There are 8 days until Christmas. It’s crunch time guys!! Are you feeling the heat?? Are you tired yet?

You’ve heard a lot about joy the last couple of weeks. And it’s been so good -we are gonna do it one more time. When my girls were babies, if we did something fun that they enjoyed, they would yell over and over -one more again. Aren’t babies the best.

Have you ever noticed all babies are beautiful? Even the ones that look weird are soooo cute. My youngest grandson was born with hair that stuck straight up. We tried to grow it out, cut it short. It just stood straight up. No amount of gel or hairspray would make it lay down. He looked like a troll doll. And he was so stinkin cute. Even alligator babies are cute. Their little noses don’t look so threatening when they are a half of a centimeter. Babies arrive with ten tiny little fingers and itty bitty feet, sweet little baby eyes. They nap, drool, spit up, and fill diapers and we don’t mind because there’s just something so special about a baby. You can’t drive past a bunch of puppies without saying “ awwww how cute” even if you don’t want them for yourself. They have that sweet baby smell , sweet little baby voices and the whole room lights up when they smile at you.

I don’t know if you have noticed but Christmas time is supposed to be about a baby. There are so many things going on these days, that it’s like someone left the baby in the back seat of the car in the heat

There’s a dinner to plan, house to clean, decorations to put up, lights to hang outside. And it has to look like a Pinterest win right. Gifts to buy. And not just for family… teacher gifts, friend gifts. Gifts for people less fortunate. There’s all the parties to attend and they all require gifts too. And when you’ve got everything just about done, You sit on the couch, smile, try to enjoy your hard work and look outside and your husband has hung himself with Christmas lights off the side of the house. Or nailed his hand to the outside wall with the nail gun. Yah. That happened twice !!

And then there are the traditions. Traditions are the stories that families write together.
That special time for memory making. Looking at Christmas lights, nativity drive through, cookie day. All the things

No matter how hard I’ve tried I’ve never had the perfect Christmas. Something has always gone sideways. Countless hospital trips for stitches. Sick kids, wounded husband, dry turkey, burned rolls. And you know …now that my kids have grown up -those imperfect days are the things we laugh at. They are my fondest memories of togetherness.

We work so hard reaching for perfection. Sometimes physically hurting ourselves. Some people more than others. (Mark) Hoping that we can create a perfect Christmas for our family.
BUT Christmas was born…not made…not made by the hands of a man. Not by the plans of a woman. Not because a jolly man brings gifts. Not because a grinch grew a heart.

It was because the holy trinity decided we were worth saving. So they brought the escape route into the world. So we could escape the penalty of humanity and mankind could fully understand the kindness in who they are.

You know what that means? You can’t mess it up. No matter what does or doesn’t happen this year or any other year. Christmas is still celebrating the one who changed the world and our eternities…for all of us

Matthew 2:10When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.

Exceedingly with GREAT JOY!!! This phrase is only in the Bible this once. Great joy is mentioned a few times but exceedingly great joy. Just the one time. Even the angels were rejoicing.

What kind of joy is this -that exceeds any other joy imaginable. You have to understand,
The magi hadn’t even started their journey yet -they just saw the star and they already have this joy. Not just great joy, but exceeding great joy.
Full to overflowing

What was it about this baby’s entrance was worth making a trip to see him. They walked a long way. Probably 7 -10 days.

They realized his kingship transcended earthly realms. That this was not a natural joy but something supernatural. Supernatural joy!!
That this was not just for the Jews or Jerusalem but for the entire world. Through the ages and time. For us

At that time, comets were interpreted as announcing both good and bad major events, and particularly the births and deaths of kings and important victories or defeats in wars. But this is what’s interesting to me

“They were regarded as signs of major changes in the established order. “
and boy did Jesus come to make some changes in the established order.

The magi knew something big was going to change. I bet they all had opinions of what the change would look like but if you’ve walked with God for any length of time, you know his plans never look like yours do.

C. S. Lewis says it this way:
The central miracle asserted by Christians is the Incarnation. They say that God became Man. Every other miracle either prepares the way for this, or results from this

For some of us we’ve made joy an act of defiant expectation. We spend our time and thoughts chasing the temporal that we think can bring us joy. Which results in damage to our spiritual life. How? Because if we are chasing completed joy from temporal things, we are going to be let down, and the result is our faith, hope, and love are challenged. “I’m not joyful so God must not be faithful.” “I am struggling so why hope?” “I loved them and they left me so God probably will too.” When our joy is being filled with feelings, circumstances, and people, our relationship with Jesus always suffers as a byproduct of our joy being unfulfilled by something that could never fill it to begin with.

