A (7:49)

It's not my skill set. And just the other day, you know, we've got this refrigerator. It broke. It's done.

A (7:59)

It was actually a better sauna than it was a refrigerator. Like, no, nothing. Nothing's cold. And there's something leaking. It smells. And I think, like, well, if I can fix an iPad, I can fix a refrigerator. It's not the case. It's not true. It's actually illegal. I found out you need some type of certification. And I took this thing apart and I did my best to put it back together, and I slipped into darkness. I'm in utter failure. I'm not the hero I thought I was. And.

A (8:34)

Actually being transparent, honest, sometimes I feel like a kid. It's like, I don't. What do I do? Who do I call?

A (8:42)

I'm at my limit, you know, my knowledge. It's like, over. And finally I figure it out. Like an adult, I guess I figured out and I Call Omega Force, which I don't think is an accident, by the way. He is the alpha and the omega. Anybody believe it? Come on. And in walks 20 something young guy, Jacob, also don't think it's an accident. Later named Israel. Praise God. Praise God. Jacob from Omega Force, he comes in with an oxygen tank with a blowtorch. And he gets back there and he's taking apart the thing. He's behind the fridge. And at one point he came out, the towel that he had was on fire. Our alarms are going off. And I was thinking in that moment, thank God, I called somebody who knows what they're doing. Can you imagine if I tried to get into this trouble.

A (9:36)

And he was able to fix the fridge and I had no clue that it's like that. And now I know. Now I know that if I wanna be great in the home around appliances, I'm gonna call Jacob from Omega Force. I've got that confidence back. The story arc. I know it's a goofy story, but the first point I wanna make, we're just gonna follow the storyline. The people of God. The people of God, they were destined for greatness. And did you know in the church of Jesus Christ, you are a part of the people of God. You need to be reminded this Christmas season on this fear first message that you were destined for greatness by God. There's a call on your life to do amazing things for his kingdom. And that's not just fluff, it's not just motivation. It is the word of God. He made his people to do great things destined for greatness. And In Isaiah chapter 5, he writes this song. God writes this song to his people, like. Like, I've destined you for greatness. Isaiah 5:1, 2 and verse 4. Let me sing for my beloved. My love song concerning his vineyard and the vineyard is the people of God is his children. My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones. He planted it with choice vines. You are the choice vines. What more was there for me to do in my vineyard? Have I not done in it? Have I not done enough in the vineyard? And the people, it goes on to say, they're in rebellion and they're in disobedience. And God's like, but I've destined you for greatness. I've made you for more. What else do you want from me? And sometimes we get in that spot where it's like, God's been good and we forget about his goodness. We say, God, can you do more? God, we get like needy. And God can handle neediness. I'm not trying to say that. But we can't forget that. God has done enough. Anybody believe it? If he never did another thing, I'm living for Jesus. If he never did another thing, I've got eternity with him in heaven forever. But can I tell you? We know the end of the story. He does a lot more than another thing. He is faithful. Psalm 80 reflects on this too. Just the idea of the vineyard and the vine. The people of God destined for greatness. Psalm 88, verses 8 through 11. You brought out of a vine out of Egypt. You drove out the nations and you planted it in the promised land. You cleared the ground for took deep root and it filled the land. The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches. It sent out its branches to the sea and it shoots to the river. And that's the Old Testament, the people of God, but to the church of Jesus Christ today. First Peter 2, 9 and 10. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Is there anybody here whose life has been totally transformed? Transformed, totally changed by the power of Jesus Christ? Do you remember when you were dead in your trespasses, but now he's made you alive in Christ.

A (13:17)

You were made for greatness. In the context of where we're going, because I've already said it, we're going to witness the people of God fall into darkness. It is a. It is a dark time. When Isaiah is writing this, the kingdom is split into two. The north is completely destroyed. And Isaiah, he's writing this two to three hundred years after King David's reign. It's like preaching today. The length of time when George Washington was here helping found America. It's like that Isaiah's thinking the kingdom of God, the people of God was once great. King David, it was once amazing. And now look what's happened. And then it's amazing that Isaiah is the one who promises and prophesies that a child from David's very hometown, Bethlehem, and David's royal line will one day sit on David's throne forever. The ultimate redemption of every. Everything that was lost. He's thinking, the kingdom, it was great. And we've. We're in this moment of slipping into darkness and we were made for greatness. But we slip into darkness. And here we go. Before the child is born, before the light dawns, Scripture shows us that the world that needed a Messiah and that this is why the Christmas story always started in the shadows. In this season of Advent. This is where we're starting in this. The shadows, the darkness. We're gonna spend most of the message right here, falling in the darkness. There's people around the room right now, people that are listening right now that. That have slipped into darkness. And this message is for you.

A (15:12)

A nation shaped for glory slowly, tragically, forgot who they were. We don't begin with the arrival of light. We begin with greatness that was squandered. This can happen to any of us because only when we feel the weight of what was lost do we grasp the staggering wonder of what was promised.

