Shopping For A Savior

0:02 Well, Lisa and I were at the mall a couple of days ago, and we saw an unusual sight. This lady was walking around shopping with this massive pillow. And normally we don't do this, but we walked up to her, and we were like, why the pillow? Why are you carrying around a pillow? She said, well, I'm planning on shopping till I drop. and she said wherever I drop no matter what store it is I'm going to put the pillow down so I'm shopping and then I'm dropping we were like wow it's kind of unusual isn't it I think it's true that a lot of us shop till we drop right now especially the moms here moms you make Christmas happen let's give it up for the moms I mean yeah moms you have you have done it all. You know what I'm saying to you? You know, dads walk in Christmas morning like we're like, yeah, we haven't done anything. You know what I'm saying? But moms, thank you, thank you, thank you. And a lot of you are exhausted and stressed and we're thinking about in-laws and outlaws. We're thinking about football. Maybe you're thinking about drones like I am. I had a pack of drones follow me again today to church. So it's interesting. But I would have to say, going back to shop till you drop, the number one thing we're all thinking about right now is shopping or has been shopping. I think we would all go, yeah, yeah, that's me. You know, I've been trying to find that ultimate gift. I've been shopping and I've shopped till I've dropped, you might say. I hate to confess this, but we are in church. My lovely wife and I, Lisa, have been married for 42 years. 42 years. I know you're shocked because you're like, I thought you were 41, but no, I'm 63. I'm a 61 model. Anyway, first Christmas,

2:10 First Christmas, I made a major mistake, a blunder when it comes to gift giving. Lisa's birthday is December the 18th, and I did a great job there. You know, I planned it out, you know, guys, and gave her a special gift, and she was like, yeah! Well, after that, I'm thinking, you know, I did a good job. What's Christmas? I mean, you know, I kind of blew it off, and it was Christmas Eve. after our last Christmas Eve service, and I was walking out to the parking lot because I'd driven and Lisa'd driven in another car, I thought to myself, I've not done anything for her Christmas. So I just fly to the mall in my Ford F-150 pickup truck, power slide into the space. I'm sprinting in the mall, and the first thing I saw was a bathrobe.

3:08 I didn't check the size, quality. I'll take it, I said. And then I brought the gift home, gave it to her, and Lisa's response wasn't that great. She wasn't that thrilled, that happy, because she knew I had put zero thought, which she's right, in the gift. I just said, here you go, kind of, you know. I've discovered that when you buy a gift, two things need to happen. And Dad taught me this. He said, this is some incredible knowledge for young people. If you want to buy the ultimate gift, listen to this. Number one, the gift needs to reflect the personality of the giver. You got that?

4:03 And number two, it needs to meet the need of the recipient. Oh, I don't think I really succeeded in Lisa's gift. Now, you might be giving a bathrobe this Christmas. I'm not anti-bathrobe. I'm just telling you to think through your gift. Christmas, I'm going to say, is about shopping. No, no, I'm talking about on God's level. God is the ultimate shopper. You might be saying, well, what are you talking about? God shopped through the aisles of eternity, the Bible tells us. God has picked the ultimate gift. He thought it through the ultimate gift for you and for me. That's why we celebrate Christmas. That's why the Bible calls Jesus this indescribable gift.

5:01 And if you think about the price tag that was paid, God sent his only son, Jesus lived this perfect life, died on a cross for our sins, he rose again, and now God offers us this gift. And every time you give a gift, and we'll be doing that a lot over the next 24 hours, it demands a response. I either go, okay, thank you very much, I appreciate that, or nah, nah, it's okay. A bathrobe, come on, you know? We need to remember the gift of Christmas when we think about giving and receiving gifts because our God did not just arbitrarily go, yeah, I'm just gonna buy this gift for mankind because God understood our deepest need. Our deepest need was forgiveness and his forgiveness.

5:56 So he sent a savior. If our deepest need had been information, he would have sent an educator. If our deepest need had been entertainment, he would have sent a performer. Our greatest need was forgiveness. He sent Jesus. Jesus. So God is a God who shops. And you might not have thought about it. God is shopping for you. He's following you around, and he'll have a moment when he presents you with the ultimate gift. And that demands, again, a choice. We either receive this gift or not. The reason that God did this gift-giving thing is because of our nature. Our nature is a sin nature.

6:51 We chose to rebel against God, and we're riddled with wrongdoings. We're separate from God. God saw this gap. He did something about the gap. He sent Jesus to live righteously, die sacrificially, and rise bodily, thereby giving us an opportunity to know him personally. Now, it seems like all of us would go, oh, man, that's a sweet deal. I mean, I'm not going to refuse that. I've got forgiveness of my sins. I've got eternal life. I've got meaning and purpose. I've got power when the world is shaky. I mean, I've got joy even in the midst of difficult times. Come on. I mean, who would say no to that? But we do, don't we? I have and so have you.

