From Black Friday Madness to Christmas Wisdom

0:00 There's going to be times in your life when you believe God's prompting you in a direction or leading you to do something, and it's not going to make sense. You're not going to have all the answers. There are going to be times when you're going to have to step out or you're not going to understand what's going on. Well, why didn't I get the job? Or why did he go back to his old girlfriend? Or why did this happen? Or why did that happen? You're going to have to live by faith, not by facts. There are going to be times when you're not going to have all your questions answered. Welcome to the City Light Church podcast. Thanks for joining us today as we look into God's Word and discover the hope and truth that he has for us. If you want to connect with City Light Church, feel free to visit us at CityLightNYCcom.

0:41 That's CityLightNYCcom. Pastor Boyan Jansik and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working in our hearts and minds. As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God, that you are surrounded by His grace and that he has a real hope and a future for you. Yes, I'm so glad to see everyone. I love Christmas. How many of you went out Christmas shopping the day after Thanksgiving, the dreaded Black Friday? Only a few of you. You guys are getting smart. I appreciate that. I remember when everyone was getting up early because the deals were just so outrageous on Black Friday.

1:25 You couldn't resist and it made me think to myself I'm getting ripped off 364 days a year if they can sell it that cheap on Black Friday, but every year Thanksgiving. I can remember still look at the ads online, the deals the stores are putting out. I can remember looking through the newspaper that's how old I am and you remember a newspaper. I have to explain after service what that is for some of you. You're like what is that? They would print the news and the newspaper would come on Thanksgiving Day and this thing was like 10 times bigger than a phone book, bigger than it was any other day of the year, because it was jam-packed full of ads. Everyone wanted to sell you something.

2:05 On Black Friday the deals were amazing. I'd sit there pouring over there. I'd look at the electronics. I'd say I don't care about all that other stuff, let me look at the electronics. You remember that that's a good time. I'm in electronics. Well, I can remember several years back, nicole and the kids and I, we decided we were going to do something a little bit different on Thanksgiving than we normally do. Normally we spend it with a lot of family, we hang out, lots of different meals, fun, good time. But we were rarely thankful. So we decided we were going to do something different, just for us. We rented a cabin out in northern New Mexico that's where we lived at the time and we were actually going to go out, just us, and truly have a Thanksgiving we could be thankful for, for a change Not really, it's kind of for a change.

2:53 And you're kind of wondering. You're like I don't understand, james. What are you saying? Yes, we were running and escaping from our family. I've told you, nicole and I, we were born and raised in Albuquerque, so all our family still resides there. And when I say all our family, my, both my parents are remarried, nicole's dad was remarried, we had siblings, we had grandparents, we had cousins, lots of family. And again, some of you are still saying, james, that sounds kind of nice. What's the problem with a lot of family? I wish I had Thanksgiving with a lot of family. Well, here's the important thing that I want you to understand it doesn't matter how much you actually love your family, by midday if you've been driving from house to house to house, having a full Thanksgiving meal at every house as if the others didn't exist, you got to have a heaping plate.

3:38 My kids are car sick by halfway through. My stomach feels like it's going to explode. Every single relative is upset. You can't spend the entire day at their house. You got to go to someone else's house. You got the guilt trip oh, you have to go. Yes, we got to go. Oh well, you want me to fix your plate to go? No, I'm going to go eat 45 more turkeys. It was anything but a thankful time for us. So we decided you know what. We're going to get away and we're going to be thankful. So we rented a cabin far, far away and we told no one where we were going. It was a good time. It was right, peaceful. We got there up in the mountains. It was exactly the way it was advertised.

4:19 This cabin had rustic construction, beautiful nature all around. You could smell the pine trees in the air. You city dwellers don't even know what that means. It's not the funky stench from the subway. This is real nature, pine trees Not the little air freshener you get from Glade and you plug in and you're like, oh no, this is real Even had a hot tub in the back. This place was legit. So we unpacked and we went out exploring. We went hiking, collecting flowers, just wandering around in nature. Nicole loves animals. She's like I hope I see a deer, a mountain lion and a bear. I said what is wrong with you? We will get eaten alive.

