Rush Hour

Christmas Conversations: Traditions, the Nativity, and Jesus both God and Human

• RushChurch • Season 1 • Episode 9

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We laugh through church updates and holiday traditions, then shift into a clear-eyed look at the nativity, the incarnation in John 1, and why Jesus becoming fully human still changes how we live now. We end with a simple invitation to turn on the light and walk with hope.

• Thanksgiving dinners and volunteer appreciation
• Women’s tea highlights with music and charcuterie
• Student Christmas party details and sweater contest
• Christmas Eve candlelight service times and memories
• Nativity misconceptions and historical context
• The incarnation in John 1 and its meaning
• Why Jesus’ humanity and divinity matter for us
• Living as light in a dark world

Make sure you're there for Christmas Eve service if you can be


www.rushchurch.com


SPEAKER_01:

Welcome to Rush Hour, a Rush Church podcast. I'm Cody, and I'm here with Brittany and Ashley, as usual, and we have another episode. We've been gone for a while. We took like a two-week break. Last time we talked about worship, I believe. Today we're gonna talk about Christmas stuff because it's Christmas time. And so that's what we're gonna talk about today. We're gonna look at some Rush Church things before that, things that have been going on. Hopefully, you guys have been doing well. So, let's talk about Thanksgiving dinner. How did it go?

SPEAKER_04:

It was great. I loved it. It's delicious.

SPEAKER_01:

All right.

SPEAKER_04:

A lot of people.

SPEAKER_01:

A lot of people. Great, delicious. Moving on. Nextgiving dinner was delicious. A lot of people had a good time.

SPEAKER_04:

It was great. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

No, it was good. We had a full house for both dinners. We had a lot of people that helped with that. Make it really well, actually make the, you know, make it what it is. A lot of people serve and volunteer, and uh so people can come just eat and enjoy themselves.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, my dad came and he was like, How many people does it take to put this on? He was just like, he couldn't believe it.

SPEAKER_01:

Several.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

We were like three.

SPEAKER_01:

Shout out to Mark Long and his family. They do a lot with the turkeys and the hams and the the big part of that. And then numerous people serving, helping put all that together. So yeah. Thanksgiving dinner went really well. Oh, we did a game in between dinners.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, we did. We did the prices right. Darren is our show host. Bob Barker. Bob Barker. Yeah. I was Vanna White. Oh. That's the wrong show.

SPEAKER_04:

Oh, so there is no. I honestly would have believed you. I'd be like, uh-huh. Uh-huh. Yeah. I love the prices right.

SPEAKER_01:

Price Ride's probably my favorite game show. It's classic. It's all time. Like I used to memories of Prices Ride would go to my granny's house and during the day it'd be on at 11 o'clock. Right. There it is. Prices Right. Ready to go.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

So we did. We do we gave a really cool prize pack away to the wild lights at the zoo. Who won? Oh my goodness. Who won?

SPEAKER_01:

A little girl. I can't remember who it was.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, Chrissy Cole's daughter. Oh, okay. Yep. I was like, I missed that part.

SPEAKER_01:

She won.

SPEAKER_02:

She didn't. Showcase showdown. She beat Tommy out. Bang.

SPEAKER_01:

What? Poor Tommy.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Well.

SPEAKER_02:

I almost kicked Ben off the set. He kept arguing with us. So I'm like, get him out of here.

SPEAKER_04:

Where's the security?

SPEAKER_01:

I had a fun time with the prize right games. I was in charge of the sound effects upstairs. And Michael Ramsey did a good job with lights up there once again. But so it was a fun time. If you missed it, I'm sorry. Come next year. We'll have dinner and we always do something in between. It's not the same every year. You might do another game show like that. That was fun. I prefer that. Sometimes we watched it.

SPEAKER_04:

Everybody seemed to really enjoy themselves in there.

SPEAKER_01:

So so thanks for everybody that helped out with Thanksgiving dinner and showed up. Good times. The next thing that happened since we've been gone, there was an event at the church, and a lot of women showed up and drank tea.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes. We had more than tea. We had coffee, we had punch. We had a hot cranberry juice that some people were like obsessed with.

SPEAKER_01:

I like the cold cranberry.

SPEAKER_02:

It's called cranberry blitz.

SPEAKER_01:

There you go. Cranberry Blitz. Yeah. I like the title.

SPEAKER_02:

I like that one.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, that was nice. I didn't drink any because I don't like cranberries, but.

SPEAKER_02:

But you like the name of it.

SPEAKER_01:

I like the name of it. Yeah. For sure.

SPEAKER_02:

So we had, I think we had a total of 18. We had a total of 20 tables up, but we had 18 hosts. So they decorated their tables and all different tea sets and just different beautiful Christmas decorations on their table, and they just took time out to just bless the women that were at their table. Um, and then we had a huge charcuterie style setup, desserts.

SPEAKER_01:

Charcuterie. What a word. Anyway, keep going.

SPEAKER_04:

I don't even know if we're saying it right. I can't say it.

SPEAKER_01:

Who cares? It was delicious.

SPEAKER_04:

It was great. It was one of those cheese. A lot of cheese. I got to give out fancy cheese.

SPEAKER_01:

I was the butler. I got to what I got to join the tea. It was great. And then I carried around a tray with fancy cheese.

SPEAKER_04:

That cheese was really good.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't know. I didn't eat any of it. I just passed it out. I was like, You should cheese. Did you try any of it?

SPEAKER_04:

Cranberry one or the Merlot. Cranberry? Not Merlot cheese.

SPEAKER_01:

I would just show up at people's tables and be like, fancy cheese. This one's got berries in it. This one's got wine. They were like, Wine?

SPEAKER_04:

No, I was just kidding.

SPEAKER_01:

I had one table, I'm not going to say any names, but they ordered a double shot of wine cheese.

SPEAKER_04:

So wait, do I know this table? Yeah. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01:

It wasn't any it wasn't anyway, not your table. It wasn't my table. Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. But it was a lot of fun. And then the music entertainment was a hit this year. I asked Wes to come and sing for us. And I didn't realize that he was putting on a whole Christmas show. I thought he was just singing some Christmas songs. Right. It was quite entertaining. And Cody ended up helping him with that. I didn't realize it was going to happen either.

SPEAKER_01:

I had a lot of fun. Did Wes realize that was going to happen? Yeah, we had this plan. We talked about it for a couple weeks.

