I feel like the foster care experience really molded me and shaped me and made me who I am today.

It made me care about people because I would be out by myself on the field.

I didn't have anybody to eat lunch with.

I didn't know.

I didn't have anybody to talk to.

And then the day that we went from short-term to long-term foster, they just picked me up from school and said, OK, you're moving.

And I had three other siblings in the home, and we didn't even get to go say goodbye.

So things like that, you don't.

You don't ever forget that, but I think that the lessons I've learned have prepared me to go into nursing and to care about other people and to be there for other people.

One thing I really love about the church here is that they have a big, big heart on missions.

And I didn't know until later that the elders from West Covina Church of Christ, when they started, she's CCP, their dream was always to have a medical clinic there.

But I'll never forget the first trip.

We're in the slums.

And we had this big four pieces of plywood on top of these plastic pipes.

And they had the worst sound system ever.

It was like held together with little wires.

And it squeaked and squawked and it was just like horrible.

And then when they're singing and dancing, the boards are flopping and the legs are shaking.

I go, okay, now you get to go up there and do your testimony.

I was like, oh my gosh.

So I shared about my life being in foster care and my life as Christ, what he's done in my life.

And I'll never forget, because I really hated social workers, because every time I saw one we were being moved.

And so then the social workers from CCP, wrapped her arms around me and held me and didn't say too much and then she said you know everything that you've gone through are what these single moms that are raising these orphans that's what their experiences so the women can relate to what you're saying and I thought okay now I get that that was a training ground for the ministries that he was going to involve me in later on I didn't sponsor a child for a really really long time because as a nurse I was going around seeing everybody and I didn't want to play favorites But then baby Helen came up.

I knew baby Helen.

I knew her mom.

Her mom passed away.

So her sister had to raise Helen.

When Helen was little, she was so tiny, she didn't have enough strength to suck a bottle.

So we really didn't think that she was going to live a month.

But from her, we decided that we needed to have a food supplement program.

And it comes in a little bag.

And it was cheap back then.

It was only $8.

But from that, she started gaining weight and thriving.

And she's able to eat.

And now she's 15 years old and going to high school, and she's this amazing, healthy, happy young girl.

And I get letters from Helen all the time.

She calls me her mom and pictures.

And I was showing him the letter, and the most beautiful penmanship you ever saw.

And many of the kids now are coming back and serving at CCP.

And I just love that.

I'm so proud of them that day.

They just have really, all of them that are finding jobs are finding things where they can care and get back to the community, they're becoming pastors, and that's way exciting.

I think a lot about my life and what God has done in my life, and I wish I had another hundred years to serve Him more, because I don't want to go to heaven and say, I'm arguing because I had to take out the trash today.

I want to be there saying, Jesus, we had children that were saved because...

The work that you did at CCP and these the people on the trips they are lifelong friends It's not just for a couple of weeks.

They're in your heart forever They're the first people I call when I'm like hey I'm kind of need prayer and they'll be there for you the heart for me was opening up and tell him I'm hurting and I Need help, but I had too much pride and I go oh no I got to have it all together, and we don't have it all together But that's okay because you do and you'll help me when I'm down and when you're down then I'll be there for you My wife and Donna are friends from the kids school.

They see each other every day and Donna got to tell him Stella about you know having a problem over here and she was in a need and I have a need to help and so that's what I did.

I was came here to help Donna.

I just really was compelled to help her for whatever reason.

So he volunteered to come and help us and he's been a godsend because he won't take any money for himself.

He only wants to do this.

He said he hasn't felt good about himself in a long time doing something to help somebody.

So I could see God's hand in everything.

How people donated money without us asking.

It's just so neat the whole link of our church that I love that.

So thank you so much for all you've done for us.

Well, well, well, hard to believe that it's the week before Christmas, isn't it?

Man, that's hard to believe.

No, not hard to believe?

It's so hard to believe.

Most of you are asleep right now.

You're so tired.

You just want to, yeah.

It's that time of year, as I've said before, we get so worn out because we're attending so many different things, and it's a shame, really.

I know it's the life of us in the West, but it's, I just want to encourage you, man, do the best you can.

Accept God's grace in all this, but do the best you can to get your focus where it needs to be.

