- Merry Christmas, Springhouse.
Boy, I like to say this before I come.
It's a good day to be in the house of the Lord
and today is certainly no exception, amen?
Amen, it's great to see your faces.
Before I start here, I wanna say,
if you are here this morning
and you don't have a church home,
man, we would so welcome your presence here at Springhouse.
We meet on Sundays at nine o'clock and 11 o'clock.
And if you're looking for a group of people
who are good at not being perfect,
we are your people, right?
Man, we're just on this journey pursuing this King.
And guys, I'm over here just kind of in tears
looking at my family on the front row
and just looking at you all.
And don't you know, there's coming a day
where we are gonna spend eternity under the banner of,
"Oh, come let us adore Him."
It's going to be an eternity with this King,
not just an hour, not just a moment,
but an eternity and we place our hope in Him.
Would you look at somebody who's sitting next to you,
somebody you love and just say,
"You have access to the King."
You have access to the King this morning.
It's not a far-fetched idea.
It's not a dream.
It's not a fairytale,
but you actually do have access to the King of the universe.
First John says this,
"This is the message we have heard from Him
"and declare to you that God is light.
"And in Him, there is no darkness at all.
"And I am so glad this morning
"that the light of the world has come."
The light of the world has come.
When Scripture tells us that God is light
and in Him there's no darkness,
it means there's no deception in Him.
There's no confusion in Him.
There's no instability in Him.
And when Jesus stepped into the world,
He declared, "I am the light of the world."
And He didn't just bring light to us.
He brought light to reside within us.
Jesus has come to be our King,
unwavering, unmovable, unshakable.
The world changes, but this light does not.
People fail, but this light does not fade.
Circumstances shake, but our light does not move.
Our King can be trusted.
Do you believe that this morning, amen?
See, under the old covenant,
the priest used to use light to examine
and to expose, to reveal what was unclean.
And that was faithful work,
but it was not a complete work.
The light kept showing people their sin,
but it couldn't heal it, and it couldn't unite its hearts.
The priest illuminated brokenness and separation,
but Jesus illuminated hope and access.
And He's continuing to illuminate hope
and access into us today.
He showed us what love looks like in a body,
what mercy looks like with skin on it,
what it means to live in truth
without withdrawing from one another.
Listen, sin created separation.
And before this baby King arrived on the scene,
it was all about separation.
But the light stops us from the hiding
so that we can receive the love
that covers a multitude of sin.
And all of this is possible because of the cross,
that the cross has already dealt with,
which once separated us.
Because of Jesus, no longer a priest stands in a grab.
A curtain is no longer making a boundary line.
Holiness is no longer communicating, do not draw near.
Because of Jesus, the veil tore, the barrier fell,
and the distance closed.
Hallelujah.
We no longer stand outside looking in.
We have access because our King made a way.
Not access based on performance.
Not access based on qualification.
Access based on His finished work.
Hebrews 12, 28 tells us we are receiving a kingdom
that cannot be shaken.
Hebrews 4 says, "Let's approach this throne with confidence
because of the access that we have."
And then guys, listen to this in Colossians 1, it says this,
"For He has rescued us and has drawn us to Himself
from the dominion of darkness and has transferred us
to the kingdom of His beloved Son,
in whom we have redemption because of His sacrifice
resulting in the forgiveness of our sin
and the cancellation of sin's penalty.
He is the exact living image,
the essential manifestation of the unseen God,
the visible representation of the invisible,
the firstborn of the preeminent one, the sovereign,
the originator of all creation.
For by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth,
things visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities,
all things were created and exist through Him and for Him."
And listen to this, "And He Himself existed
and is before all things, and in Him all things hold Him."
Would you say that?
And in Him all things hold together.
Guys, I don't know about you, but my 2025 was a mixed bag.
I had some of the most phenomenal, supernatural,
wonderful moments, chief among them, Eliana Hope.
But I also had some moments of grief,
had some moments of hardship and real hurt this year.
And as I look into 2026, guys,
I'm not striving to make 2026 the best year ever,
but what I am doing is I'm looking to allow Christ,
the one who holds it together,
to be the center of everything in 2026.
Why?
Because I have access to Him, and so do you.
He is the light of the world.
What you gonna do with your light?
Would you stand with me this morning
with those who are gonna serve the elements come forward?
I can't think of a more appropriate thing
to do this morning.
As we remember His first coming,
to remember that He's going to come again.
His promise the first time was fulfilled,
and He came for our salvation.
The second time He's coming,
there's gonna be no more suffering.
Hallelujah, amen.
And in the waiting, in the in-between,
we get to cling to this hope,
and we have access to this glorious God.
Friends, on the night in which Jesus was betrayed,
He took bread and He broke it with His friends.
And He said, "Take this bread,
"every time you're gathered together,
"and eat this bread, My body in remembrance of Me."
Shortly after, He took the cup,
which represents the blood of the new covenant,
the cup of salvation.
And He said to His friends, "Take this cup and drink it,
"for this is spilt for the remission of your sin."
So that we have the access we were just talking about.
He says, "Every time you're gathered,
"would you drink this cup in remembrance of Me?"
And so Father, we thank You for all the gifts, Lord,
that we are celebrating today.
But the most significant gift,
the very best gift is Your Son, Jesus.
And so this morning, we remember
the gift that came once to save the world,
but the gift that's coming again,
and the gift that keeps giving extraordinarily.
Father, we thank You that there's an eternity
that awaits us, where we truly will come
and adore Him forever.
In Jesus' name, and we all said amen and amen.
Come this morning and receive communion
as we remember Jesus.
(soft music)