Don’t Pack Up Christmas

MESSAGE TRANSCRIPTION: 

Amen. God is with us. Amen. What a Christmas season here at Eastside. Amen. Amen. Y’all be seated. Just have a seat. We have just been through this just incredible journey over the last couple of weeks with Christmas here at Eastside and just wanted to share just a few of the highlights that we’ve seen over the last couple of weeks. Just wanted to share. Winter Wonderland was incredible, amen. Winter Wonderland was awesome. Listen to this. 24 people gave their lives to Christ a winter wonderland. Over 1500 people walked through this place, came here, and heard the Gospel at Winter Wonderland. Come on and listen. Over 110 people were identified as looking for a new church home. Amen. That is incredible. And this is the most significant. I mean, other than salvation, over 400 people were serving at Winter Wonderland. So that’s a huge thank you to everyone who put in the time and their talent and treasure for that. And that’s not all. Christmas Eve was beautiful. Who was here for Christmas Eve, and it wasn’t. Not beautiful. And listen, 12 people gave their lives to Christ on Christmas Eve. You want to know why we do this? That’s it. 818 people. We were at our Christmas Eve services this past Friday. And it was just incredible. Incredible, incredible. And so what? What’s it mean? My math tells me, and I’m a math kind of guy, right? 2300 people. We’re at East Side over this Christmas season, and 36 people gave their lives to Christ. Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t want Christmas to end. I don’t want this season to be over. And, you know, it doesn’t have to. This spirit of generosity, of giving, of our time, our talents, our treasure. Listen. The church. The church is not this beautiful worship center. The church is not this incredible atrium. The church is you. And the church made this happen. Amen. You made this happen. And we are just so proud of all of you. And we just want you to know this generosity. It doesn’t have to end the time, the talent, the treasure, the gifts, the generosity. This is all your thing. And you’re going to hear just a little bit about this later as Carla brings the message. And we’re just so excited. Listen, I want you to listen to these lyrics of this song, and you’re going to get it.

 I mean, we have an amazing worship team here at Eastside. I mean, golly, the talent is unbelievable. So how many of you all do not want Christmas to end after hearing that song? Not very many hands going up. All this message is going to be super exciting here. Thank you, Aiden. Well, my name is Carla Perry, and I’m the life group’s pastor here at East Side. And I’m so excited to be here with you this morning. And I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas. I hope that you made some great memories with your family. So I have a couple of questions for you today, and it’s going to require a little bit of interaction and participation. So how many of you all love Christmas so much.

 That you leave your decorations up until after Valentine’s Day with the raise your hands. Come on. Wow. Wow. You are really are going to be interesting today. So how many of you all are scrooges, and you want Christmas to end December 24th? Raise your hands. All right. Well, so I would say that I’m kind of an in-between, that kind of person. I like to leave them up a little while longer than today. When I was a little girl, my grandmother, she loved to decorate for Christmas. It was one of her favorite things to do. And I can remember as a young child, we would every year around Thanksgiving, we would pull all the Christmas decorations out. We would put them up. And she loved it so much that she decorated her bedroom, and her bathroom, from the bedspreads to the shower curtains, like everything was decorated in Christmas. And so I believe that that’s kind of where I developed my love of decorating for Christmas as well. So fast forward and from when I was a little girl to about, I don’t know, 22 years ago, my husband, Brad, and I, we had we weren’t married yet, but I traveled to Florida to go visit his family there for Christmas. And I remember on December 26th, waking up that morning, and my brother-in-law had packed up the Christmas tree like he had shoved it up in the attic. He was like, Christmas is over. It’s done. December 26. This year, we’re moving on. And we still joke every year about it. As a matter of fact, we joke all the time about when Christmas is really over. So that’s really got me kind of thinking, When is Christmas really over? When is it time to really pack everything up for yet another year and go back to our normal life?

Well, I guess from the commercial standpoint, if you’ve been to Hobby Lobby recently, there is like no sign of Christmas left. It’s all gone. Everybody’s bought it all. But from the spiritual standpoint, is Christmas ever really over? Is there really a time that’s appropriate to pack it up? Well, today, I want to share with you all three things that I believe that we should not pack up this year for Christmas. And we could go around the room, and we could all share our three things are that we don’t believe we should pack up. But today, I’m just going to share with you the three that I feel were the most important. The first one that I want to share with you is Immanuel. Do you all know and realize that Immanuel, the word, actually means God with us. I mean, if you look here in Matthew 2820.

Matthew 28:20 (NLT)

“Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

And then Paul says so again in Romans 839.

