0:00

Welcome to Gateway Church's podcast. Wherever

0:03

you're tuning in from, we hope you're

0:05

encouraged by today's message. Welcome to Gateway

0:07

Church's podcast. Welcome

1:07

to Gateway Church's podcast. Welcome

1:36

to Gateway Church's podcast. amine

2:02

Your same

2:14

Pal bus

2:18

and you

2:28

you you you

2:33

you you

2:38

you I he

2:46

he he he

2:52

he he he

2:57

he he

3:01

he he

3:05

he he

3:09

he he

3:13

he he

3:17

he he

3:21

he he he

3:28

he he he

3:33

he he he

3:40

he he

3:43

he he he

3:49

he he

3:53

he he he

4:01

She had to

4:03

come up to the

4:06

same room we

4:08

see the world. Never

4:15

wonder why.

4:25

Amen. Well, welcome to our Gateway Candlelight

4:27

Christmas service. Why don't we all

4:29

stand together? We have an amazing service ahead of

4:31

us. We have with us today, Jenna

4:33

Raine. A pain, Dave

4:36

Burns, Michelle Williams, and Mary Anne

4:39

Rebecca Fort Miller, heart singing,

4:41

Oh Holy Night. God, we love you.

4:43

We praise you. We're going to worship you with all of

4:45

our might today. Thank you, Jesus, that you were born in

4:47

a manger 2,000 years ago so that we

4:49

could have life forever with you. We love you and praise

4:51

you. In Jesus' name, Amen.

4:54

Let's worship the Lord together. Amen.

5:24

God, I praise

5:26

you. I need

5:28

to see, I need

5:31

to see, I

5:34

need to see

5:36

every moment that Jesus is in

5:39

me. Amen.

6:30

God 's

6:47

day. Let's

6:59

worship God in this place you may. Let's

7:24

worship God in this place you may. SINGING

8:01

AT THE C SINGING

8:26

AT THE

8:29

C SINGING

9:05

AT THE C

9:11

SINGING AT THE C SINGING

9:34

AT THE C I'm

10:00

gonna ride your head, light

10:03

and bright to all he brings,

10:05

prisoner of healing in his

10:08

knees. I'm gonna

10:10

go on with my heart, I'm

10:14

gonna sing with my only guide.

10:16

I'm the name of the Lord,

10:19

all the gifts of second birth.

10:22

I will make a

10:24

name, Lord', remember

10:27

you, Lord. We

10:58

can't change

11:01

us no more before

11:03

the end.

11:06

The little Lord

11:08

Jesus, lay down

11:11

the sweet end. The

11:14

stars in the bright

11:16

sky, look down where

11:19

she lay. The

11:22

little Lord Jesus,

11:24

sleep away. The

11:30

little Lord Jesus,

11:34

sleep away.

11:44

The candle

11:47

of the Lord, the

11:49

baby. The

11:53

dawn of salvation

11:56

begins. I

12:01

love you, Jesus,

12:03

who is from the

12:06

top, the

12:08

King of the

12:11

heavens, who has whom

12:13

he has. I

12:31

worship you, Jesus,

12:34

for all of my

12:36

days of

12:39

high. We

12:41

live to be your true,

12:43

true, Lord Jesus, my

12:46

God, and

12:48

my Savior, my

12:50

Jesus, my Son.

12:54

He will give you glory forever in His name.

13:01

He will give

13:03

you glory forever

13:05

in His name. I

13:26

worship you,

13:29

Jesus, my God, for all of my days of high. I

13:56

worship you, Jesus, my God, for all of my

13:58

days of high. is

14:17

so i

14:29

holy is

14:52

is he

15:22

oh oh

15:51

oh Oh,

16:03

Kim, oh, come let

16:06

us adore Him. Cry

16:11

the cold.

16:15

Cry the cold.

16:21

We give You all. We give

16:23

You all. We

16:26

give You all the glory. We

16:34

give You all

16:36

the glory. We

16:40

give You all the

16:44

glory. Cry

16:47

the cold. We

16:52

give You

16:55

all the glory. We

16:57

give You all the

16:59

glory. We

17:05

bless You Jesus. We bless You Jesus. Thank

17:07

You Lord that You were born in a

17:10

major for us 2,000 years ago. You lived a sinless

17:12

life for 33 years. You

17:15

died on a cross to save us from our

17:17

sins. You

17:20

took what we deserve Lord, what You did not

17:22

deserve. Thank You for taking our sins upon You.