A (15:39)

To experience Christmas in its fullness is to first remember where we came from before we met Christ, and as a warning that we should cling to him for all of our days.

A (15:55)

So I know this is why you came. I'm just gonna give a couple points of how to fall into darkness.

A (16:01)

That's okay. Okay. It's like, that's what I came to learn.

A (16:07)

And this is the story from Isaiah 5. And we're gonna jump to Isaiah 7. And again, eventually we're gonna get to 9. Thank God. I already read it, so you know the ending. Okay. Number one, refuse to obey. You want to fall into darkness? Just refuse to obey the voice of God. Isaiah 7, 1, 2. This is King Ahaz refusing to obey God. And verses 10 and 12. In the days of Ahaz, the king of the people of God, the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. Again, the Lord spoke to Ahaz. A direction. Ask a sign of the Lord your God. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test. It's deliberate obedience, disobedience, deliberate refusal to do what God's asking you to do. That's a dangerous place to be. And even as Christ followers, sometimes we hear the voice of God. We see it written in Scripture, and then we do what we want to do. And it's a warning to say no. You want to slip in the darkness, keep doing what you want to do, rather than doing what the Lord has asked you to do. It's a refusal to submit, a refusal to come under his lordship. I'm going to do whatever I want. When things are going good to the Believer, this is. It's outrageous to think that. That I would ever do this. Like, you're a Christ follower. You're like, listen, I love Jesus. Obviously, Ahaz, you know, didn't love God. It's like, that's what it was. It's easy to think when life is good, we would never do this. But what really matters is when the going gets tough. Who are you in Christ? How are you gonna respond? The Lord is gonna give you direction that may not make sense, that may not add up, that may not be logical, that may not match the advice that you get from around you, but the Lord's gonna give you direction. And in this moment, Ahaz, everything's crumbling and the Lord's giving a direction. And Ahaz says, no, I'm not. I'm. I'm not gonna do that. And as the people of God, we don't want to fall into darkness. Therefore, we should hear what is the voice of God. We should go to him first, not last, not second, not third. We do this at times. We refuse to obey, and so let's not do this. The second thing, if you want to fall into darkness, turn to false gods, idols, or anything but God, and you're like, I'm never going to do that. I love the Lord. When life is difficult, when you're dealing with offense and hurt and loss and pain and lack of provision and sickness in your body, the waves of the fallen world are washing over you. There's this temptation to refuse, to obey and to go to other sources but God.

A (19:14)

I feel like this is good preaching, you know, like, we need a little of this. Isaiah 8, 19, and 20. And when they say to you, inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter, that language is wild. Should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living, to the teaching and to the testimony? It's just. It's outrageous to think that the people of God, they would go to mediums. And we do this. And you may not go to the New Age thing, although there are many people who do.

A (19:54)

I've got. I've got. You know, I'm a Christian. I love Jesus and I love horoscopes.

A (20:01)

I've got my crystals thing. I've gotten the, you know, my. I've got my personality test. And not, to be honest, not all of it is evil, but when it's prioritized over God, you're in the wrong place. It's how to Fall into darkness.

A (20:19)

It started with one man, Ahaz, and it has spread now to the whole nation. Your refusal to obey will spread. It will multiply to go to other people first. I love it says, chirp and mutter. You know, sometimes we do that in our hurt, in our pain, in destruction, in chaos. We start chirping, we start muttering, we start gossiping, we start talking. It's an easy way to continue to fall into darkness. No, go to the Lord in prayer. Go to scripture first. Feed on him rather than darkness. The third thing is, if you continue to feed on darkness, you become more empty. And as you become more empty, you become angry.

A (21:02)

And maybe you've been on this trail before and you can testify that it's true. I've experienced this. Feeding on darkness or gossip or the pain or other sources, social media, other voices, rather than the voice of God. It leads to greater emptiness.

A (21:22)

And Greater anger. Isaiah 8 is what's happening in chapter 8, verse 21. They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry. And when they're hungry, they'll become enraged and will speak contemptuously against their king and their God and turn their faces upward.

A (21:43)

That's what was happening with the people of God. Ahaz disobeys. Now the whole nation is starting to rebel, and anger is growing, contempt is growing, bitterness is growing. And then finally they look up. And the fourth thing, falling into darkness. A lot of times you look up and you say, God has abandoned me.

A (22:04)

It's a victim mentality.

A (22:08)

And if you just rewind the story, sometimes it's a mature thing, following Christ, being a disciple of Christ. Rewind the story. Did I disobey the voice of God? Did I start talking? Did I go to other sources rather than His Word, rather than a mentor who's a spiritual father or a mother, somebody in my life that I can trust? Did I pray first? Scripture first? Did I pray in the spirit? Rewind and see if I'm at fault? Is there any ownership in me?

