(This transcript was generated by AI. Apologies for any inacuracies)

The sound of Christmas each year can bring many kinds of emotions and all kinds of memories into each of our heart.

I know that whenever you hear sometimes Christmas songs or Christmas carols, it may carry you back to some time in the past, maybe some time you spent with certain people or family members or you did a Christmas and celebrated something.

But those songs and those sounds and all the things that surround Christmas can begin to bring all kinds of emotions inside of us.

And sometimes, you know, people are a little bit depressed at Christmas time because of something that happened in the past.

Sometimes they're really excited because of something they experienced maybe in the past.

You know, kids, they love to laugh.

They love the open presents on Christmas morning.

Many of us love that sound because it takes us back to whenever we were children and experienced those gifts in our own life.

So Christmas can bring all kinds of emotions into our lives.

And tonight, what we hope for is that the sound of Christmas and the ring of heaven begins to speak directly into your heart and begin to hopefully make the Christmases from here or forward to be something that is very memorable in your life.

Now, one of the things that stands out for me personally at Christmastime is a sound like this.

It's...

Anybody ever heard that sound before?

Huh?

Yeah.

They do a little bit better job at it than I'm doing, but that sound oftentimes is ringing through parking lots, right?

It's in front of grocery stores, department stores, in malls, and it's a person that is volunteering for the Salvation Army.

And oftentimes they're ringing a bell like I just rung.

They're standing beside a red kettle, which is next to me, and they're just simply ringing that bell.

And we are invited to come over to the red kettle, make a decision whether we're going to pull some change out of our pocket.

And many of us help those in our neighborhoods and our communities that may be a little less fortunate with us, drop some coins in there to help them through a tough season.

And I remember that bell ringing at just a young age.

I remember exactly where it was.

It was in front of the Woolworth's department store in Thomasville, Georgia, where I grew up.

Anybody familiar with Woolworth's?

Come on.

Few of you guys, huh?

That's fascinating because I think it went out of business in like 1977 or something and changed hands.

And it's something else today.

I'm not really sure what it is, but for all of you younger people in here who've never experienced Woolworth's, it was kind of like the Walmart of today.

Come on.

And they had everything.

We would go there at Christmastime.

We would go in and we would look at all the things we wanted Santa to bring us.

We would walk around the department store and point it all out.

And we were hoping that Santa was going to come and see us.

But I remember we would walk by that bell every single Christmas.

And we had a choice to make as a family.

And oftentimes my mom, she would dig into her purse, into the bottom of her purse, and she would dig some change out, some quarters, some nickels, some dimes.

That was a lot of money back in that day.

Come on, I'm an old person.

Come on.

And she would pull those things out and put them in my little hand and we would drop it in the bucket in order to hopefully make a difference in somebody's life.

A simple bell, a red kettle, and no pressure.

But it was just simply there as an invitation to invite us into something that was bigger than ourselves and it was to help other people.

You know, Christmas is a lot like that. 2,000 years ago, heaven rang a bell, let's call it, of its own.

And it happened not in a palace, didn't happen in a temple or a church building, didn't happen in a big city, but heaven rang a bell to some shepherds, some ordinary people out in the middle of nowhere, right in the middle of a field.

And there was a bell that rung that began to invite them to come and see something that could forever change their life.

And tonight we're going to look at that story because what changed their life was what they found in that manger that first Christmas.

And it was Jesus.

And that's what we're here for tonight is to simply share some words around his birth and to remind each and every one of us why he came and what he came to do.

The Bible says in Matthew chapter one, verse 21, when the angel spoke to Jesus's earthly father, Joseph, that the angel told him he was to name him Jesus because he would save his people from their sin.

And so again, in Matthew one 21, we learned that his name is Jesus, but that night as the shepherds were tending sheep in the field, the Bible says some angels came and they began to ring some bells.

They began to share some news that began to stare the shepherd's heart.

And I want to read to you the story.

This is what it says.

It says in Luke chapter two verses eight through 14.

It says that night there were shepherds staying in the field nearby and they were guarding their flocks.

That night Jesus was born in a manger.

Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared among them and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them.

The Bible says they were terrified, but the angel reassured them, don't be afraid.

He said, I bring good news.

