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Matt Daniel: We're going to look at a
scene in this verse as you're turning to

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Luke 2 7 where there's, there's a very
crowded area and there's going to be a

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lot that's, that's going on that we got
to, we got to cut through the clutter and

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focus on what's, what's really cool here.

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And I had a bit of a similar
experience where I was at a place

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where it was insanely crowded.

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Um, in 2021, I got to go to
Circuit of the Americas, which is a

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racetrack down in Austin, and they
were hosting a Formula One race.

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Formula One is just basically one
of the coolest racing organizations

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on the face of the planet.

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And this was truly a once in
a lifetime experience for me.

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It's miles of track.

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There are only, there are over 750,
000 people there that, that weekend.

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And it was an event that
spanned over, over three days.

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And again, miles of track, but
throughout everything you've got

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almost a million people just milling
about going to different areas

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and seeing different exhibits and
getting different food and buying.

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Merch from the place.

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I mean, it was, I felt like I was in a, in
a pack of sardines or something like that.

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Like it was, it was tight.

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It took us over four hours to get out of
the parking lot after, after the race.

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I mean, literally just sitting there
waiting for, waiting for cars to move.

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And I was like, it wasn't even
getting back here to Dallas.

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You know, that was another couple hours.

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It was four hours trying to
get out of a parking lot.

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Imagine doing that.

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That was not that much fun.

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Um, but again, we're going to look here
at Luke 2 7 for another scene that's,

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that's very crowded and in, in the crowds
and in everything that was happening,

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it's very easy to, to lose sight of
what's actually important, which is

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we're, we're sitting in turn one, which
is where all the fun stuff happens.

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We got a good seat, um, where we
set our stuff down on the hill

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and we were like, all right, we're
just going to, we're going to camp

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out, we're going to enjoy this.

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We're not going to let how crowded
and how busy everything is distract

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from what we came here to see.

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I think we're going to find a
similar message in this passage.

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So by way of that long
introduction, I'm hoping we've had

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enough time to get to Luke 2 7.

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And we're, like I said, we're
just looking at one verse tonight.

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So Luke 2 7, you can read along with me.

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It says,

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And she gave birth to her firstborn
son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths

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and laid him in a manger because there
was no place for them in the inn.

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And this is, a Christmas sermon.

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And most of this stuff that we're talking
about here with, there's the birth

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of Jesus, and he's wrapped in these,
in a swaddle, and he gets put in a

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manger, and there's no room in the inn.

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We're all, we're all super familiar
with this story, I imagine.

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And so that, that means that because of
our familiarity, we can really struggle

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to wrap our minds around how important.

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Hm.

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All of this is here.

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What's actually being said here,
because we just know about it.

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We struggle to grasp how impactful
it is to us, and I think this is

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really important because Christmas
is a season that's designed to

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celebrate Jesus and to focus on him.

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We're celebrating his birth and his,
his advent, as we say in Christianity,

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as we're his, his first coming.

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And the danger with having all
of this busyness is that if.

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If you miss Jesus during Christmas,
if you're looking at all of the other

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stuff that's going on, and you, like,
all the pomp and circumstance, and

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all the fun things, and if you miss
Him during Christmas, it's gonna be

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very easy for you to miss Him forever.

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Again, in a season that's designed
to worship Him, and to celebrate Him,

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and to focus on Him, if we let our
hearts get crowded with other things,

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and we miss worshiping Him, it's going
to be very easy for us to not be able

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to focus on Him when there's not a
holiday, when it's not exactly in season.

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And so that's why I want in this
Christmas sermon to go over some of

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these important things that we see in
this verse so that we can give special

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attention to it because I don't want
us to miss Jesus during this season.

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Again, I'm going to key in on a
specific phrase here that's going to

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frame the entirety of this message.

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And if you If you look here, it's
something that, again, you've heard

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of before, but it's this phrase that
there's no place for them in the inn.

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There's no room.

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There's no space that they have.

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And the idea that I want us to key in
on is, I don't want our hearts during

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this season to look like Bethlehem,
or like the racetrack that I was at a

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couple years ago, where it's so busy.

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And has so much going on in it that
we can't actually focus on the main

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thing, the super critical, super
important thing that's happening.

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We got to make room for
that reality to take root.

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And that's, that's point number one.

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Again, I'm cheating because I got four
sub points, but there's only one main

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point that I want you to have tonight.

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And it's just this, make room
for Jesus, make room for Jesus.