5:01 But every time she wishes that we see it. So we saw a bear, a mountain lion and a deer. We lived to tell the tale. It's amazing how fast you can run when your life is on the line. But this place was amazing. The next day and a half were simply magical. Nothing wrong. We had a fire going in the wood, burning stove. We had a perfect Thanksgiving meal. Nothing could have been better. Incredible. All was right in our family, perfect peace and harmony, amazing. So we lay our head on the pillow that night. I have fullness in my heart. I hadn't put a single mile on the car that day I go wow, this is the way it was supposed to be.

5:42 The pilgrims actually did it this way, I'm sure they went out in a cabin far, far away. Well, my daughter couldn't sleep that night, and far be it for her to suffer a sleepless night alone. So she had to make sure the rest of the family was awake too. Thank you, nichele. So, after a few futile attempts to get her back to sleep, staring at the ceiling for a while, I had the brilliant idea well, it's past midnight. Technically it's already Black Friday. We're already awake. Why don't we go wander around, see if we can find a store and see if there are any deals? Not the best plan I ever had, but it was a plan. So we got dressed, we got in the car 10, 15 miles into the closest town to where we were staying.

6:27 We actually come across a Walmart, a Walmart in the middle of nowhere, in the mountains. It's 3.30 in the morning and lines are already forming outside this Walmart. I said, well, we're already here, let's just park the car and line up with the rest of the crazies. There must be something that they know, that we don't know. It's probably electronics. So we parked the car and we get in line. So we waited longer than we should have, in the dark, in the cold, in the parking lot of Walmart on Black Friday until they finally opened the doors. Now, at this point you would have thought that we were all starving people and in that Walmart was the last piece of bread on planet Earth.

7:07 Because they started pushing and shoving to get in that Walmart like nothing I had ever seen. I was almost run over by an 85-year-old woman and I hadn't even made it inside yet. I said this is serious. I looked into the call. I said I got to get my head in the game. This is like no joke. Ok, so I got to get my game face on. I let my male primal instinct take over and lead me directly to the electronics department. That's where the action was. That was the good stuff. Right, I was so excited to get there. But then it was. I mean, man, woman, big, tall, young, old, everybody was there, all vying for the same few deals that the store decided to put out for Black Friday. The real fireworks began when some of the customers found out that some of the employees had put aside some laptop computers for their friends and told everyone else that they were sold out.

7:53 Woo, you would have thought it was World War III. Neither side were backing down. It was getting serious. And then pushing and shoving started and I got to admit I was scared. All my dreams of getting next to nothing deals, they disappeared just as quickly as those laptop computers. We were in full blown survival mode. So I said all right, nicole, we got to go. I got the kids Get behind me. I threw one in the basket Nicole, get back, we are going to make a break for the doors. We got to get out of this place and I'm serious and so, easier said than done, they had pallets lining up in the aisles. This had to be a fire hazard. We should get the New York fire marshal in there. And it's going to say how do you have pallets in the middle of the aisle? How can people get out? This is a fire hazard. But there were pallets everywhere, merchandise people, wall to wall.

8:34 Everywhere you looked I could not get out of there. This was do or die. I was terrified. So I pushed with everything in me and I do not know how many people I ran over that day in Walmart to get out, but somehow I survived and we got out of that Walmart. And I learned three things for sure that day. The first is if you are or know someone that day that I ran over in that Walmart. I'm sorry, but it was them or me and I wanted to live to see my family grow up. Ok, I apologize. The second thing is I got some of the cheapest TVs I've ever seen in my whole life. I mean ridiculously cheap. That was a good time. But the third and most important is I learned that I'm never going to go shopping on Black Friday for the rest of my life.