SPEAKER_04:

So wait, are you lying?

SPEAKER_02:

No, they didn't. Oh, okay. The only thing Wes told us that he didn't realize how funny it was going to be.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, it was great. It was like he was just singing Christmas songs and it was like he was repeating the moody. We started out with him just like a black backdrop. And it was just kind of him and his piano. But we had tables set up where I could like go behind and bring out all the Christmas decorations I had behind him, behind the curtains. And so he's like, I'm going to play, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. And then you're going to decorate around me while I was doing it. And I was like, Oh, I can do that. And so I decorated how I decorate things. And it was a disaster. But I brought out Garland, wrapped it around his microphone stand, trees, presents, gifts, lights, all of it. And he was like and then he played Let It Snow, and he had gotten two fake bags of snow where I could just like throw it out, and he's like, His whole thing was like, I'm gonna do this whole shtick about it never snows for Christmas here where we are, we never get any snow.

SPEAKER_00:

And then two days before the tea, it snowed five inches in a snowy backdrop out behind the windows behind him. He's like, We're still doing it.

SPEAKER_01:

I was like, Alright, we're still doing it. He's like, it never really snows for Christmas, just want to be so we played that, and I got to throw snow everywhere from behind the curtains, and then I just stood next to him at the end and just threw it on his head and his shoulder.

SPEAKER_06:

Yeah, yeah, it was good.

SPEAKER_01:

We had a good time. I was we were both happy with how that went down.

SPEAKER_02:

So and I think we'll probably invite you back next year. Oh, I get to come back for the tea. I told John this was a test. We'll see. But don't let him know that you passed the test already.

SPEAKER_04:

Keep him on probation for a while.

SPEAKER_01:

I all I request is that I have more things to walk around with. I need more fancy things to walk around with. I have an idea.

SPEAKER_04:

I want to get don't worry, I'll forget to set out food again. We'll need some.

SPEAKER_01:

The whole reason I got to pass out fancy cheese because Brittany forgot to put it out on the table.

SPEAKER_04:

I'm sorry. There was just so much going on. There was too much.

SPEAKER_01:

But I was impressed with the event. Like I'd heard about it the last two years, and I had no idea it was so I don't know. I like the word that comes to mind is spectacular. You look out, you see all the tables, they're all decorated, and there's food everywhere, and there's drinks, and the fireplace is on, there's Christmas trees, and you know, it was just really fantastic. I was glad I got to just be there and hang out with you guys. So thanks for letting me.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, it's really it's like when you see how many women are there too. I mean, there's a lot of women there. 90 women there.

SPEAKER_01:

I will say, I was a bit intimidated when I was there, and it was just me.

SPEAKER_04:

And I looked out and I was like, and a hundred women that are like, what are you doing?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I'm like, I don't belong here. Here's some cheese.

SPEAKER_03:

Hey, like introduce you to the butler. Oh man, they got excited. They're like, oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00:

They did. And I had a little towel on my arm. I was like, hello. Hello.

SPEAKER_01:

I didn't have time to put together the whole fictional character.

SPEAKER_02:

And so the story can continue on.

SPEAKER_01:

Um but yeah, it was a good event. I think everybody should attend it if you're a lady who likes tea. If you don't like tea, it's okay.

SPEAKER_02:

We have other things to do. I didn't even drink tea. I didn't either. No, and I love the tea. Yes, I love the tea too. Obsessed with the punch.

SPEAKER_04:

I couldn't stop it. I had the cold punch, and then I was like, oh, coffee sounds good. And I put coffee in my teacup, and then it was I was kind of busy.

SPEAKER_01:

So more fancy things for me to pass out next time. That's my request. I'm gonna cut up little Debbie Christmas tree cakes into little fancy pieces and pass them out and then pass it off as fancy cake that I made. And they're gonna be like, oh, this is so good. So expect things like that. But the tea went really well. Some things upcoming. It's Christmas time, it's December. The student Christmas party is one of my favorite things that we do in the year, and it's a good event for students to like invite friends to and show up and just hang out with the adult leaders and all their friends. And this year we're having it in Bellfountain at the axe throwing place. It's called Axe Quacks, I think. And so we're gonna be there. And they got duck pin bowling. You guys ever been duck pin bowling?

SPEAKER_04:

No. Wait, what is that?

SPEAKER_01:

Duckpin bowling is like miniature bowling. The lanes are smaller and the pins are like on strings, and you just have a small, like a bowling ball that fits in the palm of your hand.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

You sling it down the aisle. I mean, they have all kinds of like different games that you try to do and stuff. It's not just like regular bowling, but it's different types of games that you can do with it. And then they have axe throwing, and so we have the whole night plan for that. So if you're a parent of a student or you know any seventh through twelfth graders, tell them about the Christmas party. Ugly sweater contest. Winner gets$25 for the ugly sweater contest. That's great. The adults there will be the judges, plus my friends. I have a friend group called the Happy Fun Guys, and they're gonna help judge the Christmas sweaters. And then we're having a nacho bar. It's Felice Navidad themed. So there you go. You guys are. That sounds great.

SPEAKER_02:

I hope I can make it.

SPEAKER_01:

You're coming?

SPEAKER_02:

Maybe this Sunday, 5 to 7.

SPEAKER_01:

This Sunday, December 14th.

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_01:

5 to 7. Axe and Quacks. Duckpin bowling.

SPEAKER_04:

If I get done with basketball, I'll see you there.

SPEAKER_01:

So yeah. Lots of fun, lots of good things going on. That's the Christmas party. And then I think every anything else we have is Christmas Eve services. 4:30 and 6, right? 4:30 and 6?

SPEAKER_04:

430 and 6. Pretty on Christmas Everyone. I think so.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

I know 4:30 is the first one.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, then the other one's at six, but those are candlelight, candlelight services. And so yeah. If you were around on Christmas Eve, Christmas Eve services are one of my favorite things about Christmas. I love candlelight service on Christmas Eve. I think it's special.

SPEAKER_05:

I think it's That's my favorite.

SPEAKER_01:

It's just always been always has been.

SPEAKER_05:

He's stealing my favorite.

