All right, good morning. Welcome to Breen Community Church, those of you who are here and those of you who are online. Again, today is our special Christmas service and obviously that normally we have children who perform, you know, they prepare and perform up here on the stage and obviously this year we're not able to do that.

It's been a very strange year this year, 2020. But again, we believe that God is sovereign, that even in the midst of all of this, that God has a purpose for all of this. If you can turn your Bibles with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 1, I'm going to be reading from verse 22 through 25.

Okay, 1 Corinthians chapter 1, 22 through 25. For in these Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. To Jews a stumbling block and to the Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you and praise you for the privilege that we have to be able to come and worship you, especially now, Lord God, as we've gathered together to celebrate Christ's birth and what it means for us. Help us, Lord God, to open our ears, our eyes, soften our hearts as you are the potter and we are the clay, that you would mold us according to your purpose and will.

So we pray, Father God, that your Holy Spirit would take the words that are taught and it would illuminate us that we may understand and apply it in our lives. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Donald Trump. Okay. As soon as I say his name, in our generation, you get different emotions, right?

So the people, depending on where you stand on your politics, when you say Donald Trump, he is either Hitler or the best president the United States has ever had in history, maybe next to Lincoln or better than Lincoln. And obviously you have people who have opinions kind of on either side, variation.

Whatever your politics is, we have to admit that this political year probably has been the most polarizing of anything that I can remember. And sad to say, churches and even some family members, there's so heated debates on either side. But whatever the case, Donald Trump was not going to save the world.

Our political system is made in such a way there's checks and balances, so that no matter what president is in there, they have other branches that kind of he needs to get permission and make sure that he doesn't have all power. And no matter who gets elected, every four years they have to do it again.

And so someone else might come in and then whoever gets elected there, another person will come in. He is not going to affect the eternity of mankind. But there is an individual that you and I are here to celebrate that was equally even more polarizing. Some said he was a crazy man.

He came and claimed to be the son of God and then fooled all these people. Now 2,000 years later, millions of people have been fooled by this man and have wasted countless amount of money, lives, telling and proclaiming the things that he said that he was. Or he actually was the son of God who came to save mankind.

C.S. Lewis says it like this about Jesus, "A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things that Jesus said and would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg or else who would be the devil of hell.

You must make your choice. Either this man was and is the son of God or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool. You can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God.

But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." Where we stand on who Jesus is will either affect our eternity, we praise him as our Lord and Savior and so we believe that when we die that we have eternity with him for eternity or we reject him as a crazy man.

There's nothing in between. You cannot come and say, "Well, there's a lot of good things to learn from a man who said he was God." There's no good thing to glean from a person who said that he died and resurrected from the dead. Either he really is what he says he is or he's a crazy man to be forgotten.

2,000 years later, Jesus' name is proclaimed more today than it was 2,000 years ago. The effects that Jesus had on humanity, whether you believe or don't believe, we all agree, had probably the greatest impact in human history. So today we want to look at in the early church when Christ was being proclaimed, the text says as Apostle Paul was going to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, he says, "Some asked for signs.

The Jews asked for signs and the Greeks looked for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified." He said, "Christ crucified was a stumbling block to the Jews and it is foolishness to those who are looking for wisdom, but to those who are being saved it is the power of God and the wisdom of God." So let's look at first of all, why were the Jews asking for signs?

I mean, you may have thought at least at one point in your life thinking that if Jesus would only just physically appear, right, if he just split the heavens open and says, "I am," right, and say, "Oh, that would affect my walk." Why were the Jews constantly asking for signs?

It wasn't because Jesus didn't give signs. In fact, the Bible repeats it over and over that he kept on performing miracles to prove who he was. Jesus changed water into wine. He opened the eyes of the blind. He healed lepers. He walked on water. And then he even actually raised people from the dead.

