← Mariners Church Weekend Messages
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Thanks for listening. This podcast is a ministry of Mariners Church, and everything we do to serve you, our communities, and our global family happens because of your generosity. Your financial support in the month of December is vital as we prepare for the next year of ministry. Everything you give equips us to reach our world with the hope of Jesus and serve those around us in his name. To give now and partner with us, visit marinerschurch.org give or click the link in the show notes. Thanks for your generosity and God bless you. Well, if you're new with us, we've been spending the last four years, every January and February, putting big questions on the table. And what we're seeing is that the scripture does not avoid our challenging questions and that God welcomes us with our questions. So I hope you'll join us the first weekend in January, but I'm excited to teach our Christmas message to you now. And if we haven't met, my name is Eric. I'm the senior pastor here. I want to welcome all our congregations that are joining us right now. I'm so glad that you are with us. I know that many over this Christmas season you've engaged in online shopping, whether for a friend or a family member. And if you're like me, sometimes you are amused by the reviews that people will leave on product pages. I just find it fascinating. For example, someone reviewed the DVD of the Wolf of Wall Street. They gave it a one star. They were really disappointed because they there were no wolves in the movie. They don't like that. Where's the wolves? They did not understand. So one star. Or this book also was given one star. A guy named Pac man reviewed it. He did not understand the book. Where's Baby's Belly Button? He says do not buy this book. You can see the ending right on the COVID The book is completely misleading. The entire plot revolves around finding Baby's Belly Button. The title makes this very clear from the beginning. However, there's no mystery. There's no twist. Baby's belly button is right where it's supposed to be, on Baby's stomach, right where it clearly shows you on the COVID of the book. So just one star Now. This review was four stars, but the person said it probably could have been five stars. They were disappointed because it did not come with sandwiches. The Tupperware didn't come with sandwiches like the photos showed. Otherwise, it was a good product notice. Four people found that review helpful. Like four people were like, I needed to know that. I needed to know that sandwiches aren't included. And last One this person. One star review for some, a mattress. Beds. Beds should look like beds. I ordered this when I had too much eggnog because I thought it was a giant ice cream sandwich. And clearly this user doesn't use sheets. If you just use sheets over your bed, everything would be fine. So I find the reviews fascinating. What's interesting though, over the next week and really even maybe over the next month, people will ask you, how was your Christmas? And oftentimes the answer that we give to the question, how was your Christmas? Sounds like a product review. Someone will say, maybe you will say five stars. It was great vibes this year. Christmas was great vibes. Everything I hoped I had, the people around the table that I hoped to be around the table, the friends and family I wanted to spend time with, the lights, the decorations, the nostalgia, everything was exactly as I planned. Five stars. And people who answer that, that way they're evaluating Christmas through the lens of the people at the table and all of the surroundings. Some, though will say it's two stars. I did not get what I wanted. I didn't get what I wanted. I remember when I was a child and I evaluated Christmas through the lens of the gifts that I would receive. There was one year that I was really disappointed because I wanted a mongoose dirt bike. And my parents, they would always get like the off brand version of whatever. And so they didn't give me a mongoose. They got me like an off brand BMX bike. And I couldn't do all the cool tricks in it. I couldn't do like the ollies and the flips. I couldn't do the bunny hops like my friends could. I envisioned I would be like the stars in the movie Rad. It was a BMX movie I used to watch as a kid and in my head I would be that guy. And the reason I couldn't do the tricks is because I didn't have the right bike. It wasn't. It had nothing to do with my skill level and my parents didn't give me the right bike. So two stars. I didn't get what I asked for, what I really wanted. And I want to say to kids and all of our congregations, listen, if you live at home with your mom or with your dad or with both parents and they are not charging you rent or money for the food that they feed you, you should be super grateful for anything you get because it's all extra. It's all extra that they give you. All extra. Some will say, one star this Christmas. It was a sad season. And for some of you, that's you. And I'm really, I'm impressed that you're gathering at church over Christmas because the lights remind you of a painful season in your life or the songs even. Maybe last Christmas there was someone around the table that's not around the