A Very Merry Christmas At Believers Center

Good Morning, Church

Good morning, church. Woo! You guys look good today. I just have to tell you, I can’t sing a lick and this is live, and I almost put it up to my voice before I came up here. The worship team would have been mortified. Pops are gay. Anyway, welcome today. How is everybody this Sunday before Christmas? I hope you guys are doing good. I hope you’re ready. Your presents are wrapped in under the tree. If not, sorry. Anyway, just take a minute to greet your neighbor and then you guys can have a seat. Say hello to somebody. Yes. Good morning, neighbor. Good morning, neighbor. Good morning, neighbor. Alright, you guys can take your seats.

I just want to take a minute to welcome all of our first-time guests. It looks like we have lots of first-time guests here this morning. So thank you for coming. Thank you for being here with us today. Just so you know, if you are a first-time guest, we have a special gift for you out in the foyer if you want to go by the foyer. If you haven’t already on your way in, on your way out, make sure you go by the foyer to our guest welcome station and pick up your gift, and we can answer any questions that you have about the church. Again, welcome and thank you for coming this time.

Christmas Activities and Services

Absolutely. Come on. Where are all the BC kiddos at? Are the BC kiddos in here? Hello, say something. Are y’all in here? You guys are loud all Sunday morning. Honesty! Okay. You guys got some activity bags this morning. So if you finish your activity bag, you might get some bucks, you might get a prize. You never know. Finish it, bring it back out to the foyer. And after service in the foyer, we’re gonna have some fun Christmas activities for you guys. So don’t dash away too fast. Hang out with us in the foyer. It’s gonna be a lot of fun.

Please join us also on Tuesday for our candlelight service at four PM. It’s gonna be incredible. Don’t miss it. Our doors open at three thirty, so make sure you get here early and save your seat and bring your whole family, because it’s gonna be incredible. Yeah. All right. Merry Christmas, everybody. Thank you so much for deciding to spend your Sunday with us at Leavers Center Church for a very Merry Christmas service. We’re so glad you’re here.

Thank You for Christmas Outreach

We only got a few things to go over today, but first off, we want to say at the top of everything, thank you, thank you, thank you for Christmas outreach. So many people got plugged in, jumped in right away, no hesitation. We got everything with Christmas Outreach taken care of. And we’re gonna throw some stuff up on the screen for you to see all the bags of presents that went to children that need help that are asking just for simple things, and you guys went above and beyond to give these gifts and make sure that other people get to enjoy Christmas like we do with our families. So thank you, thank you, thank you. We couldn’t have done Christmas outreach without you. I think we ought to just make a little bit of noise for everybody that jumped in at Christmas Outreach. Thank you so much.

Last-Minute Shopping and Upcoming Services

The next thing is if you’re a shopper, maybe you’re doing a little bit of last-minute shopping today is your chance. Everything in the bookstore is 10% off. What a deal. Okay, so maybe you need a little stocking stuffer or just something, something else to wrap. There’s a lot of good books in there, a lot of good notebooks, and just some little knickknacks here and there across the store. So 10% off, it’s a solid deal. Go check it out after service.

Well, just a couple more things, but the first thing is this Tuesday at 4 p.m. Come on, imagine neighbor say 4 p.m. is our candle light service. Okay, now, why are we doing two Christmas services? Let’s say it again. We’re enjoying today, but we’re also gonna show up for candlelight services. Another opportunity to invite friends and family and co-workers and your neighbor, maybe. Um, this is the one, it’s gonna be it’s gonna be a whole different look in the room. It’s gonna be a little bit more cozy, more intimate. We’re gonna have some hot cocoa, and this is this is one of those services where we dress to impress. Pull out the dresses, pull out the dress service, do the whole thing so we can take beautiful pictures with the families. But candlelight service this Tuesday at 4 p.m. 4 p.m.

