The Choice of Christmas

Well, good morning, Cross Church Phoenix. How are you? >> Good, good. I am Pastor DJ, the pastor here at Cross Church Phoenix. And if I haven't met you yet, come find me afterwards. I'd love to meet with you, get to know you, welcome you. At this time, I want to invite you to open your Bibles to Mark 1. Mark chapter 1 will be in verses 1-8. And if you don't have a Bible, um, we have some in the seat back in front of you. You can feel free to use that one. Take it home, make it your Bible. I saw a gentleman from 9:00 a.m. service who visited for the first time, and he's walking out with one of our Bibles. I'm like, "Yes, yes, yes. Bring it back next week." Um but uh yes um wonderful thing and we will gladly replace it. And as you opening your Bibles to Mark 1 um had a few cool stories cool well one cool story to share and then a prayer request to share uh that was brought to me. Um but our very own Isaiah and Cristiana got married on Friday and we have a cool thing. Yeah. We uh now um believe it or not, I am standing back there. It's just Isaiah's like way up here, you know. So, as I'm trying to talk to him during I'm like, Isaiah um this is what God says about marriage and um but that was a wonderful time and we celebrate that and they're um they they weren't here for 9:00 and I was like, you know, why not? You know, I'm just kidding. Um, I actually wasn't expecting them here this morning and uh they're with us. So, we celebrate uh their their marriage. And then um on a little bit more serious note, a gentleman uh one of our guys, a member here came up to me in our 9:00 a.m. service. His name's Carlos. He said, "Hey, DJ, can uh the church pray? Can we pray for my friend John, a coworker?" and he fell 30 feet from a ladder and almost died. Uh luckily he was wearing the safety equipment he should be wearing but still um basically his his back is completely destroyed and um so I told him absolutely we will pray for him and uh try to send it out. We do have by the way on a side note we have a Phoenix prayer chain. There's a a little stand thing on the back tables. Um, sometimes those get glossed over because they're not really like maybe I should shine bright lights on them, you know? But, um, our our h worship guide handouts are there, but there's also a little thing for our Cross Church Phoenix prayer chain and you can sign up for that. And the only thing you do to sign up for it is you email that email and then we get that and I can add you to it and then we send emails out from there. Um, so a little commercial for the Cross Church Phoenix prayer chain. Um, and we'll send that out. But let's go before the Lord in prayer um this morning. Father, we thank you for uh this morning and we thank you for your word. God, we come humbly before your throne of grace, God. You are so mighty, gracious, merciful, and glorious. And we thank you for your love for us, God. And that we get in the life, death, burial, and resurrection of of Jesus Christ. Lord, we lift up this gentleman named John. I don't know him. Um Carlos does. and um just has a a heart. His heart's out for him right now. Lord, I don't know um if if he's a Christian or not. I don't know um if he's in church, but God, I pray that you would bring healing to this gentleman's body, Lord, and uh wisdom for the doctors who will be um working on them, Lord. And we just I pray God, your word says um not that all things are good, but that you work all things together for the good. And I pray God that you would do just that in this um work accident situation, Lord. And that you'd use Carlos, use our our brother um for your glory and for your will, Lord. And we pray that you would bring this gentleman to to Christ if he doesn't know you, Lord. And ultimately, God, um that he would plug into a church, maybe ours or another one, God, but we lift him up before you, submit this to your will, Lord. I pray that you would be with us during this time of uh sitting under your word, Lord. We all come under the authority of God's word, and I pray that you would give us eyes to see and ears to hear what the spirit has to say to the church at Cross Church Phoenix in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, this morning, we're continuing our Christmas series. It's a Wonderful Christmas. And uh if you haven't already picked up, we stole that really from It's a Wonderful Life and the 40s film. Uh but last week we looked at Matthew chapter 1 and saw how really the whole point of Christmas is se in celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ is that God in Christ became fully man. This is fully 100% a man. This isn't like he put on a human like robe, but he's really this weird mystical thing. Um, but like, you know, put on human flesh like a costume. Um, that's a that's an old ancient church history. No, he is a fully human being. And he is fully God. And so he becomes a man, Emmanuel, God with us for a purpose. Right? We read Matthew, you will call his name Jesus. Why call his name Jesus? Because he will save his people from their sin. That's the point of Christmas, right? The whole point of Christ coming, Christ accomplishing what he came to do meant he was to give his life as a ransom for many. He didn't just come to hang out with his creation, though that's cool, too. I was telling my wife yesterday, you ever wonder what it was like to just be like Peter, James, and John and the boys? I don't want to know what it's like to be Judas. No, no, no, no. But I want to know what it's like to be any of the other guys. Um, you know, like I imagine just like, hey, let's go over here. and you're just walking and you know especially at the time where the