[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] dear Santa I already sent my Christmas list but I need help with something else it's almost a 25th but it just doesn't feel like Christmas yet I've sung Carol's drink cocoa I've even made a gingerbread house I think something is missing is there anything you can do to help sincerely your friend Alicia dear Alicia Merry Christmas Eve some Christmas help you will receive get to Grand Central Station and don't delay your Christmas help is on the way your friend Santa yes check your pocket our train ticket for the Christmas Express wonderful time jingle Belling conceive wonderful time it's [Music] FEC take marshmallows [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] please take your seats the Christmas Express is leaving the station did you have a good time at Grand Central Station I had a great time but where are we going I was hoping to find Christmas oh you just wait we're on our way to Christmas but we have a few stops to make we're going to help a couple of people along the way like me like you it's the most wonderful time of the year but sometimes people need help feeling the Wonder looks like it's time for another stop [Music] the Christmas Express stops wherever and whenever it's needed whoa that's a weird-looking cowbell he looks great green I've seen this guy before every year he tries to rob the train but this time I have a secret weapon to stop them what's in there it's full of joy joy how do you put Joe in a box is it the new iPhone 11 Pro max not quite ok kids grab your boots and cowboy hats we've arrived to the old Wild West [Music] [Music] howdy what do we have here the Christmas Express European war mr. Grinch yes you really are a hue you're as cuddly as a cactus you're as charming as an eel mr. mr. you've got ah Salinas crocodile staggering sigh Alicia do you remember that box of joy I was telling you about do I think it's time to give mr. Grinch his Christmas present maybe this will help cheer him up Merry Christmas mr. Grinch oh okay [Music] to the old town [Music] [Applause] [Music] the grant wasn't so bad after all never underestimate the power of a gift little max should keep him off the naughty list for a while is that what Christmas is about getting the perfect gift well the most perfect gift doesn't come in a box and it can be easy to miss with all the holiday hustle what is it you'll see it before we're done I promise time for another stop it's all snow outside is this the North Pole it sure is and you see those lights out there that Santa's workshop Santa's here yeah but it looks like his sleigh is stuck I think he needs our help we go job Santa his slave runs on Christmas spirit if we go down there and sing we can get him off the ground but it can't just be any old song it it needs to be great jingle bells no frosty not quite that's it but perhaps not the version you know the okay kids grab your hats scarves and mittens it's always snowing at the North Pole this is gonna be groovy baby [Music] I'm [Music] [Music] when you're sleeping he pink oh goodness santé singing we're dancing we have all this Christmas cheer but the sleigh still won't fly don't worry thing that'll always have a plan B [Music] [Music] Oh [Music] [Applause] how does it feel to help save Christmas that was amazing I love Christmas Santa is awesome and I love the North Pole but if you want to find Christmas we have one more stop to make where they shall pay more for last-minute discounts even better the place where the wonder of Christmas began you might have heard the story a long time ago shepherds were keeping watch over their sheep at night when an angel of the Lord appeared to them and said do not be afraid I bring you good news that will bring great joy the Savior yes the Messiah the Lord has been born in the little town of Bethlehem all of a sudden the sky was filled with angels celebrating and singing rejoice rejoice and glory to God in the highest and peace on earth and goodwill to all that's right you know Elisha santé told me you felt something was missing from Christmas this year is that so well I'm glad you asked for help it can be so easy to forget the true meaning of Christmas with all the hustle and bustle sometimes we need to be reminded of what Christmas is all about do you want to see that perfect gift I was telling you about earlier next stop the very first Christmas [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] man [Music] Oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] why do we celebrate this baby the Bible says that an angel revealed to a virgin named Mary that she gave birth to a son and his name would be called Emmanuel which means God with us now think about it God with us what does it mean the message of Christmas is God's presence if you're feeling down if you're feeling discouraged if you're feeling depressed God with us brings us hope God with us gives us a second chance God's with us means we can be forgiven because the Son of God is born and his name is Jesus he is with us are you with me and you can rejoice today because God is with you he's with you in your depression he's with you in your discouragement he's with you when you're lonely he's with you in your sickness he's with you whenever you're going through hard times God is with you no matter what you're going through God is with you so we can rejoice we can rejoice because the God who is with us will give his power and his strength and his love for us to overcome anything that we're facing in his in our life listen it's our hope and prayer this Christmas that you would experience real joy and real hope and peace that comes from the God who is with you say this with me God is with me say with me God is with me God is with me let's all stand and sing to the God who is with us right now [Music] [Applause] [Music] Sanjana joy to the world the Lord is come