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00:01 A Christmas tree in the darkest of nights shines the brightest.
00:07 And although did you know that the Christmas tree was not initially a Christian tradition,
00:15 the green trees in that only that that still remains green in winter, they're
00:21 called the evergreen trees and they were a sign of hope of new life in the midst
00:27 of the cold winter days in Europe. where everywhere else is barren, where all the trees are giving out their
00:33 leaves and they are going brown and they died and they're just not really died but they have gone into long
00:39 hibernation. The these evergreen trees are a reminder
00:45 after the darkness after the cold there is life a new and this was celebrated by
00:50 the ancient Nordic and Viking and Viking Scandinavian community. It was Martin
00:57 Luther who has when he had seen a tree and when he had seen the skies, he had
01:04 asked himself, "If only I can bring the grandeur of God and his galaxy into my
01:11 home." And so he took some candles and with some skill he put them on the tree
01:18 and put them in the house. And so, ever since then, the Christian tradition grew
01:25 and bloomed. And that's why we buy expensive plastic trees in Malaysia.
01:31 And some of them, like the ones from IKEA, is pretty much half bought up
01:36 to decorate it to remind us of the joy and hope that we have in Christmas.
01:45 But friends, the light is shining bright because why? The darkness in the background is very dark. And so many of
01:53 us, we come to this Christmas season. And a lot of us are, I notice a lot of us are actually a lot more joyful, a lot
01:59 more happy. We're wearing red and green and flannel and flannel. We are saying
02:04 Merry Christmas. When I go to the shopping malls today, I see more and more churches involving themselves in
02:11 caroling and they're singing in your face. Christ is born this blessed day.
02:17 with there's this confidence. There's this wanting to do it. But in the background of it comes a whole lot of
02:24 pain. Isaiah was speaking to a group of people
02:30 that were going through a time of darkness. The people of Israel were being kicked
02:35 out of their home country and to go into a foreign land of Babylon.
02:42 And they were given these words of encouragement in Isaiah chapter 40 which
02:47 also shadows and mimics the person that is Jesus that came on that blessed
02:53 Christmas day. And that hope that was given to warstricken people is now given
03:01 to is now given equally to warstricken Christians today. and also for us
03:07 Christians who are stricken in the daily battles that we have with our sin, with
03:13 the evil in this world, in this community. So in this text, we therefore
03:19 see what the Christmas season is for.
03:24 The Christmas season is all about Jesus, his birth, and his reason for coming.
03:30 But what Christmas and how we do it? Why do we have a turkey in in Malay? Why do
03:36 we have turkey in our on our dinner table in Malaysia? Why do we sing Christmas songs which
03:42 also includes jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way? Oh, what fun it is to ride a one-horse open sleigh.
03:48 What sleigh? What reindeer? We got water buffalo. You know, you know what reindeer?
03:55 But the things like it came upon the midnight clear the glorious gift of them all that we hear the angels sing peace
04:02 on the earth good will toward men there's a reason what this Christmas season is for and so four things I will
04:08 say and all starts with c first one I'll tell you is this Christmas is the season
04:14 for comfort yes you have every reason to celebrate
04:20 to celebrate in fact the text says very clearly comfort Third, comfort my people. We see
04:27 a double emphasis. So, in the midst of the war strike and turmoil, God is not
04:34 telling them to get back on your feet. You know, it's not telling you is not telling them to to to quit whining, be
04:42 glad that you are alive. No, God actually is calling and saying,
04:47 "Comfort, comfort my people." And we see suddenly out of all the
04:55 judgment and anger and wrath that God had on the people of Israel, he suddenly
05:01 became so gentle. So we see the gentleness here despite the fact that
05:06 they deserve God's wrath. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and proclaim to her that
05:12 her heart's service has been completed. Speak gently to Jerusalem, oh people of
05:19 God. You have suffered. It is for your sin, but guess what? I shall I shall
05:27 relieve you of it. That her sin has been paid for. Notice
05:34 the notice the term the sin has been paid for. It is not you have paid your
05:39 sin. You ging by yourself. No, your sin has been paid for by who? That she has
05:47 received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. So, we see that God has
05:52 atoned the sins of Jerusalem. And we also see God is not just blessing once
05:59 but also twice. Now, of course, a lot of uh preachers out there, they manipulate
06:04 this text saying that God will not just give you single, he'll give you double of what you of what you possess. But
06:11 actually this is a foretelling of this is the one time in Isaiah.
06:18 This is the one time in Isaiah's time that God will redeem the people from Babylon back to Jerusalem. And then
06:26 there's that second time where God will reconcile his people. Here God will
06:32 reconcile people from all over the world who is seeking for salvation through
06:37 Jesus Christ. He therefore pays it and pays it in full.
