The Light That Never Goes Out (Christmas Eve Eve Service)

Devotional

Day 1: When God’s gift isn’t what we wanted

We often build big expectations for how God should show up, and then he surprises us. Israel longed for a warrior-king, and God sent a baby in a manger. It can feel like opening pants when you were sure you were getting Hot Wheels. Yet the baby was exactly what the world needed—God’s rescue wrapped in humility. This Christmas, invite God to redefine what a “good gift” looks like in your life. The gift you never asked for may be the one that saves you [04:51].

Luke 2:11–12: In David’s town, a rescuer has been born for you; he is the Anointed One, the Lord. Here’s how you’ll know: you’ll find a newborn wrapped up and lying in a feeding trough.

Reflection: Where have you quietly felt, “great, just what I always didn’t want,” and how might you open that exact place to Jesus’ surprising mercy this week?

Day 2: Jesus enters our tangled, chaotic mess

December can feel like a knot of lights we can’t untangle. Mary’s life turned upside down too, and it was right there, in the chaos, that God showed up. You don’t have to get everything straight before you meet Jesus. He is not waiting for a tidied-up heart or a perfectly planned week. He comes to you in the middle of the mess with steady grace and real help. Open your life as it is, not as you wish it were [07:19].

John 1:14: God’s eternal Word put on real flesh and moved into our neighborhood. We saw what God is truly like—glory shaped by generous grace and firm truth.

Reflection: What part of your December feels most tangled, and what simple prayer of welcome could you offer Jesus into that exact spot today?

Day 3: Stay connected to the true power source

The demands of life draw more power than we can generate on our own. Busyness and hurry promise more light but often trip our breakers. Real strength flows from staying connected to Jesus, not from straining harder. A messy strand still shines when it’s plugged into the source. Let your effort give way to relationship, your frenzy to abiding. Remain with him, and watch his life flow into yours [08:13].

John 15:5: I am the vine and you are the branches. When you stay joined to me and I stay with you, you produce a harvest; cut off from me, you can’t accomplish what truly matters.

Reflection: What is one habit that drains your connection with Jesus, and what small, doable practice could you adopt this week to stay plugged into him?

Day 4: The light shines, and darkness cannot win

Jesus didn’t just arrive; he stayed—through suffering, the cross, and the empty tomb. Because he stayed, the light still shines today, not only on one night long ago. His presence is not a memory; it is a present power. Darkness pushes, but it cannot put out his light. Take heart: even a small light changes a dark room. His life is still lighting the way [10:45].

John 1:4–5: Life was in him, and that life became the light for all people. The light keeps on shining in the dark, and the darkness cannot put it out.

Reflection: Where does the darkness feel loud right now, and how could you let Jesus’ steady light guide one concrete step you take this week?

Day 5: Open hands to receive and trust the timing

Sometimes it feels like we missed out, when really we just don’t understand the timing. Many have been near Jesus for years but have never actually received him because he didn’t come wrapped the way they expected. Closed fists cling to control; open hands learn to receive. This season, loosen your grip on expectations and lift empty hands to God. The gift you didn’t think you wanted may be the Savior you need. Receive the light of Jesus and become fully his [16:12].

John 1:12: Everyone who welcomes him and trusts his name is given the honor of becoming God’s own children—brought into his family by his grace.

Reflection: What specific expectation about how God should work will you release, and how will you practice “open hands” to receive Jesus as he is this week?

Sermon Summary

Merry Christmas! Tonight I invited us to consider how often the gifts we most need don’t arrive in the packaging we want. As a kid, I once unwrapped jeans and a T‑shirt when my heart was set on Hot Wheels. That feeling—“just what I always didn’t want”—mirrors the first Christmas. Israel longed for power and spectacle, and God sent a baby. No one asked for a baby, yet a baby was exactly what the world needed.

All month we’ve been talking about tangled lights—how God meets us right in our messy knots. You don’t have to untangle your life to encounter Jesus. He steps into our chaos, not after we’ve cleaned it up, but in the middle of it. Our lives demand more power than we can generate, and the hurry we think helps only flips the breakers. The power we need comes from staying connected to Jesus; Christmas is not achieved by effort but received in relationship.

