Speaker 1: 0:00

Now I have a question for you today. Have you ever lost your way on your way somewhere? Now, it's easy to lose your way going to a place you've never been before, but recently I've been having this problem where I keep losing my way on my way to a place. I've been multiple times. For example, my boys. They go to St Mark's Preschool and every morning I take them there after I drop off my daughter at Gordon Elementary, and so they're right by each other. But on my way from Gordon to St Mark's recently I've been losing my way. It was so bad recently that my son, who's three, jameson, says to me who I guess he's better at directions than me. He says dad, you passed my school. I was like, I did, I was like, and so I had to pull a U-turn and go. But I've been losing my way going places that I've been before. Now here you go.

Speaker 1: 0:54

It's hard. It's hard nowadays to get lost while driving, because what you got GPS on your phone, you know it's pretty easy. But there continue to be places that you can lose your way, for example, parking garages. Come on, it's easy to get lost in the parking garage, isn't it? What I do is always take a picture of exactly where I park, because after I get back I don't want to be searched in the parking garage. I remember when Aaron and I first got married, for our honeymoon, we went on a cruise. Now, those are pretty big boats. It's easy to get lost. I remember I was trying to go to the all-you-can-eat buffet and I ended up in the casino. I did pretty good, though I must say. I must say it was good, yeah, but it's easy to get lost there. It's easy to get lost.

Speaker 1: 1:39

Recently, my daughter, kingsley she thought she was lost. She thought she got lost. We were at Rockwood Park and we were playing and she was on the monkey bars and my son, jameson, he wanted to go to the big slide. So I followed him to the slide and I could see her the whole time on the monkey bars. But she got off. And when she got off, she's looking around and she has this panic in her eyes and finally I called her and said Kingsley, I'm over here. But she legit thought she was lost and when she was, and when she came to that moment, she was scared until she recognized she wasn't.

Speaker 1: 2:13

Now the interesting thing is this we never know. We never know the precise moment when it happens, the precise moment when we cross the line from I know the way to I lost my way. We don't know it, and whether it's a parking garage or at the park, like my daughter, whatever it might be, the truth is by the time you've realized you've lost your way, you've been lost for some time. You've been lost for some time Now, and what's true of losing our way in a physical location is also true of us losing our way in life, in life, in our everyday life. Specifically, we're lost before we know it.

Speaker 1: 3:00

Your marriage. It may feel off, but you didn't notice it happening. She didn't realize it, he didn't realize it. And then one day it hits you Wow, this is not going well.

Speaker 1: 3:13

And it's not just a marriage thing, it can be any area of your life. You think you're headed in the right direction, but somewhere along the way you wake up and you realize I've been moving in the wrong direction, moving away from the relationships I want, moving away from the purpose I dreamed of moving away, moving opposite of the direction I wanted to ultimately go. And while it's happening, two things are at work, two things collide, two things coexist, and these two things are that we can be confident and clueless at the same time. We can be so confident, and so and you've seen it You've seen people Not you, though but you've seen people who are confident but they are clueless that they're making some bad decisions. We've all experienced it, because we've all been 16 before. When you're young, you're very confident and clueless, but when you're young, when you're a youth, you have an excuse. Your frontal lobe isn't developed yet, so you got an excuse. Maybe some grace for your teenagers if you got some. But it's not just an adolescence problem. It's not just an adolescence. It's an adult thing as well, because in some area of your life, you can actually be moving in the opposite direction. You should be moving in and do it with confidence, but you're clueless that you're going the wrong way, and this might be where some of us are today. Some of us might be here today.

Speaker 1: 4:39

Sometimes we start to feel like something's not right. What started off as magical doesn't feel magical anymore. Maybe it was a relationship. At first it was so easy and she was great and he was great and everything. It felt like a dream. It felt wonderful, but then, all of a sudden, it became hard work, and then they leave their clothes on the floor everywhere and they don't pick up their dishes. And now there's a tension there. It's not what it used to be. And when we get to that point, do you know what most of us do? We don't stop to deal with it, we pretend like it's not happening.

Speaker 1: 5:21

For example, I had a 92 Chevy Blazer. That was my first car and I called it the Blaze, even though I didn't blaze up in it. But I love my car. But that car man was busted. That thing had over 250,000 miles on it. The AC didn't work, the windows didn't go down. You didn't even need a key to start the car. It was busted.