Everybody say good news.

He says, I bring good news that will bring great joy to all people.

The Savior, yes, the Messiah, the Lord has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David.

And you will recognize him by this sign.

You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.

Suddenly the angel was joined by a vast host of other angels, come on, the armies of heaven, praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest heaven and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.

See, this was heaven's announcement.

This was an invitation to ordinary people like you and me.

It was heaven's announcement.

It was an invitation to those shepherds in the field, that there was a king on the scene.

And not only a king on the scene, what's fascinating is how this king arrived.

He didn't show up in a palace.

He didn't show up with a crown on his head.

He didn't come to a family of royalty.

No, no, no.

This king simply came and he was born in a manger strapped in little strips of cloth to a poor teenage girl and her young teenage husband, Mary and Joseph.

And this baby was born in this manger and he simply came to invite, the angels came to invite the shepherds to come and see this newborn king.

Now, what's fascinating about what God told Mary about this Jesus, who would be born in Luke chapter one, verses 31 through 33 is the angel Gabriel visited Mary and said, you will conceive a child and that child will be born from a God.

And that child will be called the son of the most high God.

And then the angel goes on, the angel Gabriel tells Mary, this Jesus, this one who came to save people from their sins would be the son of the most high.

And he says something fascinating.

He says, his kingdom will last forever.

Now, what I want you to know tonight is that's good news.

No matter what is shaking your life.

The Bible says there was a king that was born in Bethlehem that came for all people everywhere.

And it's good news because his kingdom will last forever.

It's an unshakable kingdom.

It's a kingdom that will withstand life.

It's a kingdom that will withstand all hardship.

It's a kingdom that's an eternal kingdom.

It's not a earthly kingdom that comes and goes.

No, it's the kingdom of God.

And the kingdom came in a manger, inviting you and me, no matter what our background is, to step in right relationship with God and become a part of that kingdom.

Now, I am actually proud to be an American.

And I love to be an American because we live in a free country where we can begin to share, you know what, things like the good news of Jesus Christ openly and honestly about a future kingdom that is unashakable.

But can I tell you something?

The kingdom that Jesus offers is much more secure than being an American.

It's an awesome thing, no matter what your nationality is.

It doesn't matter what your gender is.

It doesn't matter what your background is.

No, no, this king that came in a manger was an invitation to those first shepherds, tending sheep in a field.

And these angels rang the bell so that people could respond to the invitation and step towards this Jesus.

The same bell rings 2,000 years later to men, women, boys, and girls like yourself and myself, simply inviting us to come and see If this Jesus is who he says he is, this King is amazing.

See, Christmas is not about God shouting at humanity.

It's about God stepping in to humanity.

The Bible says in John chapter one, verses one and two, in the beginning was the word, and the word was God, and the word was with God.

And if you keep reading there in John chapter one, it says something fascinating in verse 14.

Let me read it to you.

It says, the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

Can I tell you when that was?

It was when Jesus was born in that manger, that first Christmas, and began to invite humanity into a right relationship with the God of the universe, the one who created you and the one who created me.

The Bible goes on to say, the writer says, we have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only son who came from the father full of grace and the truth.

You see, the bell of Christmas doesn't condemn, it simply invites.

The Bible says, for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son.

So whoever would believe would not perish, would not waste away, but have eternal life.

And that invitation is for all who would receive.

It's why the salvation army story connects with our heart, is because there is simply a person standing there with a bell, inviting people to come to the kettle and participate, to drop change in if they would like to, and they can walk by the kettle if they would like to.

Not forcing anyone, but simply inviting them.

Not making anyone do anything, but simply inviting them.

You see, it's why here at Valorous Church, we push the invite significantly.

If you belong to Valorous Church, we're constantly inviting you to get invite cards and invite your friends and neighbors and those who you go to school with and who you work with and who you live around to church, to experience Jesus, it's an invitation.

We're not here to force any form of religion on anyone.

We're simply here inviting people into a right relationship with God that comes only through Jesus according to the Bible.

And we're inviting people to experience the same relationship that we've experienced.

That's why we encourage week after week, month after month, year after year, invite your friends to service.

It's why many of you are here tonight.

It's why many people come on Christmas Eve.