06:43 So I want to talk to you about comfort this Christmas season. A lot of us will
06:49 think when we think comfort, we think things that will make us feel comfortable. You know, so every millennial or every
06:57 people my age and younger, the way they find comfort in the middle of the busyiness of their work is they go on
07:03 vacation. You will notice that young people today, they go on vacation far
07:08 more often than my parents ever did. Now, thanks be to God for Air Asia who
07:14 has enabled for vacation as well as for mission trips has now made a lot things a lot cheaper. Okay? But on another side
07:20 of it, they go so often because why they're trying to find a way to get away from it all. So instead of being at the
07:28 desk in a gray office in where where light is only coming up from your
07:33 computer screen, they go to Bali, they go to Thailand and whatever they do there apparently stays there. Actually
07:40 does not. Facebook follows everywhere we go. So we know what they do,
07:45 you know. But this is not the kind of comfort that God is calling upon his
07:51 people, friends. Okay, a lot of us we try and find comfort in that way and
07:56 unfortunately it ends up ending up being very bad habits to try to relieve stress.
08:01 You know, we buy a massage chair and say that we'll use it for 30 minutes a day just to give us just to make our body
08:07 feel comfortable. We're practically sleeping in that chair, you know. Oh, I learned about this I
08:14 learned about this very nice alcoholic beverage in Thailand called my called my ties. I'll try and make some here and
08:21 make it make it here so that I can relive and rethink the memories that I had when I went overseas.
08:27 You end up drinking it every night and instead of taking the vodka and gin with in cocktails, you end up taking it neat.
08:36 I tried a Cuban cigar. It felt very nice. Why not I try? Then you realize you can't afford cigars all the time. So
08:41 you end up smoking cigarettes. Now there are problem. Now do you see
08:47 the problem here? We try and seek comfort in this world to relieve us from
08:52 the problems in our lives. But we find two major problems in the comforts which
08:58 this secular world is giving us. Number one is all an illusion.
09:05 Spend your week in Europe. Spend your week in Australia. Migrate and try
09:11 migrate and try and prolong it. When you come back to your home,
09:17 how broken you left it remains. So your relationship with your boss is
09:23 still bad. Your relationship with your children and grandchildren is still very alienated.
09:32 The problems are not solved and those comforts do not solve the problem. It
09:38 only gives you a temporary reprieve. And I find through observation that
09:45 people who give the who take this temporary reprieves comes back with the problems even far worse. Why you
09:50 prolonged it with time? Um sir Mark I forgot his name. He's the
09:58 prime minister after Winston Churchill. I need to Google him after. In fact if you have Google help me find
10:04 out what's his name. uh the prime minister after Winston Churchill made a very very bad decision to go and attack
10:10 the Suez Canal when Egypt decided to take over and make it their own. And so
10:16 he plotted away so that he can attack it. But then he was found he caught it
10:21 illegally illegal. He found that the battle that he did in the Suez Canal was
10:26 illegal. The United Nations did not sanction it. And so he lost confidence of the people. What did he do? Did he
10:31 say, "I'm sorry. Let me try again." Did he apologize? Did he say that, you know, uh we I uh uh I will or will he or did
10:39 he honorably resign and say, you know what, I don't think I made the right decision. Let me take let me pass it on
10:44 to someone else who can. No, he did not. You know what he did? He took a three-month vacation in Jamaica.
10:51 When he came back, he lost everything. The comforts of this world is not what
10:57 the comfort God gives. That's why the song that we gave earlier, he did not say that we will never cry. He did not
11:03 say that we will never shed a tear. But one thing that he did do is that he gave the ultimate relief by saying it is
11:10 done. Now what does that look like? Again, if you're working, it is that
11:16 feeling where you had a deadline and everything was going bad. The supplier
11:21 is coming in one day is coming two days late. The the your client your client is
11:26 demanding it to be done on time if not earlier. and you're scrunching and you're scrunching and getting it all
11:32 that and you realize that you know what I can't do this by myself you hit the red button and say help
11:39 and although this is not very much in the Malaysian culture I could be wrong suddenly the boss comes in and instead
11:44 of scolding why didn't you get this done earlier he says you know what let me handle this
11:49 let me help and you get the work done on time and that feeling of relief
11:58 that weight over your shoulder. It's done. It's done.
12:04 That is the comfort that God is wanting to give.
12:10 God did not come to our funerals and say, "It's okay. The feelings will the
12:17 the feelings will get lighter as the years go by." No. But he did promise this. He who come after me will have
12:24 eternal life.
12:29 Comfort friends what sort of comfort are we looking for in our lives today
12:38 did not Jesus says where your treasure is there there your heart will be also
12:44 where's the first place that comes to your mind when you feel that you need to get away
12:50 a little bit and be comforted
12:57 Men all across the congregation here today knows the simple joy of flipping through television channels and never
13:03 really watching anything. Does that help us at all? Well, it kind
13:09 of cools down our mind, but the problem is still there and we still need to jump into it.
13:16 God is giving this comfort in this way. He's not saying that it's okay, don't worry, you'll figure it out. No, he
13:21 actually tells you can't do it. Let me help. And that feeling of relief the moment he
13:29 says, "I'm here to help." Have you taken that?
13:36 Have you received that? Have you received that? Knowing that no matter what wrong that you have done or
13:43 what evil had come upon you, God that you put your trust in him, he would see
13:49 it all come to fulfillment in his will.
