It's a time to look back AND look forward. It's also a time to look at God and what His purposes might be for each of our lives.

The question is: are we living our lives in alignment with those purposes God might have for us?

We all know some people who are like the Grinch. Maybe we are like the Grinch ourselves some times!

While we avoid people who are like the Grinch - God loves them! In fact, Christmas happened so people like the Grinch can have their hearts enlarged 10X bigger!

Without a father, it's hard to know who you are? Yet none of us have perfect parents. And as parents we can't do it right all the time. The gift of Christmas is that we all have a perfect father who will always be there for us!

We've all laughed at the antics of Kevin and the "Wet Bandits." But there a two important issues behind the laughter: we can all feel alone and there's danger we can't handle in life today.

Christmas is such a huge gift to us from God because He comes to help us with both of these issues through a baby born in Bethlehem!

In our FLIXMAS series on Christmas sermons, this week we look at "A Charlie Brown Christmas." Charlie asks the question most of us are feeling if we're not thinking it: Why are we doing all this?

Charlie finds some answers that can help us all find the real meaning of Christmas this year.

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is a painful comedy - made even more painful by the family struggles of the Griswolds.

Yet Jesus Himself came from a family that was less than perfect.

There's an important lesson for all of us - God is ready to love, work in, even redeem any family!

There is one final monster that we must confront - for it lives in many of our hearts. ANGER We may deny it, often with barely concealed anger, but it lurks within our hearts ready to spring upon our family and friends.

This sermon looks at the danger of anger, why it lurks in our hearts, and how to get rid of it.

The other hidden monster that often secretly lurks within our hearts is greed. (Last week we looked at jealousy or envy)

NO ONE wants to be thought of as greedy - but the truth is that greed comes in many shapes and sizes. We need to see it, and kill it.

We're looking at monsters that may be lurking in our hearts - we may not even be aware of them. Last week we focused on guilt.

This week's sermon deals with a more elusive monster: envy or jealousy. Most deny it is even living in us, but that doesn't mean it's not there!

One of the monsters that can lurk in our heart is Guilt. Guilt is tied to a sense of failure. The problem is that it won't go away! It becomes a cancer that can destroy us - UNLESS we learn how to remove it and heal our heart!