← Red Rocks Church Weekend Messages
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Come on, Red Rocks. There is no name like that name of Jesus Christ. So let's give him all of our highest praise. Come on. All of your worship, all of your adoration, all of your attention, all of your affection straight to Jesus. Come on, let's pray. God, we love you. At every moment you are only a mention away. Jesus, there is power in your very name. The power to save our souls. The power to free us from addiction. The power to heal our bodies and reconcile relationships. The power to change our lives. And so we ask for more of your presence in this moment. For in your presence is all the provision we could ever need. But then more than that, even all the satisfaction that we could ever want. For you are the alpha and the omega. You are the desire of all nations. You are the rock that stands from age to age. So would you continue to empower your church to live on purpose and change the world and stand strong in your name until nothing and no one is the same in Jesus name. Somebody shout Amen. And one more time, if you believe Jesus plus nothing is everything, then how about you let him know and give him praise in this place. Come on, man, let's keep that going. And welcome every Rock Red rocker joining us at all of our Denver locations. Austin, Texas. We love you, Brussels, Belgium. We see you and of course, men and women at our correctional facilities. Our church is better because of you. We are imperfect people pursuing a perfect God and we exist to make heaven more crowded. There it is. Welcome home. And before you take a seat, I want to read brief. I want to read Psalm 103, verses 1 through 5. And this is good news, man. This will change your life. Here we go. Praise the Lord, my soul, all my inmost being. Praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul. And forget not all the benefits of God. Red Rocks, who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles. It's that last phrase that really I can't get out of my head or my heart this week. Bless the Lord, O my soul, forget not his benefits, who satisfies your desires with good things. And in the season where we we think a lot about what we desire and what we want. Like what do you want for Christmas? And it seems like marketers understand the of the incomplete human heart better than most Christians do. What are the good things that Jesus wants to really satisfy our hearts with that's the question I want to answer. I guess the. The title of this message is this What I really want for Christmas. That's where we're going. What I really want for Christmas. And I just pray this is helpful and hopeful. So let's ask God one more time. God, would you use these moments and use these words to deliver a revelation straight to our hearts? We love you in Jesus name, everybody. Amen. Take a seat. What I really Want for Christmas. Last week, Sean had all of you guys yell out your favorite Christmas movie. And maybe it was because I was listening to the audio podcast in my car in Austin, but I was a little disappointed because I heard no Die Hards. Not a single Die Hard. Okay, I'm hearing it now. I hear you. I did, however, hear the holiday, and that made me proud. Let's just keep this between me and the tens of thousands of you listening to this, but the holiday is becoming one of my favorite Christmas movies of all time. Not because of Jude Law, Conrad or his accent. What? Is that why Sam wants to watch it all the time? Wait a second. But because Christmas lights on palm trees in Southern California. To me, like, there's nothing more nostalgic than that. I don't know what it is, but I just love it so much. But if I had to answer the question, what are the objectively best Christmas movies of all time? I mean, I think elf has got to be up at the top of the list. You know what I mean? You sit on a throne of lies. You don't smell like Santa. You smell like beef and cheese. Right? What's more vulnerable than a peach? Andrew, That's a deep track quote right there. A children's book about a tribe of asparagus, but they're self conscious about the way their pee smells. All right, that did all right. I thought that would get a bigger laugh, but no, it's fine. I'll handle it. You don't have to get involved. I'll just make a mental note for the next service. Didn't land the way I planned. Christmas vacation. Anybody? Oh, Eddie. If I woke up tomorrow morning with my face sewn to the carpet, I wouldn't be more surprised than I am right now. One of the best lines ever. Anybody have a real life Uncle Eddie in your family? Is anybody the real life Uncle Eddie in your family? Praise God. But I asked Chatgpt just a few days ago. Objectively speaking, what is the best Christmas movie of all time? And according to statistics and studies and surveys and science, the number one Christmas movie Ever is Home Alone. It's gotta be. It's gotta be home alone. Just a few fun facts for you about home alone. The McAllister house outside of Chicago recently sold for over $5 million, which begs the question, what did Mr. And Mrs. McAllister do for