1 00:00:00,333 --> 00:00:03,042 Hi, Pastor Mark here, excited this week to introduce to you 2 00:00:03,125 --> 00:00:04,458 to Pastor Sutton Turner, 3 00:00:04,458 --> 00:00:07,042 one of our three executive elders at Mars Hill. 4 00:00:07,125 --> 00:00:10,333 He has recently adopted a really cute little boy 5 00:00:10,417 --> 00:00:12,333 named Joseph from Ethiopia 6 00:00:12,375 --> 00:00:15,833 and has a big heart for that nation and its people. 7 00:00:15,917 --> 00:00:17,958 He recently took a trip to Ethiopia 8 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:20,833 to meet the more than two dozen church planners 9 00:00:20,875 --> 00:00:25,333 we have a great honor of sponsoring through Mars Hill Global 10 00:00:25,417 --> 00:00:28,167 and I wanted to share with you his experience. 11 00:00:30,583 --> 00:00:37,000 [music] 12 00:00:37,583 --> 00:00:39,167 It was a dark time. 13 00:00:39,250 --> 00:00:42,792 It was a lonely time. 14 00:00:42,833 --> 00:00:45,583 It was all kind of about acquisition of things 15 00:00:45,667 --> 00:00:48,500 and activities and fun and escape. 16 00:00:48,583 --> 00:00:51,833 I was parenting on my own and it's hard when you're a wife, 17 00:00:51,917 --> 00:00:54,167 when your husband--you kind of feel like he's 18 00:00:54,250 --> 00:00:55,833 escaping from you. 19 00:00:55,917 --> 00:00:59,458 He was a man of many hobbies would be a good way to put it. 20 00:00:59,500 --> 00:01:02,500 I really had a bucket list of all the things I thought 21 00:01:02,583 --> 00:01:04,250 that was gonna make me happy, 22 00:01:04,292 --> 00:01:07,292 own a big ranch, fly private aviation. 23 00:01:07,333 --> 00:01:11,792 It made me less happy and I became more and more depressed. 24 00:01:14,167 --> 00:01:17,625 In 2005, I went to Africa. 25 00:01:17,667 --> 00:01:21,167 I went expecting to go on a hunting trip 26 00:01:21,250 --> 00:01:25,000 and Jesus had a whole 'nother story planned. 27 00:01:25,083 --> 00:01:29,833 Right before I left, my--Marci, who had been going to church, 28 00:01:29,917 --> 00:01:34,583 asked me, "Please, just one time, go with me to church." 29 00:01:34,667 --> 00:01:36,917 Our marriage was in the skids at that point 30 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:38,792 and so I started praying for him. 31 00:01:38,833 --> 00:01:41,667 So I went back home that night after that church service 32 00:01:41,750 --> 00:01:44,625 and, unbeknownst to Marci, downloaded 33 00:01:44,667 --> 00:01:47,292 over a year's worth of podcasts. 34 00:01:47,333 --> 00:01:50,167 I really didn't believe that God could do 35 00:01:50,250 --> 00:01:53,417 a miraculous, miraculous change. 36 00:01:53,500 --> 00:01:57,000 On the 37-hour flight to South Africa, 37 00:01:57,083 --> 00:01:59,750 I don't know how many sermons I listened to. 38 00:01:59,833 --> 00:02:03,250 I thought, okay, I can pray to Jesus and he might change 39 00:02:03,292 --> 00:02:06,250 my husband, but I didn't really have a goal 40 00:02:06,292 --> 00:02:08,667 that he would change him as much as he did. 41 00:02:08,750 --> 00:02:10,417 So about halfway through the trip, 42 00:02:10,500 --> 00:02:12,500 my African guide is there, 43 00:02:12,583 --> 00:02:14,333 and I'm sure he thinks I'm crazy, 44 00:02:14,417 --> 00:02:15,792 just prayed and just said, 45 00:02:15,833 --> 00:02:18,250 "God, I made a wreck of my life. 46 00:02:18,292 --> 00:02:20,833 "Whatever you want to do with my life, 47 00:02:20,917 --> 00:02:25,500 you've got it because I can't live like this." 48 00:02:25,583 --> 00:02:28,500 And I really realized all the sin that was in my life, 49 00:02:28,583 --> 00:02:30,000 what a horrible dad I was. 50 00:02:30,083 --> 00:02:35,417 I mean it was just--I was just overwhelmed with needing Jesus, 51 00:02:35,500 --> 00:02:39,750 I mean just needing him and calling out to him. 52 00:02:39,792 --> 00:02:43,125 And by God's grace, he saved me. 53 00:02:43,167 --> 00:02:46,417 And then when we went to the Middle East, 54 00:02:46,500 --> 00:02:52,750 my podcasting became, I mean, literally every single week, 55 00:02:52,792 --> 00:02:56,250 and I had never even set foot in Mars Hill Church. 56 00:02:56,333 --> 00:02:58,750 I mean, I knew every single thing that you guys 57 00:02:58,833 --> 00:03:00,625 had been talking about and preaching about 58 00:03:00,667 --> 00:03:02,750 and enjoying and celebrating. 59 00:03:02,792 --> 00:03:05,250 I felt like I was a member of the church 60 00:03:05,292 --> 00:03:07,500 or an active participant in the church, 61 00:03:07,583 --> 00:03:08,917 but had never been there. 62 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:11,333 So we'd gather around the Apple TV, 63 00:03:11,417 --> 00:03:13,292 download it, and watch it. 64 00:03:13,333 --> 00:03:17,750 It was our gospel, our teaching, 65 00:03:17,792 --> 00:03:22,583 our growth for a long period of time. 66 00:03:22,667 --> 00:03:26,917 For every one person that calls Mars Hill Church home on a given 67 00:03:26,958 --> 00:03:30,333 weekend across 1 of our 14 churches, you know, 68 00:03:30,417 --> 00:03:33,833 there's another 20 people that are podcasting it. 69 00:03:33,917 --> 00:03:38,500 So like this very weekend, there's 250,000 people 70 00:03:38,583 --> 00:03:41,750 that are podcasting it, just like Marci and I were. 71 00:03:41,792 --> 00:03:46,500 We're not their local church, but we are something that is 72 00:03:46,583 --> 00:03:50,333 helping them, by God's grace, to grow and develop 73 00:03:50,417 --> 00:03:55,125 as disciples of Christ and I want us to recognize what that 74 00:03:55,167 --> 00:03:57,292 extended family looks like. 75 00:03:57,333 --> 00:04:01,333 That extended family, and that opportunity to grow 76 00:04:01,333 --> 00:04:03,500 the extended family, 77 00:04:03,542 --> 00:04:06,875 is an awesome opportunity that we have 78 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:10,250 and an influence that God has given us to steward. 79 00:04:10,333 --> 00:04:15,500 And now after nine trips to Africa and most recently this 80 00:04:15,500 --> 00:04:20,000 last trip to Ethiopia, I see our brothers and sisters in 81 00:04:20,042 --> 00:04:25,167 Jesus Christ, sons and daughters of Jesus Christ and, to me, 82 00:04:25,208 --> 00:04:28,083 that's--I would love for our immediate family 83 00:04:28,167 --> 00:04:30,000 at Mars Hill Church 84 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:35,667 to see those kids as our brothers and sisters. 85 00:04:37,667 --> 00:04:40,667 Well, it's amazing what God is doing in Ethiopia 86 00:04:40,750 --> 00:04:46,500 and it's literally not every day that you're able to see what 87 00:04:46,500 --> 00:04:49,083 Jesus Christ is doing there. 88 00:04:49,167 --> 00:04:52,583 And the Bible college that Mars Hill is supporting 89 00:04:52,667 --> 00:04:56,417 and funding people that are studying the Bible, 90 00:04:56,500 --> 00:05:00,167 their history is an amazing history. 91 00:05:00,250 --> 00:05:04,875 Between 1972 to 1992, 92 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:08,875 communism held Ethiopia, 93 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:12,083 and they started closing down the churches and persecution 94 00:05:12,167 --> 00:05:14,167 of all of these churches. 95 00:05:14,250 --> 00:05:19,750 The elders, the 28 elders, were thrown in jail. 96 00:05:19,833 --> 00:05:26,500 So this was the big office where they put our 28 elders. 97 00:05:26,542 --> 00:05:28,500 Ooh. 98 00:05:28,542 --> 00:05:30,167 This is dark. 99 00:05:30,208 --> 00:05:32,833 I mean, our elders, when they were imprisoned 100 00:05:32,833 --> 00:05:36,250 for one year here and they were beaten and wounded here. 101 00:05:36,333 --> 00:05:40,083 So the Lord is, I mean, he was watching. 102 00:05:40,167 --> 00:05:43,083 Well, the church, incredibly faithful, 103 00:05:43,167 --> 00:05:45,833 even without their leaders, continued to meet 104 00:05:45,833 --> 00:05:49,375 in house churches and literally survive no matter what. 105 00:05:49,500 --> 00:05:51,042 "Take our building, fine. 106 00:05:51,167 --> 00:05:53,833 "Take our leaders, fine, but we love Jesus and we're not 107 00:05:53,833 --> 00:05:57,917 going to give up even with the persecution of our leaders." 108 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:02,833 After communism falls, the church goes back 109 00:06:02,917 --> 00:06:08,250 and purchases the prison, 110 00:06:08,333 --> 00:06:11,833 purchases the prison, 111 00:06:11,917 --> 00:06:15,667 plants a church in the prison. 112 00:06:15,708 --> 00:06:18,083 How many students do you have? 113 00:06:18,167 --> 00:06:22,000 Thirteen, thirteen to fifteen students they have here. 114 00:06:22,042 --> 00:06:23,833 So they are teachers here. 115 00:06:23,917 --> 00:06:26,667 They are teaching Bible school this time. 116 00:06:26,708 --> 00:06:29,667 Jesus is doing crazy stuff. Right. 117 00:06:29,750 --> 00:06:33,333 This building is for church. 118 00:06:33,417 --> 00:06:36,167 So how many people will come? 119 00:06:36,208 --> 00:06:40,083 This Sunday, how many people will come and worship here? 120 00:06:40,167 --> 00:06:43,333 [speaking foreign language] 121 00:06:43,333 --> 00:06:48,583 About 350 people. 122 00:06:48,667 --> 00:06:51,083 And, it was amazing. 123 00:06:51,167 --> 00:06:53,083 I mean, I literally hugged the guys 124 00:06:53,167 --> 00:06:54,833 because I was so excited. 125 00:06:54,875 --> 00:06:57,500 In September, when they do baptisms, 126 00:06:57,542 --> 00:06:59,250 they just go down to a river. 127 00:06:59,292 --> 00:07:00,875 I mean, it's old school. 128 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:02,667 Twenty-five minutes to walk on foot. 129 00:07:02,708 --> 00:07:05,500 There is a river. 130 00:07:05,542 --> 00:07:08,500 When was the last time you did baptisms? 131 00:07:08,542 --> 00:07:12,167 [speaking foreign language] 132 00:07:12,208 --> 00:07:16,875 We have done one baptism in September, last September. 133 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:19,875 How many people did you baptize? 134 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:22,083 Sixteen people were baptized. 135 00:07:22,167 --> 00:07:23,667 Sixteen people. 136 00:07:23,750 --> 00:07:27,583 Praise God. Praise God. 137 00:07:27,667 --> 00:07:31,167 God has--I mean, he honored us. 138 00:07:31,250 --> 00:07:35,875 See, buying this compound and that this is the church, 139 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:38,542 this is the place where people worship him. 140 00:07:38,667 --> 00:07:43,083 And the Lord honored us and we don't think even 141 00:07:43,167 --> 00:07:45,667 of our imprisonment, never. 142 00:07:45,750 --> 00:07:49,500 Seeing what's happened to my family and how he's totally 143 00:07:49,542 --> 00:07:55,083 changed my family and I so want that for more people. 144 00:07:55,167 --> 00:07:59,333 I want more men to experience what I've experienced 145 00:07:59,417 --> 00:08:02,000 in the love of the Father. 146 00:08:02,042 --> 00:08:06,500 In Ethiopia with this opportunity to be a part of-- 147 00:08:06,500 --> 00:08:09,500 we're at right now, 16 church planters right now 148 00:08:09,542 --> 00:08:12,833 we're a part of, those aren't Mars Hill Churches Ethiopia. 149 00:08:12,833 --> 00:08:14,542 No, no, no. 150 00:08:14,667 --> 00:08:17,042 Church planting in Ethiopia, they don't have signs 151 00:08:17,167 --> 00:08:20,250 out in front of the mud hut where they're meeting. 152 00:08:20,333 --> 00:08:21,875 That's the church. 153 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:23,375 The church is people. 154 00:08:23,500 --> 00:08:25,875 So we don't care about that they're Mars Hill Church. 155 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:27,333 We don't care about that. 156 00:08:27,333 --> 00:08:29,667 We care about planting churches and making disciples, 157 00:08:29,750 --> 00:08:31,167 simple enough. 158 00:08:31,250 --> 00:08:33,833 We want Jesus Christ to get all the glory. 159 00:08:33,833 --> 00:08:35,667 We don't care about any of that. 160 00:08:35,750 --> 00:08:38,167 We don't care that they're not called Mars Hill Church. 161 00:08:38,250 --> 00:08:39,583 We don't care. 162 00:08:39,667 --> 00:08:42,333 All we want is people to meet Jesus and for disciples 163 00:08:42,333 --> 00:08:43,875 to grow in Jesus. 164 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:46,250 Those two things are what we're most focused on. 165 00:08:46,333 --> 00:08:50,333 So whether it's in Ethiopia, India, or it's in South America, 166 00:08:50,417 --> 00:08:55,333 wherever God calls us to do, we want people to make disciples 167 00:08:55,333 --> 00:08:58,500 and plant churches, not in the name of Mars Hill Church, 168 00:08:58,583 --> 00:09:01,667 but in the name of Jesus Christ. 169 00:09:02,250 --> 00:09:17,250 [music] 170 00:09:23,667 --> 00:09:26,333 All right, time for a Christmas quiz, you ready? 171 00:09:26,375 --> 00:09:28,083 Christmas quiz. 172 00:09:28,167 --> 00:09:30,167 Calm down. Are you ready? 173 00:09:30,167 --> 00:09:36,000 Christmas quiz, number one, how many wise men were there? 174 00:09:36,042 --> 00:09:38,250 See, some of you said, "three," you were wrong. 175 00:09:38,333 --> 00:09:41,125 And then others of you didn't say anything because you knew 176 00:09:41,167 --> 00:09:43,250 I would say that the other people were wrong. 177 00:09:43,333 --> 00:09:44,750 We don't know. We don't know. 178 00:09:44,833 --> 00:09:46,250 We don't know. We don't know. 179 00:09:46,333 --> 00:09:47,667 We don't know. 180 00:09:47,750 --> 00:09:49,417 We just know they brought three gifts. 181 00:09:49,500 --> 00:09:52,417 Could have been two guys, could have been four guys, one cheap. 182 00:09:52,500 --> 00:09:53,833 We don't know. 183 00:09:53,917 --> 00:09:59,667 True or false, did the wise men visit Jesus in the manger, 184 00:09:59,750 --> 00:10:01,833 yes or no? 185 00:10:01,917 --> 00:10:03,958 No. 186 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:06,500 It means your nativity scene is wrong. 187 00:10:06,583 --> 00:10:08,333 It's wrong. You just put it up. 188 00:10:08,417 --> 00:10:10,458 It's wrong. It's theologically incorrect. 189 00:10:10,500 --> 00:10:14,833 It's not heretical, but it's not right, right? 190 00:10:14,917 --> 00:10:17,500 We put the baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph, 191 00:10:17,583 --> 00:10:18,917 in the living room. 192 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:21,250 The wise men, they go in the kitchen. 