WEBVTT
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Please be seated and I wonder if you could just turn back with me to the reading we had so well read for us on page 7.
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So Luke chapter 2, one of the biographies of Jesus written by a doctor, Dr. Luke.
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And actually on Hope Explored, that's the passage, that's the book of the Bible we look at.
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So have a look at it now. We'd love you to look at it again in January if we come back.
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But let me pray as we begin.
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Heavenly Father, as you send the angels to explain Christmas to the shepherds on that hillside,
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we pray now you'd send your Holy Spirit just in these few moments to help us unwrap Christmas together.
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Amen.
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It's a dreadful feeling, isn't it, going into an exam or a presentation when you know you just haven't made time to properly prepare.
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And so the butterflies mount as the moment of humiliation draws near.
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And then those terrible words from my school and university days.
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Do you remember those words in the summer term?
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Please turn over your papers.
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Those exam words in the whole sort of forum.
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And actually at that moment I often found myself recalling the examinee's verse.
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Do you know the examinee's verse?
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Jeremiah 33 verse 3.
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The Lord says, call on me and I will answer you and tell you great and hidden things you do not know.
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Now of course you may not be able to relate to that because you're a sad and boring swat at school.
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But having got a third at university, I certainly can.
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In fact, when I got my third, I remember saying to my tutor, was I close to a 2-2?
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He said, no, it's a very solid third.
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So I knew then the ordination to the Church of England was the only queer option available.
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So I got ordained and became a vicar.
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And I thought, well, it's fine.
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I'm just going to work one day a week.
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It's going to be fine.
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And then suddenly in the first month that I got into this new church,
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I got that awful feeling of butterflies and not being prepared again.
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Because I was asked to help a couple get ready for marriage.
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Everyone was on holiday.
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This couple had met.
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And I just got it through.
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They said, someone's got to do marriage prep.
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And I didn't know anything about marriage.
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I mean, literally, there was nothing I knew about it.
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I could relate to that 7-year-old who said, in marriage, a man and a woman live together forever.
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And that's known as monotony.
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And I just didn't know what to say.
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So with the butterflies mounting, I walked up to the bell.
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I'll always remember the flat.
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Flat 11, number 12, South Wimpole Street.
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I pressed on the bell.
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Through the intercom, the guy right at the top said, hello.
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I said, hello, it's the Reverend Rico Tice.
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Come to do marriage preparation.
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And he said, actually, we're having a bit of a problem here.
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I said, what is it?
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He said, my fiance's just gone into labor.
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I said, what?
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Do you mean she's pregnant?
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He said, she's not just pregnant.
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She's having the baby now.
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Get a taxi.
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I hailed a taxi.
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We got in the taxi.
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Went to St. Mary's Hospital.
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She had the baby three hours later.
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That was my first marriage prep.
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The girl had a baby.
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I mean, can you believe it?
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It was not an uneventful birth.
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It's one I'll never forget.
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And I'd just like to remind you now of another eventful birth.
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Can we look at it together in the reading we have?
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Can we look down just that bottom paragraph on page seven?
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Here's the eventful birth.
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While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born.
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And she gave birth to her firstborn son.
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She wrapped him in clothes and placed him in a manger because there was no room for them at the inn.
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Now, if you draw to mind any of the sort of religious Christmas cards you get this year,
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they'll basically focus on the content of those couple of verses.
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So there'll be the stable all sort of dressed up and antiseptic.
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There'll be Mary who looks as though she's just been shopping at Laura, actually.
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The baby always looks as though he's like a young Winston Churchill.
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He's got such chubby cheeks.
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But here is the issue.
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Ladies and gentlemen, these two verses are not the focus of Luke.
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Luke is not so much concerned with the content, but with the meaning of Christmas.
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So that's the great question.
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When it comes to Christmas, do you get the meaning?
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Well, I didn't know if you knew you were in for an exam tonight, but you are.
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Can you please turn over your pages?
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Just turn over a page to page nine.
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And here's the exam on whether you've understood Christmas.
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Page nine, everyone.
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If we can just see as we look down, second paragraph.
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There it is, page nine.
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But the angel said to them, do not be afraid.
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I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
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So this is supernatural.
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You can't be Christian and not believe in the supernatural.
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God has intervened in his world, and he has sent an angel to explain to the shepherds what happens.
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And with that explanation, he says, verse 10, don't be afraid.
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I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
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And here's the issue.
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You understand Christmas.
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Actually, you understand Christianity.
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Ladies and gentlemen, if and only if it's the best news you've ever heard in your life.
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So if Christ's coming at Christmas is not the best news you've ever heard in your life,
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you can be sure, you can be certain you've misunderstood it.
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One of my favorite places in London is the ice cream bar at Harrods,
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which explains why I'm such a fat old boy.
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Anyway, I was there recently, and actually, it was a pastoral visit.
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I was there with Paul Levy to discuss Welsh rugby, but it was a pastoral visit.
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And there we were, and I picked up this brochure.
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And here's the brochure, and I don't know if you can relate to it,
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but this is what it says about Christmas at Harrods.
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Rejoice! Christmas is coming to Harrods, joyful and triumphant in a blaze of celestial splendour.
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This year, Harrods is brimming full of comfort and joy, overflowing with grandeur and gifts.
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Let the glory of Christmas ring out.
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So here's the question, ladies and gentlemen, as we come this evening.
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Is Christ coming at Christmas?
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The best news you've ever heard in your life.
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Are you with Luke?
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Or are you with Harrods?
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Well, it's just really a mixture of turkey tradition, trees and tinsel.
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Which one is it?
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If it's not the best news you've ever heard, you've not understood.
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So the next question, of course, is why?
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Why is it such great news to be Christian at Christmas?
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What's the reason?
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Can we see as we look down?
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Let's have a look at the next verse.
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Here's why it's such great news to be Christian at Christmas.
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Do we see verse 11?
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Today, in the town of David, a Saviour has been born to you.
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He is Christ the Lord.
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Why the joy?
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Well, ladies and gentlemen, as you see the trees and the tinsel, as you think of the turkey, as you think of Christmas, here's my question.
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Do you primarily think, ah, it's all about being rescued?
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If you don't see that Christmas is the start of the launch of a great rescue operation, you've not understood it.
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It's an amazing thing.
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It's a rescue.
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And the joy comes because there's rescue.
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There's a deliverer who's Christ the Lord.
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Now, at this point, I should say, I guess there are a number of people here who'd say, look, Rico, do you know, with all modesty, I have to tell you, Rico, I don't really need rescuing.
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In fact, if you come to my family or my office, I spend most of my time, in all humility, rescuing other people.
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I'm actually the glue person.
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I'm the cornerstone.
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But, ladies and gentlemen, it is easy to be deceived.