17:25

You rose again three days later so

17:27

that we could live forever with You

17:29

and now You are seated in glory

17:31

and today in this place we worship

17:33

You, we adore You, we declare You

17:35

are the strong and mighty King, Jesus

17:37

the Christ. We love You, we praise

17:39

You. In Jesus' name, amen,

17:42

amen, amen. Merry

17:44

Christmas everyone. I wanted to

17:47

read this together. This is the traditional Luke

17:49

chapter 2 Christmas story and

17:51

you can follow along on the screen. And

17:53

it came to pass in those days that

17:55

a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that

17:57

all the world should be registered. that

18:00

since this first took place, while Kerenius was

18:02

governing Syria, so all went to

18:04

be registered, everyone to his own city.

18:07

Joseph also went up from Galilee, out

18:10

of the city of Nazareth, into

18:12

Judea, to the city of David, which

18:14

is called Bethlehem, because he

18:16

was of the house and lineage of

18:18

David, to be registered with Mary, his

18:20

betrothed wife who was with child. And so it

18:22

was that while they were there, the days were

18:25

completed for her to be delivered, and

18:27

she brought forth her first born son, and

18:30

wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid

18:32

him in a manger, because there was

18:34

no room for them in the

18:36

end. Now there were in

18:39

the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping

18:41

watch over their flock by night. And

18:44

behold, an angel of the Lord stood before

18:46

them, and the glory of the

18:48

Lord shone around them, and

18:50

they were greatly afraid. But

18:53

then the angel said to them, do

18:55

not be afraid, for behold, I bring

18:57

you good tidings of great joy, which

18:59

will be to all people, for there

19:01

is born to you this day in

19:04

the city of David, a savior

19:06

who is Christ the Lord. And

19:09

this will be the sign to you, you will find

19:11

a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying

19:13

in a manger. And suddenly there

19:16

was with the angel, a multitude

19:18

of the heavenly hosts, praising God

19:20

and saying, and let's say this

19:22

together, glory to God

19:24

in the highest, and on

19:26

earth peace, good will

19:28

toward all men. Amen, amen,

19:31

amen. Thank you Lord.

19:33

Thank you Lord for your goodness, for your

19:35

grace. Thank you that you came for us

19:37

2000 years ago, we celebrate you today

19:40

in Jesus name, and

19:42

all God's children say, amen,

19:44

may Christmas let you turn around for

19:46

one another. And Let us sing for

19:49

you, Jesus. Where

20:25

do you? I gateway to are all

20:27

about people because God is all about

20:29

people. He has so many ways for you

20:32

to get connected to minister. They

20:45

are today was always showing on

20:47

visit stay with evils.home. If

20:49

you like to join us in.as soon

20:51

in in through gateway to live on

20:53

our website or mobile out on any

20:55

of the often boxes or any. Of

20:57

our campuses the so many

20:59

ways to discover community said

21:02

he can join a group

21:04

authentic with or serve on

21:06

their views. Han Solo more

21:08

Music Connect Central Connect to

21:11

Seven Cents Han Er visits

21:13

with people.com Connect. You with

21:15

a gateway family to Nasa. Weeks

21:17

for some social media enjoying encompasses

21:20

good. Were so that you

21:22

doing and thanks for the today. This

21:27

is my favorite we have

21:29

a year ago Reuters. Or

21:35

on the two. Together

21:38

to be in the first. The cigars

21:40

your these anointed men and women of

21:43

don't speak or to explain the i'm

21:45

for new so he says are just

21:47

one severe in the of the first

21:50

summer here for. A

21:57

ever one As you can see

21:59

we. We are coming up on

22:02

our first conference, and

22:04

really, it's when we give the first

22:07

of our year to the Lord. And

22:10

I have been so praying about

22:12

this and so burdened about us

22:14

as a congregation giving the first

22:17

of our lives to Jesus Christ

22:20

every year like this. And

22:22

so I was reminded of an article

22:24

that I found years ago. So

22:27

I actually want to read you that article.

22:30

I think you'll find this interesting. A

22:33

young boy by the name of

22:35

James had a desire to be

22:37

the most famous manufacturer and salesman

22:39

of cheese in the world. He

22:42

planned on becoming rich and famous

22:44

by making and selling cheese, and

22:47

he began with a little buggy pulled

22:50

by a pony named Patty.

22:54

After making his cheese, he would load his

22:56

wagon and he and Patty would drive down

22:58

the streets of Chicago to sell the cheese.

23:01

As the months passed, the young

23:03

boy began to despair because he

23:05

was not making any money in

23:07

spite of his long hours and

23:09

hard work. So

23:11

one day he pulled his pony to a stop

23:13

and he began to talk to him. He

23:16

said, Patty, there's something wrong.

23:19

We're not doing it right. I'm

23:22

afraid we have things turned

23:24

around and our priorities

23:26

are not where they ought to be. Maybe

23:30

we ought to serve God and

23:33

place him first in

23:36

our lives. The boy

23:38

drove home and made a covenant that

23:40

for the rest of his life, he

23:43

would serve God first,

23:46

and then work as

23:48

God directed. Many

23:50

years after this, the young boy, now a

23:53

man, stood as

23:55

Sunday school superintendent at North

23:57

Shore Baptist Church in Chicago.