9:17 Nothing worked out the way I had planned Absolutely nothing. Has anyone ever been there when you had a great idea, you thought this is going to be so good, we're having a great Thanksgiving, I'm going to go out and get some deals at Walmart. And on Black Friday and the mountains in the middle of nowhere, who's going to be there? Well, apparently the whole planet showed up in the mountains of New Mexico at the Walmart at 3.30 in the morning. I don't know where they all came from. They shipped them in on a bus or something. Well, nothing turned out the way Mary and Joseph thought it would that very first Christmas either. They had their plans, their hopes and their dreams and it didn't quite turn out the way they thought it would.

9:58 You remember Mary and Joseph? They were engaged to get married. They lived in a little town called Nazareth Heard of Nazareth, not Pennsylvania, it was a place back in the Middle East. There were only about 300 people that lived in Nazareth a little tiny hole in the wall. No one ever went to Nazareth unless you knew somebody and they really twisted your arm to make you go there because you did not want to go to Nazareth. I was going to be really mean in the name of Barrow that no one wants to go to. But some of you are going to be like, hey, that's my Barrow, I'm just kidding. But no one wanted to go to Nazareth. But that's where these two people lived. The Bible tells us Mary and Joseph were engaged to be married and back in the first century you actually would have arranged marriages, right?

10:41 They didn't have Christianminglecom or eHarmony, right. The mom and the dad would actually, when you were about two or three years old, they would make an arrangement as to who you were going to marry. That's pretty interesting, isn't it? You guys wish we did that today. I thought that was kind of sad, until I had a daughter of my own. I said, ooh, I kind of like this idea. Now that might be kind of a good deal. I'll tell you one thing you grow up kind of knowing who your kid's going to marry. You can watch them, you can flick them on the back of the head when they make stupid decisions and nobody can do anything about it. It's like, hey, we have a contract. You know what I mean. Dating is brutal Broken hearts, broken promises, broken dreams and forget man having to ask a girl out.

11:22 That's a rough time right there. I'm glad we're not dating, I'm glad we're already married. You know what I'm saying. Thank you, I survived it. Once, I tell you, there was a teenage boy who was actually giving his mom an update as to how it was going with a girl he liked at school. He said mom, I really think she's starting to warm up to me. She said well, why do you think that, son? He said well, this last time, when I asked her out, she said this is the last time I'm going to tell you. No. There was a grandfather with his grandson sitting out on the porch. He said Tommy, do you have a girlfriend? Gross grandpa, I don't want a girlfriend. You ran off to play baseball. Well, there was a little girl in the porch next door just kind of smiling.

12:05 She looked at the grandfather. She said they're always the last to know. Dating is rough. But there were three stages to the marriage process in the first century. The first is the engagement. The child was arranged at about two or three years old by the parents of the bride and the groom. The parents would make this arrangement. The parents of the boy would pay the parents of the daughter a sum of money to compensate for the loss of their daughter. Again, since now I have a daughter, I kind of like that idea. I also have a son, so I don't know if I like that idea. The second stage was called the betrothal stage and this was when the kids were about 13 years old.

12:46 They would get prepared to spend the rest of their life together. The young man would bring a cup of wine to the young girl's house and, in full view of all of her family, he would present this cup to her. He was signifying with the giving of the cup that he would lay his life down for her. Now her, if she received the cup and drank from it. That was signifying that she would be willing to lay her life down for him as well. Once this took place, the young man would tell the young girl I'm going to go back to my dad's house, I'm going to prepare a place for us. He would build an addition on to dad's house for them to live. He said I'm going to work day and night, tirelessly. It's not going to take me long, and when I'm done I'm going to come back and I'm going to take you as my wife. The third stage was when the young man had finished this addition on to daddy's house.