7:46 What we do is we shop till we drop. So on one hand, God is shopping, think about it, for you and me, and simultaneously, we're shopping. Now, the first aisle is aisle one. Aisle one is an aisle of position. Have you ever shopped down that aisle? A lot of people say, you know what, God, I'm not going to receive your gift. I'm going to do what I want to do, and I'm going to shop, and I'm going to find me the right position. And we try to position our carts in front of other people. And if we get a couple of letters before our name or after our name, or maybe we make the team or we have the corner office, we'll go, man, my cart is full. I am fulfilled. Yet strangely, even though a lot of us have those positions, strangely, there's still a cavern in the cart.

8:42 So we go, I'll go down aisle two. Isle two is the aisle of possessions. Now, I know that no one struggles with materialism in Dallas. I mean, I don't know why I'm talking about it, but we think the next acquisition will do it. If I live in that zip code, drive that car, wear that watch, travel to that destination, that's going to do it. But possessions are great, but basically they're Botox for the soul.

9:18 I've had Botox before, years ago. And my skin is really thin, and it just did not take to the Botox very well, so it just wears off like that. I love everyone laughing nervously. Is he serious? Yeah. All these wrinkles. Anyway, but wealth is that way. So work with me now. It's not bad to have great positions. Awesome for you. You could be head coach of this school's football team. You could be CEO of some massive technology company, or you could have finally made the cheerleading squad, whatever. That's great that you have position, but position will not fill your deepest needs. And the same is true when it comes to possessions. Now, I'm sure a lot of us are like, okay, when I have that in my portfolio, that'll do it.

10:15 When I make that amount of money, that'll do it. And again, the carts are full, yet they're strangely empty. But that doesn't stop us. We go to another aisle, aisle three. Aisle three is the aisle of pleasure. We move from fun fix to fun fix, from buzz to buzz, from high to high, from bed to bed, thinking that pleasure will do it. God invented pleasure. It was his idea. Pleasure's great. Too much of it, though, can lead to a life of pain. It's kind of like Christmas candy. You eat the candy, and then the first little bit is sweet, but if you keep on eating it, you'll get as sick as a dog. Pleasure does not fill your cart. It doesn't fulfill you. Then people, that's another one that we think about, people. I'm going to fill my cart full of people.

11:13 That's aisle four, people. So aisle one is position. Aisle two is possession. Aisle three is pleasure. Aisle four is people. So if I'm with the right person, then this person will satisfy me. So what happens is we're like pushing our cart around one day, guys, and we see this beautiful woman pushing her cart, and we go, man, I'm going to follow her. And we meet her, and we go out with her, and we marry her, and mate with her, and crank out a couple of kids, and we have a home, and we have a dog named Rover. and yes, our carts are full, but they're still empty. It is not it. And a lot of you know what I'm talking about. A lot of you are going, I understand that because here's what we do. We put divine pressure on human beings.

12:08 In other words, good people make bad gods. Lisa cannot meet the needs that I have that only God can meet. Yet what happens in so many marriages is we put that kind of pressure, don't we, on our spouse or on some other relationship. So the question is, what do we do?

12:35 We're shopping. We're moving. We're grooving. We don't stop. I mean, what do we do? And during this time of year, a lot of us in our moments of annual introspection get dangerously close to the nativity scene. We push our carts close, and then we go, oh, there's baby Jesus. So we pick up the baby Jesus, because, you know, there's always room for a baby in a cart. and we put Jesus in our carts, strapping in and we go, shh, here's your pacifier. Don't say a word. I'm gonna push you where I want you to go in my life. Let's go down aisle one. Let's go down aisle two, three, aisle four.

13:31 And if I get in trouble, Jesus, there you are. During the Christmas season, I guess for the last 20 years, I've made it a habit to ask a lot of people two questions. And these are not trick questions. They're just questions that I started asking a long time ago. I'll ask people this question. I'll go, number one, let me ask you this question. What's the meaning of Christmas? And I'll get a lot of different answers. Then the second one is I'll go, okay, let's say there's a heaven. Let's say there's a heaven. How do I get to heaven? You would not believe the answers. First time I tried this was on the streets of New York 20 years ago, and here's what people said.

14:24 People behind me are doing one thing. They're shopping. They're looking for the ultimate gifts, and this is the place to do it. We've been seeing a lot about shopping. We've been talking about it. But let's look past all the trimmings and all the presents and stuff, and let's get down to the real issue of Christmas. Because I want to talk to these people about the true meaning of the season. Why do we have Christmas anyway? And secondly, I want to know if these people know how to get to heaven. Because after all, getting to heaven is the ultimate thing. Because it's all about a gift. What do you think the real meaning of Christmas is all about? What's Christmas all about? Being kind to other people and enjoying giving it more than you get. What if I ask you, let's say there's a heaven, okay? What if I ask you, how do I get to heaven?

15:19 What would you say? The gates to heaven are paved with good intentions. I guess I just have to wait and find out. I don't know. I'd say just be the very best person you possibly can be. What's the true meaning of Christmas? Presents. Presents? Being with family. Let's say there's such thing as heaven, all right? How do I get to heaven? Just be good.

15:44 I'm not going to heaven. I don't know. You should go there anyway. You don't have to do anything. What's the original meaning of Christmas? The original meaning of Christmas is about giving. Have you ever heard anything about Jesus Christ before? Well, yeah. But I guess nowadays it's more about gifts.

