Speaker 1: Father, we just thank you for your goodness. God, thank
Speaker 1: you for these wonderful children that just sang the most
Speaker 1: amazing songs. And God, we just come together here this morning,
Speaker 1: and more than anything, we're just filled with gratitude at
Speaker 1: who you are, what you've done in our life, and
Speaker 1: we just say thank you for the best gift ever,
Speaker 1: the only gift we truly need, which is you, Jesus.
Speaker 1: Thank you for your wonderful sacrifice for your life. Thank
Speaker 1: you that you love us so much, and thank you
Speaker 1: that you're here in this room right now in Jesus' name.
Speaker 2: Amen. Amen.
Speaker 1: Okay, So I'm gonna I'm gonna quickly mention that as
Speaker 1: I was getting ready for this morning, understanding that the
Speaker 1: theme is more related to Christmas, the Lord reminded me
Speaker 1: of the very first Christmas gift that I ever received.
Speaker 2: And so I'm gonna share you, share with you the story,
Speaker 2: and I hope that you'll be blessed.
Speaker 1: And I think that by the time we're done here,
Speaker 1: God's just gonna touch our hearts in.
Speaker 2: Very unique ways.
Speaker 1: When I was about five years old, I had several
Speaker 1: siblings and I still have these siblings, most of them.
Speaker 2: What happened was my.
Speaker 1: Parents gave us the green light to go to the
Speaker 1: corner store and buy some some kind of dessert or
Speaker 1: some kind of candy, or it was a donut.
Speaker 2: I don't remember the specifics.
Speaker 1: I think it was a donut there that we all
Speaker 1: really wanted. And they said, you guys can go, but
Speaker 1: you guys have to go together. Now, I come from
Speaker 1: a family of twenty five. I'm kidding, we only have ten.
Speaker 1: It's not that much really, but I'm the youngest of
Speaker 1: these ten. And so they sent myself, my brother who
Speaker 1: was two years older than me, and my sister who
Speaker 1: was two years older than him. So I was about five,
Speaker 1: my brother was about eight, and my sister she was ten.
Speaker 1: And so when they said you can go, that was
Speaker 1: a presentent and of itself were like, let's go.
Speaker 2: And so they just they booked it. They they ran, I.
Speaker 1: Should I should let you all know that we just
Speaker 1: came to America, probably two years before this moment, so
Speaker 1: we're like fresh off the boat.
Speaker 2: If you don't know what that means, that means we
Speaker 2: just came to America. That's all I can say. We
Speaker 2: just got here.
Speaker 1: We don't know much except everything grows on trees. Like
Speaker 1: money grows on trees. Everything is fabulous here. You want food,
Speaker 1: you go to the food bank. You don't have to
Speaker 1: starve this winter. That's what we understood. And so we're
Speaker 1: going where. They book it out of the door, and they're.
Speaker 2: Faster than I am.
Speaker 1: You can imagine five year old, eight year old and
Speaker 1: ten year old, those two rascals, they're gonna go much
Speaker 1: faster than this five year old, and so.
Speaker 2: They book it. They get to their little bikes and
Speaker 2: they're much faster.
Speaker 1: Not only on feet, but on the bikes too, And
Speaker 1: so by the time I get to my bike, they're
Speaker 1: already almost at the street with their bike. And so
Speaker 1: I'm like, wait, guys, wait for me. But in Russia,
Speaker 1: and I'm like wait please. Because I was five, I
Speaker 1: don't even know English at that point.
Speaker 2: And so.
Speaker 1: I get to my bike and out of this terrifying
Speaker 1: feeling like I'm gonna be left behind, like Jesus is
Speaker 1: gonna come and I'm gonna be alone, you know that feeling,
Speaker 1: Like that's the feeling I had. I don't know why
Speaker 1: you can remember certain details when you're younger.
Speaker 2: Some of you know what I'm talking about, Like.
Speaker 1: There's things you remember that you don't know everything around it,
Speaker 1: but you remember certain things. I remember thinking like, oh,
Speaker 1: they're leaving me behind. I feel so abandoned. Nobody cares
Speaker 1: about me. That's the feeling I had, Like they're gonna
Speaker 1: eat all the donuts before I even get there.