let earth receive her King nature's sing nature's say [Music] [Music] sure [Music] [Music] [Music] Oh [Applause] sure [Music] [Applause] heeey enjoy [Music] Oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] Oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] No see what certain poor shepherds in fields me [Music] with [Music] she [Music] that letting us know No [Music] what is the key [Music] today in the town of baby [Music] he is the Messiah the Lord [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] or ceplac you're here to celebrate Christmas at Central with us and I want you to know if this is your first time in central this is a place where it's okay to not be okay that means you can come as you are you belong what we are so glad you're here right central family let's welcome all of our first-time guests our experience is just an over an hour and right at the end we would love to meet you in any of our exits there's a next step smooth we have a free Christmas gift we want to give you and you're surrounded by some of the greatest people in the world that's the central family I'm surrounded by some incredible people up here as well we want to give you the opportunity right now to just turn around and wish the few people near you Merry Christmas before you take this [Music] this is how we do [Music] [Music] let's go this is how you win it's Friday night and that below what are you wearing what are you wearing bro I've said 90s holiday tracksuit I heard 90s us a tracksuit this won the gold medal in Barcelona it is 40 degrees yes and you look comfortable all right we've got something to tell let's get that groove going again hey January 11th and 12th Montel Jordans gonna be in the house at Central that's right and not only is he gonna share with us this hint this is how we do it he's gonna tell us about his story he's even gonna lead us in worship Nick it's really hard to hear you talking about worship in this help is awkward we're gonna get some clothes on him hey something that's not something we celebrate here in central his life page stories check out some pieces hey everybody Merry Christmas were so glad that you're joining us my name is Chloe and here at Central were all about celebrating stories so I wanted to take a few minutes to share with you about our initiative hope for kids every year through hope for kids were able to bless under-resourced children and families throughout our community we recently heard about a woman named Shanice a single mother of two who suffered a stroke and is currently unable to work she was uncertain if she could afford rent during the holiday season let alone provide food and gifts for her kids and with a non-working vehicle and an eviction notice on her door she was starting to lose hope but thanks to your generosity the central family was able to step in and surprise her in her hour of need let's check this out [Music] well here's the control family has been watching the perseverance through the struggle that you had right now and I know through this season you were worried with a stroke of how we were going to provide Christmas what you were gonna do and so through the hope our kids initiative we've been able to gather some toys to make sure that Christmas happens for you you have a tree you have in your cupboard you have decorations you have a family that loves you so your bless you [Music] but I know that just uncertainty as far as work and all of the struggle you don't have to worry about rent for two months oh my god all y'all thank you are you ready [Music] I'm so glad that I have you go guys all you guys I appreciate y'all like I really do I really do we love chemise and her family and her story represents one of the thousands of families that were able to bless there are hope for kids initiative every single year in so many different ways like the guy behind bars event all is bright an event where incarcerated parents are reunited with their kids it's been about three years since I've been able to be able to see him this has been so amazing to be able to reunite with him like that so I mean I'm thankful for everything has been it's awesome our hope for kids night where we blessed over 250 under-resourced families at Central with warm clothes a hot meal and Christmas gifts for the kids that had such a fun night we got to eat food play games cookies Whiston like chocolate milk I almost like a all mine and then I did hey our food pantry which is the largest in all of Nevada that has spent hundreds of families twice a week nearly 50,000 people just this year hosted events like the drop the we fed 3500 people in a single day provided 200 thousand articles of clothing care cuts and other hygienic needs as well as automotive work partnering with organizations like three square and veteran's village serving those who have served and are now in the club Christ a local nonprofit organization that provides a safe space and support system for at-risk youth in our the Leukemia Lymphoma Society a night of hope for children with terminal illnesses and through our central care department that has helped over 31,000 individuals just this year the list goes on and on and we're not done yet none of this would be possible without your generosity this year through our hope for kids initiative your gift of 47 dollars can change the life of a community so don't we sponsor a kid today go to hope for kids gifts to shine a bright light of hope this year so exciting to see how the central family is blessing kids isn't it just a moment we're going to receive our Christmas offering but before we do can I just explain why it's so important the Bible says that God was a giver the God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son the Bible also says it's more blessed to give than it is to receive when our kids were little we tried to teach them this truth in so many