Romans 8:39(NIV)

“Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

That means nothing, guys. Nothing in this entire world can ever separate us from the love of God. Immanuel. Immanuel is with you and the job that you dread going to every day. Immanuel is in a broken relationship that you have no idea how to reconcile. Immanuel is with you in the addiction that is consuming your life. Immanuel is in your marriage that is failing, and you don’t know how to fix it. Immanuel is in the Depression, and the anxiety and mania will is in that health crisis that maybe you’re in the middle of, and you don’t know how the doctors are going to treat you. Paul says there is literally nothing, absolutely nothing on this earth that can separate us from God. And there are several ways that I feel like we can choose to not pack up Immanuel this Christmas. And the first one is the basic and most obvious way that you and I can commit to not putting away Immanuel this year, and that is through prayer. If we don’t feel God with us all year, Do you really think it’s because he just went away? On December 26th. No, he didn’t. Maybe we just chose to stop talking to him. There is nothing, nothing that we can do to separate God from us. So let’s put it this way. Have you all ever tried to be in a relationship when with a friend? Think about your best friends and you never talk to them. Maybe your family. You never talk to them, but maybe you only talk to them one time a year. That’s not being in a relationship with someone. Being in a relationship with someone is dialoguing with them. Having a phone conversation, shooting back and forth, text messages, and spending time with them. And it’s the same way with God. And I often have people say to me, Hey, Carla. What is one thing that I can do to improve my prayer life? And I always say the same thing. It’s simple. Just start a one-on-one conversation with God. He doesn’t expect you to bring big, fancy, elaborate prayers to him. And as a matter of fact, I’ve written down here several things that I do in order to kind of improve my relationship with God and make sure that I’m on track. One is to download the You version app on your phone if you do not have that app. Before you do anything else today, you need to pull out your phone, and you need to make sure that you have that downloaded. There are thousands and thousands of Bible plans on there for everything that you can ever imagine going through in your life. What about journaling? There are apps you can download. You can get verses of the day sent to you and just begin to just journal. What is it that God is saying to you through that verse? I promise you that as you begin to do that, you will hear him speak to you through prayer. What about worship music this morning before I got here? Like, this isn’t typical for me to be on stage talking to you guys, but I knew that I needed to go to God. And so I started playing the worship playlist I have on my Spotify app. And guess what? God, just calmed my nerves. He and I were dialoguing in a conversation. Here’s one that I love for, maybe, especially for you moms. What about the car rider line? I would love to add up the amount of hours that I have sat in the car rider line pickups or waiting outside of ball practices for my kids to get out of practice. And sometimes, it’s really tempting to only open my social media apps and just scroll through the mindless, never-ending rabbit hole of social media. What would it look like if you chose to use that time for prayer, asking God to take care of your family, to take care of your kids, to reveal himself to you? So today, we’ve talked about not packing up Immanuel. And the first way that we do that is through prayer. Well, the second way that I think that we should not pack up Immanuel this year is by embracing relationships. I believe in Jesus is 33 years here on earth. He came to model relationships with. This is one of his primary reasons for being here. God created us for community and community, and by community relationships, he told us. We’re vital. It’s where we often hear God speak to us. I don’t know about you all, but when I’m with my friends, and with my life group, God uses those people sometimes to speak to me in ways I may never, ever hear him speak to me any other way. I know that when I am living my best life and that God is in me is when my relationships are right with the staff team that I serve here with, with my friends, with my family. I can promise you that some of the most intimate moments that I’ve ever heard God speak to me is when I’m sitting in a circle in my living room with the people of my life group. I mean, guys, if you are not experiencing that, you are missing out on what God wants to tell you because those people, you know who you are.

I hear God speak to you. Speak to me through you. So in John chapter 13, shortly before Jesus was to go to the cross, he was washing his disciple’s feet. And I can’t imagine what that must have been like for them. What it must have been like for the savior of the world to be kneeling at their feet, washing them as a servant one day. And right when he had their immediate full attention, this is what he says in John Chapter 13.

John 13:34-35 (NLT)

“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciple.

