Rush Hour

Christmas Conversations: Stocking Stuffers, Luke 2, Peace in Christ

• RushChurch • Season 1 • Episode 10

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A tenth-episode milestone meets the glow of Christmas lights as we swap stories from a student party—duckpin bowling, axe throwing, and the legend of Oreo fluff—before settling into the stillness of Luke 2. We read the shepherds’ account and look again at what happens when an ordinary night breaks open with light. Mary treasures; shepherds hurry; fear and awe braid together; and the angel’s promise reframes peace as something deeper than seasonal calm. We talk about why joy feels easy and peace feels costly, and how belonging to Christ grounds us when life doesn’t soften on schedule.

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SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to Rush Hour guys. We're back. I think this is episode number 10, actually. We've done 10. This will be our 10th episodes, I'm pretty sure.

SPEAKER_01:

That's awesome. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

You guys excited about episode number 10? Did you think we were did you think we would ever make it? Did you think we'd ever make it to episode 1?

SPEAKER_01:

I felt like we were like in a trial run. Like, is this really gonna work?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, here we are. You've listened to us.

SPEAKER_01:

Hey, we had somebody from Germany last week.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, maybe. I don't really trust the the things. It said we had somebody that was from we it said somebody listened from South Korea and Germany last week, but why would anybody in Germany want to listen to us? We oh sorry, if you are listening in Germany, we love you and we're glad that you're listening.

SPEAKER_01:

Love to hear from you.

SPEAKER_00:

So yeah, next week is Christmas, and so this is our last episode until the new year, probably. And we'll take a couple weeks off for the holidays. I got places to go, people to see, presents to unwrap, you know how it goes. But thanks for joining us on this episode. So we had our student Christmas party Sunday night, and it was pretty fun. We went to Axe and Quacks, I think that's what it's called, downtown in Bellfoun. Anyway, they have duck pen bowling. Have you ever done duck pen bowling before?

SPEAKER_01:

A long time ago.

SPEAKER_00:

A long time ago. Have you?

SPEAKER_03:

I think I have. Not that, but I think it's like the pins mechanical kind of thing.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, just like that. Yeah, it's like a shorter lane, and the pins are on strings, and then you get to pick the balls, they are like palm sized, and you can just sling them down the lane. They're not like normal bowling balls. And there's like 40 different game modes you can play. And so we had that. We had all the four lanes of that at this place. It was a lot of fun. Kids really liked it. And then we got to throw axes too. You guys ever thrown axes before?

unknown:

No.

SPEAKER_01:

That I have not done yet. No.

SPEAKER_00:

You were there and you didn't throw an axe?

SPEAKER_01:

I was taking pictures. Oh, thanks.

SPEAKER_00:

You send me some of those. I'll post it. I will. Okay, great. Uh, I took some pictures and stuff, but axe throwing is pretty fun. Takes a little bit. Were you good at it? No, I'm not very good at it. I can I can do it.

SPEAKER_01:

Who was the best at it?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, a guy named Ben Moore crashed our party, and he won the one group, and then Josiah, he was the other champion of the other group, but they didn't face off or not. So it was great. Had some nice showdowns in the tournament that we had. We still played some other mini games and stuff, but good Christmas party. Had nachos, tacos, desserts.

SPEAKER_01:

Oreo fluff. Oh my word.

SPEAKER_00:

I think Jim made the shit.

SPEAKER_01:

I have not stopped thinking about that stuff.

SPEAKER_00:

The Oreo fluff.

SPEAKER_01:

I know. I need the Oreo fluff in my life.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, we'll have to get Jim to make us some more.

SPEAKER_01:

I miss it. I know. We're addicted to it now.

SPEAKER_00:

Show up at his doorstep. Do you have any fluff?

SPEAKER_01:

Right. Fluff for the poor.

SPEAKER_00:

But yeah, we had about, I don't know, 30 students, do you think?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and we had a and our adult volunteers were there hanging out. So it was a good party. Christmas party is always, I don't know one of our favorite things that one of my favorite things to do for the students. We try to make it different every year. Something new.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, who won the ugly sweater contest?

SPEAKER_00:

Avery Rogers.