SPEAKER_01:

At the church I uh my my parents go to and that I kind of grew up in. We had Christmas Eve service at 11 p.m. on Christmas Eve, and then at midnight we would go out and sing joy to the world while the bells rang. So it was it was pretty special. Just stuff like that, just different traditions and the candles and all that good stuff. But celebrating together. So make sure you're there for Christmas Eve service if you can be. If you can't be, that's okay. We still love you. So today I thought we could anybody else have anything?

unknown:

No.

SPEAKER_01:

About announcement wise for Rush Church.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, I do want to talk about Superstart real quick. That you can sign up for it now.

SPEAKER_01:

You can sign up for Superstart. And that's for fifth and sixth grader, right?

SPEAKER_02:

It is March 20th and 21st of next year. But we are signing up now. So I'm going to start buying tickets in January. Um so if you'd like to go, please talk to me. Talk to me, you can call in the church and get information about that. It's like 24 hours for a preteen conference. They've got worship, bands, you know, lesson, games, all kinds of awesome things.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Superstart. I've never been. I'd like to go sometime. I just realized that Timmy's gonna be old enough to go next year, and that's kind of weird, but awesome. So maybe I'll get to go.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, Axel's old enough now. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Axel gonna go?

SPEAKER_04:

I think so.

SPEAKER_01:

Sweet beans. All right. What else? All girls retreat. I wanted to throw that out there for the student ministry. Girls' retreat is in January, 9th and 10th. It's at the church, it's overnighter, and they come together and do all kinds of you know activities and food, and just Erica and Laura put that on. They plan together and they have a lot of other helpers that help them out. But girls' retreat is in January. The sign-ups are open. You can sign up at the welcome desk at Rush Church. If you need more information about that, just see me. But it's always a good time. The girls' retreat. So those are all the things coming up, all the things I've been doing at Rush Church. What have you guys been doing in your personal? How'd you guys think Thanksgiving go?

SPEAKER_05:

I went great. I have a big Thanksgiving.

SPEAKER_01:

You have a big Thanksgiving? Yeah. Huge? How many did you go to?

SPEAKER_04:

All day long. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

How many Thanksgivings did you go to, or is it just one all day?

SPEAKER_04:

It's one all day. It's like eight hours long. Is it like here in like just 35 people, probably 40 people? It's our family.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow.

SPEAKER_04:

We're always together all the time.

SPEAKER_02:

I yeah, I hosted Thanksgiving this year at my house. Okay. Because we won't be here for Christmas. So I took, and my niece was supposed to have a date baby like that week. So I was like, just in case she's in labor, I didn't want my sister to stress, but I had it. And yeah, it went well. There were no plates thrown at this Thanksgiving. And I will say that because when Dare and I first got married, yes, our first, like our first year and a half of marriage, I threw a plate because we got in a huge fight on Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving. It all went really well this year. And it has for the last several years, but I'm just saying that. That's what I was guessing. That was my question.

SPEAKER_01:

Is like, is this the first Thanksgiving in a long time? A plate hasn't been thrown.

SPEAKER_04:

Like Yeah, I feel like now I should say there's no plates thrown at our Thanksgiving either.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, that's saying a lot. It's a it's a core memory, which I don't always host Thanksgiving. Usually my sister does. But it was it was great.

SPEAKER_04:

Wow. I think it's great that you're telling us the true stories of your life.

SPEAKER_03:

It is, it is. We don't have a perfect marriage, but we work at it every day.

SPEAKER_01:

All right. So next up is Christmas time. What? We're moving on.

SPEAKER_04:

You you do that. You gotta, you gotta give, you know, some grace. Now you show grace. Go ahead, try it.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't know what you're talking about. I just wanted to move on to the next topic. This is a podcast about stuff that we have planned to talk about, not Ashley's plate.

SPEAKER_04:

What if Ashley and I want to take it over right now? This is our time. Our plan the whole time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

One of these days, you guys are just gonna have Britney and Ashley on this podcast.

SPEAKER_04:

Britney and Ashley. They'll love it. By they I mean all of the listeners.

SPEAKER_01:

All the listeners. We'll just love it.

SPEAKER_04:

It's all of your group of friends. Yeah, it's all my friends.

SPEAKER_01:

Can we talk about Christmas now? Christmas time. Goodness gracious. Do you guys like Christmas?

SPEAKER_02:

I love Christmas. Christmas is like my favorite holiday. Yeah, is it your favorite holiday? It is. It really is.

SPEAKER_01:

Is it your favorite holiday?

SPEAKER_04:

Yes. It's like I really like Easter, but I love Christmas.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. They kind of go hand in hand. Yeah, they do. You can't have Easter without Christmas.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah. So I do like Easter a lot, but Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Easter is more important than Christmas.

SPEAKER_04:

Um I really like Christmas.

SPEAKER_02:

I actually know Easter without Christmas.

SPEAKER_01:

True.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay.

SPEAKER_04:

Which is first, Christmas or Easter? Just kidding. I'm just kidding.

SPEAKER_00:

Which happened first? Is Jesus born or did he die on the cross first? We answer the tough questions here in Rush Hour.

SPEAKER_01:

Perfect. So you guys like Christmas? You say it's your favorite holiday, or do you like Easter more?

SPEAKER_04:

No, Christmas is probably my favorite.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay.

SPEAKER_04:

But that's for not religious read reasons. Yeah. Like that's just because I enjoy the snow and the decorations.

SPEAKER_01:

I'm just talking about holiday. Yeah. Like, no. My the best holiday is 4th of July. But all right. What?

SPEAKER_02:

No. To blow things up.

SPEAKER_01:

Fourth of July is the best holiday. I'll make my case really quick. Not because I'm obsessed with America. I'm I mean, I like America. But Fourth of July, it's in July. It's hot. It's summertime. You can be outside. You have cookouts, tons of good food, and there's fireworks and explosions up in the sky. And so I think it's just the best holiday because it's not cold and you get to blow stuff up. There's lots of food, cookout style. It's better than Christmas food. Anyway. I disagree. You're allowed to disagree. You can be wrong if you want to. So Christmas, we're talking about that today. And what's your guys' favorite part about Christmas? Like what's something you look forward to? Like maybe a tradition or just something that you really enjoy about the holiday or this time of year.

SPEAKER_04:

Well, we were just talking about Christmas Eve service. Yes. That's my favorite.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep.

SPEAKER_04:

That's and I mean, yeah, I can't I won't miss that. It's Christmas Eve service.

