oh man I’m so glad I didn’t have to try that what was that noodles and
marshmallows and whipped cream was there any syrup did you put syrup in it oh man hopefully you didn’t get a tummy ache
after that elfl hey welcome to Sunday so glad that you guys are here are you ready for Christmas know we’ve talked about it a
bit it’s going to be a fun fun Christmas and we talked about it already but
Christmas Eve is next weekend okay so whatever location you are watching from right now I want you to get out your
phones go ahead everybody get out your phone if you don’t have it out already and I want you to text somebody that needs to be here next weekend for
Christmas Eve okay we’re just going to do it right now in service you could use this right here
this invite you could text them that invite you could send them a message that says I’m sitting in church and I’m
thinking about you should be here next weekend with me at church you could say the pastor up on stage is telling me to text somebody and invite them to church and so I’m inviting you to church I mean
whatever you want to say you could say there’s going to be food and fun for the kids I mean there’s so many things that you can say but get that text message out if you’re if you have to think about
it like if you have to process it you’re like I just don’t know what to say at least do this for me okay on your phones anywhere you’re watching from put it on
your calendar today at 2: p.m. okay there’s scientific evidence I I know all of it but they say if in 6 hours you
need to act on it in 6 hours or your mind will just totally forget okay so put it on your uh your phone for 2:00 p.m. to set a reminder and say invite
somebody to Christmas Eve can you do that for me yes okay everybody anybody who’s going to send it out right now did you send it out are you done yes okay if
you didn’t do it yet put that reminder on your phone you got it all right hey I want to say hello to all of our
locations if you don’t know me my name is is Jody I’m on the teaching team here um my family is usually up at our bellw location what’s up bellw miss you today
and hello to dupa hello to yaka hello to all of our online location people watching and hello to
Tacoma man Christmas is right around the corner and we have had a great series how many of you guys have liked this
series your story his glory have you guys enjoyed it yeah if you missed any of the weeks I
encourage you to go back and watch it on YouTube some really really good messages that we heard we heard about how God is
telling a story and that he’s inviting all of us into it we heard about Joseph and how God used unexpected news to
invite him into the story last weekend we heard about the Shepherds and the wise men and how every single person has
the opportunity to be a part of God’s story everyone’s story matters right don’t count yourself out we’ve heard so many good things and today we’re going
to continue your story and His glory are you ready for it yeah okay let’s say this after me just say my heart’s
open my mind is ready make us better God today in Jesus
name amen amen we’re going to jump into that first Christmas again out of Luke
Chapter 2 okay starting in verse one in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be
registered and all went to be registered each to his own town and Joseph who’s the Earthly father of Jesus right and
Joseph also went up From Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea to the city of David which is called what come
on help me out this morning which is called what Bethlehem just making sure you’re paying attention that’s all um because he was of the house and lineage
of David the King David the one who struck down Goliath with the stone the very same David okay to be registered
with Mary his betrothed who was with child and while they were there wouldn’t you know it the time came for her to
give birth and she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in
swaddling cloths and laid him in a Manger can you say that laid him in a
what laid him in a Manger which is a feeding straw for Animals okay with all of the straw and hay and all the things
okay laid him in a Manger because there was no place for them in the end now if you’ve been around church at all
especially around Christmas time you’ve probably heard this story okay and I don’t know about you but when I read
this story I have a lot of questions like I have a lot of things that I wonder about and this weekend I
want to focus on all of of my questions that I have about the inkeeper okay the inkeeper is part of this story
he’s not really mentioned we’re kind of assuming that he’s a part of this story but I just have a lot of questions for the inkeeper I mean what was his
story he didn’t have room he didn’t have a guest room available for Mary and Joseph right so he didn’t let him let
them into his house what was his story I’m assuming that he made room for
them somehow some way and let him stay in his stable which was really more like a barn basement
carved into a cave probably at least the one that I went to when I was a teenager in Bethlehem and they said that this is where they think Jesus might have been
born it was more like an underground cave okay where they kind of kept all the animals during the night and then they let him back out to Rome during the