Speaker 2: Like that kind of feeling.
Speaker 1: And so I get on my bike and I'm going
Speaker 1: as fast as I can. Boy, I remember that feeling
Speaker 1: like you're gonna give it your all. And so I
Speaker 1: get on my bike and I'm riding. And before I
Speaker 1: get to that street, it's a health Orn Street and Tacoma.
Speaker 1: Anybody know Hewthorn Street and Tacoma. We got several of
Speaker 1: you that do. It's a health Oorn Street in Tacoma.
Speaker 1: And I'm it's not a big street, like there's no
Speaker 1: through traffic really there. It's a street with houses on
Speaker 1: both ends. And if two cars are going one way,
Speaker 1: one's gonna have to go to the side. You know.
Speaker 2: It's a small street. It's a safe street.
Speaker 1: So I get on my bike and before I'm five
Speaker 1: years old. But God gave me enough wisdom. When I'm five,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna look behind me. And so when I get
Speaker 1: onto the street, I look behind make sure I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna get ran over by no cars. And I get
Speaker 1: on this street and I'm riding my bike and I
Speaker 1: look behind make sure nobody's there.
Speaker 2: I actually, if I remember.
Speaker 1: You know, memories kind of spotty these days, if I
Speaker 1: remember correct, I checked twice like I was riding, and
Speaker 1: then I look back again to make sure that nobody's there.
Speaker 1: By this point, my my two little siblings were at
Speaker 1: the end of the street, already by the corner store,
Speaker 1: and I'm just in the beginning, and I feel like,
Speaker 1: oh boy, I'm gonna catch up to them. And I
Speaker 1: probably felt like I'm gonna give him my knuckles or something.
Speaker 1: I don't know what I felt. But as I'm riding
Speaker 1: this bike, the next thing I can remember is a
Speaker 1: certain sound and he goes er.
Speaker 2: Boom. This big O'SUV hits me.
Speaker 1: And I don't know how long I was unconscious for,
Speaker 1: but I know that this guy was hold cradling me
Speaker 1: in his arms. I was terrified that my whole body
Speaker 1: was in shock. I was so confused all this stuff.
Speaker 1: And seconds later I look in the fire departments on
Speaker 1: the street too, like I don't know how long you
Speaker 1: could be laying there by the time it's called in
Speaker 1: I don't even know if they had cell phones back then.
Speaker 1: This is almost like thirty years ago, and so I
Speaker 1: don't know what it was. But firemen came and I thought,
Speaker 1: boy boy, they're gonna take me from my family. That's
Speaker 1: one thing we were afraid of, that the government's gonna
Speaker 1: take your kids.
Speaker 2: I don't know why.
Speaker 1: Maybe it's where they came from, or maybe they didn't
Speaker 1: know anything about the laws here. They're like, don't do
Speaker 1: anything wrong. Maybe they'd said that to keep us disciplined.
Speaker 2: That's probably what it is.
Speaker 1: I just gotta revel ay I'll I'm calling her right now,
Speaker 1: where's my pault.
Speaker 2: That's probably what it was.
Speaker 1: So they're like, don't don't do anything, don't go anywhere,
Speaker 1: don't say anything, because they're gonna take you from us.
Speaker 1: So you live in constant fear that it's what you do.
Speaker 1: And so they're holding me. The fireman's coming. I don't
Speaker 1: know what they're saying. I'm trying to break out of
Speaker 1: their arms and I can't break out, and they see
Speaker 1: I'm trying to go somewhere, so they let me leap
Speaker 1: them to the house, and.
Speaker 2: My parents like, oh my god, what's going on? What
Speaker 2: did he do? Whose house did he burn down?
Speaker 1: You know, like they probably think of that, but then
Speaker 1: they found out I got hit by a car and
Speaker 1: all that stuff. I don't remember much after that moment
Speaker 1: until Christmas time. Okay, several months after that, we come
Speaker 1: to the most wonderful time of the year, Christmas, and
Speaker 1: there's a noteck at the door, and this man that
Speaker 1: hit me is at the door and in his hands
Speaker 1: is a wonderful gift similar.
