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here Hey Pearl, Lakes Merry Christmas. It's it's finally good to be able to say that and we're really glad that we get to do this together. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving and don't ever forget this. You may be new or newer around here at Prairie Lakes. Where no matter Church no matter who you are where you been or what you've done or even what's been done to you. God loves you. You can't change that. He loves you and you can always look for God here. So we're glad that we can do this together across Iowa and we're grateful. So merry Christmas everybody and I want to personally I want to get go and I am very excited about this because I'm gonna give you like a warning right now. I'm gonna sing twice during this message. So just heads up warnings earplugs can be out if you want them. But since we designed this Advent series and the title was Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, of course, what runs through all I can do. It's gonna be stuck for a month Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas I know I'm a terrible singer, but I need you. I need to know this right now, by the way, we were at a campus pastors Retreat and we were in this cabin like place and we were singing.

And I was sitting right beside my favorite Pastor Prairie Lakes Nathan Lawrence at our Fort Dodge campus and listen for years for years your pastors and your staff of making fun of me about my voice and how I can't sing and how I'm terrible at singing and Nathan Lawrence says to the entire crew.

Wow, Pastor John you have perfect pitch. And believe me I have been living on those words of Nathan for a long time now and so Nathan thank you as usual. Your Christmas bonus will be in the mail and I love you more than anybody else. All right, let's get going. So here's the deal.

We're gonna spend four weeks. And here's what we really want for you. We really want you to have a Merry Little Christmas. We really do what we know is this If we don't think deeply if we don't pray if we don't get get conscious of it, here's what's going to happen. It's going to be December 26th, and it's going to be January 1st. And then it's going to be Valentine's Day and then it's going to be spring break and then it's going to be summer again, but we really want this for you and I want this for you and I want it for my kids and my grandkids and my family and I want it for our big family. I want us all to have a Mary little Christmas I really do and so what we're gonna do is for four weeks, we're gonna talk about we're gonna go to the story right? We're gonna go to the Bible. We're gonna we're gonna we're gonna look at it and we're gonna sit in it together, but what we're really gonna do is say listen, let's move this Beyond a good thought.

And let's really talk about how to have a Merry Little Christmas. Okay, so that's what we're gonna do. So so the last the last few years of my life with grandkids something has been renewed in me and it started with the EHS book The emotionally healthy spirituality where where he talks about how reading scripture and and and as Jesus talks a lot about like becoming like a child and really it's it's this this idea of of quit quit coming and everything as an adult and as a skeptical adult and as a as a adult that's that's scarred by our culture and our society and and start to be more like a little child. And so I watch my grandkids and just just this last week. We we went up to Mayo to get my my boot off and be done with that for now and a little two and a half year old grandson with his name is Jack.

And so we're driving and he sees a horse and he's just you should see his face light up. It just sees a horse and there's just this wonder he looks at it nae nae nae nae nae nae and he's just right and and the awe and the excitement about it. So so we're in we're in we're in Mayo Clinic and we're in there and you in this big Lobby and it's busy and all this stuff and we're walking by we're walking through and I've got Jack's hand. He just stops in the middle and he looks up and if you've ever been there, there's this giant it must be like a 30 foot tall statue of a man, right? You're just like looking up and he's just standing there and he's just looking up at it. People are walking around him and I'm trying to you know, get him going but he just kept looking and it just keeps looking at it. Right and he had this all this Wonder like only a child could have And my friends here's what we want to talk about this weekend.

We want we want to talk about about wonder that all that that wow again, that that ability to to see something differently. We want you to receive the gift of Wonder this Christmas season. And if you do your chances of having a Merry Little Christmas, they go way up and why because here's what it is Wonder is the Lost Art of seeing more than what's in front of me.

and wonder stirs up hope and so here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna talk about wonder and how do we how do we get Wonder? This Christmas season. So let me show you an honestly, here's some really excited about I love the Christmas story. But you know, we've preached it for 30 years. Now I have for 30 34 years now, right? I've been doing this and they're 32 years and there's sometimes you just go but every go oh man this again, but there's just parts of the story that I just I they just bring out wondering me.

They cause me to just stop and wonder and and I get to talk about that this weekend. So I want to start with this. I'm going to show you how to wonder and let's start with this. Here's the first one how to wonder. In the story, right? Here's what it is Wonder. Is a choice and it's a gift that you can accept or reject? Okay. So this is a gift you can receive this Christmas. You can receive the gift of Wonder remember Wonders that lost art of seeing more.