And that's me included, that's all of us.

So I want you to turn to two passages of Scripture.

Maybe I can help you a little bit here.

Revelation 12 and Matthew 2.

Starting with Matthew 2.

Matthew 2, Revelation 12.

In a series called Unexpected Christmas.

Want to welcome Rancho.

Great things happening out there.

West Coast, great things happening there as well.

And as I said last week, I used to think the Christmas narrative was limited in its application.

So I dreaded every year.

Coming up with new Christmas messages, because it's the same story, it never changes.

And then in my 40s and 50s, I began to realize how, okay, stupid I really was, that there's so much here, you just got to do a little digging, got to do a little research, and began to understand that it's jam-packed.

It is a microcosm, every detail of the story of our lives.

I mean, think about it.

Mary encounters God, and her life gets more difficult.

Isn't that life?

You encounter God, your life doesn't get easier, it gets more difficult.

New life comes through brokenness, so great lives seem to suffer the most as if pain produces something extraordinary or something from another world.

Some of the most successful, some of those who accomplish the greatest things that I have met in my life have suffered the greatest trials and tragedies.

It's the way life works.

Joseph sacrifices his reputation to follow Jesus.

We don't even hear from him anymore.

The shepherds, the lowly ones, the humble ones, they're the first ones to receive the message that a savior has been born in Bethlehem.

God often exalts the humble while the prideful fall.

On and on it goes.

Then you got Herod.

He represents everything that is evil in the first century.

And he loses his sanity because his identity is wrapped up in his power.

And he'll do anything to keep it, including killing his own sons, his own family.

to make sure they can't usurp the throne from him.

Now, if that's not a microcosm of our world today, I don't know what is, because our leaders, let's be honest, no matter what side of the aisle you're on, our leaders no longer do what's best for us.

They do whatever will keep them in power.

And that's the first step toward the disintegration of culture in any nation.

When you do, whatever gives you the most money and the most power, rather out of love and genuine concern for all of humanity.

So now we come to the part of the story I'm enamored with this.

I may have a problem.

I may be obsessed.

My wife told me that this week.

You're obsessed with the wise men, with the magi.

I mean, why can't you just get over it?

And it's hard to get over it because who are these guys?

Who are they?

And why did they bring gifts?

Now, at least we do know that they were men because had they been women, right, they would have asked for directions, arrived on time, helped clean the stable and brought practical gifts.

So we know they're men, but we're told they came from the East.

I mean, what's that mean?

If I told you that someone came from the East in California, I mean, that could be London, that could be Africa, that could even be Mississippi, anything East of here.

It could even mean East Tennessee, which I have a hard time believing.

Very doubtful.

They also tell us, the passage does, that the baby was born in Bethlehem, and the Magi, the wise men...

We're following a star.

What on earth does that mean?

If I see a star in the sky and I start to follow it, I could end up anywhere.

And the Bible tends to be far more specific when it's talking about history.

And without context here, it sounds more like myth.

So here's what I want to do.

I just want to tell you something.

Here's my Christmas gift to you.

This sermon was an hour and ten minutes long.

It's now 40.

There's my Christmas gift to you.

That means I've had to cut a lot of stuff out.

A lot of it will be in your outline online.

You can also go back to 2019 on our website and all the scientific research behind what I'm about to tell you, you can discover.

But I want to get to the application part of this story because typically it takes me so long to build the foundation that I have to rush through that.

And I don't want to do that.

The application is too important.

So here's what I want to do.

I want to start by reading the text.

Let's read the Bible.

What the Bible says.

This is Matthew 2.

after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea.

So whatever we're talking about happened after the birth of Jesus, after the birth in the cave, in the manger.

During the time of King Herod, magi from the east came to Jerusalem.

Now they are coming from the east and ask, where is the one who was born King of the Jews?

Now, why would anyone traveling from the east care about a King of the Jews?

Why would that be enamored with their own king.

We saw his star and here is the operative line, when it rose and have come to worship him.

The translation of the original language should read, we saw the star at its rising, which is a reference to the heliacal rising of a comet.

And that's why I have made the argument that the Bethlehem star was actually one of the most visible, one of the most powerful comets ever known to man.

Now, I didn't just pull that out of the air.

many early Christians and most early church fathers.