a living to not only afford that house, but send that many people on vacation every single Christmas? And do they know about Kingdom Builders? You know what I mean? Somebody invite them to red Rocks. Fun fact number two, the tarantula scene was real. Daniel Stern, who played Marv, his scream was authentic. When they placed the spider on his face, I heard him say that in an interview, and I was like, well, obviously it was. If you don't scream with a tarantula on your face, you need therapy, okay? Your fight or flight response is broken. Fun fact number three, John Candy improvised all of his lines, and he was on set for less than 24 hours out of a favor to his friend Chris Columbus, the director of the movie. And he took the minimum pay. So John Candy got paid $414 for his role in Home Alone. He made less money than the actor who played the pizza delivery boy. I think that's just awesome. But the point I really want to make about Home Alone, and this is getting spiritual again in just a second, I promise you, is this. Kevin thinks he knows what he wants, right? He thinks he knows what he wants. In the beginning of the movie, he gets in big trouble. So his mom sends him to spend the night up on the third floor in the attic, which is either awesome parenting or questionable, like I'm the wrong dad to ask. It could go either way for me. I'm not really sure. And as Kevin is walking up the stairs, he turns around and he says, everybody in this family hates me. And his mom says, well, maybe you should ask Santa for a new family. And Kevin says back as an eight year old boy, and I quote, I don't want a new family. I don't want any family. Families suck. Just reading it. I'll just read the dialogue. Kevin's mom, Just stay up there. I don't want to see you again for the rest of the night, Kevin. I don't want to see you again for the rest of my whole life. And I don't want to see anybody else either. Kevin's mom, I hope you don't really mean that. You'd feel pretty sad if you woke up tomorrow and you didn't have a family. And then Kevin says, no, I wouldn't. And you know what happens next if you Don't. Wow. He gets left home alone, all right, which is what he thinks he wants. No family, no more rules, no more parents, no more problems. I want to do my own vacation, alone, without anybody else. And the whole movie is Kevin sort of figuring out that what he thought he wanted, it turns out he didn't really want. And it turns out the whole time there was this deeper thing he really wanted all along. He just didn't know it. Now one of the anthems of our world is follow your heart. You know what you want. Trust your feelings. Follow your heart. But Jeremiah 17:9 tells us the exact opposite advice. He says, the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? Adam and Eve followed their hearts in the garden. Can we make this a little more real? I followed my heart into a nine year pain pill addiction. You can follow your heart into a marriage you're not ready for. You can follow your same heart out of that same marriage. When it feels like you fell out of love, you can follow your heart into an affair. You can follow your heart into debt. You can follow your heart into resentment and regret. Follow your heart might be the worst advice that has ever been given. The heart is deceitful above all things. Jeremiah says, who can understand it? The answer is not me. Not me. Feelings matter because God made them and they have their place. And they're not always false. It's just that they're not always facts. And praise God. As Christians, we have access to something greater than our feelings. We have access to truth with a capital T. He's a person and his name is Jesus. He is the way, he is the truth, and he is the life. And on multiple occasions in the four Gospels, Jesus, who is walking, talking truth, asks men and women what their hearts want. In Mark 10:51, he asked this to blind Bartimaeus. He says, what do you want me to do for you? In John chapter one, Andrew and John are following Jesus on the beach. In verse 38, it says, Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, what do you want? That's a tough question to answer. I think it's way easier to know what you need than it is to know what you want. By the way, this is what the Bible says about your needs in Philippians 4:19 and my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus Jehovah. Jireh is one of the names for God. It means provider that he is more than enough, that God has everything you need, because God is everything you Need. But while our needs are one thing, our desires are another. The answer to your needs is something called provision. The answer to your desires is this much more mysterious, elusive thing called satisfaction. And you. You grab it, but then it's gone. And you. You grab it again, but then it's. It's gone. That's why your Christmas list this year is yet again different than the one you had last year. Because satisfaction is fast and fleeting, and it fades. Plus, I think our hearts have different layers and levels of desires. We have the things we want now, and then behind those things