Speaker 2: Size to this, and he said this is for little.
Speaker 1: Roman, and boy, oh boy, that feeling you have when
Speaker 1: somebody gives you a gift and it's like unexpected, but
Speaker 1: it's a gift and it's for you, especially as a
Speaker 1: little boy. I remember it and it meant something to me,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, this.
Speaker 2: Is for me.
Speaker 1: Me. When you're the youngest of more than three, you
Speaker 1: understand everything you have was passed down to you. When
Speaker 1: you're the youngest of ten, there's something that your old
Speaker 1: oldest sibling.
Speaker 2: Had that you still.
Speaker 1: You know you anyway, So when something is given just
Speaker 1: for you, oh that feeling. Oh, it felt so good.
Speaker 1: And as I was opening it, lo and be old.
Speaker 1: It was a helmet. Oh, man, if I know now now,
Speaker 1: if I knew then what I know now, boy, he
Speaker 1: would have been still getting sued. And I'm kidding, O,
Speaker 1: kiddy as a boy, this helmet was the most beautiful
Speaker 1: thing I've ever seen because it was mine, and it
Speaker 1: also had a lot.
Speaker 2: Of meaning for me. You see, the deeper the meaning,
Speaker 2: the greater.
Speaker 1: The gift, the greater the value of the gift, the
Speaker 1: deeper something like a helmet means to a kid like I.
Speaker 2: At that time, its value for me was probably.
Speaker 1: That moment infinite, Like if my brother tried to take
Speaker 1: my helmet, he would get a beating and.
Speaker 2: Iron care if I was half his size. You know
Speaker 2: what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: It just meant everything to me because it was my gift.
Speaker 1: And so I've come to realize in the ecosystem of
Speaker 1: gift giving, it's not necessarily as much about the giver
Speaker 1: than it is about the receiver. So the way I
Speaker 1: like to give gifts, I'm thinking, like, for example, we
Speaker 1: did a Secretsanda with my wife's family and on my babe.
Speaker 2: We know our budget.
Speaker 1: It's very simple for that budget, you go get three
Speaker 1: Amazon gift cards, give it to them.
Speaker 2: They'll be happy. That's all they need.
Speaker 1: She goes, no, we're not doing that, because that's something
Speaker 1: that you would like.
Speaker 2: But when you give a.
Speaker 1: Gift to someone, what do you have to do? You
Speaker 1: have to think about what they might like. And it
Speaker 1: seems like she has to coach me on this every
Speaker 1: year because I forget. And when you're giving, the value
Speaker 1: system more relies on the one who is receiving than
Speaker 1: the one who is giving.
Speaker 2: For when you give a gift, it is no longer
Speaker 2: yours and a gift.
Speaker 1: If you think about a gift in and of itself,
Speaker 1: it is something that you don't have.
Speaker 2: To give, you can give.
Speaker 1: And sometimes we forget that in this season, we feel
Speaker 1: like we're obligated to or it's a necessity, or it's
Speaker 1: become a tradition, or it's now for a lot of us,
Speaker 1: become a religion. But the truth is it's not a necessity,
Speaker 1: it's not a requirement, it's not even a tradition. It's
Speaker 1: a privilege that you and I get to partake in.
Speaker 1: But when we give the gift, there's a transaction that happens,
Speaker 1: and gifts I must remind you they are free. You
Speaker 1: don't have to do anything.
Speaker 2: To receive gifts.
Speaker 1: So if you give a gift with the expectation of
Speaker 1: receiving a gift, you've created a religion and that's not
Speaker 1: a true spirit of giving. You can walk out of
Speaker 1: those words. That's enough, praise the Lord. But I'm telling you,
Speaker 1: when you give, don't expect back. If you get it,
Speaker 1: praise the Lord. It's even better. Great, Thank you God.
Speaker 1: But here's the beauty that happens when you give. You
Speaker 1: partake in something that is related to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Speaker 2: And let's get into it.