SPEAKER_01:

You're not going to miss it. Like you will be there. Yes. It's not like if we got rid of it, you wouldn't miss it.

SPEAKER_04:

Right. Right. Is that what I said? Yeah. Sometimes when I speak it's confusing.

SPEAKER_01:

It's not confuse it at all. We always know what you're talking about. Ashley, what's one of your favorite parts about Christmas at this time of year?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, it's not things that we get to do anymore, but it's memories that I have. Because we don't do it anymore because we're all older. But on Christmas Eve, my brother would always take me to Walgreens after service, like at 11 o'clock midnight, to do all of his Christmas shopping for his wife.

SPEAKER_03:

No. From Walgreens?

SPEAKER_02:

I can't think of one thing I want from Walgreens. It was just, I think, and I mean I was a kid, so I don't really remember. Like I think some years literally all of his presents were from Walgreens. And I think it's just because they were busy. You know, he was a full-time artist, he still is, but just didn't have time to, you know, and they had little kids, and so it was more personal now with Christmas gifts, but it was just it was a core memory that I always have. And now Darren's always like, Do we need to go to Walgreens on Christmas Eve? And I'm like, No, we do not. But yeah, I love that. And then we all used to sleep underneath the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. We'd the entire family could pull out their mattresses and we just line the living room up and sleep under the Christmas tree. That sounds fun and wake up Christmas morning and not there with presents would be there. That makes sense.

SPEAKER_01:

I love it.

SPEAKER_04:

Um do you guys hide the pickle? Do you guys have a pickle hiding thing? Is that a German? Okay, I think it's a German thing. But Germany Well, staller is German, right?

SPEAKER_06:

All right. I was gonna make that.

SPEAKER_04:

Okay, listen. There's a glass pickle, okay, and you hide it somewhere in the house.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay.

SPEAKER_04:

And then we so now that we're older, it used to be like us three kids, but now it's family versus family. Okay, so it's like five of us versus Landon and Chanel's kids are young, so they always lose because they don't have enough eyes.

SPEAKER_01:

So who's in charge of hiding the pickle?

SPEAKER_04:

My parents. Whoever finds it. Okay, I'm kind of regretting telling the story. Whoever finds it gets an extra gift. Wow. Yeah, and it's like something really cool.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, it's a good gift.

SPEAKER_04:

Wow. Yeah. Like a drone or money or things like that.

SPEAKER_01:

Find the people get a bag of money.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm coming over to the money. Mary Christmas. Is this just for the family, or can anybody just guess coming over to your house?

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, even like after we get done opening gifts. This is what we do. We're like, okay.

SPEAKER_01:

What day do you guys open gifts?

SPEAKER_04:

On Christmas Eve with that family.

SPEAKER_01:

I'm not coming over on Christmas Eve to find a pickle. After we've gotten back.

SPEAKER_04:

See me like later. Christmas Eve service.

SPEAKER_00:

What's going on here? Uh he's looking for the pickle.

SPEAKER_04:

What time do you do this?

SPEAKER_00:

Oh my gosh. So good.

SPEAKER_04:

It's I think it's like this is what I'm talking about. I mean, I think this is normal.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it's definitely normal. If you have a tradition where you hide a glass pickle and your family looks for it, please right now.

SPEAKER_04:

Yes, there are people right now going, yeah. That's what you do.

SPEAKER_01:

If you're listening to this, take some time. If you find a pickle, then email me at Cody C at Rush Beach and let me know.

SPEAKER_04:

I'm gonna buy you guys fine real big pickle and it'll be in my refrigerator.

SPEAKER_01:

So I did not expect this conversation to go this way when I asked about Christmas favorite parts and memories.

SPEAKER_00:

And we got Walgreens on Christmas Eve and finding pickles around the house.

SPEAKER_01:

So you know what I do on Christmas Eve? I go to Christmas Eve service with my family, and then we you know put out cookies and stuff, and we watch Christmas stuff on the TV until we fall asleep, and we don't look for pickles and we don't go warm.

SPEAKER_00:

But all right.

SPEAKER_04:

Um where was that question going to? Where were you gonna lead that question back to?

SPEAKER_01:

I just wanted to talk about Christmas for a minute. Oh, okay. It wasn't any, it was just there was no going to be favorite traditions. Just wanted to see what's your guys' favorite parts about Chris. Like, do you love Christmas music?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. I love Christmas music in the car.

SPEAKER_04:

I was gonna say, Ashley does not like Christmas music.

SPEAKER_02:

I do not like Christmas music at the church. Oh, okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

I do.

SPEAKER_02:

That's okay. This is my opinion.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, that's fine.

SPEAKER_02:

I can be wrong. That's okay.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't really hear jingle bell rock played at church. Um what's your favorite Christmas song? Silent Night. Silent Night? I saw I made that face. Oh, you're watching me right now.

SPEAKER_04:

No, my favorite is I heard the bells on Christmas Day. Is that right?

SPEAKER_01:

Christmas Day on Christmas Day. Oh. That's the three ships. That's sorry. That's a different song.

SPEAKER_04:

I heard the bells. Is that what it's called?

SPEAKER_02:

I don't know. How does it go?

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah. Right.

SPEAKER_00:

So what you found news is like Silent Night. Brittany has a favorite Christmas movie. He doesn't know what it is. So here we go.

SPEAKER_04:

Dang it, guys. I do know what it is. Just speak the word. You don't have to sing it. I heard the bells on Christmas.

SPEAKER_00:

The bells are ringing. Um Cody, that's not the song. I'm sorry. I'm trying to help out.

SPEAKER_04:

Wait, if I played it on my phone, would it go to the mic?

SPEAKER_00:

It will.

SPEAKER_01:

I heard the bells on Christmas Day. I don't know what you're talking about. Sorry. My favorite Christmas song is Little Drummer Boy. So we know that one. Purum pum.

SPEAKER_04:

You know that one. I'm not sure what that song is, so never mind. Really? No, I'm kidding. I'm trying to put down Cody's song like he did mine.

SPEAKER_02:

I love I like freaking country's version of it.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

That's they're awesome.

SPEAKER_01:

I saw them live do that. It was fantastic.

SPEAKER_02:

That's pretty good.

SPEAKER_01:

So good. Well, all right.

