All right, well, we're going to get into, if you will, we're going to touch a little bit on the Christmas narrative this morning. There's two main passages in the Bible that talk about it, in Matthew and Luke. But you've heard the story over and over and over again. And again, I hate to use the word story because it's not a story. It's not make-believe. This is not fiction. It's the real deal. These things really happen. So it's a biblical account. So we're going to basically go through just very quickly the Christmas narrative, and then we're going to go to a very, very familiar passage and expand on it. John chapter 3 and verse 16 through 18 tell us the answer to a question we're going to ask. An individual a couple of weeks ago come up to me and said, hey, do you have your Christmas message put together yet? And I was like, no, I'm still assembling it. And he made this comment to me. He said, oh, here's my concept. You were there. And I began to think about that and ponder it. And it's like, you were there. When we go back to the time when Jesus Christ was born, some 2,000 years ago, were you, and I mean you, were you there? And that's the question we're going to look at this morning and give you a biblical insight into the question, were you there, if you will, when Christ was born? Christmastime often makes us think about family and friends. And I mean, it's a good time. Sometimes we think about family members or friends that have gone on before. And it's a it's a time we do a lot of introspection during this Christmas season, because traditionally, families try to get together, friends try to get together, you have things that you do. But as many of you, and some already are, traveling over the next couple of weeks, you'll leave, you'll go to see family, friends, have a good time, hopefully. But for some of you, you won't be able to see everybody that you wanted to see. And you won't be able to travel to those places maybe where some of your family and friends are. And you'll begin to process and you'll begin to think about these individuals during this time, maybe some that have passed on and gone before you in death, if you will. Some of you may pick up a picture album and you'll begin to look at pictures. And it places you mentally and emotionally in that place. where that picture was taken. And maybe you'll begin to ponder about some folks and some things and maybe how they had an influence in your life and things that they did which just endeared them to you. So you may not be able to see them physically. You may not have seen them for years. But yet, you are consciously Thinking about these people it is often said and especially the media likes to use this one when a tragedy happens, but Usually when one of us uses these statements we truly mean it maybe it's somebody who doesn't live in your neighborhood, or maybe it's somebody who lives far away from you and Something happens to their family or some tragedy hits and what the normal? Thing we say is, well, we're praying for you. Or often you'll hear the statement, our thoughts and our prayers are with you. We're thinking of you. So we're going to take you way back some 2,000 years ago when Jesus was just being born, when the Father was there, the Holy Spirit was there, the angelic chorus, if you will, was there. Many others were there. But may I suggest this morning that you were there as well. You say, how could I be there? That's 2,000 years ago. I wasn't even born yet. My parents weren't born. My grandparents weren't born. Well, as we're going to see, there's a reason why Jesus Christ came into the world. I know many of you, if not the vast majority of you here this morning, you put your faith and trust in Christ. You know beyond a shadow of a doubt, if you were to die, you'd go to heaven. And I want to take you back. And that's perfect right now. I want to take you back to when the little baby was born. And I want to remind you of when you put your faith and trust in Christ. If you don't know for sure if you died you go to heaven, this message for the most part is not for you. I'm speaking mainly to Christians this morning. And I want to take us back to the time when, when is that time when all of a sudden you realized who Christ was. When you realize that Jesus was much more than a little baby at Christmas time. When you realize that Jesus would grow up and He would pay the ultimate sacrifice so that you could go to heaven when you die. And I want to suggest again that you were on Jesus' mind when He was placed in that crib, if you will, in the manger. You were on His mind definitely when He went to the cross. because he loves you. And that is the reason why Christ Jesus came into the world. Were you there? Luke chapter 2, just a couple of verses to remind us of the Christmas narrative. And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. That's a kind way of saying everybody was getting taxed. This census took place while Quirinius was governing Syria, also a place we're very familiar with right now in the news. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Now you'll see some things in red here. One of the wonderful things about scripture is that one-third, almost well about 27%, 28% of your entire Bible, when it was written was prophecy. There are 321 specific prophecies from the Old Testament and the Gospels that came to pass when Jesus came into this world at his first advent, 321. Now folks, if you were here this morning or watching on the internet and it's like, is this Bible true? Is what's said in the Bible true? I ask you this, is there any other, and I'm loosely using this word, religion, faith, that has 321 prophecies about somebody that was to come to be the savior of the world. And may I suggest that Christianity, the Bible, is the only authoritative book that gives us this type of information. Three specific things were prophesied and fulfilled in the next two verses that we're going to look at. Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea. Now again, Israel has three main regions, Galilee to the north, Samaria in the middle and Judea in the south where of course Jerusalem was and Bethlehem just six miles south of that. So he went out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, in other words, the southern part of Israel to the city of who? David, which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house and lineage of David to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So when we think about this narrative now that's taking place, 94 miles north of where Jesus and his very pregnant wife are going to take a 94 mile trip from Nazareth all the way down to Bethlehem where they would be registered. In other words, it was a governmental deal. But it was God's deal. And God had made it very clear that Jesus, the Messiah, had to be born in Bethlehem. Why would Joseph take his wife, who's great with child, and travel 94 miles, not in an airplane, not in a nice SUV, not down nice, cozy roads. Why would he take her, make her go through that torturous ride, if you will, 94 long, hard miles to get to Bethlehem? to fulfill what God said had to take place. Micah chapter 5 verse 2, written about 730 BC, 700 plus years before Christ would be born. But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to me, the one to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting. Now, of course, when Jesus came at his first advent, he was not coming to be the ruler. When he comes back the second time in his second advent, spoken about in the book of Revelation, then he will be ruling this world. But for this first advent, he's coming as the sacrificial lamb. He's coming as the lamb without spot and without blemish. He's coming as the one who will come to die for your sins. Isaiah 7.14, we talk about this young lady who was betrothed to Joseph, had a little discussion at the Senior Citizens Banquet, which was great, thanks for those who were able to come, and about this word betrothal. And again, many of you know what that means, but back in Old Testament, or during Old Testament and first century times, a betrothal was a legal contract between a man and a woman. They were not allowed to live together at this time. It was a sacred contract. It was actually endorsed scripturally, we'll find out. But the bottom line is it was a man and a woman. They had come together in legal binding contract only. They didn't live in the same house. They didn't have any intimate relationships. They were meant to have this betrothal for approximately a one year time. The reason they had a one year time is to make sure that the female was not with child. Well, here we have a major problem. Marries with child. Joseph had never lived with her. Joseph had no intimacy with her. They had a legal binding contract that they would be married. And the Bible allows for the concept of if you were betrothed and one was found to be unfaithful, they had a right to make a separation or to break that contract because of, if you will, unfaithfulness. Well, here's Mary with child, and as you know, and we're not going to go through the complete narrative on that, but they were betrothed. And an angel had to come to Joseph after Joseph said, I'll put her away. I can't deal with this. I love Mary. I love her with all my heart, but I can't marry her. She's been unfaithful to me. Angel showed up and said, hey, Joseph, and Joseph said, Ha! He says, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. It's okay, Joseph. Let me tell you something. Joseph looks at this angel. Now folks, if an angel shows up and starts to talk to you, which I don't suggest will happen in this generation, but when the angel shows up and begins to share with Joseph, listen, my dear friend, don't be afraid. The baby that's within Mary is of the Holy Spirit. God implanted that baby there. It is the Messiah. He's coming. And all of a sudden Joseph said, all right, I get it. And Joseph did get it, and he stayed with Mary, and he takes his dear betrothed wife. Now what's the point of this? Isaiah 7.14 said she must conceive, if you will, the Holy Spirit. She had to be a virgin. She did not know a man. In Isaiah, 700 years before this took place, behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel. He had to be virgin born. And I always go to this. Why couldn't Jesus have a physical father? Because Romans chapter five makes it very clear. Wherefore, as one man, Adam, sin entered into the world and death by sin. And so death passed upon all men and woman for all of sin. Sin is transmitted through the father, not through Mary. It was transmitted through the father. So he had to be virgin born and have the Holy Spirit, if you will, come upon Mary. Well, another thing it said was the city of David. Why is that important? We go back to 2 Samuel chapter 7 where God made it very clear hundreds of years before the event