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If there's anything that you
remember about this sermon, it's

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just this, make room for him.

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And what do I mean by, by make room?

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And we talk about there, there's, there's
no space, there's no room for them in,

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in the inn for Jesus and his family.

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I think the idea of making room, like
if you think about, like if you go

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to a barbecue or something like that,
and you, you go to the front of the

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line for like a buffet type thing,
they got all of the fix ins, and you

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just like see the salad at the front.

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And then you're like, no, I'm not
loading my plate up with that.

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You know, like who even wants that?

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And you go and use Mac and
cheese, baked beans, brisket ribs.

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You just fill your plate up
with stuff that you love.

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You fill your plate with
stuff you care about.

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And then, you know, you
go, you eat all of it.

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You come back for dessert and
you never touch the salad.

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Right.

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Cause like no one wants
salad on your, on your plate.

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You're going to make room
for the stuff that you love.

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You're going to make room for
the stuff that you really want,

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that you really care about.

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You're going to give
special attention to it.

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And in this case, making room for Jesus,
there's that idea of giving special

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attention to Him during this season, of
submitting to Him, of putting your faith

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in Him, of entrusting yourself to Him.

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There's a lot of different synonyms
for this that I can use, but that's

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the core of what we're going for.

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So let's take a look at a couple of the
ideas that are present in this passage

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that I want us to keep track of, that
again, you're probably familiar with.

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But I really want us to take time to
think about these realities and have

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them make room in our hearts so that
they're not overcrowded and busy with

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all of the other stuff that's going on.

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Because we don't want to miss Jesus
during this season when he's celebrated.

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So sub point A, when we're making
room for Jesus, we got to make

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room for Jesus, God in human flesh.

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Make room for Jesus, God in human flesh.

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That's one of the things that's
going on in this passage.

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So.

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Go ahead and look back at it.

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I'll put it up here on the screen
so it's easier for you to see.

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And it says that she gave birth to
her firstborn son and wrapped him in

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swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger.

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Notice all the words that
I highlighted up here.

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So, Mary, Jesus mom,
physically gives birth.

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Jesus is a firstborn son.

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She wraps him.

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And then she lays him down.

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You might be like, okay, we
know, we've heard this before.

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Like, I get it.

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It's obvious.

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Like, you just basically
read the passage again.

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But it's really important to think
about because if you've ever watched

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Star Wars, have you ever seen this?

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That Princess Leia, when she's
the holograms, help me Obi Wan

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Kenobi, you're my only hope.

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She's not like physically
embodied at this point.

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It's a hologram of her.

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You could swipe it and she'll go away.

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Like, it's not anything of
physical substance, right?

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And that's what's really important because
in this passage, we have to understand

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that Jesus is actually a real person.

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He's not a hologram.

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He doesn't appear to be
having a physical body.

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He doesn't just look like
he's living in space and time.

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He just, he doesn't just look
like a baby that you were

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looking like, Oh, is that a baby?

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And then you like go swipe over him and
you're like, Oh, it's a hologram of Jesus.

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Like.

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It's God in human flesh,
that this is real.

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Again, he's firstborn.

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He's a son.

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But the point is that this baby born
in a manger, though being totally

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real, is not like everyone else.

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He's truly God, and he's truly man.

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He's not under the curse of sin,
and yet he's in this manger crying.

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Thank you.

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with the pangs of hunger
and of being tired.

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He's reliant upon his mother and
his father to take care of him.

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Again, we need to make room for this.

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We need to understand that for God
to come in human flesh, to be the

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one who walks the earth in our place.

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As you've heard us talk about so much
in this ministry, the only one qualified

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to take our place, to take on our
sins and our wrath has to be a real.

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physical person, not a hologram,
not just an idea, but God in

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human flesh, truly God, truly man.

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We have to make room for this.

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We need to really contemplate this.

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Again, it's God in flesh crying
with the pangs of hunger and

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tiredness, but not just that.

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We need to make room for Jesus
born of a virgin as well.

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We need to think about this as Jesus.

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If you look back at the text, you'll
see it says, and she gave birth, right?

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That's what we've, I've already read this,
but she being married, I think we're all

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familiar with that, but she gave birth
like physically and really gave birth.

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And you might be like, okay, cool.

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What's so special about that?

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Well, this is, this is a miracle.

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This is very plainly
and obviously a miracle.

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I mean, I think we make a lot of.

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exceptions for what we
consider miracles today.