SPEAKER_01:

I saw that coming. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

She had like a shirt on. She's like a muscle muscly Christmas guy with like candy canes on his holster and like mistletoe on his on the street. It was a yeah. It was great. It was I looked at there's only a few people that did the sweater contest, and she was by far hands down. Everybody was like Avery. Ave I all the adults were judges and stuff. So it was fun, a good time. So what else we have? Christmas wise coming up. We have candlelight service on Christmas Eve at our church. If you don't have a place to go. 4 30 and 6, right? Yeah. Yeah. 4 30. And then there's another one, the exact same one at 6. Yeah. So same same service, two different times. Just like Sunday mornings. But we do oh, do we use real flames on our candles? I can't remember. We do. Yeah. Ours is much better than most people's anyway now because we use actual fire for our candles. We have the battery powered ones.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. That's probably safer. Yeah. No, I will have glow sticks for those of you who are worried for your kids and fire. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

I like the real candles though. So I'm glad we do those.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And they'll have a little goodie bag too that they can play with while they're in the service too. Okay. To keep your kids occupied.

SPEAKER_00:

Bring your kiddos. Probably come to the or if you got kiddos, probably come to the 431, I'd say. I guess it doesn't matter. Six isn't that late either. Christmas Eve shenanigans. But yeah, Christmas Eve candlelight service. One of my favorite parts of Christmas. So I always look forward to that. Really just kind of sometimes sometimes like do you ever have a year where it comes and like it doesn't feel like Christmas?

SPEAKER_02:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Sometimes you get stuck in like a rudder, like everybody's watching Christmas movies and the music and it's decorated. You're like, meh. Sometimes I get like that.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Maybe you don't. Maybe people, maybe some people are like, Christmas all the time. But once in a while, it's like, oh, I'm just not really feeling the Christmas. But then I go to Christmas Eve candlelight service and I remember it just helps me put things in perspective, I guess.

SPEAKER_01:

And I just really enjoy just being in the reminder of what Christmas is really about. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

We should do like one in the beginning of Christmas season to like get us prepared. Oh, I like that. Christmas Eve.

SPEAKER_00:

A pre-candlete service in the end of November.

SPEAKER_01:

Just to get you we could do a worship style of like a worship night style.

SPEAKER_00:

We could do that in between Thanksgiving dinners. That could be the in-between, like a little candlelight.

SPEAKER_01:

We cannot say the prices right. It's not always gonna be the price is right.

SPEAKER_00:

Everybody's where's the price of ride? They're riding, Ashley. Get Darren.

SPEAKER_03:

No, we're worshiping guys. It's fine.

SPEAKER_00:

Don't give them real flames on their candles right now because they're not happy about the prices right being taken away. But yeah, I think the candlelight service is always really well done. It's it's just makes it feel like Christmas for me. If it hasn't been feeling like Christmas, but so yeah. What do you guys anything else announcement-wise?

SPEAKER_03:

I don't think so.

SPEAKER_01:

No, I mean we got superstar. If you got a fifth or sixth grader, you want to sign up for that, you can sign up at the church. We're going to Columbus one this year, and that's a lot of fun. It's a pre-teen conference, a lot of high energy music, worship, games, lesson. We stay in a hotel, the kids swim in a pool. Yeah, it's a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, I'm excited for that.

SPEAKER_00:

Are you going?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, I think.

SPEAKER_01:

I hear you're going, Anne's going, and Jamie's going.

SPEAKER_03:

Jamie asked on Sunday, she goes like, Should I go? I was like, Yes, everyone's going.

SPEAKER_01:

Everyone's gonna be there.

SPEAKER_03:

Everyone's well, there is just a lot of us that have fifth or sixth grade.

SPEAKER_01:

Right, yeah, just come up this year. So I'm going next year. That's gonna be quite the exciting group. You're all you the kids are gonna be like, Will you be quiet?

SPEAKER_00:

We have to contain ourselves. But yeah, so the superstar sign ups are open.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep, sign ups.

