No matter what's wrong, I want you to party this Christmas. Dr. Tony Evans reminds us that the good news of Christmas gives us reason to rejoice no matter the season we're in. Why don't you get your praise on this Christmas? Because I got good news no matter how bad things look.
This is the alternative broadcast, featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans.
Some gifts lose their shine the moment their wrapping hits the floor. But the gift God delivered that first Christmas becomes more awesome the longer you look. Today Doctor Evans unpacks what it really means that a Savior was born, one who rescues us from sin's penalty, its power, and one day even its presence. This is where Christmas joy becomes an ongoing blessing. Let's listen.
I'm calling our few moments together today the good news of Christmas. Luke chapter 2 gives that phrase to us. Beginning with verse eight. And in the same region, there were some shepherds. Staying out in the fields and keeping their watch over their flock by night.
And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them. And the glory of the Lord shone around them. And they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid. For behold, I bring you good news of great joy.
which will be for all the people. And because I've got good news. I don't want you to be afraid. I don't want you to be. Shook up.
By your circumstances. Because I've got good news.
Now Most people have a false idea. about the environment in which the first Christmas occurred. Most of us grew up and are used to lights and sounds and songs and. festivals and parades and All of the frivolity of the holiday. We are.
We are looking forward to All that makes Christmas exciting. But the first Christmas. was not like that. There was racial oppression in the first Christmas. Because the Jews were being held hostage by a Roman military governing machine.
They desperately wanted to be relieved from the oppression of Rome. During this time, there was great poverty. Even Mary and Joseph could only offer Pigeons as a sacrifice, which was the offering of the poor. There was high Roman taxation. In the first Christmas.
As the census was taken, so that people had to go back to their place of origin, in this case, Bethlehem. in order to satisfy The Roman census so that they could make sure that the taxes. could be gathered At high levels That was the first Christmas, I'd like to suggest that is this Christmas. That we find ourselves this Christmas. In a very bad state.
We find Abandonment we find. Conflict. This Christmas is like that Christmas. I've got good news. Of great joy.
They tell the shepherds. I want you to celebrate in spite of your fear. I want you to celebrate in spite of your insecurity. I want you to celebrate. this Christmas in spite of how bad everything is looking.
I want you to be excited no matter how bad things are, how dark things look. Because In the manger. Is Christ The Lord. The word Christ means Messiah. When a person comes to Jesus Christ, And accept Jesus Christ as their personal sin bearer, they are saved with regard to sin's penalty.
So the penalty of sin. That has been attributed to the human race. Was satisfied by the person of Jesus Christ coming into the world.
So, when a person accepts Christ, they say they are saved. That means that they are converted or regenerated. From the penalty of sin, so that no longer is eternal separation from God an issue. Because all sins, past, present, and future. Were covered by the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
So the first reason that you ought to have a party. Even if it's within your own heart. Is that you have a secured eternal destiny? That heaven is your home. That you have the security.
Of a savior. From the Penalty of sin. The second word that the word saved is used in the New Testament. is being rescued or delivered. From the power of sin.
We call that sanctification. The penalty of sin is justification. It's where God declares you righteous. It's where. The credit report, God takes Jesus' perfect credit report and puts it on your imperfect credit account.
So that now you have a perfect credit score. But in the second use, which is the dominant use of the word saved in the Bible, the word saved is not mostly used of going to heaven in the New Testament, it is mostly used of deliverance on earth. The third way that the word saved is used in the Bible. It is to be rescued from the very presence of sin. We call that glorification.
So there's justification being saved from the penalty, there's sanctification being saved from the power, then there's glorification being saved from the presence. What will make heaven heaven? Is that they will not be allowed Any impact or presence of sin. It's banned. And because it's banned, everything that could go wrong can't go wrong.
Because things only go wrong. Because of sin. And so He says, I got good news. And you ought to rejoice and have a party. In spite of the things that might make you afraid.
Because you got a Savior. No matter what's wrong. I want you to party this Christmas. I want you to be joyful this Christmas. I want you to be excited this Christmas.
Once you get your praise on this Christmas. Because I got good news. No matter how bad things look. He says, born is Christ the Lord. And suddenly, this is the second suddenly in this section.
There appeared with an angel a multitude. of the heavenly host praising God. Don't spend Christmas by yourself. One angel came and started talking. But then he got his crew.
It's posse. And said, we're going to all do this together. And they got their praise on. See, that's why you can't be worshiping in your bed by yourself as a lifestyle. That's why you can't just peel off for no reason other than you're lazy.
to not give God collective praise. One angel starts praising and all of a sudden a whole bunch of folks show up. Angelic hosts. Getting their rejoicing on. Even in a bad situation, they tell it, the angels are telling people: y'all better hang with us.
