Well, it is great to be back with you all. It's been a few months since I have been here and I have missed you all. I left temperatures in the 20s in Kentucky. And so thank you for the 70s out here in California.

So I give a warm welcome to Upland, Rancho, West Coast, San Dimas, wherever you are joining us today. Thank you for being a part of worship. We are in the second week of a series entitled The Greatest Story in the Universe. And we love stories, don't we? You know, how many of y'all have watched a Hallmark movie thus far this year? Okay, all right. We can figure them out in the first five minutes and yet we still watch, right?

We love stories, though. And God hardwired us to love a good story. And Jesus did the majority of his teaching through stories. They were called parables, earthly stories with heavenly meanings. At night, you dream in stories.

While I'm preaching, some of you will dream in stories, all right? We remember things in stories. You might not recall my outline from my message today. I'm going to have three different points. You might not remember any of those three points. But days from now, I promise you, you will be able to retell some story that you will hear in this message. Because our need for stories, it's downright physiological.

What makes a great story? Well, you need great characters, you need a great setting, incredible plots, there needs to be some tension and conflict, and then it needs to be resolved in some way. And that's what a story has. And the Christmas story has every one of those components.

Now, last week, Jeff spoke about why do we celebrate Christmas, and he said Christmas is supposed to remind us of what God has done, what He is doing, and what God has promised to do through the Messiah, our hope of glory. This is what the angels announced to the shepherds. Do you remember this in Luke chapter 2, verse 10? But the angel said to them, "'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.'" What a startling yet encouraging message for those shepherds to hear. I mean, you read a story online and it might brighten your day. You might watch a news channel tonight and see some story that just really grabs you. You might go see a long-anticipated movie. It finally hits the big screen and you sit mesmerized in the theater for two hours and it makes you feel so happy to see the story finally unfold.

But what about what the angel said? This week, we want to focus on how can the Christmas story bring great joy? I mean, how is that possible? I mean, we sing the song, joy to the world, the Lord has come. But really, I mean, come on, what are the implications in December of 2024 because that happened back a long time ago?

And the Christmas story is something that many of us have heard a thousand times. But is it really possible that Jesus, being born in Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago, can bring you great joy that will last? And I believe that it can. And I'm going to divide this into three different sections. First, let's see, there's great joy because Jesus was born for all people.

He was born for all people. The shepherds are watching their sheep by night. It's another boring evening for the smelliest, low-wage workers in the region. Nothing exciting ever happened for a shepherd, right? I mean, they're just out watching sheep. There's not a whole lot of human interaction that's going on. They're not talking to a whole lot of other people. It's just the shepherds and the sheep. And sometimes they're out there just by themselves. It's just one person if it's a small flock. But That night, something happened, and all of a sudden, the sky lit up. Luke chapter 2, verse 10, the angel said to them, do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today, in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you. He is the Messiah, the Lord. So, this first Christmas gift wasn't exclusive. There were no strings attached to the gift of Jesus. He came for the world.

He came for all people. He came for everyone because if his love and grace is not available to everyone, then it wouldn't have been worth it for Jesus to leave heaven. Why would he leave heaven if salvation wasn't available to everyone? Jesus would have said, no, thanks, not interested. The first phrase of the most well-known Bible verse says, for God so loved the world.

And Jesus is the son, is just like God the father. And he also didn't just love the world. He came for all people. And that should bring you joy. Jesus has a passion for every single person. Here's a strange thought. You will never pass anyone on the streets of California. You will never drive past a soul that God loves more than you or God loves less than you.

He loves everybody the same. He couldn't love them any more than he already does. And his church is to have that same passion as well. Do you realize that in all the Roman Empire, there was only one organization, only one organization, one place where...

Rich and poor, slave and free, male and female, Jew and Greek, where they all could be. It was the all-inclusive church of Jesus Christ. And nothing like that had ever been seen before. There's a tendency for us to be selective, for us just to kind of pick and choose who we will love.

