Don't Lose Jesus This Christmas!

Harvest messages are brought to you by harvest partners to receive free email daily devotions or to become a harvest partners, please visit us online@harvest.org tonight that's I love my messages don't lose Jesus this Christmas. I've two passages I want you to turn to tonight.

What is Luke chapter 2 and the other is Revelation chapter 2 Luke two and Revelation 2 now as your attorney and I have a few questions ask you number one. How many of you have Christmas shopping to do. Raise your hand. I lot of you.

How many of you have started your Christmas shopping and started how many of you have finished your Christmas shopping.

Your I don't know if I admire you or don't understand you may be both at some really you finished your Christmas shopping. If you do it all online okay is it just because Tim is getting cold this year because the no not that it all alright well how many of you like to go Christmas shopping regime you like it.

How many of you don't like to go Christmas I'll give it that's probably where you're at church tonight, right okay so I actually read that there a study that was done by a British psychologist that found that Christmas shopping is hazardous for men's health to due to an elevating of fact on blood pressure, but this is fascinating.

The same study revealed that women's blood pressure was unaffected.

So what is stressful for a guy I guess isn't stressful for a woman, generally speaking, of course, but I think the very easy thing that can happen this time of the year as we can be so busy." Celebrating the birth of Christ." We forget about Christ himself told to destroy before the little boy that went down the church in the corner and that a lot of candles burning in and he thought it must be a birthday party for Jesus. We started blowing out the candles is a saying happy birthday to Jesus with the minister saw this and thought it was very disrespectful and irreverent, so the minister follow the little boy home knocked on the door demanded to see the parents and said I want to talk to your son about having respect for God. So the little boy was called downstairs and eat set down in the ministers that I have a question for you son. Where is God little boy's eyes got as big as saucers. He didn't know what to say. Again, the minister said son I asked you a question. Where is all the little boy ran up the stairs and his mom when about them and said, honey, what's wrong.

He's his mom. The lots God of that church and they think I took him and I think I can think of a time when it's easier to lose God then in this time and of course it seems like every year there's some new thing where people are pushing back against the nativity scene on public property actually heard about a principal that been anyone in the school from bringing candy canes to school because he thought they were religious and I thought I never thought of any religious symbolism for a candy cane know he said there in the shape of a J for Jesus while now I want to go eat at once again became dry Christmas trees are called holiday trees instead of saying Merry Christmas we say happy holidays.

But you know there's a little bit of pushback because they read recently that a majority of Americans would rather we say Merry Christmas, 68% of Americans prefer Merry Christmas to happy holidays. So when someone says happy all the 3.24 when someone says happy holidays to me if you think you Merry Christmas to you, then we should up our game a little bit and say hey you know what Mary birth of the Lord Jesus Christ and save your day, you know, let's get the focus were an audit be but tell you know as you look around at all of the specials on television. A lot of the songs that are sung there. There's no mention of Jesus. I honestly think many people know more about the story that Dickens told a Christmas Carol. Then they know about the story of Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus. They know more about Scrooge and tiny Tim and Rudolph the red nose reindeer and Frosty the Snowman, and of course the Grinch that stole Christmas. They know these stories well, but how many of them know the actual story of the birth of Christ. So yes, it is possible in this season to lose God never really technical, you can't lose God we know or God is, but we can lose sight of God. I'm always losing things seems everywhere I go I leave a few things behind, I have a little thing in my wallet now called the tile you know what that is is a little deal that beeps if you put in the wallet or whatever you put it in and so you can call and it'll be been many times I Mike works my wallet.

I can't find my wallet so I get my phone out and has a satellite thing and it shows me word is and I hid it in its right next to me on the seat that's embarrassing right so we lose things I lose things better know about you, maybe you double God never loses sight of us even when we sometimes lose sight of him is constantly thinking about did you know that God spends a lot of time thinking about you and a great blessing that the priest would ask on the people of Israel and no number 624 you know it probably already the Lord bless you. The Lord keep you.

The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace, beautifully said what do we even know what that actually means. We read the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, that means lift up his face, or literally, to look to see and to pay full attention know we don't pay full attention to each other as much as we used to and you know, why don't you because of cell phones.