disciples realize like they're following God around you know I picture like um a father or mother walking through the snow and like the little kid is like stepping in their you know dad's or mom's like footsteps you know I was like I would just like walk in like the footprints of Jesus like along the way like I'm walking in God's steps you know you ever wonder what went through their mind I don't know but he didn't just come to hang out with his creation he came to die to provide salvation to his people. And this morning we'll be in the first eight verses of Mark 1 looking at the choice of Christmas. And that's kind of a curious title, right? Uh the choice of Christmas. But as we get into it, I think you'll see what we mean. The Christmas season floods us with decisions to make. You know, what presents to get who. Maybe it's which tree that we're going to get, how are we going to decorate, what color are we going to get, or if you've got in-laws or something locally, you know, whose house are we going to and when? Um or if you're if you have kids, um this was uh Becky and I, this was our family's week. It might be figuring out um how you're going to get to their performances and coordinating what feels like Mission Impossible um in your home. Um, a lot goes on during Christmas and it's easy to get distracted away from the Christ of Christmas and I'm hoping that this morning will help us to reenter, refocus, and stay focused on Christ. Um, this morning we're only doing eight verses and we've been in Nehemiah before December and some long chapters in uh Matthew 1 last week, but we're in Mark 1 1-8. And I thought, you know, I'm going to do something a little bit different. I do enjoy doing this and I want to do it more often, but would you guys if you're able to, would you stand with me as we read God's word together. Um, if you can, uh, we want to honor God's word. And if you can't honor God's word in your heart, of course, like it's no legalistic thing here, but as if you are able, uh, stand and we're going to read verses 1-8 together. Mark 1 verse one, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, see, I am sending my messenger ahead of you. He will prepare your way. A voice of one crying out in the wilderness, prepare the way for the Lord. Make his path straight. John came baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River confessing their sins. John wore a camel-hair garment with a leather belt around his waist and ate locust and wild honey. He proclaimed, "One who is more powerful than I am is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the strap of his sandals. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." And all God's people said, "Amen." You may be seated. Thank you. The Westminster Shorter Catechism is basically, if you don't know what it is, it's a summary of the principles of Christianity in the form of questions and answers. Um, it's a teaching tool. So, you ask a question and you train yourself to memorize the answer to that question. So you can teach yourself a lot of theology, a lot of sound good um scripture doing that way. I found it a great way to train my children. So we do our home family devotions based on the Westminster catechism. Um but the first question in the catechism is this. What is the chief end of man? First question that opens the catechism. What is the chief end of man? Anybody know off the top of your head? I heard someone. >> Yeah. Amen. Amen. Somebody was shouting it out at 9:00 a.m. too. I was like, "Yes." Um, the chief end of man is, and then the answer is, as our brother Scott said, to glorify God and enjoy him forever. If you were to summarize the point of being human being, that's it. The ultimate chief, right? The chief end means the ultimate, the highest, the ultimate highest purpose of mankind is to glorify God. We are created for the purpose of glorifying God. That is the point of being a human being. We saw last week, right, the point of Christmas, so to speak. This week, I could say this is the point of our life. The whole point why you and I exist is to glorify God. That's the point. The problem is many people do not glorify God with their lives. Right? Many people and professing Christians included make their chief end financial wealth and stability, enslaving themselves to getting more money. People make their chief end academic achievement or workplace status, climbing the corporate ladder, pleasure, fashion, keeping up with the Joneses. Uh for some their chief end is is an addiction or other idols. And when we replace glorifying God with glorifying anything not named God, glorifying other things, we are left empty. Why do people with tons of money, fame, and status end up depressed, anxious, and empty inside? It's simple. Actually, it's not it's not rocket science. Why? Right? It's because they don't know the answer to the first question and they're not fulfilling their God-given purpose in giving glory to God. All of those things will leave you empty. And it's not just the rich and famous. When we, you and I, live for something other than the glory of God first. Yes, there's other things we need to do. I understand like we need to get up and we need to go to work and supply for our family and do things. I'm not saying that none of those other things happen, but we glorify God as we do those things, right? As we provide, as we work, as we do things, we What did Paul say? Do every whatever you do, do everything to the glory of God. And when we replace the glory of God as primary chief our chief end with anything else, we will be left in the exact same anxious or depressed predicament, empty predicament. And so in our text this morning, we