Merry Christmas. It is so great to all be together on Christmas Eve. If it's your first time here, I hope you can tell you can just relax and be yourself. I want to remind everyone that we're not getting together this Sunday, but we'll be back together on Sunday, January 2nd, and we'll kick the uh New Year off right together, and that'll be a great day. Um, if you'd like to give tonight, we're not gonna pass a plate. We actually don't pass a plate anytime. Um but uh we're uh we have a small staff, we're basically a volunteer church. Uh I volunteer, Susan does, none of us get paid, none of the worship team does. But uh we do a lot, all of us together. You know, we help a lot of people uh all year round. And so um if you'd like to help, we will put uh your gift to great use. There's also prayer cards, they're back on the the stations uh in the back. And if uh if you've got something going on in your life and you you could use some prayer tonight, please just jot down a note, put it in the in the prayer box, and uh we would love to pray for you tonight. We've been talking about joy on Sunday mornings. In fact, all December has kind of been building up uh toward tonight, and how Jesus' life was a life of joy. You know, from the very start, Jesus' life was all about joy. In Luke 2, it says, That that night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. The Savior, yes, the Messiah, the Lord, has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David. And you will recognize him by this sign. You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger. Good news that will bring great joy to all people. That's us. All people. You know, and it's easy to get Jesus wrong. You think that he lived a life that was just full of sorrow and frustration. Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would be a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. But he was talking specifically about the days and the times surrounding Jesus' crucifixion. You know, and he experienced grief like we all do at other parts of his life. But uh Jesus did not live on earth as a man of sorrow. Jesus lived a life of tremendous joy. He lived a life of joy. In Hebrews 1, verse 8, it says, But to the Son he says, Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever. You rule with a scepter of justice. You love justice and hate evil. Therefore, O God, your God has anointed you. He's talking about Jesus, pouring out the oil of joy on you more than on anyone else. Jesus had more joy in his life than anyone else ever. Let me say it another way. Jesus enjoyed his life on earth more than anyone else ever. He's talking to his followers in John 15. He says, I've told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow. And in John 17, Jesus is praying to God the Father. He says, Now I'm coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world, so they would be filled with my joy. You may know C.S. Lewis for writing Chronicles of Narnia. He said, It's not so much the joy of the Lord we are seeking, but the Lord of joy himself. So you may not have thought of Jesus that way, enjoying life, a life of joy. But it's true. His first miracle was turning water to wine at a big party. You know, in the Bible, it seems like every time Jesus met someone, he would immediately invite himself over for dinner. In Luke 7, this is Jesus speaking. It says, For John the Baptist didn't spend his time eating bread or drinking wine, and you say he's possessed by a demon. But the Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say he's a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners. But wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those who follow it. Well, Jesus wasn't a drunkard and a glutton, but he did enjoy his life. He enjoyed everyday types of things, like we do, friendships and food. And of course, he had deeper types of joy, helping people and healing people and introducing people to God the Father who loves them and wants to adopt them as his own children. But it's important that we know that following Jesus is not a life sentence to be an uptight religious, know it all. It's not. It's an opportunity to live a life full of joy. To deeply enjoy God, enjoy each other, enjoy every day. So together on Sundays, we've been asking God to give us His joy. And we've talked about how joy is not some rare thing, you know, that's out there somewhere that we just go harder and we go faster and we just try to find it and hold on to it. The joy actually is an abundant thing. It's more like sunshine. It is all around us. You know what we can do is just slow down and so we can experience it moment by moment, day by day. Now, Jesus didn't go 24-7 around the clock. You know, he prioritized and he slowed down. He took some time, he experienced life every day. And when I think about joy, I cannot help but think about Christmas Eve. You know, this is the time when we stop for an hour and we celebrate one thing that Jesus chose to do that was a reflection of his joyful heart. And that's that Jesus chose to become a little child. You know, he chose to become a little child. That didn't happen to Jesus. He planned it, he chose it. It didn't have to be that way at all. You know, he only lived half of a typical life on earth. You know, he was born when he was around uh the age of 33. He was kind of transformed in his final moment and then uh went back to be with God in heaven. It could have been the other way around. You know, he could have done it the opposite way. I definitely would have done it the opposite way. I would have showed up at age 33. Hello, you know, lived another 33 years, and then went home. I would have done it that way. But Jesus didn't, he chose to be born as a baby. There's something about that that I really can't explain, but to me it says something about Jesus. It says something about uh his heart, it's an expression of his joy and his playfulness, maybe. It's an expression of his love for children, that he would choose to become a child himself. You know, it's fitting that Christmas has become so focused on children. Because Jesus loves kids. And kids loved to be around Jesus. And to the children here tonight, we're so glad that you're here. And you should know that Jesus loves you. You know, and he loves you now, he's going to love you your entire life long. That he always will. In Mark 9, talking about Jesus, it says, He put a child in the middle of the room, then cradling the little one in his arms, he said, Whoever embraces one of these children as I do, embraces me, and far more than me, God who sent me. In Matthew 21, it says, When the religious leader saw the outrageous things he was doing, and heard all the children running and shouting through the temple, Hosanna to David's