Jesus is saying, Hey, y’all pay attention. Like, for real. How people will know that you are mine is how you love one another. And how do we do that? We can only do that through relationships. So if you can’t tell, I’m pretty passionate about that. So what does that mean for us? What does it mean for you, and what does it mean for me? Well, maybe this Christmas, you started to rekindle a relationship with somebody in your family. Well, I would challenge you to not let it wait until next Christmas before you talk to them again. Like actually spend time this next year embracing that relationship and building on it. Maybe this is the year that you invest in your marriage. Maybe this is the year that you decide to put your spouse in front of other things. Maybe this is the year that you put down your phone, and you actually work on building relationships with your children. God says to us that relationships are so important for all in life. So if you are packing up in Maine, you will this year. If you’re not in packing this year, do not pack it prayer, and do not pack up relationships. So the second item that I encourage you to remain you will to, not pack up, is joy. I believe that it’s super easy for us to get confused between what happiness means and what joy means. Those feelings are different. Happiness is momentary. It can be due to your happenstance. However, joy is a lasting in-word experience that comes from Immanuel. Pleasure can create happiness, but it doesn’t always last, does it? True joy, we find out, is from the Lord. It is literally from the overflow. God says I can’t give you joy if you don’t allow me to give you joy. I want to fill your joy. Cup up so much that it is overflowing from you. In Romans 1513, Paul says.

Romans 15:13(NIV)

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

You see God in many ways. It is where our joy comes from. It is not from the things of this world that are temporary. Guys, I promise you the clothes you have on and the houses we live in. They are not going with this. They are simply temporary. And for example, I believe that these are some of the ways that we tend to trade our joy. Maybe we get it from the new job promotion that we got, or maybe we didn’t get it. Maybe our joy comes from our kid’s team, and when they win a big ballgame, or maybe we lose it when they lose the ballgame because we’re putting our joy. And things that are fleeting and not temporary. Maybe it’s the brand-new car that we just bought. Or maybe it’s the one that we can’t afford to get right now. Maybe, just maybe, it’s the house you’re living in. Or maybe it’s the one you can’t get. Maybe you got a really nice gift for Christmas. Or you can elbow your spouse and say, You didn’t give me what I wanted. The point is that in this world, we can’t take it with this. Nothing we have can go with. So where is it that you’re seeking to get your joy from? What is it that you find yourself running to try and grasp? Joy, I can tell you all from personal experience that when my devotion life is lacking, when I’m not feeling myself with Immanuel, first and foremost, my joy makeup is running low. It runs empty. And so some of you are saying, Well, Carla, it’s real easy for you to have joy because you don’t understand what I’m going through. You don’t understand the relational issue that I have going on with the family member, or maybe just maybe this year for Christmas. You’re experiencing it without a loved one because you lost one this year. Well, this is what I would say to you. I would say to you that now those aren’t happy moments, but I promise you that the God that we know, he wants to restore that joy in you. He wants to give you joy again. And the only way that you and I can get that joy is by embracing our relationship with God.

I can remember clearly. This is an example. I’m going to tell you a little story about myself. So several years ago, my husband, Brad, and I, we were going through a difficult moment. We’ve we had lost a relationship that was important to us and our family. And it was hard. And I can remember telling Virgil, Oh, this person’s still in my joy. They’re just taking it, and I don’t know what to do about it. And with that little smirky grin that he often gives, which will make you mad. He said. Mm. Carla. Peace and love. You’re allowing them to steal your joy. You see, joy is a choice. And if you look here in John 1622, it says.

John 16:22 (NLT)

“So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy…

You see. He’s saying right there, nobody, there is nobody. In this world, that can take your joy and my joy away unless we allow it to happen. We have the choice, and God’s saying, No, no, no. Let me fill your joy. Cup up. You see, you and I have a choice to make every day. We have the choice to get up and to say, God, give me joy today. Feel my joy cup up. Let me find it in the simple things of life. And when Paul was in prison, he wrote this letter to the Philippines. And I just love this because here’s Paul sitting in prison. Facing the possibility of death because of his faith. And he says to the church.

Philippians 4:4 (NLT)

“Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again–rejoice!”

Now, I just asked myself this question How is it that paul could be stuck in prison facing the possibility of death? And he is filled with joy, and he’s telling us to have joy. How does it how is it that you think that God that Paul is saying this? It’s because his joy is not coming from the things of this world. Paul’s joy is coming from Jesus, and he knew that. So this Christmas, whatever you do, don’t pack up your joy. So, so far, we’ve talked about not packing up Imanuel. We’ve talked about not packing it, Joy. And the third and final thing that I encourage you all to not pack up that of generosity. And so every year in December, we always hear this saying that Christmas is the season for giving. Well, I would disagree because I believe here at East Side, all year is the season for giving. I believe that you guys have done amazing things through your generosity. And so I want to spend just a moment reflecting on what 2021 looks like for us as a church. So back up to December of 2020. Get my years mixed up here a minute. So back up to December 2020. We decided as a church that we were going to launch the Compassion Project. And because of the pandemic, and we knew that people and families were going to face major trials financially in the coming up here. And so we decided to launch this compassion project. And through that initiative, you, as a church, gave $74,970. I mean, that is amazing. Through that many, we were able to help families pay their rent, pay their mortgages, and bills. We were able to provide food. Not only were we able to do that, but we were also able to buy God’s Outreach and Food Bank here in Madison County a brand new box truck. And they are now able to expand their efforts going into SRO county, feeding hungry people who do not have a meal to eat. In August, we, as a church, began the campaign for Madison County. And through that initiative, over 60 different projects so far have been done through our live group ministry and our serve teams. And there’s going to be some pictures that are going to come up on the screen and behind me. And I just want you to look at the things that we’ve done. There were beds built for children who didn’t have a place to lay their heads down at night. We had a life group.