In fact, there's a famous painting by the Italian artist Giotto de Bodone.

I'm sorry, I do the best I can with this.

And he painted a nativity scene because he got that wrong.

The nativity, the wise man did not come to the nativity.

They came to the house later.

He got that part wrong.

But if you notice this famous painting in Padua's arena, there's a comet in the background.

He paints the Bethlehem star as a comet.

Now here's why people who study history believe that the Bethlehem star was a comet that was traversing along the same path that the constellations traverse or the sun and the moon traverse.

First of all, the Babylonians, by the way, that's from afar, that's a long way toward the east.

They were the ones who mapped out the constellations.

Do you know that?

The same constellations we have today are mapped out hundreds and hundreds of years ago by the Babylonians.

They were the stargazers.

The reason they were the stargazers is because not only the Babylonians, but also the Egyptians and many others in the ancient world believed that before some major event happened on earth, it would first be played out and demonstrated in the heavens, in the constellations.

So they were always looking, so if there was going to be a major regime change, it would somehow be played out in the heavens.

If there was going to be a great death of some famous leader, it was first going to be played out in the heavens within the constellations.

So they had named the constellation, and each constellation had something significant about it.

Now, Nero, he was so convinced that when you saw a comet, that it meant a regime change, that he saw a comet, and he was encouraged by his astronomy friend, a Baobus, an interesting name.

To kill everybody that had any kind of potential of usurping his throne.

So he killed 38 noblemen just because he saw a comet.

Because he was convinced somebody was going to take over his throne.

Many church scholars believe two things about the wise men.

Number one, they believe they came from Babylon and that Daniel, when he was in exile, shared the prophecies with them about the coming Messiah.

So they became familiar with passages like Numbers 24, 17.

A star will come out of Jacob, a scepter will rise out of Israel.

And then Isaiah 9, 2, the people walking in darkness have seen a great light.

On those living in the land of deep darkness, a light has dawned.

And then Micah 5, 2.

Says, but you Bethlehem of Frothoth, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me, one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient times.

So the point is, it's not like the wise men coming from Babylon, which I'm 90 plus percent sure that's where they came from.

It's not like they just chose a star and decided to see if it would lead them anywhere.

They knew practically the general vicinity.

where this king was going to be born because Daniel had shared the prophecies when Daniel was leader over the wise men that just perpetuated over generation after generation so that you had Babylonian wise men who were so frustrated at the cruelty and ineptitude of their own kings, they started looking for the king of kings and they knew he would be born in somewhere near Jerusalem. So they've got a general idea.

Second, the Magi had been watching and investigating the heavens for generations before Jesus was born.

They believed, watch out for the celestial play that occurs to tell us that this King of the Jews, Messiah, is going to be born.

Now I want you to go over, flip the page, if you will, to Revelation chapter 12, 1 through 5.

This is amazing because there are many scholars who believe that Revelation 12, 1 through 5, gives us what played out in the constellations for the Babylonians to believe, the Babylonian wise men to believe that the birth of Messiah is here.

And they believe we're told the story through the Holy Spirit.

And John got to see that story in Revelation 12.

And here's what it says.

I'm going to read it, but I want you to pay attention to something that's behind me.

Okay.

You listen to what I'm saying, but I want you to notice something.

Here's what the text says.

It says, a great sign appeared in heaven.

In the constellations, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of 12 stars on her head.

She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth.

Then another sign appeared in heaven, an enormous red dragon with seven heads and 10 hordes and seven crowns on its heads.

Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky, flung them to the earth.

The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth.

so that it might devour her child the moment he was born.

She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.

Now, there's a theological application to this, and many scholars believe this is a reference to the birth of Jesus.

But there's also the belief that this played out in the constellations, not because God is an astronomer or an astrologist, but because he's giving a sign to the Babylonians.

who were pagans, that the king of the Jews has been born, a king that's above all kings.

Now, I've always wanted to play with one of these things.

I have an incredible...

I want to do this to Rick Reed.

So bless his heart, he can't defend himself.

But let me explain to you.

First of all, the zodiacal constellations are named specifically, each constellation is it's given a name.

has certain creatures that developed over time by connecting the stars.

And there were myths associated with these.