And if someone's convictions or morals or political beliefs or religious affiliation or sexual orientation is different than ours, then we tend to be less concerned about what happens to them. But God's Word teaches us that we are to love everyone, one and all. Does that phrase sound familiar? We are to love all people, one and all, just as He does. And on that first Christmas, one and all.

came for all and it cost him a lot. Leaving a perfect paradise to come to earth is a tiny, helpless, defenseless baby, totally dependent on others. And he paid a high price just in coming to earth. And Jesus invites everyone to have a personal relationship with him.

Years ago, I combined an anniversary gift with a Christmas gift for my wife. Our anniversary is in November, and so it was close together, and she had something that she really wanted. My wife, Beth, she had seen this cabinet that she had really been wanting for a long time, so we kind of combined both of those into one gift, and she is very frugal, and so we She didn't want to pay the $50 delivery charge a few years ago to have this delivered. She said, you know what? Why don't you just borrow somebody's truck? So my next door neighbor, John, has a truck. And I said, do you mind if I borrow it? And he said, oh, yeah, it's fine. So we got the cabinet ready.

We got it all back. Everything went fine. And then we got the cabinet moved into the house. And then my wife said, are you going to be able to back that big F-150 of John's into his garage? It has those large side view mirrors. I said, baby, I'm a man, all right?

I can do this, all right? It's innate. I can back a truck. I've got this. So she headed inside, and I started backing this big truck up. And I want you to know, I paid particular attention to these enormous mirrors that he has on the side.

And I made it in there and I did not scratch either of the mirrors, which is incredible because there was only like two inches to play with on the sides. And so I somehow made it in, but I was extra careful. But evidently when I backed in, I came in at an angle. And so I didn't hit the mirrors, but I backed John's truck into his wife's car. Yeah. I rang the doorbell. They weren't home.

My son said, "Dad, they're down the street at the Bennett's for a Christmas party for all the neighbors." Well, I knew that house had a landline, so I called them up, a little loud party, you know, going on. And the daughter, Chelsea, answered. I said, "Chelsea, are the Sparrows there?" She said, "Yeah, yeah, yeah." I said, "Hey, will you get John Sparrow on the phone for me? And when you hand him the phone, I want you just to quote the Bible verse, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" I mean, it never hurts to plant a seed, right?

So she's handing the phone over to him. She says, love your neighbor as yourself. And I can hear him laughing. And he picks up the phone. He says, hey, Dave, what did you do? Did you wreck my truck? I said, well, that's partially true. Actually, I wrecked your truck into your all's new Lexus. And he was very nice about it. And his attorneys were great to work with. But the real pain surfaced later.

When all of the neighbors at the party heard the news and they started the next week leaving me a voicemail every single day. This is Billy's driving school. We've got an opening for you.

Another one said, this is AAA. We've revoked your membership. You know, every day it was a different one. I could have paid 50 bucks to Home Depot and had that cabinet delivered, but instead I ended up literally paying hundreds of dollars to do it myself because that's how doers get more done. But you know what bothered me more than the repair cost of fixing two vehicles? Some of you know what bothered me. It was the fact that I wasn't invited to the neighborhood party, you know?

Their excuse was, well, we know how busy pastors are in the month of December, Dave. I'm like, yeah, but, you know, I mean, try at least, you know, make an effort, make it look like you care about me, you know. It's nice to be invited. Even if I said no, then it becomes my choice. I just wanted to be invited. And it's the same with you and your friends. We want to be included in The invitation communicates value. It says that someone wants to be in a closer relationship with you. And that's why God left heaven and came to earth for all people. And he invites you to be a part of his family. And he wants you to spread the word and to invite others into a relationship with him. And when you invite someone to a Christmas Eve service, Just a simple introduction on December 23rd or 24th. For each campus, you can look at the exact times. But when you make that invitation, that person may choose to say no, but I promise you, I promise you it communicates something just to be invited. You're planting a seed. I could tell you stories of people who were invited to a Christmas Eve service, and you look back 15 years later, and their family tree is completely different because God got a hold of a person, and something started in that one service, and it grew, and then it grew throughout their family. I could tell you so many stories of people who they just said, okay, I'll go because they're open to the invitation.