table with you this Christmas. Or maybe you thought by this time in your life, by this Christmas, you would be engaged or by this Christmas, the promotion that you have been longing for would have happened. And so this is just been an unfulfilling or disappointing season. And I'm really glad you're here because Christmas reminds you. And I hope that God will encourage you throughout this message that Christmas reminds you that he is Emmanuel, God with us. And you are not alone. He's not forgotten you. He will never abandon you. And he's with you in the midst of your. Your pain. He's with you in the midst of your sadness. But how do you review Christmas? How would you review it? Now, the blessings surrounding Christmas aren't bad. It's great that we're able to exchange gifts with one another. It's amazing that we can enjoy a great Christmas meal. And the lights and the beauty, these are all gifts from God. They are not. God's not against those, and I'm not teaching against those. But those aren't the real message and meaning of Christmas. They're the blessings surrounding Christmas. And they're gifts from God, too. But they're not ultimately what Christmas really is. And what we've learned by looking at those crazy product reviews on Amazon is if someone doesn't understand the product, then their review of the product can be wildly off. Now, Christmas is not a product. It's not something you purchase. Christmas is also not a feeling. It's something much deeper than that. But if you misunderstand the real meaning and the real message of Christmas, then your review of Christmas can be wildly off. Actually, a really bold statement. If you don't understand Christmas, your life can be wildly off. If you don't understand the real meaning, the real message of Christmas, not only would just your review of this season be off, but the totality and the trajectory of your life could be off. I want to be sure, as your pastor, that I do all I can over the next couple of moments to help you understand the real message, the real meaning of Christmas. And I'm going to show you a review of Christmas in the scripture. And it's one verse, Second Corinthians, chapter eight, verse nine. And it's a Stunning review. The Apostle Paul writes this for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. This is such a stunning review. I want to be sure we get this into our hearts and minds this Christmas. So at all of our congregations. Will you read this with me aloud? This is God's word. Read this with me for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, for your sake, he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. This is God's word. There are two miracles that you see in this passage, two miracles of Christmas. That though he is rich, for your sake he becomes poor. Miracle one. And that through his poverty you might become rich. Miracle 2. C.S. lewis, the famous author writing about Christmas, really describes the two miracles of Christmas this way. He says the Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God. Two miracles that God the Son becomes a man. Miracle one. To enable Miracle two. That men could become sons of God. Two miracles here. That he is the Lord Jesus Christ, and though he is rich, he becomes poor. Miracle one. So Miracle two. That through his poverty you could become rich. So there's two miracles that I want to be sure you understand about Christmas. And I'm going to use the C.S. lewis quote to help you understand the real meaning and message of Christmas so that your review won't be wildly off. So hopefully your life won't be wildly off. So miracle number one. God the Son became a man. This is one of the miracles of Christmas Christians. For the last 2,000 years, we have celebrated Christmas for the Incarnation. You've heard the word incarnation before. Incarnation means the act of being made flesh. So here's what us Christians have believed. That Jesus did not become created at Christmas, that Jesus is God the Son, who's always existed. And at Christmas, we remember the incarnation, that he took on flesh and entered his creation. We read in the passage. We read this together aloud for, you know, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. So this is what we believe, that Jesus is not merely a man. Historians believe that Jesus was born, that he lived. They even agree that he died on a cross. Historians, those who call themselves Christians and those who don't call themselves Christians, they all agree Jesus lived. But what this verse is insisting and what us Christians believe, that not only did Jesus live, but that he is the Lord Jesus Christ, that he's always been the creator over everything, that he's always been the everlasting king. And at Christmas, he entered this world, he took on flesh, you know, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, he became poor. That though he was rich. We read, we get a picture of heaven in the Book of Revelation. There's lots of metaphors of heaven in the scripture, but one of the metaphors you see is in the last book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation, we see that paradise, everlasting paradise is compared to a wedding banquet, a big party, a feast. And so we have a sense of what Jesus left when he entered this world, the riches of