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When I got my third at university, I spent most of my time in rugby circles, mucking around and doing things like this.
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Actually, that slightly concussed me there.
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Have you come across these?
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These are crushable cans.
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So, I've got the most beaten up car in central London.
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It's a Ford Fiesta 1.1.
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And I drive through the middle of London.
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I stop at the lights.
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Someone comes up alongside in a Porsche with someone very glamorous next to them.
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They look across at me, looking disparaging at my car.
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I look back at them, crush this on my head.
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And as we drive off, I've won.
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So, this saves me about 200,000 quid, this does.
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Can I tell you, it's easy to be deceived.
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And, ladies and gentlemen, as we think about being rescued at Christmas, we can be deceived and not understand the great lie.
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This is the great lie.
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This is the great lie that we've got all over the culture.
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That I can live well and push God to the fringe of my life.
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And take his gifts.
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And we love his gifts.
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Fun, family, friends, falling in love, food, fitness.
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We love the gifts, but we ignore the giver.
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Now, often, I don't know where you are on this, but it starts with going, do you know, when I look at my own life, there's a gap.
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And you never really become a Christian unless you see the gap.
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There's a gap between the real and the ideal.
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I'm not what I should be.
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No one becomes a Christian unless they start going, do you know, it's not what it should be.
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I mean, this occurred to me, first of all, when I was 16.
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And I kept this book.
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Here's a diary I kept.
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I wonder if you can see it there.
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And I kept this book because I thought I was such a great bloke.
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I owed it to the world to record my life.
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So, night after night, I kept this diary.
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And really, it was for future generations.
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I did it for all of you.
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And it was an amazing experience because I found out I was a total burke.
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It's incredible doing it.
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So, I'd write in my diary, wouldn't it be wonderful if there was world peace?
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But I'd never lay aside the weapons of malice and sarcasm in my own self-defense.
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I'd write in my diary, wouldn't it be great if the starving were fed?
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But I would ask my parents for a larger allowance.
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And as you can see, I would eat it.
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There's a gap, ladies and gentlemen.
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This first struck me, actually, with this book.
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Do you know, this is my favorite autobiography.
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Do you know this book?
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Lance Armstrong, the cyclist.
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It's not about the bike.
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And we now know, well, that was true, wasn't it, Lance?
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It wasn't about the bike, was it?
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After the drug scandal broke, I mean, it was mayhem.
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I loved most the Australian lending library that moved this book after the scandal from biography to fiction.
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There's a gap.
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And, you know, years later, I read in the Bible, the Apostle Paul, he writes about his own life when he writes to the Romans.
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He says, I don't do the good I want to do.
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The evil I don't want to do, this I keep on doing.
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And the issue with this gap is that it doesn't just, and over Christmas, by the way, if we're not aware of it, it makes us difficult to live with.
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But the issue is not just that actually it's how we've lived.
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It's how we've treated God.
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And there'll come a day when God will say, as he looks at my life, he says, Rico, did you know me?
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And what about all the wrongdoing here?
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Did you get forgiven?
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And unashamedly, ladies and gentlemen, I want to say that you'll never understand Christmas unless you understand, categorically, that there is a judgment day.
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Oh, do you know, Paul will say this, Reuben will echo it, and Andrew.
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Do you know, the worst thing in pastoral ministry is when people lie to you.
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So they tell you a story, and they leave something out.
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And then you talk to the other person, and they say, what about that?
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And it's something, brutally, you go back to them, and they say, yeah, sorry, I missed that out.
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You say, well, it matters.
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And do you know what happens in churches all over this country?
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They miss out judgment at Christmas.
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But categorically, can I say, we don't get Christmas unless we understand that there'll be a day when God will say, look, I made you.
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I gave you all those gifts.
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Did you know me?
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And also, did you get forgiven?
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And the Bible says, everything will be uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of whom to whom we must give an account.
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Everything.
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It's a brutal thing.
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And furthermore, the Bible says, oh, do you know, our hearts break as we say this.
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The Bible says, ladies and gentlemen, and again, you don't understand the rescue at Christmas unless I say this, so we're just trying to be honest.
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The Bible says, ladies and gentlemen, there is a place called hell.
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It says there's a place where actually God will punish those who have so offended him.
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But actually, judgment's a really good thing.
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Do you know, I got the times today just to read out one or two of the headlines and just to say to you, isn't it great there's a judgment in God's world?
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Do you know, the headlines are so bad, I'm not going to read them out.
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Now, it's so bad, I thought, I'm not actually going to say this in a church service.
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But what I want to say, and this is what's really good about judgment, is how you treat me and how I treat you and how God treats his world matters to God.
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I was preaching in Waterloo, by Waterloo station this morning, and there was a woman from Ukraine who did the prayers.
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And she was really weeping during the prayers as she did the church prayers.
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And she said, Lord God, we pray for justice.
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And it's a great thing there is justice, isn't it, with what's going on.
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I won't read the headline out of terms of what's been happening.
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But justice is great.
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But the question is, as we come to Christmas, who's going to pay for what I've done wrong?
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So it's all in here.
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And the question is, who will pay?
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And then Lefty's reading.
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He said in the reading, the angel comes to Joseph and says, she'll give birth to a son.
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You're to give him the name Jesus.
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Because he will save his people from their sins.
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So here is all the stuff I've done wrong.
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And the Lord Jesus, as he's born, is called Jesus.
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Because the name means rescuer.
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So the moment he's born, he says, Rico, I'm going to go to the cross one day.
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And I'm going to die on the cross so that you can be forgiven.
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So you can either pay for this yourself or you can allow me to pay.
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And as Jesus goes up to the cross and he cries out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:31.620
From the moment he was born, he was going to head to that rescue.
00:14:31.940 --> 00:14:34.860
And he's going to say, actually, there's only one way to hell.
00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:39.560
The only way you can get to hell is to trample over the cross of Jesus.
00:14:40.100 --> 00:14:42.340
Jesus says, I'm blocking the way to hell.
00:14:42.659 --> 00:14:46.139
I'm paying in death and blood so that you can be rescued.
00:14:46.500 --> 00:14:48.100
And that's the gift of Christmas.
00:14:49.320 --> 00:14:50.800
It's a staggering thing.
00:14:51.779 --> 00:14:54.459
It's as though, here I am and here's my wrongdoing.
00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:57.339
And all the times I've slapped God in the face.
00:14:58.859 --> 00:14:59.919
Here's the catalogue.
00:15:00.079 --> 00:15:00.979
Everything will be uncovered.
00:15:01.459 --> 00:15:03.139
And here is Jesus dying on the cross.
00:15:03.839 --> 00:15:06.439
And the Bible says, all we like sheep have gone astray.