Because we're rejoicing. About this baby.
So they're praising, they're getting their praise on. When they do. They tell us. what their song was, what their declarations were. What they're Affirmation.
Was Says Glory To God. In the highest. Glory. To God in the highest. The word glory means to advertise.
It came from a word that had to do with. Weightiness. The word glory came from a word that meant to be weighty. You remember growing up You would often say about a person, he sure is, she sure is deep. Maybe they were real smart.
And you said they deep. Or maybe you're talking about a particular talent that they had.
Okay. God is the goat of the universe. Glory to God in the highest. He's so weighty, you got to make a big deal about him. He's so weighty.
You may. You don't whisper when you talk about Tom Brady. You don't whisper. Tom Brady, I yeah, you know. He's a nice quarterback.
No, when you talk about Tom Brady, the goat, you. You speak with... with respect and recognition and notoriety. Because of his weightiness. of his weightiness.
He says Glory to God in the highest. That's why there's this big multitude making a big deal about a big God. Glory to God in the eyes. You should be making a big deal about God. Not a little deal about God.
You know, he got too much goat to make a little deal about it. He's too much of a beast. To make a little deal about him. Glory to God in the highest. When Dr.
Evans returns shortly, he'll explain why celebrating God's greatness is more than just a heavenly moment. It's a call for us here on earth. Don't go away. We pray you're encouraged every time you connect with the urban alternative, whether it's online or on the air. And right now, we're asking for your very best year-end gift to help keep that encouragement coming your way.
Your financial support will help cover the rising cost of broadcast and production to ensure nothing needs to be cut back. and that more people like you can continue to be encouraged by God's word in the year ahead. please visit tonyevans.org to give today. As we've said so many times before, none of our outreach efforts would be possible without the ongoing generous investments of listeners just like you. And that's why if you make a donation right now to show your support of our work here at the Alternative, We'll say thanks by sending you messages from the manger.
Dr. Evans' new devotional and prayer guide. written for moments when life feels heavier than usual. or when you simply are ready to experience Christmas with a deeper sense of gratitude and awe. Messages from the manger offer daily encouragement, scripture, and prayer.
to help you meet Christ here in the middle of the holiday season. And to make the offer even sweeter, we paired this devotional guide along with When the King came to town. The nine-lesson celebration of Jesus' arrival drawn from Dr. Evans' Christmas messages across the years. Both are yours as our thank you gift when you make a year-end contribution to support the alternative.
Do that today at tonyevans.org. or by calling one of our helpful resource team members at 1-800-800-3222. I'll repeat that information after the second part of today's lesson. Here's Dr. Evans once again.
So he says, I want you to celebrate. Because you have salvation. Glory to God. In the highest, But then he says, but peace on earth. No, he's dropped down.
Right now we are worshiping God in the highest. We're singing and we're praising and we're praying and we're celebrating and we're clapping and we're applauding. And you know, the. The evil out there isn't controlling this environment.
Okay, so we kind of hang out with the angels right now. We kind of We're kind of mixing it up. With heaven right now. We're kind of mixing it up with glorifying God. But now when you walk out here to earth.
Mess, conflict, wars, fighting. There's some folk gonna be gonna be fighting before they get home in their car. There will not be peace, there will be conflict. Glory to God in the highest. And peace.
On earth, he's dropped down.
Okay. So if you want to end conflict. And have peace. God has got to be positioned correctly. Because you don't get peace on earth if there's not glory in heaven.
You skip heaven, you're going to live with conflict on earth. You start with glory. But to God in the highest. And then you drop down to ending conflict on earth. Peace.
with whom he is well pleased. Yeah. You're getting your praise on up there. You want to end conflict down here. But up there has got to be happy with what you're doing down here if you want to end the conflict down here.
See, we got folk who want to end conflict down there. who don't want to be right in touch up there.
So you got personal conflict, internal conflict, because you're having trouble living with you. You have relational conflict, you know, so you want to divorce, you want to fight all the time.
So you got relational conflict or parents with children. You got environmental conflict. You got conflict between races, classes, cultures.
So you got conflict with that. Then we got national conflict with China or Russia or what's happening across. And there's immigration conflict. I mean, everywhere you look at it, it's conflict.
So wait a minute now. If Christmas is about peace, because trust me, I don't care how many Christmas carols you hear, how much singing, how many choirs you hear. The moment We switch over to a new year. It gonna be like Christmas never ever happened. The reason why We're having all of this difficulty.
is because God is not pleased. Peace on earth with whom he is pleased. God's not happy, so you're not happy. God's not happy, so your family is not happy. God's not happy, so the race is not happy.