day but what was this inkeeper story like did he go out of his way to make sure that as Mary was having the baby
baby Jesus did he go out of his way to I don’t know bring water bring towels bring the swaddling like was it his
swaddling cloth that he brought to her to help out did he go out of his way to take care of maybe he became like The Unofficial
dla right like I don’t know we don’t know it doesn’t say that but like we have to imagine like you don’t just have a baby like there’s a process to having
a baby did he go out of his way to make sure that they were as comfortable as they could be did he regret not having a bedroom to give them like was there any
regret was there any shame or guilt involved we don’t know like there’s just do you have these questions when you read the Bible like sometimes it’s so easy to just like read the Bible read it
read it read it but if you just stop and ask yourself some questions like have a little
Wonder with it did he realize who was
born that gave was a miracle of a birth but like did he really realize the
actual like huge miracle that happened and who was born and if he did when did he realize
it did he did he realize that when the star was like shining so bright over his house and his property was that the moment where he was like oh I wonder if
this is the the Messiah we’ve been waiting for or was it when the Shepherds came by and he saw them you know with their announcement that Angels showed up
to them in the field or was it with the Magi when they came and they said We’ve Come From Afar following this you know shining star in the sky was there a
moment that he realized it I mean these are just these are questions these are things that I wonder I wonder about the inkeeper we’re
just pretending like this guy’s the inkeeper okay I don’t really know what he looked like we don’t even know his name like we literally know nothing
about his story if you look up in Keeper in the Bible you’re not going to find
it but I wonder about him I wonder about this
homeowner that didn’t have room for Mary and Joseph and yet somehow decided to
make room to make room for this young couple who we don’t know maybe other people turned them down maybe other people
turned them away maybe even me this was this was Joseph’s family lineage town like where he his family was
from and maybe people turned them away because they judged them we don’t know but what we can
assume is that somebody this homeowner somebody made room for them whether it was in the you know the
common room where the Troth was or where the barn basement in the cave I mean he made room for Mary and Joseph and I
wonder what impact did this night have on his life I mean certainly he’s not a a main
character in the scriptures but I just wonder assuming that all of it went down kind of how we’re imagining it
today he was a part of The Greatest Story Ever Told because he decided to make
room when at first glance he didn’t have any room we all have opportunities to bring
glory to God every single one of us have that opportunity to say yes and give glory to
God this man this this inkeeper his opportunity came disguised as a problem and how many times did the
opportunities that we have in life come disguised in work closeth like we’re going to have to put in some work to get
the benefits to get the rewards out of these opportunities they come to us as imperfect they come to us as
inconvenient situations and yet we all have these opportunities that if we take them and
if we do something about them if we make room for them in our life we can bring glory to God with them I think God does some of his best
work in our lack this inkeeper didn’t have much but God used what he
had God does some of his best work in our lack he does some of his best work in our struggles in our pain in our loss
in our disappointment it’s an opportunity if we take it if we take
that opportunity we can give glory to God so I have a question for you today are you willing to make room for God in
your your life it’s a simple question but I think it’s somewhere that we need to start in the busyness of the
season and all of the things that can fill up our lives are you willing are
you willing to make room for God in your life like I said there could have been other people who turned Mary and Joseph
away how many doors did they knock on that night how many strangers did they ask
how many family members relatives did they ask that they got turned away and yet this homeowner even though he didn’t
actually have a guest room available he still made room somehow someway even if
it was in a barn basement in a cave he took the opportunity that he had
and he was a part of The Greatest Story Ever Told how many opportunities have we missed
because they’ve been inconvenient how many opportunities have we missed because our lives are so jam-packed
full that we miss the opportunity in front of us that could give glory to God in a different new
way I don’t know if the inkeeper was a good guy or a bad guy like I honestly don’t think that he was the kind of guy that just wanted to keep Jesus out of
the Inn you know because he didn’t like Mary and Joseph like I honestly don’t think that he was a bad guy we just honestly don’t know a lot about
him but if everything that we’ve been told or imagined or we’re assuming you know has gone on this
night with this inkeeper it just makes me
wonder because he made room and he didn’t really