13:27 He would come back and he would take her as his wife and they'd have the wedding ceremony. Now look at what Jesus said in John chapter 14. I love this. He said my father's house has many rooms. If that were not so, why would I have told you that I'm going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me so that you may also be where I am. I think that's pretty incredible that right now, jesus is preparing a place for us, you and me. If we're Christians, if we've trusted him, we'd profess him. He's preparing a place for us and we just kind of gloss over that and they're like oh, that's awesome, man, we're going to be in heaven with Jesus one day, woohoo. But Nicola and I we've built several houses over the course of our years together and there's not a lot of new construction up here in the Northeast.

14:13 Everything's really old. So you might not relate to what I'm saying, but down in the South we build a lot of new stuff all the time. You just go find some dirt and you build something. So every time we would pour concrete we would put our initials and maybe a Bible verse and the concrete and it would just kind of be memorialized there forever. We'd be framing up the walls and before we put up the sheet rock we'd sign it, put the date, we'd put a Bible verse or something before we put it up. That's kind of built into the foundation of the home that Christ is the center and we kind of left our mark and that's kind of fun. And I think what if Jesus is writing my initials on the inside of the mansion he's building for me? He's preparing it. He's like oh, james, I'm going to leave you a special note you're going to find when you get here. You're going to blow your mind.

14:54 I think that's so cool that he's preparing a place and when he's done he's going to call us up and we're going to get to spend eternity with him. How cool is that? Well, everyone in the small little town of Nazareth knows Mary and Joseph are engaged. They know that they've actually gone through this process of the cup and the receiving and the drinking, and so they know what stage it is. They've exchanged the cup. Now Joseph has gone to his father's house and he's working on the addition as a place for them to live. Everything looks great and it's going according to plan until one night Gabriel appears to Mary and messes everything up. Dang it, gabriel. Look at what the Bible says in Luke, chapter 1, beginning of verse 26.

15:37 God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said greetings you, who are highly favored. The Lord is with you. Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her don't be afraid, mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you will give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father, david, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end. Well, how will this be, mary, asked the angel, since I am a virgin. Well, the angel answered the Holy Spirit will come upon you.

16:19 The power of the Most High will overshadow you, so the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth, your relative, is going to have a child in her old age and she, who was said to be barren, is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God. Wow, talk about an emotional roller coaster. An angel shows up and that scares her half to death. Then the angel says well, you're highly favored by God, and that's incredible. But then she hears that she's going to have a child and it's going to be the Son of God, and that's overwhelming. Then the obvious question is well, how can this be? Because I'm a virgin, and the angel simply tells her well, the Holy Spirit's going to come upon her. Well, that answers everything.

17:00 Right, what the Holy Spirit. Now that's the ultimate good news bad news scenario, if you ask me. It's great news that she's highly favored by God, but it's kind of bad news to show up pregnant for your own wedding, especially when the groom's not the dad. That's a bad day right there, if you know what I mean. Ladies, what would you have said to the angel's request? Would you have said yes, keep in mind, you're maybe 13 or 14 years old? I didn't know up from down when I was 13 years old. I don't know about you Incredible. What would you have told the angel? Oh, thank you, but no, thank you.

17:40 I appreciate the compliment. Now is not a good time for me. I got to finish grad school. What was amazing to me was Mary's response to the angel. Look in Luke 1, verse 38. She said I am the Lord's servant. Mary answered May it be to me as you have said. Then the angel left her. That's all the angel tells her. He doesn't give her any insight as to how she should break this news to her parents, how she should tell Joseph how the rest of this story is going to actually play out Nothing. I wonder how long she sat in her bedroom before the full weight, and all the implications of her yes started to really dawn on her.

18:27 At first it's like woo, an angel shows up. I'm highly favored. Boom, I'm putting that on my Snapchat. My friends are not going to believe this. Be real. Here I come, and then all of a sudden it's like but wait, I'm going to be pregnant. That's kind of weird. I wonder what my parents are going to say. I wonder what Joseph's going to say. What's our little community going to say, dang? I wonder how long she stayed in your bedroom? Couple of months, just like food under the door. But she said yes, I am the Lord's servant. May it be to me as you have said.

