Podcast Summary: Church of the Highlands – Sunday Messages - Audio
Episode: Jesus at the Center
Date: December 14, 2025
Host: Church of the Highlands (Pastor Chris)
Theme: Keeping Jesus at the center of our lives—practically and spiritually—especially in the Christmas season.
Episode Overview
In this message titled “Jesus at the Center,” Pastor Chris draws from the nativity story and focuses on a powerful, timely reminder: It’s possible to have Jesus in your life without having Him at the center. By creatively rearranging the nativity scene, Pastor Chris illustrates how work, wealth, relationships, and even pleasures can become the central focus of our lives—sometimes unintentionally pushing Jesus out of the core position He rightfully deserves. He uses Scripture, personal stories, and relatable cultural references to challenge listeners to reorder their lives so that Jesus regains His rightful place at the center.
Key Discussion Points and Insights
1. Every Number Is a Person & Our Lives Make a Difference
- Opening Praise for What God Is Doing
- Celebrates the number of people saved and reminds that “every single number is a person” ([01:28]).
- “If that 1361 people that got saved yesterday was your niece or your nephew or, or your daughter, you'd really be giving God some more praise.” ([01:48])
- Church Mission and Outreach
- Reaches out via small groups, college, prison ministry, and more across Alabama and Georgia.
- Emphasizes living to “make a difference”—not for ourselves but for the world ([03:00]).
2. Personal Nativity Story & The Message’s Inspiration
- Family Traditions Centered on Jesus
- Pastor Chris shares about his childhood home where Jesus was the visible focus at Christmas ([04:28]).
- His father crafted an elaborate Nativity scene as the centerpiece, “reminding us that it’s all about Jesus.”
- Nativity’s Historical Roots
- Details origin with St. Francis of Assisi (1223) and the traditional nativity figures ([06:13]).
- Points out cultural and historical inaccuracies with humor and humility (e.g., wise men probably came later).
3. Nativity as a Metaphor: What’s at the Center of Our Lives?
- Orbiting Around Something
- Challenges: “All of us have our lives orbiting around something... For a tire or a wheel, that would be the hub. You’re only as strong as the hub.” ([13:00])
- “Jesus can be in my life and not be at the center.” ([13:28])
- Cultural Christianity
- Warns against being a “cultural Christian”—having Jesus in the picture but not central ([14:28]).
- “Maybe your life's not broken. Maybe it's just not set up right.” ([15:43])
4. What Happens When Other Things Take the Center?
Pastor Chris theatrically rearranges the nativity to illustrate possible “centers” of our lives:
a. Work at the Center (Shepherd) — [17:17]
- “Work is a wonderful gift. It’s just a terrible god.”
- The dangers of finding self-worth and identity in productivity.
- Shares a personal story: “2007 was the year we built the grants mill facility. I gave more to it than I should have. And it cost me my family in ways that, thank God, God has redeemed...” ([22:56])
b. Wealth/Success at the Center (Wise Men) — [25:30]
- The trap of making wealth, attainments, and success the focal point.
- “Money promises you a lot, but it keeps you actually always wanting more.”
- Cites Steve Jobs: “He had all of his signal in one place, and it still couldn't bring him life.” ([28:14])
- Quotes 1 Timothy: “Command those who are rich... not to put your hope in wealth, which is so uncertain...” ([27:40])
c. Relationships at the Center (Mary & Joseph) — [30:51]
- Addressing family/relationship idolatry: “We do want to prioritize family, but God's gotta be first, not family.”
- Over-prioritizing relationships leads to disappointment: “You put pressure on those people to be something that only God can be.” ([32:00])
- Funny Q&A with John Maxwell: “Does Tammy make you happy?” — “No, she does not... Tammy can't make me happy... if I put all the pressure for my happiness on my spouse... I made her something that only God can be.” ([33:47])
d. Pleasure/Hobbies at the Center (Animals) — [36:16]
- Animals represent fun, hobbies, sports, shopping, leisure.