Then what's in front of me? So wonders been lost. We all know that okay, we just do we we rarely we rarely stop and stare at the Statue anymore. We rarely see something beautiful like oh my goodness. Look at that it just we've we've lost it in our age of of skepticism and busyness and and and information to disinformation and red or blue and and and and everybody's trying to tear everybody down and which if we've lost some of it But here's the deal.

We're going to be in Matthew 1 and Luke 1 the stories of Christmas. And I'm going to present you with this. I'm going to show you how to wonder. But you've got to make the choice now. You got to make the choice now. I'm either gonna accept this gift and my Christmas can be can be different because of it or I'm gonna reject it and keep going down. The same Trail wonder is a choice. Let's just go to the go to the person and here's the part of the text. Right? So so in Luke 2, this is what this is the the Angels right or the Shepherds and the angels come to him. And this is after Jesus born and the angels stop and they they sing and they you know, and they do their thing and it says this in Luke 2, it says that when the Angels had left them and gone into heaven the shepherd said to one another right and this is just so classic. I love this one. Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has told us about you can almost see these these Shepherds that they're there. They're quiet of the night and all the sudden the choir of angels shows up and the Brilliance happens and the Angels sing to them and pronounce that this Messiah is gonna be born and you can just see him just kind of go well, Let's go. Let's go and see this thing right and it just seems like so so surreal.

But my friends we have the same choice to make. Let's go. Let's go. Let's just not walk through Christmas again. Let's just not read the story again and and be unchanged or unfazed.

Let's make the choice right now you and me all of us. Let's practice again. the Lost Art of wonder and let's see that there's more than what our eyes can see and is right in front of us. So I'm going to show you how to do that. Okay, and this is this is my practice. I've been starting to do this the last several years in my life. So here's where we go. Okay, let me show you to do it how to wonder in the story. So I'm gonna walk through parts of the story. Let me just show you how how I do it and how how Wonder builds up in me?

In the story. Okay. So so here's we're gonna do I want you to Matthew chapter 1 everybody turned to Matthew chapter 1 use your phone. There may be some Bibles around the the chairs that your campus we have to Matthew chapter one. And in Matthew chapter 1 it's it's like there couldn't be in in a sense there couldn't be a worse start to The Greatest Story Ever Told on the face of the Earth. As you know, Matthew Mark Luke and John of the four gospels tell the story of the life of Jesus and who he is and and it's crazy. Right?

But the first New Testament book right the first book that starts to tell the story of the king of the universe starts off with the real bang 17 verses 45 names 347 words. Okay. Let me just give you the sample of it. Okay, here's how it starts. This is a genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the Son of David the son of Abraham and he starts Abraham and he starts to go down Abraham was father of Isaac and Isaac the father Jacob and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers and Judah the father of Perez and Zara whose mother was Tamar Perez.

The father of hezron has run the father of ram the father of many dab and right and it goes and and there's this part of us that just wants to go come on. What's Happening listen? It's there for a reason. And this idea of knowing of wonder that says there's there's more than meets the eye it needs to kick in and it can kick in on this one. And here's how it done. Right? So so on that list, I keep looking down that list, right? There's lots of names that we don't some of the names that we that we know and and and some we know nothing about summer mentioned again and have a prominent part in the Bible some we don't know anything about except they're on this list. We know some of them are really good people who followed God and some of them were really bad people who didn't follow God and actually did bad things. We don't know what they were like we did they have any idea they were part of the the lineage or the family of the actual Jesus of the universe.

But there's one section in particular. It's the perfect place to wonder about the more. to the story So I want you to zero in on verses 5 and 6 and just follow this with me.

Starts off fairly and said you're gonna know some of these names, okay. So it says salmon. the father of Boaz Whose mother was Rahab? Boaz the father of Obed whose mother was Ruth old bed the father of Jesse and Jesse the father of King David and David was the father of Solomon whose mother had been uriah's wife. So so there's just parts that we can just sit in and I want you just to wonder in this with me.

There's a few names that are familiar and one of them is this name Rahab? And the first thing that I start to do is I start to go. Wow in Luke's version of the genealogy. It's a little different. He only uses male names. But but mostly male, but but in Matthew's version, he mentions multiple females.

in the line of Jesus and there's this one named Rahab and what we know about Rahab was this. Way back after the Israelites watered and Moses said let my people go and they wandered for 40 years. Finally finally they get up. They get a cross into the promised land they get to and one of the first places they have to they have to deal with is Jericho.