19:10 When God comes to you and asks you to do something, is that what you say? Is that what your response is? Yes, I'm your servant. May it be to me as you have said. Or are you like me? Are you so quick to come up with reasons why now is not really a good time? Can you maybe come back next Christmas? I might be in a better space then. It's just not a very good time for me right now. I'm working on myself. We have a lot of excuses, don't we? Would you have said yes. What's the hardest thing God's ever asked you to do? Bring the Son of God into the world. No, maybe he asked you to get baptized.

19:54 Oh, but James, I don't look good wet. I've seen those video people come up. They got snot dripping down their face, their hairs. I don't want them to move. Or has he asked you to maybe teach down in city kids the preschool class? I don't want kids Again, a lot of snot. Maybe he's asked you to forgive somebody. You don't know what they did. God has he asked you to do anything hard? And what was your response? Did you do what he asked you to do? Or were you quick to point out all the reasons why you couldn't do it right now? But Mary said I am the Lord's servant. I live and move and have my being in you.

20:35 I live for your glory and your kingdom. May it be to me, as you have said. That is incredible. I'm certain Mary's mind is racing. Who in the world is gonna believe this story? Right, are you kidding me? But then she remembers that the angel said her cousin Elizabeth was also with child. So what does she decide to do? She takes a little road trip and she goes down the road and she visits her cousin Elizabeth. She gonna hang out there, elizabeth, six months pregnant, and she is looking for some kind of confirmation. She didn't know that Elizabeth was pregnant till the angel told her. So she goes, she sees Elizabeth is pregnant confirmation one. But then she's pregnant with John the Baptist, if you recall. And when John the Baptist, when Elizabeth hears Mary's greeting, the Bible says that John the Baptist leapt in Elizabeth's womb.

21:22 And again, that was just more confirmation that all of this was from God. We like to explain stuff away and everything is scientific and electronic and clinical and you know it's like wow, that's not. It was probably just external stimuli, james, that caused John the Baptist to leap in Elizabeth's womb and the reason that she actually conceived in her old, barren age was because of the water supply. There actually was this anomaly. We saw it on the science channel, james, if you just. This was a miracle and it was confirmation that what the angel said was true. So Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months, probably to help Elizabeth with the final months of the pregnancy, to see John the Baptist be born. And now it's time to go back home.

22:03 It's time to go back home and face the music, cause. Now she's three months pregnant. I'll bet she's starting to have a little baby bump. What do you think? Now it's time for people to really see this, and Rubber's gonna meet the road. Now she gets back to Nazareth, she goes directly to Joseph and she tells him the news. How do you think he took it? How would you take it? Joseph was obviously devastated In his mind. He's been lied to and cheated on. An angel, really, mary, the Holy Spirit.

22:45 Are you kidding me? Oh, a dirty toilet seat? Sure, I've heard that a million times. What? No, everyone in this little town is gonna figure out that Mary is pregnant. What's their first assumption gonna be? They're gonna think that it's Joseph's. They're gonna think that he hasn't been pure, but he has. Joseph was a godly man. The Bible says he was a sadiq. That term means that he lived by the Torah. He actually followed God's laws and his rules and he was well known for this throughout their little community. He was looked up to, he was admired. This news would destroy in an instant what he spent a lifetime building.

23:30 So what's he gonna do? Joseph has a few options. Because she was obviously unfaithful, he could do what some of you probably wish you could do if someone was unfaithful, he could have her killed. And have you ever wished that Somebody cheats on you and you're like I'm invoking Deuteronomy 22, kill him. I don't know if they'd like that, but it would probably feel good for you, right? That was one option. That's what it's. The Bible says In Deuteronomy 22,. If a woman pledged to be married was unfaithful look at what it says the woman must be taken to the door of her father's home and there the men of the town must stone her to death, for she has committed a disgraceful crime in Israel by being promiscuous while living in her parents' home. In this way, you will purge this evil from among you.