13:55 Christmas is a season for comfort. Don't find comfort in just the turkey
14:00 leftovers. Don't find comfort in just the season and the decorations in the shopping
14:07 malls. come and seek comfort in the very hands that says that I will lift you up
14:13 just as I am lifted up and that is in Christ.
14:20 This comfort is very empowering. I remember a story once told to me about a
14:25 father and a son in in the United States in high the son
14:31 wanted to try out high school football but he is a small character small guy
14:36 but he's also not really that fast so he can't so he couldn't be a quarterback
14:41 but he tried and he tried and every time when there's practice his father sits there for the whole three hours of
14:48 training rain or shine he's there giving his support always bl always always
14:54 shouting, "You can do it, Jimmy. You can do it." Actually, he was doing horribly. He set the back bench. He rode the bench
15:01 all the way through most of the season. Somehow, by some miracle, they made it
15:07 to the semi-finals. And before the semi-final match came in,
15:15 Jimmy's father died.
15:20 And after the funeral and the memorial, he went to the competition. He sat on
15:27 the bench. The team was six the team were the team were eight points behind.
15:34 There was no way they there was no way they could bridge that gap especially in the last especially in the last leg of
15:39 the of the competition. The boys stood up, went up to the coach and says, "Coach, give me this chance.
15:46 We're going to lose anyway, so why not give me a try? at least how it and see how it goes.
15:52 And the coach says, "Okay, you know what? Let's do it." So, Jim went in and
15:57 in that short time, he gained 16 points for the team. Two touchdowns,
16:04 uh, two two touchdowns and two touchdowns and two kicks that were good.
16:09 Some scrimmaging and some odd points were able to come in and so they were able to go up by 16 points.
16:16 And they were celebrating and so happy. Suddenly this boy had the power of doing
16:23 something that we they never saw throughout the entire season. The coach
16:28 pulled him out and said, "Let me guess. Did you do that for your dad? Did you do
16:34 that in honor of him?" And you know what the high school and you know what Jimmy said? Jimmy said,
16:40 "You know what, sir? You're right. I did do it for my dad. But you need to understand one thing. throughout the entire time in the practices
16:47 where my father was there to support me. He was blind. He had cancer in the brain that took his
16:54 sight. But he was there every single day for the practice. Now my dad is in
17:01 heaven and I want him to show him what I really really got. He found comfort in knowing that God has
17:10 taken his father and now he can do his very best to show him both heavenly
17:17 father and now his earthly father who's now in heaven. Are you taking this kind of comfort every day?
17:25 A lot of us are missing this in our life. So this Christmas season let us celebrate the comfort of God that he has
17:31 given through his son Jesus. Christmas is the season for comfort.
17:38 This is the whole thing of it all. You see, just at the right time when we were still powerless, Christ died for the
17:44 ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person. Though for a good person, someone might possibly dare to
17:50 die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. This is the
17:58 comfort that we have. The same comfort that Jimmy had in giving his best in the field. And the same comfort that we can
18:04 have knowing that no that we do our very best before almighty God his grace will
18:10 look upon it as worship and he will be glorified. Christmas is the season for
18:16 comfort. Christmas is the season for comfort. Christmas is also the season
18:21 for caution. Now, of course, I'm going to do the responsible thing is that guys, if
18:27 you're drinking, all right, during this Christmas season, please drive. Uh, but yeah, please drive responsibly.
18:34 Okay, but I shouldn't be talking about this in Christmas. It's Chinese New Year. We need to talk about more bit more often now. You know, that's worse.
18:42 Okay. I remember being stuck in the I remember being stuck in the traffic jam for eight and a half hours simply
18:47 because there was a major bumperto bumper and one car fell right in fell upside down or cut two lanes because the
18:56 guy was drunk driving. So yes, Christmas is a time for caution in that matter. But the message which
19:03 God is giving every Christmas season is that we need to be cautious
19:09 because we're not just talking about the season when God came down once. We are waiting for the day when all the candles
19:16 are lit and all and on that day all the candles are lit. Then he will light his
19:21 in the heavenly in the heavenly realms and then begins the end of this world and the beginning of the whole new world
19:28 a whole new life. But we have so we have to be cautious and ready. Here's what the text says. A
19:36 voice calling out in the wilderness. Prepare the way for the Lord. Make straight in the desert a highway for our
19:42 God. Every valley shall be raised up. Every mountain and hill will be made low. The rough ground shall be made
19:48 level. The rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed. For all the people will see it together.
19:54 For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. So we see a voice of a herald, a voice cry
20:00 out in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord. So this Christmas is the season where we are going forward and
20:06 giving that message. Hey, guess what? Christmas is coming. Christ is coming. That's what it means.
20:14 And then we also see that nothing will stop the gospel the stop the gospel and the kingdom from coming.
20:21 What you thought were obstacles to prevent people from coming to receive, he will see it through and he will
20:28 fulfill it. He is willing to even bring level down the mountains and bring up the plains so
20:34 that the so that the gospel and the kingdom can come into this world much much quicker.