different ways especially at Christmas in one of my favorite ways that Christmas was on Christmas Day before we'd open up presents our family would get in a car we make our way down to where our church was serving the homeless community a hot mill on Christmas Day my kids would get on the front line and they would serve that meal and their whole heart and attitude change to gratefulness and thankfulness as they serve those that meal and they were learning at Christmas that Christmas isn't just about what you can get but Christmas is about what you can give to bless others now I was blown away last week when I showed up at our hope for kids initiative where we were blessing 250 under-resourced families right here at Central and I looked over to the food line and guess who was serving food my grandkids were serving food to these families and I could see the joy on their face and they were learning this truth that Christmas isn't about what you can get Smith is about what you can give to bless others in need are you with me that's where real joy comes from and that's what our hope for kids initiative is all about we're trying to bless kids whose parents are incarcerated kids who are sick kids who are just hungry kids who come from very tremendous needs and they just need a second opportunity and you and I can make a difference in their life we can give to change a kid's life forever listen let me brag for just a minute of what God's been doing through the generosity of the central family did you know last year alone because of the generosity of our hope for kids Christmas offering last December and throughout the year we've now fed over 50,000 people through our food pantry come on but it doesn't have to in there tens of thousands of kids in our city don't have adequate amounts of food available to them and we can make a difference and I don't know about you but I don't think a single kid in the city of Las Vegas should go to bed at night hungry to you and we can give to change their life and you know we can also give to give second chances to kids who just need to know that there's a God who loves them that can provide for them and wants to be in a relationship with them and hope for kids will make that difference now when we looked at Christmas and we thought about this offering and we saw the tens of thousands of kids in need in our city we didn't just set a small goal a few hundred or a few thousand we want to bless 15,000 kids lives this Christmas come on somebody [Applause] and I want to encourage you to give that gift $47 can change a kid's life in over the past several weeks that central family's been giving to this initiative they've been going out to the display getting their photo taken just marking the day that they gave to kit change of kid's life for all of eternity in fact our location Pastor Nick and Aaron are out at the display in our lobby let's do what the Damned they'll tell us more about it Nick you there yeah Mike Aaron and I are out in front of our hope for kids display where every picture on this display represents a child who has been sponsored by a central family member so far in central so far we've sponsored ten thousand and six kids that's absolutely incredible but there's more to sponsor and Aaron's gonna run us through how let's pass it over to her yes so step one find someone in the lobby wearing a red apron they will help you give a gift today and then step two head over to the display and get your photo taken if you want to jump in this with me perfect and then by the time you get your photo taken and you get to the printer our team will actually already have your photo printed out for you and they'll help you find your place on the display so this is 103 row 11 put that right there and if you're joining us online we want you to be a part of this display as well all you have to do is post a photo on instagram using the hashtag hope for kids 2019 let's finish this out strong let's hit our goal of sponsoring 15,000 kids this holiday season back to you Mike all right Thank You Aaron and Nick let's give it up for them how many believe we can bless 15,000 kids lives this Christmas come on I do too but we can't do it without you so I'm gonna ask you would you give a gift on behalf of a kid today it's easy to give if you give by cheque or cash you can given the offerings past or at the conclusion of our experience today our Usher's will have buckets that say hope for kids you can give there or if you're like me you don't carry cash but you want to participate you can give by credit or debt car just find one of our generosity team members out of the lobby they'll be wearing a red Santa hat with some flashing lights around their neck just walk up to him and tell him how many kids you want to sponsor 1 5 10 100 or more they'll put that in their swipe your credit and debit card and you'll be changing kids lives forever and I'm going to say on behalf of kids in need in our city thank you in advance for your generosity for making a difference in their life and caring enough to give to those needs let's just ask God's blessing would you join me and ask him to show up in our lives well Jesus we thank you that you have blessed us so we could be a blessing to others God as we give our gifts use them to change a kid's life may they know that you love them and want to be in relationship with them through our generosity god this Christmas we invite you in to all that we do and experience right here show up speak to us and bless us more than we could possibly imagine for we ask it in Jesus name Amen well right now I'm going to invite our Usher's to receive the offering if you came prepared to give your ministry fund offering you can give it at this time let's all stand together as we continue to sing to the God who is with us [Music] angels we have her [Music] Swilly me see the brains in to echoey they're