know like he didn’t know that it was the messiah in Mary there’s no way that he could have
known and yet because he decided to make room he was a part of the
Messiah getting born on his property probably a pretty common man’s property and being put into an animal
feeding Troth are you willing to make room for God in your life it’s a good question to
ask yourself in this season I have to I have to admit something to you today it’s kind of
embarrassing I’m a borderline hoarder it’s true my family laughs at
me you have any other friends who are borderline hoarders out there you’re willing to admit it today thank you thank you for not leaving me on my own I appreciate
that I’m notorious for holding on to things because because of you know the sentimental value like oh I want to
remember this time or that thing or that place this season I want to remember it
I’m going to keep it or I might use that someday somehow some way I might need it
and I do not want to have to go buy a new one the day that I need it come on I’m not by myself
right okay thank you thank you I see that hand out there thank thank you and wouldn’t you know that most of
the time I throw something away and two days later or two weeks
later I needed that exact thing that I threw
away I knew I wasn’t by myself that just that gets so much burden off of my shoulders thank you
thank you for it’s my confession to you
today I have so many things that I want to say right now but I’m goingon to in our lives it’s really
important that we get rid of things to make room for what God wants
to do in our life
because if our lives are so full of everything else we get to the point where Mary and
Joseph this opportunity comes into our life and we either have to completely reject that God opportunity or we put
him in the barn basement just kind of make room somehow some way for them if our lives are so jam-packed I mean I
don’t think the inkeeper was a bad guy but his life was full evidently because he didn’t have room for them and he had to put them in the barn basement so
thank God he made room for them somehow some way sometimes you have to start with what you’ve got where you are thank
you Jesus for that and that’s okay but imagine if I could become a
recovering hoarder instead of an actual hoarder imagine what our lives would be
like if we were okay getting rid of the things that were holding his back getting rid of the extra things getting
rid of the addictions getting rid of the hesitations getting rid of the thought patterns and the mindsets getting rid of
the people who give us a hard time every time we’re going to church again and they say you’re going to church again getting rid of the things that are
holding us back from the opportunities that God has for our lives imagine if we made room
or maybe it’s just getting rid of the good things that aren’t necessarily bad things they’re just good things that if
we got rid of them we could make our lives open for the great things the god things that he has in store for
us in Leviticus in Leviticus chapter 26 it says that you’ll be taking out Harvest
from last year still while you’re bringing in Harvest from the New Year it’s not
bad it’s still a good harvest but they have to make room for the Greater Harvest that’s coming in for
the new things for the god things that are coming in to their life are you willing to make room for God in your
life because the truth is God wants to be a part of your life he wants to be in the every day all the time everywhere
parts of your life and are you willing to throw out the Clutter are you willing to throw out the addictions are you willing to throw out the mindsets are
you willing to throw out the good to get the great are you willing to make good make
room for God in your life you can’t make miracles happen in
your story but you can make room in your story for miracles to happen I’m going
to read that again you can’t make miracles happen in
your story but you can make room in your story for miracles to
happen I’m not a miracle worker and sadly neither are you neither one of us none of us are
miracle workers but we serve a what a miracle working God we serve a miracle
working God so we can’t make miracles happen I
can’t walk around and be like poof there’s a miracle poof there’s a miracle poof there’s a miracle yes there’s a miracle I can’t do
that but you know what I can do I can make room I can make room in my life so that
the Miracle Worker can make miracles happen in my life and so can
you faith faith is a great way to make room in your life
worship worship is a great way to make room in your story for miracles
gratitude it’s a great way to make room in your life life having the mindset that you’re a
Victor and not a victim that’s a great way to make room in your life for miracles moving out the old
letting room for the new be around it’s a great way to make room for the
Miracles we serve a miracle working God and he wants to be a part of your life
and your story in such a way that Miracles can happen and it brings him glory in the
process he wants to be a part of your life and use your life just like he used Mary just like he used Joseph just like
he used the Shepherds and the Magi and even just like he used this inkeeper
and is it possible that God wants to turn your story into a miracle story is
it possible that God wants to turn your story around is it possible that he wants to
