You made it. I mean, it's here. Christmas is tomorrow. And we've been waiting for a while. We've been waiting for like a month. They come out strong on this anticipation. Thanksgiving, I mean, it just comes at you hard. There's so much hype for Christmas. I mean, right away you get all the Christmas music. Like, all Christmas music been playing for a long time. Christmas, Christmas, movies, sales, shopping, decorations. Like, it just comes at you hard. And there's a lot of hype for Christmas. And then there's always like this letdown. It's going to happen. It's coming. I know it's not popular to talk about now because we're still like, in the excitement of Christmas, but you'll feel it in a few days. It's like, all right, that's it. I guess it's over. And you're going to pick up and you're going to take. Take decorations down. And all of a sudden, the radio station that was playing non stop Christmas music is just done. It's just back to normal. Duran Duran's on there now and it's like, whatever. It's just like that happened. There was so much anticipation. And then Christmas happens and it's over and it's like this letdown because there is a lot of hype to Christmas and there's so much pressure that it's just gotta be epic and it's gonna be awesome and everybody's gotta get along and there's gonna be great presents and smile for that picture, right? And we're just gonna have a good time. And there's this pressure to really enjoy it because we want this wonderful life. And, well, it's. It's not. Yeah, right. How many of you guys have seen the craft of the classic Christmas movie It's a Wonderful Life? Okay, so that's a lot of you. Because my kids are saying, dad, a lot of people haven't seen that. It's old, it came out in the 40s, but it's a classic. And I don't want anybody to come up to me like, don't spoil this. We were meaning to watch it tonight. You've had a lot of time. Okay, a lot of time. But let me kind of give you a synopsis of this movie. It's one of the greatest Christmas movies ever. In fact, it was the right answer to the question at the beginning. It probably is the greatest Christmas movie ever. And you have it taking place in Bedford Falls, and you have the main character, George Bailey, who's a bit of an idealist he wants to do big things in life and travel the world and build big skyscrapers and he's just ready for an adventure and he wants the best life possible and he wants to just go get it. Like he's ready to lasso the moon and pull it down, right? Anybody remember that song? Okay. I was like, should I sing it? Should I not? And I was like, no, I'm not going to do it. So he was a bit of an idealist. And he's working. You don't want to, but he's working for the Building and Loan, the family business where they're helping a lot of people financially. But as he gets married and he's getting ready to go on his honeymoon, the business has problems and he stays to help people and he just never leaves. Like he's just locked in there and he helps a lot of people, but there's a situation where they lose a lot of money. They lose like $8,000 lose, slash stolen from them and they don't know what to do. And George is in a panic because this impacts a lot of people and he just thinks it would be better if he wasn't born at all and he's ready to end it. Luckily, there's an angel named Clarence, which is not in the Bible. If you're like, where's Clarence at? Not in there. Made up story. But Clarence comes down to help George see that life is worth living. And he thinks that it would be better if he wasn't born at all. So Clarence, using his angel powers, shows George this, like alternate universe. They were doing it way before Marvel, that what life would look like if he had never been born. And he sees the pain and the chaos and all the people that he helped weren't helped. And it's really quite alarming to him. And he's finally like, no, I want to live. I want. That's like insane of like, I want to live. I want to live. So Clarence brings him back to reality, but reality is still full problems. There's still. They still lost a bunch of money. There's still the, the problems he comes back to. But while he was playing with Clarence in this multi, you know, this other universe, all his friends heard about the problems that George is having and they come and they're going to help them out financially. So this kind of famous scene at the house where all his friends are just coming into his house dumping buckets of cash on this table. It's never happened to me, but that's like the scene where they're Just like, we're bringing you help. And he's holding his girl, and they kind of brush up against the Christmas tree and the bell rings and his daughter says, what? Every time a bell rings? Yeah, that's not true either. Okay? That's not how it works. I mean, this movie's, like, really works. Based Angel World. Like, they just gotta earn some things. And he realizes that George wanted this epic life. He wanted this adventure. But he realizes, hey, a man with friends is a wealthy man, and he really does have a wonderful life. I love the movie. It's an awesome movie. There's so many good messages in that movie. But I got a little beef with the movie. And it's the title and a lot of things in the movie, but It's a Wonderful Life. Are they kind of reaching for that? Like, is that a bit of a stretch to say It's a wonderful Life? I mean, he lives in a community with somebody that just stole $8,000 from him. And back then in the 40s, like, that's a lot of money. Like, that's gonna ruin their business. Like, how wonderful it is when people are ripping you off like that. In fact, Saturday Night Live did a sketch a long time ago about the lost in ending of It's a Wonderful Life where at the end they find out that Mr. Potter really stole the money and they just go beat him up. Right? Because they just want justice. But he's going back to that world. His brother is off at war. How wonderful is life when there's war and people killing each other? This is what the World War II would have been like. That's not that wonderful of a life when you're getting shot down in enemy lines, George wants to end it all. Like, there's some real problems. And if that's a Wonderful Life, I got some questions about your standards. It's like we're trying to convince ourselves that something is wonderful when it's really not. Do