And so so they they send two spies and to to the promised land and and they and they go to the city. They're trying to figure out what they're going to do and they're welcome to buy by this this lady named Rahab. But rehab wasn't just some lady she was.

actually a prostitute it's in it's in Joshua. And in fact, let me go to that part of it right away in Joshua too one. It says this the Joshua with the son of none secretly sent two spies from shittim I'm leaving it. Okay.

Go look over the land. He said especially Jericho. So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab. And stayed there. now just just sit on this for a minute.

Matthew lists the the lineage of Jesus and in the line of Jesus is this one woman whose name stands out? Because she was a prostitute.

that she helped the Israelites and She turned and believed in God and the story goes on that that since she helped them. They she said you need to save my family when the walls come down and you conquer Jericho. You need to save my family and the two spies. They made an oath with her and here's what they said. Why don't you tie a scarlet cord? Because she her house was in that in the wall and her window was facing out and and they said Taya scarlet cord around the window of your place and we'll promise you that we'll keep you safety. In other words. The scarlet cord is gonna keep you safe and will rescue you through the color Scarlett this tied to your window.

And little did Rahab know. That later in her line would be this Messiah the one they waited for all their lives. Jesus whose read Scarlet blood would save and Rescue all of humanity I wonder why did God choose to use?

people like her but Wonder can bring hope. And my friends I want you to hear this. When you look at Rahab and you see what she did. to know that God can use him Perfect People people with past and mistakes and sins and he can actually use people like Rahab.

people like me people like you and that he chooses to And that no matter what your past is, it's not bad enough for God to say I'm done with you.

No matter how how low you've gone. I mean how many how many bad things you've done how many bets you've crossed right? No matter no matter God still can you use you?

And you can use me. when I and when I read through the genealogy And I come across this list of names. But I see one. and if you'll let Wonder creep in to the story hope will spring up in you one more one more cooking. Let me show you how to how to read it in the story. So just one more quick story. So in Luke 2 and this is just right. This is just this is how you can do this. So in Luke 2 write the familiar story, right? So it's them it's the birth story and they they've they're on the donkey and they they got there and they Bethlehem and and while they were there Joseph and Mary the time came for the baby, you're born. She's pregnant, right and she gave birth to her first born a son and right. It's just so just and she wrapped him in class and placed him in the manger.

Because there was no guest room available for them. And was so used to story right little baby in the manger and away and I'm okay, right all that. But just think of this. that Wonder take over the god of the universe Didn't send his son the savior.

He born into a palace with guards and a silver spoon. Far from a silver spoon. It's a wooden trough. far from all the all the the trappings of the best of the earth could offer.

literally born into the worst not even room. in the end not a silver spoon. but a wooden trough And yet here's the god of the universe who?

saves all of us rescues us and he sends his son down the back steps. because he he needed to be like you and me. He needed to be raised like you and me he needed to live on this Earth.

Just like all of us. And and he needed to be able to to be born and walk this Earth and not sin to be the worthy Lamb of God on the cross from the wooden trough to the wooden cross. He lived a life of hardship not privilege.

He lived a life of Temptation. Not not Temptation free. And here's this Jesus. Who comes to rescue all of humanity? Who chooses to leave heaven for the sins soaked Earth?

He chooses that. My friends when I read this Manger. the humility that it took for God to save us in the way that he did. It's all inspiring. That he loves us.

enough to be born like that I love the story. I love it. And my friends if you want Hope to come alive in you.

You need to wonder. In the story sit in it. And and let it speak. If you let it speak you'll begin to see that God can use and will use even you. And that he loves you so very much.

That his son came down like this. like this That's his love and that's the love Jesus has for us. It's it's awe-inspiring. And there's one more just this kind of on the side bonus. Okay, so and even wonder not just in the story but Wonder in in the worship in this song Right whenever we sing right we come to church we sing songs and and every one of them is based right out of scripture. Everyone is from from the truth about who God is and from specific places in scripture every one of this and and there's one that we there's one that we that we're that we sang right? I'll come we'll come Emmanuel. That's just to me that's that's like the first time this was years ago. It's the first time I that Wonder kind of captured me through a song I can remember, you know, the oh god. Oh, man, you well and Ransom.

Sorry Captain it is right. All right. I'll spare you anymore. But I hear that song in this. Picture here's the here's the wonder that comes up in me. There was generation after generation after generation that were in slavery of the Jews.