SPEAKER_00:

Sign ups are also open for girls retreat coming up that first weekend in January, the ninth and tenth, for girls sixth grade through twelfth grade. My wife Erica has been doing this for a few years. Every other year's girls retreat. It's overnighter at the church Friday night, spend the night, and then do a bunch of stuff Saturday. And so it's always a good time. I think one about 15 girls, 20 girls last time they did it, if I remember correctly. This year's theme is called The Pause, and it's about you know putting a pause on everything in life and just remembering who God is, that He's with you all the time. And so it's a really cool theme. So they do a lot of fun things. So if you have a sixth through twelfth grade girl, make sure you get them signed up at the welcome desk. If you need more information, you can talk to me or Erica on Sunday morning. But yeah, those are some stuff that's coming up. That is some, those are some stuff that's coming up. This those are some things that are coming up. Man, they'll be talking a microphone.

SPEAKER_01:

We have winter jam too, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Winter jam is coming up. I guess that's a month from now. We have a month. It'll be in the bulletin this weekend. Winter jam is for anybody that wants to go. The teens will be going as a group for anybody that wants to go, but it's$15 to the door in Columbus at the place they play basketball. The Schotcherner. There you go. I like the Warstein Schottenstein. Anyway, Ohio State's basketball arena. That's where it's at. Are you talking about Worcestershire shops?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it's like it's like it's one of those words that are hard to say, and I always have a hard time saying that one. Whoosh.

SPEAKER_00:

I used to have a hard time saying the word specific.

SPEAKER_03:

Me too.

SPEAKER_01:

Specific or specific?

SPEAKER_00:

Either way. Either way. I don't have a lisp, so usually specific. Specific. We're being anyway. Um so about grammar for the insane. So um Christmas stuff that's coming up. Hey. Alright, reel it in. Talking about Christmas in Winter Jam. So those are all the things that we have coming up. Great. Winter Jam is usually pretty good. Last year Skillet was there. I love me some skillet, but this year it's just Chris Tomlin and Matthew West.

SPEAKER_01:

So who are great worship leaders? Yeah, they're really great.

SPEAKER_00:

They're fine to listen to.

SPEAKER_01:

So it's not like it's Skillet, I get it, but they are good worship leaders.

SPEAKER_00:

They are Katie Nicole and Disciples gonna be there, so that's exciting. I'll stay for that. They're a heavy rock band that's Christian, they've been around for a long time. So, Christmas is coming up. Last week we talked last time on the podcast, we talked about Christmas songs, and that went really well. Brittany has a favorite Christmas song, and you have your favorite Christmas.

SPEAKER_02:

Yep.

SPEAKER_00:

But we talked about that and we talked about what else we talked about?

SPEAKER_01:

Traditions.

SPEAKER_00:

Traditions that we did. Yeah. This time I want to talk about any cool ideas. What do you guys the best stocking stuffers? Like, what do you like to put in the side of the stock? It's like sometimes you ever get like done opening presents, you're like, oh crap, the stockings are still over there, and you got like afterthought of the stockings, you know. Yes, I think that happened one year for a while. Do you guys still put stuff in stockings for people? I do.

SPEAKER_01:

Stockings can get really expensive. My kids don't listen to this, so I can say this. I have already put some stuff in it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Like I know Santa does his things, but like I put my stuff in it.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, I do the stockings.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, that's true.

SPEAKER_03:

And you already have stuff in there.

SPEAKER_01:

I did. I've already put I was like, I don't want to lose it.

SPEAKER_00:

Is it mostly like mostly like candy stuff you put in stockings? Like most people put a bunch of edible stuff in stockings.

SPEAKER_01:

I did some lottery tickets, some scratch-off tickets because my kids are obsessed with scratch-off tickets.

SPEAKER_03:

That's a good idea. My kids would love that.

SPEAKER_00:

So your kids like scratch-off tickets, but Carter, if he wins, he can't even claim it.

SPEAKER_01:

No, Carter can't. Poor guy. He'll be like, I won.

SPEAKER_00:

He'd be like, Thank you.

SPEAKER_01:

Darren'll be like, I'll take that one.

SPEAKER_00:

Yep. That was pretty good. That's all I could think about. Yeah. That made me laugh. I don't know why.

SPEAKER_03:

I do like fidgets. Fidgets. Toy. I do little toys. Like when I say fidgets, I just mean there are some little toys in there. But then I do like stuff they need. Chapstick?

