Redeeming Christmas: Embracing God's Presence and Grace

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It's amazing because, you know, like Druids or whatever would put this in their home, and that was part of their religious worship or whatever. But this now represents, in the context of Christ, eternal life. Evergreen represents eternal life, and the circle represents that it never ends. [00:29:40] (17 seconds)


And even the tree itself, the Christmas tree, was obviously, you know, like Germanic and Nordic tribes would bring them into their homes, you know, just hoping for the spring to come. They wanted the green. And that was part of their pagan worship. But then believers in medieval Europe started to redeem that, and they became paradise trees. [00:29:56] (19 seconds)


It's like, yeah, there's a lot of stuff that came in for that, but if you guys look up the real St. Nicholas of Myra, crazy stories, crazy miracles. We believe in the Bible, right? We believe in crazy miracles, right? This man was such a man of God that he was actually orphaned as a young boy to wealthy parents. Right? Right? Right? Right? And he himself, he started giving it away and taking care of people anonymously. [00:31:48] (24 seconds)


Like, there's stories of, like, where do we get the stockings from? He would actually support young women who couldn't support themselves and might be sold into slavery, throw them down the chimney or through the window, and sometimes they'd get in those stockings hung up, right? So that's where we get these kind of traditions from. So what am I, why am I saying all this? Oh, also, there's this, an instance where he comes across, this is pretty brutal, but it ends really well. He comes across three murdered children. And he resurrects them. That's crazy, right? [00:32:12] (30 seconds)


This is documented in the church. So we believe Jesus raised people from the dead, right? And we believe that he said, we'll do those things in greater, right? That's wild. [00:32:42] (10 seconds)


What I want to talk about today is Emmanuel. God with us, or God is with us. Not God was with us. He is with us. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. [00:35:22] (30 seconds)


In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to bear witness about the light that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. [00:35:52] (18 seconds)


The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. [00:35:59] (24 seconds)


And God says, deliver my people. He brings them out of Egypt, and then they're in the wilderness, and God gives them specific instructions on how to build a tabernacle where he can dwell with them, where he could be with them. And it's amazing because they follow the plans, and they get all the craftsmen, and they build this tabernacle that can actually be transported because they're nomadic people, right? And they build this, and what happens? What's contained in there? It's the Ark of the Covenant, right? [00:40:08] (35 seconds)


Fast forward 490 years, give or take. Give or take, the Holy Spirit, he hovers over a new ark. An ark whose name is Mary, the Virgin Mary, who is carrying the presence of God, the fullness of God, humanity, God in him. In human form, in the Holy Spirit, the glory comes upon her. She conceives Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, God with us. [00:43:20] (48 seconds)


That God no longer, he didn't want to dwell as a cloud, a presence over a temple or a tabernacle. But he actually chose. He chose to be Emmanuel, God with us. To become flesh, to take on flesh, and become human. [00:46:14] (20 seconds)


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