Good morning. I am so excited about today. Because I don't know about you, but the story of Christ of Christmas has come alive for me this year like it's never done before. If you have not listened to the messages that Justin and Ken have shared, I really encourage you to check it out. You can go online or you can upload the messages from our app or you can stop by the source, but you really should check it out. We're talking about the different elements that go into the Christmas story. And I don't know if you know, but I was a teacher, an English teacher, for 10 years. So nothing gets me more excited than talking about a good story. And all of the elements that go into a good story, I mean, you have your essentials. You gotta have a plot, you have to have a setting, you gotta have a point of view, you have to have all your characters, and and all those things are important and they make for a good story. It's true. But if you want a great story, if you want a story that's powerful and memorable, unforgettable, you have to have a villain. You have to have a villain because the villain brings a conflict, and we like conflict, don't we? We do. I mean, think about your favorite movies that you ever saw. They would not have been complete without the villain. I mean, who would Batman have been without Joker? Or Luke Skywalker without Darth Vader? I mean, come on. Or what about Austin Powers without Dr. Evil, right? Or my favorite, and I hope that you've seen this movie, The Princess Bride. I love The Princess Bride, and if you love it like I do, then you know you live for that moment in the movie where the six-fingered man finally gets it from Inigo Montoya, and it's wonderful. But there's a villain that will forever be etched in my memory. I sometimes have nightmares. I was little watching this movie. These sweet deer frolicking in an open field. They get thirsty and they go down to a creek, mother and child, drinking from the water, when out of nowhere, bam, a hunter takes out Bambi's mom. What? That was the first time I ever remembered. You're supposed to laugh. That was the first time. There we go, good. That was the first time I ever remember crying in a movie. It was terrible. But there's a classic from my childhood in my generation, and probably in the generation before mine, and maybe even now. Anybody ever seen Ferris Bueller's Day Off? Yeah. Okay, so you a few of you like it? Alright. I love Ferris Bueller. He's so cool. He's so cool. Like the way that he acted and what he said. I mean, he could rock the sweater vest, right? He was one of the first people who ever made, you know, skipping school look like a good idea. But but the thing that made him so cool, in my opinion, was his villain, the principal. Principal Rooney. Remember him? I mean, Ferris Bueller was okay, he was cool, whatever, but he was really cool when his villain was about the most uncool human being that ever walked the earth, right? Every good story has to have a villain. Every single one of them. And and I think that we like the villains, even though we're not supposed to. We like them because they bring the conflict, and we like the conflict in this weird sort of twisted way. Because I think we can relate to it as humans. You know, we all have our own villains in our story, and if you think, oh, Elon, that's harsh that you're talking about people like that. Okay, sorry. Maybe you're like, that's not harsh enough if you only knew my story. They are some villains in my story. But regardless of whether you'd call them villains or not call them villains, there are people in all of our lives that have brought conflict into our lives, all of us. I know from me personally, I look back at my life, and I can't think of any villains or conflict that I have that I actually regret. You know, like I see the purpose in all of them. I I became a better person, or I was strengthened strengthened in some way, or I learned, well, that's not how I'm gonna act to people. Or even with close relationships, the conflict brought us closer together. So I see that. And I am grateful for every single one of those villains in my life. Except for one. Except for one. You might remember. Um, last time I spoke, I share with you that my dad had died when I was 19. He was killed in a car accident. And I briefly mentioned that I had a boyfriend at the time that I remember saying to you, but that's a story for another time. Well, guess what? The time is now. And before I start, let me just tell you one thing. You always want to be nice to people. You do. Yes, it models Jesus and it honors God, but you never know when that person is gonna be on a stage with a microphone. Forgive me. And for all you ladies out there who are single, let me just go ahead and say if you ever meet a man named Mark, do yourself a favor and come see me and confirm his last name. Because I want to save you as much headache and heartache and frustration as I possibly can. So please do yourself a favor and come and see me. And if you are a man here today, I understand that Mark is a common name, so if that is your name, I'm sorry. But if I meet you, okay, and we're out in the lobby one day, and everybody is having a nice time socializing, you come up and you're like, hi, my name is Mark, and my eyes kind of gloss over for a second, and you think that I might like bite your head off, it's nothing personal, just give me a moment, I'm sure you are a great guy. But if you only knew, Mark, here's the gist of the story. So Mark and I have been dating for about eight months. We weren't dating anybody else, so we were boyfriend and girlfriend. Mark was the first person who told me that my father had died. He