SPEAKER_02:

Socks, chapstick. Yep.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. My kids always go through chapstick. They're always losing it.

SPEAKER_03:

All the time. And my kids' lips are always chaps. What are we doing here?

SPEAKER_00:

I think that's just kids in general. They're just looking at their lips all the time.

SPEAKER_01:

We always do an orange at the bottom, too. So that that happened with my hood.

SPEAKER_00:

I was gonna say that. I think the one at the top, like wait, what? Fruit in your stocking, like you think of an orange, like I don't know.

SPEAKER_01:

And I found out, okay. Well, the reason why we used to do it, excuse me, because we lived in Florida, we had an orange tree in our backyard. So my dad would go and you know pick an orange off the tree and put it in our stocking. But I found out other people do this here in Ohio because it's just apparently like a long time ago, like they weren't they were like not precious, but like they were hard to get a hold of, you know. So an orange was like an awesome fruit to have because you couldn't always have them. Don't know. But it is a winter fruit. Okay. So they're good in season.

SPEAKER_03:

I did not know that.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, oranges are the thing for stockings, apparently. I learned that not too long ago. You know what I like in my stockings? Yeah. Chocolate oranges.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, I actually never had a chocolate orange.

SPEAKER_00:

I love chocolate oranges. It's like wrapped up like then you crack it, and it's like little pieces of like orange slices, but it's just chocolate.

SPEAKER_01:

So is it like real fruit orange slices? No. No, okay.

SPEAKER_00:

It's just chocolate, it's like chocolate. No, it's just orange flavored chocolate. But it's in the shape of an orange, and it's you crack it and then like pieces like little slices and stuff, you know. Okay. But it's just chocolate. I love orange flavored stuff. It's my favorite flavor. So I did not know this. Orange chocolate or chocolate oranges in my stocking. They're always in my list. Santa knows I love chocolate oranges. So and I at my house I leave out cookies and ale eight for my Santa.

SPEAKER_01:

Ale eight?

SPEAKER_00:

Ale8 is a beverage, a ginger ale that's made in Kentucky.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And so, you know, I'm from Kentucky and I'd set it out one time for Santa and it was all gone. Right. So now my kids leave Ale8 for him. So it's pretty great.

SPEAKER_01:

One year we left out hot chocolate and meat sticks for Santa. Yes. He really liked the meat sticks.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, I think we need to give Santa a variety of things.

SPEAKER_01:

I told him, I said he's gonna have so many cookies. Give him some protein.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. It's whatever we have. We don't want Santa. To be like, he's gonna get diabetes. Um we don't want diabetes, Santa.

SPEAKER_01:

He needs some more energy.

SPEAKER_00:

So yeah. You guys want to hear a Christmas joke?

SPEAKER_01:

Sure, sure.

SPEAKER_00:

How much did Panta? How much did Panta? How much did Santa pay for his sleigh? Nothing. It was on the house.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, good lord. That was pretty good.

SPEAKER_00:

You liked that one, didn't you? Yes. What's the difference between the Christmas alphabet and the regular alphabet? The Christmas alphabet has no L. No L. Oh my goodness, Christmas. No L.

SPEAKER_03:

I'm like, you didn't give me a chance to answer, but well, this is a podcast.

SPEAKER_00:

You just can't sit here with dead silence.

SPEAKER_03:

I'll make the music tone.

SPEAKER_00:

Like Santa in a hospital. Because he has private elf care. Elf care instead of health care. That was a good one.

SPEAKER_03:

You got to send me these so I can try them out of my kids.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, that was good. Alright. I think that's enough with the Christmas jokes. Do you guys have a favorite Christmas movie at all?

SPEAKER_03:

I was watching It's a Wonderful Life last night. I really liked that movie.

SPEAKER_01:

Last night was the first time we got to watch a Christmas movie last night, too, for the whole season. We watched The Christmas Vacation. Yeah. I love that movie, but I fell asleep.

SPEAKER_00:

Dang it.

SPEAKER_01:

I know.

SPEAKER_00:

The Santa Claus with Tim Allen. That's a good one.

SPEAKER_03:

We've already watched that one twice.

SPEAKER_00:

Even the second one's not bad.

SPEAKER_03:

Wow.

