Christmas Bonus

Joe Henseler · Faith Church · Dec 15, 2019

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Joe Henseler

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god59jesus48bonus26christmas25advocate24atoning sacrifice8sin19because18light18christmas bonus7john17time17christ17people17darkness15sacrifice15perfect15hope14before12die12son11need11hammer pants4first john4

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Scripture references · 8 citations

1 John

John

Hebrews

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Repeated openers: “i mean” (12), “god is” (5), “and so” (4), “that's not” (4), “this is” (4), “he never” (4)

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So I remember my first Christmas bonus.

My first Christmas bonus happened like in the early 90s.

And they're these big crazy pants.

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Jesus ·38John ·17Jesus. ·6Joe. ·3Joe ·2jordan ·2Emmanuel. ·1John. ·1Jesus Christ ·1Judge Judy ·1Joe Hensler. ·1Because Jesus ·1

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going to die ·7god is light ·6one time i ·6atoning sacrifice for ·5there is no ·5want you to ·5atoning sacrifice for our ·4sacrifice for our sins ·4i mean ·12god is ·5and so ·4that's not ·4

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Transcript

So I remember my first Christmas bonus. Do you remember getting a bonus at Christmas? My first Christmas bonus happened like in the early 90s. And here's how it went. In the early 90s there was this crazy cool new rapper named MC Hammer. And if you know anything about MC Hammer, his famous hit song was "Can't Touch This" and I love that jam. Like I just loved it. And for Christmas. And they're these big crazy pants. If you don't know what MC Hammer pants look like, you should Google it right now because it'll make you laugh to picture me in MC Hammer pants. And on Christmas morning, we're opening up gifts and guess what? I got the pants. Like I got the MC Hammer pants and I was like, it doesn't matter what else I get, that's all I wanted, that's all I cared about. The MC, because I knew when I went back to school year that I would look dope as I went back to school with these big flowy pants dancing to MC Hammer songs. And so all the presents are finished. I got what I wanted. And something unique happened this year had never happened before in our family. My parents are like, "Hey Joe, go look in the front closet." And I went into the front closet and there's a box wrapped up. the box was turquoise teal air jordan sneakers and i was just like boom mind blown right because not only do i got the fly pants now i got the air jordan sneakers i didn't even ask for them because i would never ask my parents to spend that kind of money i got the sneakers christmas bonus now when i go back to school i'm dope buty like you're expecting the fly pants, but then you get the dope sneakers on top of it. It's extra, unexpected, unimagined, not asked for more than what you thought. Do you remember getting a Christmas bonus? I mean, maybe for you it was cash gift, right? At some point, work maybe they gave you this bonus and you were like totally not expecting it, but you got it. I mean, maybe it was a gift from somebody that you don't even like think they liked you and they like gave you something and you're like, "I guess I'll take it," because this is really great. Maybe it was an unexpected visit from somebody you didn't think you would get to see on the holidays. You're kind of sad because you thought, "I won't get to see so-and-so." And then all of a sudden, they show up at some kind of gathering and you're like, "Bones, right? How great is a Christmas bonus?" And when we come to this baby that comes in a manger. And there's an expected part of this celebration, this baby in a manger. But there's a bonus, honestly, that if we would stop just long enough and stare just long enough, at more than a feeling, but truths that are in the Bible about who Jesus is. There are bonus joy, bonus peace, bonus goodness available to us. First John, chapter two. First John, chapter two. Open up your Bible, turn them on if you're electronic. First John's towards the end of your Bible. And, you know, we know Christmas is all about God, coming to earth. It's God being born of a virgin, born in a manger, celebrated by shepherds, wise men, angels. God with us, Emmanuel. comes to planet Earth. And the bonus that's more than just a feeling, more than just this historic fact that God entered time and space, if we would look, we might see that a relationship with Christ is available 365 24/7, maybe in unexpected ways found here in the book of 1 John. 1 John chapter 1 verse 5, which says, "God is light." In Him there is no darkness at all. What does that mean? Let's just pause there for a moment. God is light. It's an analogy right? God is holy, God is loving, God is just, God is merciful, God is gracious, God is kind, God is truth. All of the attributes I've got are wrapped up in this one word, God is light, and in Him there is no stain, no sin, no injustice, no slander, no lust, no unkindness, no hatred, no stain. God is light, and in Him there is zero darkness. Now can that also be said about you? that you are light and in you there is no darkness at all. I mean, the people that know you best, those who are upfront and personal in your home, would they look at you and go, you know that guy, that dad, that mom, that person, that workmate is so full of light, there's no darkness at all in them. Is it true of you? The answer is, heck no. It's not true of any of us, right? that there is no darkness in me? I mean there's all kinds of ways I fall short, all kinds of ways that I'm stained with lust and slander and injustice and prejudice and hatred and unkindness and selfishness and the list goes on and on and on and on. But this is what Christmas is about. God is light and I am not. In God full of darkness. And it's precisely because I am full of darkness that