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Like we just look at stuff
that's kind of cool that happens.

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We're like, Whoa, that's such a miracle.

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I don't know if you've ever seen
videos of like celebrities surprising

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their fans and how they're all just
like, Whoa, like this is so awesome.

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This is like so life changing.

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This is so miraculous that I got to, I
got to meet Harry Potter or whatever.

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You know, it's, I mean, if I can be
that excited seeing Harry Potter, that'd

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be pretty sweet, but I don't know.

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So.

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We look at stuff that's kind of
common, and we can say that it's

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super miraculous, but you know
what would actually be miraculous?

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If you were like, actually,
you're gonna meet Beethoven.

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You're gonna meet Kobe.

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You're gonna meet these celebrities,
and you're like, um, problem with

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that, they're not exactly alive.

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That would be kind of tough if you were
gonna, if you were gonna meet them.

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But if you said, no, I promise,
I've got them in the flesh, raised

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from the dead, alive 100%, you're
like, that's an absolute miracle.

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That would be life changing
to know someone that has come

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back from the dead like this.

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The nature of Christ's birth, that he's
born of a virgin, of someone that hasn't

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had a relationship with a man to produce
a baby, that he's divinely given by God

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into Mary's womb, this is a true miracle.

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You see, Christ is born in these
miraculous circumstances as a

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divine stamp of approval saying,
he's the one who's qualified.

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He's God in flesh.

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But it also shows us that there are no
lengths that God would not go to, to save

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us and to love us and to care for us.

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That he comes in flesh and he doesn't,
he doesn't say, nah, I'm too good to

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be born to this probably teenage girl.

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I'm too, I'm too good for that.

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But he gets the stamp of approval.

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We need to really consider what this
means that God will go to such extreme

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lengths to solve our sin problem.

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That this baby is born in miraculous
circumstances, and that he does

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miraculous things, and ultimately
deals with our sin on the cross.

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Again, Christ's birth being something
where he is born to walk a life of

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00:12:41,389 --> 00:12:45,039
suffering in our place, and then to
die in our place, and to rise again.

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00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:45,094
Amen.

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00:12:45,095 --> 00:12:50,614
We need to consider that His
miraculous origin shows the love of

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00:12:50,614 --> 00:12:52,854
God that He would be sent for us.

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00:12:53,854 --> 00:12:58,154
The next thing that we need to
see in this passage, that we need

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00:12:58,154 --> 00:13:00,564
to make room for, that we need to
ponder in our hearts, we need to

231
00:13:00,564 --> 00:13:02,584
make room for Jesus laid in a manger.

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00:13:03,924 --> 00:13:06,064
Make room for Jesus laid in a manger.

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00:13:08,524 --> 00:13:11,134
So you can see here, you see
that there's a really genius

234
00:13:11,134 --> 00:13:12,504
way of interpreting this text.

235
00:13:12,504 --> 00:13:14,814
Like when you, when you look at
it, you see that it says, That

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00:13:14,814 --> 00:13:18,064
he was laid in a manger, you just
say, yeah, he was laid in a manger.

237
00:13:18,814 --> 00:13:20,254
Like, it's just, it's just there.

238
00:13:21,274 --> 00:13:21,504
Right?

239
00:13:21,874 --> 00:13:22,604
It's not genius at all.

240
00:13:22,744 --> 00:13:24,884
It's actually, I'm just reading
the, reading the passage, you know?

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00:13:25,974 --> 00:13:28,864
But I think this is really important
because, again, we've talked

242
00:13:28,864 --> 00:13:30,994
about, okay, Jesus is God in flesh.

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00:13:31,354 --> 00:13:35,414
We've talked about, he's got this,
this divine stamp of approval.

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00:13:35,424 --> 00:13:38,044
That he's, he's the king
and all of this other stuff.

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That he's born in a miraculous way.

246
00:13:40,704 --> 00:13:43,004
But, this isn't a fairy tale birth.

247
00:13:43,609 --> 00:13:46,920
This isn't like, okay, like sweet sound.

248
00:13:46,930 --> 00:13:49,510
The trumpets, God is here.

249
00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:50,560
This is so hype.

250
00:13:50,560 --> 00:13:51,680
We're all so excited.

251
00:13:51,689 --> 00:13:55,209
Like get, get everyone to
come in and, and celebrate.

252
00:13:55,419 --> 00:13:58,209
The land is going to have
a feast for weeks on end.