that Jesus would come from the line of David. Nathan is speaking to King David and he's telling him this, when your days, King David, are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, now what did he mean you rest with your fathers? He meant when you're dead. When you die, King David, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his what? His kingdom. His kingdom. Whose kingdom are we talking about? Well, of course, we know we're talking about Jesus Christ, the Messiah. He, Jesus Christ, shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. So it was, back to Luke 2, verse 6, so it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her, for Mary to be delivered, and she brought forth her firstborn son, and as we talked about a few moments earlier, wrapped him in swaddling clothes to protect him, to make sure he was without spot, without wrinkle, unblemished, and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. Again, as we get into the text now, I ask you, were you there? This morning, we're going to examine the Scriptures to show that you were on the mind of God at the coming of Jesus Christ. Father, I pray now that as we go through this section of John 3, that Lord, you remind us as believers in Jesus Christ that we were on your mind well before we were ever created, that you cared about us and loved us Our parents even had a thought about creating us. Father, that you looked down upon sinful mankind. You knew they were going to sin. You knew that when Adam and Eve sinned, that sin would pass upon all people. And you knew you had to have a plan for every single one of us if we were to live for you forever in a place called heaven and, of course, the new Jerusalem and the new heavens and the new earth that you've told us about. So Father, I pray that as we look at this, that we would be enraptured once again with the Christmas narrative, that we remember why Jesus came as that precious baby, that he didn't just come to be cuddled and to be swaddled, but he came to literally give his life for every single one of us in this room and those watching this morning. Father, would you make it clear at us, may we celebrate this Christmas with a newfound fervor in our love for Jesus Christ. And Father, if there's anyone here this morning that's never understood the love of God this morning, they're not sure if they died, they go to heaven, that Father, you'd speak to their hearts this morning and may they find Jesus to be their Savior as well. Now, Father, we commit this precious time to you in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, let's go to John chapter three, very familiar verses. but we're going to dissect it and add quite a bit of material to it from the Scriptures. Now you know the verse, we could all recite it together. In fact, let's do that. For God, let's say it, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3.16, first part says, for God so loved who? The world. That's every single one of us, that's every single person in this room, that's every single person watching this morning. God so loved you. You say, wait a second, that happened thousands of years ago. How could God know who I was? How could the God, I don't know if he's omniscient, if he knows all things, how could he know these things in the future? How could he know the past, the present, and the prophetic? Well, the psalmist tells us how. O Lord, Psalm 139, you have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up. You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You have hedged me behind and before and laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high, I cannot attain it. Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol or the grave, behold, you are there. If I take the wings in the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, surely the darkness shall fall on me, even the night shall be light about me. Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from you, but the night shines as the day. The darkness and the night are both alike to you." You say, alright, well that's talking about God watching over us today. What about this idea of God knowing about me before I existed? Verse 13, for you, speaking of God, formed my inward parts. Colossians 1, verse 16 tells us that Christ created all things. Jesus Christ created you. You say, no, my mom and dad put me together. They formed me. No, my dear friend, without God's intervention, you would not be here. You formed, God, my inward parts. You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are your works and that my soul knows very well. Now catch these verses. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made, what? In secret. Wait a second. We're going back now to the conception time. My frame was put together. Mom and dad came together and he says, you were there. You knew about my frame. It wasn't hidden from you. When I was made in secret, that very moment, you knew who I was and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my what? My substance being yet unformed. Wait a second. You mean to tell me, Pastor, that God knew about me when my mom and dad came together. He already knew who I was. The substance, if you will, We could be very specific. The sperm and the egg are yet to come together. And God knew my substance. He knew what was going to come together. He knew who I was. It's exactly what it says. Your eyes saw my substance being yet unformed. And in