came knocking on my apartment door early in the morning, and he gave me the news. So he was the one who comforted me in that moment, the worst moment of my life. My dad was in the military, and so he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. on Memorial Day weekend of all weekends. It was absolutely beautiful. And Mark made the trip out with me. He flew out with me and was my support, and it was very, very comforting for me. We get home from the funeral, and if you've lost someone dear to you, you know that after the funeral is when the real grieving starts. Because everybody kind of goes back to their lives, and then you're left kind of figuring out what is my new life gonna look like. And so that's where I was. That's where I was. So a week after we get back, Mark calls me on the phone and he's like, Hey, you know, why don't you meet me at our favorite restaurant? You know, and I was like, Oh, you know, that's nice. He probably knows I haven't eaten much and I need to get out of the house, and this is gonna lift my spirits and it's gonna be good. So I was like, okay, sure, I'll meet you. And then he said, right before we got off the phone, wear that favorite dress of yours that I love. And I was like, Oh, that's really nice and thoughtful. Okay, so I put on the dress, and and I remember the weather was beautiful because I had been cooped up in my room in the dark just morning that whole week. And so I showed him in the restaurant and it was so beautiful. We sat outside. So we walk out to the table and we sit down. We'd been there for maybe 10 minutes, and we had just ordered our drinks. I was looking over the menu, and then all of a sudden I hear Mark say, This isn't gonna work. And I and I remember thinking, like, what? They don't have any french fries? Because if they don't have french fries, we're going somewhere else. That's all I'm saying. And I look up at him, and he's looking at me with a serious look on his face. He's like, No, we're not gonna work out. I want to break up. I think we should see other people. I was shocked. I was shocked. It came out of nowhere. It's not like we were arguing or having problems or anything like that. I really honestly couldn't understand what had happened. And he continued talking, saying whatever it was he was saying, but I I honestly don't remember what he said. I don't. Because as he was speaking to me, I caught my reflection in the window right over his shoulder. And so I just remember that as he was talking, I kept repeating over and over and over again in my mind, Elon, you don't cry. You have got to be strong, girl. You cannot cry. Keep it together. And I just kept saying it over and over and over again because honestly, I really did believe that if I even so much as let one tear fall from my face, that I was gonna collapse into a puddle of tears on the ground and never stop crying again. I truly did feel that because I was crushed. Everything in my world was falling apart. And and so as soon as he finished saying whatever it was he was saying, you know, I was like, okay, well, I guess this is my cue to leave. So I was like, I'm gonna leave. And he looked at me confused. He really did, almost as if, like, what, you're not gonna stay and eat? So, so I walk to leave, and I excuse myself, and he's like, Can I please walk you to your car? And I was like, Oh, sure, I don't care, fine, that's fine. So we get down to the car, and I'm about to get in, and he grabs me by the shoulders and faces him, faces me to him, and he says, with all sincerity, Elon, have I lost you forever? What? Who does that? I mean, who who does that? Who calls up his girlfriend a week after she buries her dad? Asks her to meet him at their go-to restaurant in his favorite dress, and there in front of God and everyone, breaks up with her, walks her to her car, and then asks her if he's lost her forever. I mean, who does that? I'll tell you who, Mark. Mm-hmm. About a week later, I was on my college campus where he went to school, and I saw him, and he was walking with another girl, and I was like, oh, that's what it was. And then for like a year and a half, he kept coming around. It was a big old mess. It was. But God is so good. God is so good, he is so good, he writes such a better story than we could ever write for ourselves. He does. God had the perfect match already picked out for me, the perfect one in my husband tab. And I'm sorry, but I just gotta take a second and celebrate him. And I know he is gonna be embarrassed, but I frankly do not care. Because I gotta tell you something. First and foremost, my husband is a stud. I'll clap for that. You must have seen my husband. No, you know what? He is a great father. He is the best father. He is an incredible husband. He loves me in spite of all of my shortcomings. He is supportive, he lets me chase my dreams, he holds me accountable and he challenges me. He is honest, he is hardworking, he loves God. Did I say he's a stud? I can't remember. Oh, I did, okay. I mean, does it matter that my husband played college football and could squash Mark like a fly? Yes, it does matter, okay? It absolutely matters. No, you know what? I'm a lucky girl. Every great story has a villain. Every great story has a villain. And you know what? The Christmas story does too. The Christmas story has what seems like the best villain ever. His name was King Herod. Let me tell you a little bit about King Herod. So he was the ruler over Jerusalem. And the way that it worked was Rome would come in and conquer an area, and then they would allow one of its citizens to rise up and be the ruler over that area. It'd be kind of like today, it'd be like a governor ruling