00:15:06.559 --> 00:15:07.639
Each has gone his own way.
00:15:08.079 --> 00:15:10.659
And the Lord has laid on him the wrongdoing of us all.
00:15:11.139 --> 00:15:12.899
It's all on Christ.
00:15:13.939 --> 00:15:18.639
When I went into central London today, I went close to St. Paul's Cathedral.
00:15:19.519 --> 00:15:22.600
And there, you know St. Paul's Cathedral and the old Bailey.
00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:23.279
They're there.
00:15:23.759 --> 00:15:25.960
And there are two statues on top.
00:15:26.419 --> 00:15:31.439
First of all, there is Pomeroy's statue, Justice Year, on the old Bailey, the home of British justice.
00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:32.939
And she's blindfold.
00:15:33.460 --> 00:15:34.980
And there's a sword in one hand.
00:15:35.100 --> 00:15:36.480
And there are scales in the other.
00:15:36.699 --> 00:15:37.819
And the message is clear.
00:15:37.819 --> 00:15:42.279
If you're found guilty, then the sword of justice must fall.
00:15:43.279 --> 00:15:47.340
But just across the skyline is the golden cross of St. Paul's Cathedral.
00:15:47.340 --> 00:15:48.820
And the message is this.
00:15:49.460 --> 00:15:51.259
The sword of God's justice did fall.
00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:56.060
It fell into Jesus who says, Rico, don't pay for this yourself.
00:15:56.840 --> 00:15:58.320
I'm going to die at Christmas.
00:15:58.759 --> 00:16:02.940
I'm going to die at Easter and be born at Christmas to rescue you from this.
00:16:03.240 --> 00:16:13.340
Now, can I say in terms of great joy, if you can see your wrongdoing and you understand how much he loves you, it's just overwhelming.
00:16:13.500 --> 00:16:14.519
It is great joy.
00:16:14.519 --> 00:16:20.259
Years ago on my day off, I was at home at my parents' house.
00:16:20.360 --> 00:16:23.220
And I was teaching my nephews to scrummage to play rugby.
00:16:23.519 --> 00:16:25.179
They're little, but you've got to start them young.
00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:29.019
So I was with the four-year-old on the carpet teaching him to scrummage.
00:16:29.399 --> 00:16:33.120
And as I was doing that, the two-year-old picked up a large plant pot.
00:16:33.179 --> 00:16:37.360
And he got so excited, he started to empty it all over the floor to make a pitch.
00:16:38.019 --> 00:16:41.419
And when I next looked up, I'm not kidding, he had trashed the floor.
00:16:41.419 --> 00:16:42.879
There was mud everywhere.
00:16:43.479 --> 00:16:46.279
And at that moment, my mother, his grandmother, walked in the room.
00:16:46.759 --> 00:16:50.479
And honestly, her lounge was just covered in dirt.
00:16:50.480 --> 00:16:53.860
And she walked over to her little two-year-old grandson.
00:16:54.460 --> 00:16:56.120
And she picked up the plant pot.
00:16:56.440 --> 00:16:58.000
And she put it on one side.
00:16:58.460 --> 00:17:00.440
And she picked him up and she kissed him.
00:17:00.759 --> 00:17:02.220
And she said, let's go and have lunch.
00:17:02.460 --> 00:17:05.079
And as she carried him out of the room, over the mud,
00:17:05.319 --> 00:17:09.740
he looked over her shoulder at his older brother and I on the ground, scrummaging.
00:17:09.839 --> 00:17:11.620
And he went like that.
00:17:11.619 --> 00:17:16.119
You see, his grandmother knows what he's done.
00:17:17.239 --> 00:17:18.759
She's going to clear up the mess.
00:17:19.599 --> 00:17:21.000
And she loves him anyway.
00:17:22.619 --> 00:17:23.959
And that's Christmas.
00:17:25.099 --> 00:17:26.399
God knows what we've done.
00:17:27.239 --> 00:17:29.899
And he sends his son to clear up the mess.
00:17:30.639 --> 00:17:32.779
Because he loves you so much.
00:17:33.539 --> 00:17:35.519
He says, yeah, it's going to be uncovered.
00:17:35.519 --> 00:17:38.619
But I've sent Jesus to rescue you.
00:17:39.180 --> 00:17:41.079
And that's the great joy.
00:17:42.879 --> 00:17:44.980
Now, again, we'd love to talk more of that now.
00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:45.460
We can't.
00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:46.180
I'm finishing.
00:17:46.779 --> 00:17:48.599
But there are three applications of this.
00:17:48.819 --> 00:17:50.759
The first one, ladies and gentlemen, is this.
00:17:51.099 --> 00:17:53.359
Is this is very serious.
00:17:54.240 --> 00:17:55.259
What we've done wrong.
00:17:55.639 --> 00:18:01.079
We wouldn't be doing all this if there wasn't a certainty of the judgment to come.
00:18:01.480 --> 00:18:02.619
It is serious.
00:18:03.119 --> 00:18:04.639
There is a place called hell.
00:18:04.640 --> 00:18:06.340
Please be warned.
00:18:06.620 --> 00:18:07.120
Please.
00:18:08.140 --> 00:18:09.320
So that's serious.
00:18:09.540 --> 00:18:12.160
But secondly, you must be loved.
00:18:13.200 --> 00:18:14.420
I've got two sons.
00:18:14.660 --> 00:18:15.900
I wouldn't let them die for anyone.
00:18:16.020 --> 00:18:16.920
I love them so much.
00:18:17.560 --> 00:18:20.180
But God says, Rico, I love you so much.
00:18:20.640 --> 00:18:22.380
I'll send my son to die for you.
00:18:22.860 --> 00:18:24.160
It's quite overwhelming.
00:18:25.140 --> 00:18:26.980
So it's serious, our sin.
00:18:27.700 --> 00:18:28.700
You must be loved.
00:18:28.980 --> 00:18:32.400
But lastly, ladies and gentlemen, it's a gift.
00:18:33.060 --> 00:18:33.960
It's a gift.
00:18:33.960 --> 00:18:35.480
I can't pay for it.
00:18:36.200 --> 00:18:40.420
God sends his son Jesus to die to pay for our wrongdoing.
00:18:40.940 --> 00:18:43.380
But Paul and Reuben, Andrew will echo this.
00:18:43.860 --> 00:18:45.559
Do you know where the agony of Christmas is?
00:18:46.279 --> 00:18:47.680
People don't unwrap the gift.
00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:53.060
Imagine being given a gift at Christmas and it's under the tree and you just leave it there.
00:18:53.140 --> 00:18:57.200
26th, 27th, 3rd of January, 12th of April, July.
00:18:57.539 --> 00:18:58.080
Just leave it.