you do that? Okay. This was a real conversation in the car ride here this morning with my family. So my middle daughter's home from college, and my wife said to her, hey, before you go back, we have to go through that nice new car wash. Like, that's where we're at as a family. Like, that's the family outing adventure. Like, let's go do that new car wash. And it's so exciting because you drive in and it feels like you're on a ride. You guys know what I'm talking? Like, there's so many lights and you kind of Drive in there. It's like it feels like you're on a ride at Disney, but you're not. It's a car wash, right? And we just want to think it's wonderful. It's a car wash, right? We can kind of convince ourselves that things are wonderful, that they're not. So they have this title, like, It's a Wonderful Life. And you look at all that's going on, it's like, is it. I think a better title for the movie would have been It's a Good Life, Not Great, or It's a Decent Life Considering or Making the Most out of a Hard Life. Or when life is hard, It's Good to have Friends. Or it can be a wonderful Life if you lower your standards. I think that would have been more fitting to the situation. And this is true for us too. Like, if you really stop and think about it, you got some amazing things to be thankful for. Like you have friends and blessings around you. You probably take for granted all the time, just God's goodness in our life and just different things that you could really be thankful for. And also, you live in a world full of war and where people steal from each other and there's all kind of corrupt things happening in our culture and in our society. You live in a broken world. Let's be honest, it's not that wonderful of a life. Our world is corrupted by sin. And you see it like, you see it. In fact, when we asked that question, is anybody tired of the brokenness in our world? Like, everybody puts up their light, like for that one when it was like, do you feel like you have to project like you have it all together? You're like, no, that's not me. When you're projecting like you had it all together by not shining your light. But we feel the brokenness in our world. We see it corruption and greed, hatred, strife and war. And it's not just a corruption in our world. You experience the corruption in you. You do things you wish you hadn't done. You say things you wish you hadn't said. You tell yourself you'll never do it again and you do it again. There are things about you that you want to change that you struggle with changing. Like you feel the brokenness in your own heart. Why am I insecure? Why am I jealous? Why am I greedy? Why am I self centered? Like, we experience this, but a wonderful life is what we want. Like, there's something in us all that. It's like, I want something wonderful. I don't want to just Survive. I. I want to thrive. I want to love life. I want to get the most out of life. I want to have joy and peace and contentment and community. Like we want that. There's something in us that just craves that. But is it possible? Is it possible? Because no matter how well you do in this life, no matter how rich you get, no matter how successful you are, no matter what you look like, no matter what you do in this life, you still live in a world that's broken. And you're still broken in that world. And there will be sickness that gets advantage of you. There'll be job loss, there'll be heartache. There'll be difficult. And even if you like. No. I have the best life I could ever imagine. It'll come to an end. Like, age will catch up to you. You're gonna be in a nursing home, a shell of what you used to be like. It's not that wonderful of a life, but. But that's why Jesus came. Here's what it says in John, chapter 10. This is John 10:10. The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy. I came. That's Christmas, the coming of Jesus Christ. And he's going to give us why he came. I came. That they may have life and have it abundantly. That you would have a full life, an abundant life, an eternal life. Like I came to give you life. Like, I'm here because life ain't great, but life can be better. And I'm here to help you have that better life. I'm here to give you an abundant life. And you might ask, how is Jesus gonna give us a wonderful life? The very next verse says this. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Jesus Christ came to die. That's why he came. And I think we miss that sometimes. Cause it's a baby and it's a manger and it's cute. Like, we don't have Easter in mind. We just have Christmas in mind. Everybody loves Christmas because it's a cute baby. And we can sing songs about shepherds. And that's great. But then you get to the cross and it's like, that's less celebrated. That's. That's uncomfortable. But Jesus came to die as a sacrifice for our sin, to reconcile us back to our Father, that we have sin that gets in the way of our relationship with a holy God. And he came to pay a penalty we couldn't pay, a debt we couldn't pay, to reconcile us back to our Maker, where we were made to be. And I love how the writer of Hebrews puts this. This is Hebrews 2. He says, since therefore the children, human beings share in flesh and blood, like that's what we have, he himself likewise partook of the same things. He took on flesh and blood. God with us. Emmanuel. That's Christmas. That through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death. So this is a mission that Jesus is on. He came on mission to give his own life. That is the devil. That is the power of death. So this is a battle and the deliverer and deliver all those who, through fear of death, were subject to lifelong slavery. Lifelong slavery. That doesn't sound like a wonderful life, but that's what we experience. Why do I keep doing the things I don't want to do, like I'm enslaved to it? Why do I keep bumping into the same problems in this world? Because this world is enslaved. But Jesus came to be a rescuer out of this sin. In fact, further on In John John 14:6, he says, I am the way, the truth, and the what? Life. No one comes to the Father except through me. So this abundant life that Jesus is talking about, it's not abundant in stuff. Like you're gonna get an abundance of things. It's a fullness of life. And how do you have fullness of life? The Father being brought back to the Father, the one who made