I mean, if you have the joy of the Lord living inside of you, you're going to want to share that joy with others. And part of that comes because God came for all people. I love that the words the angels spoke about Jesus fly right in the face of Caesar. They say, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord. You might be thinking, yeah, I know. That's what they said every year when I was growing up. I watched the Charlie Brown special.

And Linus quotes it. I actually know this part of the story. But what you may not know is that almost all of those words, those same descriptive words, were used to describe Caesar Augustus back then. In fact, when the emperor had a birthday, the empire would announce it by saying, they'd have someone declare this, we have good news. They would say that the celebration was for all the people.

It was to be celebrated across the whole empire, the whole known world. And get this, they called their emperor Christ and Savior and Lord because they embraced this false belief that the emperor was chosen by the gods to save them and to lead them.

So don't miss this. When Luke records what the angel said in that setting to those first century shepherds on those hillsides, it sounded like they were announcing the birth, the celebration of a king. That's what it sounded like. Do you know why? Because it was. Only this kingdom was not of this world. And this king was was not someone where a government official was told to go out and declare that he's Christ, Savior, and Lord. No, this is an angelic group of heavenly beings who are saying, he is Christ, he is the Lord, he is the Messiah, and everything changes. That's how it is when Jesus Christ came to earth. And the fact that Jesus loves all people, the fact that divinity is obsessed with humanity should bring you great joy.

Well, Jesus was born for all people. But secondly, I want you to notice that there's great joy because Jesus was born for the valley. I mean, he really was. Here's another passage in the Bible that you probably remember from the Christmas story. This is when the angel appears to Joseph prior to the birth of Jesus. It's found in Matthew's gospel, in Matthew chapter 1, verses 20 and 21. Joseph, son of David...

So, fortunately for Mary and Joseph, they didn't have the typical argument over what name to give this baby, all right?

And that's something that young couples, they agonize for weeks and for months over what to name their baby, what to name. Names are very important. We named our son after his grandfather to honor my dad and to inspire my son. Names are important to both the parent and the child. I think sometimes parents forget that when they name their children. I went to high school with a girl named Holly Wood.

At my church in Kentucky, we have a woman named Sandy Beach. We have another one named River Banks. I think that sounds kind of cool, really. One of our former interns, Mike Clear, married a girl named Crystal. When I was growing up, my youth minister's name was Kevin Oder. Now, that's not too bad, but you know what Kevin's dad's name was? Ivan. Think about that for a second. Hi, what's your name? I'm Dave Stone. What's your name? Ivan Oder.

Well, I appreciate the confession, you know. What are you going to say, right? I was doing a family dedication a few years ago, and before the service, I was trying to go back through every child's name just to make certain I got their pronunciation correct. There was a child being dedicated, and the sheet said that his name was Henry Bockweg the 9th.

And so before the service, I double-checked with the boy's mom. I said, Taylor, I said, is this a typo or is this right? She said, oh, no, it's correct. She said, so pray for me because that means I'm married to Henry VIII. You talk about a lot of pressure. Ninth, naming a child is extremely important and would have been even more so for Joseph and Mary because their son was God's son.

And fortunately for them, God had already picked out the baby's name. Why? Because it would fulfill ancient prophecies about the Messiah. You know what the name Jesus means? It means the one who saves. That's what Jesus means. And that's why there can be great joy in the San Gabriel Valley. Because a means of eternal salvation came into the world 2,000 years ago. And his name said it all.