are the deeper, better things that we really want most. So the reason that we want the new phone or the new outfit or the reason you want the new car. Anybody else want a new car for Christmas? You see those commercials where spouses buy cars for each other? You're like, do people really do this? Because I want that. The reason you want a new car or even a new house is because behind that thing is the better thing called contentment that you really want, or the reason that you maybe want another new relationship is because behind that new relationship is the deeper thing that you really want, which is a life of passion and intimacy. I think the real reason we maybe want that new career or we pursue or chase that next high or hookup is because behind those things is the true thing our hearts are really made for. The significance, the adventure, the belonging, the romance, the fruit of the spirit, like love and joy and peace. All the things we're really trying to buy when we buy all of the things that we buy. The something better that we want most is behind the thing that we want now. David once wrote this in Psalm 70. Sorry, 37, verse 4. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Can you guys leave that up for just a second? Because that's such a good verse. But there's kind of like an interesting paradox that presents itself with what Jeremiah said about the heart. Because he said the heart's deceitful and you can't understand it. In other words, what you want today, you might not want tomorrow. Kevin, Doug, what you want today, you probably won't want a year from now. You especially probably won't want it a decade from now. And that's why David begins his formula with take delight in the Lord. Everything starts with knowing God. Because as you get to know God, your heart begins to change. And then over time, look at this verse again. God will give you the desires of your changed heart. And in the month of December, when our Desires drive so much of what we do and think and buy. It is worth trying to answer Jesus question, what do I really want? Though not for Christmas, but in my life? Because not only can God be your provision, he can also be that something that is way more rare and hard to find. He can be your satisfaction. Psalm 103, verses 2 and 5. One more time. Praise the Lord my soul. Forget not all his benefits, the last one of which is this, who satisfies your desires with good things. So what are those good things? I thought a lot about this and all I can really do is give you my best answer. And it certainly won't be all encompassing, but it will be personal. And I believe it'll also be biblical. And here it is. What I really want most is to live God's plans with God's people, filled with God's presence. Kind of stole a bit of that from Sean. I do that a lot. He's got good stuff. What I really want is to live God's plans with God's people, filled with God's presence, God's plans, God's people, God's presence. You got those three things you are so rich in, the things most of the world is so poor in. Those are the better things behind all the other things we're truly made for. Not necessarily the easy life, but what Jesus called the abundant life, full of the good things our hearts desire. So let's break it down, starting with the first part. What I really want is to live God's plans. I have a vivid memory of it being the very end of my sophomore year of college at CU Boulder. I just finished my last final and I was walking home to my apartment on the sidewalk right behind Folsom Field, late springtime in Boulder. It was beautiful. Like everything was perfect. I had my entire life planned out, and I'm not kidding. Halfway done with a degree in biochem, medical school in my sights, the grades to get in, the determination to make it happen, the dream of being an orthopedic surgeon for professional athletes, the mountain house in Vail, the beach house in Laguna, the white picket fence around both of them. You know the kind of people who romanticize their plans until they idolize their plans and can't see life happening any other way than their plans. Let's just pretend I'm only talking about me. Because I was just a few months into following Jesus and me and my brand new best friends, my brand new small group. We had obviously just memorized Jeremiah 29:11, the most quoted and tattooed and memorized verse of all time and for really good reason. In case you don't know it, you need to. And here it is. For I know the plans I have for you, declared the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future. But can I just point out one thing? Whose plans are they, God's or ours? They're God's plans. God is the one with the plans. And honestly, my life is living proof. If you fully surrender every part of your life to God, this good guy with all the good plans might ruin all of yours. Like, the only original detail I'm still holding onto is the beach house. And I know that will only happen if God uses one of you to do it. I'm just kidding. All right, Mr. And Mrs. McAllister, come to Red Rocks. It's a bad joke, but this is my testimony. God ruined