tourists [Music] reach you God glory to God Florie three two glory to God glory [Music] [Music] whose birthday angel see come did Christ ooh key each new guy [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] see him in the manger lay whom the class of angels praise Mary Joseph enjoy while hearts in love we're Eskimo church glory to God glory to God glory [Music] it Gloriana when Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem and Mary was ready to give birth to Jesus they were told by the end keeper but there was no room in the end and why the innkeeper wouldn't make room for a pregnant woman let alone the fact the mother of the Son of God is beyond me but I know that in the season of Christmas and all the chaos sometimes it's even hard to make room in our hearts for him and it's our hope and prayer today that you'll open your heart and allow God to fill you with this hope with this Wonder in his love and every weekend we take a moment to pray over the church family for those who are hopeless I know this might be weird but wherever you're at if you need prayer of any sorts today would you just boldly slip your hand up in the air so we can pray with you and for you raise your hand up high if we can pray for you and if you're next to somebody with their hand raised don't encourage you to just reach a hand out maybe even put a hand on their shoulder let's pray and ask God to move through our friends lives would you join me God we come before you right now we lift up our brothers and sisters to you we pray that this Christmas you would fill us with your joy with your peace god we just trade our hopelessness for your hope today thank you God we give you all the glory and praise Pritz in your name we pray and everyone in this room said together amen sing this course together come on glory to God glory to God the divorces glory who reads you come on church glory [Music] to [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] free [Music] come on somebody give God some praise the other good time so far since your family that one asked you to remain standing for just a moment and in just a second our pastor John is going to come share the Christmas story with us but I want you to note the end of our experience if you've never been baptized today could be the day for you in fact we have a brand new area in our lobby where you can get baptized some factors of baptism going on on the screen right now I want to encourage you at the end of our experience to just go out there let them know that you would like to get baptized this just takes a couple of minutes we've got a change of clothes for you a place to change as well so encourage you to do that at the end of our experience but right now and invite you to be seated let's put our hands together biggest message of hope with us well Merry Christmas everyone it's such a joy to have you with us and I want to say a big welcome not only to those who are here at our Henderson location but a big welcome to our central Family locations meeting all around the Las Vegas Valley and beyond in Arizona big shout out to central Kingman and Kingman Arizona we love you guys Merry Christmas as well as to our central Summerlin family we're grateful for you central southern highlands and sunrise mountain thank you guys we want to say a big welcome to everybody who's watching online and also to those who are joining us in our partnership with God behind bars and different prison facilities around the country thank you guys for being with us well how many of you own a ugly Christmas sweater all right I mean you know somebody who has an ugly Christmas sweater they don't know it's ugly definitely that but you know ugly Christmas sweaters is sort of part of the holiday tradition I went to a party this year an ugly Christmas sweater party and I thought maybe I get nominated for like most ugliest sweater right but I didn't even get the top three you know I had lights on and everything nothing so I've been trying to up my game for next year and I took some photos and some ugly Christmas sweaters let's see what you think first of all how many you like the movie elf everybody anybody like elf all right so I just started off with sort of the classic here you know elf and that's not really an ugly Christmas sweater or not in a big way but then I decided to take this to a new level with elf riding on santa's shoulders look at that now we're getting closer right now we're warming up then I thought I'd try on the outfit from a Christmas story the movie little Ralphie he wants the BB gun but he gets the bunny suit remember that he's really frustrated by it so here I thought I'd try the bunny suit on for next year it is sort of seeing you got to be very secure guys to wear that pink bunny suit I'm telling you but if none of those work then I definitely feel like I've found what could be the ugliest Christmas sweater possible and it's called shirtless Santa let's check this out right here there it is the shirtless Santa sweater in case you're wondering that Santa hat is actually covering covering a very inappropriate nipple piercing so anyway there it is all right well you could win those yeah I thought we were gonna go to the back there well you can win the ugliest Christmas sweater competition if you're willing to pay 20 bucks and lose your dignity right there it is simple as that but you know Christmas can get ugly and I'm not just talking about the sweaters you can get ugly I mean it's a wonderful time of year but traffic can get ugly come on somebody it's crazy out there right people driving crazy shopping can get ugly even even online shopping can get ugly with porch pirates coming along snagging different packages finances can get ugly the Christmas list gets bigger the bank account gets smaller right family can get ugly I know there's some people that are like man it seems like we just