the light of Christ comes to planet earth to illuminate my darkness and give me hope. John writes in 1 John 2, the author of these words, John understood darkness. He understood what it was like to be a sinful person like you and me. But his life was radically altered after spending three And he writes these words to encourage us. Listen, first John two, verse one. He says, "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin." He's imploring with them. He cares about them. My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father. is the atoning sacrifice for our sins. And not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world. John doesn't want us to sin, but John knows that he's sinful. John doesn't want us to sin, but he knows that we're gonna all sin. We're all darkness, we fail, we fall. We get trapped by temptation and difficulty. And he says, I don't want you to sin, but if you do sin, there's hope. of Jesus that has come on Christmas. You see, God didn't stay in His perfect high and holy heaven. He comes to planet Earth to bring His light in love. And so when Jesus walks on Earth to see Jesus and to hear Jesus is to see God and to hear God. In the face of Christ, we get to see and experience God through Christ. And just that fact alone, the God so loved the world to Son, to be like us, to enter time and space is an amazing Christmas gift. Hebrews 4, 15, I dropped this into your app, Hebrews 4, 15 describes Jesus coming this way. It says, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are. Yet Jesus did not sin." God didn't shout from heaven and go, "Hey, you guys, you gotta go do something different, you gotta do this, you gotta do that." He didn't stay up there, he came down here and walked among us to show us what love and light and truth looks like. He came to us and Jesus understands the ups and downs of our lives. He understands every temptation you've been through and he understands it so that he can He gets you. And just this fact alone, this is the expected Christmas gift, right? You ask people what Christmas is about. They'll be like, "Jesus came, God's one and only son." Like God shows up on planet earth, the expected gift. But here's the bonus. Verse one and two says, "We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous, one. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, but for the sins of the world. So John says the bonus isn't that he just came to earth to be like us in every way so he can get us and empathize with us and sympathize. That's not the bonus. The bonus is that he has come to be our advocate and to be an atoning sacrifice for us. As sinful people, we need help. We need hope. who came in a manger, lived a perfect life, but then became our advocate and our atoning sacrifice. So I'll explain what these two words mean. I want you to leave the manger scene, like stop imagining the manger and the animals, and I want you to think about a courtroom scene. So get Judge Judy or Judge Wopner in your head, get some courtroom idea in your mind. Are you pulling that up? Courtroom scene, that's what you need to have in your mind right now. scene. And here's the straight up fact that no one is going to say this Christmas to you. Are you ready? You're all going to die. Every single one of us is going to die. Nobody gets out alive. You're going to die. It's not when you're going to die. It's not if you're going to die. It's how you're going with all the fields, right? It's nobody's talking about Merry Christmas, you're all gonna die. But this is the cold hard fact reality of life. And we push it off to the side and pretend like it's not there. It is the elephant in the room, you're going to die. No one of us wanna think about it, but it's true. The Bible teaches is when you die, you will stand before God judge. Remember John said God is light. In him there is no darkness at all. So this judge that I stand before when I take my final breath is perfect, pure, holy, and I'm standing in front of him as imperfect, stained, or my motives, my from the beginning of when I took my first breath to the last breath and everything in between is exposed in front of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who is the Holy Judge and there's no spinning, there's no hiding, there's no excuses, none of that. I'm standing before the judge and I have to give an I'm guilty before Him. If I just made one mistake, if it was just one lossful thought, just one time I looked at porn, just one time I slandered, one time I gossiped, one time I stole, one time I hated, one time I did something unjust to someone. That's guilty before a holy God. The Bible teaches that this guilty verdict carries with it a sentence of death, that the The truth about our sin is that we get to die because of it. And you might go, that's so unfair, that's so unmerciful of God. How can he do that? Remember, he's perfect and just in all his ways. And so when he looks at you and he compares you to him himself, he goes, I'm perfect and you're not. I made you and you rejected me. I loved you and you walked away from me and you did your own thing, your entire existence. You live for yourself instead of the living for me. guilty of sin and the punishment is separation from me and hell forever. This is really bad news, isn't it? But here's the good news. God is just to declare me guilty of sin, but he's also loving, he's so loving that he sends an advocate to help me. What's an advocate in a judge scene, right? It's a lawyer. He sends a lawyer to help me in the middle of this case. me to speak up for me in my time of need. And this advocate, this lawyer is not some sleazy dude that goes up to the perfect judge and goes, "Hey, can we kind of make this backroom deal?" Like, let's just push this under this. Like, is there some sleazy lawyer? This is the greatest advocate money could buy. John says, "This advocate's name is Jesus, the He's perfect. He's the perfect advocate who speaks to God on my behalf. The highest profile advocate