my plans and it was the greatest thing that ever happened to me. Like Proverbs 16:9 says, we make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps. My brother in law, Taylor, he and his wife Sophia three years ago moved from Denver to Austin to help us building the church. And Taylor was a pastor at Red Rocks for a while and they felt called to move to help us. And I know that he wanted to be a pastor on staff in Austin. I also knew that's not happening anytime soon because we can't afford it and we have no openings for jobs. But they felt called. So they with their newborn moved to Austin. And Taylor held his plans in open hands. And three years later, after he was our online campus pastor and after he spent all of his free time driving Lyft to make money for his family, three years later, God ruined his plans and he is now a police officer who changes the world every single day. And what's so cool about that is his experience as a pastor prepared him to meet with people in their darkest moments on their most desperate of days. And on top of that, he now knows the city of Austin like the back of his hand because he logged so many hours driving Lyft. Guys, just a reminder. God doesn't waste anything. He doesn't waste anything even if he changes all your plants. Like Mary and Joseph had other plants. They had other plants until God ruined every detail and they never looked back. We're called to make plans. I believe that's godly. Just in case you're like the type A person in here and right now you're hyperventilating at the panic inducing thought of God Being like this loose cannon enneagram7 who only throws curveballs and likes to change things up and does everything spontaneous and is bad with the details. Let me just calm your nerves. God loves plans. So make your plans and then hold them with open hands. Because what we really want is what he wants. And I don't know who in here maybe needs this low grade control freak challenge. I'm one of you. What if you gave God access to your plans as well as permission for him to have his way with your future? Sometimes he makes changes, sometimes he doesn't. Sometimes he's all about our plans. He just wants to add some purpose to them. Sometimes he downloads brand new dreams or replaces our dreams with even better ones. But your hands and your heart must be open in order for him to place something better in them. Fun fact number four about Home Alone. It was written specifically with Macaulay Culkin in mind, the actor who played Kevin McAllister. Because you watch the movie and you're like, this little kid's a pretty good actor. But it's more than just acting. Or I should say it's not just acting because his real personality was written into the script by the writer. And I think that's such a cool reminder that God does the same thing. That we have a good God who wants to write the next chapter of your life. A good God who wants to give you a hope and a future. And he doesn't write futures for generic characters. You guys. God writes stories with specific people in mind, including me and including you. So what if you just decided to believe that? Because what if this is only going to be experienced in your life to the degree you believe it's actually true for you? What if you just decided to believe you have a good God who has good plans for your life? What if you decided just what you believe about the power of God to set you free from addiction in this next chapter? Or the goodness of God to bring a brand new best friend into your life in 2026? Or that the power of God to give you enough strength to lead and love your kids. Well, going into this next season, open your hands and then maybe prayer, the most dangerous prayer that you will never regret. Praying God. What I really want at the end of the day is what you want most for me. They're your plans. And I want to experience all of it. And I don't want my fear or my effort to control cause me to miss something that you have. For me. What we really want is to live God's plans. I'M telling you, you will not regret that. And we want to do it next point with God's people. I did a bucket list thing last week. I did stand up comedy for the very first time. Yeah, I performed it. I didn't like listen to it. That's what I mean by that. So I'm now a full time preacher slash a part time comedian Red Rock. So be on the lookout for my Netflix special. And me and Ethan, Ryan and Chris in Austin, we each did a seven minute set to open up a show for our friend Donald, who's a real comedian in this comedy club in Austin. And surprisingly it went all right. And it was so fun. We wouldn't let people have their phones. They had to turn their phones in so nobody could record just to protect Red Rocks from any liability from anything that we might have said. But here's what I realized. For 80 minutes, everybody was just in the same moment without our phones completely present. And there was laughing and there was joy and there was friendship and there was togetherness and there was some of the greatest comedy you've ever heard in your entire life. We are community beings who are designed