It's simply because they got an invitation to come to a service.

But I need you to know tonight, we're not here to just deliver a service.

We're here to share some good news that can bring great joy to all people, no matter what your background is.

It's an invitation.

Understand Christmas is an invitation from the most high God to the people of the earth.

And this first Christmas begins to show us that it's an invitation to those shepherds, ordinary people, and it's an invitation to you and me, ordinary people.

But the Bible goes on to talk about how these shepherds responded.

As the shepherds heard the bell of heaven ring through the angels, they had an opportunity.

They had an opportunity to respond to what the angels said.

They had an opportunity.

Look what it says here in Luke chapter two, verse 15.

When the angels had returned to heaven, after they shared this good news, it brings great joy and ring the bells of heaven into these shepherds' life.

They said to each other, the shepherds said, let's go to Bethlehem.

Let's see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.

They had an opportunity to believe or not to believe.

What the angels said to their hearts.

And my friend, every person that hears the good news, that brings great joy about who Jesus is, has an opportunity to respond.

They can believe or not believe.

We're not here to forcefully make anyone believe.

We're just here to contagiously invite everyone to believe in the one who has changed our life.

You see the Salvation Army story.

Once you hear the bell ring through the parking lot in front of the store, whether it's a grocery store or department store or in a mall, it simply invites you to the kettle.

But once you get to that kettle, that red kettle, that red bucket, you have an opportunity.

You can pass it by or you can simply dig in your pockets and you can drop some change in it together with other people and make a difference in somebody's life.

That's what we believe as a church.

We can come together and we can share the good news of Jesus and who he is in practical ways.

And together we can share this good news and possibly change somebody's life.

This is why it's significant to belong to a local church because it's a ministry we do together.

It's a ministry where we have opportunity to make a difference in people's life and invite them to respond.

You see, that red kettle invites a response.

It gives you an opportunity, but it's much how our great God works.

You need to understand God, the one who created you doesn't force himself on anyone.

God only invites you into a relationship with him that he so wants to give each and every one of us.

He gives us opportunity.

Look what the Bible says in John chapter one, verses 10 through 12.

It says he, Jesus, came into the very world he created, but the world did not recognize him.

He came to his own people and even they rejected him.

That would have been the Hebrew people in that particular day.

The Bible says, but all, to all who believe him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.

I want you to notice two words there in that passage of scripture.

I want you to notice the word believe and I want you to notice the word accepted.

Believed and accepted.

My friends, Christmas is an invitation.

It's an opportunity.

It's not just another story to admire.

It's an opportunity to receive.

And when the bell rings, a cattle sits there giving you an opportunity just as the manger sits here and gives us an opportunity.

We can respond by receiving what the manger offers us.

You see, the difference between this red kettle and that manger is when you walk by the red kettle, you have an opportunity to give something, to make a difference.

Many people given to make a difference in somebody else's life.

You need to understand whenever you pass by the manger, you have an opportunity to receive something.

One person giving to many people to make a difference in their life.

Very significant, both of them are opportunities.

The red kettle invites you to give.

The manger invites you to receive eternal life from a king who came into the world.

I wanna read to you what the scripture says about this Jesus who was born in a manger, who later lived a perfect life and surrendered his life and gave his life on a cross for the forgiveness of humanity's sin.

What is sin?

Sin is what we refer to as a picture word.

It's found, you know what, in our Bibles, but the reality of it is sin means missing the mark, missing the bullseye.

Missing the bullseye of what?

The Bible says missing the bullseye of who God created us to be as men and women who belong to him.

The Bible says the first man and the first woman missed the bullseye.

They stepped out of a relationship with God, Adam and Eve, in the garden, and we all inherited a sin nature.

We have been born with a sin nature.

What does that mean?

That means we are bent towards going away from God instead of stepping towards God.

But Jesus came into the world to forgive you and me, no matter how far we have stepped away from God, to give us an opportunity to step back towards God and believe and accept his free gift of salvation and be forgiven of that sin, know who God is and begin to walk with God and know who we are.

That's a gospel invitation to know who God is, be in a personal relationship with God and to begin to know who he says you are and walk out that significant purpose each and every day of your life.

But listen to what the scripture says in 2 Corinthians chapter eight, verse nine.

