Red Rocks Church Weekend Message
Episode: "What I Really Want for Christmas"
Date: December 13, 2025
Host: Red Rocks Church
Episode Overview
This powerful Christmas season message explores the true desires beneath our holiday wish lists, examining what we really want in our hearts and what it means to find deep and lasting satisfaction. Rooted in Psalm 103, the speaker reflects on how God—not possessions, circumstances, or even relationships—alone satisfies our most profound desires. With humor, pop culture connections (notably “Home Alone”), and biblical teaching, this sermon invites the audience to look beyond superficial wants toward a life shaped by God’s plans, God’s people, and God’s presence.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Opening Reflection and Core Scripture
- The service begins with energetic praise and a reminder of the transformative power in the name of Jesus.
- Scripture focus: Psalm 103:1-5, emphasizing, "who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s" (00:02).
- The central question: “What are the good things that Jesus wants to really satisfy our hearts with?”
2. Desire, Satisfaction, and the Christmas Season
- At Christmas, desires come to the forefront—what do we really want?
- Marketers often understand our incomplete hearts better than we do.
- The message’s thesis begins: The thing we want is often not the thing we really want.
- Memorable quote:
“What I really want most is to live God’s plans, with God’s people, filled with God’s presence.” (16:22)
3. Pop Culture Illustration: “Home Alone” and Our Hearts
- Entertaining takes on classic Christmas movies, settling on “Home Alone” as the best (05:35).
- Fun facts about “Home Alone” and the question: Why did Kevin wish for his family to go away? He thought he knew what he wanted, but learned otherwise.
- The Kevin story as a parable:
“The whole movie is Kevin sort of figuring out that what he thought he wanted, it turns out he didn’t really want. And… the whole time there was this deeper thing he really wanted all along.” (10:18)
4. The Deceitfulness of Our Hearts
- Contrasts the world’s “follow your heart” advice with Jeremiah 17:9:
“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (12:00)
- Real-life example: The speaker’s own struggle with addiction, illustrating misplaced desires.
- Key insight:
“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.” (13:40)
- Jesus asks people, not what they need, but what they want (cf. Mark 10:51, John 1:38).
5. Provision vs. Satisfaction
- God meets needs (provision), but desires are satisfied at a deeper, more elusive level.
- Satisfaction is fleeting when tied to possessions, experiences, or status—so the Christmas list changes yearly.
- Our hearts have layers: behind every superficial want is a deeper longing (contentment, intimacy, significance).
- Psalm 37:4 paradox:
“Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
- When we know God, our desires transform, and God then gives us the desires of our changed hearts.
6. What We Really Want: God’s Plans, People, and Presence
- The speaker distills his pursuit:
“What I really want most is to live God’s plans, with God’s people, filled with God’s presence.” (30:36)
- God’s Plans:
- Personal testimony: His own dreams (medical career, luxury, comfort) versus God’s redirected purpose.
- “God ruined my plans and it was the greatest thing that ever happened to me.” (32:00)
- “Make your plans and then hold them with open hands.” (Proverbs 16:9, Jeremiah 29:11 emphasized)
- God’s People:
- Illustrates the need for true community—with humor, via a stand-up comedy story (42:10).
- Genesis 2:18—“It is not good for the man to be alone.”
- Reality: Community is messy, forgiveness is central (Colossians 3:13, Ephesians 4:2).
“Forgiveness is the main theme of Christianity... what love does when love is at its best.” (47:00)
- Cultural challenge: Autonomy, independence, and isolation are easier than sacrificial relationships, but far less fulfilling.
- God’s Presence:
- Christmas is about “Emmanuel”—God with us (Matthew 1:22–23).
- For those who feel “fine,” as John himself did, there is always “more than simply fine.”
“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.” — C.S. Lewis (59:18)
- “His presence is here, which means there’s more.”
7. Loneliness, Singleness, and True Satisfaction
- Special encouragement for those struggling with loneliness or longing for relationship during Christmas:
“Even when you’re home alone, you’re really not. The point of Christmas is Emmanuel—the arrival of God, his presence is with you.” (1:05:30)
8. Redemptive Subtext in “Home Alone”
- Shares a viral interpretation of Old Man Marley as a Christ-figure in the movie:
- Scenes mirror the gospel narrative: the rejected neighbor, the bandaged/pierced hand, the act of saving Kevin, and ultimately reconciliation.
- Takeaway:
“In the number one Christmas movie of all time, the gospel is preached beneath the surface.” (1:09:35)
9. Closing Appeal: Want What God Has for You
- The real gifts of Christmas: intimacy, adventure, passion, meaning, significance, purpose, belonging, togetherness, joy, peace, and love—all found in God’s presence.
- The preacher’s “holy discontent”:
“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 what God has for me.” (1:13:25)
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
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On desires vs. needs:
“The answer to your needs is something called provision. The answer to your desires is this much more mysterious, elusive thing called satisfaction.” (15:23)
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On arranging our lives:
“God writes stories with specific people in mind, including me and including you.” (35:20)
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On community:
“Never give up on Christian community. And I know that what I’m saying is so much easier said than done… but there is nothing more worth the sacrifice.” (51:10)
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On forgiveness:
“Forgiveness is the main theme of Christianity and the number one foundation of all of the Bible… because forgiving is what love does when love is at its best.” (47:25)
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On meaning in “Home Alone”:
“In the number one Christmas movie of all time, the gospel is preached beneath the surface.” (1:09:35)
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On pursuing God’s best:
“I want more than fine. I want what God has for me. I want you to want what God has for you, because I believe it’s good.” (1:13:40)
Timestamps for Important Segments
- [00:02] – Opening worship, prayer, and Psalm 103 reading
- [05:35] – Funny exploration of Christmas movies and “Home Alone” trivia
- [10:18] – “Home Alone” as an allegory for misunderstood desires
- [12:00] – The heart’s deceitfulness (Jeremiah 17:9)
- [16:22] – “What I really want most...”
- [30:36] – Main thesis: living God’s plans, with God’s people, in God’s presence
- [32:00] – Testimony of God “ruining” the preacher’s plans for good
- [42:10] – Comedy club story and the joy of community
- [47:00] – The centrality of forgiveness
- [51:10] – Urging perseverance in messy Christian community
- [59:18] – Quoting C.S. Lewis on unfulfilled desires
- [1:05:30] – Encouragement to those feeling lonely this season
- [1:09:35] – Interpreting “Home Alone” as a Christian parable
- [1:13:25] – Final appeal: “I want more than fine.”
- [1:15:10] – Closing prayer and call to worship
Summary Flow
This episode weaves together heartfelt encouragement with humor and cultural touchpoints. It opens by lifting up the greatness of Jesus, then moves through a reflection on the incompleteness of human desires. Through stories, scripture, and fresh takes on Christmas traditions, the message urges listeners not to settle for what is fleeting or superficial, but to pursue God’s plans, people, and presence—believing that only these “good things” will ever truly satisfy.
Whether drawn by nostalgia or need, all are invited to take stock this Christmas of not just what they want now, but what they are truly made for in Christ.
End of Summary