The Last Service of the Year

Okay, the next thing, the last service of the year is right around the corner, and I hear there’s a really good preacher about to be preaching at that one. I’m totally kidding, it’s me. Um, but I’m so glad and privileged that I get to preach the last service of the year. Um, it’s a great way to end 2024 and start 2025 right by being in the house of the Lord. So I hope you come join us the last Sunday of the year, and last but not least, December 31st. We are not having service that night. No service. So if you show up, doors gonna be locked, lights gonna be off, no service, December 31st. We want you to stay home, celebrate going into the new year, spend some time with some family.

Mary’s Prayer and Our Offering

Good morning, church. I’m gonna ask that you kind of stay in this spirit of worship. You know that song that Melinda just sang is ultimately a prayer, it’s a prayer from Mary when she was carrying what she didn’t fully understand, and when you really listen and hear the words, she’s saying, God, strengthen me, God, help me to carry this. You know, she says the words, breath of heaven, hold me together, be forever near me. And I just think when you really think about those words and you really think about what Mary was experiencing. I mean, remember this, Mary’s a teenager. She is a young, young woman who has been asked by God Himself to deliver the greatest gift the world will ever get. Can you imagine what she must have felt?

But she wasn’t afraid to ask the questions. She wasn’t afraid to go to her heavenly Father and say, God, I need your help. She wanted to carry out the call on her life with grace. She didn’t want to just survive what was happening to her. She wanted to handle it with grace. And the way she was gonna do that, and the only way she was gonna do that with the help was with the help of the Father. And so hearing this song and hearing these words, it’s a prayer. And it should be our prayer. Because not only does Mary carry this call in a way that I’m not sure I could have ever imagined carrying it, but she surrenders her entire life in a moment to God and says yes to him. And she’s got questions. Scripture shows us she has questions.

In Luke chapter 1, verse 34, this is during the visit with the angel. She says, Mary asked the angel, but how can this happen? I am a virgin.

And I love that she’s asking her questions. If that had been me, I would have been saying, Why me? Why? I have nothing to offer. But she doesn’t question that because she knows that it’s not about what she has to offer, but it’s about what God has to do through her. That it’s not up to her to carry it. It’s about her surrendering her life and saying, God, I’m gonna do this because you asked me to. It’s her yes in that moment. In that moment, Mary chooses to be a vessel. And she chooses that in a very literal sense, that she will carry the Savior of the world and care for him and nurture him and raise him in the ways that he needs to be raised. That moment changed Mary’s entire life.

And you know what she didn’t do? She didn’t worry about her plans. She said yes to God’s plans. And she walked it out, not by herself, but with surrender to her Father. And this morning, we’re gonna get ready to give our tithes and our offerings. And I want you to think about what Mary gave in that moment. She gave her absolute best. She gave herself. And every day as believers, we have that same opportunity. We have an opportunity to say, God, I surrender my life, I surrender my plans. And the really hard one I think for a lot of people is I even surrender my money. Because my money can’t do a lot. The little bit I can give can’t do a lot. But my surrender of saying, here’s what I can give, God, I trust you to do something huge with my little.

And if Mary is nothing but nothing else to us, she is an example of that. She said, You can have all of me, you can have all my life. Do something great with it. And so this morning, ask yourself, instead of saying, God, what would you just have me give? Say, God, what would you do through me as I give? Because you know, when we give, it’s not just about the keeping the building with the lights on and all of those things. It’s about partnership with your Heavenly Father and saying, God, I’m gonna give you this, and I’m gonna trust that you’re gonna do something that I can’t even imagine. And you may not see the full result, you may not see the full answer, but because you are surrendering your life and saying to God, I give you all of me, no matter how big or how small, with joined people in the room, God will do something miraculous. God will do something that you could never imagine.

And so this morning, just in the moment, just say, I trust you, God. I trust you with what I have to give, with what I have to offer you. Because what He has to, what He can do with your offering is unimaginable. And as Mary said yes this morning, I encourage you to say yes. Because we can do something for our city and for our world because of our faith and our trust in Jesus. Let’s just take a moment and let’s pray.