He's all of this to show who he said he was was true. And yet the Bible keeps saying that they wanted more signs. In John 2, 18, when he was at the temple and cleansed them, the leaders came to him and said, "What sign do you show? Show us as your authority for doing these things." Now you have to remember that Jesus performed these miracles not all over the land.

Majority of his miracles happened in these three cities, basically the size of Orange County. And for two years, everything that he did, so majority of the people there either heard of him or saw the miracle themselves. In fact, the leaders of Israel in Jerusalem, which was kind of a distance between here and San Francisco, heard of Jesus' fame and all that he was doing, and they said, "Could he possibly be the Messiah?" So they all came up to Galilee in order to check this out because that's how clear he was.

He wasn't doing this in private. He wasn't doing this in his home. He wanted to publicly show everybody who he was. And yet they continue to come and said, "We need signs." In John 6, verse 2, that's a passage where after two years of performing miracles, thousands of people are now coming to him, thousands, because they're starting to be convinced he must be the Messiah.

He's the one that we've been waiting for. So they packed up their bags and he went up to the hillside and they all went up with him. So that's 5,000 men, including women and children, possibly up to 20,000 people followed him up on the hill. And this is what he says.

This is before he performs the miracle of the bread and the fish. John 6, 2, "A large crowd followed him because they saw the signs which he was performing on those who were sick." So they were convinced by these signs. He must be the Messiah. John chapter 6, 14, after he feeds the 5,000, they say, "Therefore, when the people saw the sign which he had performed, they said, 'This truly is the prophet who is to come into the world.'" So before the miracle of multiplying the bread and the fish, they said, "We came because clearly you show signs." After they ate the miraculous bread and fish, they said, "Clearly, if there was any doubt, you have to be the Messiah." So they want to forcefully make him king because of the sign.

Well, Jesus and his disciples are tired. They go to the other side of the sea. 20,000 people see that he's not there. They pack up their bags and then they go look for him. And then when they encounter Jesus, Jesus sees right through what they were doing. And Jesus says in 626, "Jesus answered them and said, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.'" In other words, you're coming to me even though you're saying that you clearly see the sign and we want you to be our king because we see the sign.

Jesus says, "You're not coming to me because you saw the sign. You're coming to me because you ate bread and you want more." And the response in John 6 30, "So they said to him, 'Well, if what you are saying is true, if you are truly the bread, what sign do you do?'" And they just couldn't get over it.

He's performing sign after sign after sign after sign. They came to him because they saw the sign. They wanted him to be king because they saw the sign. And yet at the end, he said, "Well, prove yourself. Show us signs." In fact, Apostle Peter, when he is preaching in front of the same people who yelled out, "Crucify Jesus," in Acts chapter 2 22, he says, "Men of Israel, listen to these words.

Jesus of Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs, which God performed through him in your midst, just as you yourselves know." Peter, just in case anybody missed it, he said it was clear what he was doing. Everything that he did and he performed proved who he said he was.

And yet as Apostle Paul was preaching the gospel, he said, "They kept on asking for signs." What were they missing? By their own admission, they said they saw the signs. They came into Jerusalem after Lazarus was raised because they wanted to see the signs. In fact, the signs were so clear, even the people who wanted to crucify Jesus could not deny the signs.

And yet as he was preaching the gospel, he says, "Well, we're not going to believe until you show us the sign." So what are we missing here? What does he mean that he wants signs? Well, you have to remember what the Israels were looking for. They were God's covenant people and they thought that if they remained faithful to God, that they were going to be the superpower, that they were going to be Egypt, they were going to be Rome, they were going to be the Babylonians, but that never happened.

They experienced a brief period of success during King David and possibly Solomon, but rest of their history, if you've ever read the Old Testament, the rest of the history is Israel constantly falling into sin over and over again. And eventually they get conquered by the Assyrians and then the Babylonians and then the Persians and then the Greeks and then the Romans.

So by the time Jesus comes, they had generation after generation after generation of being dominated by these superpowers. So they thought if the Messiah comes, he's going to take vengeance upon their enemies, that he's going to overthrow the Roman government and they're going to be the superpower and they were going to be on top.