253
00:13:58,999 --> 00:14:03,439
No, there's no, there's
no fairy tale in this.

254
00:14:03,959 --> 00:14:04,780
There's not pomp.

255
00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:06,930
There's not circumstance,
but it's actually,

256
00:14:09,649 --> 00:14:10,859
it's actually very humble.

257
00:14:11,249 --> 00:14:13,009
It's not what we would
expect from someone.

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00:14:13,075 --> 00:14:16,664
with this type of royalty.

259
00:14:19,194 --> 00:14:25,024
And I think we, you probably know
what a manger is, but I put a

260
00:14:25,024 --> 00:14:27,854
picture on here just so we could
really, like, think about it.

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00:14:28,795 --> 00:14:31,864
Because I don't know about you, but
I would A, not want to sleep in that

262
00:14:31,864 --> 00:14:35,114
myself, and B, I would definitely
not want to put my baby in one.

263
00:14:35,514 --> 00:14:39,654
This is literally where pigs
and other animals, they just,

264
00:14:39,814 --> 00:14:40,844
they just eat out of it.

265
00:14:41,444 --> 00:14:44,884
You just pour a bunch of slop in there
and they're like, go eat that, you pigs.

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00:14:45,124 --> 00:14:46,084
And that's what they do.

267
00:14:46,864 --> 00:14:51,064
And there's literally no room
for the son of God to lay his

268
00:14:51,064 --> 00:14:52,784
head except for, for here.

269
00:14:53,354 --> 00:14:54,734
And that's how he's
breaking into the world.

270
00:14:54,744 --> 00:14:59,814
He's taking his first cries
as a human being among cattle.

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00:15:00,814 --> 00:15:07,484
And though, though he's laid in this
feeding trough as being truly God

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00:15:07,484 --> 00:15:09,644
born miraculously, we can see that.

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00:15:10,629 --> 00:15:15,239
from Jesus being laid in a manger
that he refused to exercise his

274
00:15:15,249 --> 00:15:19,269
privileges for our good, right?

275
00:15:19,269 --> 00:15:22,769
He could have been born to the daughter
of some elite businessman, right?

276
00:15:23,279 --> 00:15:27,239
Maybe the high priest of, of, of
ancient Israel could have been

277
00:15:27,419 --> 00:15:29,059
born to Caiaphas's daughter.

278
00:15:29,429 --> 00:15:31,849
That would maybe make a lot more
sense for the son of God, right?

279
00:15:32,929 --> 00:15:36,419
To be born to someone who's well
educated and well respected.

280
00:15:36,420 --> 00:15:44,419
But we see that The Son of God is laid
in a manger that He associates with us

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00:15:44,449 --> 00:15:47,639
at our most humble and our most low.

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00:15:47,640 --> 00:15:50,709
I mean, I'm guessing none of you
have probably spent the night

283
00:15:50,719 --> 00:15:52,509
in a manger, I'm just guessing.

284
00:15:54,329 --> 00:15:57,249
And so in that sense, Christ is
identified with the poorest and the

285
00:15:57,249 --> 00:16:01,159
most needy among us and shown that He is
gentle, that He is lowly, that He does

286
00:16:01,159 --> 00:16:04,929
not despise those things, He doesn't
look down upon us in our weakness.

287
00:16:05,324 --> 00:16:09,114
But that he has truly entered into
it, that he understands any of the

288
00:16:09,114 --> 00:16:13,024
difficulties or the pains that we go
through suffering in this life because he

289
00:16:13,024 --> 00:16:16,454
himself was born and suffered in this way.

290
00:16:18,664 --> 00:16:21,904
Again, these are all things that
we need to make room for because

291
00:16:21,904 --> 00:16:26,844
we don't, it's so hard to take
time during this season to actually

292
00:16:26,854 --> 00:16:28,894
think about why this is important.

293
00:16:29,254 --> 00:16:30,834
Again, I probably haven't said anything.

294
00:16:31,244 --> 00:16:32,454
new to you tonight.

295
00:16:32,454 --> 00:16:34,004
You probably haven't heard anything
where you're like, well, I've

296
00:16:34,004 --> 00:16:35,434
actually never thought of that.

297
00:16:35,444 --> 00:16:38,544
Or my parents have never told me that,
or I've never heard Pastor Rod say that.

298
00:16:39,294 --> 00:16:45,014
But the point is not so much to give
you the knowledge, but to show you

299
00:16:45,014 --> 00:16:47,604
that you need to make room for this.