SPEAKER_01:

No. You know how the in the Santa Claus? Because I love that movie. How he's sitting there and he's like, he the kids come up to him and start talking to him like he's not in his outfit or anything. And then like they just start talking to him like, this is what I want for Christmas. And he's like, okay, yeah, I'll remember that. No joke. That's how kids treat me outside of church. Like I don't even know them. And they just come up, they're like, Hi, hi, how are you? Like, just I'm like, I told you, I was like, I feel like Santa. Can I have a like these kids? No, it's just it's cool to see the kids. They're like, you know, I guess I look friendly, but it's good. It's a good thing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Kids think I'm friendly too. It just happens. Like, I'll go, I don't know, I'll be at soccer games or somewhere, and the kids will just think I'm easy to talk to, and they'll tell me all their life stories. And they're like, Wow, that's something. Like, I'll go. Sometimes I'll go eat lunch with Timmy and Eden at school at the elementary school. I'll just go hang out with them while they're eating lunch. And then their friends are all sitting around, and they're always like, Whoa, look at you. It's an adult sitting at our table. And they'll just like start talking to me about all these things. And then this one girl's like, Do you want some of my blueberries? And I was like, No, thank you. I don't like blueberries. And she's like, like offended. Like, you have to like blueberries. Like, no, thank you. And they offer me like their food. And I'm like, no, no, I'm good. And then I'll you eat your food. But yeah, I know what that feeling's like when the people are just their kids are just like drawn to you for some strange reason. So yeah, we don't have what this will be a short episode. We're gonna talk a little bit about my favorite part of the Christmas story. So we talked about some like I don't know, unlike lesser-known facts about the Christmas story on last episode. I kind of like those kind of things, the little details and stuff.

SPEAKER_03:

I did too.

SPEAKER_00:

And there's Ben in the window. Sorry, we're at Calvary recording, and Ben's wandering outside the window. And he distracted me.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, if you haven't been viewing here, like children on the microphone.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, if you can hear children, we're in the library at Calvary in their little studio thing, and so they have a full class out there, right? There's a big glass window that looks into this recording studio that we're in right now. We're just they're all like looking in here. So and Ben like the exhibit. The exhibit. And I'm just gonna read from Luke chapter 2. Uh, this is Luke chapter 2, verses 8 through 20. Uh, it's probably the most well-known part of the Christmas story. Like, even if people don't go to church, they've watched Charlie Brown, and Linus reads this on stage and talks about this kind of thing. And so last week we talked about Jesus becoming human. This week I'm talking about just Jesus changes everything. This whole moment of Jesus coming to earth, coming to be with us, changes history, changes the world. And now it can still change you if you give him your life today, you accept him and you become a Christian, and how that can change your whole life. So that's kind of the theme for today's podcast episode. But I'm just gonna read this real quick for you guys, and then we'll kind of talk about it. So, yeah, Luke 2, verse 8. It says And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and line in a manger. And suddenly there was a great multitude of angels of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom his he with whom he is pleased. And when the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us. And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. When they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them told to them concerning this child, and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it has been told to them. So that's kind of the story of the shepherds. You know, I what do you guys have you heard this? I mean, you've heard this before. I hope so. But what how do you feel about this part of the story of the Christmas story in the Bible? First thoughts.

SPEAKER_03:

Well, it's not about the shepherds, actually. My first thoughts are with Mary.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay.

SPEAKER_03:

Mary mine Version is a little different, but Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. Like I just think of when we're all parents and obviously she's already met an angel. She knew she was having Jesus. And I'm sure that was like a lot and really scary, but now that he's here, and then there's these men that just show up and they know all of the stuff. Like that has to be kind of scary. I mean, in a way, because like you feel really protective of your child. And I just feel like there would be a little worry there of protection for your baby.

SPEAKER_00:

I never thought of it that way. But really? Because I'm not a mom, so I don't really I don't know.

SPEAKER_03:

That's just what I instantly think. Like, if if I was sitting in the hospital room, I mean now. Okay, I'm sitting in the hospital room and just gave birth to my baby. And these guys like knock on the door and they're like, hey, you have like the leader of the world in your hands, and you're like, How do you know that? I don't know. It's just it's just a lot, and you'd wonder who's coming next.

