Welcome to Redemption Church. Merry Christmas everyone! My name is Chris Fluitt, and I am glad to share the Word of God with you today.

You have 7 days? Christmas is one week from today? Are you ready?

You may have some hectic thoughts going on in your mind right now, but for the next moments I hope you can calm down.

We feel like this season has become far too complex and hectic. And we are suggesting that we enjoy a simple Christmas this year.

Simple Christmas

This is #KeepItSimpleSeason.

The last 2 Sundays we have talked about a simple peace and a simple joy.

We have also pointed out that the original Christmas was NOT simple. That original Christmas was complex & hectic.

When things are not simple, there is still a simple Peace & Joy that is available from God.

There is a point here that needs to be taught from this original Christmas story.  You can be in God’s perfect will and still experience hardship.

Sometimes God’s perfect will feels far from perfect.

Mary & Joseph were 100% in the perfect will of God, but the hectic hardships they faced had to make them wonder if they were even if God’s will.

Let me speak to the one who is really going through a hard time.  Perhaps you are in God’s will.  Perhaps God’s perfect will is not thwarted by temporary hardship.

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” Psalm 23:4.

To the one who is in the middle of a complex and hectic season, I bring you the best news that God is still with you.

 

If you came to hear a sermon that resembles a perfect Hallmark greeting card about how merry and bright the Christmas season is, I am sorry to say that I may let you down.

But if you came today with heartache, questions, doubts, and weariness, then I think I have the sermon that is God’s perfect will for you to hear.

I am going to entitle this sermon “Find your why.”

Find your why

Let’s pray together…

 

Find your why.

People can face any hardship if they have a reason and purpose in facing it. If you can find your cause, then you can find your motivation to face down any hardship.

If you are going through something difficult, you need to find your “Why.”

If you are preparing to go through something that is not easy, before you begin you need to find your “Why.”

If you are in debt and you are going to embark on the difficult and slow climb of paying off credit cards and loans, you need to identify WHY this matters.

-Your why could be financial freedom and flexibility.
-Your why could be a life with less stress and more financial margin.
-Your why could be a more meaningful life. Can you imagine how meaningful your life would be if a small portion of the money you are sending to debt collection was instead sent to hurting people and worldwide missions.

 

If you are trying to get in shape and lose weight, you need a why.

-Your why could be to live a longer more fulfilling life.
-To have more years with your family.
-To have the strength and vitality to do more for others.

Maybe you are in the midst of a hardship… Maybe life is asking a lot from you.

 

Maybe you have a loved one who is experiencing medical issues and it is emotionally, physically, and spiritually draining. You better find your WHY.

-You want to be strong for them.
-You don’t want them to give up, so you better not give up.
-We are going to get past the fear of this situation and start living a fulfilling life.

 

Perhaps you have relationship struggles that are ripping you and your family apart. Perhaps you have to be in the room this holiday season with people who have hurt you. Why are you going to be in that room?

-There might not be a why. Maybe you should not be there.

-The why might be forgiveness or reconciliation.
-The why might be that you won’t let the past define you.
 

Find your why.

Jesus in Luke 14:28 tells us that before we set off to build something, we should first sit down and count the cost. Jesus is telling us to stop and find our why.

If you are struggling and about to give up, or you are about to start something that is going to be difficult, today I ask you to pray that God would reveal your why.

 

In that original Christmas story Joseph and Mary faced many hardships.
-Relationship issues between Joseph & Mary.
-A forced trip to Bethlehem because of a tyrannical government.
-No place to stay.
-A plot to kill Jesus forced the family to leave quickly to Egypt.

Joseph and Mary were hit with so much so quickly that it would have been impossible to survive had they not found their WHY.

Why Christmas?

Think for a moment about Joseph and Mary’s WHY.

An Angel told them why Jesus was so important.

Matthew 1:21 (NIV) She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

The salvation of all people, that is why.  There is so much scripture we could dive into that supports this claim. (Genesis 3:15, Isaiah 53, Micah 5:2)

Joseph could have walked away from a pregnant Mary, but an Angel named Gabriel looked him in the eye and gave him a powerful why. This baby is going to save his people from their sins… What an amazing why.

People can go through any hardship if they find their why.

Certainly messianic prophecy is a why… Joseph’s love for Mary was a why… but something very simple was also a why.

A Baby Changes Everything

The moment you find out that a baby is on the way, everything about your life changes.

Everyone talks about seeing the baby for the first time. Holding the baby and looking at their tiny hands…

But I want to tell you today that before the birth, the simple knowledge that a baby is to be born changes everything. I remember hearing the heartbeat of my children and seeing the ultrasounds months before I would see them and hold them in a hospital.

I spent some time this week remembering the moment when Sarah nervously told me that she was pregnant. My life instantly changed because I had a new WHY.

 

 

A Baby Changes Everything

You want to find your why today? You can always find your why in the face of a child.

I have changed some of my habits because a baby changes everything.

I have kept going through difficulty because a child needs me to be strong.

I have altered my priorities and a little child is why.

I have prayed more, worshipped more, and served more, because I know little eyes, ears, and hands are the reason why.

 

A baby changes everything, and this is never truer than when God’s only begotten son came to Earth.

Aren’t you glad Joseph and Mary found their why?

It is powerful when someone finds their purpose.

 

 

I am about to open this altar for a time of talking to God.  Everyone here and everyone connecting online I want to ask you “What is your why?”

Why are you going to reach out to God today?

Find your why.

 

As you prepare your heart I need to tell you that baby named Jesus had a why.

Jesus went through a lot of hardship and struggle.
He was despised and rejected.
He suffered and died on a cross.
Do you understand why?

Why did Jesus come?

You are why

You are the reason why there is a Christmas story. You are the focus of God’s story.

You matter! You are why!

It is because God loved you and the whole wide world that He gave His only son, that whosoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

There is no telling what God is going to do for you today when you reach out to Jesus. You are so loved by God. You are God’s why.