300
00:16:47,604 --> 00:16:50,894
You need to allow time for you
to think about this, to submit

301
00:16:50,904 --> 00:16:53,204
to it, to worship God for it.

302
00:16:54,204 --> 00:16:57,774
I think this is really important
because as we've said, um,

303
00:16:59,324 --> 00:17:01,024
This is very hard to do.

304
00:17:01,024 --> 00:17:05,714
And so I want to just think about
this as we get ready to close.

305
00:17:05,714 --> 00:17:12,644
I want us to beware the consequences
of refusing to make room for Jesus.

306
00:17:12,684 --> 00:17:16,324
I know that's a long point,
but that's the last sub point.

307
00:17:16,483 --> 00:17:25,092
Beware the consequences of
refusing to make room for Jesus.

308
00:17:25,092 --> 00:17:29,904
Again, we're And we're looking
at this, and we see that

309
00:17:30,794 --> 00:17:32,984
Bethlehem is just bustling.

310
00:17:33,364 --> 00:17:35,554
There's so much going on here.

311
00:17:36,554 --> 00:17:39,414
But the divine Son of God
breaks into space and time.

312
00:17:39,844 --> 00:17:42,314
That's what's going on in this
passage, that's the Christmas story,

313
00:17:42,314 --> 00:17:49,284
but Bethlehem is too busy doing
whatever it is they have to do to

314
00:17:49,284 --> 00:17:51,314
notice and to pay attention to this.

315
00:17:52,314 --> 00:17:53,864
And sometimes we're too busy.

316
00:17:54,649 --> 00:17:57,589
Or we don't care enough
to make room for Jesus.

317
00:17:58,189 --> 00:18:02,139
We hear the word preached on Wednesday
nights, or we hear it on Sunday mornings

318
00:18:02,139 --> 00:18:07,629
at church, but then we say, no, I, it's
cool for then, but, you know, I don't

319
00:18:07,639 --> 00:18:10,559
really need to make room for that.

320
00:18:10,959 --> 00:18:14,239
Like, I don't need to give
my heart space for that.

321
00:18:17,149 --> 00:18:21,839
And sometimes, We think that we
can give Jesus our leftovers and

322
00:18:21,839 --> 00:18:23,059
like, Oh, that's super generous.

323
00:18:23,099 --> 00:18:25,059
Like, that's so generous of me.

324
00:18:25,099 --> 00:18:28,219
I've just got so much fun stuff
going on during the holiday season.

325
00:18:28,369 --> 00:18:31,029
I've got, I've got all
these fun parties at school.

326
00:18:31,029 --> 00:18:32,419
I've got gifts to give.

327
00:18:32,849 --> 00:18:34,289
All of these, all these great things.

328
00:18:34,289 --> 00:18:35,539
I've got gifts to get too.

329
00:18:35,899 --> 00:18:37,809
That's one of the most fun parts, right?

330
00:18:40,649 --> 00:18:43,719
We're so busy with those things
and they fill up our hearts.

331
00:18:43,719 --> 00:18:47,539
But it's not, it's not because our
hearts are so big and everything else is

332
00:18:47,539 --> 00:18:49,199
just so wonderful that it's getting in.

333
00:18:49,199 --> 00:18:54,989
It's It's oftentimes because we're too
easily contented, that we're cool with

334
00:18:54,989 --> 00:18:58,909
all the stuff about Christmas until it's
like, okay, well, Jesus gets in my grill.

335
00:18:59,149 --> 00:19:00,519
I don't really want to think about that.

336
00:19:00,519 --> 00:19:01,369
That's, that's tough.

337
00:19:01,879 --> 00:19:04,039
Again, it's not that we have,
it's not that we have big hearts.

338
00:19:04,049 --> 00:19:07,229
It's that we have Grinch hearts, right?

339
00:19:07,229 --> 00:19:09,749
The whole point of the Grinch, since
he's all mad all the time is because

340
00:19:09,749 --> 00:19:13,029
he's got, he's got a heart that's
three sizes too small or whatever,

341
00:19:13,089 --> 00:19:14,829
probably three, two, three, two.

342
00:19:15,469 --> 00:19:16,699
Three would be worse, man.

343
00:19:16,709 --> 00:19:19,689
That would be a, that would be a tough,
that would be a way different movie,

344
00:19:19,949 --> 00:19:20,939
if it was even smaller than that.

