looks a fright. She's got it on some kind of little dooped up do, on top of her head. Everything's wrinkled. Baby's not laying there peacefully in that manger. It's crying in the hay. And Joseph, he's just about to lose his mind, cuz you know he's already got an earful about the conditions. You know he's already had to live with: are you serious, a barn? Are you Ser? You didn't make a plan. You didn't get on a website. You didn't go to an Airbnb. You didn't get a Motel 6. You got me a barn. Yeah, he's in a background thinking to himself how he's going to dig out of the hole he got in, as every married man has been in before. What you see when you look at that nativity scene is not the real depiction of what's going on. What you see, if you could really see, is two people who are stressed out of their mind. Who people, to people, who are feeling the weight and the magnitude of what's been placed on them. Mary was probably about 13 or 14 years old, when she gets engaged. And then we're told this happens in Matthew chap 1:8: now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. After his mother Mary was betr to Joseph, before they came together — before they came together, I think you can understand that, I don't have to paint that picture — before they came together, she was found with the child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. Before they were able to be intimate together, she was found to be with a child. Mary goes to him and says: look, I'm going to, I'm going have a baby. I'm pregnant. Joseph's like: well, wait a minute. Pretty sure I would remember this. So who's, who, who's the baby daddy? It's God. Really? This is the story you're going to tell? You come to here, and you tell me this story. And like, you — and in the tension of the moment, this is, this is what we're going to stick with. This, right? We're going to stick with: an angel told this. You know what, we just probably need to go our separate ways. Look, I'm, I'm, I'm a, I'm a good guy. But a good guy can only be pushed so much. And then, then he is visited by an Angel. And the angel says: hang on, buddy, she's telling you the truth. And he has to go back and eat crow, and says: you know what, I think I changed my mind. You know, you're a pretty good-looking girl. I don't — I think I'm willing to take my chances. That's my version. You have your own version. But that's how I feel like story unfolds. He has to go back — I mean, I'm G tell you right now, in my marriage, if I take the word of a stranger — even if the stranger is an angel — over my wife's word, it's not going to be good when I get back home. It's not going to be good. So he is — I love you — he has to go back, and he has to say: I love you. He has to deal with all that. Now again, this isn't like they were in Murphreesboro. There's, you know, 250,000 people around. You know, they're there in Galilee. It's, it's small little town, small little area that they're at. People would have figured out really, really quick what was going on. So they had this stigma that's hanging over them. It's hanging over their head. But now they got to go to Bethlehem, because it's tax season, cuz some guy somewhere in some Palace decided everybody had to be taxed. And now they're going to carry — we're not giv all the reason behind it. We don't know what's going on. But we know this: they're poor. They're broke. They're ramen noodle kind of poor. That's when you know you're poor, is when you're ramen noodle poor. They're, they're broke. So what's this poorest couple going to give? I mean, they can't even — even when they go to dedicate Jesus in the temple, they have to give Turtle dos, because they don't have the ability to afford anything better. That's what the poorest of the poor gave. These, these people are broke. They're living under a stigma. There's rumors flying around them. They got to now go to pay taxes. And then he says: look, we got to go back, because, because there's a decree. So we got to go to Bethlehem. And she's like: what do you mean, Bethlehem? Why do I got to go with you? How are we going to get there? How's it going to be? What we going to do when we get there? All these things are taking place. And he says: look up, We R on the donkey. And I don't know about you, but this isn't like driving from here to lever, in our comfortable cars with heated seats and steering wheels. As a side note, is not a heated steering wheel a gift from God? Back to sermon. So she there, and we're told in the scriptures that she's great with a child — which means she's ready to pop — and they got to make this journey. Now, what am I talking about? I'm talking about: they're going to be disappointed people around you. There were disappointed people at The Christmas Store. There going to be stressful people around you. There were stressed people out in the Christmas story. They're there. Mary and Joseph are about as stretched as you can get. But there's also more people. There's unsafe people. What do you do when you find yourself with someone who's unsafe? Whoever your most unsafe person is, that might be associated with your life, I doubt they're any less safe than Herod the Great. And by the way, if you gather around the holiday time, and somebody has the great at the end of their name, they probably got ego issues. Pretty easy to pick up on this guy, that he's got some — he's got some, some, some, some things he really needs to deal with in his life. Herod decides that he doesn't want there to be another king. Word has come to him — and I'll get to that in a minute — that there was another King born. Well, he do like that, because he was the great. He was the one. He's the king. He's the one who gets to decide. So he doesn't want any competition around him. So he begins to check out. In fact, he decides to kill every infant child under two, in the whole region of Bethlehem. Can you imagine how well everybody's feeling about that? And here's what happens in Matthew chapter 2:3: now when they heard — departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared un Joseph in a dream, saying: arise, take the young child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word. For Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. See, this is a real story, ladies and gentlemen. This isn't something that we just bring out during the Advent season, and unpack on our, on our mantel and shelves, and put some lights on a tree, and some fat guy in a red suit, and a star on top, and say: y, d, let's give some gifts. Where this is all based about real folks, dealing with real issues in real life. This is real. You have to let this story be real. If you don't let it be real to you, miss out on all the opportunities and the real reason why he came. He didn't come in a perfect environment. He didn't come with a nice little bow wrapped around his head. He came to a broken and a Fallen World, just like what you and I live in. They got to go back to Egypt. Now, in case you forgot, Israel left Egypt. Going back to Egypt is not where they wanted to go. They were not going to be received well. They had to leave their country, their culture, their language, to go live in Egypt, and deal with all the stigma that was there.