193 00:10:21,292 --> 00:10:23,958 They are on their way from Persia. 194 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:26,667 They are on their way but they've not yet arrived. 195 00:10:26,750 --> 00:10:28,167 How do I know this? 196 00:10:28,250 --> 00:10:30,083 Oh, God wrote a book. 197 00:10:30,125 --> 00:10:31,750 It's a great book. 198 00:10:31,792 --> 00:10:35,083 In Matthew 2, we read about Jesus' birth, 199 00:10:35,125 --> 00:10:39,542 Mary and Joseph and the magi, these, perhaps, three guys. 200 00:10:39,625 --> 00:10:42,083 We'll call them three because we don't know how many 201 00:10:42,167 --> 00:10:43,500 but we'll go with that. 202 00:10:43,542 --> 00:10:45,167 Maybe, perhaps, three guys. 203 00:10:45,250 --> 00:10:48,375 And what we see in Matthew 2 is this is the only account 204 00:10:48,458 --> 00:10:52,458 in the whole Bible of the wise men, the magi. 205 00:10:52,500 --> 00:10:55,833 And so let's read it all together and let's see-- 206 00:10:55,917 --> 00:10:57,458 let's see what it actually says. 207 00:10:57,500 --> 00:10:58,875 You ready? You excited? 208 00:10:58,958 --> 00:11:00,625 You fired up? 209 00:11:00,667 --> 00:11:02,833 All right, glad one of you is with me. 210 00:11:02,917 --> 00:11:07,667 Matthew 2, "Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea 211 00:11:07,750 --> 00:11:11,750 "in the days of Herod the king, behold, 212 00:11:11,833 --> 00:11:16,958 "wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, 213 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:21,250 "'Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? 214 00:11:21,292 --> 00:11:24,583 For we saw his star when it rose and have come to,'" what? 215 00:11:24,625 --> 00:11:26,625 "'Worship him.' 216 00:11:26,667 --> 00:11:29,417 "When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, 217 00:11:29,500 --> 00:11:34,833 "and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests 218 00:11:34,917 --> 00:11:37,750 and scribes of the people," all the Bible scholars, 219 00:11:37,833 --> 00:11:41,833 "he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 220 00:11:41,917 --> 00:11:44,583 "They told him, 'In Bethlehem of Judea, 221 00:11:44,667 --> 00:11:47,042 for so it is written by the prophet.'" 222 00:11:47,125 --> 00:11:51,500 It quotes Micah 5:2 written 700 years prior 223 00:11:51,542 --> 00:11:54,000 under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 224 00:11:54,042 --> 00:11:56,792 "'And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, 225 00:11:56,833 --> 00:11:59,500 "'are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; 226 00:11:59,542 --> 00:12:03,250 "'for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd 227 00:12:03,333 --> 00:12:05,500 "'my people Israel.' 228 00:12:05,583 --> 00:12:09,250 "Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained 229 00:12:09,333 --> 00:12:12,750 "from them what time the star had appeared. 230 00:12:12,792 --> 00:12:14,625 "And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, 231 00:12:14,667 --> 00:12:17,167 "'Go and search diligently for the child, 232 00:12:17,250 --> 00:12:19,833 "'and when you have found him, bring me word, 233 00:12:19,917 --> 00:12:22,250 that I too may come and worship him.'" 234 00:12:22,333 --> 00:12:23,833 He's a liar. 235 00:12:23,917 --> 00:12:26,333 "After listening to the king, they went on their way. 236 00:12:26,417 --> 00:12:29,250 "And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went 237 00:12:29,333 --> 00:12:31,833 "before them until it came to rest over the place 238 00:12:31,917 --> 00:12:34,167 where the child was," the baby Jesus. 239 00:12:34,250 --> 00:12:36,667 "When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly 240 00:12:36,750 --> 00:12:38,833 with great joy." 241 00:12:38,917 --> 00:12:41,542 They were not indie rockers, they were happy. 242 00:12:41,625 --> 00:12:44,583 Verse 11, "And going into the house they saw the child 243 00:12:44,667 --> 00:12:46,292 "with Mary his mother, 244 00:12:46,333 --> 00:12:48,375 "and they fell down and they worshiped him. 245 00:12:48,458 --> 00:12:51,083 "Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, 246 00:12:51,167 --> 00:12:53,542 "gold and frankincense and myrrh. 247 00:12:53,625 --> 00:12:56,333 "And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, 248 00:12:56,417 --> 00:12:59,958 they departed to their own country by another way." 249 00:13:00,083 --> 00:13:03,333 That's the sum total of the teaching regarding 250 00:13:03,417 --> 00:13:05,167 the wise men, the magi. 251 00:13:05,250 --> 00:13:07,250 So we're gonna continue with our Christmas quiz. 252 00:13:07,292 --> 00:13:10,667 First question, where was Jesus born? 253 00:13:10,750 --> 00:13:14,750 It's not a trick question, like the previous one. 254 00:13:14,833 --> 00:13:17,083 He was born in Bethlehem. 255 00:13:17,125 --> 00:13:22,750 Again, 700 years prior, Micah gave this prophecy, Micah 5:2, 256 00:13:22,833 --> 00:13:26,750 that Jesus, the Christ, the Savior, God become a man, 257 00:13:26,833 --> 00:13:31,000 Immanuel, God with us, would be born in the town of Bethlehem. 258 00:13:31,083 --> 00:13:35,833 Now, Matthew, 700 years later, is writing under the inspiration 259 00:13:35,917 --> 00:13:39,792 of the Holy Spirit and says the Bible is true. 260 00:13:39,833 --> 00:13:42,875 Jesus was born exactly where the Bible promised 261 00:13:42,958 --> 00:13:44,875 he would be born. 262 00:13:44,958 --> 00:13:47,500 And every time I have an opportunity to do this, 263 00:13:47,542 --> 00:13:50,375 I have great delight in telling you that this is the book 264 00:13:50,458 --> 00:13:51,875 that God wrote. 265 00:13:51,958 --> 00:13:53,375 It's a perfect Word. 266 00:13:53,458 --> 00:13:55,583 It's the only perfect thing on the earth. 267 00:13:55,667 --> 00:13:58,750 The God who knows the future, the God who controls the future, 268 00:13:58,833 --> 00:14:03,917 reveals bits and pieces of it to us, telling us, in advance, 269 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:06,458 what will happen and then when it does, 270 00:14:06,500 --> 00:14:10,583 we have confirmation that he is trustworthy, that he is true, 271 00:14:10,625 --> 00:14:13,333 that he is good, and that he God. 272 00:14:13,417 --> 00:14:16,958 And so when Micah tells God's people that Jesus would be born 273 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:20,583 in Bethlehem, Matthew confirms that God never lies, 274 00:14:20,625 --> 00:14:22,750 knows the future, tells the truth, 275 00:14:22,833 --> 00:14:25,667 and it all came to pass just as God decreed. 276 00:14:25,750 --> 00:14:28,458 And the significance is this, that Jesus was born 277 00:14:28,500 --> 00:14:30,667 in the city of David. 278 00:14:30,750 --> 00:14:32,625 This is the birthplace and the hometown of 279 00:14:32,667 --> 00:14:34,500 the great King David. 280 00:14:34,583 --> 00:14:36,250 Now, if we add Luke's account, 281 00:14:36,292 --> 00:14:38,500 there are only actually two New Testament accounts 282 00:14:38,542 --> 00:14:40,958 that really give us much detail about the birth 283 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:43,083 of Jesus, early in the Book of Matthew 284 00:14:43,167 --> 00:14:44,833 and early in the Book of Luke, 285 00:14:44,917 --> 00:14:47,042 and I'd encourage you to read both sections during 286 00:14:47,125 --> 00:14:48,667 the holiday season. 287 00:14:48,708 --> 00:14:51,750 Luke gives us a bit more detail and he says that actually 288 00:14:51,833 --> 00:14:55,000 Mary and Joseph, Jesus' mother and adoptive father, 289 00:14:55,042 --> 00:14:58,792 did not live in the town of Bethlehem but that was 290 00:14:58,833 --> 00:15:01,458 the hometown of his adoptive father, Joseph, 291 00:15:01,500 --> 00:15:04,333 who was part of the family line of David. 292 00:15:04,417 --> 00:15:06,917 And the government wanted to increase taxes. 293 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:09,667 Oh, still happens, right? 294 00:15:09,750 --> 00:15:11,583 Still happens. 295 00:15:11,625 --> 00:15:14,083 It's in the Bible, that doesn't mean it's biblical. 296 00:15:14,125 --> 00:15:17,583 Nonetheless, the government wanted to increase taxes. 297 00:15:17,625 --> 00:15:19,458 And so what they decided was 298 00:15:19,500 --> 00:15:22,083 "We may not be taxing everyone for everything." 299 00:15:22,125 --> 00:15:24,000 Sounds familiar. 300 00:15:24,083 --> 00:15:27,125 And so they wanted everyone to go to their hometown of ancestry 301 00:15:27,167 --> 00:15:29,333 and origin to register to make sure that everybody 302 00:15:29,417 --> 00:15:30,917 was paying their taxes. 303 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:35,833 Well, Mary was near birth of Jesus and she was ready to bring 304 00:15:35,917 --> 00:15:38,292 the Savior into the world. 305 00:15:38,333 --> 00:15:40,833 And lo and behold, in the fullness of time, 306 00:15:40,917 --> 00:15:43,958 Mary and Joseph had to travel for the governmental census 307 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:46,792 for tax purposes to the city of David, 308 00:15:46,833 --> 00:15:50,583 Bethlehem, where ultimately Jesus was born, 309 00:15:50,667 --> 00:15:53,500 in fulfillment to the prophecy in Micah 5:2. 310 00:15:53,542 --> 00:15:57,167 It shows you that God even works through greedy governments. 311 00:15:57,250 --> 00:15:58,958 There's hope. 312 00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:01,958 Okay, so Jesus was born in Bethlehem and it's about 313 00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:04,667 5 or 6 miles outside of Jerusalem. 314 00:16:04,750 --> 00:16:06,167 I've been there. 315 00:16:06,250 --> 00:16:09,333 I was there some years ago and I would just, as a caveat, 316 00:16:09,417 --> 00:16:10,750 say, pray for Bethlehem. 317 00:16:10,833 --> 00:16:15,083 It is the most Christian city in that entire region. 318 00:16:15,125 --> 00:16:17,958 Lots of other places are highly Jewish and highly Muslim, 319 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:19,333 but in Bethlehem, 320 00:16:19,417 --> 00:16:22,500 you'll find a higher concentration of Christians, 321 00:16:22,583 --> 00:16:26,083 of Christians, people who really do know and love Jesus 322 00:16:26,125 --> 00:16:28,750 and that's where Jesus was born in the city of Bethlehem. 323 00:16:28,833 --> 00:16:32,000 So when you hear that the wise men went to Jerusalem and then they 324 00:16:32,083 --> 00:16:35,000 went to Bethlehem, that's an additional journey 325 00:16:35,083 --> 00:16:36,958 of some 5 or 6 miles. 326 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:41,083 Second question in our Christmas quiz, how was Jesus born? 327 00:16:41,167 --> 00:16:43,042 How was he born? 328 00:16:43,125 --> 00:16:46,083 And I love this line, careful reading of the Scriptures, 329 00:16:46,167 --> 00:16:50,292 Matthew 2:2, when the wise men, the magi arrived, 330 00:16:50,333 --> 00:16:54,292 they say he is "Born king of the Jews. 331 00:16:54,333 --> 00:16:57,542 Born king of the Jews." 332 00:16:57,625 --> 00:17:00,667 Don't miss this. 333 00:17:00,750 --> 00:17:06,167 Now Herod the king, he was not a rightful heir to the throne. 334 00:17:06,250 --> 00:17:08,667 He was not born king. 335 00:17:08,750 --> 00:17:11,917 He was a man who was not necessarily a worshiper of 336 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:16,417 the God of the Bible, was not one who loved the Lord, 337 00:17:16,500 --> 00:17:19,750 but he declared himself to be king of the Jews, 338 00:17:19,833 --> 00:17:24,125 and his nomination was accepted by the Roman government. 339 00:17:24,167 --> 00:17:28,958 And Herod was a man who was not born king. 340 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:33,750 In addition in that day, people were generally not born king. 341 00:17:33,833 --> 00:17:36,333 A king would have many wives. 342 00:17:36,417 --> 00:17:40,000 He would have many children, many sons. 343 00:17:40,042 --> 00:17:44,000 And near the end of his reign, he would choose one of his sons 344 00:17:44,042 --> 00:17:46,792 to become king. 345 00:17:46,833 --> 00:17:50,583 Jesus was King from birth. 346 00:17:50,667 --> 00:17:52,458 That's what it says. 347 00:17:52,500 --> 00:17:54,333 The magi get it right. 348 00:17:54,417 --> 00:17:56,667 He's not one who is born to become king. 349 00:17:56,750 --> 00:17:58,458 Jesus is born as King. 350 00:17:58,500 --> 00:18:00,250 God becomes a man. 351 00:18:00,333 --> 00:18:03,083 Again, he's Immanuel, God with us. 352 00:18:03,125 --> 00:18:05,167 He's existed eternally. 353 00:18:05,250 --> 00:18:07,958 He's ruled and reigned over all and now he has humbly 354 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:13,125 entered into human history and he comes born King. 355 00:18:13,167 --> 00:18:16,250 And let me say that this is often overlooked 356 00:18:16,333 --> 00:18:18,750 in the season of Christmas. 357 00:18:18,792 --> 00:18:21,083 Jesus is portrayed as an infant, 358 00:18:21,125 --> 00:18:22,750 not one who grows up, 359 00:18:22,792 --> 00:18:25,750 one who is alive, not one who is put to death. 360 00:18:25,792 --> 00:18:29,458 We love to see Jesus in that innocent, 361 00:18:29,500 --> 00:18:36,250 fragile infant state, but don't miss the fact that 362 00:18:36,333 --> 00:18:39,667 he was born, what? 363 00:18:39,750 --> 00:18:41,250 King. 364 00:18:41,333 --> 00:18:43,833 That's why Herod is concerned. 365 00:18:43,917 --> 00:18:46,333 Here comes the real King, not just the king, 366 00:18:46,417 --> 00:18:49,167 the Bible declares the King of kings, 367 00:18:49,250 --> 00:18:50,750 which means the Lord Jesus, 368 00:18:50,833 --> 00:18:55,083 in all humility, he left a throne in heaven and started 369 00:18:55,125 --> 00:18:57,917 ruling and reigning from an animal's feeding trough 370 00:18:58,000 --> 00:18:59,958 in Bethlehem. 371 00:19:00,083 --> 00:19:01,667 It doesn't matter where he is. 372 00:19:01,750 --> 00:19:03,667 He doesn't need to be in a palace. 373 00:19:03,750 --> 00:19:05,667 He doesn't need to be on a throne. 374 00:19:05,750 --> 00:19:08,500 He's the real King and he's born King. 375 00:19:08,542 --> 00:19:10,417 He starts as King. 376 00:19:10,500 --> 00:19:13,500 Next question, what were the first responses to Jesus? 