over a state, but he's not the president of the United States. Okay, so that's who Herod was for Jerusalem, and he was in power for over 40 years. His nickname was Herod the Great, because in a lot of ways he was great. He was. He was one of the first, actually, the first ruler in Palestine who ever brought any kind of order or peace to the area. He was a great builder. He helped to finish the temple in Jerusalem. And he could be really generous. He really could. He even canceled taxes whenever times were very tough to ease up for the people who lived in that region. And when there was a famine, he melted down his own gold plates to provide food for the starving people. Sounds really great. But in all the things that he did that were great for his people, when he died, he was known as one of the most treacherous leaders, rulers of all time. Because he was a tyrant. And that's because Herod had a terrible character flaw. Herod was insanely suspicious. Insanely. He'd always kind of been that way, but it only got worse as he got older and older. If he even so much as suspected someone was out to take his power or challenge him in any way, they were immediately eliminated. They were killed. He killed his wife. He killed his wife's mother. Talk about tension with the in-laws. He killed his three three of his sons. Even Augustus, the emperor, said that it was safer to be one of Herod's pigs than it was to be one of his sons. And as if that wasn't bad enough, Herod knew how unpopular he was. So he lined up that all of the most respected citizens in all of Jerusalem would be collected. And right at the moment that Herod himself died, he gave orders that all of those people would be murdered so that there were tears shed on the day of his death. Can you say cry-cry? That is that is insane. That is crazy. So you can imagine how troubled Herod was when he got the news that a child had been born who was destined to be king. And to be honest with you, the people of Jerusalem were equally troubled because they knew what he was capable of and they were terrified. And so Herod called for the Magi to see the Magi, and they were the wise men, and he said for them to go out and diligently search for this child because he wanted to worship him. Obviously, he had a secret he was keeping from everyone, that he wanted to really take out that child. So the magi go on their way, they follow the star, they come up upon Jesus, they fall down and worship, they give him the gifts and everything. And then God speaks to them in a dream. And he tells them, Don't go back to Herod, go back to your country by a different route. And so let's read Matthew 2, verses 13 through 16 to hear what happens next. When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. Get up, he said, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him. So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet, Out of Egypt I called my son. When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity, who were twelve, excuse me, two years old and under, in accordance with the time that he had learned from the Magi. Can you imagine? Can you imagine? He had lost it so much that he actually set out to kill innocent babies. Herod was so worried about Jesus. He was so consumed with his superstitious belief that Jesus was out to take over his throne. But the thing is, Herod did not need to be worried. Jesus wasn't interested in any earthly kingdom. Listen, you and I, we might look at the Christmas story and we might think that Herod is the villain. But see, he wasn't. And Jesus knew that. Jesus knew that because Jesus knew something very important about conflict that we need to hear today. Jesus wasn't worried about Herod because Herod wasn't the real villain. And that's because the real villain was sin and death. The real villain was Satan. That's who the real villain was. Jesus didn't come to this earth to dethrone Herod. He came to the earth to dethrone Satan, to defeat Satan. And guess what? Spoiler alert, he won! Yes! Jesus won. He won the battle. He overcame. And there's something really important that you and I need to take away from this Christmas story today. We need to. We spend so much energy, you and I do, fighting the wrong fight. Fighting the wrong fight against each other, against other people. We fight the wrong fight when we fight against, you know, the bullies in school, or our boss, or our coworker, or or our old college roommate, or our family member, or even our spouse, or our exes. We are fighting the wrong fight when we fight against each other, because let me tell you, people are not the real villain here. They aren't, no matter how much it seems like they are. Let's look at Ephesians 6, 11 and 12 here. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Listen, this is a spiritual battle that we are in. It's not people versus people. And we gotta get smart. You and I, we gotta get smart. The villain in the Christmas story was not Herod. And the villain in my story, it wasn't Mark. It never really was Mark. The villain in my story was insecurity. In fact, my insecurity gave Mark the influence over my life to make that moment so big. It wrecked me far more than it ever should have. The real enemy here is not each other, it is Satan. Jesus knew that. And it's time that we do too. Because here's the thing Jesus already won. And I don't know about you, but I think it's time that we start living in that victory. The moment that we accept Jesus into our lives, we have him living in us. He already conquered it. He already conquered all of that. And we need to start fighting the right battle. It's not against each other, it's a spiritual battle. And when