It's amazing to me as in a restaurant the other day my wife and I said look around every table. People were sitting there looking at their cell phones you outside someone's walking the dog. Looking at the soap on the dog is looking at a cell phone so little cell phone. What probably watching cat videos that are no cats.

I don't know what they're doing, you know they're smart the probably not doing it. But the point is is that people don't even communicate anymore.

I read recently that millennial's would rather text then personally communicate with people and we have a generation of people now that are not understanding social cues, how to communicate with someone how to make eye contact with someone how to sort of nod and affirmation that someone is speaking in process materials. We just have the blank look on her face. Or better yet looking at our phone will that's not God.

God is the opposite of that.

When you're talking God is listening. God is taking in every word he's interested. That's what it means to lift up his countenance upon you, and that's really the essential message of Christmas in many well, which is God with us.

So we don't lose God. But we can lose sight of God and I bring this up examiner read a story now that you might not expect to hear in the Christmas season. You might expect me to preach on the birth of Jesus of the wise men are some other aspect of the greatest story ever told phenomena. Talk about a story that happened a little bit after the birth of Jesus. In fact, a number of years after after the wise men from the East had come and brought him their gifts and as I've told you before, the wise men were not there on the night that Jesus was born. I know that messes with your nativity set but actually, the Bible tells us that they came to our house, not to a manger and that he came to the child Jesus taught the baby Jesus us was maybe a year to two years later that they came so now this is even after that, the story will to read is of a 12-year-old Jesus who goes with Mary and Joseph to Jerusalem and there in the temple and somehow with all the busyness of what they were doing. They lost Jesus and came back home again, not knowing where he was an emergency of the little boy who was praying and he concluded by saying, Lord, thank you for sending your only forgotten son, and you meant to say only begotten son, but for some, he can become the only forgotten son and so this is a story that just shows us how in a time of celebration and a time that could be described as a religious occasion, we can lose sight of the one that it should be all about just Mary and Joseph were in Jerusalem for Passover.

So this was a great time of festivity and family in gathering and worship and and they lost sight of the 12-year-old Jesus and it also gives us a little window into a period of time in the life of our Lord when he was but a boy.

The Bible tells us very little about the childhood of Jesus there some apocryphal works like the Gospel of Thomas, that is really not a part of the canon or Scripture as we know it, that has some stories about Jesus as a boy, but those are not really what we would consider biblical but this story is from the Scripture itself.

So let's read it together.

I'm in Luke chapter 2 on in a read verses 41 to 52 and I'm reading from the new living translation. Every year Jesus parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover festival.

When Jesus was 12 years old. He attended the festival as usual. And after the celebration was over they started home to Nazareth.

But Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem and his parents did not miss him at first because he assumed he was with friends among the other travelers. But when he didn't show up that evening they started looking for him among the relatives and friends, they couldn't find him. They went back to Jerusalem. The search from there three days later they finally discovered while three dates later, he was in the temple, sitting among the religious teachers. So here's a 12-year-old Jesus discussing deep questions with them and all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers and his parents didn't know what to think, son. His mother said to him, why view done this to us. Your father and I have been frantic searching for you everywhere, but why did you need to search Jesus asked you should've known I would be in my father's house. Notice that distinction. There your father and I will excuse me, Joseph was not the father of Jesus. Now he was a father figure a stepfather. I suppose you could say but if you want to get real tactical who was the father of Jesus, God the father.

So Jesus is making that distinction. The Mary even at the age of 12. I have been in my father's house will they didn't understand what that meant and he returned to Nazareth with them and he was obedient to them, and his mother stored all these things in her heart. So Jesus grew in both height and wisdom.

There again, we know very little about the childhood of Jesus.

In fact, most if not all that we know is right here in the gospel of Luke.