did Thanksgiving like two weeks ago and now we got to do this again we're all getting back together I need more time to recover it could get ugly and then emotionally it can get ugly you live long enough you'll go through some Christmas seasons without people that you love dearly or you know you face some Christmas seasons with differ family situations some of you baby may be there now or different financial situations and emotionally it can get I feel like Christmas is like the best of times and the most challenging of times right it exaggerated things in our lives so if you're lonely it exaggerated that lonely right if you're hurting or struggling it can make it feel like you're struggling even that much more it's a wonderful time of year I love it but it can get ugly and I want to talk to you today about how we can experience joy even when we're struggling with some ugly in our lives this holiday season I want to do that by looking at the original Christmas story Luke chapter 2 verse 8 is what we do every week here central I'll read this scripture off the screens when we get to the highlighted word I'll just ask you to read it out loud very loud with me and listen kids the louder you read it the more presents you'll get your pastor said so so here we go Luke chapter 2 beginning in verse 8 check it out says that night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby guarding their flocks of sheep and suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared among them and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them they were terrified but the angel reassured them don't be afraid he said I bring you what good news turn the person acts you say good news good news that will bring great joy turn the other person next to you say great joy good news great joy to all people the Savior yes the Messiah the Lord has been born today in Bethlehem in the City of David so the announcement that the angel made to the Shepherd on the night that Jesus was born was an announcement of good news and great joy a savior had been born and listen I believe when we open God's gift and receive God's gift and celebrate God's gift that was delivered that first Christmas we can re-experience good news great joy even when things are a little bit ugly first principle is to open God's gift open God's gift I remember when I was in high school I played football I wasn't very good in fact I hardly ever called out onto the field I was sort of the charity guy on the team and if they ever called me out in a game it was always when it didn't matter you know I was like special teams when the game was over or whatever so I was sitting on the bench and I'll never forget like I got caught is the only play I ever made in high school football I got called up there was three minutes left in the game we're playing Dalhart Texas they had the ball they were driving down the field it looked bad because we were we were down by I think three points and so it was bad it was bleak right but somebody got hurt there was no other backup to the backup and they had to call me so the coach looks over there he's like will hi get in the game I'm like where's my helmet do I have a helmet can I borrow your helmet you know I got I've been in a game I was the guy that at the end of the game I have to go out rub stuff on my Jersey you know so it looked like something happened anyway so I got on the field I get in position the ball snaps I somehow get around the offensive guard there I get around them and my teammate gets around on the other side and he sacks the quarterback and the quarterback fumbles the ball and the ball starts bouncing towards our end zone and then I'm running after it and another guy runs faster than me and he falls on the ball and the ball squirts out and it keeps bouncing towards the endzone I'm just like Forrest Gump you know just keep running just keep running I don't know what I'm doing and this is what I don't this one don't forget the ball like super naturally bounced up into my hands no joke and I stopped running and I look down and I was in the end zone I scored a touchdown we won the game people the coach comes running out from the other side of the field man he ran on to the field he was so excited in fact to use that the rest of the rest of the season he'd get everybody in the locker room be like guys we got to step it up listen even Wilhite score in touchdowns down you guys got to get it together but I tell you that story because that's a picture of what grace is grace means undeserved favor that's what it means and spiritually when you talk about grace you're talking about the undeserved favor and forgiveness of God himself towards you in your life and look that day on the football field I didn't do anything to deserve that play I was just in the right place at the right time in fact it had little to do with me the ball was there I was there it just all came together these Shepherds in the field that night I don't think that the angel made the announcement to them because they had earned it or because they had achieved it it was just like they won the Super Bowl they were in the right place at the right time and the announcement comes it's good news and it's great joy and it's not about your performance and it's not about how good you are it's not about how much you have it worked out in your life or how together you are it's about how good god is good news great joy because we have a good God and he's giving you a gift today a savior has been born and when you think about that first of all it's good news it's not good advice we got a lot of good advice floating around what to eat what not to eat how much to exercise how much not actually everybody's got advice but the good news of Jesus is news it's an announcement of something that God has done on our behalf in the past and because of what he's done on our behalf in the