you fight a spiritual battle, you gotta have spiritual weapons. You don't see military people going into war with butter knives. They don't. They have weapons that are going to make them successful in combating the enemy that they're gonna hit. And see, the enemy, Satan, he knows. He knows where our weaknesses are. The Bible talks about how Satan throws these flaming arrows at us. And I don't know about you, but sometimes when I get that visual, I think that that's the thing that takes me out. But the reality is those flaming arrows, they don't take us out. They weaken us. They weaken us so that we cannot fight effectively. Because here's the thing: the enemy, he is out to make our lives a living hell. He is. He's out to destroy us through our circumstances, through other people, through conflicts in our life. And he knows our weaknesses. He knows them, and he makes it his job to capitalize on our weaknesses any opportunity he has. It's like a boxer. You know, you see these boxers go into the ring. You never really see a boxer go up and just cold cock the guy right in the face and knock him out in the first swing. It doesn't really ever happen that way. Instead, what you see is these boxers going at it and they jab at each other right in the gut because they're trying to weaken them, to bring their defenses down, so then they can go for that right hook and take them out. And that is how our enemy is as well. That is what he does. And I'll tell you, he knows that you and I we get caught up in this cycle. It's like running on a hamster wheel, using all of our energy, but going absolutely nowhere. He knows that and he capitalizes on that. Listen, Jesus did not come to this earth just so that we could have a great example of what it looks like to lead a good life. Yeah, he was born to die. He was born to die so that you and I could be free, so that we could live in freedom, not just in eternity, but today too. But how do we do that, you know? It's like, okay, great. Well, what do we do with all this? I mean, if our battle is indeed person to person, people to people, then we got that figured out, right? All we do is just argue back or be passive aggressive or ignore or hold a grudge or gossip or punch their lights out. If it's person to person, we've got this. But but how do we fight an enemy that we cannot see? How do we do that? Well, the simple truth is this you fight fire with fire, and you fight spirit with spirit. The only way to fight this fight and actually win is to treat it like the fight it is, to stop bringing physical weapons to a spiritual battle. Some of us are Jesus believers, some of us aren't there yet. It's okay either way. But but I'm willing to bet that everybody in here is spiritual to some degree. But we walk around forgetting that. We walk around acting like it's not spiritual when it is. It's discouraged. When we don't realize the kind of battle that we truly have, that's why we get anxious and worried and overwhelmed and fearful. That's why. The problem is so often we do use those physical weapons. You know, we try to use our willpower or we ignore it and just brush it under the rug, or we self-medicate. If you think that I'm talking a whole bunch of mumbo jumbo up here, let me just ask you this. Have you ever had a time in your life, a day, a week, a season in your life where you just feel like everything is working against you? Everything, from a flat tire to there's not enough money in the bank account, to you're having strife with your husband or your wife, things just aren't working out. You just feel like there's something out to get you. Well, you're not crazy. I mean, you might be crazy, but if you feel like there is something out to get you, it's because there is. You just can't see it. We get so discouraged. But here's the good news. The moment that we accept Jesus into our lives, into our heart, that very moment, instantly and automatically the Holy Spirit enters our lives, enters our bodies physically. Like that is God. That is God in the Spirit living in us. But we forget that. We we live anyway like we forget it, and we're doing ourselves a big disservice when we forget. It's like we accept Jesus and we pray to God, and then we go on about our way. Forgetting a very important part of God and his power. When we live like that and we forget about the power of the Holy Spirit, it's like only experiencing two-thirds of God. And I don't know about you, but I want to experience 100% of the power of God. And let me tell you, that spirit is the most powerful weapon we could ever have. It truly is. It is. I want to read to you from Romans 8, verse 11. And if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who lives in you. This is what this is saying. The same power that rose Jesus from the dead is the same exact power and strength that you and I have when we accept Jesus into our lives. It's the same thing. But it doesn't stop there. God is so good, He even throws in a little extra bonus, and he gives us an incredible weapon. So let's go back to Ephesians 6, and we're gonna read verses 10 through 17. I know I already looked at this, part of this with you, but it's the Bible. We can read it more than once, right? Okay, here we go. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground. And after you have done everything, to stand, stand firm then with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with the feet fitted with the with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Okay, listen, we could talk for like a month on the armor of God, but I just want to point out one thing real quick. Okay? God gives us a whole bunch of armor, a whole bunch of weaponry, but he only gives us one that is an actual offensive weapon. Only one. That is the sword of the spirit. And the sword of the spirit is the word of God. And the word of God is our Bible. It's our Bible. When Jesus was tempted in the desert by Satan, he proved that he was human. He did. And do you know how he overcame temptation? He quoted Scripture. That's it. He quoted the word of God. And the devil, he fled. He had no choice but to flee. Because, see, the devil cannot be anywhere that God is. He can't. And so you and I, we have the same access to the same weapon that Jesus Himself had access to. But we have to learn, we have to sharpen our swords. We have to learn how to use them. We have to become familiar with them. And that means we need to be reading our Bibles. And I know right now some of you are feeling slightly disappointed because you were probably hoping I was going to give you some incredible epiphany for you to walk out of here and your life is going to be changed forever. You know, it's like, great, we're at church. I know I'm supposed to read the Bible. Thanks, Elon. But you know what? The best chance that we have, the best chance that we have at winning the fight that is worth fighting, the only one that we can win, is by the word of God. That's the best chance that you and I have. And listen, I'll be honest with you, I know, I know sometimes it's like the Bible's confusing. Sometimes it goes over our heads and it feels overwhelming, and we're like, does this really even relate? And sometimes we even feel bored with it. I'll just be real with you. I mean, I've been a Christian for a while now and I've I've read the Bible through that whole time, but really over just the last year or so, I have gotten like really deep into the Bible. And sometimes I'll open it up and I'll read and I'll be like, oh my gosh, that's mind-blowing. Whoa. But a lot of times, a lot of times I read it and I don't feel any different. You know, oh yeah, I knew that. Okay. And then there are times where I open it up and I'm like, okay, so and so begot so-and-so, but got all right, let's see, let's find something else. I'm gonna have to ask God to forgive me a whole lot after this. I love Google. I love Google because sometimes there's something I need in the Bible and I know that it has it, but I don't know exactly where to go. So I just Google, Google, pops up a verse, and then I just grab my sword, just open it up, I get more familiar with it. I start writing in it. I have all these apps on my phone, I've got the Bible app, I've got all these devotional apps. They help me because sometimes I don't know where to go. Listen, I'm telling you all this so that you know it is okay. Come to God as you are, just as you are. He loves you, he just wants a relationship with us. And I believe that if you pray for the Holy Spirit to reveal to you what you need to know and you give it 10 minutes a day, just 10 minutes a day, that God is going to blow your mind and empower you in a way that you are like, yes, I can do this. I can do this because I know I know the sword that I'm wielding. I know who lives within me. And here's the other thing: you will not be alone. You will not be alone because your church, we are here to support you. We want to come alongside you. I mean, if you're reading something in the Bible and you're confused or frustrated or like I don't get this, reach out to us, email us. We have an email address, info at hishandschurch.com. Email us and we will get back to you. We will help to make sense of the things that don't make sense. And I'm so excited to be the first one to be able to tell you this. But in 2016, we are making it our first priority, our top priority like never before, to help you to understand and engage in the Bible in a way like we've never done before. Justin's gonna talk more about that in in the coming weeks. But here's the bottom line for you today, for me today. You can fight. You hear that? You can fight. And you can win. You can. And we are gonna be here to help you. And so as we go into Christmas this week, let us remember the Christmas story. Let it be a reminder to us to fight the battle that is worth fighting. And to remember that the villain isn't who we think it is. It's not Herod. And it's not Mark either. Let's pray. God, thank you. Thank you for sending your son to die for us so that we could live. So that we could live more than just existing or surviving, but we could live freely. We could have freedom. And I'm claiming that today, Lord, and I just pray, God, that we get our focus off of each other and the fight and the battles that we fight with each other, and that we see the truth, that this has nothing to do with flesh and blood and everything to do with the real enemy, the one that you already overcame. God, help us to own that victory, to live in that truth. Help us to feel compelled to grab our Bibles and to just start by opening the book, praying to you. And I know, God, that you will reveal to us what we need, what we need to hear, what we need to see, so we can start fighting the right enemy instead of fighting each other. God, help us. Help us to fight the battle worth fighting. Help us to come together with people and fight together against the real enemy. God, I pray for your hand to bless every single family, every single person represented here right this moment. Lord, in the name of Jesus, I ask God that they feel you more than they ever have before. You just do an incredible work in their lives, in their hearts, Lord, like never before. And all the glory will go to you. Oh Lord, you are so good. It's in Jesus' holy, perfect, and precious, everlasting name that I pray. Amen.