20:42 And when he comes, no, there will be nowhere to hide from God from God's
20:47 glory. you will see the fullness of his
20:53 salvation. Now in the people of during the now the people of Israel during the time of Isaiah they thought a king will
21:00 come and a king did come and they brought back is and they brought back Israel and he became a nation again but
21:06 again this is a twowave this is a two-level vision the second vision is
21:12 the coming of the glory of God in human form
21:19 and so then we ask this question who is the mouth of the Lord
21:25 Now, some people debate that it could possibly be um it could possibly be uh
21:30 in in modern times John the B in in during the time of Jesus John the Baptist. But if you notice the title,
21:37 the mouth of the Lord has spoken. We're talking about the very word and power
21:44 that made all creation. That same power that made the whole world is the same power that will save
21:50 the whole world. And what word is this? John chapter 1 18. And the word became
21:56 flesh and dwelt among men. The voice of the Lord, the voice and the mouth of the
22:01 Lord that will speak is the person is in the person that is Jesus.
22:07 It then makes sense that when John the Baptist
22:12 was preaching the forcoming of the son of God and preaching a ministry of
22:18 baptism, people had asked him. Now there was now now this was John's testimony is
22:23 in John's gospel chapter one when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests
22:28 and Levites to ask him and ask him who he was he did not fall to confess he did
22:34 not fail to confess but he confessed freely I am not the Messiah I am not that word I am not that mouth they asked
22:41 him then who are you are you Elijah he said I am not you the prophet he answered no finally they said who are
22:48 you give us an answer to take replied to those who sent us, "What do you say about yourself?"
22:54 Then John said, "I am the voice of the one calling in the wilderness, make
23:00 straight the way for the Lord." Caution.
23:06 Caution. Why do we need to be cautious in this time? Because we tend because we cannot celebrate Christmas thinking is
23:14 just another nice reason to crack open the turkey from the oven, enjoy the festival food, which we Malaysians do
23:21 very well. It's not a reason to go and check out the wine department and see what's on
23:27 sale. It's not a reason to go to the shopping malls and looking for they're looking
23:32 for winter fashion even though it's always summer here in Malaysia.
23:37 It is the re the reason that we come here to celebrate Christmas because we are actually making a public testimony
23:45 to the world to be warned because why the next time Jesus comes
23:52 is will be it will be with grace but will also be with judgment.
23:57 In fact, John the Baptist elaborated in Luke's gospel. He says, 'The people were waiting expectantly, all wondering in
24:04 their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. John answered them all, I baptize you
24:11 with water, but one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose
24:16 sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit
24:21 and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to
24:28 gather the wheat into his barn. But he will burn out the chaff with unquenchable fire.
24:34 So John is given this vision that Jesus will come. He comes this time like the voice of the
24:41 Lord bringing in salvation and an opportunity to be reconciled with God.
24:46 But there will come a time when he comes again. The reason why we celebrate this Christmas is because we celebrate a
24:52 two-fold advent. He came before and he will come again. That is our testimony.
24:58 And we're telling the world, we celebrate Christmas because why? We are celebrating a coming king. A king that
25:05 is coming to take his place in this world. My dear friends, when you celebrate Christmas, what is it for?
25:22 I remember my mom there was one year uh she she was so enthusiastic about turkey
25:28 about turkey roasting and so the whole year she sell she roasted about six to
25:33 seven turkeys each of them average of 3 to 5 kilos and after she roasted them she okay now what I'm going to do with
25:39 it so she gave one to uh a fellowship gave one to the poor gave another leave
25:44 another one to the home and she liked roasting it so much that when Chinese New Year came and when the turkey was
25:50 still half off, she took another one and decided to make make turkey.
25:55 It took us it took her a while and it took my dad and I to sit her down and say, "Mom, why are you roasting turkey
26:02 still?" My mom sat down and thought about it.
26:07 Yeah, you know, I forgot the reason why we had it in the first place.
26:12 She didn't stop, but she renewed her reason. She said, "You know what? I'm
26:17 doing I'm going to do turkey because I believe Christmas should be almost every day.
26:26 Christmas should be every day because we are waiting every day for a coming king
26:32 and we need to wait and wait." Jesus actually tells us this story to rem to
26:38 remind us. The story goes that there was a wedding and the Christian part of the
26:44 wedding here where the bride comes in is uh a reflection of revelations. The
26:49 bride comes into the heavenly realm and the bride and the bridegroom are wed. This part is what we Chinese do very
26:56 well. We go to the in-laws house and we have to play games and we have to find a
27:02 way to to overcome all the obstacles that our future sister-in-law has prepared for us. And once we are able to
27:09 overcome all these obstacles, we can get the bride. So the Jewish tradition is
27:15 that the bridegroom will go to the bride's house. But this story is a bit is a bit
27:22 different. It takes some time for a bridegroom to come to the house. If he
27:27 especially if he is not from the same hometown, if he's from far away that remember there were no cars, no
27:33 commuters, no buses, it will take him a while. And so while they were waiting
27:39 for the bridegroom will come, give or take one to two days. There will be women that will keep the oil lamps on
27:47 day and night to keep the place in a celebratory mood, but also to help the
27:52 bridegroom identify which house to go to. Now there were 10 of them in this case.