24:12 Well, that was one option, good times. Another option was he could bring her out to the marketplace and he could make a big scene and tell everyone about the pregnancy. Believe you me, an engaged man who had stayed pure, by the way, could make a compelling argument as to why he had done no wrong. And remember, women didn't have really any rights or clout in the society. So they were gonna believe Joseph over Mary, and he would preserve his good name and he would destroy hers instantly. But Joseph opted for a third choice. The Bible says in Matthew 1, verse 19,. Joseph, who she was engaged to, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly. So he decided to break the engagement quietly.

24:54 Make no mistake arranged marriage or not, joseph loved Mary. He'd known her his whole life. They had already exchanged the cup. He was building this house ready for marriage. He had already exchanged the cup. He was building this house ready to spend the rest of his life with her. He doesn't want to destroy her life, he doesn't want to make things harder for her, and she seemed so sincere when she told him the story of what the angel had said. So he wanted to just separate things quietly and just go on about their lives. But look at what happens next. Matthew 1, beginning in verse 20. As he considered this, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream Joseph, son of David. The angel said don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit and she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

25:49 I love what Joseph does. Next, in verse 24, it says when Joseph woke up, did he go to the doctor to get a CAT scan. No, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary to be his wife. Now that didn't make a lot of sense, but he was obedient to God even when it didn't make sense. Mary and Joseph gave everything up to bring the Son of God into the world. They lost their reputations, they lost their status, they lost the marriage of their dreams. She couldn't wear white anymore. They gave up everything.

26:30 They gave up their plans in favor of God's plans. Just when everything seemed to calm down, the rumor mill started to kind of simmer down. The whispers were kind of relegated to the shadows and a few snide comments and looks. Then the Roman government decides everybody's got to go to their hometown to get taxed. Well, that sounds like fun. I'd rather get a prostate exam and a root canal at the same time. He's got to travel with a nine-month pregnant woman on a donkey 75 miles. Some of you hear that and you're like oh, I feel so sorry for Mary, nine months pregnant on a donkey.

27:12 I feel sorry for Joseph. And if you ever traveled with a pregnant woman on a donkey, mary, are you okay? Do you have to stop? Oh, you do. Oh, you have to stop again. Oh, and again you got to pee again. Oh, you want privacy. Oh, we go. Oh my gosh. This poor guy did not know what he was signing up for. He's thinking I should have just said no in the dream. Can I still throw rocks at her and stone her? So his feeling was probably elation and relief. When they finally roll into Bethlehem, right, he's like finally, this is over, we have made it.

27:52 But then it quickly turns into frustration when he can't find a single place for them to stay the night. And by now Mary's starting to have contractions. She's never had pain like this in her entire life. Joseph's sweating. He doesn't know what to do. Now realize they have not been intimate yet and I'm sure Mary wasn't wanting Joseph to see her like this. Right, ladies, I've helped Nicole with a few deliveries. I remember the first one. I made a comment about the incredible way she was able to contort her face and neck veins and she's never let me forget it. I said, wow, I was incredible and they're like room.

28:34 She's like what is wrong with you? I was pushing a human out. I know I was on the other end and something. It was beautiful, but Mary's mother wasn't there. There was no doctor or midwife what do they call those things? Doolas? Nobody. She's got Joseph and he doesn't know what he's doing. This is a nightmare. I'm sure she doesn't want to give birth to the son of God in a smelly stable. All their plans seem to be crumbling all around them, falling apart, but things are actually working out just the way God wanted them to.

29:22 Isn't that crazy? We look at Mary and Joseph's life and everything they went through and it doesn't really make sense. But in all of it they were right in the center of God's will. There's going to be times in your life when you believe God's prompting you in a direction or leading you to do something, and it's not going to make sense. You're not going to have all the answers. There are going to be times when you're going to have to step out or you're not going to understand what's going on. Why didn't I get the job? Or why did he go back to his old girlfriend? Or why did this happen, or why did that happen? You're going to have to live by faith, not by facts. There are going to be times when you're not going to have all your questions answered, and that is a rough place to be, isn't it?