Then this idea that when you and I look at the manger scene — we look at all the stable — that Mary and Joseph are just sitting there quietly. We sing songs like: man, all is calm, all is bright. Oh little town of Bethlehem. Away in a Manger. I don't think so. We romanticize something that was never meant to be romanticized. Because in doing so, we take away the real understanding and purpose of why he came. But there was more characters. There were different people. I don't know if you've ever noticed that. But God brings you different people in your life. People that have different values, and different personalities, and different cultures. We see this take place. There was this — there was these guys called the Magi. They show up. They're, they're not from Israel. We're told they're from the East. Most likely, they're from Persia. Most likely, they were from a different area. They didn't worship the same God that Israel worship. They were, they were involved in astrology. They were following a star. And that stuff was forbidden in Israel. They were different people. And it's very interesting, because sometimes we think that the only people who ever lived with — there is all violence and tension and culture clashes — is just us. But it happened then too. They dealt with that stuff. God brings embarrassing people to our life. I talked about that a little bit last week, when I talked about the Shepherds, and we looked at that. I'm not going to spend too much time on it. But the Shepherds followed what was called a despised trade, a despised occupation. No one hung out with a Shepherd. As I told you last week, they couldn't even stand up in a court of law. They couldn't be a witness. They were looked down on. But we see that they're the embarrassing people. Sometimes there — there may be people in your life that, you know, honestly, if you, if you're really transparent, you just say that they embarrass me. I don't want to hang out with them. I'm, I'm, I'm embarrassed because of how they are, who they are, how they act, what they do. Well, guess what? There was embarrassing people there too. Probably had a moment when Mary said: you keep an eye on the baby, where the shepherds are around. Then there's untactful people. Did you notice that? Sometimes the people in their lives, they just blurt stuff out, make everybody else feel awkward and uncomfortable. Every circle of friends, every, every, every family has someone there. Every table has that. A little story: at the birth of Jesus, there was this guy named Simeon. This, this old guy — what is it about old guys blurting stuff out, like they lose their filter? He's there. Mary and Joseph bring the baby to the temple. Simeon says to Mary — and imagine if you're Mary, okay, put yourself in this moment. Imagine your, you're, you're 14-year-old girl. You just had your first baby. You're dealing with all the pressure and all the stress and all the circumstances that life has dealt you. And then you go to the temple, because you want to be obedient. You want to do the right thing. You want to dedicate your baby. And then there's this old guy who says this to you. Luke Chapter 2, verse number 33: and Joseph and his mother marveled at the mother, the, at the, at those things which were spoken of him. Then Simeon blessed him, and he said to Mary his mother: behold, this child is destined for the fall and the rising of many Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against you. Yes, a sword will pierced through your own soul also, and that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. Have a nice day. Good luck with a baby. And it says that Mary P all these things in her heart. I'm sure she's sitting there going: wait, what did he just say? What was that about a pierced heart? What, what — like, Joseph, did you understand him? There, there will be people that'll come to your life, that, that say and blurt out, and they do things that make you scratch your head. They can be untactful people.