And Joseph was instructed by an angel to name the child Jesus because in the years to come, that would be who he is and what it is that he does. And if you say you are for the valley and you want to reach the valley, then you'll need to tell people the name of the one who can save the valley because there's power in the name of Jesus. Acts chapter 4 verse 12 says, Salvation is found in no one else for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved. About a year and a half ago, after a long day of travel, I had a late night mental lapse and I left my laptop behind.

on a flight from Louisville to Baltimore. Landed in Baltimore, I'm almost to the rental car place and I'm like, oh no, I left my laptop on the airplane. I can't get back through TSA, it was closed actually, it was that late at night. And before I even made it to the rental car, I called the airlines, I turned in the lost and found request, I did everything I could to get it back before anyone learned of my forgetfulness.

But after a couple days, I had to explain to friends and family why I was without that slender silver machine that is my constant companion. And I thought my family members and close friends would be sympathetic to my honest mistake, but they were downright brutal to me. How in the world could you forget your computer on a flight?

I thought I gave them some very convincing reasons, but they openly mocked me with insensitive comments. They called me Mr. Magoo. They called me the absent-minded preacher. They even stooped so low as to start calling me Dementia Dave. That's terrible. Didn't matter that my grandmother had had dementia and that my dad had had dementia. Now they were claiming that I had it.

And while God is gracious and merciful and abounding in love, my family is not. And the only encouragement that I received was that everyone thought, oh, don't worry, the airlines will eventually find it and they'll get that laptop back to you.

Well, after 14 days, no laptop, I had to go to the IT department and get a new laptop. And they reloaded over 4,000 Word documents. I mean, it was just so embarrassing. It was such a hassle. And yet, even when there was no reason for hope, I just kept hoping that I would get that back. But fast forward several months later, it's January 1st of this year.

I had flown into Phoenix late the night before to attend a football game on New Year's Day. And halfway through the game, I'm sitting there with my son, and I get a text message from the nice young lady who works in the IT department there.

on January 1st, and she helps me with my computer issues. And she said, "I just got a weird voicemail here in the IT office saying that they have found your laptop, but I wanted to see if it was a scam because it sounded a little sketchy." I replied, "Oh, oh, that's the one! That's the one that I lost months ago. I can't believe they found it. Yes, yes, please call them back. See what I have to do to get it back. I was so happy that it had been located." But it was the next message that was rather troubling because she texted me and she said, yes, it was an airline calling saying that they found it on a plane in Phoenix. And I thought, that's strange. What are the odds it would turn up 2,000 miles away from the Baltimore airport where I lost it months ago? And how fortunate that I just flew into Phoenix late last night. And instantly, my stomach began to feel sick. Oops, I did it again. There I sat.

surrounded by tens of thousands of sports fans, and yet I felt like I was in my own private Alzheimer's unit. I was embarrassed, yet grateful. I couldn't wait for the game to end. Afterwards, we drove straight to the airport because until I had that laptop in my grasp, I wouldn't rest. And when they gave it to me at the airport, I was elated. And I tried to give the employee some reward money and a hug. And she took the money. She was not interested in the hug.

But I want you to try and put yourself in my shoes when I started getting those text messages and when reality sunk in of my repeat performance. One minute before, I'd been having the time of my life with my son at this football game, enjoying the game without a care in the world. Why? Because I was oblivious to my own dilemma. You see, when it came to my laptop, I didn't know it was lost until it was found. And if you think about it, that may be a perfect description of of the person that you invite to a Christmas Eve service this month. And they just may be oblivious to what's at stake and the eternal consequences of putting their faith in Christ or of rejecting Christ. And yet you could start that process of introducing them to Jesus. And they just don't realize their loss. That's never been explained to them. The moral of my story is always put your laptop in your computer bag when you're landing and not behind your back.

And don't put your faith in your memory and don't put your faith in your airlines. Don't put your faith in your company that you work for or in your 401k that you have. That joy doesn't last. And don't put your faith in yourself and don't put your faith on the shelf.