your book, they were all written. The days fashioned for me when as yet there were what? None of them. None of them. God said, listen, I know you. You say, how could God know me? Why would God care about me? Because he made you. He made you. Let's go back to grade school for a couple minutes. Long time ago, right? Long time for me. And it's art class time. And hey, get out your little your little glue sticks and your little Elmer's glue back in the day. Now they got fancy glue sticks. We had to use that silly Elmer's glue and you get out your little scissors and you get out the paper and you make the little cutouts that you're going to do and you're going to make your little art project. And the first thing after you get it done and let's be honest, it wasn't real pretty except for maybe a couple of you. And you got this little art project and it's all Kind of thrown together, you did your best, and it colored outside the lines, you cut and you missed some stuff, but you made it. I mean, it's your project. You put it together. Now, what's the next thing you're going to do with that art project? Well, you're going to take it home. And what are you going to do when you get home? Mommy, Daddy, let me show you what I made at school today, and it's for you. And you look at it and go, oh, eBay. No, you don't do that. You look at it and you say, look at that. Look at that. You did that. You did that all by yourself. I sure did, mom. I sure did, daddy. And you were proud of it and you loved it because you made it. And maybe it's something and either the mom and dad and they put it in the center of the table or they put it on the refrigerator door and they make a big deal out of it. But you're so pleased and you're so happy because you made it. It's your project. God looks down and He said, I made a bunch of art projects. I made billions of art projects. Eight billion people on this earth today. Every single one is a project that God put together. God doesn't make a mistake. God didn't mess up in what He made. And every single one of you are one of His precious art projects. Ashley this morning sang in my Son and daughter-in-law their brand new baby couple weeks ago down in junior church this morning. I think they're down there Maybe they're not I Don't see a couple other folks that might be down there this morning Trevor and Abby before that baby was born their firstborn baby. They Were a little concerned a little nervous. How are we gonna take care of that baby? I? How am I going to be a good mommy? Am I going to be a good daddy? And I'm going to share, I shouldn't share this, but I'm going to. They can't stop me. So we're over at Trevor and Abby's home and mama, I'm sorry, grandma is holding little Nora, Nora Christine Schmidt. And she's holding that little baby and the baby was behaving. And every time Trevor would walk by, he'd stop and give the baby a kiss and go sit down. He did that multiple times. Why? It's his baby. Just like your babies. And you love them and you care for them. And God said, I love you. You saw my substance being yet unformed, and in your book they all were written. The days fashioned for me when as yet there were none of them. Well, God's declaration of His love for you now is demonstration for God so loved the world, every single person, that He did what? He gave His only begotten Son. That precious Jesus who was born as a baby. God brought His Son because He was thinking about you. Jesus would not come into this world, take on human flesh, Go through the tortures that He had to go through, through the crucifixion, if it wasn't because we were not on His mind. Every single one of you, when Jesus came to this earth, it was because He knew you. He knew you needed a Savior. He knew you needed someone that would care about you and love you and provide a way for you to spend eternity with Him. What did He do? He gave His only begotten Son. How did He give Him? Through His death, His burial, and His resurrection. Hebrews 2.9 tells us, but we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, Why? For the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. Everyone. Not just the rich. Not just the famous. Not just the middle class. Not just those who are struggling. not just those who would so forth follow a religion. No, he said, I came for everyone. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, you were on his mind. Every single one of you, 8 billion people today, billions and billions more over the centuries, he came because he loves you. Philippians 2, let this mind be in you. which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but here it is, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Why? Because Jesus came, because he loves you. Were you there when the night Jesus was born? I'll guarantee you, you were in God's mind the day He was born. Father looked down and said, there's my precious Son. He had to leave my side. He had to leave heaven's glory because He knew about every single one of us needing a Savior, and you were on His mind. Therefore, God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those in heaven and those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." You see, you have a decision to make, some of you in this room this morning, some watching. Most of you have already made this decision. This morning, every single person will be given an invitation to put their faith and trust in Christ. Many of you have