everlasting life. Heaven is described as having streets of gold and sea that is crystal and Jasper. It's just gorgeous and beautiful. All of the beautiful cities in this world fall way short of the glory of everlasting life. We get the picture. That Jesus, who's always existed in everlasting life, receives worship, that he is crowned as the everlasting king. In the Book of Revelation, there's angels that gather around the throne and they declare how awesome and holy and mighty he is. That though he is rich, he was willing to leave the riches of this to be made poor. So this is the incarnation, this is Christmas. He takes on flesh. He's always existed, and he steps into his creation. Though he was rich for your sake, he became poor. And he enters this world through the womb of a teenage virgin named Mary. You read the Gospels, this is what you find. That an angel appears to Mary and says, I have good news. You are the one who is carrying the child, the Messiah, the Christ, the son of the living God, into the world, and he will save his people from their sins. Mary is a virgin and she's engaged to be married to a man named Joseph. An angel appears to Joseph and lets them know that Mary's telling him the truth. And they get married, and then they register for a census in the town of Bethlehem. They travel far to that town. And because this is under the Roman Empire and Caesar Augustus has asked everyone to register for the census, there's so many people in Bethlehem at the time that when Mary is going to give birth to Jesus, there's no room in the local hotel for her to stay. And so Jesus is born into this world in a cave or a barn. This is what we know. The scripture says that he's placed in a manger, which is a horse trough, a feeding trough for animals, that though he was rich, for your sake, he became poor. So Jesus stepped into the flesh and bones of the human experience. Listen. Right now, I know some of you are In a sad season, in the midst of Christmas. Christmas reminds you that he fully gets you. There's not one moment in your life that he doesn't understand. Not one trial, not one temptation that you've endured that he hasn't endured. He knows the flesh and bone of the human experience. He left the riches of everlasting life to make himself poor, to be with you, to understand you, to know you, to fully get you. He traded being worshiped around the throne by angels. He traded that to step into this world where not only was he placed in a manger, but he would then live perfectly in our behalf, to place himself on a cross where soldiers would spit on him and mock him. So he traded being worshiped by angels for being spat on by soldiers. He traded a crown of glory for a crown of thorns that was jammed onto his skull as he would go to the cross to die for our sins. He traded everlasting communion with the Eternal Father for betrayal by people who turned their back on him. He traded the riches of everlasting life for the brokenness and the pain of this world. God the Son became a man to be with you. This is the incarnation. This is the first miracle of Christmas. This is a miracle. God entered his own creation. The infinite became an infant. The God who is limitless in all of his power and sovereignty limited himself by placing himself in human flesh and bone so he could know you and be with you. This is stunning. This is the first miracle. Now, I understand that for some of you, you've heard this before and you don't yet believe it. And it sounds so crazy to believe. Wait a second. God the Son, who's always existed, comes to his own creation through the womb of a teenage virgin? I'm not sure, Eric. I believe in the virgin birth. I appreciate your honesty and I'm so glad you're here. I just want you to consider. What do you then believe in? Glenn Scrivener. He is an author and he wrote this. Christians believe in the virgin birth of Jesus. Atheists believe in the virgin birth of the universe. Choose your miracle. What he's saying is all of us believe in one miracle. An atheist believes that this world just came into existence without any intervention. Those of us who are Christians, what we're holding to is that God the Son entered this world only by his divine design and intervention, that there was no human intervention, that Mary and Joseph had nothing but to do with it, but God entered this world. That God the Son became a man. Miracle one. Which leads us to miracle two. And Miracle two is also just stunning. To believe to make men sons of God, God the Son became a man to make you a son of God. Now, when you read in the scripture that God makes those of us who believe believe in him his sons, God is not leaving out women, not at all. In fact, the book of Romans is where the Apostle Paul writes that those of us who believe in him are treated as sons, were adopted as sons into his family, into his kingdom. And Paul was not leaving women in the Roman Empire out, he was including them. Because in the Roman Empire, a woman, she had no opportunity to be an heir. If you were a woman in a family and you had a brother, he would get all of the inheritance. You would get none. Only sons, only sons got the inheritance. And so what the Apostle Paul was writing was, hey, this is really good news to every single one of you. If you believe in