And then they're between the Old Testament the New Testament there was 400 years of what the Bible calls silence right where where there were no prophets and and nothing recorded in there from the Bible 400 years between the Old Testament and the New Testament. And you can almost just picture. Village and the desert and some III for me. I was kind of picture Mary right going out and sitting and just looking up at the stars and just wondering when is when is God gonna send him.

And here in the stories about her her dad told that her Grandpa told her great grandpa and she knows the lineage of all the way back into slavery. And she wonders when. this Emmanuel is going to Ransom captive Israel, right? So, so, please please make a choice now make a choice now wonder in the story. You want to have a Merry Little Christmas.

Choose to wonder in the story now. Let's turn the page and let's let's talk about everyday life now. Okay, let's spend just a few minutes in this one how to wonder in your everyday life this Christmas and listen. It's not going to happen automatically. There's just there's a little bit of a little bit of a pattern here and I want you to just capture this pattern with me, okay?

So here's here's where the pattern starts pattern starts is this if I'm going to wonder right? I'm gonna Wonder it's got to start with this slowing down enough to notice. What's in front of me, right? We walk by Wonder all the time and we know this right and you're not gonna see it. If you if you're not looking for it. In fact you can we we're such a busy people and we we go go and put our head down and we've got our list and we do our thing. We've got to meet expectations. We got to perform and we've got to we've got to earn and we've got to earn our keep and we do all these things right but but we miss so many things and more often than not we're speeding up so much that we don't notice what's right in front of us and we miss and the Wonder gets thrown out.

And they all gets thrown out. for the expediency of getting more done quicker and Christmas season almost exacerbates the busyness and there's this Boiling Pot that just stirs and overflows.

but if you want to wonder it's got to start with this. slow down and begin to notice what and who isn't is in front of you.

In Luke 1 here's my favorite parts of the story too, right that causes me wonder but look at this one. So so this is the in Luke 1 at the very beginning of Luke when John the Baptist is gonna be born. He's prophesied and Zachariah is the dad and Zachariah is a priest he goes to do his duty in the temple. And this is what happens an angel shows up all these in the in the temple.

Zechariah asked the angel, right? So so the angel shows up and in fact, just go to Luke 1 everybody just real quick. Go to Luke one with me. It's just it's so cool. So so the angel shows up and the angel talks more to Zachariah. He gets more recorded and written down than Mary God.

And more than Joseph got right what's gonna happen? And it says in verse 11th in the angel of the Lord appeared to him standing at the right side of the altar of incense. And was that correct Solomon? He was startled and was gripped with fear. But the Angels said to him don't be afraid Zachariah your prayers been heard your wife Elizabeth be well bear you with son and you ought to call him John. He'll be a joy and it goes on for three more verses.

The angel gives kind of a Litany of what's gonna happen and how it's going to happen. Right? And and here's what Zechariah does he asked the angel. Well, how can I be sure of this? How could I be sure so rather than noticing what's in front of him? I mean the angel of God showed up and said there's something very special that's gonna happen to you and all he can do is speed up and ask the question. Well, I was just gonna work it. I don't know how this can be right and so he's how can I be sure of this? I'm an old man my wife's well long in years and this is my face. This is one of my favorite and the angels said to just imagine this just wonder about this one. The angel says to him. I am Gabriel.

I stand in the presence of God and I've been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news and Since you didn't slow down. And notice what's in front of you? You'll be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens because you do not believe my words which will come true at the appointed time missing my friends. Listen.

You want to wonder this Christmas? Then slow down. Don't be a Zechariah and go right to the but what about and and the if and what if this doesn't work and what if this doesn't happen, right? God slowed him down.

for nine months my friends this Christmas would be lots of moments right in front of you. It could be an interruptible moment at the store. It could be a a moment with some of your your little Iowa a neighbor or a friend or a co-worker.

But you're gonna have some moments right in front of you where there's more than meets the eye. And God has put you there in that moment for a specific person the purpose to be the hands and the feet of Jesus to be the ears or even the mouthpiece of Jesus. But if you don't slow down.

And begin to notice what's in front of you? You'll miss the moment. And you'll miss the Wonder. think about this what kind of Merry Little Christmas could you have and bring to others? If you just slowed down enough.

to see the people in front of you this Christmas so how to wander everyday life here's the sequence it starts with this you got to choose right now.