past we can receive it and believe it and be transformed by it in our lives in the present it's good news God has done it not only is it good news it's it's good news that a savior has been born you think about that for somebody to be a savior they have to save from something and we need to be saved from the judgment of God we need to be saved from our own sins we need to be saved from our own failures and mistakes we need a Savior we need somebody to help reconcile us to God we need somebody to help us deal with our past our failures our mistakes all the junk that we get ourselves into that we need a Savior and the savior has been born in the past and what God did in the past is more important than what you did in the past what God did in the past is more important than what you did in the past your failures my failures our mistakes it's really about what God has done for us Romans chapter 3 says we've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God in other words there's no perfect people except on their resumes right but that short-lived let's check it out Romans chapter 3 verse 23 says for the wages of sin is death a sin means to miss the mark and for our sin the payment for our sin for our disobedience for our rebellion right it's death and spiritual death but look wages of sin is death but the free what gift the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord let's just leave that up there for Matt first of all it is a free gift some of you you're gonna get some gifts this holiday season you're gonna open some gifts I hope you get good gifts I mean when my grandma used to always give me like underwear you know I'm like hey thanks socks great love it at I love being a dad this is awesome but God's gift is a gift you want and it's a free gift when you receive a gift that's what you do you receive it right you didn't earn it you don't achieve it but you accept it and you receive it and the gift that God offers to each one of us is the gift of eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord now it says the the gift of eternal life we read that together and I think sometimes we just think of that as like life that goes on forever but in the actual language where the word was used eternal life implies more than just a length of time it also implies a quality of life that we can experience today that goes forward forever into eternity it's that quality of life that is filled with God and His goodness that is filled with the fruit of his spirit love joy peace patience kindness goodness gentleness faithfulness and self-control it's that quality of life Jesus said I came to bring you life and life to the full it's that quality of life that can fill our lives today and every day going forward into eternity that's God's gift eternal life offered freely to every one of us how do you receive it the Bible says if you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord that you will be saved our opportunity today is to come before God and receive the gift that he has given us some of you you're already here and you know God has been calling him he's been tapping you on the shoulder he's been wooing you to come and to receive the free gift that he offers you today and all you need to do to receive it is open it and celebrate it I know for me in my life when I first came to faith in Christ one of the most significant things that happen to me is when I surrendered my life to Christ and you can argue did I surrender my life to Christ because I simply chose to believe or because God chose me and called me to come and surrender my life to him either way here's what I know when I got down on my knees and surrendered my life to Jesus Christ everything changed for the better everything changed for the better what does it mean to surrender your life to Christ it simply means that you believe in your heart and you believe with who you are that Jesus is your Savior and your Redeemer and you trust him with your future you don't have to have all the answers you don't have to have it all worked out but you're willing to follow him and trust him and when you do that you receive the greatest Christmas gift ever given in the universe the gift of God through Jesus Christ and all that he brings to us in our lives so open God's gift today open God's gift now I want you to notice the angel not only says this good news is great joy angel says do not be afraid one of the things I found in my life is when I start walking in faith when I open God's gift and remember it every day it changes my relationship to fear it changes what I fear fact I went through the Bible and I just captured all the times you'll see that phrase do not be afraid or some translations say fear not I just wrote down all the different times to the Old Testament moving into the New Testament that you read the phrase or most of them where you read the phrase fear not and this is what it says we're just gonna fly over it says fear not for God is with you fear not for your God hears you fear not for the battle belongs to the Lord fear not for God is coming to save you fear not for he is here to help you fear not for he will strengthen you fear not for the Lord will protect you fear not for he knows your name fear not for he knows the numbers of hairs on your head and for some of you is less today than it was yesterday just saying don't be afraid don't be afraid fear not for he is here to bless you fear not for he will help you fear not for he will heal you fear not for he will give you a great reward fear not the insults if you're not the future fear not the secrets fear not the powers of humans or the power of hell he has overcome them once and for all fear not because nothing can separate you from his love his value is greater future fear not because he's given you victory and it's his pleasure to give you the kingdom fear not for he is the first