A couple of life groups went together and remodeled a single mom’s bathroom because she was in complete disrepair, and she needed it fixed. We had people go to God’s outreach foodbank and give extra hours and pack meals and pack food baskets. We had people show up to hospitals and schools and feed the employees of the Madison County School system and our local hospital. I mean, they didn’t just go and serve food. They also circled up the buildings. They prayed over these people. Our own worship team showed up at Baptist Health Richmond one night and actually did worship for the volunteers, not the volunteers, the workers there. It was an amazing night. We had one group have a yard sale. They took all the money from that yard sale, and they gave it to a family that they knew was in need. Our life groups provided Christmas for dozens and dozens of students at Madison, Central, and Madison Southern. Eastside provided 550. Now get that, guys. You all brought in 550 backpacks loaded down with school supplies for Daniel Boone Elementary. Every single student at Daniel Boone received a backpack. Some other things that we did this year as a church is we held our first-ever blood drive. And through that blood drive, 135 lives will be saved. Last week, Emily Baldwin challenged all of us through her story of being a liver transplant survivor to go online and register to be an organ donor. I mean, guys, those are all huge things. We should all be celebrating what you all did. I mean, look at winter Wonderland. 1500 people came through here. 110 first-time guests, over 400 volunteers, and 24 people received Christ. We should all be celebrating what God is doing in and through each of you and your generosity. And so there’s this saying that we have around here where we say, and the you when you give, it’s someone else’s miracle. Well, what I want you to know is that when you give, you are not crazy when you give. You really are somebody else’s miracle. We just talked about what all those things are. And so there may be some of you there thinking, Oh, golly. And I didn’t join in on any of that stuff. Some of you may be thinking, my next spiritual step is in generosity. Well, I would tell you that we have three initiatives that we’re going to tackle this year, and we’ve talked about them over and over. And the first one is, is that we are going to open up a limited preschool here at East Side. We don’t know the details yet, but they will be soon come. We’re bringing back the packing event for meals with Feed My Starving Children. Where we’re going to pack meals here at East Side and ship them over to countries for children who don’t have food to eat. And we’re going to be launching a special needs ministry here at East Side. We believe very passionately that we as a church need to go into Madison County to the families of special needs children, and we need to love on them and give them a place here so that they can learn about Jesus. And we’re asking you to pray. We’re asking you to pray and say, God, what is my part in this? And I want to just continue to remind you that when you give, you’re someone else’s miracle. Look with me in Hebrews 1316. It says.

Hebrews 13:16

..and do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased”

Do you ever wonder why it is that Paul said, don’t forget in that verse? Well, I read that, and I wondered, and I believe that is because God didn’t want us, as Paul said, knew how easy it was for us as humans to be so busy in our Monday through Friday workday that we forget to ask God how we can be generous. Being generous doesn’t just happen. It happens because we have high intentionality, and we’re saying to God, What is it that you want to do through me? My husband, Brad, and I were praying that prayer. We’re asking God, what is it that you wanted to do in us in 2022?