- Cultural reference: Football in Alabama ("an atheist in Alabama is somebody who doesn't believe in Bear Bryant.”) ([38:50])
- “Pleasure makes life enjoyable. But it was never meant to be the thing that can fulfill your life.” ([41:11])
- Cites Luke 12’s “rich fool” parable.
In all scenarios, “Jesus was still there. Jesus was still in the picture. He just wasn't in the center.” ([41:37])
5. The Solution: Put Jesus Back in the Center
- Life Will Teach This Lesson
- “I don't have to preach this to you. Life will preach it to you... if it doesn't, if it's not working right, maybe it's not set up right.” ([43:37])
- The church exists to help reorder lives (prayer, groups, financial help, marriage guidance).
- Scriptural Foundation:
- Colossians 1: Sun is the image of the invisible God... in him all things hold together ([45:15]).
- “So if your life is falling apart... all you need to do is let him put it all back together.” ([45:54])
6. Practical Application: Two Steps to Recenter on Jesus
- Invite Jesus to Take His Rightful Place at the Center
- “...if you declare with your mouth Jesus is Lord...” ([47:58])
- “Whatever I won't trust Jesus with will quietly become the center of my life.”
- Involve Jesus in Every Area of Your Life
- “He wants to be your hunting camp God, your mall God, your go to work God.” ([49:10])
- Proverbs: “In all your ways, acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.” ([49:48])
- “My life will never make sense until I make Jesus the center of it all.” ([50:13])
Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments
- “Every single number is a person.” — Pastor Chris ([01:48])
- “Maybe your life's not broken. Maybe it's just not set up right.” ([15:43])
- “Work is a wonderful gift. It’s just a terrible god.” ([22:38])
- “Money promises you a lot, but it keeps you actually always wanting more.” ([28:53])
- “Family is a blessing, but it was never meant to be my source or the center of my life.” ([34:30])
- “Pleasure makes life enjoyable. But it was never meant to be the thing that can fulfill your life.” ([41:11])
- “Whatever I won't trust Jesus with will quietly become the center of my life.” ([48:04])
- “My life will never make sense until I make Jesus the center of it all.” ([50:13])
Important Timestamps
- [01:28] – Opening celebration and reminder of personal impact
- [04:28] – Pastor Chris's childhood Nativity story
- [06:13] – Nativity background and its characters
- [13:00] – “Everything orbits around something” (solar system, hub analogy)
- [17:17] – Shepherd/work at the center
- [22:56] – Personal story: work-life imbalance
- [25:30] – Wise men/wealth at the center
- [28:14] – Steve Jobs anecdote about misplaced focus
- [30:51] – Mary & Joseph/relationships at the center
- [33:47] – Q&A: “Does Tammy make you happy?”
- [36:16] – Animals/pleasure & hobbies at the center
- [38:50] – Football and culture (“Bear Bryant” joke)
- [41:37] – The warning: Jesus present but not central
- [45:15] – Colossians 1: Christ holds all things together
- [47:58] – Step 1: Invite Jesus to the center (“Jesus is Lord”)
- [49:10] – Step 2: Involve Jesus in all areas, not just on Sundays
- [50:13] – Key quote: “My life will never make sense...”
Conclusion
Pastor Chris’s message powerfully weaves the Christmas nativity into a broader challenge: Evaluate your life’s orbit. It’s not enough for Jesus to be somewhere on the periphery; He must be the hub, the focal point. The episode combines storytelling, relatable humor, scriptural insights, and practical steps, inviting listeners to pause, reorder, and walk into the season—and the next year—with Jesus truly at the center.
Final Prayer ([51:06]):
“Jesus, forgive me for having other things at the center of my life and today I'm reordering it. Would you take your rightful place... Be the Lord of my life... I’m going to put my faith and my life and my hope all in you, knowing you’re going to make everything else around me work out right when I set it up right.”
Merry Christmas!