We know he was raised in Nazareth. We know that he was a son of a carpenter, Joseph, or the stepson of a carpenter probably learned that trade he was referred to as the carpenter's son generally in that day you would follow in your father's footsteps and whatever profession he was in. So Jesus was effectively in the construction business. He would know how to frame a house he would chop down trees know how to build a table. He was a craftsman we might call him today a blue-collar worker, but he was also schooled in the Scripture. He observed the law and he went to Temple, but would set Jesus apart from everybody else was he did not have the handicap of original sin. Jesus of Nazareth was fully man, but at the same time he was fully God. He was not men becoming God, that's impossible. He was God walking among us as a man. The Bible says he was in the form of sinful flesh, though he was in a flesh and blood body. He had no sin nature whatsoever, so he did not grow as we grow from. Maybe sinfulness to obedience, he just went from faith to faith from grace to grace, from strength to strength, and he grew up physically, mentally and spiritually aversive due to Luke says Jesus grew in height and wisdom, and he was loved by God and by all who knew him now.

Jesus had a human mind.

But here's what's amazing he who was all-knowing, omniscient, was in the human body know when he was a little baby was he at that moment, omniscient. Let me explain. When he was there in the manger. He had just been born was everything the cartoon boss baby right in and it's like this little baby that when the parents see me just acting like a baby but when the parents go away.

He's actually very sophisticated little business baby and as a solo briefcase and and is in all kinds of adventures is what it was like what Jesus laying there in the manger scene.

Oh please stop using baby voices to me.

I understand everything I grinned.

I don't think so. I think he was still a baby. He grew mentally hard to understand in a way he grew up physically. He grew in wisdom and this is something that's very difficult to explain, but it's absolutely biblical so there is as a baby ultimately to become a young boy ultimately to become a young man he had human emotion just like you have Jesus new joy Jesus knew deep sorrow. Jesus even knew loneliness eventually was the loneliest man whoever lit your same. How can that be when he bore the sins of the world, and said, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me you can be sure he was the loneliest man whoever lived in so here is Jesus now in the temple and so they go to the temple for Passover and somehow they lose sight of him and then they return home.

Now, in those days the, the men would travel separately from the women.

That's probably because I get tired of waiting by the chariot for the girls right get the joke.

Waiting never my okay so so the girls would travel he had in the guise would travel on their own and so Joseph assumed Mary was with Mary, excuse me, Joseph assumed that Jesus was with Mary and Mary assume that Jesus was with Joseph or with one of their relatives.

He was somewhere with them and they get home and they realize we don't have Jesus. Now they go back searching for him.

Now, if you've ever lost a child. You know the feeling of tear that you can feel when you lose sight of a child in an amusement park or a store or something like that and you would think Jesus would be very easy to find because after all, whenever we see human religious literature or art is a halo right Mary Joseph F. Halo's in Jesus have the smaller halo that presumably grew as he got larger and he probably glowed in the dark to be the easiest to define and we lost our son glows in the dark if you see? What Jesus didn't glow-in-the-dark and Jesus did not of a halo. He looked like any other man. The Bible even says King James.

He had no form of comeliness that we should desire him, which is the King James wave think he was an ordinary looking kinda God he didn't stand out from the crowd necessarily and so here is Jesus. Now in the temple.

They finally find him and he is reasoning with the leaders there. Now this is what I want to bring up. They traveled a whole day before they missed they had breakfast lunch and dinner and never once saw his face did not love their love for him nor have they lost their faith, but they had lost Kim literally guess what the same thing can happen to us canted you can go a whole morning afternoon and well into the evening without a single thought about God. A single thought about Jesus a single moment given over to prayer or opening the Scriptures is not really a part of your day-to-day routine if someone were to ask you why you say well I am very busy.

So many things going on, but isn't it amazing how suddenly our schedule miraculously opens up and we have a crisis and suddenly were calling our Christian friends were seen. Pray for me. I have a problem and it's so wonderful that God does not treat us as we often treat him right because you know if you blow a person off and you don't respond to their tax and you never call them and you never have communication with them and then when they reach out and ask him for a favor, you might not get a response I met Fred them I think will treat you like you treated me. I'm so glad God is not that way we go to Lord Encino never really heard from you for a while. I'm kinda busy and I have things to do. But no, he's not that way at all.