27:59 Five of them were diligently wicking their oil, wicking the lamb, uh
28:04 wicking the lamb wigs, making sure there was enough oil in the pot, waiting faithfully, celebratingly and
28:12 also cautiously waiting and seeking out for the bridegroom to come.
28:18 And then there were another five who said, "Aya, he won't be coming.
28:23 He'll come much later." And so some end up sleeping. Some let their oil lamps
28:28 burn out and then there's no more oil. They didn't go to the shop and buy oil. It came one dark night that the
28:36 bridegroom came and all those who had the oil lamps ready. They were invited
28:41 into the feast. The other five when they found out they gangabu they go
28:47 and find the oil. And when they came back they could not go into the banquet. Why? because the bridegroom didn't see
28:53 them at the entrance. What is Jesus telling? Jesus is saying this, prepare for my coming. Prepare
29:03 cautiously. Prepare celebrating but also enthusiastically waiting. My friends,
29:10 why are we celebrating Christmas? We celebrate because we are waiting for a true coming king. So be cautious this
29:18 year when you bring your family and some of them do not know Christ yet and you're
29:23 just going to let them enjoy the food and let them go. You are doing them an injustice.
29:31 You're not letting them be cautious that we are waiting for a god to come down on
29:37 this earth. And so soberly I will say this Christmas
29:42 is a season for comfort. Christmas is a season to be cautious.
29:49 So Christmas is a season for comfort. Christmas is a season for caution.
29:54 Christmas is a season for confidence. Before I get ahead of myself, let me get
30:00 into the text. Here's what the text says. Okay, very interesting. A voice
30:05 says, "Cry out." And I said, "What shall I cry? All people are like grass, and
30:10 their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall because the breath of the
30:16 Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God
30:23 endures forever. Now, if you had been going through the series of Ecclesiastes
30:29 with us, this sounds very familiar. And normally we would think, oh, this is
30:34 depressing. Yah, what's the point of doing all this? In the end, we be like grass and we wither away and die. No, no, no, no, no. Isaiah is taking this
30:41 context and putting it in this world and saying that okay yes you're suffering but you know what one day it will end
30:48 yes evil is ruling right now but guess what you know what when I come all that
30:54 will end too. This is not a passage for misery this is
31:00 a passage for hope. So we see number one the prophet himself was not so
31:06 confident. The voice cries out and I say what should I cry? what should I talk about? And a lot of us here as
31:11 Christians, we find it very difficult to talk about hope in the middle of all this of all the troubles that we're having in this in in our lives.
31:20 The Holy Spirit calls in us, cry out, Mark, cry out. What shall I cry? Tell
31:25 the truth then. And the truth is that eventually everyone will meet the
31:32 same fate. Whether you be a millionaire with access to the finest medication in
31:38 the world or you are begging in the streets without a job, all of those will end because those things are only
31:45 temporary. Eventually God will end all things. Don't think the end is something
31:52 unfortunate. In the Christian faith, kasi is heretical.
31:58 To be scared to die is wrong. We are ready to go to Almighty God on the day
32:04 that he calls us. We are confident and we if we have this confidence then
32:10 people like pastor Raymond and pastor Hill meme although we pray and pray that he they are safe and they will be
32:16 rescued but at the same time if God took them back in the midst of sharing the
32:22 gospel despite great persecution what's there to be afraid of
32:28 can you imagine pastor Raymond if he is interrogated by the enemy you don't you better stop this or
32:36 What will women say? What are you going to do? Kill me? We as Christians are waiting to meet
32:43 almighty God. Now, we're not sat masochists. We don't want to purposefully die,
32:51 but we're not afraid of death. We are confident. We are confident.
32:57 We are confident then that God's word never fails. We will wither and we will wilter and we
33:04 will go left and right and eventually we will go six feet into the ground. But God's word will continue.
33:13 What the apostles have said from the very beginning until now we speak the same. His word never fails.
33:22 So Christmas then is a time to convin to co to to courageously and confidently
33:28 share the good news of Jesus. Now if you are any of these three, if you are too shy, too awkward or too scared, I will
33:36 advise this. Number one is if you can't do it, invite people to alpha. 13 weeks
33:41 they'll come 13 questions already and we're talking about the meaning of life and it ends up being to God. do that
33:48 Christmas present to those non-Christians that you should give is a free ticket to Alpha next year.
33:56 Number one. Number two, if you're too scared or if you're too awkward, you don't know what to say,
34:02 pray because God's word will never fail. He will give you that inspiration and
34:09 some chapters in your life will give you a testimony about his goodness. Let me
34:17 give you one example. Charles Coulson. Charles Coulson is the uh evangelical
34:22 preacher and pastor. Before that, he was also the special advisor uh to the president of United States some years
34:28 ago. And he was unfortunately involved in the Watergate uh uh the whole
34:33 Watergate scenario. Embezzlement was going on among the among great senators
34:39 and great leaders in United States. He served seven months in jail, turned a
34:45 new leaf, came to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and now and and then and continues to minister in this
34:52 ministry that he founded called Prison Fellowship. Here's what he says. Now, you think that
34:58 he should have no reason to say anything, but here's what he says. I know the resurrection is a fact, and
35:06 Watergate proved it to me. Huh? I know that the resurrection is a fact.