377 00:19:13,583 --> 00:19:15,208 There are three responses. 378 00:19:15,333 --> 00:19:16,833 The first response is Herod's. 379 00:19:16,875 --> 00:19:20,417 His response is self-interest, self-interest. 380 00:19:20,500 --> 00:19:21,917 All he wants to know is, 381 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:24,333 "Oh, who's the one who claims to be King? 382 00:19:24,375 --> 00:19:26,500 And I need to know where he is at." 383 00:19:26,583 --> 00:19:28,500 And he is ultimately lying when he says, 384 00:19:28,583 --> 00:19:30,500 "Because I too want to go worship him." 385 00:19:30,583 --> 00:19:33,208 We'll see in the ensuing weeks as we study Matthew together, 386 00:19:33,333 --> 00:19:38,250 his real motivation is to kill Jesus, 387 00:19:38,333 --> 00:19:40,750 to kill Jesus, 388 00:19:40,833 --> 00:19:44,583 because his only interest in Jesus is selfish. 389 00:19:44,625 --> 00:19:46,125 See, if Herod is a king 390 00:19:46,167 --> 00:19:48,625 and Jesus is a King then Herod is a king 391 00:19:48,667 --> 00:19:50,833 who wants to destroy Jesus because he doesn't want 392 00:19:50,917 --> 00:19:52,250 any rivals to his throne. 393 00:19:52,292 --> 00:19:54,958 Like some of us, we want to be the proverbial king 394 00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:56,333 of our own life. 395 00:19:56,417 --> 00:19:59,333 We want to be in charge. We want to be the boss. 396 00:19:59,417 --> 00:20:01,500 We want to do what we want to do. 397 00:20:01,583 --> 00:20:04,250 We don't want anyone else to have any authority over us. 398 00:20:04,333 --> 00:20:05,667 That's Herod. 399 00:20:05,750 --> 00:20:07,667 He has only a selfish interest in Jesus. 400 00:20:07,750 --> 00:20:09,833 Is your interest in Jesus like that, only selfish? 401 00:20:09,917 --> 00:20:12,125 If you can use him for your own purposes, 402 00:20:12,167 --> 00:20:14,625 that's the only reason you'd be interested in him. 403 00:20:14,667 --> 00:20:16,667 "If he heals me, I'm interested. 404 00:20:16,750 --> 00:20:18,667 "If he gives me a spouse, I'm interested. 405 00:20:18,750 --> 00:20:20,833 "If he allows us to have children, I'm interested. 406 00:20:20,917 --> 00:20:23,167 "If he gets me a job, I'm interested. 407 00:20:23,250 --> 00:20:25,583 "If he makes my life better, I'm interested. 408 00:20:25,625 --> 00:20:28,333 "If he helps fulfill the vision I have for my life, 409 00:20:28,417 --> 00:20:29,833 "then I'm interested. 410 00:20:29,917 --> 00:20:32,583 "Otherwise, I'm not because my only interest in Jesus 411 00:20:32,625 --> 00:20:34,458 is selfish interest." 412 00:20:34,500 --> 00:20:38,167 The second response is disinterest. 413 00:20:38,250 --> 00:20:42,000 It's a very curious telling of the story that these wise men 414 00:20:42,042 --> 00:20:47,167 come from the east and they arrive in the city, 415 00:20:47,208 --> 00:20:51,542 and they're looking for the King. 416 00:20:51,625 --> 00:20:57,167 And he's not in the palace where you would expect the King to be, 417 00:20:57,208 --> 00:20:59,583 and he's not in the temple where you would expect 418 00:20:59,667 --> 00:21:01,958 the Jewish king to be. 419 00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:04,500 And so the scholars are assembled, 420 00:21:04,583 --> 00:21:06,667 the chief priests and the scribes, 421 00:21:06,750 --> 00:21:09,833 those who make their living doing what I get to do, 422 00:21:09,917 --> 00:21:12,000 studying and teaching the Scriptures, 423 00:21:12,083 --> 00:21:14,500 the Old Testament Word of God. 424 00:21:14,583 --> 00:21:16,750 And they're assembled and the question is asked, 425 00:21:16,833 --> 00:21:18,833 "Where is Jesus to be born?" 426 00:21:18,917 --> 00:21:20,833 And they go right to Micah 5:2, 427 00:21:20,917 --> 00:21:24,417 "Oh, he's gonna be born in Bethlehem." 428 00:21:24,500 --> 00:21:29,833 And it says that Herod was stirred up, concerned, 429 00:21:29,917 --> 00:21:32,750 at the birth of a King and it says that as well, 430 00:21:32,833 --> 00:21:35,667 the city of Jerusalem was stirred up by this news 431 00:21:35,750 --> 00:21:37,833 of the birth of a King, 432 00:21:37,917 --> 00:21:39,875 yet there's no indication that anyone else 433 00:21:39,958 --> 00:21:46,167 went to Bethlehem, including the Bible scholars. 434 00:21:47,417 --> 00:21:50,292 There's no indication that others went to investigate. 435 00:21:50,333 --> 00:21:52,833 They were disinterested. 436 00:21:53,500 --> 00:21:55,542 They were disinterested. 437 00:21:55,625 --> 00:22:00,125 How many of you, you would say you're disinterested in Jesus, 438 00:22:00,167 --> 00:22:02,250 truly you are? 439 00:22:02,292 --> 00:22:04,833 Your life and your days and your mind is consumed 440 00:22:04,917 --> 00:22:07,958 by other things, your health, your job, your relationships, 441 00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:13,250 your well-being, your security, your appearance, your whatever, 442 00:22:13,333 --> 00:22:15,833 and you're disinterested in Jesus. 443 00:22:15,917 --> 00:22:17,333 You may know some facts, 444 00:22:17,417 --> 00:22:19,750 you may have been under some Bible teaching. 445 00:22:19,833 --> 00:22:22,333 You may even have the ability to quote the verses 446 00:22:22,417 --> 00:22:24,833 and to pass the quiz. 447 00:22:24,917 --> 00:22:28,458 But you're not compelled to pursue him. 448 00:22:28,500 --> 00:22:32,167 You're not going to be inconvenienced by him. 449 00:22:32,250 --> 00:22:35,958 You're not seeking and searching for him. 450 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:38,667 You're disinterested. 451 00:22:38,750 --> 00:22:42,167 See, for them, Jesus was, in large part, 452 00:22:42,250 --> 00:22:45,375 more of a seemingly theological idea than 453 00:22:45,458 --> 00:22:48,167 a relationship, facts they were to know, 454 00:22:48,250 --> 00:22:50,792 not someone they were to meet. 455 00:22:50,833 --> 00:22:54,875 Let me submit to you that that was my life until I became 456 00:22:54,958 --> 00:22:57,000 a Christian at age 19. 457 00:22:57,042 --> 00:22:59,250 I knew a little bit of Bible. 458 00:22:59,333 --> 00:23:02,833 I could answer some of the basic Christmas questions, 459 00:23:02,917 --> 00:23:05,333 but I wasn't looking for Jesus. 460 00:23:05,417 --> 00:23:08,833 I wasn't going to meet with Jesus. 461 00:23:08,917 --> 00:23:13,750 I wasn't wanting to personally relate to Jesus. 462 00:23:13,792 --> 00:23:17,833 It was just a handful of facts and I was more preoccupied with 463 00:23:17,917 --> 00:23:22,750 other things, disinterested, disinterested. 464 00:23:22,833 --> 00:23:26,833 And then the third reaction to Jesus is genuine interest. 465 00:23:26,917 --> 00:23:29,833 These three wise men, they're genuinely interested. 466 00:23:29,917 --> 00:23:32,250 I mean, they've traveled from the east, 467 00:23:32,333 --> 00:23:34,833 seemingly a long distance at a great expense 468 00:23:34,917 --> 00:23:37,625 and inconvenience, and they show up in Jerusalem, 469 00:23:37,667 --> 00:23:39,292 "Where's Jesus? He's not here." 470 00:23:39,333 --> 00:23:41,000 And what they don't do is say, 471 00:23:41,042 --> 00:23:42,750 "Well, we looked, we tried, we're gone." 472 00:23:42,833 --> 00:23:44,750 "Where might he be? Get the scholars together. 473 00:23:44,833 --> 00:23:46,250 "We need to get more information. 474 00:23:46,333 --> 00:23:48,000 We're looking for him. Where is he?" 475 00:23:48,042 --> 00:23:49,750 They're very determined to find him. 476 00:23:49,833 --> 00:23:52,167 Do you see that? 477 00:23:52,250 --> 00:23:54,083 He's in Bethlehem. 478 00:23:54,167 --> 00:23:56,375 "Well, then we're going to travel there. 479 00:23:56,458 --> 00:23:58,958 "We're going to keep looking, keep seeking, keep searching. 480 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:01,917 We need to meet him. We need to find him." 481 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:05,125 They're genuinely interested in Jesus. 482 00:24:05,167 --> 00:24:08,500 Friends, is your interest in Jesus a selfish interest 483 00:24:08,583 --> 00:24:12,083 or is it disinterest or is it a genuine interest? 484 00:24:12,125 --> 00:24:14,250 You really want to get to know Jesus. 485 00:24:14,333 --> 00:24:17,333 You want to meet him. 486 00:24:17,417 --> 00:24:22,833 Continuing with our Christmas quiz, talking about these magi, 487 00:24:22,917 --> 00:24:27,125 these wise men, how many of you truly right now, 488 00:24:27,167 --> 00:24:29,250 you've got them in your house? 489 00:24:29,333 --> 00:24:31,458 Got them in your-- don't lie, it's church. 490 00:24:31,500 --> 00:24:33,250 Right, you got them in your house? 491 00:24:33,333 --> 00:24:35,458 How many of you, they're on your Christmas card? 492 00:24:35,500 --> 00:24:37,167 How many of you are even thinking, 493 00:24:37,250 --> 00:24:39,833 "Oh, 'We Three Kings of Orient Are,' I should edit that. 494 00:24:39,917 --> 00:24:44,167 'We Maybe Perhaps Three or So Kings of Orient Are.'" 495 00:24:44,250 --> 00:24:47,333 How many of you right now you got these guys in your home? 496 00:24:47,417 --> 00:24:49,583 We know so little about them, right? 497 00:24:49,667 --> 00:24:53,292 We know so--they're sort of mysterious figures. 498 00:24:53,333 --> 00:24:55,958 I'll give you four things we don't know. 499 00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:58,583 What we don't know about the wise men and then what 500 00:24:58,667 --> 00:25:00,750 we do know about the wise men. 501 00:25:00,833 --> 00:25:03,167 Number one, we don't know, as I said, 502 00:25:03,250 --> 00:25:05,167 we don't know how many there were. 503 00:25:05,250 --> 00:25:06,917 It says they brought three gifts. 504 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:09,333 Have you ever had a Christmas party where cheap relatives 505 00:25:09,417 --> 00:25:10,958 showed up with nothing? 506 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:13,167 Might have happened, we don't know. 507 00:25:13,250 --> 00:25:16,750 There could have been 27 guys, 3 presents, we don't know. 508 00:25:16,833 --> 00:25:19,667 We don't know how many guys there were, we'll go with three. 509 00:25:19,750 --> 00:25:21,167 That's fine. 510 00:25:21,250 --> 00:25:22,958 We don't know who they were. 511 00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:25,167 Some will say they were kings, 512 00:25:25,250 --> 00:25:27,250 others will say they were pagan priests. 513 00:25:27,333 --> 00:25:30,250 Some say they were astronomers/astrologers. 514 00:25:30,333 --> 00:25:33,125 In that day, it was kind of all the same. 515 00:25:33,167 --> 00:25:35,083 We don't know. 516 00:25:35,125 --> 00:25:38,292 Now, it does seem like they're rich and powerful. 517 00:25:38,333 --> 00:25:42,083 I mean, they've traveled a long way, probably with a caravan. 518 00:25:42,167 --> 00:25:45,000 In addition, they get access to King Herod. 519 00:25:45,042 --> 00:25:47,542 You don't just get that. 520 00:25:47,625 --> 00:25:51,542 He actually does a favor for them assembling the scholars 521 00:25:51,625 --> 00:25:54,000 and then they're free to travel to Bethlehem. 522 00:25:54,042 --> 00:25:58,042 So--and then we look at the gift that they give, a very generous, 523 00:25:58,125 --> 00:26:01,500 lavish series of gifts, very costly. 524 00:26:01,583 --> 00:26:05,833 You get the impression these are rich and powerful people, 525 00:26:05,917 --> 00:26:09,333 very rich and powerful people. 526 00:26:09,417 --> 00:26:13,583 They may have been like the professors at the pagan school 527 00:26:13,625 --> 00:26:16,125 that Daniel went to. 528 00:26:16,167 --> 00:26:18,833 Back in the Old Testament, there's a guy named Daniel 529 00:26:18,917 --> 00:26:22,750 and he's taken captive, along with God's people, 530 00:26:22,792 --> 00:26:29,250 to a place called Babylon, a very godless, pagan place, 531 00:26:29,333 --> 00:26:32,333 and they're into sorcery and divination and witchcraft 532 00:26:32,417 --> 00:26:36,750 and "Twilight" and all of these kinds of horrendous things. 533 00:26:36,833 --> 00:26:39,583 And--that's what it says in the Hebrew. 534 00:26:39,667 --> 00:26:45,292 And then they tell him, "Well, you need to go learn 535 00:26:45,333 --> 00:26:50,875 all these things, all of these occultic, dark practices." 536 00:26:50,958 --> 00:26:53,167 And they have a school for it. 537 00:26:53,208 --> 00:26:57,792 Well, these men who come to visit Jesus many years later, 538 00:26:57,833 --> 00:27:00,750 they would have been the kind of men who would have been 539 00:27:00,833 --> 00:27:04,333 professors at the school that Daniel was told to go to. 540 00:27:04,417 --> 00:27:07,583 These were the teachers of the pagan religion, 541 00:27:07,625 --> 00:27:09,667 the occultic practices. 542 00:27:09,750 --> 00:27:11,667 Okay, and these things still exist today, 543 00:27:11,750 --> 00:27:15,958 the worship of goddesses and other gods and created beings 544 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:20,625 and angels and an unhealthy devotion to the environment 545 00:27:20,667 --> 00:27:24,000 and the created world and pantheism and panentheism 546 00:27:24,083 --> 00:27:25,750 and it does come out. 547 00:27:25,792 --> 00:27:29,000 I get hammered for it, but things like "Avatar" and things 548 00:27:29,083 --> 00:27:33,458 like the vampire craze are all ways of ancient paganism 549 00:27:33,500 --> 00:27:37,250 being revisited where there's a blending between 550 00:27:37,292 --> 00:27:39,000 Creator and creation, 551 00:27:39,042 --> 00:27:41,583 and between human beings and the environment, 552 00:27:41,667 --> 00:27:45,667 and human beings and animals. 553 00:27:45,750 --> 00:27:49,042 This is also inclusive in Native American religions 554 00:27:49,125 --> 00:27:52,583 where animals are said to be inhabited with 555 00:27:52,667 --> 00:27:55,583 certain spirit beings. 556 00:27:55,667 --> 00:27:58,667 Now, these things are still very popular and very present 557 00:27:58,708 --> 00:28:02,583 in our day and these men, by all accounts, 558 00:28:02,625 --> 00:28:05,250 seem to be those kinds of men. 559 00:28:05,292 --> 00:28:06,833 They're into paganism. 560 00:28:06,917 --> 00:28:09,333 They're into the worship of Creator and creation. 561 00:28:09,417 --> 00:28:11,250 They're into other religions. 562 00:28:11,333 --> 00:28:13,583 They're into other spiritualities. 