It says, you know the generous grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor.

So that by his poverty, he could what?

Make you rich.

What does that scripture mean?

That means that again, in the beginning was the word.

The word was God and the word was with God.

But the word made his dwelling among us.

He put on flesh and made his dwelling among us.

He came to live in a manger.

In other words, he had all the riches of heaven.

He was God himself, but chose to become poor and come to this lowly earth so you and I could connect with the God of the universe.

2 Corinthians chapter five, verse 21 says this.

God made Christ, who never sinned, to be an offering for our sin so that we could be made right with God through Christ Jesus.

So Jesus stepped into our poverty, our sin, our brokenness, our fear, so we could receive forgiveness, life, and peace.

Romans chapter five, verse six says this.

When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time.

Can I tell you what that right time was?

It was that first Christmas 2,000 years ago in a manger.

The Bible says he came at that right time.

Later, he went to a cross and he died for us sinners.

I deserve to be disconnected from my creator.

I deserve to die in my sin.

But Christ, in his goodness and his grace, came from heaven to earth, was born in a manger, lived a perfect life that I couldn't live, gave his life on a cross to pay the penalty for what I couldn't ever pay for, and my receiving of that gift is an opportunity of a lifetime if I would step in to that right relationship and believe on the name of Jesus.

You see, this Jesus was born in a manger.

He went to a cross to give us all an opportunity to receive God's amazing grace.

The reality of it is, is we all need a king.

We all need a king in our life.

We all need a leader in our life that can lead us in the right direction, that can give us everything we ever need as a human being, that can offer us an unshakable kingdom where there is eventually no more fear, no more sin, no more evil.

The Bible says he is the king of an unshakable kingdom, and it's known as the kingdom of God.

And my friend, no matter what your nationality is, no matter what your age is, no matter what your tongue is, what your gender is, the Bible says that that king came for all people to enter a right relationship into the one who created them, and it's the God of the universe, the most high God.

And he is going to have an unshakable kingdom.

And so he invites you into that tonight.

You see, some of us tonight here are carrying some very heavy things.

Some of us are carrying loss.

And that loss has us kind of stalemated.

I need to know tonight that there's hope beyond your loss.

There's hope beyond death.

There's hope beyond relationships that are lost and loved ones who may have gone on before us.

There is a Jesus who offers every person eternal hope that will receive that gift that he gave that first Christmas.

There's others of us tonight that, you know what?

We're living in shame, we're living in guilt of something that happened in the past.

That, you know, we did maybe as a teenager and we never gotten over it.

We made a bad choice, we took a wrong step, we did something that was against God.

I need you to know tonight that this is the whole reason for Christmas, to invite you back into a relationship so you don't have to live in shame, so you don't have to be guilty.

Jesus came to pay a penalty that you couldn't pay.

He came to give his life on a cross because you couldn't give your own life and give enough and do enough good things.

Jesus came for every single person who would dare believe in the reason that he came.

Some of us tonight are carrying loneliness.

And whether you're here tonight and you love Christmas or you're just barely surviving it, I need you to know tonight there's good news.

There's good news that can bring great joy to all people.

The King didn't come for perfect people.

He came for people who need to be saved.

And the question is, is do you realize that you need a King in your life to salvage your life, to connect you with an all-powerful, all-knowing, everywhere-at-one-time God who can deliver to you and tell you exactly who you are so you can get up tomorrow morning and begin to walk with a sense of purpose, a sense of joy, and a sense of fulfillment?

Woo!

I need you to know what Jesus himself said in Luke chapter 19, verse 10.

He said, for the Son of Man, referring to himself, came to seek and to save those who are lost.

Christmas is God saying, I see you, and I came for you.

See, I'm so glad that in 1998, God saw me, and I received the gift of salvation that comes through Christ Jesus in October of 1998.

And then as Christmas of 98 rolled around, I had a new sense of purpose.

I had a new sense of belonging to the God of the universe.

I had a new calling on my life.

You see, God cared enough for me, and he cares enough for you.

And he came in order for you to hear the echo of his voice, that he wants a relationship with you, and he wants to enter into that relationship, and he wants to pierce your heart with this good news.

But the question is, will you let another Christmas pass by you and say, oh, that's for somebody else and not me?