SPEAKER_02:

Skillet's new was what the version of what they just do.

SPEAKER_01:

Okami Manuel.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes. That's good too. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

There's been some controversy about that song. People don't like it. But they don't like they don't know Skillet, so.

SPEAKER_02:

There will always be controversy in this world.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh my gosh. Even about Christmas?

SPEAKER_02:

Even about Christmas.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, okay. Favorite Christmas movie?

SPEAKER_04:

Elf. I don't know that I want to answer this. Elf?

SPEAKER_00:

Elf. I love Elf. Okay.

SPEAKER_03:

I can't like Elf.

SPEAKER_01:

No, you're allowed to like Saturnite and Elf. It's fine. Brittany, do you have a movie that you like at Christmas time? Or the one that you have to watch every Christmas?

SPEAKER_04:

I have a lot, but I like Miracle on 34th Street.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. Christmas.

SPEAKER_02:

The one I have to watch every Christmas Eve is a Christmas story. Nice. I watch that.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah. We always watch a Muppets Christmas. Christmas Carol. That's good. Yeah, that's a good one. I want the Muppet Muppets. It's a musical. You should like it. Well, I know. They're puppets. It's a good movie.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, yeah, I like The Santa Claus with Tim Allen. Well, yeah, we just watched that. It's really good. It's classic. That's what I think of when I think of Christmas. So all right. Now that we have that all out of the way, I regret my disgust sometimes.

SPEAKER_02:

We are all really different, and that's awesome.

SPEAKER_01:

We are. It's really good. I do want to take some time and talk about Christmas and kind of the the Bible about, you know. And so the Christmas story in Scripture. What do you guys instantly think of when you think of the you know Christmas story from the Bible? Like what pops to your mind? Anything? Like you think of the one thing like the like from a nativity. The manger. The manger. Okay. Brittany.

SPEAKER_04:

I don't you're making it hard for me to answer.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. You don't have to answer.

SPEAKER_04:

Just answer it.

SPEAKER_01:

Just like if I think of if you if I say the Christmas story from the Bible, what comes to your head instantly? Like what's the first thing that pops in your mind? A Christmas story?

SPEAKER_04:

The birth of Jesus. Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

The birth of Jesus. It's about that literally, nativity literally means birth of Jesus. So that's the nativity scene. It's you know, I was thinking about that the other day. I was like, Nativity, I don't even know what that word means, but we put up nativities, and it's just it literally means the birth the birth of Jesus.

SPEAKER_04:

I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_01:

Or didn't either. Yeah, to display the birth of, you know, that's what it is. So I think of you know, all different kinds. I think of the angels and the shepherds is the first thing that I think of when I think of the Christmas story. Do you so there's a few things I wanted to kind of just misconceptions about the Christmas story. And I hope I don't ruin the nativity for anybody. But like when we think of sometimes we add little details, like we have a nativity scene, we add the three wise men to but at this time. But some people might not know that. Because in scripture we have them showing up a little bit later, probably within within two years of you know of the birth of Christ. And so the wise men weren't actually there the night that Jesus was born. They brought gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. We don't know how many there were. It doesn't specifically say it says three gifts. There could have been a whole herd of them. Not a herd, but like a whole group of them, a whole tribe of them. Could have been two wise men, or it could have been, you know, ten or whatever, but we don't know how many there were, but three. We go with three because we have three gifts listed. But so that was interesting. And then the in, we always have this in in the kids' plays, you know, the the innkeeper comes to the door, he's like, Nope, no space here. In the Bible, there is no innkeeper, there's not one mention of an innkeeper or a line that he says, and so it's just they show up to the inn. And the Greek word translated as in is better translated as guest room. So it wasn't like they were going to a hotel, they were probably going to Joseph's family's house, and that all the rooms were full of his family. Did you guys know that? No. Oh, sorry.

SPEAKER_04:

Well, we've had discussions on this before. Okay. I feel like in some of my classes, and I think, how rude.

SPEAKER_02:

Right? The birth of Jesus, and you won't give up a room? Right.

SPEAKER_04:

Like, why wouldn't they let him in if it was his family?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, they let him in.

SPEAKER_04:

They did?

SPEAKER_02:

They let him into the barn. Yeah. They were like, oh I would have been giving him my master seat. Right.

SPEAKER_01:

So it's kind of translated to his guest room. Luke uses the same word later on to describe the upper room where Jesus holds the Last Supper. But in anyways, it's like a room in a house. It's not like a, you know, like a hotel, like we think of like all their renting rooms or anything. This is probably somebody's, you know, it's a house where people live and is part of Joseph's family, probably. The guest room was full, so they stayed in the main family room in the downstairs part. So they were probably still in the house. They were probably downstairs in the family room, which for century houses like this in this area in Bethlehem, animals were often brought into the lower level of the house at night for heat and safety. So they had the animals down below inside the house.

SPEAKER_04:

See, the Christmas story, all the stories that we learn. They're not the cute little nursery rhymes. No.

SPEAKER_01:

Mary Mary likely gave birth in the main house surrounded by lots of people.

SPEAKER_04:

I wish right now that we were like on film. Because if you guys can see this, it's just Ashley and I sitting here like, uh, with our mouths hanging open and Cody's like reading to us.

SPEAKER_01:

So this is just, you know, if you can look at the culture and the time and what's going on here, this is probably the most likely thing that you would see.

SPEAKER_02:

So why is it painted as a barn and and well, they were probably with the animals. I mean, I mean it's just that the barn was basically inside the house.

SPEAKER_01:

The barn was attached to the house. It's not like they had, you know, all it you brought your animals in that you traveled in, you left them in the lower part of the house, and then the guest rooms were up, you know. And so we have this picture of like a barn out in the middle of a field. And sometimes it doesn't change the the story that much. It's just it's just interesting for me to think about the little details and stuff.

SPEAKER_04:

It's very interesting.

SPEAKER_01:

So she was probably sort of like surrounded by all the family, and they were all like, Oh, the baby's here, baby time, uh baby Jesus. Did they all know?

SPEAKER_02:

Did they all know that that it like okay? I know they let me speak. They knew Mary was pregnant. Did they know that she was delivering the savior of the world?

SPEAKER_01:

Mary did.

SPEAKER_02:

I know Mary did.

SPEAKER_01:

Did the family I think didn't doesn't it say Mary held all these things in her heart and she kept it to herself?