563 00:28:13,625 --> 00:28:16,333 They're into, not just angels, but demons, 564 00:28:16,417 --> 00:28:19,625 and they're very learned, and they're very powerful, 565 00:28:19,667 --> 00:28:22,125 and they're very rich, and they're very famous. 566 00:28:22,167 --> 00:28:26,458 They're very, very pagan, very pagan. 567 00:28:26,500 --> 00:28:28,958 In addition, number three, 568 00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:31,250 we don't know exactly where they're from. 569 00:28:31,333 --> 00:28:33,333 It says that they came from the east. 570 00:28:33,417 --> 00:28:36,500 So many believe that they came from Persia. 571 00:28:36,583 --> 00:28:40,458 As we studied the book of Esther and the great land of Persia, 572 00:28:40,500 --> 00:28:42,750 there is a belief that perhaps they came from 573 00:28:42,833 --> 00:28:45,000 the Persian Empire. 574 00:28:45,083 --> 00:28:49,083 When I visited the alleged birthplace of Jesus 575 00:28:49,125 --> 00:28:52,833 in Bethlehem, there's a church built over the place 576 00:28:52,917 --> 00:28:56,083 where tradition tells us that Jesus was buried. 577 00:28:56,125 --> 00:28:59,000 And there, outside of the church, there's an inscription 578 00:28:59,083 --> 00:29:01,583 showing the wise men coming from the east, 579 00:29:01,667 --> 00:29:06,167 and tradition tends to hold that they ventured from Persia. 580 00:29:06,250 --> 00:29:09,583 And number four, we don't know what the moving star was. 581 00:29:09,667 --> 00:29:12,417 They're following a star that moves. 582 00:29:12,500 --> 00:29:14,083 Some say it's a comet. 583 00:29:14,167 --> 00:29:15,500 Others say it's an alien. 584 00:29:15,583 --> 00:29:17,333 Others say it's an angel. 585 00:29:17,333 --> 00:29:18,833 We don't know. 586 00:29:18,875 --> 00:29:21,708 It's kind of like in the days of Moses where God's people 587 00:29:21,833 --> 00:29:23,417 were walking through the wilderness 588 00:29:23,500 --> 00:29:26,333 and there was a cloud by day and a pillar of fire 589 00:29:26,375 --> 00:29:29,417 by night and it would lead them and they would follow it. 590 00:29:29,500 --> 00:29:31,000 It's kind of like that. 591 00:29:31,042 --> 00:29:32,417 We don't know what it is. 592 00:29:32,500 --> 00:29:34,000 They show up and they say, 593 00:29:34,083 --> 00:29:36,500 "Okay, we saw this star and we've been following it. 594 00:29:36,542 --> 00:29:39,250 And where is it now?" 595 00:29:39,333 --> 00:29:40,958 We don't know what the star is. 596 00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:43,417 So all of that to say these three, perhaps, 597 00:29:43,500 --> 00:29:45,167 are shrouded in mystery. 598 00:29:45,250 --> 00:29:46,958 We don't know a lot about them. 599 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:48,458 Here's four things we do know. 600 00:29:48,500 --> 00:29:51,167 Here's what we do know about the wise men, number one, 601 00:29:51,250 --> 00:29:53,333 your nativity scene is wrong. 602 00:29:53,417 --> 00:29:57,458 It's wrong. It's wrong. 603 00:29:57,500 --> 00:29:59,833 Your nativity scene always has, what? 604 00:29:59,917 --> 00:30:02,958 Manger, baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, wise men. 605 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:04,667 It said right here in Matthew 2 606 00:30:04,750 --> 00:30:08,500 that they came to the house after Jesus was born. 607 00:30:08,583 --> 00:30:10,750 It says, "Sometime after Jesus was born, 608 00:30:10,792 --> 00:30:13,917 "Mary and Joseph were at a house in Bethlehem, 609 00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:16,000 and then the wise men came to them." 610 00:30:16,083 --> 00:30:17,917 When I first told my wife this, 611 00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:20,083 she sort of freaked out a little bit. 612 00:30:20,125 --> 00:30:21,583 She grew up in church. 613 00:30:21,625 --> 00:30:23,250 She'd heard the story her whole life. 614 00:30:23,333 --> 00:30:25,000 She's like, "I did not--it's wrong." 615 00:30:25,083 --> 00:30:27,833 I mean it was like a thing at the Driscoll house. 616 00:30:27,917 --> 00:30:30,458 My wife immediately went into the living room, 617 00:30:30,500 --> 00:30:33,667 and we had the nativity scene all set up, we always do, 618 00:30:33,750 --> 00:30:35,500 and the kids always like it, 619 00:30:35,583 --> 00:30:37,500 and she literally grabbed the wise men 620 00:30:37,583 --> 00:30:40,000 and moved them to another part of the house, literally, 621 00:30:40,042 --> 00:30:41,750 and they've been there every year since. 622 00:30:41,833 --> 00:30:44,500 And our kids are like, "How come our nativity scene's wrong?" 623 00:30:44,542 --> 00:30:45,875 It's not wrong. 624 00:30:45,958 --> 00:30:48,167 Theirs is wrong. Theirs is wrong. 625 00:30:48,250 --> 00:30:50,167 Ours is right. 626 00:30:50,250 --> 00:30:52,167 You take the guys wherever you live, 627 00:30:52,250 --> 00:30:56,167 put them in the eastern most section of the house, okay? 628 00:30:56,250 --> 00:30:57,792 They're on their way. 629 00:30:57,833 --> 00:30:59,167 They're not there yet. 630 00:30:59,250 --> 00:31:02,750 They're on their way. 631 00:31:02,833 --> 00:31:09,750 Just ruined the entire nativity economic potential for all. 632 00:31:09,792 --> 00:31:11,583 You're welcome. 633 00:31:11,625 --> 00:31:15,958 Number two-- there's a lot of nativity salesmen right now 634 00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:18,750 saying, "Oh, I knew I shouldn't have went to 635 00:31:18,833 --> 00:31:20,958 Mars Hill Church." 636 00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:24,167 The nativities are fine, just move the wise men, okay? 637 00:31:24,250 --> 00:31:25,750 Just move the wise men. 638 00:31:25,833 --> 00:31:28,750 Go put them at your neighbor's house, all right? 639 00:31:28,833 --> 00:31:31,167 Number two, God loves all nations, 640 00:31:31,250 --> 00:31:32,750 races, and peoples. 641 00:31:32,833 --> 00:31:35,625 At this point, you know, the Bible explodes with 642 00:31:35,667 --> 00:31:37,958 Abraham and he becomes Jewish, 643 00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:41,500 and then God's people become Israel and it's all about 644 00:31:41,542 --> 00:31:43,500 God's people, the nation of Israel. 645 00:31:43,542 --> 00:31:46,583 And then here comes Larry, Curly, and Moe from the east, 646 00:31:46,667 --> 00:31:48,458 and they're pagan. 647 00:31:48,500 --> 00:31:50,833 They're the wrong religion. They're Gentile. 648 00:31:50,917 --> 00:31:53,167 They're the wrong race. They're from the wrong nation. 649 00:31:53,250 --> 00:31:54,667 They're just wrong. 650 00:31:54,750 --> 00:31:56,667 They're just totally wrong. 651 00:31:56,750 --> 00:31:58,542 They just, "Hey, we're looking for Jesus." 652 00:31:58,625 --> 00:32:00,333 "What are you guys doing here? 653 00:32:00,417 --> 00:32:01,750 "You're not descendants of Abraham. 654 00:32:01,833 --> 00:32:03,167 "You're Gentiles. 655 00:32:03,250 --> 00:32:05,167 "You don't worship the God of the Bible. 656 00:32:05,250 --> 00:32:06,583 "You don't know any verses. 657 00:32:06,625 --> 00:32:08,750 "You don't even know where he's gonna be born. 658 00:32:08,833 --> 00:32:10,167 "You don't even have Micah. 659 00:32:10,250 --> 00:32:12,833 You had to call us in to do Micah for you." 660 00:32:12,917 --> 00:32:15,833 And here's what it shows, at the very beginning of 661 00:32:15,917 --> 00:32:21,458 Jesus' ministry, all nations, all races, all cultures, 662 00:32:21,500 --> 00:32:26,250 all backgrounds, all peoples are welcome to come to Jesus, 663 00:32:26,333 --> 00:32:28,250 amen? 664 00:32:28,333 --> 00:32:33,167 I love that because we're pagan Gentiles, 665 00:32:33,250 --> 00:32:37,458 and there we are meeting Jesus. 666 00:32:37,500 --> 00:32:39,583 Number three, other religions and spiritualities 667 00:32:39,667 --> 00:32:41,833 need to come to Jesus. 668 00:32:41,917 --> 00:32:44,875 What the story doesn't say is they were in the east worshiping 669 00:32:44,958 --> 00:32:47,667 a false pagan god involved with the occult and demonism 670 00:32:47,750 --> 00:32:51,458 and they didn't need to come to Jesus because they were fine. 671 00:32:51,500 --> 00:32:55,167 That's how the story would read, where I live. 672 00:32:55,250 --> 00:32:57,000 "They were spiritual, good enough. 673 00:32:57,042 --> 00:32:58,583 "They were religious, good enough. 674 00:32:58,667 --> 00:33:00,417 "They had their own gods and goddesses. 675 00:33:00,500 --> 00:33:01,958 "They had their own traditions. 676 00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:04,000 "They had their own spiritual heritage and history. 677 00:33:04,083 --> 00:33:06,000 They had their own opinion and conjecture." 678 00:33:06,083 --> 00:33:08,250 It doesn't say that. 679 00:33:08,292 --> 00:33:13,750 These men are very religious, very spiritual, very devout. 680 00:33:13,833 --> 00:33:16,083 They're, perhaps, the equivalent of Bible college 681 00:33:16,125 --> 00:33:18,958 or seminary teachers in their religion. 682 00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:21,458 You know what they need? Jesus. 683 00:33:21,500 --> 00:33:23,333 You know what they need to do? 684 00:33:23,417 --> 00:33:25,667 They literally need to come to Jesus. 685 00:33:25,750 --> 00:33:28,167 If you're here and you're moral, you're religious, 686 00:33:28,250 --> 00:33:31,958 you're spiritual, you come from another perspective, 687 00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:34,125 you need to come to Jesus. 688 00:33:34,167 --> 00:33:36,833 You need to come to Jesus. 689 00:33:36,917 --> 00:33:40,667 That's exactly what happens here. 690 00:33:40,708 --> 00:33:42,167 And number four, 691 00:33:42,208 --> 00:33:44,875 rich and educated people need Jesus too. 692 00:33:44,958 --> 00:33:47,958 Sometimes the story is told, Jesus was poor, his mom is poor, 693 00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:49,792 his dad is poor. 694 00:33:49,833 --> 00:33:51,750 Jesus loves poor people. 695 00:33:51,833 --> 00:33:54,500 He totally does, the Bible talks a lot about the poor. 696 00:33:54,542 --> 00:33:56,292 God loves the poor. 697 00:33:56,333 --> 00:33:58,042 God cares for the poor. 698 00:33:58,125 --> 00:34:00,833 God provides for the poor, but God also loves the rich. 699 00:34:00,917 --> 00:34:03,083 God also pursues the rich. 700 00:34:03,125 --> 00:34:05,000 God also saves the rich. 701 00:34:05,083 --> 00:34:07,458 These guys are not poor, they're rich. 702 00:34:07,500 --> 00:34:09,833 They're rich. 703 00:34:09,917 --> 00:34:14,583 Again, they've traveled a long ways with a great caravan 704 00:34:14,625 --> 00:34:17,750 and it says that the gift that they're going to give to 705 00:34:17,833 --> 00:34:20,958 Jesus is "treasures." 706 00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:23,917 You don't have treasures unless you're rich. 707 00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:28,958 It's not just the poor who are welcome to come to Jesus, 708 00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:30,833 it's also the rich. 709 00:34:30,917 --> 00:34:33,750 It's not just the simple, it's also the wise. 710 00:34:33,833 --> 00:34:37,333 It's not just those who have no power, 711 00:34:37,417 --> 00:34:39,792 it's those who have much power. 712 00:34:39,833 --> 00:34:43,000 Everyone is invited to Jesus. 713 00:34:43,042 --> 00:34:45,542 Let me invite you to Jesus today. 714 00:34:45,625 --> 00:34:47,333 Have you come to Jesus? 715 00:34:47,417 --> 00:34:49,375 They literally come to Jesus. 716 00:34:49,458 --> 00:34:51,375 Have you come to Jesus? 717 00:34:51,458 --> 00:34:55,875 Rich and poor, young and old, black and white, 718 00:34:55,958 --> 00:35:01,750 educated and uneducated, those who are highly spiritual 719 00:35:01,833 --> 00:35:04,167 and those who have no spirituality, 720 00:35:04,250 --> 00:35:07,250 all are welcome and need to come to Jesus, 721 00:35:07,333 --> 00:35:10,583 that includes you. 722 00:35:10,625 --> 00:35:14,667 Talking about these wise men, here's the next question, 723 00:35:14,750 --> 00:35:17,625 what made the wise men wise? 724 00:35:17,667 --> 00:35:20,250 What made the wise men wise? 725 00:35:20,333 --> 00:35:23,333 Four more things, number one, "They were wise to seek Jesus 726 00:35:23,417 --> 00:35:28,167 despite uncertainty, expense, and hardship." 727 00:35:28,250 --> 00:35:31,250 They were wise to seek Jesus. 728 00:35:31,333 --> 00:35:34,833 They were looking for him, despite uncertainty. 729 00:35:34,917 --> 00:35:36,917 They didn't know exactly where he was. 730 00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:41,667 This was a great inconvenience, weeks, maybe months, of travel. 731 00:35:41,750 --> 00:35:44,167 Even when they get to Jerusalem, he's not there. 732 00:35:44,250 --> 00:35:46,375 It's an inconvenience. 733 00:35:46,458 --> 00:35:48,375 "We got to get the scholars together. 734 00:35:48,458 --> 00:35:50,083 "We need to get the government involved. 735 00:35:50,167 --> 00:35:52,792 "We need to have somebody come and interpret the Old Testament, 736 00:35:52,833 --> 00:35:55,250 "then we got to go another 5 or 6 miles." 737 00:35:55,333 --> 00:35:58,000 How many of you wouldn't have made it to church today 738 00:35:58,042 --> 00:36:01,458 if you had to go by foot or on camel 5 or 6 miles? 739 00:36:01,500 --> 00:36:03,625 Some of you are like, "I parked and walked 740 00:36:03,667 --> 00:36:07,125 and I am not gonna do that again." 741 00:36:07,167 --> 00:36:13,250 They had uncertainty, expense, and hardship. 742 00:36:13,333 --> 00:36:15,625 They had to take time off work. 743 00:36:15,667 --> 00:36:17,833 They had to gather a caravan. 744 00:36:17,917 --> 00:36:19,750 They had to think about their safety. 745 00:36:19,833 --> 00:36:22,750 I don't know if you know this, if you're just walking from 746 00:36:22,833 --> 00:36:25,750 the east to, you're not sure where, with a bunch of gold, 747 00:36:25,833 --> 00:36:27,833 you'd probably need some help. 748 00:36:27,917 --> 00:36:29,250 "What are you guys doing?" 749 00:36:29,333 --> 00:36:32,750 "We're looking for a baby to give all this gold to." 750 00:36:32,833 --> 00:36:34,667 "Oh, really? Where is he?" 751 00:36:34,750 --> 00:36:36,500 "We don't know. Could you help us?" 752 00:36:36,583 --> 00:36:37,917 "Oh, yes. 753 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:43,000 Oh, yes, I would love to help you." 754 00:36:43,042 --> 00:36:45,292 They're likely traveling with a caravan. 