Father, we come before you right now with an offering in our hands. And we say to you, God, it’s yours to do something with. And Father, we offer not only the finances that we have, the money that we have, but we offer ourselves. We offer ourselves to you in this moment and say, God, do something that only you can do through my life and through everything that I do and put my hands to. Thank you for sending your son. Thank you for the gift of salvation. And thank you for being so deeply in love with us that you would do whatever it takes to have relationship with us. And today we offer ourselves as a thank you. We offer all we have to you as a thank you. It’s in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Christmas Outreach Impact

And church, I just want to echo what the announcements said. Everything that you gave for Christmas outreach did good. We were able to help 13 families in our church. 13 families. That’s 15 adults and 19 kids here in the house with your giving. We were able to help five for the one families. We helped 37 boys and girls from the New Mexico Girls and Boys Ranch. And we helped seven from the Albuquerque Christian Children’s Home. In total, that’s 20 adults and sixty-seven kids that have a brighter Christmas because of your giving and because of your contribution. You made a difference in our city.

And in addition to that, we also gave hats and gloves and some little fun toys and candy to three hundred and two kids at McCollum Elementary. And so, church, thank you. Because that is above and beyond what we asked for, and we blessed our city in ways that points to Jesus Himself. And so, host team, you can come and pass the containers, and we’ll continue with our service.

The Perfect Gift of Jesus

Wow. Wow, wow. Well, hey, good morning, Believer Center. Wow, it’s incredible to see y’all. Thanks so much for being here. Hey, you guys can snag a seat real quick. Got a few things we’re gonna go over. Uh well, I don’t know if you can uh believe it, but Christmas is in three days. Three days away. Why don’t we do uh show of hands? Who here has completed both the Christmas shopping and Christmas wrapping? Okay, see, these are the people we do not like. They make the rest of us look bad. Who here has completed Christmas shopping, but not Christmas rapping? Who here has not even completed Christmas shopping? See, these are my people. These are my people right here.

But you know what’s so amazing about a moment like this is that while the whole world is trying to find the perfect gift, we can pause and remember and celebrate that the perfect gift has already been given. And that’s the gift of Jesus. Amen. I I I don’t just say that because I’m a pastor, I really believe that. I think the ultimate gift, the perfect gift that has ever been given, will ever be given to humanity was Jesus Christ. We call it the incarnation. If you don’t know, that’s uh when Christ came down. It’s God looking at humanity, looking at me and looking at you and saying, I love them so much that I’m not just gonna send them a gift, I’m gonna send them myself.

So I see he didn’t just send you a gift card, he didn’t just send you, he didn’t just send you a sweater. No, the word became flesh and moved into our neighborhood. And that’s why that’s why the angels couldn’t stay quiet. That’s why the shepherd, shepherds left their sheep. That’s why, that’s why the wise men became came running, because it’s not just another gift, it’s God saying, Hey, in spite of all the things you’ve done to each other, in spite of all the things that you’ve done to yourself, in spite of all the things that you’ve done to me, I’m with you. I’m with you.

You know, we live in a crazy time uh where everything is pulling at our attention. Everything and everyone, you know, your your phone’s buzzing, my phone’s buzzing, uh, your email inbox is full, your task list is full, and if we’re not careful, we can let things that are even good things distract us from the best thing, and that’s Jesus. You know, and what’s amazing about Jesus though is that when you unwrap the perfect gift, when you unwrap Jesus, you find that Jesus brings with him other gifts. Right? That when you unwrap Jesus, he brings with him peace. Peace that passes understanding. It’s peace that doesn’t make sense. Peace in a chaotic world.

Jesus brings with him joy unspeakable. And when I say unspeakable, I mean unspeakable. It’s peace and joy that you can’t put in an Instagram caption. There’s just no way to describe it. I describe joy as buoyancy. Buoyancy is the thing that makes something float in water. And so it’s like no matter what happens to you, no matter what life throws at you, no matter how life pushes you down, you don’t stay down. You keep rising to the top because Jesus brings with him joy. Doesn’t mean you don’t go underwater. It just means you don’t stay underwater for very long because Jesus brings joy.