There were legends, but there were also strong, firm beliefs that when some activity happened in specific constellations, that something dramatic was about to happen in the terrestrial.

So before something dramatic happened in the terrestrial, it would first be imagized, really, in the celestial.

So I want you to notice something.

Around 2 to 5 BC.

When Jesus Christ was born, there's a famous comet that appeared.

We have records of comets and of all kinds of constellation activity.

But in a certain period or season, the constellation Virgo, which by the way is the only female in the zodiacal, right?

She is described as having wings.

She is described as being pregnant, having children.

she is described as beautiful, adorned by the stars, by the sun, by the moon.

And in one particular case, when the Babylonians would have been watching for the birth of Christ, we know historically speaking that there was a time when Virgo, the way she appeared to us on planet earth, would stand upright.

And as she stood upright to our view, the sun was indeed.

She was clothed with the sun and the moon way down here.

was at her feet.

That's the specific period of time when that happens in the constellation.

And the belief was that there is a comet during that time that appeared.

So I've got my little pointer here.

And the comet then traveled.

And when the comet became, okay, this thing is not as powerful.

Hold on a minute.

Oh, don't do that to me.

Where did it go?

There it is.

So the comet at its heliacal rising, that is when it became in full view, because it was no longer overshadowed by the sun, appeared to travel in such a way that would go into the womb of Virgo or the virgin.

And then at each sight, at each time the comet was visible, At one point, this is a very weak light and it's ticking me off.

At one point, it dropped as if it had been delivered.

Now, as the comet drops, looking like the virgin has delivered a baby, at its feet, you'll notice, you've got the lion, the seven-headed, ten-horned lion, which represents authority, but right at the feet of Virgo is the serpentine dragon.

Hydra.

So when this text would have been written, and by the way, this text was seen as many as a description of what happened at the birth of Christ, when they would have seen the comet that appeared, the famous comet appear and move its way through Virgo and then extract itself as if it were being born and moving at a faster pace.

And then you've got Hydra, the dragon right over here.

At this time or this season, the dragon, as she stands up, would appear to be right at her feet ready to devour the child.

So that's why, that's what the Magi saw.

When they saw this acted out in the constellations, something told them, well, it's time.

Daniel told us about the prophecies.

The virgin is about to give birth.

The dragon is about to devour her or the child of the virgin.

So we are going to go now to where?

We're going to go to Jerusalem because they knew through the prophecies written down.

They weren't guessing.

So the bright comet, the bright star they follow, but they know the general vicinity they're going or traveling in.

They're going to travel toward Jerusalem.

Now, the other thing is, we're told in verse 5 that she gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.

And it's interesting that all comets have tails that look like scepters.

So they're following this comet.

Now, go back now to Matthew chapter 2, verse 3.

When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed and all Jerusalem with him.

Why is he disturbed?

Well, he's heard about a comet.

He's heard the Magi are following the comment.

He's assuming there's going to be a regime change and his people are disturbed because usually when he gets wind of this, he starts murdering people.

Verse four, when he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born.

Now notice the Bible says in verse five, in Bethlehem in Judea.

Now here's what's really interesting.

Bethlehem's name is House of Grain.

The names of the constellations, given to the constellation, each constellation were significant.

And the name given to the Virgo constellation long before Jesus was born was House of Grain.

So he appears in the House of Grain constellation, but on earth he's born in Bethlehem, the literal physical House of Grain.

They replied, for this is what the prophet has written.

So they're going to tell King Herod, here's what the Old Testament or here's what the prophets say.

But you, Bethlehem, in land of Judah.

Now remember, the wise men are already in the land of Judah.

They just don't know specifically where to go.

Are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.

He's asking...

At what point did you see the Bethlehem Comet?

Now, why would he be asking that?

He's assuming that at the first appearance of the comet, it would coincide with the birth of Jesus.

So now they've got to travel four or five months at least to go and find the Christ child.

They're 400, 500 miles away, probably longer.

So he asked them, when did the star appear?

And then he starts to do the math.

And then he sent them to Bethlehem.

Go and search carefully for the child.

As soon as you find him, report to me so I too may go and worship him.

So what King Herod is doing, he's assuming, when did you first see it?