meet a guy John the Baptist, right? And he never lost sight of his chief end, which was glorifying God. He never swayed from exalting Christ and pointing people to Christ. Never. To our knowledge, right? We only have the scriptures. Maybe he I don't know. But according to the Bible, never lost sight of glory to God first above everything else. And so today, I want us to learn what it would look like to glorify God this Christmas as we look to John the Baptist as our example. So we have our main title. Choosing to glorify this Christmas means number one recognizing that God has appointed you in this time and place to be his messenger. So Mark begins his gospel with the fact that God has fulfilled prophecies that are hundreds of years old in sending John the Baptist. And so what he's doing is he's quoting a couple of Old Testament verses. The first he's quoting Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3. And one of the cool things about those two passages is that they're both pointing to the deity of Jesus Christ. He is God. For example, keep your finger in Mark chapter 1 and turn back to Malachi 3. So you'd be going back, you go, you'll see Matthew, you'll go through Matthew. And Malachi is the end of the Old Testament. So you'll be there in Malachi 3 as you flip through Matthew. I'll give you a second to get there. But I want you to see this yourself as we work through this passage. So Malachi 3 verse 1 says, "See, I am going to send my messenger and he will clear the way before me." Take note, me. Then the Lord you seek will suddenly come to his temple, the messenger of the covenant you delight in. He is coming. Says, get this, the Lord of armies or some might say the Lord of hosts. Did you notice the first person pronouns, the eyes and the mis. See, I am going to send my messenger and he will pre he will clear the way or prepare the way for who? For me. Who is speaking? God is speaking in Malachi 3:1. The we read the rest of it, right? The Lord will come t suddenly to his temple temple, the messenger of the covenant. You delight and see he's coming, says the Lord of armies. So what this means is Yahweh, the Lord is saying he will send his messenger to prepare the way for himself. Yahweh will send his messenger to prepare the way for Yahweh. Does that make sense? That's what Malachi is saying and it's what Mark is saying. And if you go back to Mark, you can flip back there now if you haven't already. But he's quoting it in this second person, you know, using words like you and your because he's talking about Jesus Christ. Verse one, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God. Behold, right? or see, I'm sending my messenger ahead of you, Jesus Christ. He'll prepare your way. He was going to prepare Christ's way. And he's saying that Jesus is God. And he does the same thing quoting declaring Jesus is Lord in verse three in Isaiah 40:3. In in quoting that, and you don't have to turn there, I'll read it to you. Isaiah 43 40:3 says, "A voice cries in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord. make straight in the desert a highway for who? For our God. What Mark is saying is that the one that John the Baptist is preparing the way for is none other than God himself, Jesus Christ. John the Baptist is paving the way for God to come in the person of Jesus. Now understand our lives are not specifically prophesied about in scripture like John's. I mean I I I've read and unfortunately there's nowhere in the Bible that it says and Daniel James Matthews will show up at 19th Avenue in Grovers and do this thing. That'd be really cool. But that's not in the Bible. But our lives, though they're not specifically prophesied, you won't find your name in scripture, unless it's, you know, John or Joshua or something, but our lives are no less appointed by God than John the Baptist was. What do I mean? I mean God is no less sovereign now than he was 2,000 years ago. And we need to recognize that God has called us, you and I, in this time, in this place to be his messengers. We went through the book of 2 Corinthians, um, recently. 2 Corinthians 5:20 says, "Therefore, we the church," Paul is writing to the church, we the church are ambassadors for Christ. God making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. What does an ambassador do? An ambassador speaks for and represents the country that they represent, right? Communicating their interests, relaying information from who they represent. That's what we do. We do the same thing. We are God's representatives in North Phoenix in 2025. We are no less chosen and designated by God at this time to be his messengers to a lost and dying world. No less. God is no less in control of where he has you. And it's not just here on the church property, right? He is in complete control and placed you in the family he's given you in the workplace he's given you in the school perhaps he's given you in the in the home or apartment that he has placed you and you're there for a purpose which is to glorify God be his messenger. That leads me to our second point. We are here. We are been called out, right? We are his church. The second way we choose to glorify God this Christmas is by sharing the message of the gospel of Christ that has been given to us. Sharing the message. You see, John the Baptist's ministry was to prepare the way for the Lord and make his path straight. Verses four and five are how he did it. You see, 1 through three is like what he's going to do or what he did. verses four and five are how he did it. By baptizing and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. That's how he did it. The message of repentance prepared people for Jesus