Untitled Sermon (21)

Northside Church

Dec. 24, 2022

The Answer/Christmas Eve Service

Jamey Mills

Welcome after carols…

Merry Christmas, My name is Jamey Mills, I’m the lead pastor here at Northside.

I just wanted to welcome you here to our Christmas Eve service… we are so glad we get to celebrate with you…

Hopefully you received a bulletin on the way in… there are some great invitations for you on it.

We meet pretty much every Sunday right here at OGE… with programs for kids birth - 8th grade on Sunday mornings.

But we are not meeting in person tomorrow… we have prepared an online service… it's 21 minutes long… the hope is you can make it a part of your Christmas day celebration with your family.

The link is in your bulletin.

If you’d like more information about Northside, about what it means to have a relationship with the Lord, if there are ways we can be praying for you, or if you just have questions… you can fill out a connection card…

Should have been one on your chair, you can turn into the offering box at the welcome table

You can find a digital one on our website.

So excited to have you here with us… for me it represents one of the two most significant events the world has ever known.

I’m going to turn it over to our Children's director Hannah…

Thanks Julia,

I ask this question every year…

Have you ever stopped long enough to think about and wonder what it was that happened so long ago… that has rippled through history… and that has led us to gather here… to join with literally millions upon millions of people throughout the world in gatherings JUST like this…

For me at least it really makes me stop and think…

What is this… what it is all about…. What does this have to do with me… Why does it matter so much…

One of my favorite things about this time of year… is just remembering…

All christmases past… and that comes with both good and hard memories…

It reminds me that the hope we celebrate at Christmas… if we are really ready to hear it… and lean into it… transcends all of it… the good and the hard.

Am I wrong… it feels like this time of year people are just… different. We stop… and hold still a little. People treat others differently… think differently… miss things… and hold things differently… maybe there is peace in areas where peace lacks in our life…

I think I was in MS for whatever reason… for the first time… I really saw that in myself but also those around me.

There is something familiar about Christmas…

If you’re familiar with one verse out of the Bible… it's probably John 3:16.

It's the most known and quoted verse in the entire bible… and there is a reason for that.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

One author said it like this…

It explains what we celebrate at Christmas

It summarizes the entire Bible in a single sentence

It explains why all of history is divided into BC and AD

And it tell us how to settle our eternal destination

That same author pointed this out…

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his Only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not Perish, but have Everlasting Life.

The gospel is literally spelled out within it.

He also pointed this out…

That there are 25 words in this verse…

The first 12 words talk about God’s heart and action and target…

The last 12 words talk about humanity’s response

But right there in the middle of it sort of bridging them together is the Son.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten

Son

that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

It is the picture of Christmas…. Jesus came to bring God and man together…

It is SO easy… to look around at what's happening in the world… in our lives… in our relationships… and become incredibly cynical…

What is going on? What is causing this? Why are things the way that they are?

It’s incredibly easy to lose sight of this truth… THIS IS NOT WHAT GOD WANTED…

He isn’t watching all of the hurt and brokenness and applauding…

God sees it… and grieves… it's not just what I think it’s Biblical.

It’s easy to get to the point of saying… IF GOD IS IN CONTROL WHY DOESN’T HE DO SOMETHING…

It’s almost like we refuse to hear it… and I know its harsh, but let me read it again.

John 3:16–17 (ESV)

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

God DID do something.

That is what we celebrate tonight…

The answer… to all that is broken in the world and in you… in life and in our relationships finds it’s remedy and resolution in Christ alone.

It is the greatest truth that you’ll ever hear and it has the power to bring REAL life and REAL freedom… Not the freedom to do whatever you want… but freedom from those things that rob us of the life that God desires for you… that sin destroys.

Real life and real freedom…. You see it right… those things are lacking in the world around us…

and it's not found anywhere else.

God grieves over the brokenness around us and in us.

I’ve known so many that get to this point of saying… if God is in control… why doesn’t He do anything about this…

We act like we didn’t hear it at all. And I know it sounds harsh… but can I read it to you again?

Sometimes I feel like we absolutely refuse to see it…

Those areas in the world and in us that are truly broken… I really do believe we can trace them back and find their root in sin…

Brokenness in the world, in us, in life… even in our relationships…

And it breaks my heart… God has taught us this all along… and it's been lived out over and over…

Jesus tells us that He came to give us real and abundant life… that’s HIS desire for YOU… Real life… and real freedom are found there…

These things get in the way of the real and abundant life that God created and desires for you… and that rob us of the freedom

These things that rob us of the real and abundant life that God desires for you and the freedom from those things that would rob us

These things that God told us all along would rob us the real life and real freedom that God desires for us…

And I know it sounds harsh… but this is so important…

over the brokenness in our work and even in our lives…

It’s easy to forget that He taught about all of this…

Sometimes I think it’s Easy to forget the guy's not in heaven applauding. I think his heart is broken over so much was happening in the world.

God taught us about all of this…

Hard questions… what is this about… why is all of this happening… whats really going on? Who is in control…

The answer… EVERYTHING that is broken in world, you, relationships, life…

Sometimes we make the mistake of thinking that God looks at everything happening and rejoices…

He sees things differently… but I think it's important that we are clear… God’s heart grieves…

And so I began to sort of long for that familiar… peace… that came with christmas.

It is the most familiar verse in the Bible. The most quoted and known…

If you know one verse out of the Bible it is likely this one…

It summarizes what the Bible is all about. It summarizes the gospel in a single sentence. If you understand this first, you really understand what the Bible is about.

The first 12 words are all about God, the second 12 words or all about man. And then right there in the middle is the word son, which really is the gospel. The bringing up of God and man together.

The son is the bridge between God and man

That's actually a huge question… Why are you here? Why are we here?

My kids are grown… this time of year I think a lot about my time with them as they were growing up… and it seems like most kids are naturally persistently inquisitive.

Are we there yet, how much farther, where do babies come from, are you santa, where does steak come from,

It's like they have this pronation to sort of search for answers…

And I’ve found that as I get older… it's not that my inquisitive nature has stopped… it's that my questions have gotten harder to answer…

What kind of world will my kids inherit… and raise their kids in?

What is it that I’m working so hard for? What is it accomplishing?

Is there really hope for all the broken things in my life?

Why are relationships so freaking hard?

Is this really are there is to life?

What is this really all about?

Is there really hope?

Does love really win?

What if… the answer has always been there…

What if it's always been right under our nose.

What if… there is actually something to what it is that causes millions to gather on this very night…

What if… He really is Immanuel.

What if… the answer to all that is broken in the world, in your, in life, and in our relationships finds it remedy and resolution here… what if HE really is the answer?

Romans 1:20 (NLT)

For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

For some… its a joyful

For others its hard…

But no matter where you find yourself… what we celebrate tonight… if heard and understood… pierces through it all…

Bringing joy to the

Hope to the hopeless

John 3:16 (KJV 1900)

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

The SON is right in exactly in the middle…

The 11 words before it talk about God and his heart

The 11 words behind it talk about our response…

Conc…

All that is broken in the world and in you…

All that is broken in life and in our relationships finds its remedy and resolution here.

Dissonance…