Waiting for Christmas Part 1: A Deep Yearning

The following message from Pastor Greg Laurie is made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. To find out how to know God personally, go to knowgod.org.

K-N-O-W, knowgod.org. Hey, would you do me a favor? Share this message with someone who needs to hear it. So much talk at this time of year about gifts. What does Susie want?

What does Billy want? Pastor Greg Laurie points out a deep yearning we all have. We're all waiting for Christmas right now, but I think deep down inside what we really want when we are waiting for Christmas and we're longing for it, it's not Christmas, it's Christ. It's not merriment, it's the Messiah. It's not presents under a tree, it's His presence in our lives. This is the day when the lost are found This is the day for a new beginning Amazing grace, how sweet the sound Oh, can you hear all the angels are singing This is the day, the day when life begins It was the night before Christmas.

The poem says not a creature was stirring. That may have been the case in 1823, but in 2020, Christmas Eve is probably a cauldron of last-minute projects, family tensions, and frayed nerves. Not exactly the way it's described on Christmas cards. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out how to pause for a moment and refresh ourselves with another perspective. It's a message from last year's Christmas Eve service at his home church. This is the day, the day when life begins Let's pray together. Now, Lord, on this night when we celebrate the greatest of all nights, the night when Christ was born, we pray as we look at this beautiful story, the greatest of all stories again, that we would see it with fresh eyes, that we would hear it with fresh ears, and that it would resonate with us and we would see the meaning of it. So we ask your blessing now as we open your Word and we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. All right.

Well, if you brought a Bible with you, I would like you to grab it and turn to Luke chapter 2. The title of my message is, Waiting for Christmas. Waiting. I don't know about you, but that is not something I like to do. How many of you by nature are patient people? Raise your hand if you are a patient person. I admire you. I don't understand you. I bet you the people that drive too slow in the fast lane, though.

Am I right about that? Anyway, how many of you by nature are impatient? Raise your hand if I will get a lot more of you.

Or should I say a lot more of us? I, by nature, am an impatient person. My wife can attest to this. She is very patient. I am very impatient. When you are driving on the freeway and you see the one person in the one lane pops over to the next lane, over to the other lane, into the other lane, always trying to get ahead, that is me. In the market I literally, if I am looking at the lines now, at the registers, I am thinking, what is the shortest line? And there have been times I have gone in the 12 items or less line and I needed to buy more stuff just to get through. And I will leave stuff behind just so I can get out of there more quickly.

And by the way, I am counting the number of items of the person in front of me in that line as well. Same with amusement parks. That is one of the reasons I don't love to go to them that much.

I mean I like to go to Disneyland. But every time I go I pick the one day when it is the most crowded day of all time. And everyone will say, you should have been here yesterday. Like a ghost town. But I have just had people everywhere. And now they have little signs on the lines that tell you, if you are standing here you will be on the ride in one month.

I am like, you know, I was happier not knowing that actually. And then they are just waiting. Like what about when you are waiting to use the restroom? Doesn't time move slowly?

Somebody else is in it. And when they finally come out you look at them like, really? Did you have to take that long? Did you have the impatience of it all? Or remember when you were a kid and you were in class?

How long the class seemed to go. Like you are waiting for the bell to ring for recess and it seemed like it took years. Or maybe you go to the theater and you are watching the trailers. And you are thinking, I can't wait to see that new movie that is coming out. Then you see the movie and realize the trailer was better than the movie.

Right? And then eating. You know when I order a pizza I can't wait for it to cool off. I will start eating it. It is burning the roof of my mouth.

I may need to go to the emergency room. But oh I can't wait to eat that pizza. And you know microwaves. They seem slow to me now. I remember when microwaves first came out.

That is how old I am. I remember when I saw the first one. It was like a miracle. What used to take 45 minutes you could have done now in three minutes.

Now I put something in the microwave and I am like, seriously? Two minutes? I have things to do. Right?

It is just crazy. I am an impatient person. But sometimes things are worth the wait. Well Christmas is here. Christmas Eve of course. And tomorrow is Christmas Day. We had our grandkids over at our house.

I mentioned that. And Kathy decided they should open their presents the next day. And they were so filled with anticipation. They couldn't wait.

It is so hard for them. So when you are a kid you can't wait for Christmas morning. When you are an adult you can't wait for Christmas to be over with. No more Christmas songs. You have had enough of all those songs.

You know I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus. That is an inappropriate song. Ok. I don't know.