Jesus, whether you are a man or you are a woman, you are adopted into his family and you are his heir, you are treated as His Son. So God the Son becomes a man to enable men and women to be adopted as his own, to become His. So all of us were here, all of us have been spiritually poor. In fact, the scripture teaches that unless you realize that you're spiritually poor, then you can't become rich with his grace and his forgiveness. That you first have to realize I cannot in my goodness climb my way to this great God. I'm so thankful for Christmas because this great God came all the way here for me. That the only way you can actually receive all of his grace is if you know you need his grace. So all of us were poor spiritually. He enters this world not only to be with us, but to take us to where he is so that through his poverty, we could become rich. Though he was rich, he made himself poor so that through his poverty, we might become rich. Eric, what do you mean rich? I don't mean rich in this life or rich in material possessions. I mean rich in the best. Rich in what money can't buy. Rich in what experiences can't provide for you true riches. That you get God in His forgiveness and his grace. That he makes you rich in his love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. That you get the true riches. And that if you believe in Jesus, he takes you to be with him forever. So when you pass from this life, you don't pass to death. You pass to everlasting life where there will be no more shame, no more sorrow, no more suffering, and no more Disappointing Christmases because you will be with him where everything is new and everything is perfect. That's the riches he offers. And he offers you the riches. Now those of us who believe in him, though we were poor because his poverty, he made us rich, we are now filled with the riches of his forgiveness and the riches of his grace. God looks at us, those of us who have believed in Him. And he doesn't see our sin and our shame any longer. He sees the perfect riches of the righteousness of Jesus covering all of our sin and all of our shame. God the Son became a man to enable us to become sons and daughters of God. Athanasius was a very famous early church father. And he wrote a famous work on Christmas. It was called on the Incarnation. And in it he said this. He, referring to Jesus, became what we are. That he might make us what he is. That God the Son became just like us. So that he could make us what he is. He could fill us with the riches of his grace. What this means is, is that when God the Son Jesus entered this world, he lived perfectly. He stepped into brokenness of the human experience. But he lived perfectly on your behalf. He then went to the cross where he died. And on the cross he took all of your sin, if you believe in him, upon Himself. And he gave you, if you believe in him, all of his righteousness and forgiveness. Which means, and this is stunning. This is stunning. It's so hard to believe this. It's only by God's grace in your life if you would believe this. That Jesus on the cross was treated the way I deserve to be treated. For all of my rebellion, for all the times I didn't trust God, that Jesus was treated the way I deserve to be treated. So that throughout all of eternity I will be treated the way Jesus deserves to be treated. Because Jesus has given me all of his righteousness and forgiveness. That's what he does now. It's so hard to believe this. I've tried so hard as a father to help my children believe this. When they were small, I would come up with any way to help them understand. This is what Jesus did for you. He takes all your sin and he gives you all of his righteousness and forgiveness. One of one thing I did commonly when we would fly together as a family at the airport, I would use the time in the check in lines to explain this to them, to help them understand the meaning of Christmas. Because years ago I was went to TSA PreCheck. And so I get TSA Pre Check on my boarding Pass. And my daughters, for some reason, because they're my daughter, same last name. Even though they've Never gone to TSA PreCheck process like I did, they get TSA Pre Check on their boarding pass. Kay, my wife, has never gone to the TSA pre check process, so she doesn't get it. So we check in. Three of us have TSA PreCheck. Kay doesn't have it. So I always feel badly. So I'm like, baby, we'll stay in the long line with you. And Kay's like, especially when the kids were younger. She's like, no, baby, I could use some time. You take the kids. I'm fine. And so we, I, we go through the short line where you don't have to take your shoes off. It's faster. You don't have to take your laptop out of your case or your iPad out of my daughter's bags. And so I will hand my daughters, especially when they were younger, I would, every time I would tell them this, I would hand them the boarding pass and I would say, notice you have the TSA Precheck. See the TSA PreCheck. You got that? Not because you did anything at all. You didn't do the work. I did the work. I went to the interview, filled out the paperwork. You are now receiving TSA PreCheck. Not because you've done anything good at all, but because I'm a good, good father. That is why you are getting this. I'm a good father. And I want