And that's why even the disciples, as Jesus was going to the cross, he kept on telling them, "I'm going to be beaten, crucified and be raised." Remember their response? They couldn't get that out of their head. Well, who's going to be the Secretary of State? Who's going to be the Vice President?

Who are you going to appoint to the left or to the right? And even as Jesus was saying, "I'm coming to die for this world." And they said, "Well, when the Romans are taken over and we are the superpower, what's going to happen to us?" So you could see the hope that they had when they saw the signs that he was performing.

He must be the Messiah. Who else can do what he is doing? And yet the problem that they had with Jesus was not what he was doing, but what he was saying. The Sermon of the Mount in Matthew 5, 38-44, "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, do not resist an evil person, but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also." Now that sounds beautiful at church.

It sounds beautiful to sing about and tell other people that Jesus told us to turn the other cheek. Tell that to somebody who's angry. Tell that to somebody who's upset. Turn the other cheek. Again, it sounds great at church, but how many of you, when somebody wrongs you, your natural reaction is the other cheek?

If somebody comes to you when you are wronged, let's say you're at a supermarket and somebody cuts in line, you know, it's a 30-minute line and they're tired of it and they cut right in front of you, do you say, "Well, thank you." Go even further up. No, that's not our natural reaction.

We want vengeance. We're going to bump them with the cart, go in front of them, because it's wrong. When you're wronged, our natural reaction isn't to turn the other cheek. So imagine the Romans or the Jews had generations of this frustration, and they were waiting for the Messiah to come to galvanize the Israelites to prepare them to go into Jerusalem and conquer Rome.

And they've never ever come close to this. This is the first time in generation after generation after generation, they have somebody who can literally just say to the storm, "Stop," and it stops. That even if somebody dies, he says, "Be raised," and they are raised. If there was any hope in their history, this was the first time.

First time Jesus walking into Jerusalem and say, "He's going to fulfill what we've been waiting for." And yet, what he was doing and what he was saying didn't fit. How can a man be so powerful just tell us to turn the other cheek? He goes further than that. If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat.

You have to remember, this is not a period when people had a wardrobe. An average person usually had one inner clothing and one outer clothing. So basically he's saying if somebody asks for it, just give them all your clothes and walk around naked. That's not practical. He's basically saying don't resist them, give it to them.

Sounds beautiful at church, but it's impossible to practice, especially with somebody who's already angry, wanting vengeance. Just turn the other cheek. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him to two. You know why he says that, go one mile, go two? Because there was a Roman law.

By law, if the soldiers came into town and they had heavy armory and he get tired, he can just stop anybody. So if they happen to be in Jerusalem walking around and here's this pregnant lady with two children, but he's tired, you take my sword, take my shield, and you walk with me for an hour, for one mile.

And by law, they had to do that. So can you imagine the resentment that they had toward the Roman soldiers? Instead of saying, just give us some time, we're organizing. The zealots are going to organize, we're sharpening our knives, we're going to pretend like we're submitting, but when the time is right, we're going to get at them.

Don't worry about it. Instead, he says, if he tells you to go one mile, go the extra mile. Give to him who asks you and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.

But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Not only did Jesus say this, he actually practiced this. When he went into Jerusalem, remember, Peter was ready to fight. When the soldiers came to take Jesus, Peter took out his sword. Why not? Even though he's not a swordsman, Jesus walks on water.

Jesus can calm storms. So if he's going to sit in Jesus' cabinet, when he comes into power, he better be courageous. So he takes out his sword and he swings. Jesus actually ends up rebuking him, puts the ear back on the guy that he cut. And Jesus says, do you not know?

Do you not know if I wanted to, I could send legions of angels to wipe these guys all out? As he is standing before Pilate, Pilate says, clearly what they're asking to do to crucify you is not fair. You are not deserving of crucifixion. Do you not know that I have the power to release you and give you life?