And what about that song. He knows. He sees you when you are sleeping. What is he a stalker? What is going on? He knows when you are awake.

Who is this guy in the red suit looking in my window late at night? So I want to talk about two people that are sort of unknown folks in the Bible. That were waiting for the first Christmas. We are all waiting for Christmas right now. Some of us are waiting and hoping our family will show up. Some of us are hoping our family actually won't show up. But Christmas is such a big deal. And it is so hyped up.

Here is the reality. Christmas cannot deliver on its promises. It has a lot of good things about it. But I think deep down inside what we really want when we are waiting for Christmas and we are longing for it. It is not Christmas. It is Christ. It is not merriment. It is the Messiah. It is not good will. It is God.

It is not presence under a tree. It is His presence in our lives. I think really the anticipation we have for Christmas is a longing for God Himself. And that is the message of Christmas. Emmanuel.

God is with us. Let's focus on these two unknown people for the most part in the Christmas story. I am not talking about Joseph and Mary. We all know a lot about them. I am actually talking about Frosty and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

No I am not. I am talking about two people named Simeon and Anna. Have you ever heard of them before? Simeon and Anna. Believe it or not they are actually a part of the Christmas story. Even the Nativity story. And in some ways they are more a part of the Christmas story than the wise men were. Because the wise men came quite a bit later.

Maybe up to two years later. The Bible says they came to the house where Jesus was. Not the manger where He was born. So let me show you where these two fit into the Christmas story.

Kind of big picture timeline. Remember the angel Gabriel came to Mary living in the city of Nazareth. A city renowned for its wickedness. She was a nobody in a nowhere town in the middle of nowhere. And though it was known for immorality Mary was a godly girl living in an ungodly place. And it was revealed to her that she would become the mother of the very Messiah. She was trying to wrap her mind around how this would happen. And Gabriel who gave her this message told her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you.

The power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy and he will be called the Son of God. So Mary agreed. She said, let it be according to your servant. I am in. I agree.

I will do it. She could have said no. She could have said no thank you.

Could you get somebody else? No she said yes. Then there is Joseph the unsung hero of the Christmas story. He went along with this. You have to understand that Joseph didn't believe Mary's story at first when she told him. But then the Lord came to him in a dream.

Sent an angel. He said, don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For it is the Son of God.

So now Caesar, Augustus, gives a decree that all the world should be taxed. And because both Mary and Joseph were descendants from the house of David they had to return to Bethlehem. That is where David lived when he was a little boy.

You remember? And so now they are making the difficult journey back to Bethlehem because the Scripture said that is where Messiah would come from. Micah 5 2. Thou Bethlehem, though you be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth one whose origins have been from everlasting.

Or literally the vanishing point. Now on the first Christmas Eve there were no brightly colored lights on anyone's home. There were no stockings that had been hung with care.

No visions of sugar plums on anyone's mind. It was just another night in Bethlehem. But world history was about to change. You know the story. They arrive in town.

There is no room in the inn. And so the Son of God enters our world in a stable or most likely a cave. Now when we parents have a child, especially our first child, we call our loved ones. And we will tell them the weight and length of the baby and the actual time of birth. So God makes an announcement.

My son is born. Who does he tell? You would think he would go and tell Caesar. Hey Caesar the Son of God has been born.

But no. He directs the message toward shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night. Let me say a word about Caesar. Caesar Augustus.

It means of the gods. That is the definition of Augustus. Caesar decided I think everyone should now worship me as a deity. Historians tell us he may have been around 5'7". That is funny because I was telling the Christmas story to my grandkids and I mentioned Caesar and my granddaughter Lucy said, Little Caesar? And I said, Pizza Pizza. So you know actually it was Little Caesar. A little dude who thought he was a big deal.

But in reality he was merely a tool in the hand of God Almighty to bring about the events spoken of by the prophets. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. So many listeners have commented on the help they receive from these daily messages.

God's word ministers to them and it often gets them through some dark hours. I'm very sorry for the loss of your son Pastor Greg. Well I can relate to loss and grief.

I love the Lord but I struggle with the type of survivor's guilt. My older sister and I are only 11 months apart. We are very close. I spoke with her just hours before her cardiac arrest and she was excitedly waiting for her son's 21st birthday. Her youngest son found her on his bed and he screamed for help. Emergency responders were able to get a pulse and she was rushed to the hospital where drastic measures took place.

Because my sister signed a do not resuscitate order she was very clear about not wanting to be kept alive with feeding tubes and things. We had to let her go. It's been five years and as I tell you this you can hear me weeping inside.

