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In this episode, you will hear Jesus ask a question, that on first hearing, you may be tempted to think, "That's the dumbest question I've ever heard." He walks up to one broken man lying in the midst of hundreds of broken people. They're all laying around a pool because of a legend that when the pool bubbled, the first one in would be healed. Jesus walks up to this man who has laid poolside for over three decades and Jesus asks, "Do you want to be made well?"

But of course, it's not really a dumb question. It's the question, we probably all need to answer. Do you want to be made well and... do you trust Jesus to do it?

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In Malachi 3, I believe Malachi, or rather God through Malachi, is trying to tell us that generosity ushers in heaven on earth, that generous people are the people who unwrap heaven. So in this episode I'll dare you to take a NY's dare to be more generous than you ever thought possible. And actually it's not my dare. It's God's. "I dare you to test me." God says. "I dare you to try to outgive me. Care for the poor in your midst and in your circle. See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and give you a New Year filled with heaven all year long."

Perhaps this is how we return to God and live under open-heavens!

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There is a light that shines in the darkness and in the end, Christmas wins. In the days after Christmas there there’s still darkness and we will still need light. We need the light of hope for the darkness of difficulty. Difficulty didn't take a break over the holidays. We need the light of hope. We need the light of generosity for the darkness of selfishness. Christmas scratches the itch of grace deep within us. It gives us a chance to counteract that selfish streak we hate in ourselves.

And what if, rather than being a holiday, here and then gone, Christmas was a holy day that is meant to ignite a light that burns through a year of days? What if the Christmas lights are simply a metaphor of an unseen reality that the light of heaven has now invaded our world and all the darkness of the world cannot stand against the glory of that light?

What if Christmas is a reminder of the wonder that heaven is now in our midst? What if heaven is here?

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For the last episode of Come Lord Jesus, I just want to offer this post-Christmas question. What if Jesus had never come? What if it never happened? What if all we have for Christmas is Santa, elves, and the naughty-nice list. What if there was no Christ in Christmas? What if there were no ripples of heaven on earth that continued to this day?

What if Jesus never came?

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DON'T LISTEN TO THIS -- If you are going to Christmas Eve services at Calvary Harvest Fields. :) It's not exactly the same, but similar!

But if you aren't going to Christmas Eve services at Calvary, I hope that this episode encourages you with the Christmas truth that Jesus is on a mission to bring you home for Christmas!

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In this episode, we are going to talk about favor. That's an interesting word isn't it? Favor. It's used multiple times in the Christmas stories. When we think of the word favor, it's usually used in a sentence like this, "Hey would you do me a favor?" When we ask someone to do us a favor we're saying, "You don't owe me. I don't necessarily deserve this, haven't earned it, but I'm wondering if you would do it anyway. Do me a favor."

Often that's the question behind our prayers is, "God would you please do me a favor." The Dictionary suggests that favor is kindness beyond what is due or usual. It makes me think that perhaps the a good two word description of Christmas is "God's Favor." As we take a peak at Mary the mother of Jesus, we can pray, "God would you do me a favor?"

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In the end light wins, darkness loses. Why? Because we have Jesus.

He is our Unwavering Certainty in the midst of uncertainty. He is our Sacrificial Savior who covers us in his love when we are prone to fear. He's our Overflowing Abundance when scarcity whispers, "Protect what is yours, there’s not enough to go around." He is our Almighty King, our Righteous Redeemer and in the end He will be the one still standing and we will see Him with our own eyes and when we see Him, what was lost will be found and what was broken will be redeemed, the darkness will be no more and we will celebrate Christmas, like we have never celebrated before...

Christmas is an epic, fear-not story, and you are invited to join the story!

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The angels said to the shepherds, "For a savior has been born to you..." That to you was just for them, it includes us. Listen to me, the glory of Christmas is not that God was born in a mess without a family, it's that He welcomes messy people into his family. This is Jesus' trademark. He wasn't born in a gated community or a palace with guards. He was born to us and there is no us that is not welcome to come home. Messy people have been drawn to Jesus for thousands of years, and He's been drawn to them.

And because of that...your best Christmas is yet to come!