Why do you not defend yourself? But Jesus says to him in John 18, 36, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not of this realm.

And he surrendered. That's why the disciples were confused. I think before they were scared, they were confused. Why would this powerful Messiah not only tell them to give in, but not stand up for himself? These Romans again are taking the only hope that they had, and they're going to kill him, and he does nothing.

So as he is going to the cross, the disciples are following from a distance. I don't think they were scared, they were confused. Why would he do that? Because Jesus clearly told them, and he gave them the signs. They were blind because they were so fixated on what they wanted the Messiah to be.

And so when he gave himself up, they hid. Out of confusion, and now out of fear. And that's why even when Jesus was being resurrected, Jesus clearly says, on the third day I will resurrect, on the third day I will resurrect. But when Jesus resurrected, the disciples didn't even go to check.

Because what Jesus did by giving himself was so far from what they expected the Messiah to do, they forgot about everything and went home. They didn't even check. And then when the women came back and said he's not in the tomb, they didn't even believe it. What they were rejecting was not simply Jesus, they were rejecting his kingdom.

And that's why even though they saw all these signs, it didn't fit the Messiah that they had in their head. And that's why they kept on saying, so the sign that they want is not simply to turn turn bread and then, and then multiply it. It wasn't simply for him to walk on the water, to do something with that.

If you have all that power, and if you're the Messiah, take vengeance upon Rome. That's what they're saying, we want signs. Think about how much what we do, and we miss Christ because he doesn't quite fit what we think he should be doing in our lives. So we either walk away from him, or we keep our distance and we admire him from a distance, but he's not quite the Messiah that I want.

The Greeks wanted wisdom. You have to understand the Greeks, wisdom basically was their religion. They had more than 50 different schools of philosophies. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Stoics, Epicureans, Skeptics, Pythagoras, on and on and on. And so their religion was their knowledge. So they would come into the villages and they would set up shop, and then the Platos and the Stoics would sit there and they would debate each other.

And then people would basically come, and if you happen to have the greater argument, you would become a celebrity. And if you're a celebrity, you would make the money. And so at that time, it was the philosophers who were the entertainers. Philosophers were the movie stars. They were the celebrities.

And so they're saying, if you want your religion to be better than ours, prove it. Give us the knowledge. Now, Apostle Paul could have easily, easily wiped them clean with his knowledge, because in Acts 22 verse 3, he says he was a direct disciple of Gamaliel. Gamaliel was a top scholar of Israel.

In fact, Gamaliel is very well known outside of the Christian circle because of his scholarship. Some believe that he may have become a Christian, but that's not for sure. But for sure, it says, Apostle Paul was very, very highly educated. So if he wanted to, you know, he could come into any village and just wipe them clean just with his knowledge.

In fact, in Acts chapter 26 verse 24, as Apostle Paul is in prison, he's standing before each of the leaders. Instead of defending himself, he starts preaching the gospel about Jesus Christ. So Governor Festus, recognizing who Apostle Paul says this, he says both Jews and Greeks, he says this in verse 24 of Acts 26, while Paul was saying this in his defense, Festus said in a loud voice, "Paul, you are out of your mind.

Your great learning is driving you mad." So the governor of Jerusalem already knew about Paul, that he was very well educated. But instead of using that knowledge to defend himself, he said, "You must have gone mad. You just went too far." Apostle Paul, if he thought that the power was in knowledge, he could have wiped them clean.

If the power was just with the miracles, they could have went to each city and just performed miracles. And I remember when the charismatic movement was sweeping the land, and I remember praying that God would give me the gift of healing for the purpose of evangelism. And I say, "If I had the gift of healing, I would go to Angel Stadium, and when people come to get their peanuts and hot dogs, I would just slay people right there." You know what I mean?

Instead of every week like slaving over to like, "What does this mean? What is this text? What does it create? What's the syntax?" I just read a passage and just go out and just slay people. And believe in Jesus, and if you don't, this is going to happen to you.