And then there's crazy people. And everybody has somebody in their family, or their Circle of Friends. And we all think: man, they've just lost their marals. They're out of their mind. They're out of control. We all have someone that's in our life like that. You know, the same — in Jesus's family, there was, there was one character who the family thought, like: he's lost his mind. He's out there. Like, we, we're going to have to have an intervention. We're going to have to intervene. All right, I don't want you to think this is, this is odd, if this happens, and you guys have someone in your family that's this way. It's a little out there. But maybe this is something that, that might surprise you a little bit. Because if you notice the story I'm going to tell you here — that after Jesus has grown up, he's involved in his ministry, the — again, this is real people. This is not a just a madeup story. This is real stuff, real life, real people unfolding here — in Mark chap 3, 3: 20, says: then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. But when his own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of him. For they said: he is out of his mind. Do you know that who the he was? It was Jesus. In the story about someone who's crazy and out of their mind, it was Jesus. His family shows up, because they think he's, he's out there. He's checked out. Now we don't know what — I don't know where he, where he steered off course — but hey, he's like, he's kind of out there now. So they show up. He's, he's in the process of ministering, and the crowd is so great that they can't even eat. Theyve pushed in so much on him. And then his family's there outside. And there's a whole interaction. And there's a whole exchange going on. And they're there to intervene, because he's not thinking clearly. He's lost his mind. And the crowd says to Jesus: your mother and your brothers are outside looking for you. And Jesus doesn't say: okay, hang on, time out, I got to go outside and talk to my mom. No, no, no. His response is quite different. In verse 31 of chapter 3: then his brothers and his mothers came, Standing Outside. They sent to him, calling him. And the multitude was sitting around him. And they said to him: look, your mother and your brothers are outside seeking you. But he answered them, saying: who is my mother, for my brothers? And he looked around the circle at those who sat with him, and said: here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother, and my sister, and my mother. How do you think Mary felt about that? She could hear. How do you think his family felt in that moment? They could hear what he said.

See, I've been bringing these up for this reason — and I go back to the beginning of my message — is that all of us have a circle of family, and a circle of friends. A circle of people that we're involved in. And inside that Circle, I guarantee you, most of the categories that I mentioned — there's someone in your circle of friends, someone in your circle of family, who fits that category. And I think it's easy, often times, for us to think: well, there's a lot that's in the scripture about me being a person who extends love and grace and Mercy. But if, if, if, if Jesus could have lived in my world — if he could have walked today in my shoes, if he could have been around difficult people, or crazy people, or unsettling people, if he could have been around stressed out people, if he could have been around all that — then, then he would, he would probably have a different take on it. And I want you to know: that's exactly who he dealt with. That's exactly the world he was born into. That there's nothing that you're dealing with in your circle of family and friends, that he didn't deal with in his circle of family and friends.

So now that you know this, I can actually get to my message. Because the reason we have this manger up here in this set — the reason we celebrate Christmas time, this Advent season — the reason we put so much emphasis about all that transpired, is because when he came, he brought with him gifts. When he showed up, he didn't show up empty-handed. He came for a reason. He came to help us with the difficult people that are in our lives. If I go back to the Christmas story, I want to read it to you from John's gospel. But it's probably a way that you've never thought about for Christmas. But if you'll give me a minute and let me unpack it, I think you'll see. It says in John 1:1: in the beginning was the word. And the Word was with God. And the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. And all things were made through him. And without him, nothing was made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shine in the darkness, and the Darkness did not comprehend it. Verse 14: and the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory, the glory is the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. So two of the three gifts are right there: Grace and Truth. Truth, this Christmas, I think it's important that you and I — that we really mindful — that when it comes to the difficult situations in our circle of family and our circle of friends, that we're mindful about trying to be able to give Grace. Because Jesus did this all the time. There