35:12 And the thing that I did wrong proved it right. How? Very simple. How? Because 12
35:18 men testified that they had seen Jesus raised from the dead. And they proclaimed that truth for 40 years,
35:25 never once denying it. Everyone was beaten, tortured, stoned, and put in prison. They would not have endured if
35:33 it weren't true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world
35:38 and they couldn't keep alive for three weeks. You're telling me the 12 apostles could
35:44 keep alive for 40 years? Absolutely impossible. How is it that God's word
35:50 can endure? How is it that can this news of Jesus endure 40 years of their life
35:56 and now 2,000 years of such good news if it's a lie? And the simple answer is it
36:02 can't and therefore it must be true. Friends, how confident are we in our
36:08 celebration of Christmas? You go and buy something at Body Shop,
36:16 you know, they have the new cranberry butter that you can give to your mom or mother-in-law, you know, so so she too
36:22 can smell like a turkey. You know, you give it to you give it to the casher and the casher is not of the
36:29 same faith. If you take a second guess, most likely they're of another faith, of a particular other faith. Let me ask you
36:36 something. Does the word merry Christmas get stuck at your throat? Do you just say thank you, happy
36:43 holidays? Have the courage, look at him in his
36:48 face, smile, and say merry Christmas.
36:53 And you'll be surprised of the response that will come. I did that in KFC. In
36:58 KFC in SS15, okay, just right there. I went in a few days before Christmas to
37:05 grab a meal. And amidst their uniform, which also includes the headscarf and the clothing,
37:11 whatnot, they were wearing Christmas hats. So I went out to them and say, "Hey, you know, can I get a meals?" Then I got a
37:18 two I got a two. Okay, I got a dinner plate. So, it's three pieces of chicken, a colelaw, and a mashed potatoes, and a bun. Okay. I wish they had biscuits, but
37:25 oh well, I can go to Texas for that now. But after I took the meal, I looked at them and say, "Merry Christmas." You
37:30 know what they did? Were they offended? No. Were they flabbergasted? No. Hey,
37:37 merry Christmas to you, too. What is this? What is this Christmas all about?
37:43 I'm glad you asked. And so I was eating my meal at the counter while the girls
37:48 were ch while the girls were were were were sharing shifts so that someone can hear a part of the story, another part
37:54 of the story, another part of the story. You know how they how I told them that you know Santa Claus is actually a later
37:59 idea. You know uh did you know the other the other name for Christmas in in Malay
38:04 is not just slama har Christmas, it's also slama har natal. You know why natal? Because Portuguese came here born
38:11 natal. See, which is Merry Christmas in Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish.
38:18 Bomnatal. And so we have that Christmas celebration going on for hundreds and
38:24 thousands of years. And they ask, "What is it all about?" It's the coming of Jesus. You ever heard of him? Yeah, I've
38:29 heard a bit about him. Let me tell you the full part of him.
38:34 Christmas is a reason that you can get into their faces and share, "Hey, Jesus is the son of God. We're waiting for him
38:40 to come." And the only best thing they can say is, "Oh, that's nice. Yeah, I merry
38:47 Christmas to you, too." They're not going to stone you here in Malaysia. Don't worry.
38:54 So, have that courage. I wish Christmas was every day. It gives us a reason to say merry Christmas in their faces every
38:60 day. Romans chapter 10 tells us very clearly,
39:05 "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." And this season will be the season where we have the
39:11 opportunity to give that opportunity to others. How then can they call on the one that
39:17 they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without
39:22 someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As
39:27 it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.
39:33 Christmas is a time where we can confidently go into the p into the public sector and tell the and tell
39:40 anyone in their faces merry Christmas and let me tell you why we celebrate it. Do it.
39:48 I commission, I commend, I command
39:53 somehow or another guys, we need to take this opportunity,
39:59 especially now that Turkey is halal and you can even host a dinner to anyone. Just don't bring the wine and meat.
40:09 Again, like I said earlier, uh this year particularly, I'm quite I'm
40:15 quite I'm quite upset that I didn't see the opportunity this year as quickly, but I heard later from my I heard
40:21 earlier from my friends in other churches, uh they say, "Hey, Pastor Ma, do you have any caroling teams?" Yeah.
40:26 And I said, "Um, at the moment I don't have any." I'm like, "Oh, okay." I ask why. What's
40:32 going on? Well, shopping malls all over Kang Valley are looking for carolers.
40:38 as often as you can. As many days as you can give to Carol, go ahead.
40:44 Any prerequisites? No. You're Christians, right? You're the professionals of Christmas. Do what you
40:49 want. I'm like, huh? Last time they used to say, "No, just sing Jingle Bells. Sing Frosty the
40:56 Snowman. Sing uh Santa Claus is Coming to Town." Now, no.