Because there are people that need the hope of Jesus this Christmas, and he is the only one worthy of our complete faith and trust, and we must have an urgency in sharing that with others. As a Christian, you're not better than anyone else, but you have the Holy Spirit living inside of you to guide you and to deepen you in your faith.

Believers do not live as those who have no purpose. We do not fear as those who have no faith. We do not struggle as those who have no strength. We do not endure as those who have no peace. We do not suffer as those who have no joy. Why? Because the message of Jesus coming to earth is good news that will cause great joy. And Christians don't die without hope because Christmas reminds us of Jesus' birth and Good Friday reminds us of Jesus' death.

But Easter assures us of Jesus' resurrection. And because Jesus conquered the grave, so can we. But if we as believers are to be known by our love, then there should be a sense of urgency in sharing that joy with others. If joy is found through Jesus, then we've got to share it with others. This is too important for us to wait for people to come to us. We need to go to them and share that message. Let me tell you the full verse of John 3, 16 that we alluded to earlier says, That is the entire gospel in one sentence. And the word perish in this verse is the same root word in Greek as the word lost.

So Jesus came to solve the potentially devastating problem of being lost. And when it says that God so loved the world, that applies to people who live in the valley, but also for people who right now are going through the valley. They're in a valley themselves, a rough season of life. Jesus Christ is for all people. He's for the valley.

And you probably know what the third point is. There's great joy because Jesus was born for you. We have different things that we think will bring us joy. Sometimes we mistakenly think that our joy will come from some possession that we have. Oh, if I just have that possession, whatever that might be, if it's that second home or it's this car or if I just had that in my home, then everything would be different.

For some of you, it's a place. It's a neighborhood that you want to live in. For others, it might be a title. And you think that what will bring you joy is when your name is on that corner office or when this particular title is attached to your name or this degree is attached to it. Maybe for some of you, it's money. We think that our money is what allows us to be joyful.

How would you respond if I were to ask you this question? And don't answer this out loud. Which would you rather be, rich and depressed or poor yet happy? And honestly, if the truth were known, we would probably say, well, can I be moderately wealthy and mildly depressed, right? That's probably what we would say. But understand that there is a difference between happiness and joy. Happiness is dictated by happenings, by circumstances. But joy...

circumstances don't change that. Joy runs deep. It's from within. Joy is more than happiness. Joy goes beyond the excitement of that first date with that special someone or the smell of the interior of that new car. Joy runs deep and long. And the Christian life is full of all sorts of ups and downs and adventures and challenges, but I really believe the Christians should be having more fun and experiencing more joy than anyone else.

I mean, think about it. Your past has been forgiven. Your future has been settled. So you should be able to enjoy the present with a joyful anticipation and confidence of Christ's return. And Jesus thinks we should be having more joy and fun because he says in John 10, verse 10, he says, I have come that you may have life and have it to the fullest. Some translations say have it more abundantly.

That abundant life is possible because Jesus came to earth. You may have heard that before, but maybe you don't believe it, and you need to be reminded of the implications. The orchestration of a baby being born of a virgin in Bethlehem was basically a rescue mission that God engineered and accomplished all on his own for you. And he would have done it if you were the only person on the face of the earth. That's how much he loves you.

That's what Christmas is all about, that he is a powerful God, and yet he is a personal God. Romans chapter 5 verse 8 says, but God demonstrates his own love for us in this, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. So don't lose this in December, that Jesus was born in the stable, but he was destined for a cross. And that's a message that people need to hear from Christians. The message is you are loved by God.

He is for the valley. He is for all people, and he's for you, and he invites you to have a personal relationship with him, and what you will have to decide is whether you can trust him with your life, with who you are. You can trust him with that in the midst of the rough times. I mean, do you really believe that the joy he offers is deep and consistent even through the ups and downs of life? I, uh...

