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A lot of Luke 21 sounds at least a bit like the book of Revelation. If you have been joining us in person or online at Calvary, you know we’ve been spending time, this Christmas season, in the book of Revelation. Our advent series theme has been “More to Come.” You know I didn’t realize till I started prepping for that series, that the birth of Christ was not a big month long celebration in the life of the early church. They were so busy looking ahead to and for his second coming that they didn’t spend as much time on his first coming. 

Luke 21, describes the time of his second coming as a time of "shaking." And in some ways it makes me wonder if it isn't the case, that every time God shows up, stuff starts to get shaken up! Maybe a whole lot of shaking going on is a good thing?

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Here's the deal. Jesus was born to die. The manger led to the cross and the cross was the ultimate blow-out love-burst of God. But we never would've known that without the resurrection. Before the resurrection, from our perspective the cross was nothing more than abounding despair, unmerciful judgement and victorious evil. The resurrection changed the cross from a symbol of deep despair to a symbol of ultimate hope. An ultimate hope that is built upon a deep, deep love. 

There's no Christmas without the resurrection. The world does not go into a global celebration for people who died so long ago. But Jesus still lives, and Jesus still loves, and so we celebrate. 

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Yes, that's right. I'm sorry. I know it's supposed to be a chapter a day. 24 chapters. 24 days from December 1 to Christmas Eve. But I just couldn't leave Luke 19. So now we are a chapter off and you'll have something to listen to on Christmas Day!

I couldn't leave Luke 19 without pausing on Palm Sunday. It's a Palm Sunday moment on the way to preparing for Christmas. AND this Palm Sunday moment will give us some Christmas Prep questions as it gives us a glimpse of Jesus' heart!

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After the last episode and its focus on someone who missed Christ, who you might say, missed Christmas, we can’t skip Zachaeus; the wee little man, his tree, and the celebration in his home. Zach is a guy who got it, a guy who didn’t miss Christ and you might even say, didn't miss the true meaning of Christ-mas! And through his story, we are going to ponder the love of God. Listen, the love of God, found in Jesus, poured out by the Spirit has this ability to change us; give you a
courageous self-confidence and contentment all at the same time. Paul describes this love in Ephesians 1:3-5 with one phrase in particular that stirs up Christmas joy in me. 

Paul writes, "Without a single fault we stand before Him, covered in His love. "His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family by sending Jesus to die for us. And He did this because He wanted to..."

You are covered in His love this Christmas...what more could we need?

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In this episode we are going to hear Jesus say something quite interesting to a rich, young leader. This leader wants to follow Jesus and so he comes to Jesus to ask what he needs to do and Jesus says, "You only lack one thing." Now before you hear what he lacks, let me just say as we prep for Christmas, wouldn't it be great if that were really true? If this Christmas we only lacked one thing?

But what if it's true? If you only lacked one thing; if there was one thing that you could gain, one gift that you could receive, that would bring  you the life of your dreams, what would it be?

Listen in on this conversation between Jesus and someone who seems like they've got everything, but still they are lacking one thing. BUT the goodness is, it's only thing...

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At the risk of sounding a bit too much like the creators of "elf on a shelf," in this episode we are going to ponder the question, "Where is Jesus this Christmas?" That's my question, "Where do we find Jesus this Christmas?" So in this episode we're going to look at three moments where people find Jesus. I'm not sure what's happening in your life or the life of someone you care about this Christmas, but I do know that sometimes it can seem like Jesus is hard to find, far away. But I want you to know that you're not far from Jesus and He's making himself easy to find, if you know where to look.

Join me as we answer the question, "Where is Jesus this Christmas?"

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In Luke 16, with all that we could focus on, we will end up focusing on a part of one verse that says, "The Gospel of the Kingdom of God is being proclaimed and eager multitudes are trying to get in!" I think what Jesus was saying is that the Kingdom of God is a treasure worth my life and when somebody really "gets it," with everything in their hearts they want to be a part of this Kingdom. They are eager to get in. So my question is, "Are we eager to get in?" Shouldn't we be?

As Dallas Willard writes, "Every longing you have...every ache in your heart when you think you desire more stuff, or more pleasure, or more success, or to be more attractive, or to have a bigger house, or more applause; what your soul is really crying out for, Jesus says, is for this Kingdom to come down into your life. 

Are you eager to get in? Where are the eager multitudes?

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Luke 15 contains three "lost and found" stories. There's a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son. And with each story Jesus is telling us something deep about the Father's heart and what heaven celebrates! And in a way, he is reminding us of the "why" of Christmas. Jesus left home, so that the prodigals could come home! Jesus was born to show us the Father's heart. When God sees you what He feels for you is prodigal love, reckless, extravagant, unrelenting love.   

Here's what I believe. I believe that in this next year we are going to start seeing more prodigals coming home than ever before. And with everything that is in me, I am going to do everything I can to call us to be a church that celebrates their homecoming with all our heart. It’ll be like Christmas over and over and over again!

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In this episode I'm going to ask you, to ask yourself, two questions. First, do I live like I'm invited. Second, do I live like there's still room at His table?

In Luke 14, Jesus describes a great banquet and you might say that Jesus is really talking about Christmas. In Jesus day, the idea of a banquet or a feast was often used as a metaphor for the coming of God's kingdom.  The banquet was about the restoration of all things and the birth of a new community, a new movement of life. To eat at God's banquet was to receive fullness of life and joy. Who's invited to this party?  It's an open invitation. Do you understand that?  I don't care who you are, what you've done or what's been done to you. You have been chosen. You are invited to the world's greatest celebration with the world's greatest banquet, by the world's greatest host.

So ask yourself those two questions...because God is determined that there will be no empty seats at His table!

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In the midst of Luke 13, there is this moment where Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed. And in part his message is, "Don't miss the significance of small seeds." This Christmas don’t miss the significance of small seeds; like a  baby born to a teenager in a manger. We like things big. I want a bigger house, a bigger car. More impact. Bigger church. More influence. Bigger dream. We are always looking for the next big thing because if it's not big it must not be God.  

I long for us not to miss this; to embrace the significance of small beginnings. What seeds can we plant this Christmas season? Seeds of kindness? Seeds of generosity? The seed of a smile or a kind word or a helping hand? Don't miss the signficance of small beginnings, this Christmas.