41:01 No, you don't have to. You can sing
41:08 the little drummer. You can sing how the herald angel sing. Sing glory in
41:14 excelsis deo. You can sing it in the malls today and they welcome it. My only
41:21 regret is we couldn't get it this year. I only can pray the Lord that next year we will start practicing from July.
41:30 A testimony. Um, Full Gospel Assembly some years ago did a huge production and
41:36 instead of putting it in their church, they put it in the shopping malls and they and they went on tour 25 malls uh
41:45 no 25 yeah 25 malls over a period of 3 weeks
41:50 giving the Christmas presentation and a gospel invitation. And that very year
41:56 after 6 to 8 months of preparation they got they got phone calls and cards got
42:01 asking I want to know more about Christ. You know what the numbers are for that year? It's not two digits.
42:09 There were 200 over requests
42:14 over 25 days.
42:20 Be courageous friends and be confident in the good news of which Christmas is
42:26 calling out for. So Christmas is a time for comfort.
42:31 Christmas is a season for caution. Christmas is a season for confidence. And finally, Christmas is a season for
42:38 compassion. Christmas is a season for compassion.
42:44 It's amazing to see in this text
42:49 and that two-level prophecy that when God brings his hand out, he
42:55 didn't bring he doesn't bring out in a fist. He brings it out with an open hand. He could have annihilated Israel
43:02 forever. Take it out of the books. Take it out of the story. Take it out of this world for good. But he decided to bring
43:08 it back. And again and again he brings it back. until now Jerusalem apparently is now being declared to be the capital
43:14 of Israel to which the reason why there are some riots going on out there. Now
43:19 put that aside for a moment because I want to talk about the kingdom that is to come and even when that kingdom comes
43:26 it comes with compassion. Look at this. Look at this. You who bring good news to Zion, go up
43:33 on a high mountain. You see that confidence is coming back. You who bring good news to Jerusalem, lift up your
43:38 voice with a with a shout. Lift up. Do not be afraid. Say to the towns of Judah, say it to your neighbors. Say it
43:44 to the neighborhood. Say it to everyone that that you can reach out to. Here is
43:50 your God. You know, in my walk in Christian faith,
43:57 in my walk in faith and trying to find out about other faiths as well, I ask them two questions. Number one, I ask
44:03 them, who is Jesus to you? But the other thing I also ask is what does God look like in your in your in your faith and
44:11 belief? To some they say we can never picture God because he's too glorious.
44:16 So it ends up being a an imagination for us to try and focus on.
44:21 Another one has very specific oh he oh he has this many arms this many legs he rides this particular animal you know uh
44:29 he rules heaven earth and hell you know. So all these things the Chinese has the king of heaven, king of earth and king
44:35 of hell as well. Which one is really the god? I don't know. We the Christian faith can point to a
44:42 particular person in history and say here is our God.
44:49 Here he is. And that is and and that is the honor and opportunity that we have
44:56 been given exclusively. Now this is eternal life. Jesus said
45:01 that they may know you the one true God. How? And they may know Jesus the Messiah whom you have sent.
45:10 When you want to point to who is God and what does he look like? You can point to a person that is Jesus. Now don't point them to the pictures. He's not
45:16 blondhaired, blue-eyed, fair skin, wavy hair. No, no, no, no. Point to a person in history where no one in this world
45:22 can deny. So God is with us on earth. And when he
45:30 comes, and here's the beautiful part of the second part of the passage. See, the sovereign Lord comes with power and he
45:35 rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him and his recompense accompanies him. So see this great and
45:43 mighty power of God. He is coming with almost with a vengeance.
45:48 He's about It's almost as if he's like a general in armor and a spear ready to throw it throw the to throw the spear
45:56 and hit where it hurts the most and annihilate everything. But then you see verse 11, he tends to
46:03 the flock like a shepherd. He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them
46:09 close to his heart. He gently leads those to have young. Those that have
46:14 young scholars today or in the past had asked
46:22 why the great difference and the answer is the greater the might
46:29 behind the grace the gentler the grace can become. The
46:35 greater the might of the Lord that we see, the greater then we can appreciate his compassion and grace.
46:44 So when John the Baptist, remember I talked about him earlier, someone is coming whose sandals is worthy whose
46:51 sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will come and he will baptize you. The Holy Spirit and fire. The Holy Spirit
46:57 and fire. So the crowd were expecting someone awesome, magnifying, great, a
47:02 king that will overrule Jerusalem, kill the sea, kill the Kaiser, kill Caesar and rule the world physically.
47:11 And here we and then if you if you were looking and you were facing your back towards John the Baptist and then you
47:16 heard and then you heard him say, "Look, the lamb of God that will come and take away the sins of the world." You turn around, you expect a king, and then you
47:22 see a carpenter's son. Huh?
47:28 Quite the anti-limax, right? But let's understand why did he do that. He did
47:33 that because he did not come with malice and anger. He came with grace. He came
47:39 like a shepherd. He's pulling his sheep towards him.
47:45 Wait till next time. Then we got to be a bit more cautious.