And Jesus also brings with him safety. Because now unto him who is able to keep you from falling. Because we remember the perfect gift that has been given, which is Jesus, and we also remember and become grateful for the gifts that Jesus brings with him. And you know, the best gifts that Jesus bring never roll in on four wheels. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that for most of you, the greatest gift that you will ever receive, apart from Jesus on this side of heaven, is the people you’re sitting next to right now. And you might be thinking, Well, I’m not sitting next to anybody. Well, okay, well, then I’d say the greatest gift that you will ever receive, apart from Jesus on this side of the heaven, is the people that you open Christmas gifts with on Christmas morning.

And so that’s why a season like this, I believe, that God wants to use to remind us that life, while not perfect, is a gift. And your family, though not perfect, come on, somebody. Though not perfect, is a gift. I think God is telling us to look around and remember what you have. Because you get another year with the people that are sitting next to you. And I’ll be honest with y’all, like pastoring can be hard, can be exhausting, it can be frustrating. But man, I feel so blessed because we’re from where I stand, where from where we stand, we’re constantly reminded that life can be so brief.

I lost my mom. Pastor, I lost my baby, pastor, I lost my friend. I got a call from the doctor and I got a diagnosis. We hear that kind of stuff regularly. And so when James says life is like a vapor, man, I get it. I get it. And so when I tell you, and when we tell you you’re blessed to have another year with the people that you love, I mean that. You know, the Bible says that a wise man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children. And I used to think that was all about money, you know, like make sure your 401k is on point, topped off, you know, make sure your life insurance is all paid up. Now, a wise man doesn’t just leave money. Listen to me, a wise man leaves memories. And you have got to intentionally make them.

I was thinking this past week is a story, and I haven’t told this to anybody. Nobody knows this, but a few years back, um, if you know my mom Carol, you know that she’s always coming up with ideas to do something. And so one Christmas, uh, she said she had the idea before we open any gifts, she wanted us all to go around and say what we were grateful for that didn’t come in a bag. And so we were doing that, and uh, my granny was still with us. Uh, if y’all know a lot of y’all know Granny, my mom’s mom. She was there. My Grampy, her husband had already gone to be with the Lord. Granny has now since gone to be with the Lord, but she was there with us. And so we were all going around saying stuff, and and then when it was Granny’s turn to say what she was grateful for, uh, she was sitting there on the couch and she looked around and looked at the family, and she said, she said, I’m glad to be here. And I get that.

The greatest gift that you will ever receive apart from Jesus on this side of heaven is those children. It’s those grandchildren. It’s that mama, it’s that daddy, it’s that friend who’s really a sister, just doesn’t have your same last name. And your greatest joy and your greatest pain is gonna come from the same place. The greatest joy when they’re here with you, and the greatest pain when they’re up there with him. The good news, of course, is this is that if you put your faith in Jesus, we all get to spend eternity together in perfect joy, in perfect peace. That’s the good news. The hard news, though, is that this life really can be pretty short. Right? And the family that you have right now, you’re not going to have them here forever. And it’s my job to remind you of that.

So that you go and you squeeze out every last drop of joy you can out of every Christmas God gives you, because the next one is not guaranteed. Some of us spend so much time complaining. Right? Focusing on the things that we don’t have. Meanwhile, there’s people that we prayed for this past week that would give everything they have to have one more Christmas with that person they loved. And you get it.

A Family Blessing

And so I I was I was thinking about this. You know, this is my first, this is my first Christmas to talk. And so I was trying to think, and I had something that I came across a few a few weeks ago, and I wasn’t sure if it was gonna work out. I wasn’t sure if this is the right setting for it. But I talked with Jordan, and we’re gonna go for it. Um we think it’s the right time because we know family’s here and there’s kids here with us. Uh, but I want to do something called a family blessing. And uh, Pastor David was it when I saw I didn’t know what that was, because like I understand uh dedicating a baby, I understand baptism, but family blessing. Like, what’s that? Aren’t we already blessed? Aren’t our families already blessed?

Well, I want to read you uh this is Numbers chapter 6, verse 22, just a few verses. And I bet it’s familiar to some of you. It says this. The Lord said, and I don’t have nothing on the screen for you. Sorry, you’re just gonna have to listen with your ears the old-fashioned way. The Lord said to Moses, Tell Aaron and his sons, this is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them, the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. And then listen to this, verse 27. So they will put my name on the Israelites and I will bless them. It’s interesting. I will put my name on them and I will bless them.