He always longs for fellowship with us. After Adam sinned in the garden. He heard the voice of the Lord there in the cool of the day when he would normally meet with God as the sun was setting in the Lord's calling out Adam where are you.

Why was God doing that because God enjoyed his time with Adam.

He knew what it happened. He knew out of it sin, but he was longing for that fellowship. So God longs for that with you as well.

Well, they finally find Jesus are obviously upset.

Verse 48 son.

His mother said to him, why have you done this to us.

Your father and I have been frantic searching for you everywhere was the right thing to say to Jesus at that moment. Maybe she should've said something more along the lines of son were so sorry weren't paying attention. We were irresponsible. After all, you're only 12 years old but he said these are to blame him.

What did you do this to us. We often do the same with God you know will do something wrong, then will face the repercussions of doing something wrong and who do we blame ourselves never God God, why did you let this happen to me allergic why why did you neglect me. Why did you walk away from me and so they had been involved in the religious activities but they had forgotten all about Jesus. And I think as I said a really this already.

This can really happen easily. This time of the year because right now some of you are probably thinking okay if Greg doesn't go along tonight we can still get them all before closes and we can do this in a way and you think and what am I doing tomorrow night I went to go to that party or do we have to go over this Christmas event in your thinking about all these things all the things that we are supposed to do some things we want to do.

Let's be honest some things we don't want to do all in the name of Christmas and very easily, God's only begotten son to become God's only forgotten son and we lose Jesus when nonessentials displace essentials me say that again we lose Jesus when nonessentials displace essentials when were busy. What's the first thing that we eliminate sometimes. Well, I don't have time to read Bible visit. I don't have time to go to church. I have the garden do things to celebrate the birth of Christ. For instance, tonight it's raining is raining harder earlier was in it really hard and there's some people that said I'm not going to church tonight. It's dangerous the roads dangerous.

We can go out there and that rain was no way yeah let's just stay home yesterday, home what's a webcast that's all do I okay but some are not watching the webcast or just F for 20 minutes. It said well we did go to church but what movies are, let's go see that movie done at the mall wave. What. So it's okay to endanger my life to see the movie at the mall on the road.

If you are endangering your life or to do that other thing that all church.

I don't know, see, and that sort of the thing of priorities not coming back to Mary and Joseph. They lost Jesus in a sense, but they finally came to their senses and went back and found them I like to know all the details of that conversation so they arrive home. Hey Mary, good to see worse Jesus.

Would you be worse. Jesus. Jesus is with you. She says she's not with me was with you know what you lost Jesus any little either having this conversation or do we see last well in Jerusalem. Are you kidding me he's way back in Jerusalem. Yeah, we have to go back there and find him. So that's exactly what they did. So here's what it comes down to. You need to retrace your steps. The live server open this up a little bit and say what should we do when we lose sight of Jesus. While we need to retrace our steps worded.

We lose said," worded. We see him last word and we encounter him last.

Have we gotten away from that place in the words of St. Paul. We need to get back get back get back to where you once belonged about Paul McCartney but still it's true because it's echoed actually by the apostle John, or actually by Jesus himself is recorded by the apostle John in our second passage turn there with me if you would now revelation to because this is a series of statements from Jesus to his church and he tells us what to do when we have left our first love or lost sight of him. Jesus says to this church of Ephesus. In Revelation 2 verse two.

I know all the things you do I've seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don't tolerate evil people.

You've examine the claims of those who say they are apostles and are not you discover they are liars. You have patiently suffered for me without quitting so first he commends and you guys are awesome. I know your discerning I know that you are hard-working. I know that you're doing awry a lot of things right, but then he has this critique of them in verse four. Nevertheless I have this against you, you have left your first love. Now they had not lost Jesus, but they had lost sight of Jesus. Apparently this church work had taken the place of worship. Perspiration had taken the place of inspiration and now Jesus tells him what to do.

The great physician as he is often called gives his prescription for renewal. His antidote to this situation therein. Verse five of Revelation to remember from where you will fall in repent and do the first words or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent lesson if you are not right with God.