you could get, fully God, fully man. When Jesus came to earth, he never slandered anyone. He never disobeyed his mom and dad. He never lusted. He never cussed. He never did anything impure. All he did was love people and love God his entire existence. He's the perfect I'll stand up for that dirtbag, Joe. I'll be his advocate for that slanderous dark man named Joe Hensler. I will be his advocate. And God's like, wow. Pretty good advocate you got, Joe. I mean, you got Jesus. You got the perfect one. Okay, guys. You know what? We're just gonna push this crime aside because the perfect one is standing up for Joe and saying, we'll let him slide. on court TV, you go, "Oh, wait, wait." Just 'cause you got a perfect lawyer doesn't mean the guy with the crime shouldn't pay. That's not fair. That's not justice. And God's like, "You're right. My justice demands that sin is paid for, so in Jesus, we have someone who advocates for us, speaks up on our behalf, but he's also the atoning sacrifice for our sins." That phrase in 1 John 2, biblical word. It comes from the Greek word propitiation and it means wrath bearer. I dropped this in your app, more detail about this word in your app, but this is really important concept that Jesus is not only our perfect advocate, he bears God's wrath upon his shoulders. You see he leaves heaven and comes to earth to and die a cruel death. Why would the perfect son have to die? He dies to absorb the wrath of God and pay the bill, the price of every debt of every human who is ever born past, present and future. Imagine all the debt that's built up past, present and future before a holy, shoulders to pay my bill and pay your bill and absorb the wrath that I deserve upon his shoulders, the wrath that you deserve on his shoulders so that I could be set free and forgiven of all my sins past, present, and future. I mean what's incredible about this is the perfect holy judge does not look the other way that would paid for and he pours it out on his son. But follow this. So it doesn't mean now I'm free and I'm an object of God's wrath. I'm an enemy. I'm still a sin for I'm just a free sinner. That's not what it is. When Jesus does this on the cross and absorbs the wrath of God, you know what happens? My eternal state is changed. No longer am I an enemy of God. Now That is change. You're not like the criminal who has let go free. You're the criminal that now is a son or a daughter with all the inheritance of the son. You get that because of what Jesus did on the cross. And I can live connected with God forever. I can talk with God and walk with God and hang out with God. I can bring God all my temptations and my struggles, all my fears and my hopes for my kids and for my family, my stress at work and everything that's going on inside Joe. and say, "Here God, would you help me?" Because Jesus bore the wrath of sin upon his shoulders, and now, because of him, I'm declared, not guilty, innocent, son, daughter, free, forever. I mean, that's Christmas bonus. This is so much more than a feeling, and so much more than a baby. This is advocate and a toning sacrifice. with an inheritance that never will perish, spoil, or fade that starts today and lasts forever. That's what you get in Christ. Can I ask you a favor? I just want you to close your eyes. Just close your eyes. I'm going to read you a story, a Christmas story, a Christmas story that started 700 years before Jesus was born. I want you to listen to these truths because the Bible, these words, of God, and these words are true that describe you and me and the bonus we get in Christ. Isaiah the prophet said this about Jesus, the people walking in darkness have seen a great light. On those living in the land of deep darkness, a light has dawned. Jesus was pierced for our for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was on Jesus. And by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray. Each one of us has turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all. Though Jesus had done no violence, nor was there any deceit him to suffer. Though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days. And the will of the Lord will prosper in his hands. And after Jesus has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied. By his knowledge, my righteous servant will justify many and Jesus will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will give Jesus a portion among the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong, because Jesus poured out His life unto death and was numbered with the transgressors. For Jesus bore the sin of many, and made intercession became the advocate of the transgressors. And this is it, accepting Jesus as advocate and sacrifice is what opens up a connection between you and God the Father forever. It starts now and goes on forever with peace and joy and no longer an enemy of God but now a friend of God. No longer under his wrath but under his favorite. No longer that someone that needs to fear God but someone who can walk with God, it's bonus that changes everything. But just like getting MC Hammer pants is what I wanted, but I got on top of it, Air Jordans. I didn't have to accept the Air Jordans. I could have said, "Nope, just give me the pants." But it's in accepting the bonus that things begin to change, but you can reject Jesus. I mean, honestly, we're all going to die, and we're I don't need anybody paying my bill. I got it on my own. You can reject it and say I don't want it. It's up to you. God will give you in the afterlife what you wanted in this life. If you don't want God now, you don't have to have him then. It's a choice that we all get to make, accept it or reject it, but I urge you to think about this for another day, these ultimate important things that nobody wants to talk about in our society. Death and what happens next? You have a choice. So I urge you to think about it, but I know many of you are hearing this, and many of you have said I want the advocate, and I want the sacrifice to be applied