24:01

And he said, I would

24:03

rather be a layman in the North

24:05

Shore Baptist Church than

24:07

to head the greatest corporation

24:09

in America. My

24:11

first job is

24:13

serving Jesus. So every

24:17

time you take a bite

24:19

of Philadelphia cream cheese, sip

24:22

a cup of Maxwell House, mix

24:26

a quart of Kool-Aid, slice

24:28

up a DiGiorno pizza, cook

24:31

a pot of macaroni and cheese, spread

24:35

some gray coupon, stir

24:37

a bowl of cream of wheat, slurp

24:40

down some Jell-O, eat the

24:43

cream out of the middle of an

24:45

Oreo cookie, or serve

24:47

some stove top. Remember

24:50

a boy, his pony

24:52

named Patty, and

24:54

the promise that

24:56

James L. Kraft

25:00

made to serve God

25:04

first and work

25:07

as he directed. That's

25:10

what I want us to do. I

25:12

want to ask you to join

25:14

us in our fast. We'll begin

25:16

this year, January the

25:18

14th, that weekend, I'll be back in

25:20

the pulpit beginning a new series and

25:23

we'll fast and pray for 21 days. And

25:27

I want you just to fast however the Lord leads

25:29

you. And I mean, even if the Lord leads you

25:31

to start on January the 1st, like I do, I

25:34

like to start on the first day of the year.

25:36

It doesn't matter about that. There's

25:39

21 days of prayer and fasting and

25:42

seeking God, but I

25:44

really have a burden and a

25:46

desire that every person

25:49

at Gateway Church be

25:51

able to attend the first

25:53

conference, whether in person or

25:56

online, but attend the first

25:59

conference. God called Israel to

26:01

come together three times a year. He

26:04

knew there was something that

26:06

happened when we

26:08

come together. He knows that,

26:11

and so he calls us to that. So

26:13

as your pastor, I'm asking you

26:16

to put God first.

26:18

Serve God first,

26:21

and make sure if you can, attend

26:23

the first conference. Hey, I

26:25

love you so much, and Merry

26:27

Christmas. Hey,

26:32

everybody, I'll get to everybody's

26:34

Christmas. If you like, stand up with

26:36

me. I know that

26:38

you're here. Hey,

26:43

Lord, and this whole story,

26:45

I'm going

26:48

to get to know you better.

26:51

This Christmas, as I trim the

26:53

tree, how

26:56

much fun it's going to be to

26:58

come together. This

27:01

Christmas, fire, fire, the

27:04

flames we

27:06

light. We're

27:09

caroling through

27:12

the night. And this Christmas,

27:14

we'll be very gentle. We'll

27:20

be very gentle, and

27:37

fun for you and me. Look at that. Ooh.

27:39

Ooh. The cars are here.

27:41

My road is filled with fear. Ooh. Ooh.

27:45

Ooh. This

27:47

Christmas, as I

27:49

look around, your eyes out, I don't

27:51

want to get paid. This

27:55

Christmas, fire, fire, the flames

27:58

we light. Please be right

28:02

where care

28:06

of the night

28:11

will be a very special

28:13

for me. Yeah.

28:21

Hey, touch the head.

28:23

Touch the head. All

28:26

right, can y'all do this with me? Touch

28:29

the head. Touch

28:32

the head. Let's play. Come

28:35

on, pop your head. Y'all have some brisket

28:37

or peach pop-ups. I

28:39

got to work it off a little

28:41

bit. Let's have Christmas food. Let's all get

28:44

some kim-kim. This

28:47

Christmas by

28:50

our side is blazing

28:52

bright. We're

28:54

here all day through the night.

29:01

And this Christmas will

29:03

be a very special for

29:05

me. Yeah.

29:13

She looked like she was talking about your

29:15

party. I had to get by the moment. Hey.

29:19

Yeah. Anyway,

29:23

I'm freezing to see you having a amazing

29:25

Christmas. I'm excited to be in

29:27

Dallas. Be well. How

29:36

about that? Hey,

29:39

y'all. How you doing? My

29:41

name is Dave Barnes. I'm going to sing for y'all.