Here are the 3Rs of getting right with him again. Remember repentance and repeat. First, you remember where you were. Then you repent and then you repeat notice, Jesus says, remember from where you have fallen. It's interesting because you show me any person that is backslidden, who has fallen into sin is gone back to the old life and I will be able to retrace their steps because this happened over a period of time.

It did not happen overnight. It rarely does. It was a series of steps that started back a ways. Maybe a month earlier maybe a year earlier. Maybe five years earlier where they began to leave their first love. That passion that devotion that intimacy they had with God was no longer there. The same thing happened to marriages. You know you are that excitement you have that passion you have them bloom of romance and brings you together initially. Then after you been married for a while. It sometimes gone and that's something you out to tend to that something you want to give attention to sort of like a fire is going out you throw another log on the fire right or if you get your logs at the market.

Another dural flame on the fire. So the idea here is that you need to keep your romance alive with your spouse and you need to keep your romance if you will, alive with the Lord stain is close to him as you possibly can. But if you put your spiritual life in cruise control troubles will soon develop as a Christian we should be constantly learning, constantly growing, constantly changing, so how does one get back.

Jesus says repeat or do the first works quickly go back to where you lost him and find him again worded Mary and Joseph find Jesus. They found him in the house of God. They found him in the temple that so we will find him to now I'm not suggesting that this building is a temple. As you can see it's a pretty basic warehouse type structure. Nothing really fancy here, but I am suggesting that when God's people gathered together they meet the Lord in this special way because as I already mentioned earlier Jesus said when two or more are gathered together in my name.

I'm there in the midst of them. Bible also says the Lord inhabits the praises of his people know some people Saturday to go to church. I just listen to podcasts I can listen to the greatest preachers in America. I can get the latest worship problem downloaded work should know my car listen to my podcast. That's all great. We have that technology out there to.

We have a podcast waiver radio show. We have all those things but nothing takes the place of gathering together with God's people in church, nothing at all. Sometimes people can come to church extenuating circumstances. I get letters all the time or emails or comments on my Facebook page or Instagram were people as they know I'm watching you from a hospital bed, or I listen to you in a prison cell, or we live in the Yunnan traveling right now. We couldn't get to church. That's great. I'm glad we can provide that supplemental encouragement to people but if people do that instead of church. That's a really bad idea church is important for so many reasons.

It's a message really all on its own, but it's important because we encourage one another, we exhort one another we learn from one another church is a place we develop our spiritual gifts church is a place were accountable and people call us out. Sometimes we need to be called out church is a place were so many wonderful things happen. So where did they find and they found them in the house of God, and that's what we will find him as well. He's here for you right now you know even if you forgotten about him.

Even if you become so busy you have impeded attention to him like he should. He is patiently waiting for you to return because even when you forget about God again. God never forgets about you. I read a story a number of years ago, but Amanda said the nativity scene up on this front lawn and some vandals came along and stole the baby Jesus and of the headline of the article was a quote from this man where he said they've taken my Jesus and I don't know where he is and I was thinking sir that they have not taken your Jesus save taken up plastic figure, probably with the lightbulb in that and that's a representation of Jesus. But that's not Jesus while he solve it because then he replaced it with a Jesus figure that had GPS so we can track it down right whatever work you know when you you can lose Jesus like that, but sometimes people do lose sight of the real Jesus.

So here's my word of encouragement for you. I know you have responsibilities. I know you have families.

I know you have things you need to do in an I encourage you to go do those things but find ways to share the real message of Christmas with people you know it's a very easy transition to go from this season to what it's really all about the birth of the Lord and also I would encourage you to just slow down and listen to the Lord and stay in close fellowship with the Lord and don't let all the busyness of the season crowd him out of your life and you end up like Mary and Joseph is a good news. Jesus is here for us right now right here.

He came to this earth, born as a baby in the manger lived his life in this earth and walked in our steps and he would read our error and he died our death and then he rose again from the dead and now he stands at the door of our life in Knox devil hear his voice and open the door to come in and I wonder is Jesus Christ living inside of you right now and if not, I would hope you would believe in him because he wants to forgive you of all of your sin and give you his full attention.