We also said the one bulb that holds it all together is the incarnation: the Word became flesh. Remove that and Christmas goes dark. Traditions and nostalgia can’t carry the weight. Only God-with-us can. And here’s the hope: Jesus didn’t just arrive; He remained. He stayed through suffering, the cross, the grave, and He shines still. That means we’re not just remembering a night long ago; we’re receiving a present Light.

So I asked us to trade closed fists for open hands. Closed fists cling to control, timing, and expectations; open hands make room to receive. Maybe like that childhood gift, you’re convinced you missed out. Maybe it’s just the timing you don’t understand yet. Tonight, you don’t have to understand everything or fix anything. You’re invited to receive the Light—Jesus, not as the gift you expected, but as the Savior you need.

Key Takeaways

1. God meets us in our mess When life feels tangled and chaotic, Jesus doesn’t wait outside the door until everything looks neat. He walks straight into the knots and begins to work redemption from the inside out. That means our honesty is more valuable than our polish, and our surrender more fruitful than our striving. You don’t have to clean it up to be welcomed in. [06:54]
2. Power flows from staying connected The demands of life will always exceed your self-sufficiency. Busyness masquerades as strength, but it quietly drains the soul; relationship with Jesus replenishes what effort cannot. Connection isn’t a spiritual accessory—it’s the source of resilience, clarity, and steady love. Christmas is received, not performed. [08:13]
3. The incarnation holds everything together If God did not become human, our hopes collapse under their own weight. Only a Savior who is truly one of us can heal what is broken in us and represent us before God. The manger is not sentimental—it’s essential, the hinge on which every promise swings. God came as one of us to do what we could not. [09:28]
4. Jesus came and remained the Light He didn’t flash and fade; He stayed—through suffering, death, and resurrection—and He still shines. This means our present darkness is not ultimate, and our worst night cannot extinguish His presence. The Light that rose in Bethlehem remains available, personal, and near. We don’t just remember; we receive. [10:45]
5. Receive the unexpected gift with open hands Control feels safe, but it leaves no room for grace. Opening your hands is how you make space for God’s timing, God’s wisdom, and God’s better‑than‑expected provision. Often the gift you didn’t want becomes the mercy you couldn’t imagine. Release your script to receive His life. [15:26]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:26] - Childhood Christmas at grandparents
[01:41] - Expectation builds for the toy
[02:32] - “Just what I didn’t want”
[03:41] - When life gives unwanted gifts
[04:31] - God sends a baby, not power
[05:55] - Tangled-lights series recap
[06:54] - You don’t untangle to meet Jesus
[08:13] - Power comes from connection
[09:28] - The incarnation that holds Christmas
[10:45] - Jesus stayed and still shines
[11:14] - Invitation to receive the Light
[11:39] - The timing you didn’t expect
[15:26] - From closed fists to open hands
[16:41] - Prayer: honoring the King

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading

- John 1:4-5

In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

- John 1:12

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—

- John 1:14

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Observation questions

According to John 1:4-5, where does the Light shine and what cannot happen to it?
In John 1:12, what two responses are linked with becoming children of God?
The line “You don’t have to untangle your life to encounter Jesus” describes Jesus entering messy places, not polished ones. What specific scene or feeling was being addressed? [06:54]
What simple action with our hands was used to picture control versus receiving, and what did each posture represent? [15:26]

Interpretation questions

If the Light “shines in the darkness” and “the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5), how does the claim that Jesus “stayed” shape the way a person thinks about their current dark or heavy season? [10:24]
If tradition and nostalgia can’t carry the weight of Christmas, why is “the Word became flesh” (John 1:14) essential for real hope? What would “go dark” in faith without the incarnation? [08:49]
John links “receiving” and “believing” to becoming God’s children (John 1:12). If someone has been around Jesus but hasn’t received Him because He didn’t come in the “packaging” they expected, what might “receiving” actually look like in daily life? [12:15]
If the first Christmas arrived as a gift no one asked for, yet exactly what was needed, how should that reshape expectations of how God answers prayer and meets needs? [04:31]