29:44

I have to tell you, I

29:47

recorded that song also on a Christmas record. It

29:49

doesn't sound quite that good, candidly. And y'all can

29:51

sit down. I can

29:53

tell you wanted it. You're like, please, release us. These

29:57

two are not jamming. I

30:00

don't quite like that one. But I recorded

30:02

a version of that song, and my kids are used to

30:04

listening to my Christmas record. It's really sweet. And

30:06

just this week, the radio was on,

30:08

and I think Donny Hathaway, the original version of that, came

30:10

on, and my son looked at me and said, oh, dad,

30:12

isn't that cool? He recorded your song. And I was like,

30:15

oh. And that moment is an

30:17

interesting moment, because you can really lie. You can just

30:19

lean into the lie with your seven-year-old and go, well,

30:21

you know, I've written a lot of songs

30:23

for a lot of people, son. And then he learns later, and

30:25

that's hard later, but not in the moment. He really respects you

30:27

in that moment. But I decided to tell him

30:29

the truth. And then I thought, son,

30:32

if I'd written that song, we'd be living in the Bahamas

30:34

right now, having a very warm Christmas. So

30:37

I did not write that song. This

30:40

is also not a song I wrote, but I love to

30:42

sing it. And especially, it's

30:44

fun to sing this time of year, as it's about Christmas.

30:46

So it makes the most sense to sing it now. So

30:51

I'm going to sing it now, because you've seen this

30:53

in July. It has a different effect. But this

30:55

is a song called, It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year. It's

31:00

the most wonderful time

31:03

of the year. The

31:08

kids jingle bellin' and

31:10

everyone telling you be

31:12

a good king. It's

31:15

the most wonderful time

31:18

of the year. It's

31:22

the half-happy season

31:25

of all. It's

31:30

the half-happy season of all.

31:37

It's the half-happy

31:39

season of all.

32:00

Wonderful time to be

32:02

gay There'll

32:06

be much missin' the wind and

32:09

hot Blue and will the ones

32:11

I need You

32:14

come on, wonderful time

32:16

to be gay Whistling

32:36

Whistling Whistling

32:47

Whistling Whistling

32:59

Whistling There'll

33:05

be parties for hostin'

33:07

marshmallows For toastin' and

33:09

curling hot in the snow There'll

33:12

be scary ghost movies in here

33:15

For movies of... ...

33:18

movies of... ...

33:25

movies of... There'll

33:29

be much missin' the wind and hot

33:32

Blue and will the

33:34

ones I need Whistling

33:41

Whistling Whistling

33:51

Whistling Hey

33:56

12 Umm... Isn't

34:01

that awesome? Grayson just brings me guitars. He's

34:04

my favorite new person. And

34:07

I have to tell you, wearing this guitar

34:09

makes me feel more comfortable because I'm not

34:11

used to singing without it and so I have to remember

34:13

to suck my gut in when I don't have it on.

34:17

And that happens

34:20

sadly because this is a true story. I was

34:22

shooting a music video about 10 years ago in

34:25

California and my wife was there and it was really

34:27

fun. She's in the video. It's

34:29

really sweet. I remember the beach scene, the

34:31

contemplative thinking about my life scene. I

34:34

didn't have a jacket on for that scene. I just had

34:36

a shirt and pants too just in case you're wondering. I

34:39

was clothed. And so true story, the

34:41

director's kind of like, cut, Dave, come

34:43

here. And I walk over and he's

34:45

like, hey, so maybe just think

34:47

about the fact that the wind is blowing and you don't

34:49

have your jacket on. And I was like, should

34:52

I look warm? And my wife was like, you need to suck your

34:54

gut in. You look fat. Well,

34:56

that's oddly

34:58

enough why I love her, which is weird, isn't it? The people

35:00

that hurt you most or who we love the most. Amen. So

35:04

now I have some trauma around not having

35:06

my guitar in my safe, sweet blanket in

35:09

front of me. So now I'm safe again.

35:11

Everything is OK in the world. This

35:14

is another song I didn't write, but I love this song. You

35:16

may know it too. Let's sing it while I do. Bye.

37:03

This

37:06

is the dialog the

37:09

CMB. We

37:11

will just

37:16

play 5 managed 6 sequence.

38:19

You can go up with a very handsome,

38:21

very trim. Dave Barge, everybody. You

38:24

don't need no safety blanket, my friend. Hi, Gateway. Hi.

38:28

Merry Christmas, everyone. I'm

38:32

looking at all of your outfits, and you

38:34

guys look amazing. I just wanted to say

38:36

hello. We are the Cain family. And a

38:39

quick introduction, and you may be wondering

38:41

why on earth would a Christian band

38:44

name themselves Cain after the

38:46

first murderer? It's

38:49

because we are murderers. No. See?

38:52

Stop. Not helpful. No, it's our last

38:54

name. We're the Cain family. And we're

38:56

about to sing for you our favorite

38:58

Christmas song, Growing Up. And I won't

39:01

tell you how old we are because that's illegal

39:03

for you to ask. But when

39:05

we were listening to this Christmas song, it was

39:08

on a cassette tape. So parents, explain to your

39:10

children what a cassette tape is, and you'll know

39:12

how old we are. I'm

39:15

excited to sing this song for you because whenever

39:17

we heard it growing up, I kept

39:19

thinking, what would it be like to be a grown

39:21

up? And what kind of life

39:24

would I build? And I was so excited to grow up.