345
00:19:20,940 --> 00:19:28,269
I mean, it's, it's, we have these
Grinch hearts because we don't, we

346
00:19:28,269 --> 00:19:30,399
don't want to bring Jesus into them.

347
00:19:30,399 --> 00:19:31,659
We're content with too little.

348
00:19:32,659 --> 00:19:37,269
Again, going to, going to F1 was a great
time, but let me tell you, that last

349
00:19:37,269 --> 00:19:38,919
day, so they have the races on Sunday.

350
00:19:39,899 --> 00:19:41,729
And we got there.

351
00:19:42,124 --> 00:19:43,744
It was for sure still dark out.

352
00:19:43,754 --> 00:19:49,384
It was probably like 4 30 in the
morning and we camped out on turn one.

353
00:19:49,394 --> 00:19:50,954
Literally nobody around us.

354
00:19:51,084 --> 00:19:53,314
Like I'm sunburnt to a crisp.

355
00:19:53,314 --> 00:19:55,324
I looked like a lobster
from the day before.

356
00:19:55,564 --> 00:20:00,014
I'm feeling terrible, but I'm
like, I gotta, I gotta enjoy this.

357
00:20:00,244 --> 00:20:02,024
Like I can't, I can't miss the race.

358
00:20:02,044 --> 00:20:06,864
And so me and all my buddies were
just hanging out there and it still

359
00:20:06,864 --> 00:20:08,054
upsets me to think about this.

360
00:20:08,689 --> 00:20:10,649
30 minutes before the race starts.

361
00:20:10,689 --> 00:20:12,499
We've been there for like
7 hours at this point.

362
00:20:12,519 --> 00:20:16,799
Literally sitting, occupying territory
on the hill like we're soldiers

363
00:20:16,799 --> 00:20:18,299
trying to hold the fort down.

364
00:20:19,199 --> 00:20:24,359
30 minutes before the race happens, a
guy shuffles through the crowd while

365
00:20:24,359 --> 00:20:28,239
we're all standing at this point because
the race is going to start soon, and

366
00:20:28,239 --> 00:20:30,829
he just stops right in front of me.

367
00:20:31,989 --> 00:20:34,539
Just like, I could not see a single thing.

368
00:20:35,004 --> 00:20:36,164
And I was so upset.

369
00:20:36,164 --> 00:20:39,804
I literally, I typically wouldn't
do this, but I tapped him.

370
00:20:39,804 --> 00:20:41,244
I was like, dude, can you move?

371
00:20:41,254 --> 00:20:42,994
Like what is, what is happening?

372
00:20:44,434 --> 00:20:50,124
And so, like a very nice man, he
scooched forward about that much.

373
00:20:51,194 --> 00:20:51,944
So I tapped him again.

374
00:20:51,944 --> 00:20:54,674
I'm like, dude, what are you doing?

375
00:20:54,674 --> 00:20:56,014
Like, we've been here all day.

376
00:20:56,274 --> 00:20:57,234
And he literally, he
literally looked at me.

377
00:20:57,294 --> 00:20:59,804
I'll never forget this because he
looked at me Bro, we're all just

378
00:20:59,814 --> 00:21:00,954
trying to do the best we can.

379
00:21:00,994 --> 00:21:02,524
And I was like, what kind
of a sentence is that?

380
00:21:02,524 --> 00:21:03,994
Like, you can, you can move forward.

381
00:21:03,994 --> 00:21:06,284
Like, you're literally standing in front
of my, I'm like, I'm not trying to watch

382
00:21:06,284 --> 00:21:07,644
the back of your head the whole time.

383
00:21:07,644 --> 00:21:10,054
I'm trying to, I'm trying to
watch these guys take the turns.

384
00:21:12,434 --> 00:21:13,424
And he barely moved.

385
00:21:13,444 --> 00:21:16,354
I just asked him, just make
a little bit of room, please.

386
00:21:17,584 --> 00:21:19,184
And he kind of refused.

387
00:21:21,264 --> 00:21:25,304
You see, in this, in this season,
I feel like sometimes we're like,

388
00:21:25,794 --> 00:21:27,444
we're like that guy when it comes to.

389
00:21:28,034 --> 00:21:28,574
Christmas.

390
00:21:28,574 --> 00:21:30,224
Like we've got the Christmas season.

391
00:21:30,224 --> 00:21:31,354
We've got the month of December.

392
00:21:31,354 --> 00:21:32,434
We've got Christmas music.