God's not happy, so the culture is not happy. God is not happy, so the community and the police aren't happy. God is not happy, so there's no national order. Because God is not happy, you're not happy. With whom he is well pleased.
The problem today is God is not pleased.
So Christmas doesn't work.
So conflict rules. 100 pianos tuned to the same tuning fork will automatically be in sync with one another. Because they're all being positioned by this one thing. People have abandoned pleasing God. for pleasing themselves.
pleasing the culture, pleasing their race. pleasing their history, pleasing their background. pleasing their education. He says he got to be pleased. With whom he is well pleased.
Christmas will stay a holiday and won't go much further if God is not happy. And he's not happy because he has not been treated as God in the highest. And how do you know? If God is in the highest, Because you decide to make him happy over making you happy. over making me happy.
In other words, you want him to smile. And when he smiles. He'll let you piggyback off of his smile.
Now, you can't change everything that's happening in the world. You can't turn everything that's happening in the world around, but you can say a lot about what's happening to you. This Christmas time. You can say a lot about what's happening to you. When Jesus Christ is positioned.
This Christmas.
So I want you to rejoice. I want you to celebrate. It may be a bad day. It may be a difficult day. It may be a challenging day.
It may be a season of memories that are difficult to absorb and hold on to. I still want you to get your praise on. I still want you to celebrate how good God is, great God is, awesome God is. How loving God is, faithful God is, true God is. I want you to make a big deal about God, even on a bad day.
You get your joy by rejoicing.
So, hang out with the angels and then hang out with some other folk who are hanging out with the angels too so that you can pick up on that sound. If you've ever been to a comedy show. Versus watching a comedian on television, you know, you may chuckle on television. But when you're in a show with a whole lot of people, even if you're not laughing, you're gonna laugh because everybody around you is laughing. In other words, they will.
allow you to piggyback off of their laughter. God is saying he wants us to piggyback off other folks' joy.
So that their joy rubs off on our joylessness, and we can't help but become joyful because the room has become full of joy, full of light. full of laughter and full of divine celebration. There's gonna be a a lot of folk going home. to worship before the altar of their television. They will be on time for worship.
Because they don't want to miss the Opening invocation. Called the kickoff. They're going to be on time, and they're going to decide that. They are worth My full undivided attention. They're gonna sit in their assigned pew.
The place where they always sit. To watch the team play. Yes. They're going to not only sit there, but they're going to. Engage.
being there. They are going to give Undivided attention. And will get upset if somebody interrupts him at the wrong time. They going to sit there? And they are going to rejoice.
When there's a first down, when there's a touchdown. And they're going to feel the pain of sin when they fumble. Because they are going to engage. Worship for three hours. And they're not gonna say church went too long.
My church gotta be so long. And when service gets interrupted by a commercial, They ain't going nowhere because they are committed. In their worship. And when there's a positive play, they're going to jump up. Yeah, and they're going to get into it.
And whatever was depressing them for that three hours is going to be sidelined. The folks who go to the game are going to pay a tithe. They ain't gonna say, Oh, all they want is my money, all they want is to get my money. They're gonna decide they are worthy of my donation. The only problem with that worship service is.
That service doesn't always win.
Sometimes it's up, sometimes it's down.
Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad.
Sometimes it's a first down, sometimes it's a fumble. But I know somebody this Christmas. I know somebody this Christmas. Who is in the rescuing business? He wins all season, he wins in the playoffs, and he is the Super Bowl king.
So, I want some worshipers up in here to give him the glory to his name. To decide he is worthy of our praise, adoration, worship. Glory to God in the highest, because on earth He's given us a Savior. Who is worth celebrating? Who is worth pleasing?
who is worth giving him for. Mm. Dr. Tony Evans, inviting us to honor Christ with praise, adoration, and worship as we rejoice in the Savior God gave us.
Now before we wrap up for the day, I want to remind you to request that special Christmas package I mentioned earlier. It includes Dr. Evans' new devotional, Messages from the Manger, designed to help you slow down, recenter your heart. and experience the hope and worship of Christmas in a fresh way. It also includes the nine-message audio collection when the king came to town.
featuring some of Dr. Evans' most powerful Christmas teachings. It's our thank-you-gift when you make a year-end donation to help support the outreach of the alternative. Just visit Tony Evans dot org or call 1-800-800-322 to make the arrangements today. Again, that's 1-800-800-3222 or or online at tonyevans.org.
It's been said that good things come in small packages. And that's certainly true with the birth of Jesus Christ. Tomorrow, Dr. Evans unpacks the gift we were given on the day God became flesh. Be sure to join us for that.