00:18:59.360 --> 00:19:01.240
And we're saying, please don't do that.
00:19:02.240 --> 00:19:05.080
Be like hundreds of thousands in this country at the moment.
00:19:05.079 --> 00:19:09.779
I mean, it's staggering to see who are saying, do you know, I've got to unwrap the gift.
00:19:11.039 --> 00:19:13.319
And to do that, obviously, please come back here.
00:19:13.419 --> 00:19:14.259
Come back next week.
00:19:14.259 --> 00:19:21.799
But actually, the time to unwrap it and really, you know, really just ask any question you like.
00:19:22.119 --> 00:19:23.339
Here's the Hope Explored course.
00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:24.440
We're putting it on for you.
00:19:24.759 --> 00:19:26.019
We'd love you to come along.
00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:29.160
But don't put this away with the decorations for the year.
00:19:29.720 --> 00:19:31.819
Don't just say, right, it's in the box for the decorations.
00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:35.299
Say, do you know, I'm going to unwrap it this year.
00:19:35.579 --> 00:19:36.400
New Year's resolution.
00:19:36.400 --> 00:19:39.180
I'm really going to look into this.
00:19:39.640 --> 00:19:46.200
And again, can I say, that's the job you've got to do if this isn't the best news you've heard in your life.
00:19:46.360 --> 00:19:47.680
That's the diagnostic tool.
00:19:48.160 --> 00:19:52.920
If it's not the best news you've ever heard, you need to come back and unwrap it.
00:19:53.820 --> 00:19:54.640
Let's pray together.
00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:55.100
Let's pray.
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.400
Please be seated and I wonder if you could just turn back with me to the reading we had so well read for us on page 7.
00:00:07.900 --> 00:00:14.359
So Luke chapter 2, one of the biographies of Jesus written by a doctor, Dr. Luke.
00:00:15.400 --> 00:00:20.879
And actually on Hope Explored, that's the passage, that's the book of the Bible we look at.
00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:25.420
So have a look at it now. We'd love you to look at it again in January if we come back.
00:00:26.100 --> 00:00:27.980
But let me pray as we begin.
00:00:27.980 --> 00:00:34.340
Heavenly Father, as you send the angels to explain Christmas to the shepherds on that hillside,
00:00:34.679 --> 00:00:40.780
we pray now you'd send your Holy Spirit just in these few moments to help us unwrap Christmas together.
00:00:41.640 --> 00:00:42.240
Amen.
00:00:44.740 --> 00:00:52.700
It's a dreadful feeling, isn't it, going into an exam or a presentation when you know you just haven't made time to properly prepare.
00:00:52.700 --> 00:00:57.460
And so the butterflies mount as the moment of humiliation draws near.
00:00:58.080 --> 00:01:01.020
And then those terrible words from my school and university days.
00:01:01.080 --> 00:01:02.520
Do you remember those words in the summer term?
00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:04.680
Please turn over your papers.
00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:08.560
Those exam words in the whole sort of forum.
00:01:08.640 --> 00:01:13.180
And actually at that moment I often found myself recalling the examinee's verse.
00:01:13.300 --> 00:01:14.400
Do you know the examinee's verse?
00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:16.480
Jeremiah 33 verse 3.
00:01:16.859 --> 00:01:21.880
The Lord says, call on me and I will answer you and tell you great and hidden things you do not know.
00:01:22.800 --> 00:01:26.640
Now of course you may not be able to relate to that because you're a sad and boring swat at school.
00:01:26.860 --> 00:01:29.580
But having got a third at university, I certainly can.
00:01:29.880 --> 00:01:34.000
In fact, when I got my third, I remember saying to my tutor, was I close to a 2-2?
00:01:34.480 --> 00:01:36.019
He said, no, it's a very solid third.
00:01:36.140 --> 00:01:40.239
So I knew then the ordination to the Church of England was the only queer option available.
00:01:40.439 --> 00:01:42.239
So I got ordained and became a vicar.
00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:43.159
And I thought, well, it's fine.
00:01:43.180 --> 00:01:44.359
I'm just going to work one day a week.
00:01:44.560 --> 00:01:45.500
It's going to be fine.
00:01:45.719 --> 00:01:49.540
And then suddenly in the first month that I got into this new church,
00:01:49.540 --> 00:01:53.400
I got that awful feeling of butterflies and not being prepared again.
00:01:53.740 --> 00:01:56.980
Because I was asked to help a couple get ready for marriage.
00:01:57.079 --> 00:01:58.039
Everyone was on holiday.
00:01:58.680 --> 00:02:00.079
This couple had met.
00:02:00.500 --> 00:02:01.560
And I just got it through.
00:02:01.659 --> 00:02:03.060
They said, someone's got to do marriage prep.
00:02:03.060 --> 00:02:05.400
And I didn't know anything about marriage.
00:02:05.540 --> 00:02:07.060
I mean, literally, there was nothing I knew about it.
00:02:07.100 --> 00:02:11.520
I could relate to that 7-year-old who said, in marriage, a man and a woman live together forever.
00:02:11.860 --> 00:02:13.140
And that's known as monotony.
00:02:13.300 --> 00:02:17.180
And I just didn't know what to say.
00:02:17.180 --> 00:02:20.240
So with the butterflies mounting, I walked up to the bell.
00:02:20.280 --> 00:02:21.300
I'll always remember the flat.
00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:24.000
Flat 11, number 12, South Wimpole Street.
00:02:24.360 --> 00:02:25.379
I pressed on the bell.
00:02:25.640 --> 00:02:28.020
Through the intercom, the guy right at the top said, hello.
00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:30.199
I said, hello, it's the Reverend Rico Tice.
00:02:30.520 --> 00:02:31.780
Come to do marriage preparation.
00:02:31.780 --> 00:02:34.780
And he said, actually, we're having a bit of a problem here.
00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:36.099
I said, what is it?
00:02:36.140 --> 00:02:39.580
He said, my fiance's just gone into labor.
00:02:40.460 --> 00:02:41.120
I said, what?
00:02:41.199 --> 00:02:41.879
Do you mean she's pregnant?
00:02:41.960 --> 00:02:43.020
He said, she's not just pregnant.
00:02:43.139 --> 00:02:44.240
She's having the baby now.
00:02:44.520 --> 00:02:45.180
Get a taxi.
00:02:45.719 --> 00:02:46.699
I hailed a taxi.
00:02:46.840 --> 00:02:47.699
We got in the taxi.
00:02:48.240 --> 00:02:49.300
Went to St. Mary's Hospital.
00:02:49.580 --> 00:02:51.199
She had the baby three hours later.
00:02:51.439 --> 00:02:53.300
That was my first marriage prep.
00:02:53.560 --> 00:02:54.860
The girl had a baby.
