Your acceptance in God's eyes is based on what's been done for you. So live in the freedom that is now yours.

How many of you think that God loves you? How many of you think that God likes you?

The reality is that we will float away from the simplicity of the Gospel for a number of reasons. The problem is that when you desert the Gospel, you aren't running to another Gospel - there is no other Gospel. There is no other good news. You have run to something empty of power and not able to bring freedom from sin.

This world is the kingdom of darkness and on our own there is no escape. God has rescued us from the powers of darkness.

For many of us we run to Christmas to try to avoid the darkness like a child runs to their warm and fuzzy blanket.

Jesus was rejected, for many of the same reasons we return gifts today.

John put the A in Awkward. Independent of the circumstances surrounding his birth, the odd way he liked to dress, his very direct form of ministry, there is a key event in his life that stands out from all of the rest of them and can make us all very uncomfortable.

The wrapping paper looks like a huddled mess, like dad wrapped it the night before-but see it in a real way-as messy as it was, as awkward as it was, Jesus Christ humbly came for you, the Word, God himself, willingly left heaven, so you could know Him.

What if we laid all our junk at the foot of the cross and went ALL IN for Jesus?

What if our love for others had no boundaries?