Speaker 1: Okay, all right, So I'm gonna quickly jump into some things.
Speaker 1: I asked my wife yesterday. Sorry, babe, I'm bringing you
Speaker 1: up a lot. I was like, Babe, you know what
Speaker 1: Christmas means. She's like, Babe, it's so simple. It's Christ's moss,
Speaker 1: like more of Christ's moss. And Spanish is more so,
Speaker 1: more of christ christ moss. And I'm like, I realized
Speaker 1: in that moment that I married a Latina girl wrapped
Speaker 1: in Moldovian's skin. I'm telling you she likes She like
Speaker 1: Mexican food, she likes all the Aspetic culture. I ask her,
Speaker 1: you want boy, She's like, no, I don't want any
Speaker 1: of that Slavic food. Give me some tacos. I want
Speaker 1: some tacos right now. I'm like, yeh, that's my girl.
Speaker 2: I love it.
Speaker 1: So Christmas is a very interesting thing because Christmas is
Speaker 1: made up of two words. Everybody say Christ and then
Speaker 1: say Mass. That word mass. We read it as Christ
Speaker 1: and an m as, but it actually has another letter.
Speaker 2: It's a double s there. It's the word mass.
Speaker 1: And if you have Catholic roots you might understand this
Speaker 1: a little bit more.
Speaker 2: But it's Christ's Mass.
Speaker 1: And there's certain things that transpire when you go to
Speaker 1: a Mass, and there's prayer, there's reading a scripture, there's
Speaker 1: explanation of that. But the whole point of a Mass
Speaker 1: is get to a certain point where there is a
Speaker 1: gift given. And it's not a traditional way of how
Speaker 1: we sense, like you give one person the gift, they
Speaker 1: give you another gift.
Speaker 2: No.
Speaker 1: At Mass, what happens is the people in the congregation
Speaker 1: receive a gift from the Lord. And you know what
Speaker 1: it is, communion. It's the bread and it's the wine,
Speaker 1: it's the body and the blood of Jesus. At Mass,
Speaker 1: you receive the gift from heaven and it's the broken
Speaker 1: body and the spilt blood of Jesus' sacrifice that is.
Speaker 2: The pinnacle of the gathering.
Speaker 1: So when you say Marry Christmas, you know what you're saying.
Speaker 1: I wish you a joyful time experiencing the anointed One
Speaker 1: and the sacrifice of his blood and body that was
Speaker 1: spent for you. Every time you say Merry Christmas, say
Speaker 1: merry Christmas. Boy oh boy, you can say Merry Christmas
Speaker 1: every day and it makes sense. Every day you'll be able,
Speaker 1: like when it comes to Easter, here is a happy
Speaker 1: Eastern Merry Christmas.
Speaker 2: Merry Christmas, because that's what it means.
Speaker 1: People like in the world don't realize everything they're declaring
Speaker 1: every time you declare Merry Christmas. Like, even if you
Speaker 1: don't believe in Jesus, what you're saying is may the
Speaker 1: body and the blood of the Lamb be enthroned.
Speaker 2: In your life.
Speaker 1: You know, when you receive communion the body and the blood,
Speaker 1: you're coming into union with Him. So when you say
Speaker 1: marry christ Union, you're declaring salvation.
Speaker 2: Every time you say it.
Speaker 1: Boy oh boy, I know we didn't expect an Eastern
Speaker 1: story here on Christmas morning, but I got some news
Speaker 1: for you. Let's go to Philippians. This is so good
Speaker 1: Philippians two, verse six.
Speaker 2: That's right here. This is talking about Jesus.
Speaker 1: Though he was God, he did not think of equality
Speaker 1: with God as something to cling to.
Speaker 2: Instead, he gave up his.
Speaker 1: Divine privileges divine meaning God privileges, his godlikeness. He gave
Speaker 1: that up why and he took the humble position of
Speaker 1: a slave and was born as a human being. Jesus
Speaker 1: gave up his divinity, his godlikeness, and enslaved himself into
Speaker 1: the limitations of humanity. Some I ask, but why would
Speaker 1: God even need to do that? Why wouldn't he just come,
Speaker 1: rip the skylight open and say, the King is here,
Speaker 1: all worship and bow me, bow down to me.