He finds out if he does the math, he's got to basically slaughter every child that's in its second year.

Not necessarily two years old, but in his second year and back.

And that's exactly what he does.

Now verse 9, after they had heard the king, They went on their way and the star they had seen when it rose, again, it should say at its rising, went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.

Now this has bothered me for a long time.

Come on.

The comment just can't just stop.

First of all, I'm not discounting the miracle of God.

He can do whatever he wants and we all may be wrong.

I'm simply saying, I'm giving you what the early church fathers and the early Christians believed.

I have no problem at all believing that God just created a new star, caused it to move and stop.

I got no problem with a miraculous God.

But there is something that I think we need to at least consider because the application is outstanding.

Now, the other place is, remember, Bethlehem was not...

populated then like it is today.

So you could have a comet and it's moving, appear to be over one house because you had a house.

I mean, it could just be out in the middle of a field somewhere.

Oh, I see the comet.

Oh, there's a house.

Practically, it could happen.

Nobody really knows.

But what I do know, whatever God did, they knew this was the house and they went to that house, not the manger.

They were too late for that.

They were men.

They were too late.

And they didn't have practical gifts, so they were there.

Now when they saw the star, they were overjoyed, which means they had not seen it during the day.

Probably makes its appearance at night, when it's not overshadowed by the sun.

On coming to the house, verse 11, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him.

Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, They returned to their country by another route.

Now, I don't know how many of you know this, but one of my favorite songs about this story is by James Taylor.

He wrote a song called Home by Another Way, and it's on his Never Die Young album.

I bet you most of you don't know that.

You know why?

Because you're not real James Taylor fans like I am.

That's why.

So we're told they came to the house, they bowed down and worshiped him, and then they opened their treasures and presented him with the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Now, just quickly.

Why gold, frankincense, and myrrh?

Well, I go back again to the early church father, especially a dude by the name of Origen.

And Origen said they gave him gold because he was a king.

That's what you give kings.

It's the exclusive province of royalty.

Only a king had a golden scepter.

What do you get the guy who has everything?

Gold.

Vassal kings gave gold to the upper kings.

And there's a vast tradition that in the east, the appropriate gift for a king...

was gold, which means, astounding, these three pagan, if there were three, it could have been more, it could have been less, that these pagan kings, these pagan wise men were among the select few who actually truly understood the identity of Jesus.

They knew that they might be looking at a baby, but in reality, they knew they were looking into the eyes of kings, of the king of kings.

That's amazing to me.

These aren't Jews.

They aren't prophets.

They're pagan Gentiles that probably put way too much stock in astrology, and yet God gives them a sign.

And because of Daniel's presence in their lives, in the lives of Babylon generations before, they bring gold because they know he's a king.

Shepherds didn't bring gold.

Maybe not.

They had gold.

They're just trying to figure out what all this means.

The second gift was frankincense.

And it's because, origin says, they knew he was God.

Now, what is frankincense?

As I said before, it sounds too much like Frankenstein, which is why kids have a field day with this.

But frankincense simply means pure incense.

It's the most expensive quality of incense.

It's something that you carry around in a chest, but you never really use.

But incense in the ancient world was primarily used in two ways.

One, worship.

You burned it.

as a burnt offering to God, symbolizing the prayers of the saints that go up to the heavens.

So that means these three wise men end up giving Mary a gift she could not afford to worship a king she could never have imagined.

And then myrrh, because he was a man.

Gold, he was a king.

Frankincense, he was God.

And myrrh because he was a man.

This to me is conclusive that they understood who Jesus was.

And it can only happen because two things.

One, the Holy Spirit revealed it to them, but two, Daniel understood and Daniel would have taught them.

Because myrrh is not the possession of nobility.

It's not of kings, it's of mortal men.

And it's used as kind of a perfume, but it's also used as a sedative to dull pain, which is exactly what they gave Jesus on the cross when they dipped in sponge.

and lifted it to his mouth somehow to ease the pain in which he rejected.

But it's also used to anoint.

Bodies of esteemed people.

It would have been used by the women who had gone to the tomb to anoint Jesus' body.

Because it was the tomb of a king, of God, of the perfect man, God incarnate.

So the magi would not have traveled five, six, seven months just for any king.

