"The effect of the Christmas season is that a world that is in present Darkness can be lit up because you have decided to let the light of the world not just come once but the light of the world comes in you every single day." [01:07:10 <7S5e-eAFVrc>] (Download)

"The Advent, that coming and the arrival of Christ into the world, was so that Christ could live in you and that you would so let your light shine before men and so that they would know him." [01:07:49 <7S5e-eAFVrc>] (Download)

"There are so many things, cares of this life, that distract us, that weigh on us, that cloud our view from really letting the light shine." [01:09:30 <7S5e-eAFVrc>] (Download)

"God is your father and he is ready to love you like a good father does. You know a lot of times I think we have a misconception or a bad view of who God is maybe because you had an Earthly father that didn't quite measure up." [50:09 <7S5e-eAFVrc>] (Download)

"God knows what it's like to walk in your shoes; he's not an unrelatable God, he's an accessible God. Why is he an accessible God? Because he became like you." [01:02:05 <7S5e-eAFVrc>] (Download)

"A world without Christ is a world without hope, but we have hope because the king came. So the effect of the king's arrival is special; because Christ came, we now have hope beyond this life." [01:02:49 <7S5e-eAFVrc>] (Download)

"We don't just celebrate Christmas because we look back and we say the king came; we celebrate Christmas and we say that because the king came, now the king is living in me." [01:04:12 <7S5e-eAFVrc>] (Download)

"When you receive the light of the world in you, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, and you were filled with the light of God, you receive the down payment of The Inheritance." [01:05:57 <7S5e-eAFVrc>] (Download)

"The kingdom of God is not here or there; the kingdom is within you, why? Because the king lives in you." [01:05:57 <7S5e-eAFVrc>] (Download)

"For God to redeem man he had to become a child but then once he is grown he says except you become a child you cannot walk into the lifestyle that I'm giving to you." [52:54 <7S5e-eAFVrc>] (Download)

Now, as a response to that, King, would you let your voice be lifted right now and let prayer, which is the means of fellowship between sons, daughters, and their Father, let the sound of fellowship fill this room right now.

Come on, let the sound of fellowship fill this room right now. You're in a room full of people that are sons and daughters. Come on, let your voice be lifted in this room right now. Let the sound of fellowship with your Father fill this atmosphere.

Hallelujah! God, I love you. I love you. I love you, God. It's an honor to be called your child. It's an honor to stand in your presence. It's an honor to recognize you as Lord and cry. It's an honor, God, to be in your presence, Jesus, to be called your son, to be called, God, your beloved.

Yeah, if you're new here, we don't really have a program. We tried to have one tonight, but we're not good at that right now. The Lord is lifting our gaze, and He's pouring some things into some of you in this room right now. God is your Father, and He is ready to love you like a good father does.

You know, a lot of times I think we have a misconception or a bad view of who God is, maybe because you had an earthly father that didn't quite measure up, or maybe let you down, or maybe wasn't present, or maybe corrected you too harshly out of anger. Can I tell you that your Father just wants you? Your Father just wants you.

God's touching somebody right now. There's somebody in this room tonight; you have a father wound, but God wants to reveal His fatherly nature to you. I just want, just like you know, my daughter, she crawls to me. She's on her knees, and she comes to my feet. She looks up at me; she just throws her hands up because she knows that if she comes to me, all she has to do is just lift her hands and look my way, and I've got her.

I wonder if we could just be children right now and just lift our hands right now to our Father and, however it is the expression of your heart, say, "God, I just love you. God, I just love you."

You know, there's something about that childlike nature. I was just texting Mira this morning. I think it was for God to redeem man, He had to become a child. But then, once He is grown, He says, "Except you become a child, you cannot walk into the lifestyle that I'm giving to you."

For God to create the access for us into His presence, He had to become an innocent child. But for us to access the presence that He gave, we too have to become like kids. Man, I just feel the presence of God here.

God, we behold you. We behold you. "You will bring forth a son; you will call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Behold, the virgin will be with child; she will bear a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel," which is to be translated, "God With Us."

God With Us. In this atmosphere of prayer, if you want to sit down, you can. I'm not going to be very long tonight. I say that every time.