Speaker 2: Why? Oh boy, oh boy.
Speaker 1: You see, God in and of himself could not die.
Speaker 1: God like God cannot die. Do you understand this principle?
Speaker 1: Like if you're an eternal creature, you cannot die. So
Speaker 1: Jesus enslaved himself in a flesh that can die.
Speaker 2: This is the Christmas story.
Speaker 1: Jesus gave up his divine privilege of being God and
Speaker 1: immortal and came down to be born of a virgin
Speaker 1: to enslave himself in yours and my limitations.
Speaker 2: It goes on to say why.
Speaker 1: When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in
Speaker 1: obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross.
Speaker 1: Therefore God elevated him to that place of highest honor
Speaker 1: and gave him a name above all names, that in
Speaker 1: the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow in heaven,
Speaker 1: on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare
Speaker 1: that Christ is Lord.
Speaker 2: Merry Christmas. That's such a declaring for the glory of
Speaker 2: God the Father. This is phenomenal. As a matter of fact.
Speaker 1: Let's go quickly to Luke the first the first declaration
Speaker 1: of the coming of Jesus, the very first announcement came
Speaker 1: from an angel to the people, and it was to
Speaker 1: a certain group of shepherds. And shepherds were considered kind
Speaker 1: of lowly at the time. They were like like, they
Speaker 1: were kind of like the servants of most people, right,
Speaker 1: And the angel shows up to the lowest place and
Speaker 1: declares to these people. When the angel showed up, the
Speaker 1: glory of God appeared. And these shepherds were terrified and
Speaker 1: watch this, But the angel reassured them, saying, don't be afraid.
Speaker 1: I bring you good news that will bring great joy
Speaker 1: to all the people. It's good tidings of great joy,
Speaker 1: good tidings of great joy. Say that with me, Good
Speaker 1: tidings of great joy. Next verse, the Savior, Yes, the Messiah,
Speaker 1: the Lord has been born today in Bethlehem, the city
Speaker 1: of David. This messed me up when I was looking
Speaker 1: into this. This is so good.
Speaker 2: The Angel just declared some about Jesus.
Speaker 1: Angel said the Savior, the Lord, the Messiah. It just
Speaker 1: categorized Jesus in three ways. So when he says the Lord,
Speaker 1: say the Lord, the angel is talking about his kingship
Speaker 1: in heaven, Heaven's King, the Lord, Heaven's King. When the
Speaker 1: Angel says the Messiah, that means the coming one, the
Speaker 1: promised one, the anointed one, the one who.
Speaker 2: Was to come, the one we've been waiting for.
Speaker 1: So when he's saying Heaven's King, he's saying the coming
Speaker 1: one has come. And when he says the Savior, he's
Speaker 1: referencing his death. Wow.
Speaker 2: He's saying, listen very carefully, this news is so good.
Speaker 2: The whole world's going to rejoice. Heaven's King has come
Speaker 2: to die. Wow, Merry Christmas. That's what you're saying.
Speaker 1: Let's go a little bit deeper, say deeper, what did
Speaker 1: the What were the three gifts those wise men brought Frankinson's,
Speaker 1: gold and murr.
Speaker 2: Get ready, gold.
Speaker 1: Represents kings and Heaven's king frankinsense somebody say frankinsonse. It's
Speaker 1: a very unique word. But it's a sweet fragrance. It's
Speaker 1: a sweet aroma, even used in the temple. It represents
Speaker 1: his Messiah, the anointed One, his life, his coming. And
Speaker 1: Murr somebody say murr primarily used for embalming. I can
Speaker 1: imagine being that wise man who's bringing Murr to a
Speaker 1: birth and thinking, I have no idea what in the
Speaker 1: world I'm doing, And this is the dumbest gift I.