Kings are born all the time.

But they had an understanding that this was no ordinary king.

that he would be ruler over all kings.

And he would be a unique king in the sense that subjects typically give their lives for their king, but this king would give his life for his people.

So those are the gifts, totally unexpected.

You talk about unexpected, there is no way Mary would have ever expected these three guys to show up.

Can you imagine these three guys at her house?

I mean, Jesus is born in a manger.

She's in a cave.

Pretty soon she's going to have to run for her life.

And then these guys show up, these pagan astrologers or kings or princes, whoever they are, they bring gold, incense, myrrh.

What is she going to be doing with that?

Okay.

The reason I condense this, and I'm right on schedule to keep my word, I draw three powerful applications from the story.

But before I give the three, A quick pause.

Now I want you to hear me on this.

Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would have hated being in exile.

They hated living outside of Jerusalem.

I mean, sure, they were respected at a later time after they had already proven that they were going to serve God and nobody was going to make them serve anybody else.

After the fiery furnace ordeal, then they were raised somewhat to notoriety.

But Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, you got to understand how they looked at the city of Jerusalem as the city of God.

They would have hated it.

They probably would have complained, and yet they still did the right thing.

But here's the thing.

God sent them to Babylon to prepare them for Messiah.

If Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had never gone into exile in Babylon, these three wise men would have never shown up at the birth of Jesus.

And it's possible that the Gentile community would have never understood that the gospel is for all people.

Now that tells me this, that tells me that God is willing to put you in exile if it means that although your life is difficult, somebody in your family is going to come to know Jesus.

That in the middle of your suffering and pain, somebody's going to see how you respond, and they're going to get to know Jesus.

I mean, this is the core of the gospel.

For the life of me, how could we ever claim that it is not the will of God that any of us should ever suffer any hardship.

The gospel narrative, everybody suffers hardship.

Everybody.

And God turns it and he takes that disadvantage, turns it into an advantage and uses it for his purposes.

Don't ever forget that.

Sometimes you may be in your Babylon, you may be in exile, but the thing that keeps people going during difficult seasons is to know that there's purpose in the exile.

That yeah, your life's falling apart.

Yeah, you're miserable.

You don't get everything.

But the thing that sustains you is to know God's not caught by surprise.

He knows I'm here.

Stop.

Oh man, I'm saying this to myself as much as you.

Stop whining and complaining for crying out loud and look around and say, why?

Why am I in Babylon?

Now, the first thing that I gleaned from the story is this, that those far from God, I love this.

can come to him.

That God's heart is truly for everyone, even for pagan Babylonians who practice magic arts.

He still speaks to everyone in every culture.

One of the books that absolutely changed my life, and you could almost say motivated me to go into missions, was that famous book I've shared with you before by Don Richardson called Peace Child.

Don Richardson made it the study of his life to understand almost every people, group, and culture that he could.

And he realized that every culture has a gospel starter.

Every culture is looking for Jesus, a savior, whether they realize it or not.

And in one particular section of the book, he tells the story of how these two tribes come together, the Stone Age people of Arangia.

They come together, they are cannibalistic.

And the highest value in that culture...

was to prove to the other tribe that you really did love them.

And once you convinced them, invite them over to your house, kill them and eat them.

That was the highest value.

It's called treachery.

If I can convince you that we are best friends and then you come over and I kill you and eat you, I have done a good thing.

So Don Richardson tells the story where the missionaries came and they discovered that the only way to keep peace between the two tribes was if the chief of both tribes, when a new baby was born into his family, would take the child and present it to the other chief and would say, as long as my child is safe in your village, there will be peace among us.

And the missionary said, what a fantastic starter for the gospel.

And he told them about the ultimate chief who gave his child to the people on earth and said, as long as you keep this child safe, there'll be peace within us.

And then he said, but God said, I know you will violate it and you will kill my son.

And instead of us becoming enemies through the death of my son, you will be at peace with God.

And it was a gospel starter where he shared the gospel and over 50%, over half of the Sawi people became Christ followers.

Richardson states that every culture has a gospel starter.

Every single one of them has a setup in which the gospel can be introduced.

Now I started thinking about this.

I thought, how applicable is this?

What is the gospel starter in the West?