You know? Go to Dodger Stadium or go to some parade and knock people out, you know? If that's what was going to bring them to Christ, he said, "If that's what they needed, the apostles could have easily done that." But he says, "They want science. Greeks want wisdom." He said, "We preach Christ crucified." He said it was a stumbling block to the Jews.

The word stumbling basically means in Greek is skandalon. It became scandalous. That Christ crucified caused the Jews to stumble because the very Messiah that they were hoping and praying for, they themselves ended up rejecting. And he was a chief cornerstone that they rejected, became the cornerstone that they absolutely needed to build Israel.

So they became, the gospel became a stumbling block, a skandalon to the Jews and foolishness to the world. If you grew up in church, you probably may have forgotten or maybe if you don't, you know, take your time and evangelize and talk to non-Christians, just how foolish the gospel sounds.

If you grew up in the church, you never really thought through. You're just kind of like, "Oh yeah, Jesus loved me and died for me and I became a Christian and that's great. And one day when I die, I'm going to go to heaven." So you know the basics of the Christian faith, but you never seriously asked.

If I told you that I have a million dollars, right, and you guys know me, right, and I told you I have a million dollars and I'm just going to give it to you, the first person who stands up right now, I'll give you a million dollars. You don't stand up.

Why don't you stand up? It's a million dollars. Because you know I don't have a million dollars. You see in the car I drive, right, you know I don't have a million dollars, even though you trust me. Imagine going down to just random people on the street and say, "You know what?

You know I have a million dollars. If you come to my house, I'll give it to you." How many people do you think will follow you because they believe you? It's hard to believe, right? It's hard to believe. The message of the cross is mankind rebelled against God. We're blaspheming His name.

The God of the universe who created us. And instead of wiping us out, He has compassion. And in order to save us from our own sin and our own rebellion, our own blasphemy, not only does He not condemn us, He sends His only begotten Son. Only begotten Son. He has more than a million dollars.

Only begotten Son to take our place and the punishment that you and I deserve, that He took it upon Himself that if we believe Him that He will cleanse us of our sins and that we're going to be in eternity. Now you're in the church, so you've heard it so many times, it just sounds like, "Oh, that's a great message." Listen as a non-Christian how ridiculous that sounds.

You want me to believe that? Really? God became man? Now if I told you that God got angry with the world and He wants to wipe it out, that's easier to believe. Isn't that easier to believe? Right? All-powerful God, people who are rebelling against Him, and He chose to wipe us out?

That makes more sense. That God in the universe would give His most precious Son to die to redeem sinners? And not only do you want us to believe that, you want us to put all our eggs in the same basket and go tell the world about this? Are you serious?

No wonder it's foolishness to the world. It is foolishness to the world if you only know the surface of what happened. And I think that's a big problem with a generation of Christians who are biblically illiterate because they don't understand. And that's why they can't bear fruit. Because when you talk to non-Christians, you can't explain.

It is foolishness. And when the world desires power, it's like, "Yeah, I wish God did this." They said they asked for wisdom, the Jews asked for signs, but we preach Christ crucified. Power of God and the wisdom of God. You know that power? You know when we think about power, right?

Not all power is useful. Power is only useful if it is directed toward the problem. Just like, I don't know if you've ever tried to remove a tree. You know, no matter how big it is, you can cut it all down, but the tree trunk, it's almost impossible to dig out by yourself, right?

Especially the larger the trunk, the harder it is to take out. So you actually need a tree trunk remover. I don't know what the technical word is, but the tree trunk remover basically has a huge drill and you put it on top of the stump, and then it starts to drill.

And what may have taken you a year to dig out by yourself and get all the roots, this thing does in minutes. You just turn it on, you go, "puh, puh, puh, puh, puh, puh," and it comes and just wipes everything out, and then a tree trunk comes in little bits and pieces and it's gone.