Christ. Ray Steedman, who was a pastor and author in California, he's went to be with the Lord like 30 years ago, like in the '9s, but he was his name was Ray Steedman. He said this quote, "John was God's bulldozer." I like that. John was God's bulldozer. It's a good picture, right? The message of repentance would be a bulldozer, so to speak, paving the way, showing people what their need for salvation in the one who's about to show up, Jesus Christ. John is readying people for the arrival of Christ and repentance is the way that's going to happen. John didn't just make up baptism. The Jewish people did observe a full immersion like what we do, a full immersion baptism in the first century. It was already in practice before John came on the scene. But here's what you need to know. They had other rituals that that involved water and stuff and cleansing and all purifications, but baptism by immersion was not was a practice by the Jewish people, but it wasn't Jewish people who got baptized. Jewish baptism was reserved for Gentile converts to Judaism. What that means is if you are a Gentile and a Gentile is anyone who's not Jewish. So if you're sitting here and you're not Jewish, you're a Gentile. Okay, a gentile. If you were one of those and you wanted to join Judaism, right, you wanted to observe the Old Testament law, kind of join God's covenant people, so to speak, you would undergo baptism by immersion as an outward sign of your inward decision to become part of God's covenant people follow Old Testament Judaism. Now notice who's coming to be baptized by John. It says right the Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem. Who would that be? Jewish people. Wait, Jewish people are coming to get baptized. This isn't Gentiles converting to Judaism. This is Jewish people showing up getting baptized by John. Here's the reason. The text says it for a reason, right? The reason John's baptism is so radical is because he's taking a Jewish practice reserved for incoming Gentiles and saying it's not just Gentiles who need to repent and get right with God. Everyone does. Everyone does. Whether you're Jewish or not, all need to repent and turn to God. All need to be prepared for the greater one, Jesus Christ, who is coming. Everyone, all need to confess their sin and show signs of repentance, which meant being baptized in John's baptism of repentance. In Matthew's gospel, we learn that John the Baptist challenged those who were coming to be baptized. And the challenge was this. Prove you have a heart of repentance. Prove it. Don't just say it. Prove it. In Matthew 3:7-10, he says, uh, John the Baptist is is, um, speaking, well, will be speaking. And it says this, Matthew 3:7, but when he, John the Baptist saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, you brood of vipers. That's a nice welcoming phrase, right? You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come. Verse eight, bear fruit in keeping with repentance. Verse 9, and do not presume to say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father. For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. What is John the Baptist saying in Matthew 3:7 to10? He's saying, don't think that simply being born Jewish in the covenant people of God means you and God are okay and you don't need to repent. You do. And you need to bear fruit accordingly. That was John's message. Turn from sin. Turn to God for forgiveness of sin. Be ready because the Lord's coming. He's coming and he's about to show up, right? because John's about to baptize him if we were to continue through the gospel. If you think about it, our message is almost exactly the same. I say almost because Christ is risen from the grave now and this was pre that and we have other elements of the gospel to share the risen Lord. But if you think about it, our message is almost the same. And as I was preparing for this, this kind of hit me and I was, it seems obvious. So sometimes like the most basic things come to my mind and I think that like, wow, but it's so basic. Um, but what really hit home on me this week was this. John paved the way at Christ's first coming. We're paving the way for his second coming. Pretty elementary truth, I or B or basic. It just was like, wow. That's kind that's pretty much what we're doing as believers. The Bible is clear that Jesus will return and perhaps soon, right? What is our message in the meantime? Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Right? Confess your sins. Turn to Christ for forgiveness. Get right with God. Remember, he's telling everyone who's coming to his baptism to repent. And this is prep preparatory preparing for Christ. Get ready. Jesus is coming. Get right with God now. While there's time, what are we doing? Get ready. Get saved now. Why? Jesus is coming again. And the scriptures are clear that Christ will come again. And when he comes, it ain't going to be a lowly baby in a manger. It will be in glory and power. That's the Jesus who's coming back. If you want to get a little picture of the Christ that is returning, read Revelation 1. It's the Christ that John falls over dead when he sees. The same God. It's the same Christ. Different purpose. What is that purpose? Well, do you remember what what Paul's motivating factor in telling Timothy to preach the word in season and out of season was? Is in 2 Timothy 4 4:2. Maybe you've heard that, right? Preach the word in season and out of season. Be ready. Reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all longsuffering and teaching. We know that. But do you know what verse one says? What is to be the motivating factor for Timothy to preach the word? Second Timothy 4:1 says this. Paul's