I'm so glad that my wife, who was up here with me earlier, her name's Kim, began to share that good news in a practical way with me in 1998.

She began to love me.

She began to invite me.

She began to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

And I need you to know, that's what we encourage this church to do every single weekend, is to be the hands and feet of Jesus so that people will know that there's a God who loves them.

But I also need you to know this, that the church isn't full of perfect people.

It's full of imperfect people that have been saved by God, that is being made perfect.

Come on, somebody.

Because they got hope and a King.

And the church ain't gonna fix all your problems.

But there's a God who will meet you in your problems and he will begin to change everything.

But you gotta trust him with your heart.

Christmas is all about an invitation.

It's all about an opportunity.

And again, you can walk out of here tonight and you can begin to continue to walk through life.

But I need you to know tonight that I believe that the power of God is so real and so powerful that he's tapping men, women, boys and girls on the shoulder right now.

And he's saying, it's you.

You're the one I want a relationship with this Christmas.

You're the one that understands my word this Christmas.

You're the one that somebody invited you here and you thought you were just coming to another religious service, but I'm inviting you, God says, into a relationship with me, it's personal.

There's a God who personally begins to speak to your heart.

If you'll receive the invitation, he wants to invite you to into an opportunity of a lifetime, no matter what your background is or no matter how far off course you got.

But the question is, is how will you respond?

You see, when we walk by the red bucket, we have an opportunity to participate or not to participate.

And tonight I'm inviting you to not walk by the manger another Christmas and not participate.

It's your opportunity.

How will you respond?

I wanna invite you to bow your heads, please.

Tonight, the bell is ringing again.

Not outside a store, not in a parking lot, but in this room and all across the internet as people are watching.

The bell's not calling for our spare change, but it's calling for our surrendered heart.

You don't have to understand everything, my friend.

You don't have to fix everything.

You simply have to respond.

So tonight, if you're ready to receive Jesus, not just as a baby in a manger, but as a savior and a king of your life, I wanna invite you to pray a prayer with me tonight, right where you sit.

Right where you sit tonight, say, God, tonight I surrender.

I admit that I'm a sinner and not in right relationship with you.

And I need a savior.

Tell God, thank you for that manger.

Thank you for the life of Jesus.

And thank you for the cross of Christ, where he shed that blood.

Tell God that tonight you wanna receive Jesus as your savior.

Just say right where you are.

Say, I need Jesus to come in and save me.

Invite God to change you, to rearrange you, and to remind you that you belong to an eternal and unshakable kingdom.

Say, God, I wanna belong to your kingdom.

I wanna belong to your family.

I wanna have eternal life.

And my friend, if you meant that prayer with your heart, I want you to know tonight that God will move in and begin to develop that relationship.

He's invited you into this relationship to begin to grow you and teach you exactly who he's created you to be.

And tonight, you don't have to walk out of here going in the same direction.

Now you can begin to go in the right direction because you've received Jesus as your Savior.

And the Holy Spirit will come, the Spirit of God, and live inside of you and begin to guide you.

The Bible doesn't say that Jesus only wants to be your Savior.

The Bible says that he wants to be your Lord.

What does that mean?

He wants to be your leader.

He wants to be the one that will begin to guide you and direct you.

But you have to submit your life to his authority.

He's a good king.

He loves you, he cares for you, and he wants to build you into all he's designed you to be.

And so tonight, I invite you, if you heard the bell of the cross in the manger and Christ ringing in your hearts, to say, God, right where you sit, simply thank you for the gift of my salvation.

Jesus, we thank you for all of those who have responded tonight, where they sit tonight.

And tonight, if Christ come to live into your heart, I just simply wanna invite you as an announcement that he is the king of your life, to simply right where you are, to just slip your hand up in the air and show me tonight I received Jesus as my savior.

And the forgiveness of my sin, wherever you are in this room, you can slip it up and then let it back down.

God, I thank you for all of these people who are receiving Jesus as the king of their life tonight.

God, I pray you would continue to guide and direct all of us all the days of our life.

May this Christmas be a new invitation to all of us to begin to walk in the fullness of who you say that we can be in Christ Jesus.

We ask all of this in Jesus' name, amen.