SPEAKER_00:

Anyone else?

SPEAKER_03:

Anybody else? Just that's what I usually go to think about is that part always gets me a little bit.

SPEAKER_00:

Gotcha. Interesting. Ashley, any thoughts about the shepherd story?

SPEAKER_01:

I just think the wonder. I think, you know, when I'm out in the like outside and it's quiet and it's peaceful, and I I'm just looking up, and you know, the stars are quiet. Like I can't imagine an angel appearing. I mean, I can't imagine it. I would love I've never seen it. So you can't, you know, I'm trying like, man, an angel literally appearing in front of me and just giving me all this information. I'd be overcomed with joy.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Not terrified?

SPEAKER_01:

I don't I mean, okay. Maybe now if I didn't know anything, okay, then yes, I'd be terrified. But you know, we've read the story, we've learned the Bible, we've we've gone through this. So to me, now I'm I would be amazed if I'd get to experience these things.

SPEAKER_03:

But back then you would still be scared. But also amazed. Can I be both?

SPEAKER_00:

That's yeah, of course. I think that's the point of you know, when it says don't be afraid, it's like they're in awe. They're like, you know, what's happening? Right. What do you like angels angels from the Lord, you know, could mean anything. So I always put myself in the shepherd's shoes. Be like, what if I was there and I was one of them and just a normal night, just hanging out, doing my normal business, watching the sheep, and all of a sudden this happens. And so I was thinking, like, what uh if I could if you had if you got to go back and be in person for a moment in the Bible, where would you go to? This is probably one of the top ones on my list for me. Uh that's one of my favorite parts of the Christmas story. I just think it'd be to be there when the angels come and announce that the savior is here. They waited for so long. What do you guys think? What what's one place you'd go back in the Bible and see if you could like if you're allowed to, like, and go back and be there in person and witness it. You ever thought about it? If you haven't, that's okay. I just thought maybe you had one off top of your head.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I haven't really thought about it.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. Never mind then.

SPEAKER_01:

What well what's yours?

SPEAKER_00:

I just said the the shepherds this this moment right now. This is on I don't know if it would be the one I picked, but it's on the list, like the short list of things that I would put on the list. Yeah, it's hard to pick just one, but this would be one of the ones I would consider being there when the skies open up and you see the angels, and it's a multitude of the heavenly hosts. This is the Lord's armies are on display in the sky in the middle of the field while you're watching sheep, and they tell you the this is gonna be the most joyful news that the savior is now here. I'd be like, Well, I would like to see that. Like, but there's lots of things I'd like to see, probably.

SPEAKER_01:

Right. I think on my bucket list for sure, I would want to be in the upper room.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, that's probably better than mine. No, you know, like well, it depends. Like, I don't need like if you if you're looking for certain things, I guess going back, like you wanted proof about certain things, or you were like, yeah, I could see why if somebody wanted to go to different moments, but just for the off actor of this one, I like this one a lot. So it's always been one of my favorites. And so we read that the angels come, they tell the shepherds there's been a baby that's born, it's gonna bring joy to the entire world. I'm like, joy for all people. And then they go on to say in verse 14, we talked about this just a minute ago. What'd you say? Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace among those with whom he is pleased.

SPEAKER_01:

I questioned that one. I was like, okay, so does that mean he's not pleased with everybody? And Cody, of course, remind me, nope, he's not.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, yeah, it that it's often misquoted, I think, because when you think about the angels coming down, they're like, well, they say joy they bring joy to the world, but peace, they say, you know, it's an opportunity to have joy in Jesus, but it says peace for those that God is pleased, and God is pleased with his son, Jesus. And you know, I think it's peace is for those who accept Christ and they know him as their Lord and that his and their savior, and so you get that. That's one of the things you get when you follow Christ and you understand who he is. And so I thought that was cool that you pointed that out when you were reading through this and you were like, Well, what does this mean? Does it mean peace for everybody? Well, probably not. Peace for those with whom God has pleased, and so how does God please with us and it's only because of what Jesus is gonna do for us?