00:02:55.060 --> 00:02:56.000
I mean, can you believe it?
00:02:56.000 --> 00:02:57.699
It was not an uneventful birth.
00:02:57.860 --> 00:02:59.120
It's one I'll never forget.
00:02:59.539 --> 00:03:02.000
And I'd just like to remind you now of another eventful birth.
00:03:02.080 --> 00:03:04.099
Can we look at it together in the reading we have?
00:03:04.360 --> 00:03:07.219
Can we look down just that bottom paragraph on page seven?
00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:09.099
Here's the eventful birth.
00:03:09.099 --> 00:03:14.039
While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born.
00:03:14.759 --> 00:03:16.859
And she gave birth to her firstborn son.
00:03:17.639 --> 00:03:22.879
She wrapped him in clothes and placed him in a manger because there was no room for them at the inn.
00:03:23.699 --> 00:03:30.439
Now, if you draw to mind any of the sort of religious Christmas cards you get this year,
00:03:30.680 --> 00:03:34.599
they'll basically focus on the content of those couple of verses.
00:03:34.599 --> 00:03:38.799
So there'll be the stable all sort of dressed up and antiseptic.
00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:42.799
There'll be Mary who looks as though she's just been shopping at Laura, actually.
00:03:43.159 --> 00:03:46.120
The baby always looks as though he's like a young Winston Churchill.
00:03:46.199 --> 00:03:47.419
He's got such chubby cheeks.
00:03:48.039 --> 00:03:49.240
But here is the issue.
00:03:49.639 --> 00:03:54.459
Ladies and gentlemen, these two verses are not the focus of Luke.
00:03:55.699 --> 00:04:00.319
Luke is not so much concerned with the content, but with the meaning of Christmas.
00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:02.579
So that's the great question.
00:04:02.580 --> 00:04:06.080
When it comes to Christmas, do you get the meaning?
00:04:06.340 --> 00:04:09.620
Well, I didn't know if you knew you were in for an exam tonight, but you are.
00:04:09.920 --> 00:04:11.520
Can you please turn over your pages?
00:04:11.660 --> 00:04:13.960
Just turn over a page to page nine.
00:04:14.460 --> 00:04:17.920
And here's the exam on whether you've understood Christmas.
00:04:18.120 --> 00:04:18.860
Page nine, everyone.
00:04:18.960 --> 00:04:21.960
If we can just see as we look down, second paragraph.
00:04:22.819 --> 00:04:24.240
There it is, page nine.
00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:29.199
But the angel said to them, do not be afraid.
00:04:29.740 --> 00:04:32.900
I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:34.879
So this is supernatural.
00:04:35.480 --> 00:04:38.199
You can't be Christian and not believe in the supernatural.
00:04:38.740 --> 00:04:44.660
God has intervened in his world, and he has sent an angel to explain to the shepherds what happens.
00:04:44.660 --> 00:04:49.540
And with that explanation, he says, verse 10, don't be afraid.
00:04:49.660 --> 00:04:52.560
I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
00:04:53.220 --> 00:04:54.200
And here's the issue.
00:04:55.520 --> 00:04:57.580
You understand Christmas.
00:04:58.560 --> 00:05:00.500
Actually, you understand Christianity.
00:05:00.920 --> 00:05:06.220
Ladies and gentlemen, if and only if it's the best news you've ever heard in your life.
00:05:06.220 --> 00:05:13.140
So if Christ's coming at Christmas is not the best news you've ever heard in your life,
00:05:13.480 --> 00:05:18.440
you can be sure, you can be certain you've misunderstood it.
00:05:20.160 --> 00:05:23.960
One of my favorite places in London is the ice cream bar at Harrods,
00:05:24.320 --> 00:05:26.220
which explains why I'm such a fat old boy.
00:05:26.320 --> 00:05:30.540
Anyway, I was there recently, and actually, it was a pastoral visit.
00:05:30.680 --> 00:05:34.820
I was there with Paul Levy to discuss Welsh rugby, but it was a pastoral visit.
00:05:34.819 --> 00:05:39.040
And there we were, and I picked up this brochure.
00:05:39.599 --> 00:05:42.259
And here's the brochure, and I don't know if you can relate to it,
00:05:42.439 --> 00:05:46.040
but this is what it says about Christmas at Harrods.
00:05:46.759 --> 00:05:52.060
Rejoice! Christmas is coming to Harrods, joyful and triumphant in a blaze of celestial splendour.
00:05:52.379 --> 00:05:56.800
This year, Harrods is brimming full of comfort and joy, overflowing with grandeur and gifts.
00:05:57.319 --> 00:05:59.159
Let the glory of Christmas ring out.
00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:02.079
So here's the question, ladies and gentlemen, as we come this evening.
00:06:02.920 --> 00:06:04.680
Is Christ coming at Christmas?
00:06:05.399 --> 00:06:07.899
The best news you've ever heard in your life.
00:06:08.040 --> 00:06:08.740
Are you with Luke?
00:06:10.120 --> 00:06:11.300
Or are you with Harrods?
00:06:11.920 --> 00:06:16.420
Well, it's just really a mixture of turkey tradition, trees and tinsel.
00:06:17.319 --> 00:06:18.120
Which one is it?
00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:22.319
If it's not the best news you've ever heard, you've not understood.
00:06:23.319 --> 00:06:25.379
So the next question, of course, is why?
00:06:26.159 --> 00:06:28.920
Why is it such great news to be Christian at Christmas?
00:06:29.039 --> 00:06:29.800
What's the reason?
00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:31.459
Can we see as we look down?
00:06:31.519 --> 00:06:32.480
Let's have a look at the next verse.
00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:35.060
Here's why it's such great news to be Christian at Christmas.
00:06:35.400 --> 00:06:36.300
Do we see verse 11?
00:06:37.980 --> 00:06:42.140
Today, in the town of David, a Saviour has been born to you.
00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:43.939
He is Christ the Lord.
00:06:44.700 --> 00:06:45.700
Why the joy?
00:06:45.699 --> 00:06:53.620
Well, ladies and gentlemen, as you see the trees and the tinsel, as you think of the turkey, as you think of Christmas, here's my question.
00:06:53.959 --> 00:06:58.240
Do you primarily think, ah, it's all about being rescued?
00:06:58.240 --> 00:07:05.660
If you don't see that Christmas is the start of the launch of a great rescue operation, you've not understood it.
00:07:06.480 --> 00:07:07.280
It's an amazing thing.
00:07:07.819 --> 00:07:08.600
It's a rescue.
00:07:09.019 --> 00:07:11.019
And the joy comes because there's rescue.
00:07:11.480 --> 00:07:13.420
There's a deliverer who's Christ the Lord.