Speaker 1: 5:47

But you want to know one thing about my Chevy Blazer, man that radio was nice. I had nice radio in that thing, man, that thing, it had colors and flash neon lights. I could put four CDs in it at the same time, rotate it when I was feeling my mood change. It was great. But here's the thing this one time I was driving my Blaze and then there's smoke coming out of the muffler. I'm like man, that ain't good. It was coming in. I was like this ain't good. And then the engine started making some noise, I'm like, oh no, this doesn't sound good. You want to know what I did? I just cranked up that music a little bit louder, because if I can't hear it, then it's not happening. Come on, that's what I did, but I was an excuse. I was like 20.

Speaker 1: 6:30

But that's what we do in our lives. We do the same thing in our lives. We do that in our everyday life. Instead of slowing down and trying to figure out, we just speed up, we just distract ourselves. We get busy with other things and pretend like our problems aren't happening. We load up our phones with so many notifications. We're not even notifying ourselves about the real problems that we have in our lives and when and then.

Speaker 1: 6:59

But if we're lucky, if we're lucky, somebody who loves us comes along and they say hey, hey, hey. They try to warn us. They try to warn us. And when they warn us, what do they do? They use directional language. They use highway language. They say things like I don't think you're heading in a good direction. They say things like the path you're going on isn't good. The path you and your spouse are going on is not heading in a good spot. The way you're raising your kids is taking you in a direction you don't want them to go. They use directional language and if they're super direct, if you've got some super direct people in your life, they will say to you you need to make a change and you need to turn. You need to turn around, you need to turn around what you're doing. And what do we do? We say, oh, thank you, thank you so much for not minding your own business, I'm fine, I'm fine. How many times have you heard I'm fine from somebody you know they're not fine? You know they're not fine. And how many times have you said to people that you're fine when you know you're not fine? You know they're not fine. And how many times have you said to people that you're fine when you know you're not fine? Every day? Come on, we're getting too full up in here and maybe someone has told you you're fine, but you're sure. Maybe someone's told you you're not fine, but you're sure you're fine.

Speaker 1: 8:22

And here's something really fascinating. 3,000 years ago that's a long time ago, 3,000 years ago King Solomon writes out a statement. And listen to what King Solomon says. This is amazing because it is true then and it's true for us today, and it's kind of harsh though he says this, proverbs 14. He says, he says there is a way that appears to be right but in the end, oh, it leads. Well, it leads to death. It leads to death.

Speaker 1: 8:52

There is a way which seems right, looks right, feels right in the moment. There's a way that seems right to a man or to a woman, to a high school senior, to some newlyweds. There's always a way that seems right, that feels right, that makes perfect sense to us. And because it makes perfect sense to us, what do we do? We choose it, we embrace it, we commit ourselves to it. And we've all done this, every single one of us. We've chosen a way to date to entertain, to schedule your time, to play, to spend your time to parent your children and, yeah, you may have read a book, you may have listened to a podcast, you may have done something, but you chose a way. And the reason why you chose those particular ways? It just seemed right, it seemed like the right way to go.

Speaker 1: 9:40

But Solomon is honest. He said there is a way that seems right but in the end leads to death. Merry Christmas everybody. Now, there is a way, and look at what Solomon does. It's kind of funny. He says it's a death end, or maybe the way that we will say it. There's a way that leads to a dead end. It's a way that leads to a dead end. There's a way that seems right but has the potential to kill us, and in some cases that's for real, literally, and you've seen it play out. In fact, it may have been playing out in your life, but at the right moment, at the right time, someone finally came up and got your attention and ultimately, you were able to make a change. Now, for most of us, the ways we've chosen aren't going to kill us, but they have the potential to kill things very important to us. There's a way that we're going that could kill a marriage, that could kill your relationship with your kids, could kill a career, could kill the way you see yourself in the mirror. There's a way that we're going that can do that.

Speaker 1: 10:56

We've all, at some point in our lives, chosen a way that we thought was the right way but turned out not to be the right way. We were confident and we chose it, and when we chose it, we thought it was right until it wasn't. And then boom, dead end, dead end. And when you finally realize you've chosen the wrong way. What do we do? We started to use the same language as the people who tried to warn us to use.

Speaker 1: 11:24

We say things like how do I turn around from this? How do I get back on track? How do I turn around and become the person I used to be? I'm not sure where to turn or where to go, and maybe this is for some of us today. There is a time in your past where you had peace with God. You liked the person you saw in the mirror. But now you realize you're not that person and you're not moving towards that person and you're trying to figure out how to get back to the person you used to be.

Speaker 1: 12:00

And maybe you look at your life and you say man, I've made a mess, but it's not all my fault. It's like 20% mine and 80% theirs, but it's still a mess. There's a mess going on and the fact is I have to deal with it. But here's the hard part. I don't know how. I don't know how to fix it, I don't know how to move past it, and that's where a lot of us get stuck.