SPEAKER_01:

And it doesn't mean that you know we're gonna live this wonderful, great, easy life. We're promised that peace that's going to, you know, we can have peace and knowing he's gonna take care of us.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, the peace is for the hard times. Not saying there won't be any hard times, there will be hard times, but you can have peace through them. Right as well, kind of like how I see it, which is really cool. And and you know, you go through life and things happen, and that verse in I think it's Philippians, you know, peace beyond understanding. Paul puts it, and you can I've I've felt that before. Like, I don't really have a reason to have this peace, but I have it because I have Jesus, and so I know he's gonna be here, whether this is gonna go my way or not go my way, and the what's ever coming next. So, and for the shepherds, they hear this, and the angels announce this birth of a savior, he's arrived, and the angels leave, and the shepherds are just kind of standing there with their sheep now, and it's like it goes from a normal night to spectacular, the skies open up, and all of a sudden now they're gone because as they go back to the heavenly realms, and you're just standing looking at your other shepherd friend. What the heck just happened? And you know, we don't have that part, that much detail in the Bible. Well, but it says that they decided to go to Bethlehem. They decided to go and see for themselves, and so they go through Bethlehem and and they said the sign will be the baby's wrapped up, swallowing cloth, and in a manger. You don't find many babies in a manger, and so you know, they're wandering in the streets of Bethlehem trying to find, you know, where they're going and stuff. And so I thought that was pretty cool. And once they find them, they find Mary and Joseph and they talk about who this baby's gonna be. Pretty exciting, and like you said, Mary's bear, like, who the heck are you people? What are you doing here? Just had a baby. And so, what was I gonna say? The shepherds come and they then they leave and they go back to their jobs. And as they go, and when they saw it, they had made known the saying that had been told to them concerning this child, and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds had told them. And so, uh, as the shepherds return, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen as as it had been told to them. So you see this, you get this idea of the shepherds' lives will never be the same again. They they've heard the good news and they've seen it for themselves, and they've met Jesus, and they leave, and they are praising God and they're worshiping God, and they're saying, Wow, what this experience that we just had, you know. And it that we don't really know where they go from here, but I can almost guess that their lives are now forever changed. And the same with anybody else who comes into contact with Jesus, their lives are never going to be the same again. And so that's what I think of when I think of the Christmas story, I think of Jesus. Once you encounter him, once you have this encounter, then things can't stay the same. You have a choice to make when it comes to who Jesus is and how you feel about him. You know, you encounter Christ, and it's either you uh accept him for who he is, it's true, or you reject him for who he is and you don't give your life to him. So it's not like a that's what I've seen in the world is when it comes to Jesus, everybody's got an opinion.

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

Um what was that? There's a book that I read a while ago called Jesus Is, and they had a whole campaign out on the West Coast somewhere. There's they had a website where it says Jesus Is and in blank, and anybody could get on and just fill in the blank if you wanted to. And so I don't know if it's still up or not, but Jesus is fill in the blank, and they just left it open, and anybody could say anything they want. And what you learned was everybody has an opinion about who Jesus is. Whether it was bad, really negative, really strange, weird. I read something like it was just interesting to see, you know, once you hear about Jesus, it's impossible not to have an opinion or a reaction to him. So when it comes to Christmas time and the Christmas story, Jesus changes everything. And hopefully for you guys and the ones listening, it's like for the good. Jesus' birth changed everything, changed the lives of the shepherds, and then it changed lives forever around the world. Changes us too. So if you know Jesus, 2 Corinthians 5 17, this means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone, a new life has begun. And so you think Christmas time, think of new beginnings, kind of newness. Jesus really does change lives. And so that's really one I wanted to hit on today. Just a little bit about my favorite part of the Christmas story, the shepherds and the angels, and then what we can take from that. Looking for God in the ordinary moments, like this was just an ordinary night for the shepherds, and all until it wasn't.