00:07:13.420 --> 00:07:25.939
Now, at this point, I should say, I guess there are a number of people here who'd say, look, Rico, do you know, with all modesty, I have to tell you, Rico, I don't really need rescuing.
00:07:26.480 --> 00:07:34.600
In fact, if you come to my family or my office, I spend most of my time, in all humility, rescuing other people.
00:07:34.600 --> 00:07:37.260
I'm actually the glue person.
00:07:37.420 --> 00:07:38.379
I'm the cornerstone.
00:07:39.500 --> 00:07:42.820
But, ladies and gentlemen, it is easy to be deceived.
00:07:43.320 --> 00:07:49.260
When I got my third at university, I spent most of my time in rugby circles, mucking around and doing things like this.
00:07:53.160 --> 00:07:54.860
Actually, that slightly concussed me there.
00:07:55.240 --> 00:07:56.220
Have you come across these?
00:07:56.420 --> 00:07:57.780
These are crushable cans.
00:07:58.180 --> 00:08:00.439
So, I've got the most beaten up car in central London.
00:08:00.540 --> 00:08:02.060
It's a Ford Fiesta 1.1.
00:08:02.379 --> 00:08:03.760
And I drive through the middle of London.
00:08:03.759 --> 00:08:04.680
I stop at the lights.
00:08:04.980 --> 00:08:08.379
Someone comes up alongside in a Porsche with someone very glamorous next to them.
00:08:08.719 --> 00:08:11.560
They look across at me, looking disparaging at my car.
00:08:12.019 --> 00:08:14.219
I look back at them, crush this on my head.
00:08:14.439 --> 00:08:16.099
And as we drive off, I've won.
00:08:16.399 --> 00:08:19.259
So, this saves me about 200,000 quid, this does.
00:08:19.620 --> 00:08:21.939
Can I tell you, it's easy to be deceived.
00:08:22.279 --> 00:08:31.199
And, ladies and gentlemen, as we think about being rescued at Christmas, we can be deceived and not understand the great lie.
00:08:31.199 --> 00:08:32.460
This is the great lie.
00:08:32.460 --> 00:08:33.960
This is the great lie that we've got all over the culture.
00:08:34.879 --> 00:08:40.220
That I can live well and push God to the fringe of my life.
00:08:40.899 --> 00:08:42.120
And take his gifts.
00:08:42.519 --> 00:08:43.519
And we love his gifts.
00:08:43.899 --> 00:08:47.159
Fun, family, friends, falling in love, food, fitness.
00:08:47.379 --> 00:08:49.980
We love the gifts, but we ignore the giver.
00:08:49.980 --> 00:09:00.779
Now, often, I don't know where you are on this, but it starts with going, do you know, when I look at my own life, there's a gap.
00:09:01.759 --> 00:09:05.300
And you never really become a Christian unless you see the gap.
00:09:05.980 --> 00:09:08.279
There's a gap between the real and the ideal.
00:09:09.420 --> 00:09:10.779
I'm not what I should be.
00:09:11.360 --> 00:09:16.000
No one becomes a Christian unless they start going, do you know, it's not what it should be.
00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:18.940
I mean, this occurred to me, first of all, when I was 16.
00:09:19.419 --> 00:09:20.340
And I kept this book.
00:09:20.399 --> 00:09:21.440
Here's a diary I kept.
00:09:21.519 --> 00:09:22.440
I wonder if you can see it there.
00:09:22.899 --> 00:09:25.860
And I kept this book because I thought I was such a great bloke.
00:09:26.279 --> 00:09:27.799
I owed it to the world to record my life.
00:09:28.340 --> 00:09:30.460
So, night after night, I kept this diary.
00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:33.179
And really, it was for future generations.
00:09:33.299 --> 00:09:34.220
I did it for all of you.
00:09:34.740 --> 00:09:37.919
And it was an amazing experience because I found out I was a total burke.
00:09:38.220 --> 00:09:39.360
It's incredible doing it.
00:09:39.620 --> 00:09:43.659
So, I'd write in my diary, wouldn't it be wonderful if there was world peace?
00:09:43.659 --> 00:09:47.819
But I'd never lay aside the weapons of malice and sarcasm in my own self-defense.
00:09:48.360 --> 00:09:52.059
I'd write in my diary, wouldn't it be great if the starving were fed?
00:09:52.399 --> 00:09:54.779
But I would ask my parents for a larger allowance.
00:09:54.879 --> 00:09:56.179
And as you can see, I would eat it.
00:09:56.740 --> 00:09:58.259
There's a gap, ladies and gentlemen.
00:09:59.139 --> 00:10:01.740
This first struck me, actually, with this book.
00:10:01.819 --> 00:10:04.679
Do you know, this is my favorite autobiography.
00:10:04.819 --> 00:10:05.439
Do you know this book?
00:10:05.839 --> 00:10:07.419
Lance Armstrong, the cyclist.
00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:08.720
It's not about the bike.
00:10:09.519 --> 00:10:12.159
And we now know, well, that was true, wasn't it, Lance?
00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:13.419
It wasn't about the bike, was it?
00:10:14.319 --> 00:10:16.699
After the drug scandal broke, I mean, it was mayhem.
00:10:17.100 --> 00:10:23.959
I loved most the Australian lending library that moved this book after the scandal from biography to fiction.
00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:25.919
There's a gap.
00:10:26.740 --> 00:10:33.059
And, you know, years later, I read in the Bible, the Apostle Paul, he writes about his own life when he writes to the Romans.
00:10:33.199 --> 00:10:35.639
He says, I don't do the good I want to do.
00:10:36.339 --> 00:10:38.759
The evil I don't want to do, this I keep on doing.
00:10:38.759 --> 00:10:46.860
And the issue with this gap is that it doesn't just, and over Christmas, by the way, if we're not aware of it, it makes us difficult to live with.
00:10:47.319 --> 00:10:50.559
But the issue is not just that actually it's how we've lived.
00:10:50.559 --> 00:10:52.959
It's how we've treated God.
00:10:52.960 --> 00:11:02.280
And there'll come a day when God will say, as he looks at my life, he says, Rico, did you know me?
00:11:02.279 --> 00:11:05.899
And what about all the wrongdoing here?
00:11:06.939 --> 00:11:08.139
Did you get forgiven?
00:11:09.299 --> 00:11:18.659
And unashamedly, ladies and gentlemen, I want to say that you'll never understand Christmas unless you understand, categorically, that there is a judgment day.
00:11:18.659 --> 00:11:23.879
Oh, do you know, Paul will say this, Reuben will echo it, and Andrew.
00:11:24.360 --> 00:11:27.719
Do you know, the worst thing in pastoral ministry is when people lie to you.
00:11:28.419 --> 00:11:31.679
So they tell you a story, and they leave something out.