39:27

And now that I'm grown up, this

39:29

Christmas, I'm all I want to be is a kid again. So

39:32

we don't know what's on your Christmas list this year, but

39:35

here's ours. You

39:52

remember me, a hat

39:56

upon your knee. to

40:00

you, the childhood fantasy.

40:07

Oh, I'm wasting all night.

40:11

I still need a fallout. I'm

40:15

not a child, but my heart

40:17

still can dream. So

40:22

here's my lifelong wish,

40:26

the crown of Christmas

40:28

land. I

40:30

saw myself before a

40:33

world in need. Come

40:36

on, hold on. No

40:39

more lies torn

40:41

apart Than

40:43

words would never stop And

40:48

kindly fall

40:53

Everyone would have

40:55

a sin And

40:58

I was always free And

41:02

I wanted my money Oh,

41:07

this is my home of

41:10

Christmas land You

41:16

just may believe That

41:19

when this eyes you see There's

41:23

something left right

41:25

beneath our tree Oh,

41:31

but heaven will be

41:33

known I

41:35

can't give that home Can't

41:38

ever hear I

41:41

can't even go I

41:45

know Oh,

41:49

but heaven will be known And

41:53

I wouldn't fall Everyone

42:02

would have a

42:05

friend Your

42:07

life will always be And

42:11

love will never change How

42:16

could you be my

42:19

own Christmas tree?

42:32

We won't be in a bad

42:34

place Can we ever

42:36

find the truth? Hurry

42:52

up! I

42:54

know you're not the

42:57

one Who's

43:00

the one that's for

43:03

you You're

43:05

my one And

43:08

I believe every heart's

43:11

memory Will never

43:13

change And

43:16

I will always win

43:19

And love will never change

43:25

This is my grown-up

43:28

Christmas tree This

43:30

is my only life

43:35

This is my grown-up

43:38

Christmas tree How

43:54

could you be my own Christmas tree? Well,

44:01

Merry Christmas and we are so glad

44:04

that you're at our candlelight service this

44:06

year. And I have some of

44:08

my favorite people with me. I

44:10

have my wife, my beautiful wife

44:12

Debbie. We have James and Bridget

44:14

here with us. And I just

44:17

decided, all by

44:19

myself, This is

44:21

scary, isn't it? That I would

44:23

just throw everyone a curve ball. In

44:27

other words, yeah, I

44:29

am going to say, tell

44:32

me a Christmas memory. And

44:34

I'm talking about just the

44:36

first one that comes to your mind. And

44:40

I just want to have fun with

44:42

it. So I'm going to throw

44:45

the curve ball first to

44:48

Bridget. Throw

44:50

me in the ring first. I love it. I thought you were going to pick James. Okay,

44:54

so the first thing that comes to my mind is when

44:56

we were first married. Our

44:59

first Christmas together. My

45:01

family has a tradition of all the kids lining

45:03

up on the stairs. And my dad

45:06

gets at his big camera quarter and would film us coming down the

45:08

stairs. So this is the first Christmas that I wasn't going to do

45:10

that. And I was a little bit

45:12

sad. But on our way to my

45:14

parents house, my dad called us and said, Hey,

45:17

when you get to the driveway, text us. So

45:20

I did that. And then we walk in. We

45:22

walk through the door. And my dad's

45:24

standing there with his camcorder, like all set

45:26

up. So he got us coming through the

45:28

door. I was kind of filled with emotion.

45:31

And then he had us go sit on the top

45:33

of the stairs with the other kids. Now Bridget is the oldest.

45:38

And so I'm sitting there with her 10

45:41

year old brother on the stairs. My

45:43

knees up here like this. He's waiting

45:45

for him to let me go downstairs

45:47

now. We should

45:49

have them go on the stairs now when I go

45:51

to our house for Christmas. I like it. All

45:54

right. That was great. Great. All right. So

45:56

I'm a little afraid to say this, but James.

46:00

What was the first memory that came to your

46:02

mind? So the first memory that just popped

46:04

in my mind was when I was young. We

46:07

were at your parents' house and doing

46:09

a big Christmas gathering. And

46:12

your uncle, Uncle Joel. I

46:14

think I know what you're going to share. We

46:16

also know Uncle Joel. This is like a Christmas

46:18

family story, isn't it? This is a story that

46:20

repeats itself that everyone talks about. Yeah, you're right.

46:22

And so I was

46:25

young and I still

46:27

remember the feelings of this moment.

46:29

More than even all the details.

46:32

You remember the feelings. And so I

46:34

was young and so I'm opening this present. And

46:37

it was me and Uncle Joel opening a

46:39

present almost at the same time. Of course,

46:41

I definitely opened it way faster than him.