30:05 Especially if you're a control freak like me? I'm a recovering one. I slip in and out. Sometimes I do pretty good. Other times I grab that bull by the horns. I do not let go. I like knowing what's going on and I like to control the outcome. So when you don't know the next steps or have all the answers, that is a hard place to be and you still have joy. Why does God allow those times to come? Because he wants you to trust him one step at a time. Why does he want you to trust him one step at a time?

30:46 Again, as a control freak, I hate that. I'm like okay, one step. Can you show me the next mile Mile or two? I can help you, god, we can work together. You don't have to do all the heavy lifting, just give me the plan. But then I'm trusting in my abilities instead of him. He wants dependence. We want independence If we fight for it with everything in our being. He says the perfect place to be is complete dependence on me, because I've got this, I've got this.

31:26 He knows that if he showed us the whole picture, he would probably scare us half to death If Mary and Joseph knew everything that was going to happen. They thought they were saying yes to a hard thing, but then they didn't know that the king was going to try and kill them. They didn't know that wise men were going to hunt them down. They were going to have to go hide in Egypt. They didn't know everything. Might not have said yes. They just trusted one step at a time. Some of us look back on 2023 and we're glad to wave goodbye in the rearview mirror because things didn't really turn out the way we had hoped and planned. Anybody like that. You're like okay, I'm excited for a fresh start, let's do this again.

32:13 But some of us look ahead to 2024 with some fear and trepidation because we don't know what 2024 is going to hold. I get it, but look at Proverbs 3, 5, and 6. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Don't depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do and he'll show you which path to take. That's comforting for me. You mean, I just have to trust you. You will take care of me. You promise Pinky swear Because this is scary. Mary and Joseph didn't have all the answers to their questions, but they knew who did and they trusted him.

32:58 That's the key. That's the key to happiness. That's the key to fulfillment. That's the key to the abundant life. Are you glad you came today? I just gave you the secrets to success. Tony Robbins wishes he had this right now. Know who has the answers. Know who has the answers and just trust him. Could it be that God is asking you to do the same thing that he asked them. Just trust me, even when it doesn't make sense. Yeah, just trust me, even when you don't give me all the answers. Yeah, just trust me, even when I haven't filled out my full life plan.

33:38 Yeah, just trust me, even if my life coach doesn't agree. Yeah, just trust me. I'm guessing over the next day or two you're going to be at home or you're going to gather at friends or family's house and you're going to open up presents that are sitting under the Christmas tree, because that's a good time. I hope you get electronics. I hope I get electronics. I've always said Christmas is a funny time because we give presents to each other, but we don't always give a gift to the birthday boy. You guys know what Christmas is, right? I don't know what Christmas is. I don't know what Christmas is. I don't know what Christmas is. You guys know what Christmas is right. It's Jesus' birthday. What are you giving the? birthday boy this year.

34:20 Mary and Joseph gave the greatest gift to God that first Christmas they could have possibly given. They gave everything. They gave their all, their hopes, their dreams, their fears, their future. They gave all they had. They held nothing back. My question to you today is have you ever done that? Have you ever given God all of you, everything? Or are you like most of us? We kind of do the Christian hokey pokey? I got one foot in, one foot out, something, something, and I twirl it all about. I don't know the song, I just remember one foot in, one foot out.

35:01 But we feel like, oh, that was the spirit of what Peter and no Paul was actually telling us when he said I'm in the world, but not of the world. Right? So that's one foot in, one foot out. I'm just being faithful to the scriptures, james. That's not what he meant. He said jump in with all four feet, jump in, holding nothing back, trusting God. Here's my life. Use me for your glory and for my good. I trust you. My prayer for you this Christmas is that you'll trust him. Even when it doesn't make sense, even when you don't have all the answers, I'll let you know a little secret God's never gonna harm you?