for community. We are created to do life with each other. Look at Genesis 2:18. This is before sin, by the way. Then the Lord God said, it is not good for the man to be alone. We were made to pursue the plans of God with the people of God together. But the reason that's so difficult to do is because human beings are sinful. We're selfish, we make mistakes, we hurt each other. Which is why we need verses like Colossians 3:13 where Paul says, bear with each other and forgive one another. If any of you has a grievance against someone, forgive as the Lord forgave you. I would go as far to say forgiveness is our number one calling as Christians like it is, I'll be this bold. I think forgiveness is the main theme of Christianity and the number one foundation of all of the Bible in the story it tells is not love. It's forgiveness. Because forgiving is what love does when love is at its best. Paul says this also in Ephesians 4:2 be completely humble and gentle. Be patient. Bearing. Here it is again with one another in love. Why emphasize bearing with one another so many times? Because we need each other even though life is way more complicated with each other. And it is. That's why the church is messy and always will be until heaven one day. Because this is imperfect people pursuing a perfect God and trying to do that together. And right now we have these cultural currents that are pulling us away from community and towards autonomy. Ms. Independent, Ms. Self sufficient. Ms. Never ever feel rejected. Bear in mind that was Kevin McAllister's dream. And more and more surveys are showing young people now prefer to spend weekends home alone and on our phones rather than go out and pursue a relationship or find new friendships. There was a study recently that said 50% of young men, I believe it said ages 20 to 45, half of young men no longer have any kind of desire to pursue anything romantic. And by that I don't just mean marriage. I'm talking even the desire to go look for like a hookup or a fling. And I'm not saying guys should go do that. I'm saying it's wild that we're not. That guys like aren't even tempted by that anymore because we have this current just pulling. It's pulling them away from community to just. I'd rather stay home. I'd rather. Isolation is so much easier. And more and more surveys like for millions of millennials and Gen Zs, singleness is no longer a layover. It is now a decided destination. There's now an entire child free movement of adults who just prefer no kids. Not because of a biological inability to have them, but because of a lifestyle choice like that. Double income, no kids like the freedom that comes from something like that is a growing lifestyle label for couples focusing on career or focusing on travel instead of building a family. I'm not talking about seasonally. I'm talking about as a long term life and purpose and hear my heart around this. Sometimes singleness is a calling and everybody's life is subjectively different. And sometimes it's just not the right time to have kids or there's another reason for it. Guys, there's always exceptions. Obviously I understand that. I'm talking about a new cultural rule that is very, very real. It's like we have this deep dire for desire for connection. But independence is just easier than community. And autonomy is just. It's easier than sacrifice. And we have this desire for relationship. But social media is safer than face to face. Pornography is easier than sex. Lust is easier than love. Being home alone is easier than bearing with each other in forgiveness. Isolation is just easier than community. But the outcomes of these cultural trends are quickly, rapidly indicating to us that behind the extra incomes and behind the independence and the travel and the freedom that we want now, there truly are those deeper things that we desire most. That intimacy, that friendship, that community, that togetherness. All those things you only get by sacrificing the former, that it's not the places you go, it's the people who go with you. It's not even the destination or even the journey. It's the company. And there is nothing more worth the sacrifice than living in God's plans with imperfect people that God has placed in your life. It is so, so worth the pain. It's so, so worth the risk. It's so worth the fear. Never give up on Christian community. And I know that what I'm saying is so much easier said than done. I've been praying for my spirit and the spirit in the room at this moment that it would be God that just softens hearts and. But I just been praying for the extension of a lot of forgiveness this Christmas in our church. I've been praying for reconciliation in families and friend groups. I've been praying for the courage to have those tough conversations, to not just be peacekeepers when everybody's together, but to be peacemakers, step into the arena towards each other, to bear with each other in mercy, in patience, and forgiving others the way we have been forgiven. Because I promise you, God, all he wants to do is satisfy your desires with the really good things. He's a really good father. What