47:50 Here's what Athanasius said about about about about the person. It is Jesus. It
47:56 says, "The Lord did not come to make a display. He came to heal and to teach suffering men. For one who wanted to
48:04 make a display, the thing display the thing would have been just to appear and dazzle the beholders. But for him who
48:10 came to heal and to teach the way was not merely to dwell here, but to put himself at the disposal of those who
48:17 needed him and to be manifested according as they could bear it, not vitiating the the value of the divine
48:24 appearing by exceeding their capacity to receive it. The reason why Jesus came in
48:30 the way that he did because that will be the only way that we will be able to fathom who God is.
48:36 Jesus came in this way because ge because God did not want to display
48:42 himself in what we think he is angry malicious vengeful God
48:49 to give us all a new fresh picture. He comes down and say I come to give you grace, love, mercy, compassion.
48:58 And don't think for a moment that when Jesus came on this earth he was weak.
49:04 No, he submitted to the will of God, but that didn't make him weak. It made his
49:09 grace much stronger. Let me give you an example. How many of you guys here had the opportunity to see a ballet recital?
49:17 It could be your own kid. It could be uh a professional one. It could be the Russian ballet if you could. Aren't they
49:24 beautiful? Are they gracious? How they're able to stand on toe and be
49:32 able to leap so beautifully? Are they weak?
49:39 If you were to get kicked in the face by that leg, do you think you'll still be able to
49:45 remain standing? No. Instant knockout. Gone.
49:55 Just because it looks gracious doesn't mean it's weak. Just because Jesus came
50:02 with great grace doesn't mean that we can just walk all over him.
50:07 This is a season for compassion. This is a season where we like sheep
50:16 gather together to receive
50:22 his kind hand to tend towards him.
50:29 I've had the privilege of being in New Zealand some years ago and I saw a flock of 400 sheep walking walking down the
50:36 street. Okay. on one on on the back end there
50:42 are these three guys that are like making a whole noise hey and they're taking the stick and they're beating the ground, beating the bushes. So what and
50:48 and you what happens to sheep when they hear that? They get all helter skeltered. They they go over the hill
50:54 under the valley. They go into a river they get they go mad. They go crazy. But slowly as you as I drove parallel to the
51:02 to to that flock of sheep, I noticed that as they go forward, it was becoming more and more calm.
51:09 Why? Because there's a shepherd in front. And he was doing, "Come on. Here we go. Right this way. Follow me. We'll
51:17 be safe. It's going to be all right into this flock." And then you see those other three. And then and then when the
51:24 three guys behind meets the shepherd, all that
51:30 threat stops and the sheep are safe in the pen.
51:38 What I mean to say in this is this. God in his mighty way had come
51:47 and he knew what it takes for us to follow him. He didn't come therefore
51:53 with anger. He didn't come therefore to give threats. The world is enough has
51:59 enough evil for us to be worried ourselves. And so God comes as a
52:06 shepherd calling people by name this way. Come on
52:13 my dear child. Come here my son. Come here my daughter. Follow me
52:18 and you will have life. Life eternal. My dear friends this Christmas season
52:26 what attitude are we giving towards our friends? Are we showing off our houses in the
52:33 beautiful Christmas decorations? I'll give you two minutes of the whole day to do that. But after that, are you
52:41 giving compassion? Are you displaying compassion?
52:48 Are you displaying that gentle caution to those who've yet to know Jesus? Come
52:54 join me for a dinner and I will tell you about the feast that's about to come. But be careful because if you don't take
53:01 that feast, we will have to face God's judgment.
53:09 Are you showing compassion this Christmas season?
53:14 Worship team, come on up. Christmas is a season for comfort.
53:19 Christmas is a season for caution. Christmas is a season for courage.
53:25 Christmas is a season for compassion. Take comfort in knowing that although we
53:34 are unworthy vessels, we are made worthy by the sacrifice of his son Jesus.
53:42 Be cautious because with that kind of power, with that kind of help and faith
53:48 comes also a responsibility to reach out. Be courageous. Don't be afraid with what
53:56 you have to say because what you have to say is the hope of all mankind,
54:03 but do so with compassion. Don't pull them by the ear. Believe in Jesus or you're going to hell. No.
54:12 No. See Jesus, God walking on earth and see
54:17 how gracious he invites you and you and each and every one of you into his
54:25 family. Let's pray.
54:32 Oh Lord, thank you for the Christmas season
54:38 more so than any other holiday. We see both who believe and both who don't and those who don't believe in you, they're
54:46 suddenly much happier. And so we thank you for your grace that prevenes that is
54:51 available in this whole world to see that we are able to live comfortably,
54:58 cautiously, courageously and compassionately because you Jesus
55:04 came into this world and you came to give comfort to those in
55:10 need. You had come to bring caution to those who are not following you.
55:16 You are come. You have come to give us courage so we can point to you oh God and say see this is our God
55:27 and you give us compassion oh God that we may extend it to the hands of others.
55:34 So, Father, we ask in this Christmas season, we celebrate
55:41 and we declare your goodness that have come on the cross and is coming again
55:48 with a crown. We say this in Jesus name. Amen.