We're a culture.

See, it's not only that there's a gospel starter in every culture, there's a gospel starter in every culture at every season.

So today, what do you think our gospel starter is?

Well, I've hit it at this before.

You know what I think it is?

Marvel movies.

I am dead serious.

The popularity of fantasy in the West is off the charts.

It is the number one most profitable franchise in film history.

We're talking about profit in the billions, if not trillions.

So that those who make movies have began to understand that within the culture of the West, there is a set of longings in the human heart that realistic fiction can never satisfy.

I've said this before, that deep in the Western humanistic heart is the desire to escape death.

To experience a love that never fades, to attain invincibility, to communicate with animals and angels, to triumph over evil, to fly, and to see the trees come alive.

And because filmmakers know this, they keep creating fantasies, and we keep paying the same good money for the same story over and over again.

And it's not that we think the stories happened, we know they didn't actually happen, but there's something inside us that knows.

Oh, but there really is such a thing as good and evil, and there really is a battle going on on this planet, that truth and justice are real, there really is a sorcerer of sorts moving against us, that we're really not meant to die, that we really do need to defeat death.

So when you and I see and read and hear these stories, we don't think that they're true, we know, but we believe that the underlying realities that support the stories are true.

Remember what C.S.

Lewis said?

He said, we desire food because food exists.

We desire intimacy because intimacy exists.

We yearn for the sense of beyond because something inside us tells us that the beyond is real.

If I find in myself a desire which no experience in the world can satisfy, the most probable explanation I was made for another world.

And this is why the gospel writers begin their accounts the way they do.

Jesus Christ, he is the ideal.

who came into the real and showed us that what we are suspicious might be true is indeed true because God has placed eternity in our hearts.

That there really is ultimate good.

There is a noble prince who has come.

There is a love that never departs.

We will fly.

We will defeat death.

Someday the trees are going to dance.

Now, I've mentioned this.

Let me do it again.

Superman, my favorite.

character, Superman.

Think about it though for a moment.

He comes from another world.

He has miraculous powers.

He desires to save the planet.

His enemy uses his strength, his love for humans against him, appears to kill him, but he comes back and saves mankind.

You ever heard that story before?

That's our starter.

The second...

application here is that wise men still seek him.

I know that's an old cliche, but we need to add to it that God wants to be found.

Can I just say something to all of you and myself included?

The wise men found him because they were always watching for him.

Always watching the constellations.

Because they knew their gods had let them down.

Their kings had let them down.

They were looking for something different.

And because they were quiet, because they didn't have an iPhone or an iPad or cable television or a car to drive or any place they had to be in a hurry, they were still.

And because they were still, they met God.

I hear so many people come to me, Pastor Jeff, I don't feel God.

And the punk part of me.

wants to say, well, you don't feel God because you're not quiet long enough to listen and to meet God.

You know, that's like, you know, why is it that my wife knows everything about me?

It drives me batty.

But why does she know everything about me?

Well, because she spent a lot of time with me.

There's no fooling her.

She knows exactly who I am, my strengths, my weaknesses, but she only knows that because she's with me all the time.

Now, if the husband and wife never spend any time together, it doesn't mean that just because you're husband and wife, intimacy will happen, understanding will happen.

There has to be, and if you've been married and you've made it through marriage, and I do mean made it, it's because somewhere along the line you learned, you get married, it's not two separate lives, man.

Now there's an investment in the relationship or it will never survive.

Why do we think that our relationship with God can survive without an investment and the discipline?

of a relationship.

It's impossible.

So if you're wise, you're seeking him above and beyond everything else.

I'm telling you, I'm guilty too.

There's just too many distractions, man.

And if you're like me, you go through good seasons and then you go through bad seasons.

I mean, and why?

I mean, I'll go through a season where every morning, I first thing I'm with God and I'm praying.

And then over time, it gets a little shorter.

and a little shorter because I'm busy and I got things to do.

And God will understand.

Now, the truth of the matter is he does understand, but it still means my relationship with him is growing apart.

Yeah, you're saved by grace through faith.

I get that.

But the reason you're so empty, listen, especially us guys, the reason we're so empty, the reason we're so frustrated is because God, he is that hound of heaven.