But as powerful as that is, if you're trying to demolish a building, it's useless. Because that power wasn't made for that. Same thing with wisdom. You can have a PhD in molecular science. You can be a rocket scientist with several PhDs, but it's completely useless when you're trying to communicate with your wife and with your husband.

So no amount of knowledge is going to help you with that. In fact, I remember years ago we had a pediatrician at our church, and he went to medical school, had extra fellowship, and he was an expert in that field. But they didn't have children, so when the wife first got pregnant, she was so frustrated because the doctor would never take any advice.

She's like, "You know, I do this for a living. I'm the one who tell them about Lamas. I'm the one who tell them about the birth cycle." And then so she's like, "Oh," she's so frustrated because she's like, "Don't worry about it. I got this. I got a doctorate in this." And then they finally had a child.

And then about two months into raising this infant, I remember the husband and wife came to our home, and he sat there and his doctor was completely lost for words. Basically, he hasn't slept in two months. And he was just staring out into space. And at that time, we had four children in our home, and he looked at it and said, "How do you do this?" All that learning, he had head knowledge, but it was completely different once he had a child in his home.

He had all the right things to say until he actually had a child in his home, and he realized this was far different than what he imagined. Obviously, that probably made him a better doctor, but all the knowledge in the world, if it is not geared toward the problem that you need to solve, is useless.

It wasn't that Jesus was not performing signs. It wasn't that there isn't knowledge and wisdom behind what he was doing, but the primary problem with mankind was not Rome. The primary problem with mankind was not lack of knowledge. The Bible says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." The primary problem of mankind is mankind.

There's a lot of debate right now about socialism, about capitalism, about communism, but in the end, it's not the system, because no matter what kind of system you bring in, if the people in that system is corrupt, they're going to corrupt no matter what they do. So if you believe that if you change the system, mankind is good, and if you change the system, they'll be able to do good things.

In the end, that's what communism really is. Communism basically is mankind in and of itself is good. It's the system that's corrupt that causes certain people to be rich and certain people to be poor. So if you take out the system and let mankind opportunity to be good to other human beings, then they'll be good.

They'll naturally share with one another, work hard so that the other people can benefit from their hard labor. That's communism. It has proven to not work. Whatever your political view may be, I don't think any of you will disagree with me that people work harder when they benefit personally.

I remember the first time I went to China in 1993, walking into a restaurant, and at that time, it was a pure communist system. They got paid $5, $10 a month, no matter what they did, and I remember every time we walked in, they would be upset because they'd have to work.

They had to turn on the light. They would come in and slam the chopsticks on our table. What do you want? And then if we sat around talking a little bit longer than we should, they'd say, "Okay, time to get out," and they'd shut the lights off. They did the minimum that they had to do.

Again, whatever your political ideology is, I hope there's no communists here, but whatever political ideology is, I don't think anybody would disagree that we work harder when we are more selfishly motivated, but in the end, it's not the system. The Bible is not the system that's corrupt. No matter what leader you put in there and no matter what system you put in, the corruption the Bible says is in our own heart.

We've fallen short of the glory of God. Now, I remember years ago when Facebook first came out, there was a big issue about privacy, right? And I was a little bit surprised that so many people were angry about the privacy setting of Facebook. It's like, "Oh, you know, like, we don't own it.

They own it, and they can access. They do whatever they want with their information," and I remember surprised because I said, "When I posted things on Facebook, I was posting it on www, World Wide Web. I never thought that that was going to be private." You know what I mean?

Maybe that's a generational thing that you put it on the internet. I just assume it's not mine, or else I wouldn't put it up there, but I realize the younger generation is different, right? But why are you so concerned about your privacy? Why are you so concerned about your privacy?

What if somebody had a million dollars that they just don't need, and they're looking the internet to find, you know, worthy people who are in need, and they want to give you some money, and you won't let them into your Facebook? Aren't you concerned about that? If you're in need, just put it out there.