was a woman who was brought to him, who was caught, according to the scriptures, in the very Act of adultery. John 8 talks about it. She was CAU there. The religious leaders bring her to him, to see what he's going to do. And Jesus Stoops down on the ground, and begins to write something in the, in the, in the dirt that was there. And we, we've talked about it for years, while he wrote around. I had a whole message did, for several years ago back there — I'm not going to revisit that. But all I know is, in the process of him writing, Jesus says this: let him who's without sin cast the first stone. In the process, the accusers slowly turn and walk away, because the reality hits them: there's not a one of them standing there that doesn't need Grace. There's not a one. There's not a one of them that, at some point in their life, didn't need mercy. And then he looks up from writing on the ground — according to the story that we are reading in the scriptures, there in John chapter 8 — and he, and he looks over at her. And it says this in verse number 10: and when Jesus had raised himself up, and saw no one but the woman, he said to Heroman: where are thou accusers of yours? Hath no one condemned you? And she said: no one, Lord. And Jesus said to her: neither do I condemn you. Go and sin No More. Jesus is full of grace. And I don't care how much people have achieved, or how well they can inform — there is nobody in your life that doesn't need Grace. And you can be a Grace Giver. Do you hear me? There is no one in your life that you interact with, doesn't need Grace. And maybe just maybe, just maybe, those difficult people is a time and a chance for you to be a conduit of his love, and his mercy, and his grace. Maybe you're the only Jesus they'll ever see. Maybe they've had all whole life full of accusers, who drugged them out and wanted to cast stones, and labels, and put them on them. But you have an opportunity, because of your relationship, and your exposure, and your forgiveness of your indiscretions and your sins, that you have a chance to extend mercy and Grace. Maybe just maybe, you could take the gift that he gave, and you can give it too. Because it's impossible to live this life, and not be surrounded at times by people who you can't identify with, or who are difficult, or who are stressed, or are ungrateful, who are unjust, or who are unsafe. But listen to me: people never, never get too old for Grace. You don't age out of Grace. Grace is so powerful. And when we give the gift of Grace, what we're saying is: I, I'm in not a position to judge. You may saying: well, they don't deserve it. You're right, they don't deserve it. And neither did you. And neither did I. But Grace was freely given. It was given. And I thank God for the grace in my life. I'm thankful that his mercies are new every day. I'm thankful that I have a chance to start over, every time I mess up. I'm, I'm thankful for that in my life. And I should not be limited only to just be a receiver. But I also need to be a conduit. Only God knows what people deserves. I'm not God. And in my blindness, I think I may know. But I don't know every story. I don't know every thought. I don't know every hurt. I don't know every background. I don't know every wound. I don't know every scar. That's why I need to learn to give Grace. Because he was full of grace, and I need to let Grace flow through me. There are times when I don't understand. But it isn't always about me understanding. The reality is: I don't understand why he still extends Grace to me today. I don't. As I told you to begin this message, I had no idea in September, as I was putting this outline together, that, that there was going to be things Inspire my own life, that I was going to have to live through moments that I was going to have to go through. And then, when I came back to this, I had to look at this and say: oh God, help me. Help me realize that it's not conditional on me understanding. I spent an hour and a half this morning, before I could ever sit behind the desk. I spent an hour and a half at that altar in my office, because I had to have a right spirit. And then I come to the realization, through prayer this morning, that I just don't understand why he loves me. So if I'm not going to understand something, I'll start there. God, why do you love me? I don't deserve you. I don't deserve your grace. I don't deserve your mercy. I've made so many mistakes in my life. I've failed you so many times. I've given my word, and I went back on it, time and time again. But yet, you give me mercy, and you give me Grace. And for whatever reason, you still love me. I don't understand it. I can't comprehend it. But it's not about me understanding. It's not about me comprehending. It's about me knowing that he just loves me. And he gives me Grace, and he gives me mercy. So when difficult people come into my life, it's not about me fully understanding their situations. It's about me being able to say: you know what, I don't get you, but I'm going to love you. I don't understand it, but I'm going to give you Grace. I'm going to give you Mercy. Why? Because he gave me mercy, and he gave me Grace. That's why that manger is there. Cuz he loves. He's full of grace, and he's full of truth.