son, they were up in arms and they took him to task. Do you hear what these children are saying? Jesus said, Yes, I hear them. And haven't you read in God's word from the mouths of children and babies? I'll furnish a place of praise. And Jesus said one other thing that's pretty amazing about children in Matthew 19. But Jesus said, Let the children come to me. Don't stop them. For the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are like these children. To those who are like these children. And if we want to experience joy like Jesus did, if we would like to enjoy life like Jesus did, we can do the thing that Jesus did. We can choose to become a child again. What if we could enjoy Christmas like a child again? You know, one of the reasons children enjoy Christmas so much is that they trust someone else to take care of it. You know, it might be Santa, it might be mom or dad, but they know someone's gonna take care of it. They're not worried about it, they just enjoy it. You know, in general, kids don't spend that much time worrying, especially aren't worried about who's gonna pay for Christmas. Now, obviously, as parents, we've got to make wise choices, you know, and there's a lot of us that have simplified our lives and simplified our Christmas because there's nothing like a credit card bill in January to, you know, ruin that old Christmas spirit. But children aren't worried about it, they can just enjoy it. They trust someone else to take care of them. Now, Jesus makes a promise to us that he will not break, that he will take care of us. In Matthew 6, he says, so don't worry about these things, saying, What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear? These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers. But your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the kingdom of God above all else and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need. Seeking the kingdom of God, you know, that just means that instead of us, you know, frantically trying to build our own little kingdoms, you know, we can be aware of what God is doing and decide to be a part of that. Many of us are going through difficult times, really hard times. And you should know that God will take care of you. He will. He will take care of you. You will have a roof over your head, you will have enough to eat, you will have enough to drink, you will have clothes to wear, he will see to it. And he might use other people to help, but he himself will see to it. He loves you. He is not mad at you. He loves you, he's not given up on you. He's for you. And he will take care of you. He'll make sure you have everything that you need. You know, like Jesus, we can choose to become a child. Trust someone else to take care of us. Jesus promises that he will, and he will. Another thing children do at Christmas time is they focus on the presence. Now we try to fix that. You know, we work on them. And we're like, you know, you get, you know, it's just it's more fun to give than receive, you know, and uh over time we kind of transition to that actually becomes true, where we look forward to giving more than we do receiving. But but you know, as children, honestly, we're excited about the presence. Very few kids ever get on Santa's lap and just rattle off a list of all the stuff they're hoping to give. It's uh it's more like Ralphie, you know, in the movie Christmas Story. You know, it's a red rider BB gun. I mean, that's what he's focused on. That's what he wants. That's what he could think about. Susan gave me a red rider BB gun three years ago for Christmas. The uh I'm kind of immature that way, but uh I loved it, and as you can tell, I didn't shoot my eye out, so that was good. Um a couple years before that, she actually gave me the leg lamp. It uh she did, it came in a crate, it said fragili on the side, and uh and all that. So I opened it up and I put it right in our front window. And I could tell by the uh looks on the neighbors' face that apparently not everyone has seen the movie. But as grown-ups, we can choose, we can choose to be like Ralphie. We can focus on the gift. You know, that is the joy of Christmas. God's gift to the world, God's gift to each of us. In Romans 3, it says, since we've compiled this long and sorry record as sinners and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity, he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we're in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by the means of Jesus Christ. In Ephesians 2, it says, now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It's God's gift from start to finish. What a gift. What a gift. None of us deserves to be adopted as God's own child. I mean, I certainly don't, but we are. But we are. You know, there isn't a formula for that. We trust Jesus. You know, there's not an aisle we have to walk. You know, it's more of a heart thing. You know, we return to Jesus and we say, okay, I need you. Please help me. I'm gonna follow you. And then Jesus makes our spirits come alive inside. And he helps us, and he teaches us, and he changes us from the inside out. It's a gift, it's a gift. And so this Christmas, we can be like children. We can focus on the gift. One thing about children is they find joy in anything. You know, we live as adults in a pretty jacked-up world. And we get knocked around, you know, and we get hurt and we get cynical and a little negative. Children, on the other hand, and they find joy all around them. Cardboard boxes, you know, become forts and castles. We've probably experienced that as parents. You give some gift you're excited about, and the child wants to play in the box. Pots and pans or drum sets, getting into mom's makeup can be a whole party. You know, we too can stop and see the joy all around us. You know, people and music and nature and art and God. In Luke 10, at that same time, Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit. And he said, Oh Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way. You know, it's Christmas Eve. Why don't we all just be childish? Just childish. Know that someone will take care of us. Focus on the gift, experience the joy that's all around us. The angel told the shepherds, I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The good news was that God himself had chosen to become a child. We can too. Let's pray. Father, we thank you. We thank you for being such a great father, for adopting us as your very own children. We're all in different spots with different needs, and God, we just ask you to help each of us. Holy Spirit, we thank you for teaching us. We thank you for filling us. Jesus, you are the joy to the world. Please give each of us your joy tonight. We love you and we thank you, and it's in your name we pray. Amen.