Speaker 1: 12:28

But maybe, but maybe today you would say hey, I know I'm not in a good place. I know I need to change course and I'm willing to acknowledge I've lost my way and maybe you lost your way and you're fortunate because you know it and you recognize it. And you're fortunate because you know it and you recognize it and you're secure enough to acknowledge it. You're secure enough to admit it and you're the kind of and if you're that kind of person, congratulations. You're farther ahead than most people, because we've seen it, people who go to their grave never changing, never changing, who go to their grave never changing, never changing.

Speaker 1: 13:06

And if you're at a place where you're saying, yeah, in this area of my life, things are great at work, but not so great at home. Things are great at home but not so great at work. Things are great publicly but, jacob, privately, things privately, there's things that nobody knows but me, that I hope nobody knows but me. There's a way that seems right to a person and it turns out that way can lead to a dead end. But here you go, I want to give you some hope today.

Speaker 1: 13:40

The truth is this you can't get to where you want to be until you recognize where you are. You can't get to where you want to be until you recognize where you are. You can't even begin to move in the direction that you want to be. When you're in denial about where you are right now. But when you recognize where you are, this is a good place, and some people never get to that point where they're willing to recognize or admit that they chose the wrong way and honestly, honestly, I think this is really hard for men. I don't want to exclude women, but I think it's really hard for men. When it comes to this, though, because I think there's this thing that, men, we feel like maybe it's a pride thing, an ego thing. We're supposed to have it all figured out. Everyone's supposed to be looking up to us and to acknowledge, to acknowledge to our wives, to acknowledge to our fiance, to acknowledge to our kids daddy's messed up, daddy wasn't going the right way, I wasn't doing the right thing. I think it's hard, and most men, they never slow down long enough to look in the mirror, they never slow down long enough to listen to what people are saying, and they refuse to admit they chose a dead-end way, and so they just stay lost. They stay lost and people and people who are lost, people who have chosen the wrong way. You want to know what people who have chosen the wrong way do. When they refuse to admit it, when they refuse to recognize it. They blame everybody else, they blame this person and that person and this thing and that trauma and that issue. I'm not saying those things aren't real, but it's easier to blame outward than looking in the mirror and say maybe it's that person that's their fault and this is what happens and this is what happens.

Speaker 1: 15:27

Now. The question some of you are asking right now, and I hope you're asking I'm glad you're asking it. You're like Jacob what in the world does any of this have to do with Christmas? You got us feeling depressed. Bah, humbug up in here. I'm glad you're us, because when it comes to the way our lives are moving, the direction our lives are going, it has everything to do with Christmas. It has everything to do with this story of Christmas. Here's the thing when we're trying to find our way whether it's moving forward, getting back on track we tend to focus on the decisions we need to make, the habits we need to break, advice we need to get, goals we need to set, and those things are all good and those things are all necessary. But here's the good news of Christmas At Christmas, we're presented with another way. We're presented with another way. At Christmas, we're introduced to someone who didn't just claim to know the way, but he claimed to be the way. He didn't just claim to know a good way. Jesus claimed to be the way in which we should live our lives. That's a big statement. That's a big statement. He claimed to be the way forward.

Speaker 1: 16:55

Now I want to read a couple of Bible verses to us. Many of them you're probably familiar with, but I want to slow down and just read them verse by verse and let these scriptures change you. Okay, check this out. John, who is writing this? Who spent three and a half years with Jesus he isn't talking about a Jesus storybook character.

Speaker 1: 17:14

Now, as an older man, he's trying to explain what it was like to be with someone he truly believed was God in human form, and he says this John 1, 14,. He says the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. The word John is saying the word. Everything that we were taught, everything that they believe, everything that the Torah pointed to, everything that the Jewish teachings pointed to, this word that we were taught, everything we imagine. This word became a person and this word camped out with us. He pitched tents with us, he made his dwelling among us and he continues he says we have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son. He's saying this word. It showed up. He showed up in a person and we actually saw his glory.

Speaker 1: 18:06

Now we've got to slow down here, because John is writing this, because he wants us, he wants us today to grasp this that they camped out with him. They ate meals together, they searched for firewood together, fixed sandals together you know how hard that is Listened to him, teach, cried with him. They were there for all of it. They watched him live, they followed him, saw him die, thought it was over, and then met the resurrected Jesus at the beach and ate a fish fry with him. Come on, that's the best fish ever. It won't know, tilapia.