35:47 How many times is he gonna bail you out, protect you, bless you, help you, encourage you, before you realize he's not the boogeyman. All good things come from our heavenly Father. Above All he wants is a relationship with you to lead you to the abundant life he sent Jesus to die for and give you, and he's preparing a place for you in eternity so he can spend the rest of eternity hanging out with you. That doesn't sound like a boogeyman to me. That sounds like a guy I can trust. Have you ever given him everything?

36:29 You put your full trust in him, everything you are, everything you have, everything you hope to be, or are you still holding something back? God, I will give you my Sundays. I will sign up for the church email, but I won't give my good email, I'll just give that one. I give Bed, bath and Beyond. They've been stepping it up, man. I'm getting a bunch of emails from them. I tell you what I have to unsubscribe. What are you holding on to? I'm going to ask the worship team to come and we're going to sing a final song together.

37:10 We're going to celebrate this season. We are going to give gifts to each other, but I'm going to ask you to seriously consider what's the thing you've been holding on to that you can give as a gift to the one who's given you so much, the one who's given you everything and held nothing back. He says if you want wisdom, you got it. You want financial blessing and prosperity you got it. You need healing? You got it. Forgiveness of your sins sure, what is he holding back from you? But yet we hold on to so many things that don't matter. Think of the thing you can give, that you can give to the people you love.

37:50 Think of the thing you can give that you can surrender in place of the goodness of God. Don't think of it as a sacrifice that, oh, I'm going to have to go without this thing. I'm letting go of rubbish and I'm getting back his goodness. And if you've never trusted him with your life and your eternity, what better time than Christmas to give your life as a gift to the one who gave you everything? So I'm going to give you a chance to do it. Just close your eyes where you are, and everybody just repeat after me Heavenly Father, thank you for Jesus, thank you for saving me from my sin.

38:31 I accept your free gift and I give you my life in return. Take all of me, do what you will for your glory and my good. In Jesus' name I pray amen, amen. Let's give a big round of applause for anybody that prayed that for the first time, because your life is never going to be the same, I promise. It's not all going to be sunshine and rainbows, but it's going to be an adventure that you will not regret. If you did make that decision, use that connection card that Pastor Moe talked about earlier, pull it out and on the back, one side says I made a decision for Christ.

39:17 If you prayed that prayer and you've given your life as a gift, let us know. We want to celebrate with you. We want to make sure you have a Bible and you've got some helps on this new journey, because it is the ride of a lifetime and you don't have to do it alone, and we want to celebrate that with you. Whatever decision you've made, my prayer is that when you go out and you leave this place, you tell somebody the story. They're going to say happy holidays. You say Merry Christmas. Jesus is the reason for the season. Don't shy away and don't say I'm sorry. Unapologetic, bold faith is the name of the game. Jesus is not ashamed of you. He said if you're ashamed of me here, I'm going to be ashamed of you in heaven and eternity. Be bold. Jesus has changed my life.

39:58 Can I tell you about it? That actually is the reason for the season, and I want to share this gift with you. Don't keep it to yourself. Let it be a light that shines so brightly. Everyone can help, but ask you to tell them more about it. You do that. Thank you for joining us. Merry Christmas. I'm going to ask our ministry team if you'll come forward, if you want someone to pray with you as we sing this final song. Minister to you, lay hands on you, bless you as you go. I pray that this next season leading into 2024 is blessed and you have the utmost confidence in the one that has your best interest at heart. Trust him, even when it doesn't make sense. I promise you it'll turn out for his glory and your good.

40:39 Have a Merry Christmas and we'll see you next Sunday. And that you are surrounded by grace. Thank you for listening. Make sure that you subscribe to City Light Church Podcast wherever you find your favorite podcasts worldwide.