It's something that you and I have to grow in. Because truth can be hard. I find myself at times, that in my mind, I'm really good about telling people the truth. That I have a conversation with them, and I'm unbelievably fluent and articulate. And I say exactly the things that need to be said, and they'll be convicted. And they'll say: I have to change. Thank you so much for loving me enough to tell me this. That's what goes on in my mind. But in reality, I struggle when it comes to looking at them face to face. I can feel awkward, and sometimes struggle as to what to say, or even use the right words — unless I'm angry. And then, when I'm angry, I just seem to dump up — back up the dump truck, and just empty everything out. But it's not good. It causes more damage than good. It's why Paul said in Ephesians 4:15: instead, we speak the truth in love. We're going to grow up. But we can't do it without Grace, without love. And we can't do it without truth. And the first gift was Grace, and you need to give that this year. But the second gift is truth. There's going to be somebody who has been hurting people, who — their interactions are just off. They're awkward. They talk too much. They're too clingy. They're too needy. Or they've done things that's just unfair, or damaging, or hurtful, or dishonest. Or they have a problem, or an addiction. And we're going to, we're going to love all that we can. But some part of Love is speaking truth to them too. You got to have Grace. You got to extend Grace. But as you're extending Grace, as you're extending Mercy, you got to follow it up with truth. But truth has to be given in love. Now, we can't control how they receive it. But it's not on me, about how they receive it. It's about on me, about how I give it. So it's not just about putting them in their place. Tell you something about you — lose M. I wish I could make my head do like that. Some of y'all are gifted at that. It's about understanding: before I ever get there, I got to give you Grace. And I need to love you enough to say: I got to, I got to say a hard thing to you. But I hope, when I say the hard thing, it comes across that I love you. I love you enough to say the hard thing. And here's the thing, okay — those are the two. But then, I feel like God directed me to the third. I didn't see at first. It was after I was trying to wrap my head around Grace, and I was W — trying to wrap my head around truth — and I felt like there was some piece missing. Right, because you need three points to have any good sermon. Everybody knows that. Can't have a two-part sermon. You got to have a three-part. The third gift: I give people Grace — Grace enough to love them. I give them truth enough, so that they can go look in the mirror, so that they can be, be, be aware of the reality. But there — here's the third part — is then I have to recognize: it's not going to change immediately. Because the third gift is time. I'm such an impatient person. I'll admit it to you: I'm impatient. I am a work in progress. I am — I'm, I'm thankful God gives me mercy and Grace, because I can did so. I feel like: look, we went through this. I told you this. Why are you back talking to me again about this? I don't understand. That's, that's me. I don't — I'll just — again, I'm the one Speaking today. I'll be the one who's transparent. I give the grace. I say the hard things that are hard to hear. I try my best to do it in love. And then, you know what: buddy, shape up. But it doesn't work that way. Because more often than not, what we're dealing with are core personality issues. And they take time. Because here's the reality: I have to step back from myself, to look at me, and realize, I'm still a work in progress. I know I look good, and I got it all together. My hair is nice, and my tie looks nice. This, all of this, is because of her. I'd be up here in pajama pants. I look like Walmart people. But the truth is, I'm still working on me. I'm still working on me. Who am I then, as someone who's still under construction, to get mad at somebody else who's still under construction? I haven't arrived yet. You know why? Cuz I'm still here. Now, when we get over there, we get those perfect bodies, and those perfect attitudes, and all that Perfection — it's over there. Here, we're not perfect. Here, we're in the process of being Sanctified. And a part of that process is me giving grace and mercy. Me, me telling you hard things and speaking it with love. And me being patient with you. There's going to be people that are just going to frustrate the life out of us. They're going to make us want to pull the ears off the side of our head. So it's — thinking about how to wrap this up, thinking about my own impatience, thinking about how we live in a microwave world. You know, it would' be great if we could microwave people, right? Jesus tells a great stories — I'm, I'm getting ready to bring this to a close today — tells a great story about a guy who's planted a fig tree. And after a while, he comes back to the Fig Tree, and there's no fix. We're not given the timeline here, okay. We just know it's been planted into the plantor. He feels like enough time has passed, that it should have be bearing fruit. And it hasn't bore the fruit, in the time of the one who planted. So he makes this bold statement, and says: I think it's time to just plug it up. I think it's time to just get rid of it. But then enters someone else to the story. Come to find out, it's the gardener who's part of the story. And the gardener says: hang on, hang on, hang on, just a minute. Give me, give me some time. Don't, don't take it down yet. Give me some time to do a little pruning. Give me some time to do a little digging around the roots. Give me some time to cultivate. Give me some time to fertilize. Give me some time to water. Give me some time to be with it, and see if we can't make it produce fruit. Do you know who the gardener is? It's God. How many trees are in our life, that we look at them, and you're like: done with you. By this time in your life, you should have fruit. By this time, you should be producing. You know what, I'm done with you. I think I'm going to pluck you up. But I wonder, I wonder what the gardener would say, if we asked him. What would he say? Do you think he'd be like: yeah, I'm done with them too? I say this to someone who lives a gardener. There are things I would love to have weed Eed down a long time ago. There's one particular tree that I don't talk about much. But you guys know the tree. It does not bear much fruit. And the Mover of the tree would have gotten rid of it a long time ago. But the gardener says: let's give it some time. See, when we make everything about us — when I'm not getting shade, or I'm not getting fruit, or I'm not getting a benefit — when you become a burden, when you become something that's only a labor, it's easy for me to write you off. The question I have is: with those people that we want to write off, will I be open to listening to The Gardener? Will I be open to bring in these people that he wants me to love — these imperfect, real people? Will I be willing to allow the grace and the truth and the time in me, be used on them? It's a funny thing, because I feel like more often than not, with the frustrating people, were a lot like that video that I showed you about 25 minutes ago, when he said: I made my family disappear.