Speaker 2: Could have thought about. But I know I have to
Speaker 2: bring this. I don't know why. I don't know why.
Speaker 1: I'm following the star that keeps moving, but I know
Speaker 1: I'm coming with murder. But they bring gold, Frankinson's and
Speaker 1: murder representing the Heaven's King coming into earth to die
Speaker 1: for us. Man, oh man, that's the Christmas story that's
Speaker 1: so beautiful. Jesus is Heaven's gift to us for God
Speaker 1: so loved the world that he I'm just say that again,
Speaker 1: for God so loved the world that he gave, And
Speaker 1: I find it fascinating, fascinating that after that part of
Speaker 1: the scripture in John three point sixteen, he then goes
Speaker 1: set and says, for who soever shall believe, will not perish,
Speaker 1: but have life everlasting. He's saying, like, I love you
Speaker 1: infinitely enough to crush my son for you.
Speaker 2: But the ball is in your court that whosoever would
Speaker 2: believe and receive.
Speaker 1: Like this right here represents a gift. And when Jesus
Speaker 1: was walking on this earth towards the end, towards the
Speaker 1: end when he would take on the title of Savior
Speaker 1: and die and be raised from the dead, he was
Speaker 1: speaking plain with his disciples and he says, I'm going
Speaker 1: to a place you can't really follow me, but don't worry,
Speaker 1: because I won't leave you as orphans. As a matter
Speaker 1: of fact, it's better that I go, because if I go,
Speaker 1: then I could send the one who's your advocate, the
Speaker 1: Holy Spirit that will be with you.
Speaker 2: It's actually his spirit in us.
Speaker 1: It's better that the Jesus, who is stationary in one
Speaker 1: place out of time on this earth, would go to heaven.
Speaker 2: So that he could.
Speaker 1: Excuse me so that he could send his spirit down
Speaker 1: to earth.
Speaker 2: That could be everywhere at all times.
Speaker 1: It's better that he goes so that the gift can
Speaker 1: be sent. And so we have this gift right here.
Speaker 2: He's called the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1: And it's amazing that when God said whosoever shall believe,
Speaker 1: he's referencing your value system. He's asking each and every
Speaker 1: single one of us in this room, how much will
Speaker 1: you value what I've given you.
Speaker 2: Some of us take this gift. There's nothing in it
Speaker 2: right now. Just in case some of you are wondering.
Speaker 1: Let's say we receive this gift from the Lord and
Speaker 1: we're like, ooh, boil boy. Oh, I'll take that eternal salvation.
Speaker 1: That's the gift I will receive. I'm really happy with
Speaker 1: this gift. I'm gonna take it. Don't touch my mood,
Speaker 1: don't touch my addictions, don't touch my temper, don't touch
Speaker 1: my selfishness. But I'll take this salvation. That's the value
Speaker 1: that we have. But some of us are like, oh boy,
Speaker 1: I can't settle for the salvation.
Speaker 2: I need my healing. Give me that healing.
Speaker 1: There's nothing wrong with this, by the way, and you
Speaker 1: take that healing and you're like, oh boy, that healing
Speaker 1: is so good.
Speaker 2: Thank you Lord for that gift undeserved. If you got
Speaker 2: what you deserve, you'd be boiling in hell right now.
Speaker 1: Oh I didn't that. They don't know what they're doing
Speaker 1: all this stuff. Trust me, if you got what you deserve.
Speaker 1: But we take certain things that we find preference for
Speaker 1: and what can benefit my life.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna come to church. I don't mean to hurt anybody.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna come church Christmas Eastern. That's about as much
Speaker 1: as I need from the Lord. I'm gonna go on
Speaker 1: living my life and do whatever I need to do.
Speaker 2: This is not a shame thing. I'm telling you something
Speaker 2: you are missing out.
Speaker 1: I'm not saying this is the place you need to
Speaker 1: be every time, day in, day out. I'm just telling
Speaker 1: you there is gifts beyond measure that you're limiting God
Speaker 1: on and I'm telling you some of us take that gift.
Speaker 1: We take the blessing of finances, we take the blessing
Speaker 1: of a new home, we take that.