Went to a funeral visitation where I live on Thursday night. It was a 25-year-old boy, healthy as could be the week before. And after a great Thanksgiving time with his family on Thursday and Friday, he just was feeling exhausted, just wasn't feeling good. He sat out going to a movie with the rest of the family and passed away while they were gone from an undetected enlarged heart that he had that no one knew about, some heart condition. 25 years old. I stood in this funeral home in the visitation just going around trying to encourage different family members. And I got to say there wasn't a lot of good news of great joy in that room as you can imagine.

And yet there was this undergirding because everyone knew that he was a believer in Christ. And that's what got them through. And the young man's mother told me, this is what's getting me through the pain is the fact that we knew that he knew Jesus and he loved Jesus. And that brings them great joy. You know why it brings them joy? Because they know they'll see him again. And as much as it hurts and as painful as it is, They have to hold on in their heart that it's not a goodbye, it's a see you later. And there's a big difference. That's all possible because Jesus came to earth. He was born. He lived a perfect life. He died an atoning death. He conquered the grave. And because he conquered the grave, so can we. I read a story several years ago about a young family in Northern California.

The husband and wife had gone through some rocky times, and the young wife finally got so disillusioned with the stress of marriage and the responsibility of being a mother that she just had to get away. And one morning, her husband awakened to a note beside him in the bed, said she was gone. And he agonized over her leaving, but he felt that she needed a little space, so he didn't try to follow her, but he did call her cell phone that day. In fact, he called her cell phone every day.

He told her that he loved her. He begged her to come home. She listened to what he had to say and could often hear her softly weeping, but she stubbornly refused to come home. As Christmas approached, the young father became more intentional. He hired a private investigator to help him locate her. And a week later, the detective stumbled across her in a low-budget motel in a seedy area of Las Vegas.

And without alerting her to his discovery, he called the husband back in California. On Christmas Eve night, she sat on a lumpy motel bed all by herself in the dimly lit room. She felt about as lonely as she'd ever felt in her life. And suddenly she heard a knock, soft at first, and then it grew louder and more insistent. And slowly, hesitantly, she walked across the room and looked through the curtain. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw her husband.

standing in the doorway. She slid the chain free, threw open the door and fell into his arms. He had barely gotten the words out. We love you. We need you. Please come home. And she was already throwing the few clothes that she had in her old suitcase and heading for his car. A couple of weeks later, the Christmas tree was now back in the attic. The kids were back in school and he asked her, He said, I got to ask you, why did you wait so long to come home? I begged you to come back a hundred times. What took you so long? She said, you told me you loved me. You told me you needed me. But those were just words until you came. 2,000 years ago, the God of the universe left heaven and he came back.

He left heaven and came to earth. He set aside his power. And rather than you're just hearing that God loves you, he decided to put it into action by coming to earth. And a person doesn't come that far unless they love you and they want to be in a relationship with you. Luke 10, Luke chapter 2, verse 10, the angel said to them, do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.

For unto you is born today in the city of David a Savior. He is Christ the Lord. Let's pray together. Lord, we are so thankful that you came to earth. If man's greatest need would have been for information, you would have sent an educator. Man's greatest need would have been for pleasure, you would have sent an entertainer. Man's greatest need would have been for money, you would have sent a financial planner.

But you knew in your infinite wisdom that man's greatest need is the forgiveness of sins. And so you sent a Savior. And that Savior has the potential to bring us great joy if we turn our lives over to him. So Lord, my prayer today is that this month will be characterized by Christians who have great joy because of the difference Christ has made in their lives. May our lives be a walking example of Jesus, in whose name we pray, amen.

I'm so glad you were here with us today to listen to the message. If you have questions about what to do next or maybe you really want to explore what it would be like to follow Jesus, we would love to come alongside you. In fact, you can go to oneandall.church/jesus and we have a team that is especially prepared, ready to walk you through what that decision might look like. So make sure you let us know if there's anything that we can do to help connect you to the church, you can also do that by downloading that one and all app. And there are tons of resources on there, including daily devotionals and deeper content related to each of our sermon series. We hope this message blessed you and that you have a great week. Let's go as we always do with one hope, one life in Christ.