to my life. And John says something more here that we have to pick up on before we conclude. He says at the end of verse two, first John two two, the atoning sacrifice for our sins and not only for hours, but also for the sins of the whole world. Do you hear that? The Christmas bonus of Jesus being your advocate and your atoning sacrifice isn't just for you. When I was starting a family, my parents knew that opening a presence. And it was like one present after another after another. My parents gave me every single DeWalt power tool known to man. It was like 37 saws, eight sanders, and 14 drills. And it was just like one box of another, DeWalt black and white, and I'm like, what is this? Like it got too much. And I'm saying there with my mom and dad going like, really this is just too much. And my mom said to me something interesting. She said, dad got a big bonus this year, You, son, daughter of the king, have gotten an incredible bonus from God the Father when he became your advocate and your atoning sacrifice. Does that bonus stop with you? I mean, when was the last time you asked God? How do I share the hope of Jesus with other people? How do I share this bonus with other people? how special it is. Man, the people in my family and my extended family desperately need an advocate and a sacrifice before the Holy Judge. The people in your office place and people in your schools and your sports teams and your neighborhoods. I mean, this is all true. They need an advocate and a sacrifice too. And you've got it. and your candles and your nut cookies and your traditions. Instead of going, "Wait, this bonus Christ is intended "to come through me to the world. "When was the last time you asked God, "what does that look like for me?" I mean, all of us have awkward people at work that we try to avoid, right? And everybody's slanders and gossips about, we all know that guy or that girl. Maybe sharing the hope of Christ this year the gossip and the slander and caring about that person going out of your way to show them respect. I mean, maybe being the hope of Christ this year is not getting into the toxicity of crazy politics that are happening in our country today. Toxicity, not getting into the slime, not getting into the filth of what's happening at the highest the hope of Christ, the light of Christ, and share the joy of Christ with people, not slum with all the toxicity. Maybe it's picking up the phone, we're walking to a friend or family member that you hurt years ago. Or maybe the family member that you keep hurting over and over again by your childish self-centered behavior and wrong. I've hurt you over and over again and I want to change. The light of Christ is working in me. I want to be different. Maybe it's a relationship you have with someone. You've had it for years and you never really talked about Jesus with him and you just say to God, you know what? I just want to tell them some point between now and December 25th about the hope I have in Jesus and say to them, "Listen, if you ever have questions about Jesus, I just me, it could change you too. Maybe it's inviting someone to one of our Christmas services so they can hear the hope of Christ. I don't know if you know this, but we don't design our Christmas services around here for you. Like, if you're a part of the family of God here and if you're a son or daughter of the king, the services aren't designed for you to have warm, fuzzy feelings on Christmas Eve with a candle. I mean, that's a waste of time. I don't got time for that. stuck in darkness that desperately need to know there's someone that cares about them and his name is Jesus. And so we design our services to bring light into the darkness, hope to the hope was joy to the joyless. Maybe you bring them. Because you know they need hope. Maybe your Christmas is the sacrifice coming on the 24th because your tradition does not matter. People having a seat to hear about Jesus, that matters. came to services here at Faith Church. This year we're expecting a lot more, and we need your seat. So maybe you don't come on the 24th, maybe you come on the 22nd or the 23rd, so that there's a seat for people who only come one time a year, so that they can hear about the hope of Jesus Christ. I'm not sure what the answer is for you, but if you're a son or daughter of the King, this Christmas is not about you. with other people, ask God to show you what that looks like, and He will. Here's the deal. If Jesus is just a baby in a manger, and this is all fairytale feel good, what a waste of time. If Jesus is just some sort of moral superhero that we can all look up to and go, "I want to grow up and be just like Jesus." This is all a waste of time. If He is the Son of God who came to earth to advocate living for and sacrificing and sharing with other people. Because if this God is for us and in us and through us, do we need anything more? Would you pray with me? God, today in the sound of my voice in this room online, there are people probably hearing this for the first time, that Jesus is a sacrifice and an advocate for the lost and the shameful, that they don't have to fear standing before you because when we put our trust in you Jesus, we get your defense and we get the payment you made for sin, credited to our account. how they will answer their Creator when they stand before Him. God for sons and daughters who have put their trust in Jesus and have had our status changed, I pray that we would look at our world, look at our communities, look at our families, look at our workplaces, and seek to bring light, seek to bring peace, seek to bring hope, justice, mercy to our world in a way that displays your live and your real, that we might show love like you showed love Jesus, that we might fight for justice like you fought for justice Jesus. We might live for peace like you lived for peace Jesus. Change us I pray. in this dark world. I pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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