writing. He's about to die. This is like his, you know, I'm saying goodbye Timothy. Do this uh letter. I charge you Timothy. Paul says in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead and by his appearing in his kingdom preach the word. That's what he says, right? What is the motivation? The fact that Christ is coming to judge the living and the dead is to motivate Timothy to preach God's word without wavering. And it should be our motivation to share Christ and the gospel message of Christ with those around us this Christmas to prepare them for Christ who is to return. Give the people around you this Christmas the message that we've been given. The message of the gospel. That's what we've been given, right? We're not making up our own message. Neither did John the Baptist. It's a me message given to him. We've been given the gospel message of Christ and we glorify God when we share it. Finally, last number three, choosing to glorify God this Christmas means refusing to be distracted away from Christ. Now, I know some of you cannot wait to go home and try some honey dipped locusts, right? You guys going to go home and have some honey dipped locust? I'm not. Um, put on your camel hair coat. Anyone? No. But aside from his awesome fashion and diet, um, we see that John garnered a whole lot of attention. You read it with me. The whole Judean countryside, all the people of Jerusalem are going out to him. That's a lot of people. If you think through this, it's a lot of people. It's not like a couple hundred. This is thousands of people are showing up to hear John's message, his preaching, and to be baptized by him. It would be easy for him to think, you know, I I must really be something. I'm a I'm a pretty good preacher if I do say so myself. I mean, really, these people are coming out to hear me speak. I must be real eloquent and fashionable. Of course, people can't help but be drawn to my incredible personality. I have a a following now. There's a ton of people coming to him. If this was a church, right, if if if John the Baptist were starting a church and this many people were coming to his uh messages and his baptisms, this church would be a mega church, right? In the thousands. Thousands of people are flocking to him. and being baptized by him. His baptism numbers are through the roof, right? He I mean, he's turn in a thing and report like we baptized like 10,000 people. I don't know this year, right? Like we just baptized everybody. His baptism numbers are astronomical. But notice he knows this. It's not about him at all. It's about Jesus, right? Yes, there's tons of people. Yes, there are people even responding to his ministries. Some don't, of course, but many are. Yes, there's thousands of baptisms taking place, but guess what he says? One one who is more powerful than I am is coming after me. I'm not even worthy to stoop down, untie his shoes, his sandals. He can't even bend down and and wash off his Crocs if he had them, right? He's not worthy to stoop down and do what a lowly servant would do in those days, which would be to wash your feet or to untie his sandals. One who is greater is coming and is here. I'm baptizing you with water, he says. But you know what? He Jesus will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. I can't do that. I could baptize you in the Jordan. I can dip you in the water of the river. I can't do that. I can't baptize you with the Holy Spirit. But Christ can. Christ can and will. The one who is coming can and it's a far greater baptism. This baptism of the Holy Spirit. What is that anyway? You think, well, what is the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Right? I get repentance. Like, so you come to John, you hear his preaching, you say, "Yep, I need to repent and get ready. Um, can I get baptized?" Yep. But what is the baptism of the Holy Spirit? And we could spend a whole sermon on that. And we don't have time. But I do want to give you um the the short of it. It might be a good Bible group topic. I don't know. But the baptism of the Holy Spirit is becoming a new creation, a new creature. You are made new. Salvation, this is real actual change in your life. John's outward baptism of repentance is just that. It's an outward expression of a decision you made after you heard his preaching. You say, "I agree with that preaching. I need to repent and get ready. Um, the Lord is coming. All right, let's do it." And it was an outward expression of what you decided inwardly. Christ's baptism of the Holy Spirit is an inward new creation creating act done by God that listen get this don't miss it that produces outward change in your life. This is why so many passages concerning and I talk to a lot of people about uh assurance of salvation, right? How do I know if I'm saved? So many passages concerning evidence of salvation focus on fruitbearing. John even says it right, bear fruit in keeping with uh repentance. What does Jesus say? You shall know them by their fruit. We have the fruit of the Holy Spirit which are all these things in Galatians 5. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Does that describe any of you? Does that describe us in our lives? Are we bearing fruit? If you're truly saved, baptized with the Holy Spirit, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, you will show change. It's not that you might change, it's you are changed literally and it will show. The Apostle John, so not John the Baptist, but the Apostle John in First John talks about our salvation manifesting itself in our obedience to God's commands. So you reflect, not am I perfect? You'll still struggle with sin. We get all of that. But you reflect on your life. Do I generally seek to honor and obey God and his commands? because of someone who professed Christ as Savior and Lord, but has no desire for godly things, no desire to obey God's commands, no desire to come worship God in church with fellow believers, then they need to examine themselves and see if they be in the faith, right? And that's God's word to to you, not mine. Because someone who is truly a new creation will be different, have different godly desires, hate sin, all of those things. So the question is, does it describe you? Right? Do you have a desire to honor God and glorify God with your life, not just during Christmas, but every day? As great as John the Baptist was, Jesus said, remember Jesus said he's the greatest. John the Baptist, he's the greatest of all men born among women, right? As great as John the Baptist was, he wasn't impressed with his own status as a prophet of God, fulfilling age-old prophecy. I mean, that's pretty cool, right? Like, I am John the Baptist. my life was prophesied and my ministry was prophesied. That's pretty cool and it is cool. But he didn't get distracted by it. He wasn't impressed with his own status as a prophet of God. He's not distracted by all the attention he's getting. He isn't distracted by all the baptisms he had. He simply pointed everyone to Jesus Christ. He didn't care if he had thousands of followers or if he would soon be beheaded, right? Which he was in standing for righteousness, whether he's got a huge following or people start following Jesus. Remember what what he what did John the Baptist say? I must decrease, he must increase. Well, John, aren't you frustrated that more and more people keep following this guy, Jesus, and not you? You're you're losing followers, John. He's like, no, I don't care. I want them to follow Jesus, not me. That was John's attitude and it's glorious. It's wonderful, right? He never got distracted away from Christ. I think we we can easily be distracted by the other things of Christmas, right? Lights, presents, everything going on during Christmas. But and those are wonderful things, right? They're wonderful things. Get gifts for your family, right? Celebrate the birth of Christ. If you want a tree, get a tree, right? But don't be distracted from Christ. We have our own choices to make this season between, you know, idolizing those things around us. You know, I say it's Christmas time, so it's high time for coveting, right? Or we can choose to glorify God. Choose Christ above anything and everything. One of the scariest and most sobering, I actually didn't share this with first service. I probably should have, but one of the scariest and most sobering passages in all of scripture if you ask me is Matthew chapter 7 where he says that not everyone who say this is Matthew 7:21 and it just came to my mind. I have to I'm like compelled to share it and then we'll we'll close. But he says, ' Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my father in heaven. Many people will proclaim Jesus is Lord, Lord. He's my Lord because it's Christmas and you're celebrating his birth. He's my Lord, but I have all these other things that come before him. If he's Lord, means he's first. It means glorifying him comes first above everything, above all things, Christ and Christ alone. And the way you know your status between you and God is doing the will of his father. And that manifests itself in obedience to his commands and other things. But Jesus is clearly warning everyone. Everyone who ever hears Matthew chapter 7 read, preached or anything like that is a warning. Millions upon millions of people have heard that passage throughout the world, right? We are warned. Not everyone who says to me,"Lord, Lord," will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my father. So, closing thought is simply this. What decisions do you need to make this season to remain focused on the Christ of Christmas? But if I could encourage you, I'm going to invite the worship team to come up as we close in our song. But if I could encourage you, please, I beg you, right from from the pastor to to you, I beg you to stay focused on Christ this Christmas. Well, however that looks, you know, some people Oh, um, you know, some some people live alone and you know, hey, maybe you find some friends to hang out with and do Bible study with, or you do your own studies, your own devotions. Maybe you it's just you and you and your your spouse. You do do studies together, do devotions together. If you got children, take them through. Have a Christ centered Christmas. Walk them through some things. Take them through some passages. Teach them Christ. Nothing is more important than being centered on, focused on Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this morning and we thank you for your word. Help us, God, to remain steadfast and focused on the Christ of Christmas. Because if we get distracted from Christ, then we've missed the point of Christmas. No matter how many presents we bought, no matter how many lights we put up, if we forget and dismiss Jesus Christ, we have completely missed it. Help us, Lord. I pray that if there's anyone who listening to my voice who would say, "I do not know Jesus as Lord and Savior." I associate with him. I think he's a nice guy. I think he's real cool. Um, he taught some nice things, but he's not my Lord and Savior. I pray Lord that if that person listening would come and chat with me, come find me or another trusted believer who can walk them through the gospel. Pray Lord that you would use this Christmas season to bring many to your saving faith. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Let's stand as we sing our last song.