Application questions

Where is life most tangled for you right now—family, finances, decisions, grief? What would it look like to invite Jesus into that knot as it is, without trying to clean it up first? [06:54]
Name two ways busyness is flipping your breakers this month. What is one small daily way you will stay connected to Jesus (Scripture, quiet prayer, a simple breath prayer, a short walk with God) so power flows from connection, not hurry? [08:13]
What “closed‑fist” expectations are you gripping—timing, outcomes, how someone should change, how your Christmas should feel? What is one of those you can open your hands and release to God this week? [15:26]
Is there an area where you’ve been near Jesus but haven’t actually received Him—held back by disappointment, confusion, or control? What step of trust could express “receiving and believing” today (John 1:12)? [11:14]
Which tradition, memory, or feeling has been carrying more weight than it should this season? How can you re‑center on Jesus as the Word made flesh in a practical way—reading John 1, serving someone, or worshiping with fresh attention? [08:49]
Think of one prayer or situation that seems to be going “the wrong way.” If timing is part of the story, how might patience, gratitude, or waiting in hope change your response this week? [11:39]
Who in your circle is walking through darkness right now? What is one concrete way you can bring light—presence, help, or prayer—trusting that the Light still shines and has not been overcome? [10:45]

Sermon Clips

The very first Christmas I believe was just like that The world was they had high expectations for this coming Messiah They thought someone of great power and authority was going to roll in and redeem them and rescue them from the oppression that they were living in They had such high expectations for what God was going to do They were waiting on someone powerful and God sends a baby Nobody asked for a baby Nobody was looking for a baby Nobody was expecting a baby They were expecting Hot Wheels and they got pants God sends a baby Nobody expected that And yet a baby was exactly what everyone needed [00:04:07] (49 seconds) #BabyWasTheAnswer

In week two we talked about staying connected to Jesus is where our true power comes from how Jesus is our source of power and how busyness and hurry and just adding all that extra stuff that feels like we need to do at Christmas doesn't actually get us anything It pulls from the power that we need to live and how we need to stay connected to Jesus Because if we're not the demands of your life are going to overload the circuits and your breakers are going to trip [00:07:26] (32 seconds) #StayConnectedToSource

It pulls from the power that we need to live and how we need to stay connected to Jesus Because if we're not the demands of your life are going to overload the circuits and your breakers are going to trip Because what I do know about your life is the demands of it your job your family your kids your finances your marriage your health all of it demand a high level of power that we cannot supply on our own And if we're not connected to Jesus the true power source we're just going to flip those breakers [00:07:44] (36 seconds) #DontFlipYourBreakers

Because what I do know about your life is the demands of it your job your family your kids your finances your marriage your health all of it demand a high level of power that we cannot supply on our own And if we're not connected to Jesus the true power source we're just going to flip those breakers The truth we learned that week was Christmas isn't something we accomplish through effort It's something we receive through relationship [00:07:58] (30 seconds) #PlugIntoJesus

The truth we learned that week was Christmas isn't something we accomplish through effort It's something we receive through relationship Because it turns out that the neatness of the strand never mattered That strand never needed to be neat in order for God's power to go through it A tangled up chaos mess of lights still shines as brightly as a straight strand [00:08:19] (29 seconds) #TangledLightsShine

This past Sunday we talked about how the one thing that holds it all together is the fact that Jesus became one of us in order to save us That if you remove the incarnation from Christmas it's like removing that one bulb in the Christmas strand that makes all the other bulbs go out If we remove that one fact that Jesus came and wrapped himself in flesh for us if we take that out Christmas goes dark [00:08:49] (29 seconds) #CenterOnJesus

He didn't show up in a way that we thought he would So this Christmas you can receive Jesus not as the gift you expected but as the Savior you desperately need Sometimes the gifts that we receive end up blessing us in ways that we could never have imagined [00:12:30] (18 seconds) #UnexpectedSavior

They represent simply receiving what Jesus has for us this Christmas When we live this way we can receive the greatest gift that maybe none of us were even expecting The greatest gift that we didn't even think was that great of a gift But turns out it's a pretty good gift When we live this way we can receive Jesus [00:16:05] (28 seconds) #OpenHandsReceive

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