He wants to be the Lord of your life, not just in the Christmas season, not just in the Easter season, not even just on Sunday morning. But on Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday and Saturday as well. He's not just a Sunday, Jesus. He's in everyday Jesus. We want to be a part of your life in a part of my but you up to open the door of your life and ask him to come in and I wonder if you've done that yet.

If you're not sure the Jesus who was born in that manger and died on the cross and rose from the dead is living in your life. I like to close with an invitation for you to believe in him, but I would also close with this invitation for some of us of the well we been a bit preoccupied that we haven't taken the time we should take for him and we have found ourselves sort of gradually lapsing back into the old patterns again. We found ourselves engaging in some of the old sins again that we thought were a part of our past and are suddenly now are a part of our present.

We don't want them to be a part of our future and if that's you, and you need to make a recommitment to him.

This should be a great moment to do it. As we close in prayer the top of our heads.

Father, thank you for loving us even when we don't love you. Thank you for remembering us even when we sometimes forget you. Thank you for never running from us even though we have run from you.

In fact, you don't run from us. You want to run to us because we think of the story of the prodigal son who ran away from his father.

And it's a picture of us running from you, but when he came to his senses and returned home. You tell us that the father ran to him and threw his arms around and we know that's how you feel that every one of us knew long for fellowship and friendship with us.

You long for relationship with us and I pray not for anybody here who does not yet know you at this could be the moment when they come to know you and believing you know what our heads about and her eyes are closed and were praying.

I wonder if there's someone here on this rainy night in December that isn't sure if there sin is forgiven here. Not certain that if you were to die tonight or tomorrow that she would go to heaven but you want to be sure you want a relationship with God you want to go to heaven when you die you want to know him in a personal way. If that's you, if you would like Christ to come of your life and forgive you of your sin. If you would like to know that you will go to heaven when you die, would you just raise up your hand right now and let me just pray for you, bless you as you are candid, but she was well anybody else got bless you to come bless you down the aisle just raise your hand apartment I can see it is a 90 Jesus in my life got bless you and you and you anybody else raise your hand up if you have it raised again if you want Christ to come into your life. Let me pray for you accomplish us anybody else raise your hand up any place in the room, let me pray for you tonight to bless you back there.

Come bless each one of you what I had just about maybe some of you would say you know what I've kind of lost sight of Jesus I become a little too busy for Jesus.

I've begun to leave my first love. And I don't want to do that right here right now I want to recommit myself as he's told us.

I need to remember from where I fall and then they need to repent. They need to change my direction and do those things again. I need to I want to make a recommitment to Christ tonight if that's your desire. When that you raise your hand up and let me pray for you tonight.

Bless you bless anybody else raise your hand to me. Pray for you tonight compass. Each one of you now, Lord, I pray that you will help everyone of us to make that commitment to follow you as Savior and Lord. Naaman asked everyone of you that look to drink and I want you to stand your feet and I'm a lead you in a prayer stand your feet, you heard me right. If you raise your hand. Even if you did not, but you want to make this commitment a recommitment to Jesus Christ and I want you to stand your feet, lead you in a simple prayer publishes understanding anybody else stand up to pray together to publish might be a few more of you that want to stand stand. Now let me pray with you even if you did not raise your hand but you want to make this commitment a recommitment to the Lord, stand up will pray together. Anybody else stand.

Others are standing by the way, so you will be alone anybody else stand up now let me lead you in this prayer committing your life or recommitting your life to Christ. God bless all of you standing now as I pray this prayer want you to print out loud after me right where you stand. This is what you're asking him to forgive you of your sin in your making a decision to follow him some meanness prayer from your heart and God will hear you and gobble lengths of this prayer again as I pray pray this out loud after me. Okay, pray these words Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner but I know you're the Savior who was born in that manger and died on the cross and rose again from the dead, Jesus I choose to follow you from this moment forward as my Savior and Lord is my God and friend. Thank you for never forgetting about me.

Thank you for sharing this prayer and answering it in Jesus name I pray in men come bless everyone to be that pray that prayer