already accepted that invitation. You say, well, this verse is kind of confusing. When is everybody going to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord? Well, many of you have already done that. You put your faith in Christ. For those of you that will perish, and I hope there's no one here that follows this, but if you're here this morning and you say, listen, I'm not ready to put Jesus as my Savior. I'm not ready to accept Him by faith. I want to do it my way. I don't want this thing. I don't want this religion. I don't want this Bible stuff. I want to try it my way. And God says, one day you will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, but it will be too late if you've died. You see, at the great white throne judgment, Revelation chapter 20, verse 11 to 15, every single person that has ever been born will stand before Christ. Those that have rejected Him. And at that point, you will realize that Jesus Christ is Lord as you stand before Him. Now again, if you put your faith and trust in Christ, you won't be at the great white throne judgment, you'll be living with him. But if you reject Jesus Christ, you will at one point in your existence, acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord. But again, if it's after death, it's too late. You don't wanna go there. You don't wanna go there. 1 John 2, 2, and he, Jesus himself, is the propitiation, the payment for our sins. And not for ours only, but also for the what? The whole world, everybody. Jesus said, I love everybody. No one is excluded. You wanna talk about the inclusion stuff that's going on in our government and social sciences and all this stuff? Well, we gotta include everybody. Well, what are they talking about? They're talking about a pluralistic, society where anything goes. Well, it doesn't matter what you believe about Christ. It doesn't matter what religion you are. It doesn't matter what faith you follow. We include everybody. Everybody's going to heaven. Yeah, uh-oh is right. Uh-oh. Doesn't work. Doesn't work that way. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes unto the Father except through me. And he himself is the payment, the propitiation for our sins, not for ours only. When he was there getting ready to come down and be born as this little baby, he was thinking about you. You say, how do you know that? Because Psalm 139 tells me he was. He knew about you before you were born. and he knew he had to do it. Luke 19.10, the mission of Christ, for the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, has come to seek and to save that which was lost. Were you lost one day, my dear friend? Were you lost in your sins? Were you hopeless? No hope? Didn't know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you'd go to heaven? Maybe you tried things, you did things, and you said, well, maybe if I go to church, maybe if I do right, maybe if I try, and all of a sudden you just realized you can't do it on your own. Remember the day when the Holy Spirit knocked on your heart's door and said, hey, I'm here for you. You've been on my mind for eternity. What? I've known about you forever. And I knew when I was going to create you. And I knew all about it. And I knew that one day I would have to come and die on a cross so that you could go to heaven. How about accepting me as your personal Savior the majority in this room, all of a sudden it made sense. It's like, okay, it's the right thing to do. And you put your faith in Jesus, and you understood that Jesus came. What was His purpose? What was His mission? It was to save you. For Paul tells us this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to do what? To save sinners. It wasn't to get you a big fancy house. It wasn't to put a Mercedes in the garage. It wasn't to give you a big giant bank account. All those things are nice if you have them. But that's not why Jesus came. He came to seek and to save the lost. It's not about finances. It's not about class. It's not about wealth. It's not about anything else. It's not about what kind of job you have. It's all about one thing. It all comes down to one little teeny thing. That me and you were born in sin and Jesus said, I love you and I want you. Well, the desired outcome of God's love for you. For God so loved the world, every single person, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever, anyone who believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Were you on Jesus' mind when He came? I would suggest you were. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, Jesus didn't come to say, listen, I'm coming, I'm gonna be the ruler and you either submit to me or I'm gonna get you. Now, what did he say? He said, I came, I gave my life, I sacrificed myself so that you could have eternal life. Jesus, I didn't come down, I could have condemned you before. If I wanted to condemn you, I would have never come down here. I just would have killed you and sent you to the lake of fire. That's not what God wants. The Bible says that God is not willing that any should perish. God's desire to convert sinners. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world, the world, every single person through him might be saved. He who believes in him, we're talking about anyone, he who believes in him is not condemned. And all God's people said, I mean, we're not condemned. We've been set free from the bondage of sin. Heaven will be our home. And one day, and if we went through the complete eschatological or future calendar, we're not gonna spend eternity in heaven. We'll be down with Jesus during the millennial kingdom here on earth. We'll spend an eternity going through the new heavens and the new earth, all these things which so many folks don't even know about, found in Revelation chapter 21. but God's got a big, big, big future for you that know Christ. He who believes in him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned. And we'll speak to that in just a moment already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Jesus said in this precious, all that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out, For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me. This is the will of the Father who sent me, that of all He has given me, I should lose what? Nothing. You say, well, wait a minute. Some folks will come to me and they say, Pastor, you know, I know I trusted Christ. And they'll name a time when they put their faith in Jesus. And all of a sudden they get messed up in their life and they go sideways and walk away from God for a period. And they'll come back and say, Pastor, I messed up. And I don't think I'm saved. I messed up. I did wrong. And I don't think God loves me anymore. And I say, why don't you just have a seat? I said, have you ever heard of a mom and a dad and their child wasn't perfect? Well, yeah. What happens when a child does wrong, disobeys mom and dad? Well, they get out a certificate of annulment and they take your name off the birth certificate and say, I'm no longer your parents legally. Is that what happens? Now, you may want to do that sometimes, but it's not happening. And you take that child and God takes you when you mess up. And he says, all right, you messed up. The Holy Spirit 1 Corinthians 3, verse 16 says the Holy Spirit lives within us. And Ephesians 4, verse 30 says, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God by whom you are sealed unto the day of redemption. And it's like, all right, you messed up. Now you just go apologize to the Lord, confess what you did wrong to Him, get right, and start living back for the Father. He didn't throw you out. You say, well, I don't deserve to be His child. You're right, none of us do. But He still loves you if you put your faith in Him. This is the will of the Father who sent me that of all He has given me I should lose nothing but should raise it up in the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent me that everyone who sees the Son, Jesus Christ, and believes in Him may have what? Everlasting life. And I will! Not maybe, not hopefully, not, eh, you can kind of bet on it, no. I will, guaranteed, raise him up. In the last day, were you there? Were you there? Oh, you were there. You were on his mind. Every single one of you. And by the way, you're still on his mind. and he still wants fellowship with you, Christian. He still wants you to live for him. He still wants you to walk with him. He still wants you to read his word. He still wants you to talk to him. Every time you get into a bad situation or a tough situation or even a good situation, hey, Father, man, it's just been tough this week. Had some really tough things. I'm really going through some hard things. And God says, well, that's good. I'm glad you came to me and talked to me. And I'm gonna try and help you through this. Walk with me, I'll get you through it. Father, it's been a great week. You know how often we forget to thank God when it's good? Let's thank God when it's good as well. Let's remember to thank Him for what He's done for us. Let's remember on this Christmas time to thank Him for what Jesus did. Let's remember that He knew about us before we were ever formed. He knew about us and loved us before mom and dad ever came together. He knows who you are and he loves you. And he loves you. All right, we're getting close. Keep it coming. We're gonna close with this. Those of you that are Christians, Christmas is here. It's time to remember who Jesus is Rejoice with your families. Talk about Jesus. Let them know who he is. Let them know how much you love him. Don't be afraid to share that with your family and friends. Do it always speaking the truth in love. Let's remember that Jesus remembered you. Finally, if you're here this morning, we're gonna spend two minutes. If you're to die right now, now I want you to listen to me. If you're to die right now, do you know that heaven is your home? Four quick things. Whether you've been here one time or a thousand times, the simplicity of the gospel is key to everything we just talked about. The Bible tells us in Romans 3.23 that we've all sinned and come short of the glory of God. That is why Jesus was born and came to this earth, because he loves you and knew we were sinners. You say, well, what does this coming to earth have to do with my sin? I understand I've done wrong. I understand I'm a sinner. What is Jesus gonna do to help me with that? Well, second thing God tells us is we deserve eternal separation from God. You say, well, that doesn't help me either. That's not very good news. Romans 6.23 says the wages of our sin are what we've earned because we've sinned is death, eternal separation from God. You're like, well, that's terrible. I didn't wanna hear that. All right, well it doesn't end there, but wait, there's more. Number three, Jesus paid the price for your sin. First Corinthians gives us the