Speaker 1: 18:49

After all of this, john is saying, as wild as it sounds, we are convinced he came from the Father to this earth so that we could truly know the Father. He says we've seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son. He says we've seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son who came from the Father, full of grace and truth, full of grace and truth. And see, we think of terms of balance. We're always trying to balance something Balance work and balance life and balance home and balance this. We try to balance so much. That's why so many of us are so unstable, because we're always doing a balancing act and John is like no, no, no, it's not a balance, it's not a balance of grace, it's not a balance of truth.

Speaker 1: 19:34

He's saying that's wrong. He says that's how we think, we think sometimes, oh, we got to go to the truth church, where it's very dogmatic and heady, and truth, truth, truth, truth, truth. Then, when we get too much truth and we know how much mistakes we're making, we need to go to the grace church, where it's grace, grace, grace. Oh, grace, just do it, grace. I know you don't got no integrity, but grace, you know, just grace, grace, grace. And John's like no, no, no, no, jesus, he's 100%, all of it. He, jesus, he's a hundred percent, all of it. He never dumbs down truth and he never dials back grace.

Speaker 1: 20:09

And here's the good part. Here's the good part when you're in the presence of Jesus, you're aware of your sin and you're aware of the love of God at the same time, at the same time, and it's overwhelming and it's compelling, and it moves us and it changes us and it transforms us. Because how can someone know all the things I've done and the things I've done that nobody else knows I've done, yet loves me and calls me forward? How can I be in the presence of someone that knows me through and through? And even though he knows me through and through and I can't run from Him, I can't hide from Him, I can't pretend with Him. He knows it all and he calls me His own? It's overwhelming because he's full of grace and he's full of truth.

Speaker 1: 21:02

And in one of the most famous narratives from the life of Jesus, jesus makes a statement that we've heard a thousand times. If you've been in church for any time, you've heard this so many times. We sing songs about it, we put it on cards, we put it on bumper stickers, we got it everywhere and we have a hard time wrapping our minds around it. But John did it. John records it. Matthew did it. John records it. Matthew didn't, peter didn't, because they were there. They were there and they saw it happen in person.

Speaker 1: 21:28

And so at the night of his arrest, jesus lets them know I'm leaving. He said I gotta go, I gotta bounce. And they're like, no, you can't go. And Jesus is like, yes, I need to go. And they're like you can't go. You're our security blanket. He's like, no, I'm leaving. And they're like, no, you're staying. And he's like, no, I'm leaving. And they're like you got to stay. And he's like I got to go. And they're like, well, where are you going? And Jesus is like, well, you know where I'm going. And they're like, no, we don't. What are you talking about right now, jesus? What do you mean? We know? And then Jesus says not only do you know where I'm going, you know how to get there.

Speaker 1: 22:13

And then Thomas, I love Thomas, he's that guy in the group, thomas. He says, lord, we don't know where you're going, so how can we know the way? We don't know where you're going. This doesn't make any sense. And Jesus smiles and he leverages this question to make a broader point that they understand that sometimes I think we miss. He says friends. He says, friends, you know the way where I'm going because I am the way. I'm the way Thomas, I'm the way You've been talking to, the way you spent three years back and forth from Judea to Galilee. Come on, you know the way. You're in the presence of the way You've been camping with the way. Come on, after all of way, you're in the presence of the way You've been camping with the way. Come on, after all of this, thomas, thomas, you're still asking to show you the way. By now, you must know that I am the way, that I'm the way, and here's where we get lost.

Speaker 1: 23:22

Because when we've been lost, when we've been lost in our way, as parents, in our marriage, in our careers or just in life in general, do you know what we want to do? I know I want to do this. You want to know what we want to do when we lose our way. We want to fix it. We try to be Bob the Builder up in here. Can he fix it? Bob, probably could, but maybe not you. And what we want to do? We want to fix it, we want to plan it. Give me a plan, give me a list. We want a self-help book. Oprah, tell me what to do. We do all of this. We Google it, we chat, gpt it, and there's 50 million resources telling you what you should do.

Speaker 1: 24:08

Yet God has offered you something so much better. And do you know what he's offered us? He's offered us himself. He's offered us himself Himself. He's offered us Himself that's some high quality H2O. He sent Himself. He became one of us to show all of us the way back, the way back to the place in your life that you used to be, when you were at peace with God and with yourself.

Speaker 1: 24:48

Jesus says I am the way back, I'm the way back, and maybe, maybe there is a mess and you know in your heart that you're a big part of this mess and you aren't sure if there's a way through this mess. And Jesus says to you today I am the way through this and you know you're this. He says I am the way through this, and so he's the way back and he's the way through. And then Jesus says to us today he is also. He says I am the way forward, I'm the way forward to a life you dreamed of, a life of joy, freedom, purpose, because I am trustworthy and I am powerful.