755 00:36:45,333 --> 00:36:47,250 They've got to have security detail. 756 00:36:47,333 --> 00:36:49,792 They've got to watch over their gifts because they're not 757 00:36:49,833 --> 00:36:52,000 from this country. 758 00:36:52,042 --> 00:36:55,000 They're foreigners, little dangerous. 759 00:36:55,042 --> 00:36:58,083 In addition, they don't worship the same god so they're not 760 00:36:58,167 --> 00:37:01,667 gonna get a lot of help from the locals, 761 00:37:01,750 --> 00:37:05,250 but they're prominent figures. 762 00:37:05,292 --> 00:37:08,333 They're public figures. 763 00:37:08,417 --> 00:37:12,625 They're traveling with gold, treasures. 764 00:37:12,667 --> 00:37:15,583 Do you see where, for them, 765 00:37:15,625 --> 00:37:20,167 the pursuit of Jesus was the most important thing, 766 00:37:20,250 --> 00:37:23,750 more important than their comfort or their security, 767 00:37:23,792 --> 00:37:27,167 more important than their wealth or their stability? 768 00:37:27,250 --> 00:37:31,250 "We want to meet Jesus." 769 00:37:31,292 --> 00:37:34,333 Let me submit to you, meeting Jesus is more important than 770 00:37:34,417 --> 00:37:37,167 anything and everything else. 771 00:37:37,250 --> 00:37:39,750 They were wise to seek him. 772 00:37:39,833 --> 00:37:41,458 Have you been seeking Jesus? 773 00:37:41,500 --> 00:37:43,083 Are you seeking Jesus? 774 00:37:43,167 --> 00:37:44,667 Are you looking for him? 775 00:37:44,750 --> 00:37:48,292 Do you want to meet him? Do you want to get to know him? 776 00:37:48,333 --> 00:37:51,583 Number two, "They were wise to seek biblical truth 777 00:37:51,667 --> 00:37:53,667 about Jesus." 778 00:37:53,708 --> 00:37:56,875 Again, most believe that they were teachers in their culture, 779 00:37:56,958 --> 00:37:59,583 not students. 780 00:37:59,667 --> 00:38:02,583 They were the ones who wrote the books and gave the lectures. 781 00:38:02,625 --> 00:38:04,333 They didn't read the books 782 00:38:04,417 --> 00:38:06,458 and listen to the lectures of others. 783 00:38:06,500 --> 00:38:08,667 They were the teachers, not the students. 784 00:38:08,750 --> 00:38:11,333 And in that day, people tended not to pick a school 785 00:38:11,417 --> 00:38:14,250 as much as a teacher. 786 00:38:14,292 --> 00:38:16,333 So you'd pick your teacher 787 00:38:16,417 --> 00:38:18,833 and then your teacher would have a class of students 788 00:38:18,917 --> 00:38:25,625 and those students would pay to be taught by that teacher. 789 00:38:25,667 --> 00:38:28,833 It's a very prominent position. 790 00:38:28,917 --> 00:38:32,250 You're a very significant person if you have students 791 00:38:32,333 --> 00:38:36,250 and you're the professor, you're the teacher. 792 00:38:36,292 --> 00:38:40,333 And they were very wise to demonstrate some humility 793 00:38:40,417 --> 00:38:42,667 and some teachability. 794 00:38:42,750 --> 00:38:46,833 They show up in Jerusalem, "Is Jesus here?" 795 00:38:46,917 --> 00:38:48,958 "No." 796 00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:53,333 "Well, where is he? Do we have any Bible scholars? 797 00:38:53,417 --> 00:38:56,750 "Is there anybody here that knows more than us? 798 00:38:56,833 --> 00:38:59,833 "Is there anybody here that has given their life to knowing 799 00:38:59,917 --> 00:39:02,500 "the Word of God? 800 00:39:02,542 --> 00:39:05,167 "Could we please hear from them? 801 00:39:05,167 --> 00:39:08,500 Could they tell us what the Scriptures say?" 802 00:39:08,583 --> 00:39:10,417 Friends, they're not Christians yet, 803 00:39:10,500 --> 00:39:13,833 but they trust the Word of God more than some Christians do. 804 00:39:13,875 --> 00:39:18,917 They believe that it tells us about Jesus and they believe 805 00:39:19,000 --> 00:39:22,000 that it tells the truth about Jesus. 806 00:39:22,042 --> 00:39:24,500 Some would profess to be Christians and don't even hold 807 00:39:24,583 --> 00:39:27,917 the Scriptures in the same high regard as these 808 00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:31,208 yet-unbelieving men. 809 00:39:31,333 --> 00:39:34,500 And they were wise to seek biblical teaching 810 00:39:34,583 --> 00:39:36,667 and biblical truth. 811 00:39:36,667 --> 00:39:39,750 Are you seeking Jesus in the Scriptures? 812 00:39:39,833 --> 00:39:45,458 Are you humble enough to learn and to listen and to be taught? 813 00:39:45,500 --> 00:39:48,750 Number three, "They were wise to seek Jesus even though he 814 00:39:48,833 --> 00:39:51,833 did not fit their expectations." 815 00:39:51,917 --> 00:39:54,833 I can still remember, as a non-Christian in college, 816 00:39:54,917 --> 00:39:58,250 my now wife, Grace, gave me a Bible as a gift. 817 00:39:58,292 --> 00:40:01,417 And I had never really read it and I kind of grew up 818 00:40:01,500 --> 00:40:04,500 a little bit in Catholic church and I didn't know Jesus, 819 00:40:04,583 --> 00:40:06,125 wasn't the church's fault. 820 00:40:06,167 --> 00:40:09,250 I was disinterested, my fault. 821 00:40:09,292 --> 00:40:11,750 And I thought I knew a little bit about Jesus 822 00:40:11,833 --> 00:40:13,958 and enough to be fine 823 00:40:14,000 --> 00:40:16,250 and then I started reading the Bible that Grace 824 00:40:16,292 --> 00:40:20,250 gave me and he was really different than I was expecting. 825 00:40:20,292 --> 00:40:22,667 To be honest with you, when I first read it, 826 00:40:22,750 --> 00:40:24,167 there's these guys called the Pharisees. 827 00:40:24,250 --> 00:40:26,250 They're very tough, legalistic, self-righteous, 828 00:40:26,333 --> 00:40:28,250 they like to punish people and make rules. 829 00:40:28,333 --> 00:40:30,417 I thought they were pretty fantastic until they murdered 830 00:40:30,500 --> 00:40:34,333 Jesus and then I thought, well, that probably was not good. 831 00:40:34,417 --> 00:40:36,958 Right, you don't have to be a huge theologian to know 832 00:40:37,000 --> 00:40:40,500 that the guys who whacked Jesus, wrong team, okay? 833 00:40:40,542 --> 00:40:43,167 But I thought oh, devout, pick a fight, they're strong, 834 00:40:43,208 --> 00:40:45,167 they make rules, they're in charge. 835 00:40:45,250 --> 00:40:47,083 Go Pharisees. 836 00:40:47,167 --> 00:40:49,583 The story played out very differently than 837 00:40:49,667 --> 00:40:51,833 I was anticipating. 838 00:40:51,917 --> 00:40:54,958 Jesus was a lot more loving and nice and kind than I 839 00:40:55,000 --> 00:40:58,667 was expecting and the religious people were a lot more like me 840 00:40:58,750 --> 00:41:01,583 than I was expecting. 841 00:41:01,625 --> 00:41:04,083 Now, when they come to Jesus, they come to Jesus, 842 00:41:04,125 --> 00:41:07,750 these wise men do, and he's not like they're expecting. 843 00:41:07,792 --> 00:41:14,250 If you heard this, "A king has been born," and a star shows up 844 00:41:14,333 --> 00:41:16,333 to lead you to his presence, 845 00:41:16,417 --> 00:41:18,958 you're expecting something big, right? 846 00:41:19,000 --> 00:41:21,833 You're expecting to show up to a palace, 847 00:41:21,917 --> 00:41:24,250 you're expecting to show up to a temple. 848 00:41:24,333 --> 00:41:27,333 That's probably why they showed up in Jerusalem. 849 00:41:27,417 --> 00:41:30,333 "Well, of course, he's gonna be in the temple or the palace." 850 00:41:30,417 --> 00:41:32,125 "No, he's in the manger." 851 00:41:32,167 --> 00:41:34,083 "What? Isn't he rich?" 852 00:41:34,125 --> 00:41:35,583 "No, he's poor." 853 00:41:35,625 --> 00:41:36,958 "Well, isn't his dad prominent?" 854 00:41:37,000 --> 00:41:38,667 "No, he's obscure, a carpenter." 855 00:41:38,750 --> 00:41:42,583 "What?" 856 00:41:42,667 --> 00:41:46,792 It's not as impressive as they were anticipating outwardly. 857 00:41:46,833 --> 00:41:48,958 It doesn't look like what they were expecting. 858 00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:51,333 How many of you are Christians, you've had that experience? 859 00:41:51,417 --> 00:41:54,083 You thought you knew about Jesus and then you met him 860 00:41:54,167 --> 00:41:57,083 and you were like, "That's not the dude I was thinking of. 861 00:41:57,167 --> 00:42:00,417 He's very different than I was expecting." 862 00:42:00,500 --> 00:42:05,125 The wise men were very wise to seek and accept Jesus 863 00:42:05,167 --> 00:42:08,917 even though he didn't fit their expectations. 864 00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:11,417 See, don't create a Jesus that you wish he was 865 00:42:11,500 --> 00:42:13,625 and then worship him. 866 00:42:13,667 --> 00:42:15,333 That's idolatry. 867 00:42:15,417 --> 00:42:18,333 It's the worshiping of a created thing. 868 00:42:18,417 --> 00:42:22,083 Let Jesus be Jesus and worship him for who he is, 869 00:42:22,125 --> 00:42:27,125 and worship him for how he is. 870 00:42:27,167 --> 00:42:31,958 Some of you have a picture of Jesus that's just not true. 871 00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:35,083 They came to a true picture of Jesus and loved and worshiped 872 00:42:35,125 --> 00:42:39,500 him as he was, not as they expected him to be. 873 00:42:39,542 --> 00:42:43,083 And number four, "The wise men were wise to worship Jesus 874 00:42:43,167 --> 00:42:45,333 with their wealth." 875 00:42:45,417 --> 00:42:48,167 Now here's the truth, we either worship our wealth 876 00:42:48,250 --> 00:42:50,875 or we worship God with our wealth. 877 00:42:50,958 --> 00:42:54,750 Here's what it says--and let me say, 878 00:42:54,833 --> 00:42:57,875 these men came to Jesus as pagans 879 00:42:57,958 --> 00:43:00,958 and they left as Christians. 880 00:43:01,000 --> 00:43:05,250 My prayer for you today, even if you've come here as a pagan, 881 00:43:05,333 --> 00:43:08,083 religious, moral, spiritual person, 882 00:43:08,125 --> 00:43:12,833 that you would leave here as a Christian, meeting Jesus. 883 00:43:12,917 --> 00:43:18,917 These are probably the first converts in the New Testament. 884 00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:22,750 These are the first Christians, 885 00:43:22,833 --> 00:43:27,958 those who passed from death to life. 886 00:43:28,000 --> 00:43:32,083 I really want that same thing for all of you. 887 00:43:32,125 --> 00:43:36,000 I want you, not just to, like Herod, know about Jesus 888 00:43:36,083 --> 00:43:38,583 but have only selfish interests or, 889 00:43:38,667 --> 00:43:41,500 like the scribes and Pharisees, 890 00:43:41,542 --> 00:43:44,250 know about Jesus but be disinterested 891 00:43:44,333 --> 00:43:46,542 in really meeting him and being changed by him. 892 00:43:46,625 --> 00:43:50,000 I want you to be like the magi, genuinely interested in Jesus, 893 00:43:50,042 --> 00:43:54,375 meet him and be changed by him. 894 00:43:54,458 --> 00:44:00,583 And we see the change in these men by their gifts, 895 00:44:00,625 --> 00:44:02,833 by their gifts. 896 00:44:02,917 --> 00:44:09,500 Here's exactly what it says, Matthew 2:10-11, "They," what? 897 00:44:09,583 --> 00:44:14,167 "Rejoiced. They rejoiced." 898 00:44:14,250 --> 00:44:15,583 Why? 899 00:44:15,625 --> 00:44:19,333 Because they're gonna meet Jesus. 900 00:44:19,417 --> 00:44:23,000 Do you rejoice that you've met Jesus? 901 00:44:23,083 --> 00:44:26,083 This is why we tend to put singing after the sermon. 902 00:44:26,125 --> 00:44:29,458 I want you to meet Jesus, or be reminded of the Jesus 903 00:44:29,500 --> 00:44:32,958 you've met, and then rejoice. 904 00:44:33,000 --> 00:44:36,333 You say, "Well, did they really rejoice?" 905 00:44:36,417 --> 00:44:39,167 "Exceedingly with great joy." 906 00:44:39,208 --> 00:44:40,958 "What if they were introverts?" 907 00:44:41,000 --> 00:44:43,250 "Exceedingly with great joy." 908 00:44:43,333 --> 00:44:44,667 "What if they're indie rockers?" 909 00:44:44,750 --> 00:44:46,667 "Exceedingly with great joy." 910 00:44:46,750 --> 00:44:49,167 "What if they were worried about what other people think?" 911 00:44:49,250 --> 00:44:50,875 "Exceedingly with great joy." 912 00:44:50,958 --> 00:44:52,875 "What if they didn't have a good voice?" 913 00:44:52,958 --> 00:44:54,292 "Exceedingly with great joy." 914 00:44:54,333 --> 00:44:56,292 Amen? 915 00:44:56,333 --> 00:44:58,875 That was not exceedingly with great joy on the response, 916 00:44:58,958 --> 00:45:00,333 by the way. 917 00:45:00,417 --> 00:45:02,083 Very disappointing. 918 00:45:02,125 --> 00:45:04,250 That's Mars Hill, they're like, "Yeah." 919 00:45:04,333 --> 00:45:07,958 Oh. 920 00:45:08,000 --> 00:45:12,750 All right, exceedingly--they rejoiced. 921 00:45:12,792 --> 00:45:14,667 Ready to trade all of our Calvinists 922 00:45:14,750 --> 00:45:17,250 for a few Pentecostals and just try and-- 923 00:45:23,500 --> 00:45:25,750 I stacked the wood, but I have no match, 924 00:45:25,833 --> 00:45:29,333 Mars Hill, I have no match. 925 00:45:29,417 --> 00:45:35,625 Need the Pentecostals to bring the match. 926 00:45:35,667 --> 00:45:38,667 "Pastor Mark, did they rejoice in their heart?" 927 00:45:38,750 --> 00:45:40,542 "Exceedingly with great joy." 928 00:45:40,625 --> 00:45:42,958 You can't just do that in your heart. 929 00:45:43,000 --> 00:45:47,792 Yes. Gosh. 930 00:45:47,833 --> 00:45:51,583 Look, there's nothing else to be excited about right now, right? 931 00:45:51,667 --> 00:45:55,375 Weather's bad, economy's bad, everything's bad. 932 00:45:55,458 --> 00:45:59,083 "I met Jesus, yay," exceedingly with great joy. 933 00:45:59,167 --> 00:46:03,583 Okay. 934 00:46:03,625 --> 00:46:05,667 "And going into the," what? 935 00:46:05,750 --> 00:46:07,083 "The house." 936 00:46:07,125 --> 00:46:09,083 Again, go home, fix the manger. 937 00:46:09,125 --> 00:46:13,250 "They saw the child with Mary his mother, and they," what? 938 00:46:13,292 --> 00:46:16,750 "They fell down and worshiped him." 939 00:46:16,792 --> 00:46:22,458 Now I'm old and inflexible but here--they're--you see it? 940 00:46:22,500 --> 00:46:24,125 You see it? 941 00:46:24,167 --> 00:46:27,250 Now how many of you don't do this unless you dropped more 942 00:46:27,292 --> 00:46:31,333 than change, okay? 943 00:46:31,417 --> 00:46:35,583 This is work, especially for grown men. 944 00:46:35,625 --> 00:46:39,750 Okay, but their body says it all. 945 00:46:39,833 --> 00:46:41,667 Their body says it all. 946 00:46:41,750 --> 00:46:43,083 This is worship. 947 00:46:43,167 --> 00:46:45,083 Now, particularly in an eastern culture, 948 00:46:45,167 --> 00:46:47,375 grown men don't fall on the ground. 