Two thousand years ago, there was an advent. That word "Advent" means coming or arrival. Two thousand years ago, into the greatest darkness that existed—mankind without fellowship with God—God burst onto the scene with the brightest of light that could have ever entered the world. It was the birth of a baby boy, and you would find Him in a manger wrapped in swaddling clothes.

Now, that doesn't sound too special, especially considering the fact that that was no place for a child to be born anyways. But just the fact that a baby was born was very normal. Well, you're all here because you were a baby that was born, and everybody that's ever existed was here because they were a baby that was born. And every single day, there are babies that are born, and this is just normal. This is what happens; babies come.

You know, but this was not the arrival of just any baby boy. So much so that although He was born in a place that was uncommon, not in the grandeur way that we might think a king should arrive, the elements of nature responded to Him as a star began to shine in the sky. Dignitaries began to make their way to Him. Everything began to respond to the arrival of this boy.

The truth is, it wasn't just the arrival of any normal baby boy; it was the arrival of a king. A king that would not need on-the-job training. A king who it's not the first time that he's ever ruled. He's not a novice.

While His status as an innocent baby in a manger might not tell the full story of who He is, as Heaven responds, as the angels are around, as the wise men are coming, as the elements of the sky are responding to this baby, it's to tell one story: The King has come. The King has come.

It wouldn't be His first time ruling. The Bible says, "It's this Emmanuel, God With Us." The Bible says, "Great is the mystery of godliness, for God was manifest in the flesh." In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Skip to verse 14: "And the Word became flesh." It wasn't just the arrival of a baby; it was the arrival of the King of the heavens. When we think about this Christmas season, it's not about the manger; it's not about the swaddling clothes; it's not about all of the other peripheral things. It's about one thing: that God loved you and I so much that He became a man like you and I so that you and I could receive a spirit of adoption whereby we now get to cry, "Abba, Father," because God became a man like us.

And because He became a man like us, I now get to become His son. It's the King of glory that came to the world. The King of glory came to the world.

I think sometimes we hear the Christmas story so much that it repeats, and we've read the story. Maybe you've been to a church where they get up and get the kids together, and everybody reads the story, and it's so cute. Everybody's dressed up like little lambs, and all this stuff, and it's awesome, and that's so cute.

But I can't let the cuteness wash away the reality of what happened. It's not about the lambs; it's not about the manger; it's not about the hay. It doesn't even matter where He was born. What matters is this: God of the universe became Emmanuel, God With Us.

And can I tell you what happened when God came to us? Everything changed. Everything changed. It was the revelation of prophecy that had been spoken for centuries that there was coming a Messiah, and He was going to redeem His people to Himself. And here we have Him, and He became like you.

The Bible says He took upon the form of a servant, made Himself in the likeness of men. He did not come to be served but to serve. The King came. The King came. That's what this is all about. That's what this season is all about—the wonder that the King showed up.

I am positive that the King is very comfortable in His throne room in Heaven, but here is what I'm also positive about: it was not enough without you. Hear me! All the angels crying, "Holy!" All the creatures in the throne room of God never taking their eyes off of Him—very comfortable in His throne room—but it wasn't enough without you.

So He came from where He was down to where you and I are, became like us, lived a life like us. The Bible says we have a high priest who's able to be touched by the feeling of our infirmity, being tempted in all manner as us. Meaning this: God knows what it's like to walk in your shoes.

He's not an unrelatable God; He's an accessible God. Why is He an accessible God? Because He became like you. He cried like you cry. You have to understand this about God: He's fully God and fully man at the same time.

Christ is fully man, but He was so fully God in His humanity. He cried and wept, but in His divinity, He cast out devils. In His humanity, He prayed, but in His divinity, He knew all things. At 12 years old, He's in the synagogue teaching other people, saying, "I'm about my Father's business."

The King has come. A world without the arrival of Christ is a world full of hopelessness. Sweet baby, I love it. A world without Christ is a world without hope. But we have hope because the King came.