and the last the Alpha and the Omega the king of all rulers listen death couldn't defeat him the grave couldn't hold him and the world cannot overcome him don't be afraid don't be afraid because it's good news and it's great joy and it's more about God and who he is than it is about us and how well we've got it all worked out in our lives right now open God's gift in your heart and life and then secondly celebrate God's gift celebrate it every single day you know we often send emojis back and forth you send people text messages right you know one of my favorites is the fist pump you know somebody said hey lamb fist bump ooh meet you at 12 o'clock a fist bump boom coming to central see it Monday night or C on on on Christmas Eve good poem this poem or the high five high five I started thinking like what are the most popular emojis that we send to one another when we're communicating you ever wonder this I was on three just yell out whatever you think the most popular emoji is okay one two three and I'm here our heart with that's actually a good one right here was heart with our ties none of us know actually how to say these what these emojis are but I've done some research I got one right here this is called smiling face with hard eyes now this is not the most popular emoji this is the third most popular emoji the third was and this is like the emoji of love right I love you you're awesome Hartman you don't if you really love somebody's like you know you just kind of and then all your friends if you're in that early love stage or wanting to send the barf I don't have the barf emoji up here but you're like stop stop gushing the second most popular emoji that we send through text messages in social media is this one right here this is loudly crying face and I think this one often depends on how well this one's going you know things aren't going well here they may that's a loudly cry for the number one most popular emoji that we send back and forth is this one right here crying face with our face wet face with tears of joy face with tears of joy I got it I got it calm down face with tears of joy and this is like our laughter right when we're laughing or somebody tells a joke that's hilarious you know we do face with tears of joy I when I think about like Christmas I think God is certainly communicating his love for God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son John 3:16 whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life but I also think he's the source of joy and that part of what Christmas is about is when you celebrate what God has done for you every day it fills you with a great sense of joy what you celebrate what I celebrate tends to be what replicates in our life when you celebrate Jesus celebrate what he's done for you celebrate how he's provided for you it can begin to replicate joy in your life even when things are ugly and difficult fact look at what Peter says first Peter chapter 1 verse 3 says what a God we have because Jesus was raised from the dead we've been given a brand new life and we have what everything everything to live for including a future in heaven and the future starts now starts now starts today then the next sentence he says so we rejoice even though we face troubles of many kinds we rejoice even though things may be hard we rejoice even though finances may be difficult right now we rejoice even though the divorce may be killing you right now we rejoice even though family dynamics may just be overwhelming right now we rejoice even though we aren't sure what the future holds we rejoice even though we can't find the right guy or the right girl we rejoice even though work isn't exactly there our favor like it's not the place we ultimately hoped we'd be but this is where we are right we rejoice even when we come home to our house that looks nothing like the house on HGTV we rejoice even when we go into that kitchen and you know that kitchen needs work but it isn't that bad because then you go to the bathroom and you know the bathroom needs work but then you walk into the bedroom and you know the bedroom needs work but we rejoice anyway we rejoice even when our kids don't listen to us come on somebody as a Dallas Cowboys football fan I'm learning to rejoice even though every week a different team shows up on the field [Applause] people want the Cowboys to win I'm like I hope they lose every game now we need to clean house people it's Thomas start over but we don't just rejoice we rejoice because we rejoice because to you a son has been given and a child has been born we rejoice because through Jesus life death and resurrection we find forgiveness and hope God's Spirit dwelling within us the gift of eternal life a relationship with the God who loves us we rejoice but no matter how difficult or challenging things is things are we believe God is good in fact he's good even when things in our life don't feel so good right now we rejoice because whether we have the right guy or the right girl more important than all of that is we have a God who fills that void in our life and we can follow him through thick and thin we rejoice because even when the marriage is hard even when the relationships hard we have a God who loves us who calls himself the father to the fatherless who loves us through the dark times and the difficult times who has said he will never leave us and never forsake us so no matter what happens no matter what comes we never walk alone we never walk alone God is with us when I was 17 years old I walked through the doors of a church for the first time on my own terms which basically means my parents didn't make me go and I was coming out of a 4-year drug addiction a lot of ways my life was a complicated web of lies and deceit sin I was a mess and I was so thankful because when I look back in my life I realized that God showed me undeserved favor and grace I thought