I feel like it just happened. Like you've said you never really get over it you just get through it. I know the Lord will get me through this obstacle that robs me of fully experiencing peace with God's decision to bring her home. I also know more trials are just around the corner so I need to learn how to completely trust in the Lord and take myself out of the equation so Satan can't place those kind of strongholds on me. I pray for you that you will continue to preach the importance of having complete faith and peace with God's decision whether you like his decisions or not. May God continue to bless you and your family Pastor Greg. Thank you so much for all that you do. We're so moved when we hear from listeners like this knowing that this broadcast is helping. Would you like to share your story with Pastor Greg? Call 1-866-871-1144. Once again 866-871-1144. Well Pastor Greg is presenting a special Christmas Eve message today called waiting for Christmas.

And our thanks to our Harvest partners for their support which helped to make today's study possible. And so now the Son of God has come into the world the message is given to the shepherds. So let's see what they said Luke chapter 2 verse 9. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared among them and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them. Imagine they were terrified and the angel reassured them don't be afraid. He said I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people the Savior. Yes the Messiah the Lord has been born today in Bethlehem the city of David.

And you'll recognize them by this sign you'll find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth lying in a manger. Suddenly the angel was joined by a vast host of others the armies of heaven praising God and saying glory to God in the highest heaven and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased. The shepherds said to each other let's go to Bethlehem. Let's see this thing that has happened which the Lord has told us about.

We'll stop there. So the shepherds come and they find Mary and Joseph and the baby in her arms no doubt. The wise men appeared a little bit later. I already mentioned a couple of years later.

Listen to this. The next event and the nativity story is eight days later after the birth of Christ when Joseph and Mary take Jesus into the temple. There he was circumcised and now we come to the first of two people who are waiting for Christmas or waiting for Christ. The first was Simeon.

Who was he? He was a godly man who was waiting for the Messiah. He was living a godly life at a time when the people of Israel had turned from the Lord in many ways. They had not heard from the Lord for hundreds of years. Not a single prophet had spoken in the name of the Lord. Not one miracle had been performed. No angelic appearances until this event with the shepherds keeping watch over their flocks.

But suddenly now the time is right. Everything was set in place. Rome actually helped to bring about the purposes of God.

You know sometimes God can use a person that is not necessarily a godly person or a moral person to accomplish his purposes. Caesar was accomplishing the purposes of God by giving that decree and getting Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem so prophecy would be fulfilled. Rome through its military muscle had bludgeoned the world into submission and most of the planet was living under what was called Pax Romana. A forced peace. Rome established a common language.

Greek. So for the first time ever everyone for the most part was speaking the same language. Secondly they had a very sophisticated postal system. And thirdly they had the Roman road system. And it was on those roads with that language that the gospel was spread to the planet like wildfire.

Everything was right historically. Fulfilling Galatians 4 which says, When the time was just right God sent forth His Son made of a woman under the law to redeem those that are born under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons whereby we cry Abba Father. When the time was just right. So here is old Simeon hanging out in the temple waiting. The Lord had revealed to him he would not die until he saw the Messiah. Sometimes you get those boxes on your porch that say don't open till Christmas. God had effectively shown Simeon you won't die until Christmas.

The first Christmas. You won't die until you see the Messiah. So Simeon held on to the promises of God.

The prophet Malachi whose prophecy ends the Old Testament says the son of righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And though that prophecy was 400 years old and Simeon believed it he hung on to it. It is a good thing to hang on to the promises of God. There is a lot of promises in the Bible.

Did you know that? Thousands of promises that the Lord has given to you. Don't ever forget the promises of God.

Lay hold to the promises of God. They are a little bit like those gift cards we are given this time of year. And I have to admit I have received quite a few gift cards I have not used. I don't know about you. I have a little collection at home. I read recently that there are 45 billion.

You heard me right. Billion dollars in unused gift cards that have been given over the years. Can you imagine such a thing? Now people give me a lot of gift cards to In-N-Out Burger and Krispy Kreme Donuts. I think it is because I mention them so often in my sermons. Maybe I should talk about fancier restaurants more.

I don't know. So I have all these gift cards for In-N-Out Burger which I appreciate. But if I used all these gift cards I would be literally 500 pounds right now. They would roll me out on a dolly. I would be a literal holy roller.

Here I am. So I re-gift them. I give them away to others. And then I receive gift cards to places I will never go. Oh wow.