What does complete joy look like? Perhaps one reason we have a hard time walking in joy is because we only are getting the veiled version of it

2 Cor 3:18
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

“A day is coming when your joy will be complete.”

Christmas is the best time to embrace the joy of the hugest change in history.
You can choose to find joy even when life is weird.

Once your joy is full, you might notice
There’s some other aspects that follow joy. They just kind of ride together in the car with the baby.

1. GET UP WITH FAITH

Hebrews 11:1 ~ Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Some days the hardest thing you have to do is get up out of your bed. When you would rather pull the covers back over your head and just skip the whole day. I don’t know what time your littles wake up on Christmas but my little lovies got out of bed about 5am. They would sneak into the living room so quietly …like a heard of elephants. Yelling and jumping. I would lay there enjoying the happiness. And then wishing it was closer to 8 o’clock. Now that my house is quiet I kinda wish for the chaos.

Luke 2:11
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

For unto you this day a child is born

I find it so interesting that the angel didn’t say unto Mary a child has been born. Or hey Mary had the baby you should go meet him!!

Unto YOU a child is born. That’s us! It was a prophecy fulfilled. The people had been waiting for so long to be delivered and it was finally happening -in their lifetime. God himself sent a gift to the world He wrapped this gift in swaddling clothes instead of wrapping paper because you know. He was a baby.
And the people could see him with their own eyes. He was available to commoners like the shepherds and to the elite alike. That’s pretty exciting.
God kept his promise!!
Y’all God keeps his promises. And he knows your name. He wrote it on his hand

Here are some promises in case you don’t know.

Everything you put your hand to will be blessed:The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks” (Deuteronomy 28:4).

Protection and power against enemies: “The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven” (Deuteronomy 28:7).

Set apart : “The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him” (Deuteronomy 28:9).

You are the head and not the tail above and not beneath Dueteronomy 28:13

He will be with you wherever you go Joshua 1:9

If you don’t want to shout you need a cup of coffee!!! It’s time to get up and celebrate!!

This is where Christmas becomes intensely personal. It’s not enough to say abstractly that you believe Christ came. Millions of people say that and are still lost in their sins. It’s not enough to say that Christ came for someone else.
You can never be saved until you say, “Christ came for me. He died for me. He rose from the dead for me.”

Faith is trusting that God will take care of everything. That he will keep his promises. Every detail. And then when he does, and it doesn’t look like you thought it would. You are grateful. Not for all the unexpected kinks but that he has a purpose in every detail. Hindsight is 20-20

I often hear people say God is faithful when they get what they want. A new job or a good docs report. A second date… a building
I will tell you that God is faithful even in the things you don’t want. Like being pregnant by the Holy Spirit instead of your betrothed. And having to tell your dad….. I bet that conversation was pretty tense.

But what I think people are missing when they hear god is faithful, is that he was faithful every hard and dark day that brought us to this happy moment.
Not that he gave us what we wanted. That’s just the public display of faithfulness. But the real work is done when you are all alone in the dark. He is faithful to love you through anger tears fear disgust misunderstanding all of the things.
The manifestation of Emmanuel.

Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us"(Matthew 1:23).

Emmanuel is God with us…. It’s not his name, he was never named Emmanuel, it is the role he would fulfill. To be a friend that’s closer than a brother, with us every day

Who knows what God has planned for you. But have I faith it’s gonna be great

That’s worth getting up right

2. DRESS UP IN HOPE

Not like wearing a prom dress to Christmas dinner. Not that at all.

Hope is a word we throw around a lot, but what does it really mean? The dictionary has two definitions for hope, the first is expected: a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.
The second surprised me in the best kind of way: a feeling of trust.

What allows us to carry desires in our hearts and expect them to happen? It is because we trust there is something or someone who can make them happen. And then hope grows. I hope He does it for me

Have you ever had a situation in your life that was completely hopeless? I don’t mean when something seems hopeless, I mean when something in your life is dead and there’s no coming back.

Then you are not hanging out with the right people.

The change that Jesus came to make, the earth shattering truth that Jesus is the redeemer. He can restore redeem and perfect any and everything grim in your world. You just have to see it from his perspective instead of yours. You are looking at your sick kid, while God is looking at the cure for cancer being discovered.

Sometimes you need friends to help you with this. I have this type of friend and I joke that she is my hope dealer. Y’all should get one. It makes all the difference to have someone speak life into your dead places. These people help build your faith by pointing out the obvious - that you missed because you are just to invested in whatever problem you’re fighting.