What would our county look like if each one of us in this church today and watching from home chose to get up and ask God, what is it that you want to do in and through my generosity? Now, some of you may be saying, okay, so we’ve said don’t pack up Immanuel. Well, we’ve said don’t pack up, Joy. And now you’re saying don’t pack up generosity. How do I pick? Well, I would tell you that you only have to pick one. I will tell you that. There’s one of those words that God is saying to you right now. He’s pulling at your heartstrings. The Holy Spirit is speaking to you, and he’s saying, this is your word. This is your one word. Maybe it’s Immanuel. Maybe this last year, in 2021, you put him in a box. You picked him up with that manger scene when you packed up your Christmas decorations. And maybe he’s saying, I want to be in your life now. I don’t want him to just be in your life at Christmas. You’re choosing to put me away. So maybe it’s Immanuel. Or maybe it’s joy. Maybe 2021 was an awful year for some of you. Maybe for some of you. You were thinking, I can’t find joy again. I just don’t have it. It’s missing. Well, maybe you just need to spend time investing in your relationship with God. And even when you don’t have. The feelings of joy anywhere near you. Just begin the simple prayer. God, give me some joy today. Just a little bit. I promise you that when you begin to pray that prayer, he will feel your cup. Maybe it’s generosity. Maybe in 2021, you held so tightly to your finances because you were so scared to let go. And maybe God is saying, just open them just a little. Just open up your hands in your grip a little, and let me show you what I can do in and through your life. And so I’m going to ask you all to do something you might be a little uncomfortable with. I’m going to ask you to look at your neighbor, whether it’s your spouse or someone you don’t know. And I’m going to ask you to share with them what that word one word is that you are going to embrace in 2022. And then, when you leave here today, I’m encouraging you to share it with somebody else. Again, thank you. So going to share your work.

 Well, I don’t know about you, but Carla definitely gave me quite a lot to think about, whether you chose Immanuel or joy or generosity. Her challenge was great. That we just carry one of those with us into the coming year. And I know that it’s a lot easier to say and much, much harder to do. I know for me personally, the only way that I can keep that focus at the forefront of my thoughts and my actions is if I ask God to help me. So I’d like to take a minute right now and do just that if you would pray with me. Lord, we come to you this morning with eagerness in our hearts. An eagerness to carry you with us, to not leave the celebration of who you are and how you have sacrificed for us right here. Or put it in a box with our Christmas decorations, Father. I pray for those of us who have chosen to focus on you, Immanuel. May we be able to set aside time to spend with you? First, May you get the first of our hearts and not the leftovers. Help us to keep our relationships with you active and thriving. Lord, we know that in order. To truly have God with us, we first need to know you. And that means spending time developing a relationship with you. God. May we also develop relationships with those in our lives that will help us keep you in focus? My prayer is that you will come and insert yourself into your relationships. Help us to surround ourselves with those that point us toward you. For we know you’ve placed these people in our lives for a very specific reason. And father, I lift up those who have chosen to carry your joy with us into this coming year, work in our lives that we may exude your joy regardless of our circumstances. May our joy come directly from you and from our pursuit of you. Help us to be like Paul Joy, filled from the prisons that surround us, able to lift others up. Able to smile through the pain. Able to choose joy each and every day because of you. Lord, we know we can’t do it on our own. We have to focus our hearts on what you’ve done for us and carry you with us because the joy only comes from you. And finally, Father. I pray over those who have chosen to keep generosity in their hearts. We have seen exactly what happens when we choose generosity. When we choose to be generous, we see lives impacted. We see hearts changed. We see your kingdom furthered. Lord, I pray that we can continue to create a place where generosity is the norm and not the exception. May we be known as people who are open-handed 365 days of the year? Help us to stay focused on. And observant of the opportunities you provide us to be generous. May Whichever one of these resonates with us be easy to focus on and help us to stay steadfast in our commitment to Immanuel or joy or generosity in the coming year. Empower us to share our commitment with all those in our life who will keep us accountable and support our journey. Amen.

You know, Carla shared a challenge to live a lifestyle of generosity. And I want to tell you this morning if you haven’t made a choice to support the end of your fund, it’s not too late. I want to encourage you to pray with your spouse or with your family. Ask God how he wants you to support these three initiatives because he called us into them in 2022. You can increase the giving that you’re already doing. You can make a one-time donation, or you could take this as an opportunity to step into generosity for the very first time right here and now at Eastside Church end of year? There’s just a simple form that you fill out. It takes 2 seconds, and you’re just indicating how you want to support these initiatives. You know, I know that God is going to do amazing things through this church. We’ve heard story after story of how this last year, God has shown up and shown off through our people. Just as Mike said earlier, a church is not a building. A church is people. You are the church. And I just want to say thank you for all that you’ve done. To be a light for God this year. To bring people in. To this community. We can’t do it without you. So thank you. Now as we move from this place, I just want to challenge you. Don’t just keep it here. Take God with you. Let him work in your life. Tell anyone, just as Carlos said, tell anyone in your life that you meet that you’ve chosen Immanuel or joy or generosity. Don’t just leave it here. I hope to see you back next week. We only have one service at 11 again, so come back next week. We’ve got an awesome message for you, and I hope you have a great rest of your week. You guys are dismissed.