A (22:45)

Because only then, in complete surrender, in total surrender, you know, you had moments, and maybe there's people here today. Moments where you feel like I'm at the end of my rope. I've got nothing left. I got nowhere to go. And you look up, not saying victim mentality, God's abandoned me. But you look up and say, God, I've tried everything on my own. I've given it all I've got. And I repent for going to other places, but you and I need you. I cannot save myself. I need you to save me. And it's right there where you can experience the glory of Christmas.

A (23:23)

The light invades. I want to tell you the story about Chuck Colson. Maybe you've heard of him. This dude was a bad dude.

A (23:33)

I mean, he's like King Ahaz. He did the wrong thing, but he was destined for greatness. And he fell off into darkness. And here's his redemption story. In the early 1970s, Chuck Colson strutted the halls of the White House as President Nixon's hatchet man. He kept enemy lists. He bragged that he would even walk over his own grandmother to get Nixon re elected. In his own words, he later wrote, I had power, prestige, everything a man could want. And I thought that's what life was all about. I'm preaching to somebody right now that has never known Jesus as their Lord and savior. And somehow you found yourself here, listen to this guy's story. Then came Watergate, the tapes, the COVID up, the betrayal. March 1974, Colson stood in a federal courtroom pleading guilty to a felony and was sentenced to prison. Everything collapsed. He wrote everything I had lived for. Power, position, reputation was stripped away in a single moment. I was a man who had nowhere lower to go. One desperate night before he reported to prison, a Christian friend read him a chapter from C.S. lewis, Mere Christianity. A quote from that. Pride is the essential vice, the utmost evil. It is the complete anti God state of mind. Colson drove away, pulled over and for the first time since he was a boy, wept like a child. He prayed a clumsy prayer in that moment at the end of his rope, about to go to prison, he said, God, would you take me as I am?

A (25:17)

In a grimy federal prison in Alabama, surrounded by men society had thrown away, Chuck Colson met Jesus. He began to see the cross clearly. The innocent one dying for the guilty. He later said this in his autobiography called Born Again. I realized I was not the victim. Jesus was the victim for me. Seven months later, he was released. Walking as a free man. The world expected him to cash in, write a scandalous tell all book, make millions and disappear. Instead, he did the last thing anyone predicted. Destined for greatness.

A (25:56)

He went straight back into the prisons, voluntarily this time carrying the gospel that had saved him. In 1976, he founded prison Fellowship. Today is the largest Christian ministry to prisoners, ex prisoners and their families in the world. Over a hundred countries. Angel tree gifts. Millions of gifts to children all around the world. Run by Prison Fellowship. We partner with Angel Tree coming up this Christmas, we're gonna have angel tree kids and the parents that are not incarcerated. Come to our church and receive their gifts in our buildings. Isn't that amazing? Chuck started this. For the next 36 years, Colson kept returning to the places of deepest shame to preach hope. He wrote over 30 books and he won a million dollar Templeton Prize. Gave away every penny. On his deathbed in 2012, he whispered, I deserve hell, but God gave me grace. And maybe his best line of all. I thought I had climbed to the top of the world, and I found out I was hanging on to the gutter at the bottom.

A (27:12)

Only when I lost everything did I find out who I really was and whose I really am. This is Advent, a growing longing and remembrance of who I was before Jesus Christ. Oh, man, let Christmas be special this year because Jesus came to save you out of the gutter, to pick you up when you didn't deserve it.

A (27:39)

And here's the last point of the message. People of God, destined for greatness, fell into darkness. It requires something outside of yourself. But the truth is, the light pierces, dissolves, obliterates the darkness. It's the light of Jesus Christ.

A (28:02)

The exact place God humbled. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali. What we read earlier is the exact place Jesus came into this world and performed his ministry while he was on this planet. In Capernaum. Matthew 4:13. And leaving Nazareth, Jesus went lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled. Verse 15. The land of Zebulun, the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea. We read this earlier. Beyond the Jordan Galilee of the Gentiles, the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light. And for those dwelling in the region, and the shadow of death on them, a light has dawned. The very pain that you've experienced, light is coming. The very loss that you've experienced, light is coming. The grief that you're feeling, Light is coming. The shame that has overwhelmed you, Light is coming. The brokenness that you've experienced in your family, Light is coming. What's happened in your marriage or your children, Light is coming. Come on. Does anybody believe it? When we were lost in darkness, light came into his marvelous light.

A (29:19)

And Jesus is the light. Whoo. If it wasn't clear, John 1. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. John 8:12. Again, Jesus spoke to him Jesus saying, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. Lord, I thank you.

A (29:55)

I thank you. We're at the beginning of this Christmas season. Remind us.

A (30:02)

Who we were before you. A people destined for greatness.

A (30:08)

We did walk in darkness.

A (30:11)

And the light of Jesus pulled us up out of it.

A (30:16)

But I pray for the Church that we would walk in purity, righteousness, holiness, clinging to you and to your word. Let there be the purpose of Advent. A growing longing, a growing hunger, a growing desperation for more of you. And just like you came, you will come again.

A (30:44)

Our soon and coming king.

A (30:47)

In Jesus name I pray. Amen.