I really want is to live God's plans with God's people filled with God's presence. Matthew 1:22, 23. An angel says this to Joseph. Talk about ruining his plans. You will give birth, she will give birth. Your fiance married to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet. The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel, which means God with us. The point of Christmas is the arrival of God, which means we get his presence, we get to live in his plans with his people while being filled with his presence. So specifically, I want to speak right now to maybe the people in our church who you would say you're just kind of fine in life. And here's what I mean by that. John, the disciple of Jesus who wrote the Gospel of John, he wasn't one of the characters in the gospels who was like really hurting or in need desperately of Jesus to intervene, like somebody who had leprosy needed to be healed or somebody who was blind, needed to receive vision. But John was just kind of fine man. I mean, middle class life, owned a fishing business with his dad and his brother, made a steady paycheck he was just kind of fine. And he didn't know what he didn't know until one day Jesus interrupted his regularly scheduled life and said, follow me. And all of a sudden, John found out there is so much more than simply fine. And so for anybody, and this was me, man, you're here right now. And you'd say, you know what, Pastor? I got enough Jesus to go to heaven. I'm not, like, that desperate or that unhappy. I'm just kind of fine. I would ask you why you're here because I think deep down, the real reason you're here is because you're not okay with just fine. Because your spirit understands there's something so much more than fine. How that same John who was once upon a time fine is the John who wrote John 10:10, that Jesus came, that we might have life, abundant life beyond fine, that there's more, and that God's signature on your soul, he wrote eternity into your heart, is indicating to you, it's telling you that he has something more for you. This crazy quote by C.S. lewis is so good. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, those things I want now, right? That doesn't prove the universe is a fraud or that God's not real. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it and suggest the real thing. That faith is my heart being awakened to the fact that there is a creator behind creation. There is a God behind the gifts who has more for me and is inviting me into that. And so I'm telling you, if you're fine, there's more. And my challenge to you is to investigate it. And here's a simple step I give you. Come to welcome Party. If you haven't been to welcome Party yet. It's fun. It's informative. It's kind of like our funnel. Just get to the funnel and it'll get you where you need to go. Is 20 minutes long. It's not like a bait and switch. There's no pressure. You're not gonna leave the proud owner of a new timeshare. It's awesome. Come to welcome Party. And here's why we just believe at Red Rocks that you were made to know God, live on purpose, and be part of a church that's changing the world. And I would bet everything I have that deep down you believe the same thing to be true about you, that you would actually echo What I've been saying this entire message, that what you want deep down is to live God's plans for your life with the people God has in your life, surrounded by his presence that's not only around you, but also within you. Investigate that. For the one who's fine, Emmanuel, God with us, his presence is here, which means there's more. And for the one who's anxious, God is here, which means there's peace to be found in his presence. And the one who is sad, there's hope to be found in his presence. For the one who's grieving, there's closeness and intimacy to be found in his presence. And on my heart this week is just that single person, not by choice, but whether a recent breakup or widowed or divorced or never been asked on a date, like feeling all alone this Christmas, watching all the movies and you just see Buddy the elf falling in love with Jess from New Girl, and it kind of kills you. Deep down you're thinking, I'm missing out on Christmas. Just look right at me. You are not missing out on Christmas because there is something so much deeper and better that really is the point of Christmas, Emmanuel, the arrival of God, his presence is with you, which means even when you're home alone, you're really not. And that brings me obviously back to the number one Christmas movie of all time. There's been a lot shared on social media this week. I'm not sure if you've seen it, about Home Alone not just being a Christmas movie, but a Christian movie. All right, maybe you saw Josh Howarden's clip referencing a post that was written actually by Jeremy Wayne Tate. Never met him, know nothing about him, but that post went viral. And that post had to do with the character in Home Alone named Old Man Marley, Kevin's scary next door neighbor who represents a Christ like figure in the story. So let me, let me walk you through it. I'm going to show you what