I want to wonder but I've got to slow down choose right now. Am I gonna slow down this Christmas? So I can see and notice what and who is in front of me. So that's the first one. Okay. Here's the second. Here's the second part to this sequence of every day Wonder.

humility tells me that it's bigger than me. So I slow down. With humility that tells me that it's that it's bigger than me. Right. So so the the humility says that I'm not the center of the universe and I'm not running the show and I'm not the most important person in the story and the world does not have to revolve around me and everybody's not looking at me and everybody doesn't have to look at me. That's what humility is.

And if you're a follower of Jesus you made the step over the faith line and you trust Christ. And you said I can't fix myself and I I can't solve the problem. But this Jesus who came from Heaven to Earth lives sinlessly died on the cross and rose again, he can and I am his and all the sudden you are second or third or fourth or fifth and he is first and that's what humility is. I don't have to prove it.

I don't have to be in the center anymore. I don't have to be the Matthew one, right the Matthew one of the genealogy you you read through it and most the people. We don't even know most people we never hear from again. They are not the center of the story, but they played a crucial part to the story that God was writing in the universe.

slow down step in with humility that says I'm not the center here. I'm not it's bigger than me. It's in the in the Christmas story. We see this and on a couple of occasions. Here's the first one. When Joseph right so when Joseph woke up so so they had this dream right that you're Christ gonna be pregnant. Holy Spirit the angel talks to him. He did with the angel of the Lord commanded him.

And took Mary homeless his wife. But he didn't consummate their marriage didn't have sex with her. Until she gave birth to his son. And he gave him the name Jesus just you see this. If Joseph was the center of his own universe.

Both of these would have been impossible. I'm not going to marry her. I can't have I can't consummate it. What are you don't? But here's Joseph. Here's Joseph. He slows down enough to see what's in front of him and he listens.

And then he listens and he comes and he walks in with this humility. that says God writing the story and I'm I'm not the center of us center of it and And that's okay. It's okay in Luke 2 we see this this Dynamic at Play Again and in Luke 2 and it's it's Simmons. So this is eight days after Jesus born and they bring him to the temple to be circumcised and they're walking the temple in this this old Prophet named Simeon took him Jesus in his arms and praise God saying Sovereign Lord as you have promised look at a statement. You may now dismiss your servant.

in peace He's not the center of the universe. He's full of humility and if you want to wonder you have to walk in. with humility that you're not the sinner.

Of the universe you're not this this is I was reading my one of my devotionals last week and there's this quote from this guy named Count Zinzendorf and he was the 1700 to 1760 he lived and he was the guy who started the Moravian Church kind of a offshoot of the Lutheran's a great Theologian, right? Did Church planter just this this great legacy that he's Left Behind. Here's his quote that gets that's that this that he's remembered by preach the gospel die.

and be forgotten it's not about me. It's not about you. and if you want to see Wonder This Christmas and you want to walk into it? You slow down enough to notice what's in front of me?

And you you really tells me that's that it's bigger than me. And let's just close with this. Okay. Here's the last one. And you bring into it. This Faith tells me that God is up to something. Even if I can't see it. He's up to something. And if you if you're walking in right if you if you if you'll wonder knowing this the God is up to something. Even if I can't see it, even if it's it's good stuff or bad stuff. I know that God is God is is up to something. I know that he isn't faith is the place where you take what you know and see and add to it what you don't know and see.

But you know this. That the god that you serve as the God you have and the God that you are and the god you will that's him. And then married right in the Christmas story, right the angel comes and says Mary this what's gonna happen and here's your response after all of it. Here's the response. I'm the Lord's servant.

May your word to me be fulfilled. And then the angel left her. She didn't have all the answers. But she just brought her little bit of faith. the God you are the God you have and the god you will.

Just a Little Bit of Faith even The small is a mustard seed. Can give you hope. that there's more to the story that God is up to something. My friends I want you.

To have a Mary. Little Christmas you choose that today. You choose to wonder I'm gonna I'm gonna let Wonder invade I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna wander in the story and I'm gonna Wonder invade my everyday life. I'm going to slow down with humility.

And bring even a little bit of faith. That God is up to something. Wonder Is the Lost Art of seeing more? Than what's in front of me. and wonder stirs up hope I want that for you. I don't want it for me.

I'm gonna pray for it right now. Let's pray together all the Prairie Lakes. Let's go. So God hears our prayer we come before you. Would you give us the courage and the conviction? to wonder to know that there's more than what's in front of us.

That you're up to something God. And you choose to use us. In the story that you're writing in our lives. And in the lives of everybody around us. So God. We choose today.

to enter Christmas season and to wonder with you Jesus name we pray amen. amen