SPEAKER_04:

Well, she told Joseph, right? Well, she's well an angel told Joseph, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, angel actually, yeah, that's true. That's another thing of my things about the Christmas story is Joseph doesn't say a word. Joseph doesn't say there's no speaking parts for Joseph in the Bible that doesn't say Joseph said this, or just you know, all Joseph does is act. He's a man of action in the Christmas story. Angel shows up, explains to him, he's like, All right, and he goes and does. He's like, I'm gonna keep Mary and do all this stuff, and he he does the right thing and all that good stuff. So I always think that was interesting that Joseph doesn't have we never hear him say anything, but he does. He has actions and stuff. So the Mary on a donkey, we talked about that earlier today. Everybody's like, Mary rode it on a donkey to Bethlehem. No, doesn't say that anywhere. She might have. She could have rode it in a donkey, probably likely, but it doesn't say that in scripture. Yeah, you know, doesn't say that anywhere. The Bible says they traveled, but never mentions a donkey. Um so there you go.

SPEAKER_04:

That's crazy to me. Of the things that are in my head that are not like I just don't understand how they got there. By movies?

SPEAKER_01:

A lot of people just like. Did I watch a movie that told me? But like throughout the time, like people take artistic liberties and they paint, you know, like the paint of the Last Supper, you know, it's probably, you know, they're all there, but they're probably all the Last Supper laying and reclining, lounging. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

You know, I learned that in one of my classes, and I was like, wait, they're not sitting at a table? Like, no, they they lay down and eat.

SPEAKER_01:

I'm like, what? So interesting about the Christmas story, just little facts and things. There's a lot that people just kind of assume or don't really pay attention to. It's not a it's not, I mean, everybody knows Jesus was born and why is you know, he's yes, the important part is it doesn't change the story, right? But it kind of when you think about it, be like, oh, maybe it wasn't as you know strange out out in a barn or somewhere, you know. So good for Mary. She was still had people around her. Yeah. That makes me feel a little bit better.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, because I used to think that she had like Joseph was just there and like push, what do you do?

SPEAKER_01:

And the grumpy innkeeper. He's not there's no innkeeper. There's not like a guy that was like, You are a pregnant lady, go to the barn.

unknown:

You know.

SPEAKER_01:

And and so it changes the way you see it, but change like the meaning behind it or anything like that. I do want to take a little bit of time and talk about the Christmas story as in like what happened. Like, Jesus is born as a human. Uh so the little topic that we're talking about real quick is Jesus became one of us. Jesus became fully human. And how does that change things for us? How does that what does that look like for us? And so throughout history, things change, and there's kind of big changes that happen in history right now, or in one of those times with AI, artificial intelligence, everybody is jumping on this AI thing. Like companies are building it into their platforms, they're building it into the way they do business. That's just kind of this thing that everybody wants to be a part of, and they have to integrate it into the things that they do. Whether your thoughts on AI, you know, whether it's good or bad or or whatever, doesn't change the fact that it is being used by almost everything. And you probably have used AI in the past week, even if you haven't recognized it, or the things that you the apps that you use, or the websites that you go to, they're using AI. And so even if you're like, I've never used it, you probably have and haven't even realized it. That's how big it's getting, how big of a thing is getting. And I bring this up to say that like our throughout history, there's been things that show up and they change how we do life forever. They change the world. And so you look back at like in the 90s, people that grew up in the 90s, the internet changed the world. And you can't imagine life without this thing now. Uh so the internet's one of those things, the telephone's one of those things. Imagine like one day to get a message to from New York to California, you gotta send a letter. And you gotta wait a week for it to get there. And then all of a sudden, one day you wake up and you're like, oh, I can just pick up this thing and call somebody, and like it changes everything. So the internet's one of those telephone, like there's countless things, like the car, a flight. You can travel the world, and you don't have to go on a boat and for a month, you know. These huge things they change the world, and they all of a sudden this happened like instantly. Like, internet just happened and it changed the world. AI is happening, it's changing things instantly. The telephone is instant. And so the biggest thing that has changed in the world is when Jesus became one of us, changed the world forever. And so I use that example when I taught this to my class on Sunday night at a youth group, and we talked about how important it is to realize that Jesus became one of us. And so, what is something that like we have technology-wise that like a generation ago would have blown their minds? What do you think? Can you think of anything?

SPEAKER_04:

I think about how we can send money to each other.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, that's a good example.

SPEAKER_04:

Like, like I could you could literally go get me a coffee, I could send you$5 before you got to go to the bank before you got out the door.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't go get cash and bring it to you or send it to you. I can just, oh, there you go. Money's yours now. Instantly transferred. Yeah. Like if you told somebody that in the 1920s, they'd be like, you could just what do you they wouldn't even understand the concept? That's like that's that's crazy. But like, so maybe like early 2000s or 90s would be a good example of like, oh, I'd have to give you, go to the bank and transfer money and all this stuff, fill out some papers. Oh, now I got an button on my phone, I can just be like, here's ten dollars.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, cashier's check. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Cashier checks, money orders, all these different things. That's a good one.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

How we pay, how we transfer money and stuff like that. What have blown people's minds? Mine for me is like video calling. When I was little growing up, I thought it would be so cool if I could see the person on the phone that I was talking to. So now I like went through that. Like now we can just video call people, it changes everything. So Jesus comes on the scene, and how does this change the world? How does Jesus change the world?

SPEAKER_04:

Well, when we're talking about the three of us are in an old testament study right now, and when you read through the old testament, you see what all people had to go through for the forgiveness of their sins. And it's a lot and it's not pretty. It's a lot of bloodshed. So obviously that I mean that's where my mind goes, is on salvation.

SPEAKER_01:

I think so.