00:11:32.039 --> 00:11:34.679
And then you talk to the other person, and they say, what about that?
00:11:34.719 --> 00:11:38.740
And it's something, brutally, you go back to them, and they say, yeah, sorry, I missed that out.
00:11:38.799 --> 00:11:40.659
You say, well, it matters.
00:11:41.659 --> 00:11:43.819
And do you know what happens in churches all over this country?
00:11:44.100 --> 00:11:45.879
They miss out judgment at Christmas.
00:11:45.879 --> 00:11:53.240
But categorically, can I say, we don't get Christmas unless we understand that there'll be a day when God will say, look, I made you.
00:11:53.559 --> 00:11:54.659
I gave you all those gifts.
00:11:54.740 --> 00:11:55.539
Did you know me?
00:11:55.820 --> 00:11:57.939
And also, did you get forgiven?
00:11:59.059 --> 00:12:06.059
And the Bible says, everything will be uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of whom to whom we must give an account.
00:12:06.620 --> 00:12:07.059
Everything.
00:12:07.919 --> 00:12:09.200
It's a brutal thing.
00:12:10.320 --> 00:12:14.460
And furthermore, the Bible says, oh, do you know, our hearts break as we say this.
00:12:14.460 --> 00:12:21.639
The Bible says, ladies and gentlemen, and again, you don't understand the rescue at Christmas unless I say this, so we're just trying to be honest.
00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:24.920
The Bible says, ladies and gentlemen, there is a place called hell.
00:12:24.919 --> 00:12:32.659
It says there's a place where actually God will punish those who have so offended him.
00:12:33.279 --> 00:12:36.179
But actually, judgment's a really good thing.
00:12:36.299 --> 00:12:43.559
Do you know, I got the times today just to read out one or two of the headlines and just to say to you, isn't it great there's a judgment in God's world?
00:12:43.860 --> 00:12:47.740
Do you know, the headlines are so bad, I'm not going to read them out.
00:12:47.740 --> 00:12:52.740
Now, it's so bad, I thought, I'm not actually going to say this in a church service.
00:12:53.399 --> 00:13:02.980
But what I want to say, and this is what's really good about judgment, is how you treat me and how I treat you and how God treats his world matters to God.
00:13:03.620 --> 00:13:10.200
I was preaching in Waterloo, by Waterloo station this morning, and there was a woman from Ukraine who did the prayers.
00:13:10.200 --> 00:13:14.400
And she was really weeping during the prayers as she did the church prayers.
00:13:14.860 --> 00:13:17.220
And she said, Lord God, we pray for justice.
00:13:19.980 --> 00:13:23.320
And it's a great thing there is justice, isn't it, with what's going on.
00:13:24.620 --> 00:13:27.300
I won't read the headline out of terms of what's been happening.
00:13:28.440 --> 00:13:30.440
But justice is great.
00:13:31.600 --> 00:13:36.400
But the question is, as we come to Christmas, who's going to pay for what I've done wrong?
00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:37.840
So it's all in here.
00:13:38.259 --> 00:13:40.379
And the question is, who will pay?
00:13:41.319 --> 00:13:42.639
And then Lefty's reading.
00:13:42.980 --> 00:13:48.399
He said in the reading, the angel comes to Joseph and says, she'll give birth to a son.
00:13:49.439 --> 00:13:50.919
You're to give him the name Jesus.
00:13:51.860 --> 00:13:54.639
Because he will save his people from their sins.
00:13:55.819 --> 00:13:58.579
So here is all the stuff I've done wrong.
00:13:59.579 --> 00:14:03.279
And the Lord Jesus, as he's born, is called Jesus.
00:14:03.279 --> 00:14:05.939
Because the name means rescuer.
00:14:06.419 --> 00:14:11.759
So the moment he's born, he says, Rico, I'm going to go to the cross one day.
00:14:12.559 --> 00:14:16.100
And I'm going to die on the cross so that you can be forgiven.
00:14:17.199 --> 00:14:21.620
So you can either pay for this yourself or you can allow me to pay.
00:14:21.740 --> 00:14:27.600
And as Jesus goes up to the cross and he cries out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:31.620
From the moment he was born, he was going to head to that rescue.
00:14:31.940 --> 00:14:34.860
And he's going to say, actually, there's only one way to hell.
00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:39.560
The only way you can get to hell is to trample over the cross of Jesus.
00:14:40.100 --> 00:14:42.340
Jesus says, I'm blocking the way to hell.
00:14:42.659 --> 00:14:46.139
I'm paying in death and blood so that you can be rescued.
00:14:46.500 --> 00:14:48.100
And that's the gift of Christmas.
00:14:49.320 --> 00:14:50.800
It's a staggering thing.
00:14:51.779 --> 00:14:54.459
It's as though, here I am and here's my wrongdoing.
00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:57.339
And all the times I've slapped God in the face.
00:14:58.859 --> 00:14:59.919
Here's the catalogue.
00:15:00.079 --> 00:15:00.979
Everything will be uncovered.
00:15:01.459 --> 00:15:03.139
And here is Jesus dying on the cross.
00:15:03.839 --> 00:15:06.439
And the Bible says, all we like sheep have gone astray.
00:15:06.559 --> 00:15:07.639
Each has gone his own way.
00:15:08.079 --> 00:15:10.659
And the Lord has laid on him the wrongdoing of us all.
00:15:11.139 --> 00:15:12.899
It's all on Christ.
00:15:13.939 --> 00:15:18.639
When I went into central London today, I went close to St. Paul's Cathedral.
00:15:19.519 --> 00:15:22.600
And there, you know St. Paul's Cathedral and the old Bailey.
00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:23.279
They're there.
00:15:23.759 --> 00:15:25.960
And there are two statues on top.
00:15:26.419 --> 00:15:31.439
First of all, there is Pomeroy's statue, Justice Year, on the old Bailey, the home of British justice.
00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:32.939
And she's blindfold.
00:15:33.460 --> 00:15:34.980
And there's a sword in one hand.
00:15:35.100 --> 00:15:36.480
And there are scales in the other.
00:15:36.699 --> 00:15:37.819
And the message is clear.
00:15:37.819 --> 00:15:42.279
If you're found guilty, then the sword of justice must fall.
00:15:43.279 --> 00:15:47.340
But just across the skyline is the golden cross of St. Paul's Cathedral.
00:15:47.340 --> 00:15:48.820
And the message is this.
00:15:49.460 --> 00:15:51.259
The sword of God's justice did fall.
00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:56.060
It fell into Jesus who says, Rico, don't pay for this yourself.
00:15:56.840 --> 00:15:58.320
I'm going to die at Christmas.
00:15:58.759 --> 00:16:02.940
I'm going to die at Easter and be born at Christmas to rescue you from this.