And please hear me, because he loves you, he is going to...

frustrate the hound out of you.

He's going to allow you to pursue, pursue, and he's just going to make sure that all of it's futile until you come to the end of yourself and you say, okay, God, I get it now.

Let's you and me talk.

Now, if God really loves you and wants a relationship like that with you, how far is he willing to go to get you into that relationship?

Let me tell you how far.

To destroy all your lesser loves.

Every single one of them.

How far should God go?

And then third and finally, here's what gets me about this story.

It's King Herod.

Learned men still reject him.

You either crown him or you kill him.

You either crown him or you kill him.

Herod knew the prophecies.

He asked the priest to come in and tell him where Messiah was going to be born.

He knew about Messiah.

Hey, think about this.

He knew about Messiah and he knew who Messiah was and he asked where is he going to be born?

And he's still.

Ghosts that kill him.

Why?

Because he doesn't want to give up his authority and his rule over his own life.

Please hear me.

To sit on the throne of heaven, you've got to give Jesus the throne of your life.

And many are not willing to do that.

You will either bow humbly at the cradle and live or stand arrogantly at the cross and die.

And if you've not yet discovered Jesus, it's not because there's a lack of evidence.

Herod had all the evidence in the world.

It's because you don't want to give up control of your life because you've believed the lie of the evil one that by doing so your life will be worse.

It's amazing.

I've sat and had conversations with people in cafes and restaurants on the street, wherever, and they'll say something to me like, oh, Pastor Jeff, I'm glad I met you today.

My life is horrible.

I'm this, I've lost this, I've lost that.

It stinks.

I said, man, why don't you give your life to Jesus?

Oh, I couldn't do that.

Well, why not?

Well, you know, I don't know what to expect.

I said, dude, your life is hell.

It can't be any worse.

You've just told me your life is hell and you don't want to try Jesus.

That makes no sense.

But more than that is a whole generation of people now that want to have one foot in each kingdom.

So I want to be with Jesus, but I want to sleep with my boyfriend that I'm not married to.

I want to be with Jesus, but I want to have the freedom now to violate his precepts.

My favorite thing, or my least favorite thing, is when someone in a conversation communicates this idea right here.

I want to follow Jesus and I like all this good stuff, but you know what?

All the stuff in the Bible, you know, it's interpretive.

You know, it depends on how you look at it.

It's because you want to do what you want to do and you want the Bible to say what you want it to say.

And here's what I'm telling you.

Your life is going to be a living hell.

It's better for you to go one way or the other, but if you try to straddle, you will never have peace ever.

It is possible to be learned but not wise.

It is possible to know that he's the king It's possible to know that he's the Savior, but never crown him the king of your life.

Never humbly bow before him.

Never submit your will to his.

And if you're like King Herod, you continue his legacy, alienating yourself from God, offended by a Savior who requires allegiance.

Go in your own way, although every truth has been revealed to you.

You know, according to scripture, the most strict judgment on the day of accountability is for those who know and refuse.

For those who know and refuse.

Learned men still reject him.

Even though you have all the information, you still got to choose.

Are you going to crown him the king of your life or are you going to kill him and go your own way?

Do you see why I love the story of the wise men?

We could go on forever, but I'm right on time.

Father.

I want to thank you for the Christmas narrative.

I thank you for an awesome story that has so many applications.

And I pray in Christ's name that something would have happened this weekend as we head our way to Christmas to ask the question, what if it's all true?

And if it's all true, it means that he is the King of Kings.

He is the Lord of Lords.

He is Emmanuel, God with us.

And we've got to decide what we're going to do with the Christ child.

who goes to the cross and pays the penalty for our sin, to not only become our Savior, but to become our Lord.

And now he owns us.

We've been bought with a price.

And the calling on our lives is to submit to him in all ways, even if he sends us into Babylon exile, that we would say, God, okay, now what?

Why am I here?

And what great accomplishment do you intend to perform in my life?

May we be like Mary.

May it be as you have said to me.

May we be about like Joseph, willing to give up everything in order to stand for the name of Jesus.

Oh, may we be like Simeon who said, I can die in peace.

I've seen the Lord's salvation.

May we be like the wise men who seek him and watch and watch until we find him and we worship him.

In Christ's name, amen.