So as they end this — musicians, come — this is probably the most important thing I want you to hear today: you are not a Grace, or a truth, or a Time Factory. But you can be a conduit that those things can flow through. There's this wonderful verse in Isaiah, where God is talking to Israel, in a way a lot like he would probably talk to you and I right now. They're living in a real hard world. And there's not a lot of peace. There's a lot of stress, a lot of dysfunction. And as you read, you pick up on the fact, in Isaiah 49, that they're really struggling to understand if they're even loved. So if I can't really give love to somebody else, if I don't know that I have more love coming my way, we tend to hang on to it. But God says this to them, in Isaiah 49:15, reading from the New Living Translation. It says: never can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has born? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you. See, I have written your name on the palms of my hand. That's why, why he came. He has our names written on the palms of his hand. He was born in a manger, and he lived with disappointed people. He lived with stressed people. He lived with unsafe people. And different people. And embarrassing people. And he gave them Grace. He gave them truth. And he gave them time. He went from that Manger to a cross. He went from that stable to Calvary. And at Calvary, he willingly lay down his life for you and I. He stressed out his arms. And where my name was written, and where your name was written, they drove spikes through it. And the first words that were ever uttered at Calvary, Calvary, from Jesus Christ, were words of forgiveness. So next time you're tempted, you just write somebody off — maybe you just look at your hand. Next time you want to just walk away, you want to just give up, maybe you look at your hand. I'm telling you: this could be a Christmas like you've never experienced. No, you don't know how they're going to respond. I don't know how they're going to respond either. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about: would you be the giver? Would you ask God: make me the vehicle, to where they could feel, feel your grace and your mercy through me? I asked you last week, and I ask you again today: who has he put in your life, that he wants to reach through you? Who is it in your family? Who is it in your circle of friends? Who is it in everywhere you go, or you're around, that you get to be the grace? You get to be the conduit for Grace. You get to be the conduit for truth. You get to be the conduit for time. Now, I know — look, please, please — I know that there are some unbelievable situational circumstances in this room. And I'm quite sure that your story would be something that I would have a hard time getting my head wrapped around. But he loves those people too. And you may be the only opportunity they have to ever see what real love looks like.

So as you bow your heads and close your eyes, if you're comfortable, I wonder, I wonder: when you think about that person — maybe it's, maybe the relationship is just bumpy, or difficult, or awkward. You're not quite sure what to do with it, and you want to talk to God. Or maybe it's this. Maybe, maybe it's deeper. Maybe it goes deep. There's a wound. There's a hurt. There's a dysfunction. There's a pain that's just so raw. I wonder if you can just give that to him today. Turn it over to him. Let us pray. God, in the Stillness of this moment, as we are open and honest before you, I pray, God, that we could have new outlook on the difficult people in our life, to realize, Lord, that we've been difficult too. Thank you, thank you for the grace and the mercy that's new every morning, that it experienc in my life. Thank you for the truth that I get to hear, in the time you've given me. I pray, God, that we could be the conduits of that, to those that are around us. I pray, God, that you would help us — help us bring the peace to our family, to our friends. We know that that does not come from without, but from within. And you are our peace. I pray, God, you would give us that peace that passes human understanding. I pray, in this room right now, God, that there would be a Ministry of healing, and of Grace, and of Truth, and of love, and of time. And then it would be the miracle that you came to give to us so long ago, so many years ago. I pray that, in Jesus name. In Jesus name. Jesus, in Jesus name. This altar is open. I would invite you to come today. I would invite you to bring your hurt. I would invite you to bring your pain. I would invite you to bring your Brokenness. I would invite you to bring your struggle, your stress. And invite you to bring the Brokenness that is there, and give it to him. I would invite you to come and say: I want this to be the great, best Christmas that we've ever had. I want it to be the best, God, because I'm going to reflect, and I'm going to shine your love to all those that are around me. And I'm not going to exclude anyone. I'm going to Love Like You Loved. I invite you to come. This altar is open.