when I walked in the church that the church will collapse some of you felt that way when you came into church right now you think man I'm gonna go to church the ceiling could fall in at any moment listen it is we've already been down this road with thousands of people it is a well architectural a structured building you don't have to worry about the ceiling falling in what's available to you is the grace of God if you receive it if you reach out and believe it if you surrender your heart and life and say you know what I'm willing to do it God's Way somebody came to service last night I said you know they're so tired of their life and the direction that had been going and they didn't plan on this but they came in they thought you know I'm gonna I'm leaving the old life behind I'm embracing the new life God has for me they surrendered their lives to Christ after service they went out into our lobby and they said I'm gonna be baptized as a picture of what I believe in my heart what God has done in my life and I'm moving into this new year with God it's a new me I'm committed to him and so they took that step people gathered around cheered her on celebrated and any one of you could take that step today after service you can go by and get baptized we've got new route changing rooms out here available for you we've got t-shirts you get you can put your t-shirt on we got towels everything you need to get baptized and it could be an amazing way for some of you to mark Christmas in your heart and life this year that was the moment when I said I'm moving forward in my faith with God this next year is gonna be different than the last year maybe for some of you it's simply putting your faith and your trust in Jesus Christ you know if he's been tapping you on the shoulder if he's been calling you to come home to him and it would be my privilege if you're ready to surrender your life to just lead you in a prayer to help you take that spiritual step you can pray this out loud you could pray it in your heart there's nothing magical about it it's just a tool to help you begin your relationship with God and start that journey so would all of you please bow your heads and close your eyes if you'd like to follow Jesus in your life today could begin that journey about repeating after me either out loud or in your heart just say dear God I thank you for loving me thank you for sending Jesus into the world I believe he died on the cross for my sins I believe he rose again forgive me for my sins give me the gift of eternal life help me face the challenges I'm up against God I surrender my life to you in Christ's name friends with every head bowed and every eye closed if that's your prayer commitment today I want to ask you to just slip your hand in the air just make eye contact with me just to say before God and to say to me you're gonna follow him in your life today god bless you guys just reach out to him today thank you god bless you god I thank you for each individual here and I pray you'll just move in each of our hearts and lives particularly for those surrendering to you I'm so grateful for what you're doing in their life and I pray you'll fill them with your hope your love your joy your peace your strength and use them in awesome ways as they follow you and faith God we love you we celebrate you today we give you thanks for each of these people in Christ's name Amen let's put our hands together for each of these individuals today and I'm gonna ask all of you to please remain seated for just a moment if you made a spiritual commitment in your life I just want to tell you congratulations we'd love to give you some resources I'd love to give you three things one is an ornament to remember this moment that this Christmas was the Christmas when you surrendered your life the second is a little pendant across to remind you of who Jesus is and what he's done for you and the third is a little book that we put together it's called how to follow Jesus that just give you some really practical insight trust me there's lots of pictures some really practical insight to help you in your spiritual journey as you follow him all of that's free to you at areas that we call our new beginnings areas you'll see them under each of our screens down here there's also in the back on the way out in the upper deck there's actually six different stations around in this room so make sure to grab that and let them know you made a spiritual commitment and if you want to be baptized you can also just tell anybody at the new beginnings area or you can just go on out to the baptismal area we would love to celebrate with you a Christmas baptism it would be awesome so at this time would you stand together with me we have a tradition here at Central that we close out our Christmas experiences by singing silent night together so our team's gonna lead us [Music] let's all sing this together uhh [Music] Oh [Music] these calm these [Music] you're [Music] mother [Music] infant so tender [Music] sleep in here me be [Music] see I want to thank you so much for spending your Christmas with us here at Central don't forget if he made a spiritual decision to check out the new beginnings area also I want you to know we still have six experiences to tomorrow night and four on Christmas Eve tell your friends and family posted on social media grab invite cards on the way out you never know the difference it could make in someone's life and don't forget to sponsor a kid through our hope orchids initiative to set out to the lobby and look for somebody out there hope you'll join us in 2020 as we kick off our new series January 4th and 5th and don't forget Montell Jordan January left the 12th that's gonna be a great weekend we hope you have a very very Merry Christmas hang on to Romans chapter 8 that says that God is for us who can be against us Merry Christmas everybody [Music] you