you to know that this is exactly what Jesus has done for you. If you believe in him. And girls, I know you have. I want you to understand that this is what Jesus has done for you. His perfect record. You get it? The TSA PreCheck you didn't get. You didn't do anything to get this. You just got it. You believe in Jesus. You get his perfect record. And Jesus on the cross took your record upon himself so that he could give you all of his righteousness. Though he was rich for your sake, he became poor so that through his poverty, you could become rich. And so now you're rich in his forgiveness. You're rich in his grace. How do you believe he reviews you this Christmas? If God looks at you right now, how does he review you? Some of you are terrified by the question because you're thinking, ah, I've not. It's not been a great year. There's things I've done I'm ashamed of. There's times I haven't trusted him the way I Should. Gosh, man. This is the first time I'm in church. Or forever. I don't know if I want God to review me. I want to remind you of his review of you. If you have believed in him. If you have believed in him, how does he review you? God the Father looks at you and he doesn't see your sin or your shame. What he sees when he looks at you is he sees the perfection of Jesus who is entered this world, took on flesh, incarnation, lived perfectly on your behalf, and then went to the cross to take all of your sin upon Himself. So when God the Father looks at you, he doesn't see your sin. He sees the sacrifice of Jesus covering all of your sin. He doesn't see your imperfections. He sees the perfection of Jesus, God the Son, the perfect One, covering all of your shame. When he sees you, when God the Father looks at you, if you've believed in Jesus, if you've turned from trusting yourself to trusting him, if you have placed your faith in Jesus, God the Father looks at you and he sees you as absolutely perfect, though you haven't lived perfectly. Man, I don't feel perfect. I'm not perfect either. I don't feel perfect ever. But I believe this because Jesus has changed me. Just like I believe the first miracle that Jesus is not merely a man, that he is God. And the Lord Jesus Christ who entered this world for me, was placed on a cross and walked out of the tomb on the third day. I believe this because he's changed everything about me. I believe that. But I also believe that what he's declared about me is how he actually sees me. And if you believe in him, this is how he sees you too. He sees you as absolutely perfect. So what is his review of you this Christmas? Hear this, receive this, know this. If you're His. He looks at you. His review of you. Blameless, spotless, perfect. Mine, mine. My son, my daughter, my treasured possession, my own. The one I will be with forever. The perfect one, the perfect one, the perfect one. Not because of your goodness or your grit, but only by his grace. He sees you as absolutely perfect. And for you to believe that, it's stunning. And it would be his grace in your life for you to believe that, because it sounds so crazy. God came here to be with me and to be with you, but then to take us with him and give us all of his riches. How do you review? How do you review Christmas now? It's okay to review the surroundings of Christmas. I'm not telling you to be fake. I know some of you have had a really challenging season. It's okay for you to say, man, this season has been really difficult, or the surroundings of Christmas are really challenging for me this year. But can you step back and review just Christmas itself, the message and the mean of Christmas? And I think you would have to say, wow. Wow. God loved me so much that he came here, all the way here for me. He wanted you and wants you. Maybe you're thinking, I don't know. I'm not sure he wants me. I'm not sure he wants me. Listen, he left this for this to show you. He wants you. He wants you. And what does he want your review of Christmas to be? What does he want from you? What does he want? He just wants you. He wants you. That's why he came. That's why he arrived here for you. He wants you. Will you give yourself to him this Christmas? Lord Jesus, thank you for entering this world to be with us, to give us your grace and your forgiveness. Thank you for making us your own. We offer ourselves to you this Christmas. It's in your name we pray. Amen. We are going to yes, thank you Jesus. We're going to sing over candlelight reminding ourselves that Jesus is the light of the world who has stepped into our darkness. He's the light of the world who has stepped into the dark world to give us real life. We'll enjoy singing together. Thanks for tuning in to the Mariners Weekend Message Podcast to support the ministry of Mariners Church. You can click the link in the show notes or download the Mariners App at your favorite app store. If you've been navigating God's wisdom with us through this year's annual read and would like to hear personal reflections from pastors in your community, check out the Gospel Every Day podcast. Imagine feeding your heart, mind and soul with the kind of practical wisdom that will change your life. If you haven't picked up the annual read yet, visit MarinersChurch.org or download the Mariners app for more information on where to find it.