So remember, this is God speaking. And he’s telling Aaron and his sons, he’s saying to say to them, that when you bless them, when you speak this over the people, I’m gonna put my name on them and I will bless them. And so it’s not Aaron that’s doing the blessing, it’s God doing the blessing. But Aaron and his family, they’re just there to announce what God is getting ready to do. And in a lot of ways, I don’t know if you think about it like this, but your family is already blessed. My family’s already blessed, right? Just like the Israelites were already blessed. I mean, this is numbers, so by this time, uh, you know, God had already delivered them out of Egypt. So they were blessed people, but what God was doing is he wasn’t just giving them a blessing for their today, he was giving them a blessing for their tomorrow, where he was going to take them next.

And so that’s what I want to do. I want I want to I want to pray, I want to pray and apply a blessing to the families. And so what we’re gonna do is a little bit of organized chaos here, but can you stand with me on your feet? Uh so what we’re wanting to do is we’re wanting everyone to be with their family in this moment. And so I know that there’s a lot of people that maybe your family’s spread around, and so we want you to go. And if that means some of y’all gotta come up on stage, that’s fantastic. Some of you guys want to come off stage, that’s fine. Go into the sound booth, leave the sound booth, whatever. But we want people to be close, geographically close to their family.

And before you go and uh find your family, let me just say a few things. Number one, maybe God would put someone on your heart that you know doesn’t have family here in the room right now, and so maybe God would use you to uh bring them and invite them to be with you guys as we pray, and that would be a way that God could remind them that we all have spiritual family. Because family is more than just blood. You know, we’re all adopted into the family of God. And or maybe you’re here and you say, Well, I got family, but I don’t have any family here. Well, then listen, God can use you to apply a blessing into your family. Just because they’re not here, you’re you’re standing in the place of your family, receiving a blessing and applying a blessing to your family, and that’s beautiful.

Or maybe you’re thinking, like, I don’t have any family, there’s not a single family member on the planet that I’m related to, they’re all dead, let’s say. Well, hear me. Even then, God has put people in your life to be spiritual family. And then as we as we as we declare this blessing, you’re you’re declaring it over yourself, but you’re also declaring it over them as well. Okay, so we’re gonna give you about like 60 seconds. If you need to move, you need to relocate to get in your family, go ahead and do it because we’re getting ready to apply a blessing. Go ahead and do it.

Okay. I know everyone’s all worried about germs these days, but if you guys could like get together, hold each other’s hands, put your arms around each other, just do whatever you gotta do. Oh, we’re good. We’re good. Well, by faith. Unless y’all want to come up here, you can come up here. That’d be kind of fun. Okay. Okay, let me say this. I wrote this and I prepared this, but this is not me praying a blessing over you. I wrote this as you applying a blessing to your own family. Because your words are powerful and your faith is powerful. And just understand that as we pray this, that this is I’m praying for you. I’m just giving, I’m just putting words to what hopefully is going on in your heart as we declare this over your family.

Okay. So here we go. Engage your heart. So, Heavenly Father, maker of heaven and earth, giver of every good and perfect blessing. Like David said, all things come of thee, O Lord. And we stand here today as a family. Some of us whole, some of us hurting, some of us with empty chairs at our tables this year. But we stand here as a family thanking you for another year. Through every doctor’s report, through every late-night phone call, through every tear and every celebration. You have been our defender, our provider, our protector. Thank you for another year.

And today we’re declaring what you’ve already promised. So we declare you are the head of this family. You are the shield around this family. You are the provider of this family. And so we speak your blessing, not our words, but your words on our family and every family here. For the single mama doing it all. Peace that makes no sense. Because the Prince of Peace lives in her home. For the daddy trying to figure it out, prosperity in uncertain times, not just in money, but in wisdom, because Jesus is his provider. For the grandparents praying for their grandbabies, faith and hope. Trusting that your purposes will be fulfilled in those little ones.