Get in touch with others. Don’t remain isolated as we often do. You need support and encouragement. Call someone who cares. Reach out.
I’m going to plug the D groups!!! These Groups are vital because you are just not going to be building deep relationships on a Sunday morning.
You might decide on someone you want to get to know better -but that doesn’t actually happen until you sit down and talk, spend time and fully know one another. When you take off the earrings and pretty faces and show who you really are. Warts and all.

Is there hope in the world? Yes! There is genuine hope that can bring joy back to you! Hope refreshes your life and brings you lasting peace. Where does this kind hope come from?

Hope invaded the world 2000 years ago at Bethlehem. And if we want that hope to invade our lives, we must do what the shepherds did so long ago. We must come to Bethlehem and bow before the newborn King. Hope is available but only to those who will humble themselves and learn to trust the Lord Jesus Christ.

Is hope an emotion? While hope certainly involves our emotions, hope itself is not an emotion. Hope is a way of thinking or a state of being. This means that hope can be taught and learned - like a life skill

Matthew Gallagher, an associate professor of clinical psychology at the University of Houston says not only does it make life more enjoyable, but hope also provides resilience against things like post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation. Hope offers chemical benefits too, in the form of endorphins and lowered stress levels, things, experts say, make people more productive.

We are made new to become hope dealers that influence the atmosphere around us. Do you realize your presence in a room can change the atmosphere. Think about someone who gets on your nerves. They enter a room and instantly your mood changes. You are the counter to that!! It’s a huge joy. We don’t have to allow people or situations to control the atmosphere! Wherever our foot touches can be the place we bring some hope, maybe some faith and definitely some Jesus.

Luke 2:12-14.
And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

There was a host of angels with Mary Joseph and Jesus. This demonstrates to me (and probably Mary) that God is taking care of her. It shows that whenever God sends you, even into the unknown. He has sent protection and the hope that you will be successful in whatever plan you are assigned. He sends cheerleaders to speak life into your situation and rejoice over you. And with you

Y’all it’s time to Get up!! And Dress up!!! And then…

3. SHOW UP WITH LOVE

1 Corinthians 13:7 NLT
Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

We have a lot of places to be this season. And We get tired. There’s family gatherings and let’s face it family can be difficult sometimes. But if you showed up with love.. you might be able to change the dynamic.

1Corinthians 13:13
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love

Do you know why the greatest is love? The first two faith and hope are self focused. But love is another animal entirely. Love focuses outward to the others around us.

Did you know in the Bible love is not a feeling at all. Nowhere is love mentioned as a feeling. It is a decision to place someone else’s needs above your own needs expectations and desires. When you choose to “love” someone. And it is a choice. You mean this persons needs have now become more important than yours. That you will do all that’s in your power to help them become and do what they were created for.

This is in every relationship. Can you imagine if you loved that one member of your family this way how you could change the direction of the day!! They might even stay out of jail this year. The enemy has tricked people into thinking love is a feeling. And without a feeling it can’t be real. Which is crazy because Peoples feelings change from moment to moment. Like Texas weather. Which explains the divorce rate. The enemy wins there everyday in America

What if we actually started making others desires and dreams a priority. And started showing real love to the people around us. Not relying on fuzzy feelings…But live intentionally to honor the promise we made. To love them deeply on purpose.

Of course Jesus is the one we are trying to be like and he didn’t stay a baby forever. He grew into the savior that was promised. And he walked out love choosing to put us before his own life. He said

John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

What did Jesus give up on his way to the cross
His Popularity. He drew a crowd
His Will. Not my Will…
His Ministry He was changing peoples lives everyday
His success.
His identity. He had to suffer as a man
His Respect spit on and publicly humiliated.
His glory. He was just a man that day
His Closeness with his father for a short time. In darkness for us
His Feelings do we really even deserve this.
His Fear. Tears of blood
His Friends. Scattered like roaches.
His Pride. Mankind has pride. He was 100 percent man.
His rights to a fair trial, to be heard

Because he was so full of love for us …that these other things just didn’t matter as much as we do

John 13:34
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another:
just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

We are coming to the close of this year very soon. Another year is coming right on its heels. I believe it’s time for the fog to lift, and to shake the weariness off. To face this new unknown year with joy!! With faith that we don’t go alone, with hope for new miracles and promises kept and with love for those God has placed around us. To make sure people around us aren’t lost to the frenzy of life To become the hope dealers and world changers he wants to see

Get up! Dress up! and Show up!!!

Because now our great joy is with us to the end of the age.

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message?

How does he want you to respond?