SPEAKER_02:

With the um with with Jesus and then you know the crucifixion or thing and him the veil being torn, the Holy Spirit, us receiving the Holy Spirit. I think that is a huge change in us that we you know we we walk now with better hearts and better minds because of the Holy Spirit. Where what we're learning in that class, I'm like, these guys are idiots, they're making the stupidest decisions, but they didn't have the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So the idea of Jesus becoming part of his creation, becoming fully human, God stepping out of heavenly realms and becoming, actually becoming one of his creations. It was just something to wrap your head around. You're like, wow. Like God, creator of everything, almighty, all-powerful, eternal, you know, created this all these things that we have. He created humanity, he created everything, the universe is everything. And so you think of when he's decided to make himself actually become something that he created. And it just kind of and and why is that such a big deal? Is because like in this time that he was born and God coming down, like before this, people had glimpses of God. Like Moses saw glimpses of God, he said moments, and God shows up in moments in the old testament to certain people in certain ways. So glimpses they saw, foreshadowings, they saw, oh, this is kind of what God's like, and he's kind of still far away. Um he comes and goes every once in a while. And so they had this idea of God of like they still ask the questions of like, who is God? What's he like? And they saw glimpses of that until God came himself and uh showed us in Jesus who he is, what he's like, his characteristics. Like now we can see, like, what would God what would God do in this situation? Oh, we don't have to ask that because what did Jesus do in this situation? We know we can see God, and so many people thought they had got it all figured out, but then Jesus shows up and he didn't look anything like what they expected. They didn't expect God Himself to come down in human form and become the creation. And so talk about that, that's called the incarnation. And the incarnation means Jesus is fully God, took on human body, and lived a fully human life.

SPEAKER_02:

It helps us connect better with him because we know that he experienced things that our bodies experience as well.

SPEAKER_01:

I think that's huge. It's not like God came down and became a human, and it was like an easy mode type of life because he's God. No, he became fully human, he lived a fully human life, and he dealt with all the things that we deal with. He came into a dark world, a broken world, and a messy, sinful world that he didn't have to be in, but he chose to. I'm just gonna read John chapter one, real quick, verses one through five. It says, In the beginning, the word already existed. The word was with God, and the word was God. And we see word here in the scripture. If you're looking at it, it's capital W, means it's a person that we're talking about, a name, and that's Jesus. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. And then later on in verse 14, it says, So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness, and we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father, His one and only Son. So John writes this, his whole point of his writing his gospel of John is to show that Jesus was divine, Jesus was God in human form. And so he starts his gospel off with this. And he goes all the way back to the other gospels, the Christmas stories, they pick up going to Bethlehem, or they pick up with a genealogy of Jesus. And you know, the Christmas story starts with, Oh, Mary is gonna have Jesus. John starts his gospel further back than that, all the way to the very beginning before there was anything, and he says, No, Jesus has been around since the beginning, he's always been, and he is God. And so uh you see that, and John talks about light and darkness, he talks about Jesus being there from the very beginning, and the idea of becoming one of us, making his home among us, dwelling with us. And so that's John's whole point here. Before anything was, Jesus has always been, and everything was created through him. And so when you think about the Christmas story, you think about Jesus being born a human baby. It says Jesus created everything, everything was created through him. And then you think he became human, and he a tiny little baby is born, and he cries, and he breathes in the air that he himself made. That is something to think about. So when you think of Jesus, you think of becoming a part of the creation. Any thoughts about that? How does that make you feel, or what do you think about that?

SPEAKER_02:

I mean, I think it I feel just an immense amount of love. Like that he went through all of that just to save the world. I mean, that's that's incredible.

SPEAKER_04:

I think about him being like what you just said, how powerful that is, like how amazing that is, and yet he was a servant.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Like he suffered for us. Just being like, I I rule everything. Yeah, you know, yeah, he literally served that that yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

It's hard to wrap your mind around.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean it really is. But then when you stop and take a moment and you think about it, you're like, ah, that's it's even can't I can't fathom what you know what that means and what that's like. And so that the point, Jesus becoming fully human, God stepping down and being like, you know, through I have to do this because humans will never get it right. And this is the only way. So he sent, he came down himself to accomplish what we were never going to. And so he comes down and we think about Jesus being born because what's his mission? To go to the cross, to be a sacrifice. That was the mission, that was the goal, to do that to rescue us, to save us, the only way. He also came, I think, to be the example of how to live life. Jesus came, his mission was to show us what it was always supposed to be like, what this life was always supposed to be like. Ah, he's like, yeah, as a human, this is the way humans are supposed to live, and he lived it out that way. And he's then, and then the ultimate ultimate goal is to lead us, show us how it's supposed to be done, and then offer himself up to rescue us, to save us, because we could never do it ourselves. That's why he was worthy to pay the debt to be the one to be the rescuer because he lived the life perfectly, how God had always set it up to be. And so when you read the stories of Jesus after his birth, you know, don't just read them as like, oh, he was really good and he's perfect, or he's God. No, he was fully human, and he's showing you what it's like to be fully human, to the right way to go about living life. And so I think that's really important to grasp is you want to know what God's like and what God wants for you. You gotta look at God in the flesh, you gotta look at all the things Jesus did and strive to be like that. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And so since he is fully human, what you said earlier, Ashley, about relating to it, he knows. So, like to be able to follow Jesus and then be able to talk to him and be like, I'm going through this today, and like and be free for Jesus to be like, I know, I went through that too.

SPEAKER_06:

Right.

SPEAKER_01:

So that's kind of like the difference between becoming like human and becoming actually human human. So think of all the things that you go through in your life, some different struggles and stuff, and be like, go to Jesus and be like, you don't have to worry about if he knows what you're talking about. He's like, No, I lived that life. I lived a human life and I have seen those things. And so I like that. I lost my paper with all the questions that I was supposed to ask on it.

SPEAKER_04:

So hit them all.

SPEAKER_01:

Is there one on there that we haven't talked about or didn't look at?

SPEAKER_05:

No. Nope. We got him.

SPEAKER_04:

Thanks. Maybe.

SPEAKER_01:

Maybe. Let me look at this.

SPEAKER_04:

I don't think I'm talking about the last one.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh yeah. So John, the word the the things to take away from John here are Jesus has always been God. That's a truth. You know, Jesus wasn't made later on, he wasn't appearing for the first time when he was born in Bethlehem. Jesus has always been on the scene. John makes it clear that Jesus is God and God's always been, so Jesus has always been. And we have that. Jesus became one of us, he didn't become like human, he became human. So that makes a difference. It's it's it's just and there's a lot to that. You could talk about the incarnation a lot, but we're just giving you overviews of so I have a deep question.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. And I hope it's not bad.

SPEAKER_01:

It's not bad, it's a question, no bad question.