16:12 How do I get to heaven? I want to get to heaven. How do I get there? Die. Then what? Then you go to heaven. How do you know you're going to heaven? Did you do good things in life? So that's it, doing good? Yeah. If I do good things, I'll get to heaven, right? Yeah. Okay, thank you. Say it again. If you're going to heaven, if you lead a good life, you're nice to other people. If I'm a good guy and I'm nice. You're going to go to heaven. All right. How about I ask you this question? I want to get to heaven. How do I get to heaven? Have fun and just do the right thing. So if I have fun and do the right thing, I'll get to heaven. I guess so. That's what I'm planning on. I've been asking the question all day and now all night. The question has been simply this.

17:06 What's the meaning of Christmas and how do I get to heaven? Sadly, very, very few people understand the true essence of this great time. Right now, I want to talk to you about the answer to this question. The right answer. Because it's imperative that you know how to get to heaven. Because getting to heaven is all about the true meaning of Christmas. I've often wondered where those people are today. I wonder how many are living. I wonder how many bowed the knee to Jesus.

17:44 In a crowd this size and at our different locations, I want to be crystal clear on what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about is what the Bible talks about. If you think back, for example, to Matthew 2, verse 11, it says these words, talking about the wise men who were truly shoppers. They saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. You got to realize these guys had shopped for 1,500 miles. So I think we could say they shopped till they dropped, right? They dropped before Jesus. You see, the gift is what separates Christianity from all the other world religions. All the other world religions are based on works. Like, if I light this candle or do this penance or if I make this journey, then maybe one day at the end of my life, God will go, you know what?

18:50 You did a good job. Because word on the street says, when we face God, word on the street says that God's going to go through the database, find your name and mine, and take out his iPhone and tap the calculator and add up our good stuff versus our bad stuff, then hit equal. And he's going to go, oh, yeah, you were a good guy. You tried to do the right thing. You never intentionally hurt anyone. come on into heaven. But word on the street is wrong. It's nothing that I do or you do. It's something that's been done for us, which again, separates Christianity from the pack of other world religions. The work has been done. The price has been paid. The gift has been picked. Now God offers it to you and to me.

19:52 It reflects his personality, it's God, and it meets our deepest need. So what is your response? What is your response? I think it's time that a lot of us who have been shopping down aisle one and aisle two and aisle three and aisle four, positions and possessions and pleasure and people, I think it's time for a lot of us to go, you know what, Ed? I want to unclench my white knuckle grasp on the handle, and I'm going to drop to my knees and say, Lord, have your way in my life. I want to shop till I drop. Because think about it. When you give your life to Jesus, your heart and your heart to him, you want to talk about a position.

20:52 The Bible says we're adopted into the family of God. We're God's kids. You hear that phrase, like, born again? Well, that's a biblical phrase. We're born into the family of God. We're adopted into his family. Think about the possessions that we have. Think about what we could tap into during times that are great and during times that are not so great. During a birth and also during a death. Think about pleasure. As I said earlier, God invented pleasure.

21:38 We'll have pleasure deeper than the world can offer. We have this tranquility of the soul that words cannot really describe. That's a benefit of shopping till you drop. And then I think about people. As many of you know, three years ago, Lisa and I tragically lost our daughter. I shouldn't say lost, she's in heaven, but she passed away from this life to the next three years ago. and it was a sudden thing.

22:15 Definitely it is the most difficult thing that we've ever gone through. But I'm here to tell you, God is faithful and God brought people around us. I'm talking about people in Fellowship Church that prayed for us, that carried us through and who are still doing so.

22:44 So one of the things that we have an opportunity to do is become a part of the body of Christ. Now, the body of Christ is the church. Jesus invites us, is this awesome, to be a member of his body. We all have unique abilities, and it's great that we use these abilities whatever in the business world or entertainment world or athletic world or whatever, but our abilities are really for one another. So for someone to turn their back on the church who has given their heart and cart to Jesus, that's, I mean, that's pretty heavy to go, no, no, no, that's okay, Jesus. I understand your gift, and yeah, you can kind of ride along, but I'm not going to be involved in your church. I would beg you, friends, to make that decision.

23:44 shop till you drop. That's the message. Many of us have done that. Some need to do that because once you do that, you'll understand what Christmas is all about. Let's pray together. Lord, thank you for this message. and I pray for every person here, every family member, every single adult, every kid and I'm gonna ask you if you want to, while I pray, make this decision to shop till you drop, you can make it right now by simply saying, God, just say it with me silently. silently. God, I admit to you that I'm a sinner, that I've done wrong, and I believe you sent Jesus Christ to pay the price on the cross for my sins, to forgive me, and to cleanse me, and to give me a home in heaven. I believe in your death, burial and resurrection and right now Lord I unclench my fists and drop to my knees and say Lord have your way in my life and I know so many wonderful things are going to happen in so many lives who made that cataclysmic decision as you discover the position and possessions and pleasure in people that God has for you.

25:35 We voice this prayer in Jesus' name, amen.