It's like, "Hey, I need $100," and what if somebody wants to give it to you, but because of your privacy, Setti, you protect your identity, they can't come to ... Aren't you concerned about that? That you're going to miss out on the goodness of mankind? Probably not, right? No, we protect their privacy because we don't trust anybody.

Maybe there is one guy like that, but majority of the people, you're concerned that they're going to take whatever information you have, and they're going to be up to no good. Let me ask you, is it harder to make friends when you're older or easier? It's much harder. It's much easier to make friends when you're younger.

When you have a child, and you take a kid, and you throw them into the playground, they play with each other, and they're best friends next day. "Yeah, I want to be your best friend." "Me too." And then they grow up together. That don't happen in your 30s, in your 40s.

It's much harder. Why? Why is it harder to make friends when you're older? Because we don't trust people. It's years of being burned and being disappointed. I don't know anybody, they're older, and they're more open and generous. They become more grizzled and more careful and more skeptical of people because we've all been burned because we've had enough time to experience mankind.

Look at the internet. I mean, the technology that we have, I mean, the advancement of technology that made our life easier. I was just thinking the other day, like, how did we ever get anywhere without GPS? Remember, some of you guys, when we didn't have, we had to look up the map, and if you didn't have that map, you had to go by memory.

And I remember one time I was coming home from somewhere, and I was probably about five minutes away from home, and I didn't realize I was lost until 20 minutes later, it says, "Welcome to San Bernardino." And it's like, "Oh, my gosh, I've been going the wrong way for like 30 minutes." And I had to turn the car back around, go back home.

I was only five minutes away from home. I was daydreaming, and then I just wasn't paying attention. I was like, "But how do we get anywhere without GPS?" So all this advancement of mankind, and think about all the access that we have on the internet. Any question that I have, I can say, "Google, when did Genghis Khan live?

How many children did he have? Did he have any Christian influence?" Like, boom, right there, on the tip of your finger. Well, all the advancement of technology and everything that we have, you know what the top 10 visited sites in the internet is? All porn sites. Top 10. Top 10.

So all the technology, the things that we do is dictated because the biggest funds generating, money generating industry is pornography. More than Netflix, more than Hollywood, more than NBA and NFL, it's pornography. So the root problem of mankind is mankind himself. And no matter how much we fix, no matter how many laws that we pass to taper the racism, in the end, racism is not a system in and of itself.

It's the man in the system. And that's what Jesus says that he came to deal with. He can overthrow the Roman government. He can give everybody a PhD in knowledge, but the root cause of the problem of mankind is mankind himself. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

See, God had intended you and I to be in the presence of his glory and to give him worship. There's a reason why Governor Newsom made entertainment essential. While he said, you know, religious gatherings are not essential, entertainment is essential. Because entertainment is a form of worship to a non-Christian.

You and I were made for worship because in the period that you and I are in, in darkness, people are depressed, they can't go to work, they're having financial problems. But at least if you are entertained, you can forget for a period. You can find peace for a period.

You can find joy for a period. So it is a non-Christian's way of dealing with the problem of mankind to temporarily forget your problems. And so they have declared it essential because they're not Christians. They don't understand. But the very reason why you and I are here and all over the world celebrating the birth of Christ is because Christ came to deal with the central problem of mankind, is our own sins.

It's because we have fallen short of God's glory. Until we are restored back to his glory, we will always be trapped. We will always be trapped seeking temporary glory in something else. That's how we get so hooked on making celebrities and idols and movies. In and of itself, they're not evil.

But mankind who does not recognize his primary problem will constantly go to temporary fixes for temporary life. But Jesus said that he came to give life and give this life abundantly. And until our eyes are open to the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ, we will always be bound by whatever catches our attention.

But here's a problem. We've fallen short of God's glory and mankind, because we do not see his glory, we cannot worship him. That's why Christ came. That's why Christ came, because he wanted to restore us back to his glory. Hebrews chapter 1, 3 says, "He is the radiance of the glory and the exact representation of his nature." So he came in human form representing God's glory.