A hundred dollar gift card at Liver World. I don't know. Liver World. It doesn't exist. Don't Google it.

I made it up. Maybe it does exist. But I would never want to go to a place like that. Well anyway God has made promises to you.

They are like gift cards that are unused. For instance God has promised to you that He will never leave you or forsake you. Jesus said I will never leave you or forsake you.

He also said lo I am with you even to the end of the age. And the Bible also promises that God will provide all of your needs according to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus. God also promises in Romans 8 28 that He can cause all things to work together for good to those that love God and are called according to His promises. And God has promised to answer our prayers. And I think so often we have problems and we don't pray about them. We don't bring them to the Lord. And Jesus said ask and it shall be given to you.

Seek and you shall find. Knock and the door shall be opened. Do you have a problem tonight?

Christmas Eve? Maybe it is a physical problem. Maybe it is a family problem.

Maybe it is some other kind of issue. Pray about it. Pray about it because God promises in Jeremiah 33 3 call to me and I will answer you. So Simeon called on the Lord. Lord you made a promise to me. You promised I won't die until I see the Messiah.

I am hanging on to that promise. By the way the name Simeon means God is heard. God did hear.

And so He waited and He waited. And one day who walks in? Mary. Joseph.

And the baby Jesus. We are excited about making the DVD of A Rush of Hope available to our listeners. And I really think there is sort of a pent up demand for that. Personally several friends have asked me if a DVD was available.

In fact a lady that used to be our neighbor some 30 years ago tracked me down on Facebook. Just to ask me does Pastor Greg have a DVD of A Rush of Hope? So I am excited to say yes. Finally it is available and we are making it available to our listeners right now. That is right Dave. It is available. Get ready for echo Dave.

A Rush of Hope is here. Yes Dave I have heard the same thing. People would comment on my social media. I loved it. I watched it five, six, seven, eight times. Because as you know over a given week in Labor Day weekend we showed it multiple times. And people just kept watching it and watching it.

And then wanting to share it with friends. But of course we never archived it. You couldn't watch it on demand. You could only watch it for one of the showings.

But now you can watch it whenever you want, wherever you want, with whomever you want to watch it with. Because A Rush of Hope is on DVD. And not only that but we have added some special resources to this offer. We are including a special little book called A Rush of Hope. A little booklet where we answer life's most difficult questions that you could give out to somebody who is not yet a Christian.

There's also a little piece that we wrote on how to host a watch party. So the idea is you invite a bunch of neighbors over and you show A Rush of Hope. And then you can follow up on them so they can make a commitment to Jesus Christ. We saw thousands of people make a Profession of Faith after we showed this on Labor Day weekend.

Well over 17,000 people. And now we believe thousands and thousands more will come to Christ as well. And so we're going to put this resource in your hands. And all you've got to do is order it.

You say, well what do I need to do? We'll send it to you for your gift of any size. And we'll take that gift that you send and we'll use it to continue to expand our ministry. You know we want to be good stewards over what God has given us.

We're strong believers in paying our bills and doing the things that we promise that we will do financially. But we also want to expand our territory. We want to go into new areas. And as you give, we have resources to utilize to go into a market, as it's called, that we've never been into before. So if you think more people need to hear this radio broadcast, The New Beginning, if you think more people need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ through films like A Rush of Hope, then I would encourage you to send a generous financial gift to Harvest Ministries. And we will put it to work for the kingdom of God. And again, it's my way of saying thanks. We'll rush you your own copy of A Rush of Hope so you can show it through the holidays.

Yeah, that's right. So get in touch today with your investment and this DVD will be on its way to you. Also, we'll send a digital download code so you can watch online right from your computer or tablet or smartphone.

That way you can take it with you and share it with a friend. You might say a cinematic crusade right in your pocket or purse. So write today, A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. Or call 1-800-821-3300.

That's 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org. Hey everybody, Greg Laurie here inviting you to join me every weekend for what we call Harvest at Home. It's a church service. It's a worship service. It's a Bible study and it's wherever you want it to be.

In your home, in your car, sitting on a beach, walking down the street, watching it on your phone. Wherever you are, you can take it with you and be ministered to every weekend. Join us for Harvest at Home at harvest.org. Well next time, Pastor Greg comes back to complete this message looking at the patient expectation of Anna and Simeon. Join us here on A New Beginning. This is the day, the day when life begins The preceding message from Greg Laurie was made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. Sign up for Pastor Greg's free daily email devotions at harvest.org.