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

And so as we go about Christmas time the rest of the season, and then into the new year, look for God in the ordinary moments. Don't miss out on opportunities to talk about how he's changed you for the better or how he can change someone else. So I think like so much of our lives are ordinary. Think about a normal day for you. It's like routine, ordinary stuff, ordinary day. This was the same for the shepherds, just another night, probably sitting there watching their sheep again and doing whatever they did until it wasn't an ordinary night, and something changed. And they didn't miss it. They they took the they could have decided to not listen to the angels, and they could have decided to not go see the baby Jesus, but they did. They took that opportunity. And so look for God in ordinary moments. That's what I would take from this story too. Tell someone else about what God's done in your life. Don't miss those opportunities to talk about Jesus to people that might need to hear him. And you don't have to be, you don't have to know your Bible, like forwards and backwards, you don't have to know theology, you don't have to be able to answer questions. You just gotta be able to talk about you and what Jesus has done for you. Right? Does that make sense? Yeah. Like, you guys ever been scary to talk about Jesus to people because you might not know enough? Brittany, have you ever thought about No, never. You always know everything. But you know the feeling of like, uh, can I really talk about this? Or like we don't have to worry about that. It's the idea of if you if you know your own story.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

You know, Jim's big on Jim Hoffman's big on this about being able to write out your stories, write out your testimonies, and tell your own story. If you know your life, you know what Jesus done for you, then you can talk about them to anybody. So I would encourage you guys to practice that, know your story, and don't miss opportunities to talk about it. That's what I see in the shepherd story. How much time do we got left? It's 2 28. You have to leave soon, Ashley?

SPEAKER_01:

I do. Just gonna go drive by.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, yeah, I think that's pretty good for today. I wanted to tell one thing, real cool. Like, I like finding little details in scripture and little connections and things like that, and I like history. So this isn't like scriptural, like in the Bible, but it's a cool theory that I heard about the shepherd story and who the shepherds were. And you can look at it on your own time or look it up sometime this week. But the theory goes like this is that the shepherds out in Bethlehem, they weren't ordinary shepherds, they were actually shepherds for the temple in Jerusalem. So Bethlehem is like six to ten miles outside of Jerusalem from the temple where they would do sacrifices, where they would go and, you know, sacrifice to God. And so the the thing is that we know Bethlehem had a place where the temple shepherds would keep the sheep for the temple, and these sheep were raised not just for wool, not just for normal sheep things, but these were temple sheep. These were to be the temple sacrifices, the pure, imperfect, blameless, or no blemishes.

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

And they would have these lambs that would be born out there, and they would take them and they would wrap them up real tight in in cloth and swaddle them and make sure they didn't hurt themselves or, you know, get like kick or stuff like that, or get scraped up, had to be perfect. So the the theory is that in Bethlehem, these shepherds were actually workers for the temple, and they had the job of making sure that these new lambs were well taken care of and perfect and ready to go for the temple. And it just so happens the angels come and talk to these shepherds and they go find baby Jesus who's gonna ultimately be the sacrifice for all of us. Right. The pure, perfect that's cool, blameless. And so it's not you don't find it in the Bible, but if you look at his history, the context, and that time, day and age, we do know that there's an old testament verse in Malachi, I think, talks about the tower flock, and it's where they kept the sheep for the temple in Bethlehem, which is right outside Jerusalem. And you find baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling cloth, like you would wrap up a lamb to keep him from you know, and just the connections of sacrifice and Jesus being the ultimate sacrifice for us. So I heard that. I've known that for a while, but like I said, can't can't really prove it, I can't say it's from the Bible, but I can say it's likely and possible. So but yeah. That'll be all for this episode today. Merry Christmas to everyone listening. We'll be back, like I said, in the new year and on to other things. I don't know what we're gonna talk about next, but send us some ideas. Send us some ideas so we can talk, and we look forward to another year of another opportunity for rush hour.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Merry Christmas and happy new year.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, yeah. Let me pray and then we'll end this episode. Uh Lord, thank you so much for this day. Thank you for Christmas time. Allow us to celebrate, have fun, and just the opportunity to talk and have conversations about who you are, and you change lives. And once people encounter you, you know, you're changed. And so as we go out this week and we go the rest of Christmas season to continue to be with us, anything going on in people's lives that there's struggles and there's hard times, and I know people that are going through difficult times in the holiday season, but I also believe that you're there and that you're in these situations and that you see and that you care. So we love you. We thank you for Jesus. We thank you for his love and grace, and it's the name we pray. Amen.

SPEAKER_02:

Amen.

SPEAKER_00:

All right. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next time on Rush Hour.