393
00:21:32,444 --> 00:21:37,924
We've got all of this stuff, but we're not
going to show up to see the main event.

394
00:21:37,934 --> 00:21:41,554
We're not going to show up to see
Jesus until right at the very end.

395
00:21:41,634 --> 00:21:43,834
Like we'll roll up on Christmas
Eve and we're like, yeah, I'm ready

396
00:21:43,834 --> 00:21:44,984
to, I'm ready to praise the Lord.

397
00:21:44,994 --> 00:21:45,814
Like this is going to be great.

398
00:21:46,974 --> 00:21:48,824
And we just, we show up at
Christmas Eve and we're like,

399
00:21:48,824 --> 00:21:50,074
okay, now I give him Christmas.

400
00:21:50,074 --> 00:21:51,344
And then like, boom, we're done.

401
00:21:51,444 --> 00:21:52,234
We got gifts.

402
00:21:52,284 --> 00:21:53,374
We're heading on to the new year.

403
00:21:53,374 --> 00:21:54,174
This is going to be great.

404
00:21:56,244 --> 00:21:56,654
And we don't.

405
00:21:57,304 --> 00:21:58,164
long for this.

406
00:21:58,164 --> 00:21:59,614
We don't actually make room beforehand.

407
00:21:59,614 --> 00:22:02,404
We don't get there and we don't
camp out in these realities.

408
00:22:02,404 --> 00:22:06,674
We don't really consider them for an
extended period of time and we show

409
00:22:06,674 --> 00:22:11,684
up kind of casually right before
we're supposed to celebrate this.

410
00:22:14,315 --> 00:22:17,790
And having that kind of casual approach,
like that guy who's going to show up to

411
00:22:17,790 --> 00:22:23,444
a race with 750, 000 people in attendance
a half hour before, if we have that

412
00:22:23,444 --> 00:22:29,094
mentality in Christmas and getting
ready to make room for Jesus, it's going

413
00:22:29,094 --> 00:22:30,634
to be really easy for us to miss Him.

414
00:22:31,924 --> 00:22:34,554
It's really going to be easy for
us to just get caught up in all

415
00:22:34,554 --> 00:22:35,494
the other things that we're doing.

416
00:22:35,494 --> 00:22:38,794
And like I said, if you miss Jesus
during Christmas, it's going to be

417
00:22:38,834 --> 00:22:40,784
very easy for you to miss Him forever.

418
00:22:42,314 --> 00:22:45,204
It's going to be so easy for
you to not dial into this.

419
00:22:45,874 --> 00:22:48,204
Because the whole, the whole
point of going to the racetrack

420
00:22:48,204 --> 00:22:49,354
was to watch the race.

421
00:22:49,354 --> 00:22:54,044
It wasn't to go to all of the,
the merch stores that were,

422
00:22:54,514 --> 00:22:56,344
Extraordinarily overpriced.

423
00:22:56,344 --> 00:22:59,824
Like when he's 200 for a
hoodie, like, what are we doing?

424
00:23:00,134 --> 00:23:02,464
And the whole, the whole point wasn't
like, Oh, I'm going to go check that out.

425
00:23:02,474 --> 00:23:08,734
And I'm going to, I'm going to see like
the, like the formula Z or whatever, like

426
00:23:08,734 --> 00:23:12,924
the worst of the worst driving around the
track, like the Saturday, the day before

427
00:23:12,924 --> 00:23:15,794
the actual race, like the whole point was
we're supposed to be there for the race.

428
00:23:16,794 --> 00:23:20,024
That's the point is if, if this is
what we're meant to look at, And

429
00:23:20,024 --> 00:23:21,744
we're going to content ourselves
with all these other things.

430
00:23:21,744 --> 00:23:24,944
It's going to be really hard for
us to get Jesus when we're not

431
00:23:24,954 --> 00:23:26,614
at the racetrack, so to speak.

432
00:23:26,614 --> 00:23:30,614
When we're not, when he's not
like the focus of the season,

433
00:23:31,354 --> 00:23:32,834
he's not the focus of our lives.

434
00:23:35,154 --> 00:23:40,474
And that's my, my main worry for us that
I hope that I've given you a couple of

435
00:23:40,814 --> 00:23:44,694
points to start thinking through is if, if
we miss Jesus when he's supposed to be in

436
00:23:44,694 --> 00:23:46,884
focus, how can, how can we be confident?