I mean. Okay? In the very beginning of the movie, there is this mysterious man who is salting the earth while Kevin and his brothers are watching terrified from the window. Isaiah 53:3 prophesied that Jesus would be despised and rejected by his neighbor. I'm telling you to keep following me, okay? Because this is going to keep getting crazier. A few days later, Kevin is at the store to buy a toothbrush and Old Man Marley walks in. And what we notice is that Marley's hand is bandaged and bloody. And just a few brief moments later, we actually notice his hand from top to bottom. Is pierced all the way through for some reason, we never find out. We never find out. John 1:10 says, Jesus came to his own, but they rejected him. And right after this happens, Kevin panics so much because he's so afraid. He runs out of the store, stealing the toothbrush, and slides across the ice. Okay, later in the movie, right before all the chaos of the ending, there's a somber scene where Kevin walks into a church as a choir is singing O Holy Night. He's walking down the aisle. He glances to his left. He sees a statue of Christ protecting a child. And then, as you hear the words fall on your knees, the camera pans in front of this lit candle in a Catholic sanctuary. That lit candle is called the sanctuary lamp. And when it's lit, it symbolizes that Christ is present. And the very next thing we find out is that old man Marley is there in the pews. And Marley is the one who approaches Kevin. And Kevin meets him. And Kevin gives old man Marley a confession. And then later that night, Marley is the one who saves Kevin from the bad guys in the final moments, when Kevin is the most helpless and powerless to save himself, that Marley is the savior of the story. And then the very final scene, which was not part of the original script, but the Catholic director, Chris Columbus later added to it. Kevin peers out the window after his family comes home. There's this beautiful, light snowfall. And he sees his neighbor Marley. And Marley has just been reconciled with his estranged son. And he's hugging his granddaughter. And if you notice, his hand is no longer bloodied or bandaged. Now, team, you can come up. Cause I am wrapping this thing up. Hurry up. We're maybe reading too much into this. I don't know. At the very least, that was fun for me. Okay. I've never directed a movie, but I know enough to know when you're making a movie, you don't want to waste a single second of your audience's time or attention with unnecessary details. And you give intentionality to every shot of every single scene. And I just think there's something so beautiful and powerful about the fact that in the number one Christmas movie of all time, the gospel is preached beneath the surface. And I read an article about it, and one writer said this. The addition of old man Marley as a seemingly minor character not only deepened the plot, it gave the movie a soul. So what we really want, from callings and careers to love and relationships, all the way to the movies we watch, is the better things, the deep things, the good things behind the thing the things of heaven, intimacy and adventure and passion and meaning and significance and purpose and belonging and togetherness and joy and peace and love. All of these things are the things that you find in the presence of God. The point of Christmas is not Christmas movies. It's not all our traditions. I love all that stuff. I think God thinks that's awesome. The point of Christmas is Emmanuel. God with us, the arrival of his presence. It's in you. It's all around you. You were made to live his plans with his people while being filled with his. With his presence. And I just believe that he wants to satisfy your desire with those good things that we have, these desires. And Jeremiah says, you can't understand your heart, but as you get to know God, your heart begins to change. And then in time, your desires do too. And God wants to satisfy those desires with really, really, really good things. I just believe that that's true for you. And I guess I've been praying. I want you to want that. And I want you to be content like Paul talked about. Like I'm present in the moment, and at the same time, I have this holy discontentment. Because if God is infinite in every way and his plans for me are better than I could ever imagine, then I want to experience all of it and miss none of it. I want more than Fine. I want. I want what God has for me. I want you to want what God has for you, because I believe it's good. And so if you just want to close your eyes for a second. God, I pray for every person beneath the sound of this prayer that you'd speak to them individually. Our hearts are confusing. Our desires are layered and change every day, it seems. But what we really want, we're just so prone to forget is you, Jesus. Take the world if we can have you. For in your presence is everything we need. And because of Christmas, your presence is here. We love you. We focus on you. You have our attention. In Jesus name, amen. Red Rocks Church. At every single location, let's stand and let's worship.