And we’re claiming what you’ve promised, faith that sees beyond what our eyes can see. Strength that shows up exactly when we need it. Hope that keeps rising to the top, no matter what tries to pull us under. And so we declare it and we decree it. We are blessed and not cursed. This family is the head, not the tail. This family is above only and not beneath. We walk in victory, not defeat. We carry faith, not fear. We live in favor, not failure. And this blessing, this promise of your power, protection, and favor, it’s not just for today, and it’s not just for this year. May your favor be upon us and a thousand generations. Our children’s children will tell the story of your faithfulness. Our family trees will grow in the soil of your blessing.

And for that we say thank you. We receive it. We put our faith onto it. We thank you that you are our provider, you’re our protector. And we receive that blessing. Not because of us, but because it’s a free gift from you. We thank you and we love you. Come on, if you receive that, can you give God a good amen? If you believe that, can you give God a good amen?

Um, hey, well, can you thank God for Jesus? Also wanted to just recognize real quick all the people that uh that did so many different things to make this possible. The creative team, the worship team, the facility team. Totally awesome, y’all. They can’t even hear me because they’re working. Uh, I’ve never seen Dobbs so stressed in my entire life. Carlin, they’re all running around. I told Dobb, I literally told Dobbs, I said, You’re scary in December. It’s working so hard to try to make everything special.

Uh, and wanted to remind you, of course, that the week is not over. This is the first part of a two-part thing that we’re doing. So uh Tuesday night at 4 p.m., it’s early because we want there to be time for you and your family. If you’re thinking they didn’t even really tell the Christmas story, except for that video at the beginning. Tuesday is all about the Christmas story. It’s gonna be the best Christmas telling of the Christmas story you’ve ever heard. Hopefully. Hopefully. So, anyways, we would love to see you then. It’s a again at 4 p.m. It’s early. Don’t come at like seven o’clock, expecting certain 4 p.m. on Tuesday. Get here a little bit early, doors open at 3:30. So bring some family, mark off some uh space for your family, but really would love uh for y’all to be here.

Uh let me just pray a blessing over you one more time. Uh, if you’re ready to receive and you’re open to God blessing you this coming year, will you just do me a favor and raise your hand real high? Close your eyes. May the Lord bless you, may He keep you. May He cause His favor to shine upon you. May He be gracious to you, may He protect you, may He provide for you, and above all, may He give you peace. Thank you, God, for another year. And for that we say thank you and we love you. And everybody said, Amen, amen.

Hey, we’ve got one more song for you. I haven’t heard it, but I hear it’s gonna be fun. So uh stay remain on your feet just for uh one more minute, one more song, and then we look forward to seeing you this coming Tuesday at four o’clock. We love you, God bless you.

Closing Song

How’s everybody doing this morning? We got one more fun song for you. Let’s have fun with it. Here snow is this. It’s a beautiful side. We’re happy tonight. Walking in a winter wonderland. Gone away. Here’s the blue burn. Here’s day, here’s a new bird. He sings a love song as we go along. Walking in a winter wonderland. Come on, everybody. And pretend that he is Parson Brown. He’ll say, Are you married? He’ll say, No man. But you can do the job when you’re in the town. Later on, we’ll conspire. As we dream by the fire. Face unafraid. The plans that we made. Walking in a winter winter.

Come on, everybody. Give it up for Mr. Owen McDermott, the youngest member of this team today. Come on, Owen, how you doin’? Come on, man. Good to see you. Good to see you. Happy back on the stage. And everybody, we have Mr. Jesse on a solo right there. Give it up for it. Joining us for the second year on the lap still. Mr. Garrett, right? That handsome buff guy right there in the center. Ladies, ladies, he’s taking calm down, he’s taking you ready, Miss Rome. You can do the job in your later on. Walking in a lane to land.

Come on, everybody on Keys. We have missed Dana Quayar Come on she’s magical on those keys give it up for her And our final solo for the night Mr. Dobquay our husband Come on he looks so good in the cowboy hater on we’ll despire as you dream by the fire We’ll face on a frame the plans that we make Walking in a winter water We’ll face on a frame the plans that we make Walking in a winter water