make your story a story of his goodness and his grace yeah there’s been some mistakes
yeah there’s been some unfortunate things yes there’s been some frustrating things yes there’s been disappointment yes there’s been tragedy and
Trauma but what if God wants to bring a miracle into your world and make your story a
comeback story we’ve got some friends that they’re pastors and they had battles
with drugs and depression and they were divorced and
remarried three times to each
other not to other people they were together and they got divorced and then they got together again they
got divorced and they got together they got divorced and now they’re married again okay you with
me and they are still they’re pastoring a church that they planted several years ago and God is using their story as a
comeback story to encourage people all over the world and they’re they’re writing a book about it because they want to use that St want God to write
that story in such a way that it’ll encourage other people as a comeback story God doesn’t want to just turn your
story into something good for you I mean that’s important and he wants to do that
for you but he also wants to make your story a miracle story for the people who are around you and the people who come
after you like my great grandpa you’ve probably heard this story or from my dad but my great grandpa he didn’t have any
churchgoing people in his family they lived on a street in Louisiana and ban Rouge Louisiana a street with all their family lining it
and none of them were really churchgoing practicing Christians but he showed up at a Tent Revival one night and he gave
his life to Jesus and that changed the trajectory not only of his life but of the legacy of our
family because of his yes his kids said yes to Jesus and they went into
Ministry and then their kids said yes to Jesus and all of their kids are in Ministry and four generations down where
I’m at several of us are in Ministry like it was because his yes so many generations
ago it not only changed his life but God used his story to change the whole Legacy of a family
tree what if God wants to do that for you what if you’re the first what if you
are like my great grandpa but you’re somebody’s Great
Grandpa or Grandma that aren’t even they’re not even born yet but because of your
yes God can write your story that changes the legacy of your family
line I can’t do that for you you can’t make that Miracle happen for you you can say yes but that’s your yes is making
room for God to do a miracle in your life and in your legacy are you willing are you willing
to make room for God are you willing to make room for God in your
life sometimes times we ask ourselves you know do I want to be used by God and then we have these
questions like what does that what does that mean how is God going to use me like
could I know the end like I want to flip to the back and read the back page the end of the story you know then I can like go
through I know if this is a spoiler alert so plug your ears but like all the born identity series movies I had to
know if the main character lived or died before I watched the movie like judge me if you want to I
don’t care but I had to know like does he live or die just tell me I won’t watch it if you don’t tell me because I need to know like I need to prepare my heart right
now for what’s going to happen cuz I can get through all the action and all the things and like you know shake because of the suspense but if I know what’s
going to happen at the end I can get through it sometimes we want to do that with our own lives yes God use me can you flip to
the back and tell me how this ends cuz I’d really like to know like it’ll help me get through all the ups and downs it’ll help me get through the
trauma it’ll help me get through the tragedy it’ll help me get through the frustration and help me get through the disappointment just tell me how this is going to
end unfortunately it doesn’t happen like that sorry but what does happen happen is we have this you know sort of mountain of
our experience if you will and and what we’re experiencing what we understand what we see our reality and then we have
this Gap and then we have this what God sees and his reality and the big picture
and we don’t always get to see all of that like sometimes we’ll get like glimpses and like you know like maybe dreams or prophecies or something like
we’ll get a little bit of Glimpse here and there but he’s got this whole big picture and then we’ve got this whole
reality there’s a gap there’s a gap here so what happens in this Gap well trust
happens trust is what happens in the Gap faith is what happens in the Gap
trusting God’s word is what happens in the Gap even when we don’t know the end from the beginning we can trust the one
who has a great track record we can trust his word we can trust and not let hesitation stop us
from saying yes to God from what from making room in our story for God to work a miracle when we just decide yes I’m
going to say yes to Jesus even though I don’t know all of the end because I know that you God you know all of the end so I’m going to trust you in this process
step by step as I get closer and closer to that reality that you have for me I’m going to choose to make room for you God
to do something in my story
Amen in Romans 12 and verse 1 it says therefore I urge you brothers and sisters by the mercies of