SPEAKER_02:

So Jesus became human and he lived the life like we live, but and he faced temptation, yeah, but he overcame it, and he never once sinned. Now, I know that that's because he was the perfect offering, but because he became human and I'm human, and there's times where I fall and I sin and I get angry and I yell at my kids and blah blah blah, the list goes on. How come I can't if if Jesus became fl became humankind like me, how come he could easily well not I can't even say easily because I don't know, but how come he was over able to overcome it and I can't?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, that's a really great question. I think a lot of people have that same question of you know, Jesus was fully human and he went through the same things that we did, and he was tempted, and he he did all these kind of things, and so why can't we be perfect like he was perfect?

SPEAKER_06:

Right.

SPEAKER_01:

And I think we have to remember the important thing is that he was fully human, but also fully God still. He was the God man, he he was human, but he didn't he didn't come with our our fallen nature, I would say. Like we have a tendency to just go against God. We have this tendency to sin. Yeah like an internal struggle, like you know, yes, yeah, the internal of I struggle against my own flesh, like what what I want, what I want. And Jesus, he was fully human, fully God, but since he was born Virgin Mary, and he didn't have that tendency to sin. Yeah, that sinful nature, I would say. Right. That wasn't in him, it wasn't in him, no, he didn't have the internal struggle, I would say, and but he had external, like we see him tempted in the wilderness, we see him have to deal with the disciples and people around him, you know, get frustrated. So yeah, the important thing to know is that Jesus, yeah, he was human, he did all these things, but he was God in the flesh. Correct, he was fully God and he was connected to the Father the whole time. Like, like we we we weren't, we aren't. And so when it comes to the question of, yeah, Jesus was able to go through life and and not sin and be perfect, it's it's that whole idea of him being fully God as well. And so I don't know if that helps with your question at all.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, that makes sense. And I knew that it was just you know, kept pondering in my head, you know.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, we know that God, I mean, I'm sure you know Jesus is fully God and fully human, but then you're just thinking about it, it's a big question. It's a good question. Yeah. I mean, like, we just you have to be able to process these things when you're reading the scripture and you find things you're like, oh that wait, what about this?

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_01:

Or what about that? And it's good to think about those things. Right. Like I tell my students all the time in in our student ministry, like, if you're not asking questions about what you're reading, then I'm gonna question if you're actually reading the Bible because you should have questions. Right. You should be asking these these things about your faith and be like, Well, why do I believe this? Or or why this? And so this is one of those big questions. It's a great question. I'm glad you asked it because probably somebody out there is like, yeah, what about that? Like, why can't we live that life that Jesus was? Well, because he was fully human, but he was much more than that.

SPEAKER_02:

He was God in humanity. Correct.

SPEAKER_01:

I guess you could say. Yeah. So I don't know if that helps with your question at all. It does. Thank you. You're welcome. And so, yeah, great question. Loved it. Keep asking questions. So thank you. It's said to be the light that comes to the world. And if you've been in a dark room before, can't see? You ever like the other night? I was in the kitchen at church. I was like, I've been through this church many times. I'm not gonna go turn the light on. I just gotta put these cookies back on the table in the back kitchen. It was dark, I couldn't see anything. I tripped over one of those carts that was in the middle of the kitchen for whatever reason. I threw cookies all over the place. Oh my god. I hit my knee and I I choked on a cookie crumb or something, and I was like, I can't breathe. So I'm like, I'm hacking up along, holding my leg in the dark in the kitchen. Like all this could have been because you didn't turn the light on. All because I didn't turn the light on. And that's the human experience. They're lost in the dark, and they've seen glimpses of God here and there, a little bit of light, and they know he's light. And and Jesus is Jesus showing up and becoming one of us is like finally turn on the light switch. Right. You can see how life was supposed to be, you can see what it's all about. You're like, oh, that's what it's supposed to be. If we would just had Jesus the entire time, and he's he is the light that lights up a dark place. And so take that with you this Christmas as Jesus being the light. And when you give your life to Christ, you're gonna follow him, you become part of that light too. It's in you. And so now we live in a dark world still, but we are lights, and we get to show people that there's a light switch. Be like, you're going through life in the dark. Turn the lights on, and that's Jesus being like, This is a better way to live life. Let me show you. The one that created life, the one that made all this, he showed us exactly how to go through this. Just turn the light switch on. But a lot of people don't want to for whatever reason. Laziness, like me. I was like, I know this, I could do it my way. I've been through this church, I know what I'm doing. Still, I end up throwing stuff all over the place, knocking stuff over, hurting myself. I think that's a good analogy of people trying to go through this life in the dark, thinking they can, because for whatever reason, maybe they've done it a million times. Don't need to turn on the light, don't need, don't need the light. I can do it on my own. Don't need Jesus, don't need God. I can do this without him. You can try for a while, and maybe I 10 10 times I could have gone through the kitchen and not hit the cart, but that time I did. And so I think it's just a good example. And what John says here is Jesus came to be the light of the world in a dark place. And so he came at just the right time. But yeah, when you think of the Christmas story this year, and you think of Jesus, think of take a step back and be like, wow, he became human, came out of heaven, didn't have to, because John says it's unfailing love and mercy because he wanted to. So take that for what you will. We'll continue this conversation on the next episode about Christmas and Jesus and what it means. And continue asking tough questions. Like Ashley has a question. Don't be afraid to ask those questions. This episode's a little long. We're still under an hour, though. It's still rush hour. Not rush two hours.

SPEAKER_02:

Not overtime.

SPEAKER_01:

Overtime. Oh, we could do an overtime pause. Rush hour. Overtime. Anyways, I have an idea, but I'll leave that for another day. I'm gonna pray and then we'll be done with this episode. Lord, thank you so much for conversations we get to have about you. Thank you for bringing Ashley and the questions and their willingness to ask them and just talk about life and talk about you. Thanks for letting us be able to do these kind of things. Pray for the ones listening that they take Christmas time this year and take it as the time to get to know you on a deeper level, get to read in their Bibles a little bit better about who you are. So I just ask that you are with them, keep us all safe, protect us, and give us courage this time of year to talk about you more, to want to get to know you. And so thank you for Jesus for him becoming one of us and showing us the right way to live, and then ultimately becoming the sacrifice that we needed to give back to you. So in his name we pray. Amen. And yeah, say bye to everybody and merry. Bye, everybody. Bye. And we'll see you next time on Rush Hour.