you and that you were made for. The one who at his right hand are pleasures forevermore. The one who can satisfy your soul. And the only way to him is through Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas. Is there a gift better than that that you get reconciled back to your Maker? Listen, if your hope and joy is resting on a season of everybody getting along, are you getting what you want? Or if you are about trying to have this wonderful life now, like, it's got to be perfect now. It's got to be great now. I got to be successful now. I got to be wealthy now. It will never live up to the hype. Just like that. Let down on Christmas. Like, it'll never live up to the hype. And you could get it. You could get all that you're hoping for. And once you have it, it's like it just doesn't do it. Like there's still something missing. It didn't fulfill me. It didn't satisfy me. Because you weren't made for this world. A wonderful life is one reconciled back to your Father. And that wonderful life is possible through Jesus Christ. So, guys, I hope you have a great Christmas I hope you get the presents that you wanted to get. I hope everybody in your family gets along. I hope you enjoy good times with loved ones and laugh and just have a great time. I hope you have a great Christmas. But listen to me. Don't get lost in Christmas. Don't get lost in Christmas. Don't make Christmas about Christmas. Don't make it about presents and family and food and rest and just kind of check in and out of church or I'll take it even a little further. Don't make this life about this life. Because just like Christmas is here and gone and you're kind of left empty like that letdown, this life will be here and gone before you know it. Don't get lost in this life or this world trying to just have as much fun as possible, make as much money as possible, be as successful as possible, tone yourself. Isn't this wonderful? Isn't this an awesome car wash right when you got a real ride in Jesus Christ? Christmas is about God breaking into our broken world and making wonderful truly possible. Don't settle for something less. And we want to be a group of people who are so captivated by what Jesus has done that he came to us, he put on flesh, he preached good news, he was crucified, he rose again in victory and offers us forgiveness and reconciliation and redemption. And we want to be a group of people who are captivated by not only what he's done, but also what he's promised. That he will return and he will wipe every tear from our eye, and there'll be no more pain, no more death, no more mourning. And he will make all things new. And that would be the passion of our life. Not this life, but Christ and His return. And we eagerly wait for that when we then truly do have a wonderful, abundant, eternal life. So here's what we're going to do. Band's going to come out, we're going to sing some more songs. And it is a time to adore Jesus, to be thankful for Jesus. And then there's going to come a part in the service where the lights go down and you guys got your candles, and we're going to light the candles. Now listen to me here, because this is not new. Like, if you've been here before, it's like, oh, a candlelight service. I'm ready for this. But just because it's not new doesn't mean it shouldn't be meaningful. There is a message behind a candlelight service that I want us to get. It's not just isn't that cool to see all the candles? This is. It communicates darkness and how the light of the world has come into the world to light it up. And it starts with just one, the coming of Christ our Savior. And that Gospel message spreads, and it spreads and it spreads, and it eventually lights up the world. So don't be that guy who that's trying to be really efficient and think, we can just get this lit faster. You know, all the smokers come out, they pull their leg. They're going to light it up soon. Like, just let it happen. Okay? Let it start and then let it spread, because it's representing there's a darkness and light spreads. And so many people are in darkness thinking a wonderful life is, you know, 50% off at Kohl's and nice vacations and a good retirement, you know, unaware of all this offered to them in Jesus Christ. Christ. The light of Christ has come into the world and it's spread to the ends of the earth, showing us there's so much more. Do you know the context of John, chapter 10? Jesus just healed a blind man he couldn't see. And then he sees. And not just physically, he sees who Jesus is. And we want that true for you, that it would light up with truth. So before the lights get to you, let it get to you. But before they do, just like George Bailey in the movie kind of got this gift where he's going to see the world without him and all the kind of the darkness that that was. I want you to take some time during this set to think about what would life be like if Jesus was never born. There's no manger, there's no cross, there's no empty tomb. There's no gospel message. Or what would it be like to live life completely unaware of Jesus Christ and all he has done and all he's accomplished? Like, you're just in the dark about Jesus Christ. Like, think about that. And then when the light comes to you and your candle gets lit, how are you going to live now knowing that God loves you and has declared his love for you in Jesus Christ? And in Christ, he offers you abundant, full, eternal life, reconciled back to the Father. Because there's a scene in a movie where George has this. And he's so frustrated with the brokenness of what he's being seen by Clarence, he just yells out, I want to live. I want to live. And would we taste the emptiness of this world so much that it's not going to satisfy you, it's not going to deliver that we would want Jesus so bad. And we would be thankful this Christmas and always. Because God didn't leave us in the dark. He sent Christ. And through him we can truly have a wonderful life. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we love you. We love you. But we love you only because you first loved us and you came to our rescue. We were living in the dark, blind to you, and you opened our eyes. I pray that we would not get lost in this world living for this world. But we would long for you and long for your return. And long for the life that only you can provide. We pray this in Jesus name, Amen.