Speaker 2: We take that.
Speaker 1: But oh boy, that patience gift don't leave right there.
Speaker 1: Oh boy, self control, I'm gonna work on that. But
Speaker 1: I'm gonna leave the gift in the box. Oh boy,
Speaker 1: that gentleness I like, how firm I am?
Speaker 2: Oh boy, that long suffering or that joy. No, I'm
Speaker 2: too used to my depression. It's who I am. Or
Speaker 2: I'm too used to this. I'm too used to that.
Speaker 1: I'm telling you how much you value this is a
Speaker 1: direct reflection on its influence in your life. This right
Speaker 1: here the spirit of the living God. The scriptures declare
Speaker 1: that he is the same spirit that rose Jesus from
Speaker 1: the dead, lives in you. And how much you value
Speaker 1: that spirit is how much influence you're.
Speaker 2: Giving him in your life. And the gifts are in
Speaker 2: you already. But we're pickers. We pick and choose which
Speaker 2: ones we want.
Speaker 1: But I'm telling you, what if if we take this
Speaker 1: bagel bin of infinite gifts where all the blessings in
Speaker 1: the spiritual realms are, and we say, Lord, just give.
Speaker 2: It all to me.
Speaker 1: I want it all, Pour it all down, over it,
Speaker 1: let me overflow.
Speaker 2: It doesn't matter if I can't contain. Let me overflow,
Speaker 2: that everybody.
Speaker 1: Around me starts to get blessed. I'm so blessed financially
Speaker 1: that those around me are blessed I'm so blessed with
Speaker 1: peace that those with anxiety get blessed.
Speaker 2: I'm so blessed with joy that.
Speaker 1: Those who came in with an attitude all of a
Speaker 1: sudden are joyful. I'm so blessed with love that those
Speaker 1: who are so selfish become selfless. So this morning, I
Speaker 1: don't know what you've come in with, and I don't
Speaker 1: know how much of this gift you personally have resisted,
Speaker 1: because I feel like to a certain degree we like
Speaker 1: to resist them in different ways. So the platform is
Speaker 1: kind of across all of our fields. And some of
Speaker 1: you came into this room and you've actually never received
Speaker 1: the gift of even salvation of what He's done for
Speaker 1: You never received Christmas in your life. And the truth
Speaker 1: is that this morning you have an opportunity to become
Speaker 1: who you've been created to be. From the very beginning,
Speaker 1: Jesus had to come in the body and die because
Speaker 1: that was the only way for it to happen.
Speaker 2: This is the only way for him to take up.
Speaker 1: And as a matter of fact, he said, no one
Speaker 1: can actually take my life, because in order for your
Speaker 1: life to be taken, you.
Speaker 2: Would have to sin. But Jesus never sinned.
Speaker 1: Never sin, so that even if they kept whipping him
Speaker 1: till today, he didn't have to die.
Speaker 2: He said, no one can take my life, but I
Speaker 2: give it.
Speaker 1: So he chose to give it. It was his privilege
Speaker 1: to give. When he took up sin, he privilegedly gave.
Speaker 2: His life for us.
Speaker 1: So here in this room, some of us have never
Speaker 1: experienced that privilege of actually knowing, Wow, Jesus, you came
Speaker 1: and died for me so that I could believe in
Speaker 1: you and receive this salvation that is eternal. I want
Speaker 1: you to know that this this morning you can and
Speaker 1: for the sake of time, and there's things that we
Speaker 1: have to do after the service. We're not gonna We're
Speaker 1: not gonna have the Destiny team come up here. But
Speaker 1: I'm gonna ask the Destney team members, the Prayer Team members,
Speaker 1: that if you would help us and just be kind
Speaker 1: of in the back corner over there after service, just
Speaker 1: so that anybody who would want additional prayer that they
Speaker 1: can come and meet you there and get prayed for.
Speaker 1: Please have your lanyard on so that they can recognize
Speaker 1: who you are.
Speaker 2: But if you're here in this room in just.