gospel. The apostle Paul says, for I deliver to you first of all that which I also received, that Christ, that precious little baby boy, why did he come? He came to die for our sins according to the scriptures. And not only did he die, but he was buried. It wasn't a fake death, it was a real death. They buried him for three days. He stayed in the tomb. But what happened to prove he did come alive? He rose again the third day according to the scriptures. Do you believe that this morning? Do you believe with all your heart that Jesus Christ is God's son? Do you believe with all your heart that Jesus knew who you were before creation happened? He knew who you were. He knew that you would become a sinner. He knew that you'd need a Savior. And He knew that He needed to come to this earth to give His life, to pay for your sin. And He did that. He did just that. So what do you need to do to get to heaven? Final thing, the Bible says accept the payment for your sin today. You say, well, what's the payment? What is the payment? How do I pay for my sin? How much good works do I have to do? How much faith do I have to exercise? How many wonderful things do I have to do to overcome my bad? Catch the verse. Here's what you have to do. Salvation for by grace. God's free unmerited gift. You have been saved. Wait a minute. Are you telling me that Just like at Christmas when somebody hands me a gift and I take it, that's what salvation is, yes? It's exactly what the scripture says. It's God's grace, it's a free unmerited gift. You don't even deserve this gift. But he says, I wanna give it to you. And he says, what, you've been saved. What does he mean saved? He means saved from sin and the penalty of sin. And what is it through? What's the word, folks? This isn't what Pastor Rich wrote. This isn't something that came out of a liturgical handbook. This is the word of God. It's through faith. You say, well, I've been going to church all my life, and I've heard I have to work my way and try my hardest and do so many things, and maybe God will let me into heaven. And God says, well, maybe we should read his word. And his word says, no, it's not by what you do. It's by what he did. It's by faith. And that not of yourself, can it get any clearer? Can it be any clearer? It's not of yourselves. It is the what? It's a Christmas gift. It's the best gift you can ever receive when you take Jesus at his word and say, I'm taking that free gift of eternal life. It's not of our works. Lest anyone should boast. What will you do with Jesus today? Father, thank you for your love for us. Father, thank you for Jesus. Thank you for the one that came as the precious little baby who would grow up to be sacrificed for our sins. Father, may each of us who is a believer in Jesus, every single one of us who at some point in our life put our faith in Christ, oh, would we relish that this Christmas season. Oh, might we think about that this Christmas season. Oh, might we proclaim that during this Christmas season. Thank you, thank you for what Jesus did for us. Finally, if you're here this morning, whether you're watching on the internet or whether you're in this room, I want to ask you one final question. I just spoke to you. If you died right now, would you go to heaven? Would you go to heaven to be with Jesus? You say, well, when I walked in here, I wasn't so sure about that. I wasn't so sure, but I've listened to the word of God this morning. I've seen it from the Bible. And I didn't realize that it was, if you will, as simple as putting my faith in Jesus. Well, it's not simple because it costs Christ His life. It costs Jesus coming down from heaven to die on that cross for your sins. It costs Jesus leaving heaven's glory to come down and take on simple humanity form. But He was God, man, who died for you. Would you receive that gift this morning? He wants to give it to you. It's right there. He's holding it out right in front of your face. Would you reach out and grab the free gift this morning? You say, I want to do that. I do want to go to heaven when I breathe my last. All right, right there where you are, receive that free gift. You say, how do I do it? It's by faith. It's by faith. Maybe you'd like to thank God. One of the good things that we should do after we receive a gift is to thank the person that gave it to us. I'm going to pray a prayer of thanksgiving. The prayer is not what takes you to heaven. It's your faith that does. But if you're putting your faith in Jesus this morning, maybe you'd like to thank him. You can pray silently along with me something like this. Dear God, I knew this morning that I was a sinner, and I understood that I guess I don't deserve to go to heaven. I know I haven't lived the perfect life, but now I understand that Jesus knew about me before I was ever created, and that He loves me. And I understand that Jesus came down from heaven, died on the cross for my sins, was buried, and three days later rose from the dead to prove that He was God. And as the scripture states, I'm receiving, I have received that free gift of eternal life by placing my faith in Jesus this morning. Thank you for this blessed Christmas time. Now, Father, I pray that you'd seal decisions this morning, help us walk out of here rejoicing that we know Jesus, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, who is coming again, and we'll give you the praise, the honor, and the glory, and all God's people said,