46:44

So I definitely was the

46:46

first one to get it open. And

46:48

I saw this present. And

46:51

I didn't fully understand it because

46:53

it was this extra large, like,

46:55

undershirts. I'm holding up. And

46:58

it's from your mom. So

47:00

I just remember saying, thanks,

47:02

Grandma. And then

47:04

I look over at Uncle Joel and

47:07

he opened up like this great toy

47:09

or something. I'm like, why do I

47:11

get giant undershirts and he gets a

47:13

toy? And then your

47:15

mom said, boy, you got the wrong ones.

47:18

Go over and switch them. But then I

47:20

got the toy that I wanted. So

47:22

it was great. But initially, I just

47:24

thought I got giant extra large undershirts.

47:27

Yeah, I remember they were wrapped exactly

47:29

the same. And somehow she put the

47:32

wrong names. But

47:34

I remember the look on your face. That

47:36

was really good. Thanks. I talked

47:38

to be grateful. I was. All

47:42

right. So I let you go last so

47:44

you could think about it. And I wouldn't

47:46

get in trouble later. So don't want to

47:48

get in trouble on Christmas. So that's my

47:51

memory. My favorite Christmas memory is

47:53

really easy because it was December

47:55

23rd. And

48:00

we had gone to youth group and

48:02

afterwards we went over to Billy Foote's

48:05

house who actually married us. And,

48:07

um, but, um,

48:11

you proposed in their driveway

48:14

because you picked up the ring that day

48:16

and you could not wait to give it

48:18

to me. You had planned something else, I

48:20

think. I think that was the plan, but

48:23

you couldn't wait. And so, in their driveway

48:25

you proposed. One point of clarification.

48:27

You said when we were in

48:29

youth group, were y'all in youth

48:31

getting married or were y'all leading

48:33

the youth group? No,

48:36

no, this is when we were kids. We

48:38

were like, um, well at that point we

48:40

were... We were in college. We were our

48:43

first year of college and we come home

48:45

and there was like a youth group gathering.

48:47

Yeah, okay. And, um, that's fun. But the

48:49

bottom line was... You were like 15. No.

48:53

I was going to give it to you on

48:55

Christmas and I do remember that I tricked

48:57

you. You did. Because I said our

48:59

limit this year is 25. Yes.

49:03

And so you spent less than 25

49:05

dollars. Twenty-five dollars. And I spent

49:08

less than 2500. But,

49:11

which was a lot at that time. It was. But

49:14

I wanted to show you how much

49:16

I loved you. Um, but you said,

49:18

hey, our limit is 25 and I

49:20

said I never said dollars, so. That's

49:22

true. You couldn't wait. You couldn't wait.

49:24

And so that really leads me into

49:27

what I want to talk about and

49:29

that is that when we're young, we

49:32

are excited about what we

49:34

are receiving at

49:36

Christmas. You know, the reason the kids were

49:38

at the top of the stairs is because they were coming out

49:41

to open the presents. The reason you were looking

49:43

at the toy, you know. But

49:45

as you get older, as

49:47

you said, I was more excited about what

49:49

I was going to give. And

49:53

I can remember one of my

49:55

fondest memories was my father every

49:58

Christmas would have gifts around

50:00

his feet when everyone else

50:02

finished because he was watching

50:04

what each of us were giving. So

50:08

I just want to remind you

50:10

that Christmas is about giving and

50:13

the more mature we get in Christ the

50:15

more we want to give. So I know

50:19

you feel that way already but

50:21

I just want to ask you what

50:24

can you give to Jesus

50:27

this Christmas. He gave his life that's

50:29

what Christmas is all about but what

50:31

can you give. Now I want to say

50:33

to you don't go to the law or

50:36

legalistic thinking. In other

50:38

words we think well I'm going to

50:40

have more quiet times this year or

50:43

I'm going to lose weight or exercise

50:45

or I'm going to not going to

50:48

get as angry but all the focus

50:50

in his own eye, eye, eye, eye,

50:52

eye. Here's all Jesus wants.

50:55

He wants you and

50:57

so this morning when I

50:59

was praying about talking to you I gave my

51:04

life to the

51:06

Lord again. I didn't

51:09

get saved again we get saved once

51:11

but every day every moment

51:14

of the day we

51:16

should give our life to the

51:18

Lord and so I just want to

51:20

ask you just right now just

51:22

would you just close your eyes just

51:25

close your eyes at

51:27

home online in

51:29

our services one of our

51:31

campuses wherever you are would

51:33

you simply just give

51:36

your life to the

51:38

Lord again for God so

51:40

loved the world that he gave.

51:44

Will you just however you want to just tell

51:46

him Lord I just

51:48

give you my

51:51

life. Lord we

51:53

want to tell you thank you

51:55

for giving us Jesus Christ your

51:58

son and Jesus for giving

52:00

your life for us. And

52:04

so we at this Christmas

52:06

season give our

52:08

lives to you in

52:11

Jesus name, Amen.