949 00:46:47,458 --> 00:46:50,375 They don't lie on the ground unless they're paying homage 950 00:46:50,458 --> 00:46:53,500 to a king or God. 951 00:46:53,542 --> 00:46:55,792 That's what they do. 952 00:46:55,833 --> 00:47:00,083 This is their way of saying, "All that I have, all that I am, 953 00:47:00,125 --> 00:47:03,083 it belongs to Jesus." 954 00:47:03,125 --> 00:47:08,583 And look at the object of their worship, their adoration. 955 00:47:08,625 --> 00:47:10,250 It's a baby. 956 00:47:10,292 --> 00:47:13,750 Friends, they know far less about Jesus than you and me. 957 00:47:13,792 --> 00:47:16,500 He hasn't preached a sermon yet. 958 00:47:16,583 --> 00:47:18,583 He hasn't cast out a demon yet. 959 00:47:18,625 --> 00:47:21,333 He hasn't healed anyone yet. 960 00:47:21,417 --> 00:47:25,667 He hasn't died on the cross and risen from death. 961 00:47:25,750 --> 00:47:28,458 He's just getting started on the earth. 962 00:47:28,500 --> 00:47:30,583 And what do they do? 963 00:47:30,625 --> 00:47:35,750 Rejoicing exceedingly, they worship him. 964 00:47:35,833 --> 00:47:38,542 We have even more reason to worship Jesus. 965 00:47:38,625 --> 00:47:44,458 We've got this privileged position in history. 966 00:47:44,500 --> 00:47:45,833 We know what he said. 967 00:47:45,917 --> 00:47:47,250 We know what he did. 968 00:47:47,333 --> 00:47:48,667 We know that he died. 969 00:47:48,708 --> 00:47:50,042 We know that he rose. 970 00:47:50,125 --> 00:47:51,458 We know that he's true. 971 00:47:51,500 --> 00:47:55,750 We know that he's coming again. 972 00:47:55,833 --> 00:48:00,083 You can tell a lot about somebody just by their posture. 973 00:48:00,125 --> 00:48:02,333 Right, a man gets down on one knee, 974 00:48:02,417 --> 00:48:05,000 he's saying something to a lady. 975 00:48:05,083 --> 00:48:06,958 Christians get down on two knees, 976 00:48:07,000 --> 00:48:11,250 they're saying something to the Lord. 977 00:48:11,333 --> 00:48:13,250 They fell down and worshiped him. 978 00:48:13,333 --> 00:48:17,833 Do you think it was awkward, grown men worshiping a baby, 979 00:48:17,917 --> 00:48:20,500 rich men worshiping a poor baby, 980 00:48:20,583 --> 00:48:27,250 Persian men worshiping a Jewish baby? 981 00:48:27,333 --> 00:48:32,958 When you see who Jesus is, nothing else matters. 982 00:48:33,000 --> 00:48:37,417 Nothing else matters. 983 00:48:37,500 --> 00:48:41,167 "Then, opening their," what? 984 00:48:41,250 --> 00:48:46,333 "Their treasures," their treasures. 985 00:48:46,417 --> 00:48:48,250 It's amazing that during the holiday season, 986 00:48:48,333 --> 00:48:50,583 we tend to give gifts. 987 00:48:50,625 --> 00:48:53,583 It all started here. 988 00:48:53,625 --> 00:48:56,125 When you give gifts, when you receive gifts, 989 00:48:56,167 --> 00:49:00,708 I want you to remember Jesus is a gift that God gives to us 990 00:49:00,833 --> 00:49:07,667 and the magi come to also give gifts to him. 991 00:49:07,750 --> 00:49:12,583 Opening their treasures, this is lavish, generous, 992 00:49:12,667 --> 00:49:15,667 extravagant gift-giving. 993 00:49:15,667 --> 00:49:19,083 "They offered him gifts," three things, you know what they are. 994 00:49:19,167 --> 00:49:22,833 What are they? This is not a trick question. 995 00:49:22,833 --> 00:49:27,167 Gold, frankincense, myrrh, okay? 996 00:49:27,167 --> 00:49:31,167 Gold is for kings, still is. 997 00:49:31,167 --> 00:49:33,583 It still is. 998 00:49:33,667 --> 00:49:39,417 This is lavish wealth, given to the baby Jesus, 999 00:49:39,500 --> 00:49:41,333 lavish wealth, gold. 1000 00:49:41,417 --> 00:49:43,333 It shows that Jesus is our King. 1001 00:49:43,417 --> 00:49:48,667 Again, Matthew 2:2, "He was born king." 1002 00:49:48,750 --> 00:49:54,458 Number two, frankincense, this shows that Jesus is our priest. 1003 00:49:54,500 --> 00:49:57,458 As the name would indicate, it's incense. 1004 00:49:57,500 --> 00:50:01,125 Incense is used by the priests in the temple. 1005 00:50:01,167 --> 00:50:03,833 It's used by the priests on the holidays and the feasts 1006 00:50:03,917 --> 00:50:07,125 and the festivals. 1007 00:50:07,167 --> 00:50:13,083 It's part of the worship of God. 1008 00:50:13,125 --> 00:50:16,250 Incense is like prayer. 1009 00:50:16,292 --> 00:50:20,625 It's sweet and it ascends to the Lord. 1010 00:50:20,667 --> 00:50:24,958 That's why in Revelation it talks about God's people, 1011 00:50:25,000 --> 00:50:29,250 when they pray, it's like incense in a bowl that is sweet 1012 00:50:29,292 --> 00:50:30,625 in his nostril. 1013 00:50:30,667 --> 00:50:37,250 It's all beautiful, poetic imagery that incense ascends 1014 00:50:37,333 --> 00:50:44,167 from us to the Lord and we want it to be sweet in his presence. 1015 00:50:44,250 --> 00:50:47,167 And that was done by the priests who would mediate 1016 00:50:47,208 --> 00:50:49,167 between God and people. 1017 00:50:49,250 --> 00:50:51,583 So Jesus is our King and he's our priest. 1018 00:50:51,667 --> 00:50:53,583 He's God become a man. 1019 00:50:53,667 --> 00:50:56,333 There's one mediator between men and God, the man Christ Jesus, 1020 00:50:56,417 --> 00:50:58,375 Paul tells Timothy. 1021 00:50:58,458 --> 00:51:03,958 Hebrews tells us repeatedly that Jesus is our great high priest. 1022 00:51:04,000 --> 00:51:06,583 This is prophetic. 1023 00:51:06,625 --> 00:51:12,958 This is wise men bringing gifts from afar for Jesus as King 1024 00:51:13,000 --> 00:51:15,458 and Jesus as interceding priest. 1025 00:51:15,500 --> 00:51:17,958 But the third one is the most peculiar of all. 1026 00:51:18,000 --> 00:51:20,958 My assumption is you're not going to give this to your kids 1027 00:51:21,000 --> 00:51:24,333 for Christmas. Gold, frankincense, third one is? 1028 00:51:24,417 --> 00:51:25,833 Myrrh. 1029 00:51:25,917 --> 00:51:28,250 This is an odd one. 1030 00:51:28,292 --> 00:51:33,167 It's like an embalming fluid for the dead. 1031 00:51:33,250 --> 00:51:37,333 This shows that Jesus is King, priest, and sacrifice. 1032 00:51:37,417 --> 00:51:39,333 He's our substitute. 1033 00:51:39,417 --> 00:51:44,583 This is all the foreshadowing of the cross. 1034 00:51:44,667 --> 00:51:49,000 We hear of myrrh--I'll get it right, 1035 00:51:49,042 --> 00:51:53,250 it's in Mark 15:23. 1036 00:51:53,333 --> 00:51:57,667 We hear of it again when Jesus is on the cross. 1037 00:51:57,750 --> 00:52:01,083 Our King and priest came to die for our sin. 1038 00:52:01,125 --> 00:52:04,833 Because he keeps saying that he is God and King 1039 00:52:04,917 --> 00:52:09,083 and our great high priest, they conspired to put Jesus to death. 1040 00:52:09,125 --> 00:52:12,583 And when Jesus is crucified, he who is without sin is crucified 1041 00:52:12,625 --> 00:52:16,667 in our place for our sin, that's why he's called Jesus. 1042 00:52:16,750 --> 00:52:19,833 His name literally means he's God our Savior. 1043 00:52:19,917 --> 00:52:23,083 And he's being crucified, 1044 00:52:23,125 --> 00:52:27,458 and the soldiers take a stick with a sponge on the end 1045 00:52:27,500 --> 00:52:30,125 and they seek to shove it in his mouth. 1046 00:52:30,167 --> 00:52:34,125 And I've told you before, it was probably their version 1047 00:52:34,167 --> 00:52:35,667 of toilet paper. 1048 00:52:35,750 --> 00:52:37,833 That's what a soldier would use to cleanse themselves 1049 00:52:37,917 --> 00:52:44,542 in the battlefield, like a toilet brush in our day. 1050 00:52:45,833 --> 00:52:48,042 They sought to shove that in Jesus' mouth 1051 00:52:48,125 --> 00:52:50,083 when he was being crucified, 1052 00:52:50,167 --> 00:52:54,375 and the Bible says that it had on it a few things, 1053 00:52:54,458 --> 00:52:56,875 including, what do you think? 1054 00:52:56,958 --> 00:53:00,625 Myrrh. 1055 00:53:00,667 --> 00:53:03,458 See, that was the second time in his life that Jesus 1056 00:53:03,500 --> 00:53:05,583 was offered myrrh. 1057 00:53:05,625 --> 00:53:09,083 The first time was as a baby and the second one 1058 00:53:09,125 --> 00:53:12,167 as a grown man on a cross. 1059 00:53:12,250 --> 00:53:15,833 They did it in mockery of him. 1060 00:53:15,917 --> 00:53:18,167 It would have been like an antiseptic. 1061 00:53:18,250 --> 00:53:20,958 It would have helped to dull the pain. 1062 00:53:21,000 --> 00:53:24,667 But to take that, he would have had to have also taken in his 1063 00:53:24,750 --> 00:53:28,250 mouth, all of the uncleanness of the soldier who was mocking him. 1064 00:53:28,333 --> 00:53:31,833 And so Jesus, with great dignity, rejected it. 1065 00:53:31,917 --> 00:53:35,458 He did not partake of it. 1066 00:53:35,500 --> 00:53:41,667 He endured the suffering without any alleviation, 1067 00:53:41,750 --> 00:53:45,042 and without that shame. 1068 00:53:45,125 --> 00:53:51,375 Jesus then dies on the cross in our place for our sins. 1069 00:53:51,458 --> 00:53:54,875 The ten fingers and ten toes that Mary counted 1070 00:53:54,958 --> 00:54:00,667 were nailed to a cross. 1071 00:54:00,750 --> 00:54:04,833 And Jesus' body, we're told in John 19, 1072 00:54:04,917 --> 00:54:08,833 was prepared for burial, 1073 00:54:08,917 --> 00:54:12,333 wrapped in a near mummified state. 1074 00:54:12,417 --> 00:54:15,750 In that day, they would wrap you in upwards of a hundred pounds 1075 00:54:15,833 --> 00:54:20,583 of burial linens and spices and bodily preparations. 1076 00:54:20,625 --> 00:54:24,333 It says in John 19 that Jesus' body was prepared with, 1077 00:54:24,417 --> 00:54:26,833 what do you think, friends? 1078 00:54:26,917 --> 00:54:29,833 Myrrh. 1079 00:54:29,917 --> 00:54:33,250 And he was put in a cold, dark tomb. 1080 00:54:33,333 --> 00:54:36,417 And 3 days later, conquering sin and death, 1081 00:54:36,500 --> 00:54:42,083 Jesus came to life and he took a deep breath in his lungs, 1082 00:54:42,167 --> 00:54:44,875 and what's the first thing he smelled? 1083 00:54:44,958 --> 00:54:47,667 Myrrh. 1084 00:54:47,750 --> 00:54:51,875 It was the sweet smell of victory over sin and death; 1085 00:54:51,958 --> 00:54:55,292 that his body smelled like death, 1086 00:54:55,333 --> 00:54:59,667 but he had conquered death and he had conquered sin. 1087 00:54:59,708 --> 00:55:06,250 And Jesus walked back into town, resurrected, 1088 00:55:06,292 --> 00:55:09,500 his life fully restored. 1089 00:55:09,583 --> 00:55:13,750 Every step, as he's coming to proclaim his victory, 1090 00:55:13,833 --> 00:55:19,625 he's smelling the myrrh. 1091 00:55:19,667 --> 00:55:26,000 Mars Hill, we, every week, we come to Jesus. 1092 00:55:26,917 --> 00:55:28,958 We come to meet with him together. 1093 00:55:29,000 --> 00:55:32,000 We come to worship him together. 1094 00:55:32,083 --> 00:55:37,667 We come to worship him as King and priest and sacrifice. 1095 00:55:37,750 --> 00:55:40,000 And it's my great honor, every year, 1096 00:55:40,042 --> 00:55:43,667 to give you a bit of a family update. 1097 00:55:43,708 --> 00:55:46,667 What we do at the Driscoll home is when there's something 1098 00:55:46,708 --> 00:55:50,375 important, I'll call out, "Time for a family meeting," 1099 00:55:50,458 --> 00:55:53,667 and all the kids pile on the couch and Grace and I 1100 00:55:53,708 --> 00:55:56,292 sit together and we have a talk about something, 1101 00:55:56,333 --> 00:55:58,292 how are things going, what are we doing? 1102 00:55:58,333 --> 00:56:00,667 This is the end of our year. 1103 00:56:00,750 --> 00:56:04,083 Jesus comes into a family, he dies and rises 1104 00:56:04,125 --> 00:56:06,458 to make us church family. 1105 00:56:06,500 --> 00:56:09,333 And I have the great honor of giving you a little bit 1106 00:56:09,417 --> 00:56:12,250 of an update how our family is doing. 1107 00:56:12,292 --> 00:56:16,083 And I've been doing this every year for 16 years 1108 00:56:16,125 --> 00:56:19,333 and my great joy is to report that every year, 1109 00:56:19,417 --> 00:56:21,083 by the grace of God, 1110 00:56:21,125 --> 00:56:24,083 more people have come to Jesus than the year before. 1111 00:56:24,125 --> 00:56:28,458 What happened to the wise men, we want to happen to many, many 1112 00:56:28,500 --> 00:56:30,583 men, women, and children. 1113 00:56:30,625 --> 00:56:34,250 And this has been the most fruitful year we've ever had 1114 00:56:34,333 --> 00:56:36,417 in the history of our church. 1115 00:56:36,500 --> 00:56:38,542 And if you'd like more details, 1116 00:56:38,625 --> 00:56:41,583 we do have the "God's Work, Our Witness" annual report. 1117 00:56:41,667 --> 00:56:43,458 We tend to put out more information 1118 00:56:43,500 --> 00:56:45,292 than any large church I know 1119 00:56:45,333 --> 00:56:47,500 and we'd encourage you to take that with you. 1120 00:56:47,542 --> 00:56:50,375 You can also find it online at marshill.com 1121 00:56:50,458 --> 00:56:53,875 and it'll give you things to be praying for our church, 1122 00:56:53,958 --> 00:56:57,583 and to be rejoicing for God's grace to our church. 1123 00:56:57,667 --> 00:57:01,750 Here's some things I want to share with you. 1124 00:57:01,792 --> 00:57:03,958 First of all, our family is growing. 1125 00:57:04,000 --> 00:57:08,083 This year we had the pleasure of birthing four new churches, 1126 00:57:08,125 --> 00:57:10,833 four new churches this year: Mars Hill Orange County, 1127 00:57:10,917 --> 00:57:12,750 Mars Hill Portland, Mars Hill Sammamish, 1128 00:57:12,833 --> 00:57:15,167 Mars Hill Rainier Valley. 1129 00:57:15,250 --> 00:57:18,083 We, at Mars Hill, believe that the birthing of children is 1130 00:57:18,125 --> 00:57:21,917 a blessing and the birthing of churches is a blessing, 1131 00:57:22,000 --> 00:57:23,750 and so we want to rejoice. 1132 00:57:23,792 --> 00:57:25,750 Four churches were planted this year, 1133 00:57:25,792 --> 00:57:29,167 1,115 people were baptized, that means they are 1134 00:57:29,250 --> 00:57:32,750 publicly declaring that they have come to Jesus, 1135 00:57:32,833 --> 00:57:36,333 that he has changed them and that they are now part of 1136 00:57:36,417 --> 00:57:38,125 the family of God. 1137 00:57:38,167 --> 00:57:40,000 That's amazing, is it not? 1138 00:57:40,042 --> 00:57:46,042 One thousand one hundred and fifteen people? 