2 Corinthians 4, 6, "For God who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' is the one who has shown in his own heart to give the light of knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." Because we were separated from God's glory, Christ came to reflect his glory and then to bring us to him.

In John 17, 1, when Jesus was headed toward the cross, he says, "Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that the Son may glorify you." So Christ crucified is to magnify the glory of God and to cover us with his blood so that we may enter into his glory.

Because you and I, in our own sins, cannot stand before a holy God. Because he is so pure. It's just like going to the nuclear bomb center. It's just pure energy. But that pure energy, if we're not protected, will kill us. And that's what the Bible says. A man in his sinful state cannot enter to see his glory.

And that's what's the dilemma of mankind, that you and I have been separated from the ultimate object of worship, the very reason why you and I were created. And that's why Christ came in his power, in his wisdom, that he offered himself to cover us and to impute his righteousness on us so that we may enter his throne of grace with confidence.

And that's why the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian is described. A non-Christian is somebody who the enemy has blinded so that they do not see the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. But Christians are people who, covered by the blood of Christ, we are constantly gazing at his glory.

And we're living in eternity in worship. Those of you who've never experienced true worship before God, if you're a sports fan, I mean it's a crude analogy, but it's the closest thing that we can come to. The euphoria that you experience when something beyond you is in your presence, you break out into worship, something beyond you, that's something that causes you to be awed.

If you're a fan of Lakers or baseball and they win the championship and you see the struggle and at the end when you are observing, you did nothing. What did you get out of that? They don't give you a free hat. You don't get a stake of that team.

But you would spend hundreds, maybe even thousands of dollars buying their clothing, identifying with what? What do you get out of it? Joy. Life. Fellowship with other people who feel the same. Community. Simply because you observed something magnificent before you. There's a reason why people don't pay money to go see middle-aged men play basketball, because it's not glorious.

So we get that kind of joy from watching sports. Imagine what we fell from. Imagine what He's trying to restore us back to when our eyes become open to the glory of our Father. Greatest truth, greatest power, greatest love that you and I could possibly imagine in Christ. That's the invitation of Christmas.

Christ came so that He can walk on earth, so that we can become a sympathetic high priest, and He made the invitation. All who are weary and heavy laden, He says, "I will give you rest." Those of you who are moving around, seeking to find purpose in life, wanting something to give your life to, all of that may be because you've been separated from the author of life.

So, this Christmas, we celebrate not simply the miracle of God becoming man, but His sacrifice. That He who knew no sin became sin, so that you and I may become the righteousness of God. And that same invitation that He gave 2,000 years ago is the same invitation that continues to be repeated until He comes.

If you confess your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive of all your unrighteousness. If you would simply come before Him, acknowledge that you are a sinner in need of the blood of Christ to cover you, and He will open your eyes to what you have fallen from.

That He wants to restore you to worship Him in spirit and in truth. So this morning, I encourage you that if any part of what's been said made any sense to you, to just come before God honestly and say, "Lord, I've fallen from You. Would You open my eyes?

Lord, I'm a sinner. I've been trying to fix my marriage. I've been trying to fix the world. I've been trying to fix my kids, but I recognize the greatest problem is me. And the only power and the only wisdom that can change me is Christ crucified." So if you would just come before God honestly and say, "Lord, forgive me of my sins," He will forgive you.

So I pray, again, after the service, we'll have a place back, you know, where our outreach team will be there and some of the pastors will be there to answer some of your questions. So invite some of you who are interested in that to go there right after service and they'll give you the help that you need.

But the message of Christmas is not just for, again, non-Christians, it's for Christians. If you've been at church all your life and you've, you acknowledge the power, but that power never affected you. You've gained so much knowledge, but your eyes have never truly been open to the wisdom of God.

That maybe today, maybe this Christmas season, take a step back and ask yourself, "Do I know this power? Do I know this wisdom of God?" So that this Christmas season will not just be a religious thing that we do and pass by, but to really fix our eyes upon Christ.