52:14

Well, I'm so happy that you prayed and gave your

52:16

life to the Lord and if you need any help,

52:19

we would love to pray with you

52:21

or help you any way that we

52:24

can. So thank you again

52:26

for coming and to all

52:28

of you from our family

52:30

to your family. Merry

52:34

Christmas. And

53:29

chosen me now

53:32

to carry yourself.

53:42

I am

53:45

waiting in

53:47

a silent prayer.

53:51

I am right on. Oh,

54:00

that's old, that's

54:03

old. I

54:08

want this time

54:11

alone. Be

54:15

with me now.

54:18

Be with me

54:20

now. Forever,

54:25

forever, Oh,

54:29

we

54:32

will never be forever, Forever,

54:36

forever, Forever,

54:41

forever, We

54:45

will fight for death, For

54:48

overbeened or a holiness,

54:51

For you are moving. Forever,

55:07

Forever, Oh,

55:11

you watch my face,

55:14

If a wiser

55:17

one should

55:19

have had my place,

55:23

But I need

55:25

your honor. For

55:31

your mercy and

55:34

your plan, Help

55:38

me be strong, Help

55:43

me, Help

55:47

me be strong. forever

56:30

Oh Oh

57:34

Hi y'all. Well,

57:38

my name is Jenna Rain.

57:41

I am so excited to be here today.

57:43

Um, I am actually

57:47

from Gateway. This is my home church. So

57:49

I'm really excited to be here. Uh, and

57:53

I think I've been to every single

57:55

candlelight service. So I think that's pretty

57:57

impressive for mine and teen years of

57:59

living. So it's

58:01

such a blessing to be here in such

58:04

a surreal moment. So yeah, this is really

58:06

sweet. And I love my

58:08

Gateway family and I pray you all

58:10

have yourselves a merry little

58:12

Christmas. Let

58:31

your heart be yours. Let

58:37

your heart be yours. Let

58:53

your heart be yours. Let

59:01

your heart be

59:03

yours. Let

59:32

your heart be yours. Let

59:45

your heart be yours. Let

59:55

your heart be yours. So,

1:00:27

uh, this is a song

1:00:29

that I did actually write. This is a song

1:00:32

I have three kids, 12 year

1:00:34

old, a nine year old, and a seven year old. And

1:00:37

one of the things that I'm continually fascinated

1:00:39

with when I think about the

1:00:43

nativity and just the birth of Jesus and the

1:00:45

life of Jesus is I think about his

1:00:47

parents, you know, and being a parent, thinking

1:00:51

about navigating what that must have

1:00:53

been like. And, uh, so

1:00:55

I wrote this song just sort of

1:00:57

from their perspective, thinking about myself and

1:01:00

my kids. And, um, I

1:01:02

can't imagine how hard all of that and

1:01:05

beautiful it would have been. But, um,

1:01:07

this is a song, um, and yes,

1:01:09

I am sucking it, if you're wondering, just if you're

1:01:11

checking, um, keep it up.

1:01:14

Uh, but this is, uh, this

1:01:16

is a song called Angel Boy. Oh,

1:01:55

Alright, I

1:02:00

thought it

1:02:03

would always be mine She's

1:02:12

a sweet sweet man, calm

1:02:15

down in the river Love

1:02:19

at the low zone of the tree

1:02:22

is scared of something House

1:02:28

loves of people's peek and

1:02:30

basket full of joy From

1:02:42

wasted days He

1:02:50

be to on your chest He

1:02:57

be to on your chest He

1:03:01

be to on your chest He

1:03:06

be to on your chest He

1:03:25

be to on your chest I

1:03:42

knew you had to do

1:03:44

them The

1:03:46

value that The

1:03:50

man that hung there dying Was

1:03:53

a boy I sang to sleep From

1:03:57

day I think you'll be free

1:04:00

But you've

1:04:02

always been

1:04:05

mine. You

1:04:37

guys seem like a worshiping crowd. You guys ready to

1:04:39

worship with me, Gateway? I ought to take that coat

1:04:41

off so I can move around a little bit. Of

1:04:44

all the things that prophet Isaiah said he would be, the

1:04:47

first thing he called him was wonderful. And

1:04:50

I'm so thankful we don't just have a God who's

1:04:52

here for us, but he's here with us. Are

1:04:55

you thankful you've got a wonderful

1:04:57

counselor, somebody who's here with us,

1:04:59

Emmanuel? Everyone's

1:05:25

not with us.

1:05:28

It's the time of the year

1:05:31

when happiness is here.

1:05:34

Only you can get through the night.

1:05:40

I need a

1:05:43

wonderful counselor.

