Christmas Eve 2025

Joy to the world

Christmas Eve:

Text: Luke 2:10–11; John 1:1–14; John 3:16 Theme: Jesus came to give life.

Over the last several months, there is a hunger that’s been growing in me…

And I don’t know how else to describe it except to say this: my soul is hungrier than it’s ever been for Jesus and for truth.

Over the last season of my life, something has intensified. A longing. A desperation that feels new. Not a fear-driven desperation, not an anxious one—but a holy longing. A deep ache to be done with all that is broken and sinful, both around me and within me, and to experience the fullness of Christ.

There is a part of me that is so tired… of living in this culture… that is prevalent in the world we live in… that calls evil good and good evil.

Tired of pretending that what is empty can satisfy. Tired of celebrating things that promise life but quietly drain it from us.

And maybe you feel that too.

Maybe tonight, beneath the lights and the songs and the traditions, there is a hunger in you that you can’t quite name. You’ve tried to fill it. You’ve tried to silence it. You’ve tried to distract yourself from it. But it’s still there.

And here’s the truth we need to hear on Christmas Eve:

Jesus didn’t come so that we might celebrate Christmas. He came to give new life.

He came to bring light into darkness.

Hope into despair.

Joy in the face of trouble

Peace into chaos.

Healing into what is broken.

Truth into a world drowning in counterfeits.

And while I am genuinely glad you’re here tonight—truly—if we walk out of this place having only celebrated Christmas the way the world does, we will leave just as empty as we came.

Because

The world’s version of Christmas can decorate the outside of your life, but only Jesus can resurrect what’s dead inside of it.

We live in a culture that is very good at selling substitutes.

We are told—over and over again—that this is what will make life count: Success. Acceptance. Achievement. Accumulating more—more money, more experiences, more followers, more applause.

And for a moment, it works. For a moment, the high feels real. For a moment, the joy feels convincing. For a moment, the love feels satisfying.

But it never lasts.

What we keep settling for is false hope—hope that fades. A lust for pleasure that masquerades as joy. A peace that lasts only as long as the circumstances cooperate. A counterfeit love that feels good in the moment but slowly erodes the very fabric of who we are.

And deep down, we know it.

Because nothing else will do. Nothing else can do.

“I Bring You Good News”

Into a world just like ours—confused, divided, violent, anxious, broken—God spoke and still speaks…

Luke 2 says that into the darkness of a Judean night, an angel declared:

Luke 2:10–11 (ESV)

10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Luke 2:10–11 NLT

but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”

Not advice. Not a self-help strategy. Not a political solution.

Good news.

News that something had happened. News that God had acted. News that salvation was no longer an idea, but it was arriving…

And notice who this news is for:

“For all people.”

That includes you.

No matter your past. No matter your doubts. No matter your failures. No matter how long you’ve been running or how quietly you’ve been resisting.

You matter to Him. Your identity is found in Him. Your purpose is found in Him. Salvation is found in Him—and in no other name.

700 years before Jesus came… Isiah clearly told us what would happen… calling Him Immanuel.

God With Us—Not God Far Off

We pray—and nothing seems to happen. We ask—and the answer isn’t what we hoped for. We wait—and the waiting stretches on.

But I want to say this carefully tonight:

I don’t believe God is silent.

Sometimes I believe we are overwhelmed before Him.

Sometimes I think we mistake answers we don’t like for silence.

Sometimes we assume His patience with us is absence.

But I believe in a God who is always communicating.

The wind that moves though you can’t see it. The breath filling your lungs right now. The steady beat of your heart reminding you that today is the day the Lord has made.

The trials that refine you. The wounds that remind you you’re not alone in suffering. Even the ache you feel tonight—that longing for more—may be the Spirit of God drawing you toward Himself.

For 400 years, God’s people experienced what felt like silence. (after Malachi)

No prophets. No new revelation. No divine interruptions.

And then— a baby.

God didn’t shout from the heavens. He didn’t arrive with armies. He didn’t dominate with power.

He came vulnerable. Dependent. Wrapped in human flesh.

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1:14)

God didn’t speak around our pain—He stepped into it.

Why a Baby?

Why would God choose this way?

Because love doesn’t force itself—it offers itself. Because light doesn’t need to shout—it simply shines. Because redemption doesn’t begin with control—it begins with surrender.

Jesus didn’t come to overpower humanity. He came to rescue it.

He came not just to forgive sins, but to restore what sin had shattered. To show us a better way to live. A better way to love our spouses. A better way to see ourselves. A better way to live in truth rather than fear.

And that better way begins with a prayer that goes against everything our culture teaches us:

“Not my will, but Yours.” Not my way, but Yours. Not my truth, but Yours.

God, help me stop clinging to what I think is good and right and true—and instead surrender my entire life, my heart, my future, my identity, my well-being to You.

That’s where hope is found. That’s where peace is found. That’s where joy and love are found—uniquely and exclusively—in Him.

When I Chose Jesus

When I first chose to follow Jesus nearly 30 years ago, it wasn’t because I had everything figured out.

It was because I was done.

Done trying everything else. Done defining myself on my own terms. Done searching for meaning inside of myself.

I had reached the end of my own wisdom.

And Solomon—who had wealth, power, pleasure, and influence beyond imagination—had a word for that pursuit:

“Meaningless. Utterly meaningless.”

Or as another translation puts it: vanity.

And that’s when I discovered something that changed everything:

Life doesn’t begin when you finally become enough. Life begins when you surrender to the One who already is enough.

The Heart of Christmas

John 3:16 may be the most quoted verse in all of Scripture.

John 3:16 NLT

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

You’ve heard it. You may have memorized it. But the question tonight is not whether you’ve heard it.

It’s whether you’ve experienced it.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

God so loved you. Not a future version of you. Not a cleaned-up version of you. Not a version of you that has it all together.

You.

He sent His Son into mess and chaos and brokenness— while we were still sinners.

Christmas is not about God waiting for us to get our act together. It’s about God coming to us because we never could.

And

Believing is more than intellectual agreement.

It’s trust. It’s surrender. It’s placing the weight of your life into His hands.

If This Is Real…

If what we celebrate tonight is real— If God truly became man— If Jesus truly lived, died, and rose again—

Then this is not just a meaningful tradition.

This is the single most important truth. The single most important event. The defining moment of human history.

And it demands a response.

You cannot remain neutral forever. You cannot keep Jesus as an accessory. You cannot reduce Him to a seasonal sentiment.

He is either Lord—or He is not.

And tonight, in the quiet holiness of Christmas Eve, He is inviting you—not to a performance, not to a pretense, but to life.

Real life. Abundant life. Eternal life.

Nothing else will do. Nothing else ever could.

So tonight, would you hear it?

Not just the music. Not just a story. But the invitation.

Would you let the God of all creation—the God of love and truth and joy and peace—meet you right where you are?

Would you stop settling for substitutes?

Would you surrender your life, your striving, your self-made identity, your exhaustion?

Because the light has come into the darkness.

And the darkness has not overcome it.

Tonight with anticipation… we celebrate the the hope, joy, peace, and love…

For

Unto us a Savior has been born.

Isaiah 9:2 (ESV)

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;

those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.”

And I hope you hear and feel the incredibly joy… and freedom that He brings.

This good news of joy for all people…

He… He is HERE.

God… became flesh

And HE is… Immanuel…

God… isn’t just before us and after us… not just around us…

He is with us.

it is mor than good news… its the best news...

It more than mere happiness… its joy… in knowing that your hope is founded and your future is secure.

Christ… has come.

Amen.