00:16:03.240 --> 00:16:13.340
Now, can I say in terms of great joy, if you can see your wrongdoing and you understand how much he loves you, it's just overwhelming.
00:16:13.500 --> 00:16:14.519
It is great joy.
00:16:14.519 --> 00:16:20.259
Years ago on my day off, I was at home at my parents' house.
00:16:20.360 --> 00:16:23.220
And I was teaching my nephews to scrummage to play rugby.
00:16:23.519 --> 00:16:25.179
They're little, but you've got to start them young.
00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:29.019
So I was with the four-year-old on the carpet teaching him to scrummage.
00:16:29.399 --> 00:16:33.120
And as I was doing that, the two-year-old picked up a large plant pot.
00:16:33.179 --> 00:16:37.360
And he got so excited, he started to empty it all over the floor to make a pitch.
00:16:38.019 --> 00:16:41.419
And when I next looked up, I'm not kidding, he had trashed the floor.
00:16:41.419 --> 00:16:42.879
There was mud everywhere.
00:16:43.479 --> 00:16:46.279
And at that moment, my mother, his grandmother, walked in the room.
00:16:46.759 --> 00:16:50.479
And honestly, her lounge was just covered in dirt.
00:16:50.480 --> 00:16:53.860
And she walked over to her little two-year-old grandson.
00:16:54.460 --> 00:16:56.120
And she picked up the plant pot.
00:16:56.440 --> 00:16:58.000
And she put it on one side.
00:16:58.460 --> 00:17:00.440
And she picked him up and she kissed him.
00:17:00.759 --> 00:17:02.220
And she said, let's go and have lunch.
00:17:02.460 --> 00:17:05.079
And as she carried him out of the room, over the mud,
00:17:05.319 --> 00:17:09.740
he looked over her shoulder at his older brother and I on the ground, scrummaging.
00:17:09.839 --> 00:17:11.620
And he went like that.
00:17:11.619 --> 00:17:16.119
You see, his grandmother knows what he's done.
00:17:17.239 --> 00:17:18.759
She's going to clear up the mess.
00:17:19.599 --> 00:17:21.000
And she loves him anyway.
00:17:22.619 --> 00:17:23.959
And that's Christmas.
00:17:25.099 --> 00:17:26.399
God knows what we've done.
00:17:27.239 --> 00:17:29.899
And he sends his son to clear up the mess.
00:17:30.639 --> 00:17:32.779
Because he loves you so much.
00:17:33.539 --> 00:17:35.519
He says, yeah, it's going to be uncovered.
00:17:35.519 --> 00:17:38.619
But I've sent Jesus to rescue you.
00:17:39.180 --> 00:17:41.079
And that's the great joy.
00:17:42.879 --> 00:17:44.980
Now, again, we'd love to talk more of that now.
00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:45.460
We can't.
00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:46.180
I'm finishing.
00:17:46.779 --> 00:17:48.599
But there are three applications of this.
00:17:48.819 --> 00:17:50.759
The first one, ladies and gentlemen, is this.
00:17:51.099 --> 00:17:53.359
Is this is very serious.
00:17:54.240 --> 00:17:55.259
What we've done wrong.
00:17:55.639 --> 00:18:01.079
We wouldn't be doing all this if there wasn't a certainty of the judgment to come.
00:18:01.480 --> 00:18:02.619
It is serious.
00:18:03.119 --> 00:18:04.639
There is a place called hell.
00:18:04.640 --> 00:18:06.340
Please be warned.
00:18:06.620 --> 00:18:07.120
Please.
00:18:08.140 --> 00:18:09.320
So that's serious.
00:18:09.540 --> 00:18:12.160
But secondly, you must be loved.
00:18:13.200 --> 00:18:14.420
I've got two sons.
00:18:14.660 --> 00:18:15.900
I wouldn't let them die for anyone.
00:18:16.020 --> 00:18:16.920
I love them so much.
00:18:17.560 --> 00:18:20.180
But God says, Rico, I love you so much.
00:18:20.640 --> 00:18:22.380
I'll send my son to die for you.
00:18:22.860 --> 00:18:24.160
It's quite overwhelming.
00:18:25.140 --> 00:18:26.980
So it's serious, our sin.
00:18:27.700 --> 00:18:28.700
You must be loved.
00:18:28.980 --> 00:18:32.400
But lastly, ladies and gentlemen, it's a gift.
00:18:33.060 --> 00:18:33.960
It's a gift.
00:18:33.960 --> 00:18:35.480
I can't pay for it.
00:18:36.200 --> 00:18:40.420
God sends his son Jesus to die to pay for our wrongdoing.
00:18:40.940 --> 00:18:43.380
But Paul and Reuben, Andrew will echo this.
00:18:43.860 --> 00:18:45.559
Do you know where the agony of Christmas is?
00:18:46.279 --> 00:18:47.680
People don't unwrap the gift.
00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:53.060
Imagine being given a gift at Christmas and it's under the tree and you just leave it there.
00:18:53.140 --> 00:18:57.200
26th, 27th, 3rd of January, 12th of April, July.
00:18:57.539 --> 00:18:58.080
Just leave it.
00:18:59.360 --> 00:19:01.240
And we're saying, please don't do that.
00:19:02.240 --> 00:19:05.080
Be like hundreds of thousands in this country at the moment.
00:19:05.079 --> 00:19:09.779
I mean, it's staggering to see who are saying, do you know, I've got to unwrap the gift.
00:19:11.039 --> 00:19:13.319
And to do that, obviously, please come back here.
00:19:13.419 --> 00:19:14.259
Come back next week.
00:19:14.259 --> 00:19:21.799
But actually, the time to unwrap it and really, you know, really just ask any question you like.
00:19:22.119 --> 00:19:23.339
Here's the Hope Explored course.
00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:24.440
We're putting it on for you.
00:19:24.759 --> 00:19:26.019
We'd love you to come along.
00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:29.160
But don't put this away with the decorations for the year.
00:19:29.720 --> 00:19:31.819
Don't just say, right, it's in the box for the decorations.
00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:35.299
Say, do you know, I'm going to unwrap it this year.
00:19:35.579 --> 00:19:36.400
New Year's resolution.
00:19:36.400 --> 00:19:39.180
I'm really going to look into this.
00:19:39.640 --> 00:19:46.200
And again, can I say, that's the job you've got to do if this isn't the best news you've heard in your life.
00:19:46.360 --> 00:19:47.680
That's the diagnostic tool.
00:19:48.160 --> 00:19:52.920
If it's not the best news you've ever heard, you need to come back and unwrap it.
00:19:53.820 --> 00:19:54.640
Let's pray together.
00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:55.100
Let's pray.