1:05:48

Who's the one who's got the prince?

1:05:50

Who's the one who loves to carry

1:05:53

me? Emmanuel, happiness

1:05:55

is here with

1:05:59

us. The one

1:06:02

love never, no

1:06:04

Jesus can make it

1:06:07

see The one I call

1:06:09

you, can you make

1:06:14

it? Oh

1:06:22

mighty is the King,

1:06:24

don't you see below

1:06:26

straighten The all

1:06:28

I call you, is the one

1:06:31

love you have So

1:06:35

that these gifts of mine, our

1:06:38

love came down to find us The

1:06:41

wonder of the ages, the

1:06:43

life, the truth, the way He

1:06:46

is the one and only The

1:06:51

one love you have

1:06:55

is the one love

1:06:58

you have You

1:07:02

are all I

1:07:04

believe The

1:07:07

one love never, only

1:07:10

the truth, the pain, the tears

1:07:13

The wonder of the ages,

1:07:16

the life, the truth, the way The

1:07:19

one love never, only the truth,

1:07:21

the way The

1:07:24

wonder of the ages, the life,

1:07:26

the truth, the way He

1:07:29

was the one, He will

1:07:31

die on the day Bring

1:07:35

us love forever, He

1:07:37

will be our wonderful

1:07:40

The one love never,

1:07:42

only the truth, the

1:07:45

life, the truth, the

1:07:48

way Who's wrong

1:07:50

in love, will he be

1:07:53

in vain, you are The

1:07:56

one love never, only the truth, the

1:07:58

way Wonderful,

1:08:03

wonderful, wonderful

1:08:12

Yeah, we

1:08:14

all wonder if you are

1:08:17

beautiful Yeah,

1:08:20

yeah Oh,

1:08:55

holy night God

1:08:58

of our brightly shining In

1:09:02

heaven's eyes

1:09:05

of our dear Savior Lord

1:09:16

Long may the world

1:09:20

In sin and error pung And

1:09:25

pay a pay Ever

1:09:28

come to a long

1:09:30

time to be born A

1:09:34

brilliant woman

1:09:37

Though we were so

1:09:40

short Said we

1:09:43

are married A

1:09:46

new woman A

1:09:52

new woman Yeah.

1:10:13

One night we

1:10:15

cried, one

1:10:19

bone. One

1:10:21

bone. One

1:10:32

bone. One bone. One

1:10:35

bone. One

1:10:38

bone. Through

1:10:50

me he turns

1:10:53

to love. One

1:10:55

another in

1:10:59

love is love, and

1:11:01

if you'll hold

1:11:04

me in need. Change

1:11:09

shall he break full

1:11:11

of flame. His

1:11:14

our brother and

1:11:16

his name. Our

1:11:20

own friends and family.

1:11:27

We have a

1:11:29

good, great, whole,

1:11:31

great, and

1:11:34

whole is him.

1:11:38

He's our only one. He's

1:11:49

our own. He's

1:11:53

our friend. Our

1:11:57

brother. Cu

1:12:03

Face CitAFTA

1:12:22

Caught Anoshin

1:12:45

Anoshin Anoshin

1:13:11

Anoshin Anoshin

1:13:38

Anoshin Anoshin

1:14:00

for you, whether it be physical, relational, whatever it

1:14:02

may be, financial, we'd love to pray and agree

1:14:04

with the Lord and agree with you concerning that

1:14:06

need. Let me remind you that in a couple

1:14:08

weeks, like Pastor Roberts said, is our first conference

1:14:10

coming up. This, up on the screen, they're

1:14:13

going to put it up in the, there it is, January

1:14:15

6th through TIFF. You don't want

1:14:17

to miss it, it's giving our first to the Lord.

1:14:19

Also, we have a devotional that's going to be online.

1:14:21

You can find it at gatewaydevotions.com, or you can go

1:14:23

to the YouVersion app and download the devotional there. It's

1:14:25

in English and in Spanish. Also, you can pick up

1:14:27

a copy in the bookstore for only $5. Lord,

1:14:30

thank you for this Christmas. Thank you that we

1:14:32

can celebrate all that you are and all that

1:14:35

you've done for us. Jesus, not only are you

1:14:37

the babe born in a manger, you are the

1:14:39

King of Kings and the Lord of Lords who

1:14:41

reigns forever in heaven. We love you. We

1:14:43

praise you. In Jesus' name, everyone say, amen. God bless

1:14:45

you. Merry Christmas. Thanks for joining

1:14:48

us today. We're here to help you

1:14:50

out. We're here to help you out. We're here to help you out. We're

1:14:53

here to help you out. We're here to help you out. We're here to

1:14:55

help you out. We're here to help you out. Come

1:14:57

next to 710-10 or visit gatewaypeople.com.

1:15:00

We hope you have a great week.