1139 00:57:46,125 --> 00:57:48,792 And we still got a little time to go 1140 00:57:48,833 --> 00:57:52,333 so our big Christmas service is December 23rd. 1141 00:57:52,417 --> 00:57:55,167 And if you've not yet been baptized and you've come to 1142 00:57:55,250 --> 00:57:58,500 faith in Jesus Christ--it shows his death, burial, resurrection-- 1143 00:57:58,542 --> 00:58:00,083 let us know. 1144 00:58:00,125 --> 00:58:02,458 We'll baptize you at your Christmas celebration on 1145 00:58:02,500 --> 00:58:04,167 December 23rd. 1146 00:58:04,250 --> 00:58:06,583 Earlier in the year, we were honored as being 1147 00:58:06,625 --> 00:58:08,667 the 3rd fastest-growing church in America 1148 00:58:08,750 --> 00:58:10,958 and the 28th largest church in America. 1149 00:58:11,000 --> 00:58:12,833 That is miraculous. 1150 00:58:12,917 --> 00:58:15,833 We are working primarily in areas that are not 1151 00:58:15,917 --> 00:58:20,625 highly Christian and reaching out to people who are not 1152 00:58:20,667 --> 00:58:24,250 walking with Jesus, most of the time, when we meet them. 1153 00:58:24,333 --> 00:58:27,667 And so we rejoice in all of God's grace to us. 1154 00:58:27,750 --> 00:58:30,958 And we count people because people count. 1155 00:58:31,000 --> 00:58:37,458 I don't just have kids, I have five, and I count them. 1156 00:58:37,500 --> 00:58:40,250 I don't say, "I don't know, numbers don't matter." 1157 00:58:40,333 --> 00:58:45,667 It does to the one who got lost, okay? 1158 00:58:45,750 --> 00:58:48,333 Number two, our family is maturing. 1159 00:58:48,417 --> 00:58:51,125 Something to be praying for this year, Mars Hill students. 1160 00:58:51,167 --> 00:58:53,583 We have now, on a good Sunday, upwards of 1161 00:58:53,625 --> 00:58:56,250 3,000 children under the age of 10. 1162 00:58:56,333 --> 00:58:58,750 So there is a junior high, high school tsunami 1163 00:58:58,833 --> 00:59:00,708 on the horizon, okay? 1164 00:59:00,833 --> 00:59:03,917 And we have historically not been great at student ministry 1165 00:59:04,000 --> 00:59:07,583 and we have hired Adam Ramsey, and he is now overseeing 1166 00:59:07,667 --> 00:59:10,500 Mars Hill Student Ministry and he's preached at 1167 00:59:10,542 --> 00:59:12,417 a few of our churches recently. 1168 00:59:12,500 --> 00:59:15,167 He just got in country from Australia and I think at 1169 00:59:15,167 --> 00:59:17,667 the first meeting, 12 kids gave their life to Christ, 1170 00:59:17,667 --> 00:59:20,333 the next meeting, 10 kids gave their life to Christ. 1171 00:59:20,375 --> 00:59:22,667 What you're gonna see in this upcoming year is 1172 00:59:22,667 --> 00:59:25,167 a great emphasis on junior high and high school ministry 1173 00:59:25,167 --> 00:59:26,833 at Mars Hill Church. 1174 00:59:26,875 --> 00:59:29,500 In addition, an increasing emphasis on the children. 1175 00:59:29,583 --> 00:59:31,500 We've developed the "Lost & Found" 1176 00:59:31,542 --> 00:59:33,500 children's curriculum to teach theology 1177 00:59:33,583 --> 00:59:35,000 about Jesus to little kids. 1178 00:59:35,083 --> 00:59:38,167 It's now implemented and our hope and our prayer and our goal 1179 00:59:38,167 --> 00:59:40,333 is to be, not just entertaining the kids, 1180 00:59:40,417 --> 00:59:42,458 but educating the kids in Christ. 1181 00:59:42,500 --> 00:59:44,250 Pray for Mars Hill Music. 1182 00:59:44,333 --> 00:59:47,333 We're on the cusp of signing a distribution deal with EMI 1183 00:59:47,417 --> 00:59:51,083 and that will allow our bands to distribute their albums 1184 00:59:51,125 --> 00:59:52,917 to be on the radio, 1185 00:59:53,000 --> 00:59:55,458 to be doing concerts and a lot of other things 1186 00:59:55,500 --> 00:59:57,250 and we're very excited about that. 1187 00:59:57,292 --> 00:59:59,000 And pray for our Community Groups, 1188 00:59:59,083 --> 01:00:01,458 and if you're not in one, that really is family. 1189 01:00:01,500 --> 01:00:04,333 That's where we gather every week to discuss the subject of 1190 01:00:04,417 --> 01:00:06,500 the sermon, according to the Scriptures. 1191 01:00:06,583 --> 01:00:08,333 People do meals together. 1192 01:00:08,417 --> 01:00:09,833 They do life together. 1193 01:00:09,917 --> 01:00:11,333 They love and serve one another. 1194 01:00:11,417 --> 01:00:13,625 Christians, non-Christians, everyone is welcome. 1195 01:00:13,667 --> 01:00:16,458 It includes time sitting literally in someone's home 1196 01:00:16,500 --> 01:00:19,333 most of the time, being the family of God 1197 01:00:19,417 --> 01:00:21,917 and inviting others into the family of God. 1198 01:00:22,000 --> 01:00:24,417 And in this ensuing year, we need that number of 1199 01:00:24,500 --> 01:00:25,833 Community Groups to go up. 1200 01:00:25,917 --> 01:00:28,333 So if you're willing to be a Community Group coach 1201 01:00:28,417 --> 01:00:33,667 or host or leader, let us know. 1202 01:00:33,750 --> 01:00:35,750 Our family is reaching out as well. 1203 01:00:35,833 --> 01:00:39,292 We're privileged, Mars Hill, to live in a period of time, where, 1204 01:00:39,333 --> 01:00:42,583 in the providence of God, we started the church 16 years ago 1205 01:00:42,667 --> 01:00:45,083 at about the same time something called the Internet 1206 01:00:45,167 --> 01:00:47,083 came into existence. 1207 01:00:47,167 --> 01:00:49,792 In the providence of God, without a denomination over us 1208 01:00:49,833 --> 01:00:52,333 or a network or anything sponsoring us, 1209 01:00:52,417 --> 01:00:57,000 we happened to start near something called Microsoft, 1210 01:00:57,042 --> 01:01:00,333 and we've sort of ridden this technological wave. 1211 01:01:00,417 --> 01:01:02,750 It's been an amazing opportunity for us. 1212 01:01:02,792 --> 01:01:07,000 So this year, 13.5 million sermons were downloaded, 1213 01:01:07,083 --> 01:01:09,750 and for everyone who listens to anything that I say, 1214 01:01:09,792 --> 01:01:12,458 I want to sincerely say thank you. 1215 01:01:12,500 --> 01:01:16,125 In addition, you probably don't know this, you funded, 1216 01:01:16,167 --> 01:01:19,000 this year, 23 church planters in India 1217 01:01:19,083 --> 01:01:21,833 and also 16 church planters in Ethiopia. 1218 01:01:21,917 --> 01:01:24,333 And those are missionaries, those are nationals 1219 01:01:24,417 --> 01:01:27,750 who love Jesus and we rejoice that we get to help them. 1220 01:01:31,833 --> 01:01:33,583 In addition, be in prayer, 1221 01:01:33,625 --> 01:01:37,000 the doctrine book that I had the privilege of cowriting, 1222 01:01:37,083 --> 01:01:40,875 it's a simple but pretty robust theological work, 1223 01:01:40,958 --> 01:01:43,458 about a thousand footnotes, we've negotiated with 1224 01:01:43,500 --> 01:01:45,458 a publisher to get the rights back for 1225 01:01:45,500 --> 01:01:47,292 the international translation. 1226 01:01:47,333 --> 01:01:49,167 We've been getting a lot of requests, 1227 01:01:49,250 --> 01:01:51,250 particularly from those who are Spanish speaking, 1228 01:01:51,333 --> 01:01:54,667 for more resources as we do provide Spanish subtitles 1229 01:01:54,750 --> 01:01:56,458 for our sermons. 1230 01:01:56,500 --> 01:01:59,750 And so we are translating "Doctrine" into Spanish 1231 01:01:59,833 --> 01:02:02,417 and we'll give it away free online 1232 01:02:02,500 --> 01:02:04,458 and it will allow us to help those 1233 01:02:04,500 --> 01:02:06,750 who are Spanish speaking, which quite frankly, 1234 01:02:06,833 --> 01:02:09,625 is very, very, very important to me 1235 01:02:09,667 --> 01:02:12,833 and my almost totally fluent daughter, Ashley, 1236 01:02:12,917 --> 01:02:15,833 who is now teaching young Spanish children 1237 01:02:15,917 --> 01:02:19,417 how to speak English as she is very much in love with those 1238 01:02:19,500 --> 01:02:21,833 who are Spanish speaking as well. 1239 01:02:21,917 --> 01:02:24,000 Our family is also stewarding. 1240 01:02:24,083 --> 01:02:26,833 This year, we came into a new budget model. 1241 01:02:26,917 --> 01:02:29,833 We have achieved our fiscal spending goals. 1242 01:02:29,917 --> 01:02:33,583 Our giving is a little down, but also our spending is down 1243 01:02:33,625 --> 01:02:36,250 and we have kept our costs under control. 1244 01:02:36,333 --> 01:02:38,583 We had a full external audit because we 1245 01:02:38,667 --> 01:02:42,292 want to be accountable and our auditor gave us an A-plus, 1246 01:02:42,333 --> 01:02:46,250 an A-plus for how we handle the money that ultimately 1247 01:02:46,333 --> 01:02:48,792 belongs to the Lord Jesus. 1248 01:02:48,833 --> 01:02:52,167 So like the wise men, when you come and you give your gold, 1249 01:02:52,250 --> 01:02:55,250 you want to ask, "Are they stewarding it well?" 1250 01:02:55,333 --> 01:02:58,083 In the grace of God, the independent external audit 1251 01:02:58,167 --> 01:02:59,792 says absolutely. 1252 01:02:59,833 --> 01:03:02,083 And for double accountability, we have joined 1253 01:03:02,125 --> 01:03:04,958 the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. 1254 01:03:05,000 --> 01:03:08,167 This is essentially the gold standard of accountability 1255 01:03:08,250 --> 01:03:10,333 for Christian churches and ministries 1256 01:03:10,417 --> 01:03:12,417 and we've met all of their criteria. 1257 01:03:12,500 --> 01:03:16,750 And so we have two external independent annual audits of all 1258 01:03:16,833 --> 01:03:21,083 of our spending and procedures so that you can give generously 1259 01:03:21,125 --> 01:03:23,333 and we can steward wisely. 1260 01:03:23,417 --> 01:03:25,750 I'll give you a little indication as well, 1261 01:03:25,792 --> 01:03:28,250 as part of our annual report, what it looks like 1262 01:03:28,292 --> 01:03:30,167 for giving at Mars Hill. 1263 01:03:30,250 --> 01:03:35,125 This last year, as you'll see, about 24% of people have given 1264 01:03:35,167 --> 01:03:38,292 nothing, and some of you are non-Christians, we love you, 1265 01:03:38,333 --> 01:03:41,875 but that is concerning because I know that most of you 1266 01:03:41,958 --> 01:03:44,292 are God's people. 1267 01:03:44,333 --> 01:03:47,500 Forty-three percent have given $500 or less, 1268 01:03:47,542 --> 01:03:51,167 each of my kids will be in there, including my 6-year-old. 1269 01:03:51,250 --> 01:03:53,750 He's probably pushing a hundred bucks at this point. 1270 01:03:53,833 --> 01:03:55,750 He's doing pretty good. 1271 01:03:55,833 --> 01:04:00,250 For those of you who are giving $500 to $1,500 a year 1272 01:04:00,333 --> 01:04:03,250 to Mars Hill, that's about 14%. 1273 01:04:03,292 --> 01:04:06,833 Those who are giving $1500 to $4,000, about 11%, 1274 01:04:06,917 --> 01:04:09,667 and the higher the number goes, the smaller 1275 01:04:09,750 --> 01:04:11,667 the number of givers. 1276 01:04:11,750 --> 01:04:14,417 So when you get to the point of $50,000 or more, 1277 01:04:14,500 --> 01:04:17,667 I think the list is actually less than 10 people in a church 1278 01:04:17,750 --> 01:04:19,458 that's far more than 10,000. 1279 01:04:19,500 --> 01:04:22,250 Here's the big idea, we're not a rich church. 1280 01:04:22,292 --> 01:04:24,333 We're not--I was talking to a guy recently, 1281 01:04:24,417 --> 01:04:28,083 they paid $100 million cash for their new building. 1282 01:04:28,125 --> 01:04:31,083 We're not that church, okay? 1283 01:04:31,125 --> 01:04:33,750 We could pay a hundred dollars for a new building 1284 01:04:33,833 --> 01:04:35,917 but not a hundred million dollars. 1285 01:04:36,000 --> 01:04:37,750 We're not a rich church. 1286 01:04:37,833 --> 01:04:40,833 And what can happen is the same thing that happens culturally, 1287 01:04:40,917 --> 01:04:42,667 an entitlement expectation where 1288 01:04:42,708 --> 01:04:45,000 "Somebody somewhere owes me something." 1289 01:04:45,042 --> 01:04:49,250 As God's people, it is our church and it's our opportunity 1290 01:04:49,333 --> 01:04:52,000 and it's our generosity. 1291 01:04:52,042 --> 01:04:55,250 What didn't happen was the wise men came to Jesus, 1292 01:04:55,333 --> 01:04:56,667 gave their gold, 1293 01:04:56,708 --> 01:05:02,125 and then the Christians came and took it. 1294 01:05:02,167 --> 01:05:05,250 If you are Christian, we want you to give generously 1295 01:05:05,333 --> 01:05:06,667 and sacrificially and cheerfully. 1296 01:05:06,750 --> 01:05:09,833 Those are the criteria of 2 Corinthians 8 and 9. 1297 01:05:09,917 --> 01:05:12,917 And one of the goals that I would give to you that 1298 01:05:13,000 --> 01:05:15,625 Grace and I have had since the beginning of our marriage 1299 01:05:15,667 --> 01:05:20,917 is every year it is our plan to give more than the year before. 1300 01:05:21,000 --> 01:05:24,750 And now we've been married over 20 years, in God's grace, 1301 01:05:24,833 --> 01:05:26,333 he's answered that request. 1302 01:05:26,417 --> 01:05:29,667 Every year we've been able to give more than the year before. 1303 01:05:29,750 --> 01:05:32,667 So for those of you who are giving, we say thank you. 1304 01:05:32,750 --> 01:05:34,458 For those of you who aren't giving, 1305 01:05:34,500 --> 01:05:36,333 let me encourage you to be starting. 1306 01:05:36,417 --> 01:05:38,292 And for those of you who are giving, 1307 01:05:38,333 --> 01:05:41,292 let me ask you to prayerfully consider how to give more 1308 01:05:41,333 --> 01:05:44,250 every year so that your life is a pattern of generosity. 1309 01:05:44,333 --> 01:05:47,875 I love that it says that they gave out of their treasures, 1310 01:05:47,958 --> 01:05:51,333 out of their treasures. 1311 01:05:51,417 --> 01:05:54,167 Here's what's coming up in 2013. 1312 01:05:54,208 --> 01:05:58,083 In January, pray for this, we start the book of Ephesians. 1313 01:05:58,167 --> 01:06:01,417 I've got a brand-new book coming out, "Who Do You Think You Are?" 1314 01:06:01,500 --> 01:06:02,958 We've got small group curriculum. 1315 01:06:03,000 --> 01:06:05,458 We're hoping and praying it will be the biggest thing 1316 01:06:05,500 --> 01:06:06,833 we've ever done. 1317 01:06:06,917 --> 01:06:09,083 Then we're gonna start into the book of Acts. 1318 01:06:09,125 --> 01:06:12,167 I'm gonna do a chunk every year, over the course of many years, 1319 01:06:12,250 --> 01:06:14,833 to take the 58 sermons it will require to conclude Acts. 1320 01:06:14,917 --> 01:06:17,333 Then we're gonna do something called "My Best Sermon Ever." 1321 01:06:17,417 --> 01:06:19,583 I'm gonna take a little break during the summer 1322 01:06:19,625 --> 01:06:20,958 with the family. 1323 01:06:21,000 --> 01:06:22,958 We're bringing in some outside preachers and friends. 