God to present your bodies dedicating all of yourself set apart as a Living
Sacrifice holy and well pleased to God which is your rational or logical
intelligent act of worship I think the best
way to let God be the author of your story is to surrender the
pen so many of us want to whip out our pen and write our own
story and we want to take it into our own hands because we don’t know the reality that he sees we’re living in our
reality and it’s hard to fill the Gap with trust and so we take the pen and we
start writing our story and this verse here in Romans
12 it’s really talking about surrendering the pen it’s it’s offering our
lives our mind our thoughts our emotions everything that we are everything that we have
been and everything that we could be and it’s just it’s surrendering the
pen and no matter how long you’ve been trying to write your own story it’s never too late and and it’s
never too early to surrender the pen because when we surrender the pen we
offer we offer our lives as a what a Living Sacrifice which is hard for us to
understand okay but when we offer our lives as a gift to
God and we surrender the authorship of Our Lives to God
it’s amazing how he can use our story and write the story in a way that
brings him glory and it’s almost like this overarching theme of his goodness and his
grace is woven into the intimate details of our story and sometimes it’s hard to see
right in the moment but as we look back we can start to see all the things that lined up that really were miracles of
god happening in our life and protection and Grace and
opportunities and even when we missed the opportunities how God forgave us and gave us another chance when we surrender the pen to him
it’s like we’re offering ourselves as a Living Sacrifice we’re offering our lives as a gift to God and say I’m you
know what I’m not going to be perfect but God I want you to be in charge of the
pen I want you to write this story and in all of our wondering
and questions about the inkeeper the main part of the story is that Jesus Christ was
born the savior of the universe the the Messiah the one who was prophesied
about and promised missed for hundreds and hundreds really thousands of years through prophecies
and the prophets and the Psalms and different people all throughout the Bible they surrendered the pen to God
they offered their lives they offered their stories to be written into this greater picture that God
had that continues to point generation after generation to Jesus
giving us the opportunity today to be written into the story God
wrote Mary and Joseph and the Shepherds and the Magi and the inkeeper and the people of Bethlehem he he wrote all of
those people into this great story and today 2,000 years later you and I we have the opportunity to be part
of this story When We Make Room for God when we allow him to take the pen and write our story
for us it’s it’s amazing how his goodness and his grace gets put on display
becomes the star of the show and we’re able to bring him glory with our
lives I’ll end with this Colossians 1:16 it says everything got started in him which is Jesus and everything Finds Its
purpose in him maybe you’re you’re here today and and you’re feeling a bit
lost you’re you’re fully consumed with the busyness of Christmas or with life and you’ve got this going on or that
going on and I just want to encourage you that everything got started in Jesus everything Finds Its purpose in
Jesus and if you’re feeling lost or you’re feeling frustrated or you’re feeling depressed you’re feeling like what am I here for
is this all there is I just want to encourage you go back to Jesus it’s not a cliche it’s not just
the reason for the season he really is the thing that everything comes out of he is the one that we find our
purpose in and I want to give you the opportunity before we leave today to make room for Jesus in your life to make
room for him so that God can do some miracles in your world and maybe it’s for the very first
time you’ve never given your heart to Jesus or maybe it’s as a recommitment maybe today you’d say that you know what I haven’t really been
living my life with Jesus at the front and center with him as the leader and the Lord of my life I haven’t really I
haven’t really surrendered the pen of my life to God maybe it’s for the very first time time or maybe it’s as a Rec commitment I
want to pray with you today before we leave and I just want to ask everyone wherever you’re watching from if you would just bow your head and close your
eyes let’s pray together and if you’re praying this prayer for the very first time or as a
recommitment it’s a simple prayer but I believe that it can transform your heart it can transform your
life and I’m going to ask everybody whatever room you’re watching this from at the sound of my voice if everyone can just repeat this pray pray out of a sign
of support for anyone who’s praying it for the very first time or as a recommitment would you all just repeat this after me say Lord
Jesus welcome to my world I invite you into my life to be the leader and the
Lord I confess with my mouth and believe in my heart that Jesus you
are the Son of God and you died on the cross and you Rose again for
me in Jesus name amen amen can we give it up for everyone who made that decision today welcome to
the family of God