437
00:23:47,519 --> 00:23:49,779
that will respond to the
gospel some other time.

438
00:23:50,969 --> 00:23:54,949
The whole point is that at Christmas,
Christ is offered freely, and his

439
00:23:54,949 --> 00:23:57,939
story is told in its fullness.

440
00:24:00,029 --> 00:24:07,289
So if you miss him now, and if
you refuse to listen now, why

441
00:24:07,289 --> 00:24:09,379
would you bank on another time?

442
00:24:10,379 --> 00:24:14,049
The final thought that I want to
leave us with is this, that God

443
00:24:14,099 --> 00:24:16,129
gives us holidays for a reason.

444
00:24:17,484 --> 00:24:21,164
It's not just something that, you know, we
made up to make life a little bit better.

445
00:24:21,164 --> 00:24:24,834
We see throughout the Old Testament
that God gives holidays to the people of

446
00:24:24,864 --> 00:24:28,994
Israel where they remember the good things
that God has done and they celebrate

447
00:24:29,254 --> 00:24:32,434
his character and his acts and his
faithfulness throughout all of history.

448
00:24:33,804 --> 00:24:38,824
He gives us holidays so that we can
carve out time to reflect and to

449
00:24:38,834 --> 00:24:40,524
align our hearts and minds with him.

450
00:24:41,229 --> 00:24:45,149
He gives us time to dial back in,
to lose all of the clutter and just

451
00:24:45,149 --> 00:24:47,249
focus on Him, to make room for Him.

452
00:24:49,599 --> 00:24:54,669
And so I hope that you can take these
three points, these three sub points,

453
00:24:55,349 --> 00:24:58,339
and just kind of chew on them a little
bit, meditate on them a little bit.

454
00:24:58,779 --> 00:25:00,259
Think about why they're important.

455
00:25:02,269 --> 00:25:04,399
And that you can do that in the
time leading up to Christmas so

456
00:25:04,399 --> 00:25:06,769
that you can use this time wisely.

457
00:25:07,409 --> 00:25:09,389
Because you never age out
of making room for Christ.

458
00:25:10,219 --> 00:25:12,869
This is something that every single
Christian, regardless of their age,

459
00:25:13,359 --> 00:25:15,359
is doing and is working on doing.

460
00:25:17,099 --> 00:25:20,049
And maybe you need to make room for
Jesus for the first time this Christmas.

461
00:25:21,369 --> 00:25:27,419
But with all that being said, my prayer
for you all is that you use this holiday

462
00:25:27,419 --> 00:25:31,519
season to make room for the King of Kings.

463
00:25:32,559 --> 00:25:33,029
Let's pray.

464
00:25:34,029 --> 00:25:37,249
Our Father in Heaven, thank
you for sending Christ.

465
00:25:37,259 --> 00:25:38,239
Thank you for giving us hope.

466
00:25:38,534 --> 00:25:45,064
holidays that we can enjoy, and though
you've given us so many other components

467
00:25:45,064 --> 00:25:49,624
and parts of life to enjoy with the
holidays, I pray that we wouldn't let

468
00:25:49,624 --> 00:25:55,194
those overcrowd our hearts, that they
wouldn't be like Bethlehem, too busy to

469
00:25:55,195 --> 00:26:00,434
notice what's going on, or the reason for
why any of this exists in the first place.

470
00:26:00,564 --> 00:26:04,714
I pray that you would make our
minds attentive to your truth, that

471
00:26:04,714 --> 00:26:05,914
it would be something that would.

472
00:26:07,229 --> 00:26:10,959
Stir our affections that would change the
things that we care about, that they would

473
00:26:11,389 --> 00:26:13,919
make its way down into our priorities.

474
00:26:14,859 --> 00:26:15,569
All of that, God.

475
00:26:15,569 --> 00:26:16,459
And I pray that we would be

476
00:26:18,749 --> 00:26:23,959
weary or wary of the consequences of if we
get caught up in too much of those things.

477
00:26:23,959 --> 00:26:27,219
I pray that we would give you the
space that you deserve, God, to sit

478
00:26:27,219 --> 00:26:29,989
on the throne of our hearts this
Christmas season, and that we would

479
00:26:29,999 --> 00:26:32,839
be worshipping you and adoring you.

480
00:26:34,119 --> 00:26:35,809
In thought, word, and deed, Father.

481
00:26:36,309 --> 00:26:37,809
I pray these things in Jesus name, amen.