So the effect of the King's arrival is special because Christ came. We now have hope beyond this life. There are three comings of the Lord. The first one is when He arrived wrapped in swaddling clothes. But the second one is when He looked at His disciples and He says, "I will come to you."

And on the day of Pentecost, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, cloven tongues like as of fire set upon each of them. They began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit of God gave them the enabling. He came again.

It's not just a rearview thing, this coming; it's a present moment arrival. We don't just celebrate Christmas because we look back and we say the King came. We celebrate Christmas and we say that because the King came, now the King is living in me.

And because the King is living in me, He didn't just disrupt all the forces of darkness when He arrived as a baby, but now He disrupts my world and all the things that are troubling me when He indwells me.

I want you to look at the imagery: "And there set upon each of them cloven tongues like as of fire." That's a light, right? He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

The Bible says this about you: you are a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden. When God came, the light of the world showed up. But now that God has come and God has filled you with His presence, now you are the light of the world that is here.

The King has come, and the kingdom is here. There's an effect to this. The effect is not to celebrate once a year in December. The effect is that you live in the effects of the King's arrival.

And not just that He came once; you are living in the effects of a King who now indwells you, and the fire and the light of Heaven is not something that just existed once when it came into the world.

And hey, we're going to see it once again. No, it is alive and well in you. Hey, we were filled with the Holy Spirit. That is the earnest of our inheritance. What does that mean? When you receive the light of the world in you, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, and you were filled with the light of God, you receive the down payment of the inheritance—the down payment of what you know God is going to come back for you.

But He didn't leave us comfortless; He came to us, and now the kingdom of God is here because the King is living in you. The Bible says this: the kingdom of God is not here or there; the kingdom is within you. Why? Because the King lives in you.

And so here's my challenge to you: you're going to go to family gatherings on Sunday—what is it? What's the day? Is it Monday? I can't remember. I don't know; I could have thought today was... I don't know; I got so messed up on my days.

You're going to arrive at functions, and you might be the light in the room. The King came. The Bible says this: we are the body of Christ. The body of Christ came in the form of a servant, a human form, a baby boy.

And then that baby boy grew up, and He died and was buried and rose again, and then came to you. And now you are the body of Christ represented to the world.

The effect of the Christmas season is not that we have cute songs and cool movies and all of these things and cheery times of apple cider and hot cocoa or whatever it is. The effect of the Christmas season is that a world that is in present darkness can be lit up because you have decided to let the light of the world not just come once, but the light of the world comes in you every single day.

You got to let the light turn on. There's an old song that says, "Hide it under a bushel?" Can we collectively say together tonight, "No! I'm going to let the light shine!" Because the light of the world is living in you.

The light of the world is living in you. The Advent, that coming and the arrival of Christ into the world, was so that Christ could live in you and that you would so let your light shine before men so that they would know Him.

It is so easy to get distracted during the holidays. I watched my favorite Christmas movie—you'll judge me; I won't tell you what it is. And while I was watching it, maybe it's just me, I wasn't enjoying it like I normally do. All I could feel was the darkness of the world around me and God nudging me and awakening me, saying, "This is not what that's about."

I told you last Sunday that I was going home to take my TV off the wall. I did; it's gone. I'll probably watch a Christmas movie on my phone, maybe the day of Christmas, maybe. I don't know.

But when that song says, "Hide it under a bushel," that bushel is a natural thing. And there are so many things—the cares of this life—that distract us, that weigh on us, that cloud our view from really letting the light shine.

I've never done this before—a candlelight service. I don't think I've ever been a part of one, so forgive me if I'm a novice. I don't know how to do this. Will our section connectors come up right now? You know who you are. Everybody got a candle? Yeah, we got one.

All right, this candle represents what God has done in my life. Now I'm going to share what God has done in my life. Well, let me just light you up. Hey, make sure your candle's sticking out a little bit, by the way; this won't work.

I'm going to share the light of what God has done in my life with you, and I'm going to share what God has done in my life with you. Well, I know He's done a lot for me. I can't get this one.

Anybody know? There it is! Glory to God! Got it! Something's wrong with your candle, bro. I promise the Lord wants to light your candle. Amen!

What happens when one person shares the experience that God has given them with another person and with the next?