Speaker 1: A little bit, I'm gonna ask you to raise your
Speaker 1: hand when when we'll have every eye closed. But there's
Speaker 1: two things I'm gonna have you raise your hand for.
Speaker 1: The one is if you want to receive Jesus as
Speaker 1: your Lord and savior, the gift that was Heaven's gift
Speaker 1: for you and me today, I want that to be
Speaker 1: very known.
Speaker 2: And that also.
Speaker 1: Includes those in the room that maybe you have received him,
Speaker 1: but you've been living so far away from him that
Speaker 1: you're like, I don't even know where I'm going if
Speaker 1: I die right now.
Speaker 2: And the truth is, you need to know.
Speaker 1: You need to know, you need to He paid a
Speaker 1: big price for you to know, and I'm asking you
Speaker 1: this morning. I want you to know, and i want
Speaker 1: you to consider giving that up to him. The second
Speaker 1: thing I'm gonna ask is that level playing field that
Speaker 1: all of us are on, the things that are gifted
Speaker 1: to us.
Speaker 2: That maybe we're resisting now.
Speaker 1: Maybe it's unforgiveness and God's gifted your forgiveness through the
Speaker 1: blood and sacrifice of Jesus. Maybe it's a healing that
Speaker 1: you've given up on, but Jesus already broke his body
Speaker 1: for you to be healed. The body men means for
Speaker 1: right now, the blood means forever. So whatever your situation
Speaker 1: is in this room, if there's something that God could
Speaker 1: be highlighting you to you in this moment, I want
Speaker 1: you to begin to process with the.
Speaker 2: Lord and your mind's eye how.
Speaker 1: Receiving his gift is a freeing you from whatever you're
Speaker 1: resisting him in cool but everybody in the room just
Speaker 1: close your eyes for a moment.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna pray something over us.
Speaker 1: Then I'm gonna I'm gonna go through my questions. Father,
Speaker 1: I thank you for your goodness this morning. God.
Speaker 2: I thank you that you are the Christmas in our life.
Speaker 2: You are the joy in our life.
Speaker 1: God, And I think you that this morning is the
Speaker 1: morning of transformation, It's the morning of salvation.
Speaker 2: It's the morning of Christmas.
Speaker 1: Of receiving that union that you so preciously paid a
Speaker 1: price for. So in this room, I'm not gonna call
Speaker 1: you up once again. But if you're in this room
Speaker 1: and you want to dedicate your life to the Lord
Speaker 1: and receive the gift of salvation or rededicate your life
Speaker 1: and be saved again, I'd like for you to quickly
Speaker 1: slip your hand up and hold it up for me.
Speaker 2: If you can, I see one.
Speaker 1: Anybody else, raise your hand up high because it's hard
Speaker 1: to see I see another. Anybody else, Come on, come on,
Speaker 1: anybody else. I'm giving another ten seconds, not a long time.
Speaker 2: Raise it up high, Thank you Lord good. You could
Speaker 2: put your hands down, would you?
Speaker 1: Would everybody pray this Jesus, I give you my life
Speaker 1: and I receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now,
Speaker 1: if you're in this room and there's something that the
Speaker 1: Lord is convicting you of, like a gift that the
Speaker 1: Lord wants.
Speaker 2: To give you.
Speaker 1: Maybe it's a character correction, maybe it's a maybe it's confidence.
Speaker 1: Maybe maybe it's freedom from depression. Maybe it's maybe it's
Speaker 1: a love, deep love. Maybe you've come in here like
Speaker 1: an orphan. God wants to give you the gift of family.
Speaker 1: I don't know what it is. But if there's something
Speaker 1: the Lord has highlighted to you, I want you to
Speaker 1: raise your hand all across this room. I see one, two, three. Okay,
Speaker 1: we have tons of hands all over the room. Okay,
Speaker 1: Would everybody put your hand on your heart and say, Jesus,
Speaker 1: I receive everything that you want to give to me.
Speaker 1: I resist in no place in my heart. I give
Speaker 1: it freely and Jesus mighty me, hey man.
Speaker 2: Come on with you. Give the Lord a hand