Speaker 1: 25:35

And this way requires a different starting point. We don't start with Google. The starting point that Jesus offers us is a different way. It begins with a different way. It begins with a different question, instead of asking the question that we all ask and I ask this question too, so I'm not being critical. Instead of asking the question of what should I do? What should I do? I made a mess. What should I do? I need to get back to where I was. I need to go forward. I need to fix this. I need to repair this. What should I do? The better question to ask lean in, hear this. The better question to ask is who will I follow? Who will I follow, and am I following Jesus or am I following something else? Who will I follow?

Speaker 1: 26:28

The reason that the angels could say good news of great joy for all people, of every generation, of every tribe and tongue, for everyone who ever will live, the reason this was good news, of great joy for the whole world, is because Jesus' way is the way we were all created to live. Think about this If King Solomon 3,000 years ago could point to a truth that was real then and is still real today, then how much more can we trust Jesus when he says I can show you the way back, through and forward? So the question that Jesus is asking us today is will you follow? Will you follow me so I can lead you? And the amazing thing is to stand in invitation to you today and to me today. And you can begin today. And you can begin this journey before anything in your life changes. And I suggest you begin this journey before you make another decision that just seems right to you.

Speaker 1: 27:29

Again, let's pick on other people, not us other people. How many times have you seen someone whose life was a mess and they decided that they were going to fix their mess? And you're like no stop, last time you did it, you made it messier, but it seems right to me. They say, and you say yeah, the last one seemed right to you too. You keep making decisions based on what seems right and you keep hitting dead end after dead end after dead end. So he says don't just pick away, don't just try to work harder. Who are you going to follow?

Speaker 1: 28:16

And when we begin to follow, it begins with a decision. It begins with the decision, something that we talk about all the time here at LVC. It begins with the decision to surrender and we don't like that word in this culture today Surrender. But when you begin to surrender to Jesus, what you learn in the process is that he is trustworthy and that he is powerful, because the one who knows me through and through still loves me and provides a way for me. So, friends, this Christmas we recognize that the way that the way maker came and he came in a way that no one thought he was going to come came and he came in a way that no one thought he was going to come. He didn't come in power and in might, but he came in a manger. And the reason why the way came in a manger? Because the way was interested in our salvation, yes, but the way maker was also interested in living a life that we couldn't, so that we could imitate him, follow him and not only have salvation for our sins but learn how to live his way in our everyday lives. And so the way maker is making a way for you today, a way back, a way through and a way forward. And we're going to learn more about the way in a manger, More of it, next week.

Speaker 1: 29:58

Pray with me. God, jesus, holy Spirit, we recognize today that we have not always chosen the right way, that we have gotten off track, that we have blamed. It's for the Holy Spirit saying for someone to lay down the crutch of blame, for someone to lay down the crutch of blame. It's not that your blame isn't valid, it's just that you're walking with a limp when he doesn't want you to anymore. Come, holy Spirit. Come Holy Spirit, set people free today. Lord, yeah, I actually just pray against the spirit of hard-headedness, just being hard-headed, wow. I just pray against the spirit that's saying I know already, I've done this, no one can tell me whatever. And I pray for a spirit to gently, a humble spirit, to gently receive the correction of the Lord, because he disciplines those he loves. So come Holy Spirit For anyone in here.

Speaker 1: 31:39

In some area of your life, you know you're going a way that isn't the way you want to go. Privately, the things happening, secrets being kept. You feel overwhelmed, man Overwhelmed, and God says there's freedom for you. Today, and of all the spiritual practices, confession is the hardest, but when we confess our sins we can find healing, freedom. So, Lord, I bind the enemy who says that you can't tell people what you're doing. They'll judge you, they'll cast you out. No, no, no, they'll judge you, they'll cast you out. I don't know. I pray for a freedom of confession to move forward. Thank you, jesus.

Speaker 1: 32:42

And if you're in here today, you're like Jacob. That sounds good, but I don't know this Jesus you're talking about. Maybe you have, but life's gotten in the away and you really haven't been following him. If you want to make a decision to trust Jesus with your life, what I want you to do I'm going to count to three and, with every eye closed and every head bowed, count to three and on three, I just want you to shoot your hand up in the air just to see who I'm praying for. So if you want to make a decision to trust Jesus with your life for the first time, or recommit on three, just toss your hand up in the air so I can see who I'm praying for.

Speaker 1: 33:18

One, two, three. Bless you, bless you, bless you All across this room. You can say this prayer with me. You can say it out loud or you can say it in your heart. You can just say Jesus, forgive me for my sins, make me new. Today I trust you with my life. Today I follow you In Jesus' name. Amen, amen, amen. Let's give God some praise in here today.