1324 01:06:23,000 --> 01:06:24,667 So we've got Wayne Grudem lined up. 1325 01:06:24,750 --> 01:06:26,167 We've got Bruce Ware lined up. 1326 01:06:26,250 --> 01:06:28,458 We've got Paul Tripp lined up. 1327 01:06:28,500 --> 01:06:31,167 We've got Larry Osborne lined up. 1328 01:06:31,250 --> 01:06:34,250 We've got some great world-class Bible teachers coming in 1329 01:06:34,292 --> 01:06:35,625 to preach and teach. 1330 01:06:35,667 --> 01:06:37,417 They'll be here this summer. 1331 01:06:37,500 --> 01:06:39,833 You'll greatly enjoy them and then we're gonna hit 1332 01:06:39,917 --> 01:06:41,875 the Ten Commandments next fall. 1333 01:06:41,958 --> 01:06:44,958 We also have the Resurgence Conference coming up this year. 1334 01:06:45,000 --> 01:06:48,375 It'll be in Mars Hill Downtown and Mars Hill Bellevue, 1335 01:06:48,458 --> 01:06:50,583 Lord willing, connected by technology, 1336 01:06:50,667 --> 01:06:54,500 also out to Albuquerque and our Mars Hill network churches 1337 01:06:54,542 --> 01:06:56,083 in Reno and Orlando. 1338 01:06:56,167 --> 01:06:59,833 Confirmed so far, Greg Laurie, Rick Warren, 1339 01:06:59,917 --> 01:07:02,833 James MacDonald, and Matt Chandler, 1340 01:07:02,917 --> 01:07:04,583 as well as Crawford Loritts 1341 01:07:04,625 --> 01:07:07,750 will all be visiting Mars Hill next fall, 1342 01:07:07,833 --> 01:07:09,750 and so be in prayer for that event. 1343 01:07:09,833 --> 01:07:13,917 And then lastly as well, every family needs a home and for us, 1344 01:07:14,000 --> 01:07:16,750 buildings are homes for the family. 1345 01:07:16,833 --> 01:07:18,583 And because we're not a rich church, 1346 01:07:18,625 --> 01:07:20,333 we need everybody to do their part. 1347 01:07:20,417 --> 01:07:23,417 And I want to set before you these objectives. 1348 01:07:23,500 --> 01:07:27,250 We want to end the year very strong financially 1349 01:07:27,333 --> 01:07:30,833 so that we can have a very fruitful year next year. 1350 01:07:30,917 --> 01:07:33,167 So let me share some opportunities with you 1351 01:07:33,250 --> 01:07:34,583 and what we're working on. 1352 01:07:34,625 --> 01:07:36,333 First of all, it's Mars Hill Everett, 1353 01:07:36,417 --> 01:07:37,750 you've heard about it. 1354 01:07:37,792 --> 01:07:39,125 It's an old armory. 1355 01:07:39,167 --> 01:07:41,292 Everett is centrally located for the North Sound region. 1356 01:07:41,333 --> 01:07:43,292 It's right next to the minor league ballpark. 1357 01:07:43,333 --> 01:07:44,792 It's right next to the courthouse. 1358 01:07:44,833 --> 01:07:46,792 It's right next to the park and ride. 1359 01:07:46,833 --> 01:07:49,292 It's kind of literally where everything converges. 1360 01:07:49,333 --> 01:07:52,000 It's a great building. We got a great price on it. 1361 01:07:52,042 --> 01:07:54,500 And now we are needing to do renovations so that 1362 01:07:54,583 --> 01:07:57,417 Mars Hill Everett could move permanently into their home. 1363 01:07:57,500 --> 01:07:59,417 For those of you that are homeowners, 1364 01:07:59,500 --> 01:08:02,500 remember your first home, how excited you were to get it but 1365 01:08:02,583 --> 01:08:04,500 how you had to go financially all in 1366 01:08:04,583 --> 01:08:06,667 and there was a lot of work to do? 1367 01:08:06,750 --> 01:08:08,667 That's how it is right now in Everett. 1368 01:08:08,750 --> 01:08:11,458 So as you give, we want to give above and beyond 1369 01:08:11,500 --> 01:08:12,833 to get Everett opened up. 1370 01:08:12,917 --> 01:08:15,333 And then in addition, we've got Mars Hill Downtown Seattle. 1371 01:08:15,417 --> 01:08:17,792 I'm happy to report that we have concluded the contract. 1372 01:08:17,833 --> 01:08:20,167 We will have a big Christmas Eve service there, 1373 01:08:20,250 --> 01:08:23,083 just one on December 24th to open it up. 1374 01:08:23,167 --> 01:08:25,667 It's the oldest church in the city of Seattle. 1375 01:08:25,750 --> 01:08:29,583 It's the busiest street on the West Coast 1376 01:08:29,625 --> 01:08:32,417 and it's such a big deal that the "Seattle Times" 1377 01:08:32,458 --> 01:08:35,917 did a front-page story on it and the "Wall Street Journal" 1378 01:08:35,958 --> 01:08:38,792 also did a feature on us moving into this building. 1379 01:08:38,833 --> 01:08:42,500 So pray like crazy we get that thing opened. 1380 01:08:46,000 --> 01:08:48,333 It's gonna take a little work to get it 1381 01:08:48,417 --> 01:08:51,000 up to modern usage, electrical. 1382 01:08:51,083 --> 01:08:52,583 There's no bathrooms. 1383 01:08:52,667 --> 01:08:56,167 Just a few details, so we want to get those taken care of. 1384 01:08:56,250 --> 01:08:58,333 In addition, you've heard about, and here it is, 1385 01:08:58,417 --> 01:08:59,958 Mars Hill Tacoma. 1386 01:09:00,083 --> 01:09:02,000 This is a church that, Lord willing, 1387 01:09:02,083 --> 01:09:03,708 we'll be planting next year. 1388 01:09:03,833 --> 01:09:06,708 I'm happy to report that we have officially closed the deal on 1389 01:09:06,833 --> 01:09:10,167 Tacoma and we are now the legal owners of one of the oldest 1390 01:09:10,167 --> 01:09:12,167 church buildings in Tacoma and we'll be planting 1391 01:09:12,167 --> 01:09:17,750 Mars Hill Tacoma next year. 1392 01:09:17,833 --> 01:09:21,000 Couple things, as we talk about the magi 1393 01:09:21,000 --> 01:09:23,833 bringing their treasures to Jesus. 1394 01:09:23,917 --> 01:09:25,542 How to give? 1395 01:09:25,667 --> 01:09:27,208 Online at marshill.com/give. 1396 01:09:27,333 --> 01:09:30,000 We also want you to sign up for a Connect account. 1397 01:09:30,000 --> 01:09:33,083 Go to marshill.com and you can sign up and then we can be 1398 01:09:33,167 --> 01:09:34,583 in regular contact with you. 1399 01:09:34,667 --> 01:09:37,042 You can tell us your pledge for the upcoming year, 1400 01:09:37,167 --> 01:09:39,792 "Here's what I think I'm going to be able to do." 1401 01:09:39,833 --> 01:09:42,500 It allows us to communicate with you and it allows you 1402 01:09:42,583 --> 01:09:44,500 to communicate with us so please do that. 1403 01:09:44,583 --> 01:09:47,250 In addition, that will allow you to set up regular giving 1404 01:09:47,333 --> 01:09:49,083 and make a pledge for next year. 1405 01:09:49,125 --> 01:09:51,292 You can also give on Sundays during the service. 1406 01:09:51,333 --> 01:09:53,500 You can take the offering envelope and put that 1407 01:09:53,583 --> 01:09:56,250 in the basket or take it home to mail it in 1408 01:09:56,333 --> 01:09:57,917 but please don't mail cash. 1409 01:09:57,958 --> 01:10:01,083 Here's my last big idea, 1410 01:10:01,167 --> 01:10:04,583 our family needs big brothers and sisters. 1411 01:10:04,625 --> 01:10:08,792 It's interesting, Jesus comes into the world as big brother. 1412 01:10:08,833 --> 01:10:11,750 The Bible says he's got brothers and sisters. 1413 01:10:11,833 --> 01:10:13,333 I'm a big brother. 1414 01:10:13,417 --> 01:10:16,417 I'm the oldest of five and one of the things that 1415 01:10:16,458 --> 01:10:18,333 the big brothers and the big sisters 1416 01:10:18,417 --> 01:10:21,292 need to do is take additional responsibility to care for 1417 01:10:21,333 --> 01:10:23,833 the younger ones, the littler ones. 1418 01:10:23,917 --> 01:10:26,417 Mars Hill's got some big churches, 1419 01:10:26,458 --> 01:10:28,458 it's got some small churches too. 1420 01:10:28,500 --> 01:10:30,583 It's got some well-established churches 1421 01:10:30,625 --> 01:10:32,583 and got some baby churches too, 1422 01:10:32,625 --> 01:10:35,250 got some churches where people have means 1423 01:10:35,292 --> 01:10:38,583 and churches where people don't have means. 1424 01:10:38,667 --> 01:10:41,708 They're college students and single moms and people 1425 01:10:41,792 --> 01:10:45,083 who are just trying to put life together. 1426 01:10:45,167 --> 01:10:48,917 And so one of the things I do a lot with Zac and with Ashley, 1427 01:10:49,000 --> 01:10:51,917 Ashley's the oldest girl and Zac's the oldest boy, 1428 01:10:52,000 --> 01:10:55,000 I often put an arm around them, kiss them on the head, 1429 01:10:55,042 --> 01:10:58,125 look them in the eye and say, "I really love you but you're 1430 01:10:58,167 --> 01:11:00,667 "the big brother and you're the big sister and Daddy 1431 01:11:00,750 --> 01:11:02,083 "really needs you. 1432 01:11:02,167 --> 01:11:05,083 "I need you to help out. I need you to do more. 1433 01:11:05,167 --> 01:11:07,292 I need to be able to depend on you." 1434 01:11:07,333 --> 01:11:11,250 I'm asking you to be big brothers and sisters. 1435 01:11:11,333 --> 01:11:15,167 When we started this church in our living room 16 years ago, 1436 01:11:15,250 --> 01:11:18,458 I could know everybody, I can't know everybody anymore. 1437 01:11:18,500 --> 01:11:21,667 I could love everybody, I can't love everybody anymore. 1438 01:11:21,750 --> 01:11:25,667 I could greet everybody, I can't greet everybody anymore. 1439 01:11:25,750 --> 01:11:28,792 If somebody was hurting, I could go visit them and pray for them, 1440 01:11:28,833 --> 01:11:30,792 but I can't go visit everybody who's hurting 1441 01:11:30,833 --> 01:11:32,167 and praying anymore. 1442 01:11:32,250 --> 01:11:35,000 I really need you to do that. 1443 01:11:35,083 --> 01:11:38,917 I need you to love this church like a family, 1444 01:11:39,000 --> 01:11:42,500 and not like a little brother or little sister 1445 01:11:42,542 --> 01:11:44,125 who's always complaining, 1446 01:11:44,167 --> 01:11:47,083 but a big brother or big sister who has a different perspective 1447 01:11:47,167 --> 01:11:50,167 that says, "Well, somebody's got to look out for the needs 1448 01:11:50,250 --> 01:11:53,125 "of others and give generously and pray continually 1449 01:11:53,167 --> 01:11:56,208 "and serve gladly because I'm gonna be a big brother 1450 01:11:56,292 --> 01:11:59,583 or big sister and I'm gonna look out for the little ones." 1451 01:11:59,667 --> 01:12:02,167 And as we move forward, I do believe 1452 01:12:02,250 --> 01:12:03,833 that our family will grow. 1453 01:12:03,917 --> 01:12:06,667 I believe we'll have new churches birthed and new people 1454 01:12:06,750 --> 01:12:09,000 born again in the grace of God. 1455 01:12:09,083 --> 01:12:11,667 My real concern is, are we gonna have enough big brothers 1456 01:12:11,750 --> 01:12:14,917 and big sisters to take care of the whole family? 1457 01:12:14,958 --> 01:12:17,167 You know what I'm talking about? 1458 01:12:17,250 --> 01:12:20,083 And so when a church becomes large, 1459 01:12:20,167 --> 01:12:22,958 there can be a question of motive. 1460 01:12:23,000 --> 01:12:24,958 "Why? Why do you ask?" 1461 01:12:25,000 --> 01:12:27,500 Here's why, Mars Hill, let me just be really honest. 1462 01:12:27,583 --> 01:12:33,417 I really love this family very much and you matter to me 1463 01:12:33,500 --> 01:12:35,667 very greatly. 1464 01:12:35,750 --> 01:12:38,417 And I don't like being someone who needs others 1465 01:12:38,500 --> 01:12:40,208 but I really need you. 1466 01:12:40,292 --> 01:12:41,625 I need you to pray. 1467 01:12:41,667 --> 01:12:43,000 I need you to serve. 1468 01:12:43,083 --> 01:12:44,417 I need you to give. 1469 01:12:44,500 --> 01:12:45,833 I need you to care. 1470 01:12:45,875 --> 01:12:48,000 Because this is a great family, amen? 1471 01:12:48,042 --> 01:12:49,917 And it's a growing family. 1472 01:12:50,000 --> 01:12:52,375 And for those of you who are faithful big brothers 1473 01:12:52,458 --> 01:12:54,708 and big sisters, let me say thank you. 1474 01:12:54,792 --> 01:12:58,292 And for those who are not yet, let me say thank you in advance 1475 01:12:58,333 --> 01:13:01,167 because I know that that is what you're going to do 1476 01:13:01,250 --> 01:13:02,833 in the grace of God. 1477 01:13:02,917 --> 01:13:06,000 Father God, I pray for us as a church and I thank you 1478 01:13:06,083 --> 01:13:09,583 that the Lord Jesus came as a big brother. 1479 01:13:09,667 --> 01:13:16,083 I thank you, Lord Jesus, that you came and that you allowed 1480 01:13:16,125 --> 01:13:18,292 the magi to worship you. 1481 01:13:18,333 --> 01:13:22,417 You allowed the magi to give to you because, Jesus, 1482 01:13:22,458 --> 01:13:27,083 it is glorious to you, but it is good for us to worship 1483 01:13:27,125 --> 01:13:29,667 and to give to you. 1484 01:13:29,750 --> 01:13:33,292 Lord Jesus, I thank you for the most fruitful year 1485 01:13:33,333 --> 01:13:35,417 in the history of Mars Hill Church. 1486 01:13:35,500 --> 01:13:40,000 It's a great, glorious, complicated extended family, 1487 01:13:40,042 --> 01:13:42,167 but it's a family. 1488 01:13:42,250 --> 01:13:44,625 Jesus, we thank you that you're still the big brother 1489 01:13:44,667 --> 01:13:46,500 at Mars Hill. 1490 01:13:46,542 --> 01:13:49,625 You're the one who gets more done than any of us. 1491 01:13:49,667 --> 01:13:52,917 God, I pray for those who have been faithful big brothers 1492 01:13:53,000 --> 01:13:56,708 and big sisters, that they would continue to help with the work 1493 01:13:56,792 --> 01:13:58,833 of the family and I pray, Lord God, 1494 01:13:58,875 --> 01:14:01,917 for those who are not yet taking on that additional 1495 01:14:01,958 --> 01:14:04,917 responsibility that they would do so gladly. 1496 01:14:04,958 --> 01:14:08,083 And I pray, Lord God, for those who are not yet Christians that 1497 01:14:08,167 --> 01:14:11,292 as they see the magi, they would sense that that is your intent 1498 01:14:11,333 --> 01:14:15,083 for them as well, to search for Jesus, to come to Jesus, 1499 01:14:15,167 --> 01:14:17,667 to worship Jesus. 1500 01:14:17,750 --> 01:14:21,458 Lord Jesus, we thank you that you're alive and well, 1501 01:14:21,500 --> 01:14:24,500 and we thank you that when we see you in the kingdom, 1502 01:14:24,583 --> 01:14:27,667 we will not smell myrrh. 1503 01:14:27,750 --> 01:14:30,458 You've defeated sin. 1504 01:14:30,500 --> 01:14:33,750 You've defeated death and we see what our future holds 1505 01:14:33,792 --> 01:14:36,625 in your presence and we long for it in your good name. 1506 01:14:36,667 --> 01:14:38,375 Amen. 1507 01:14:38,833 --> 01:14:41,667 Each year, over 10 million Mars Hill church sermons 1508 01:14:41,750 --> 01:14:44,875 are downloaded worldwide for free. 1509 01:14:44,958 --> 01:14:47,000 This ministry is generously supported 1510 01:14:47,042 --> 01:14:49,958 by Mars Hill church members and listeners like you. 1511 01:14:50,000 --> 01:14:53,458 If you'd like to support our efforts to preach Jesus to the world, 1512 01:14:53,500 --> 01:14:56,417 please consider making a tax-deductible donation 1513 01:14:56,500 --> 01:14:59,250 by visiting marshill.com/give.