So excited to see all of you here this morning. And if you are a guest of ours today, we are especially blessed to have you here. We would love to get to know you a little better. Just to say hey, outside the back doors to my left there is a kind of a bookcase with some coffee mugs on there. Please stop by, let one of our team members know you're here today.

We just like to get it, Just say hello and thank you for coming today. Let me tell you a couple of things to start with first. Next Sunday is a special Sunday. Our Christmas services, 9 o', clock, 10:30, but no groups. So today was the last day for our life groups for the rest of the year.

And so next Sunday, 9, 10, 30. But here's what I love. We're going to do communion, we're going to light candles, we have baptism scheduled. So next Sunday is going to be an extra special awesome Sunday. And I hope that you will be here and bring somebody with you.

I don't know if you still have your invite card but. And I'm telling you, it's so easy. So easy. I went into a drugstore because I saw online that they had something specific that I was looking for on sale. And not only when I went in, the lady that was there, hey, can you help me?

And she walked me back. But before I left that day, she and I started talking. I said, well, where do you go to church? She said, well, I don't. And I went, alrighty then.

And so I immediately said, well, hey, guess what? Next Sunday. And I dropped an invite. So it's so easy. Just look at how God is orchestrating your life.

The next Sunday, the 28th, the Sunday between New Year's and Christmas Day, we're going to have one service, 10:30, no groups. But that's also going to be a special service. Kids are going to be in here, we're going to have some fun. But at the end of that service, we will be ordaining Patrick and Brandon to our deacon ministry. And so we're not done yet with 2025.

We're going to go all the way up to the end and then we're going to kick off the first of the year with our week of prayer. And I hope that you will make plans. I know it'll be hard, but hard is not bad, right? Six o' clock every day, Monday through Friday for a week, Saturday at 8. And then that Sunday we're going to wrap up with some worship.

But I'm telling you, it is so Worth it. You know, when I was growing up, we had spring revival and summer revival. How many of you remember summer revival, where you went to church in the morning and went to church at night, and you did that because usually there was this little old lady who brought stuff. I'm just telling you, if we could do that as kids, we can do that today. You don't want to miss out.

Let me start the message by asking you to turn to Luke 1:67. I'm not going to ask you to stand today because this is a pretty long passage of scripture we're going to be working through today, but in a few weeks, a lot of you are going to be making New Year's resolutions. I'm that guy who has not been in a gym in a long time. Let me tell you what it would look like if I went to a gym. Micah's been asking me to get something at Planet Fitness, and I'm going to tell you.

Let me tell you how this would go. I would walk in and I'd probably go get on a stationary bike for a few minutes, flounder around to something else, say, well, let me see how much I can bench press now. And I remember my brother used to work out at a gym south of here, and there was a professional wrestler that would work out in there. And this is what he would do. He would come in and he would stack the leg press full of all these 45 plates, press it one time, and then leave it.

And so he was like, well, that's my workout, removing his junk.

But if you notice, though, like, compared to people like me that might go in without a plan, say plan, there's those people that show up and they're already dressed. They've got their little protein shake, and they're shaking it up and chugging it before they get on there. And they know what they're going to be doing 28 days from then on the bench press. And I could tell you that the person with a plan is going to have a better experience in that gym than someone like me who's going to go in there and flounder. Now, if you know me well enough to know, you know I wouldn't go into a place like that without a plan.

Here's what I know about your life. If you don't plan, you are already planning to fail. You see, God came into this world or sent his son in this world with a plan that's been around a whole lot longer than any of us realize, from the foundation of the world, like you may be that guy who or gal who's gonna walk in with your awala and your bag and you've got a checklist and you know exactly how many reps and what machines you're gonna work on. You know if it's upper chest day or leg day. But for those who go into the gym with no plan, they cannot expect the same results as the one who does.

James wrote in 4 James 4, 13, 15. Come you who say, quote, tomorrow or today, we'll go into such and such a city, and we'll spend a year there, engage in business and make a profit. You know what that's called? A plan. Now James never says, don't do that.

He says, but wait, you don't even know what your life will be tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and vanishes away. Instead, what you ought to say is, if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or do that. He never says not to plan. We need to plan in life, but we plan in such a way that we're not sure we're going to take our next breath in the morning.

And so if the Lord wills, we'll wake up tomorrow with breath in our lungs. And if he wills, we'll go to that city and do this or to do that. Proverbs 16:9 says, the mind of a man plans his way, but the Lord directs his step. God has a plan. He's always had a plan.

His plan is still true today. My question is, what is your plan? What is your plan? And how does your plan fit in underneath the plan of God? Because if you say, well, this is my plan, it doesn't really line up with God's plan.

But I know better. Do you realize in Genesis 3, God had a plan and Eve listened to the serpent she listened to. She submitted authority, gave authority to Satan, and ignored God. And because of that, Satan and sin, the curse of sin, now reigns and rules over this world.

But from the foundation of the world, God had a plan to redeem us from Satan, to redeem us from sin. So my question to you today is, are you living for your own purpose, according to your own plan? Or are you living with your plan beneath the plan of God? Cause he has a plan for all of us. You know what that plan is?

It's really simple. You don't have to go up on a mountaintop and pray about this one. I promise you. The plan of God is that you would repent of your sins and trust in His Son, Jesus Christ for the Salvation of your soul, that's God's plan. And because of that plan, our individual plans for Life, that Psalm 139, where he has ordained all the years of your life, all the days of your life, all those plans fit in under this plan.

But do we live that way? You know, I told you I'd quote a lot of movies, but It's a Wonderful Life, it's probably one of my all time favorites. We haven't watched it yet. Maybe today's a good day to watch It's a Wonderful Life. I mean, especially, you know, that scene after he jumps in the river to save Clarence, which Clarence didn't really need saving.

And Clarence is explaining to him that he's his guardian angel.

And George Bailey says, well, you look about like the kind of angel I'd get. Y' all admit that's a good Jimmy Stewart, right? But you know, I noticed there's seven different ways that George Bailey had plans in life that were just thwarted and didn't come to pass. He planned to travel the world, but his father's stroke changed those plans. He planned to go to college, but he took over the Building and Loan.

He actually saved for college, but then he gave that money to his brother. He wanted to leave Bedford Falls, but because of Mr. Potter and the bank trying to shut down the Building and Loan, he ends up staying there longer than he planned. Then he gets married, and he actually planned his honeymoon. He planned his honeymoon, but that got taken away from him because of the bank. At the climax of the movie, his plan was to keep his payments.

But Mr. Potter, if you haven't watched, you got to watch to know who Mr. Potter is. The uncle goes to make the deposit and he takes the $8,000 and hides it. That's called thievery. Exactly. But he wanted that Building and Loan closed because it meant the common man had a place in this world.

All of that thwarted. In fact, the last plan he had was to take his life by jumping off that bridge. But somebody jumped in front of him. But isn't it ironic that he jumps off the bridge to save him and didn't die?

You see, he had other plans and his plans didn't come to fruition. And it left him in a place of hopelessness. And some of you here today and joining us online, if you would admit, you know, you've already been to some Christmas parties and you have filled the floor under your Christmas tree with lots of presents, but you walked in here today hopeless because there's no plan in your life that falls in under the plan of redemption that God has offered for us today. You can leave with something different, because God does have a plan for your life. To know his son to be forgiven of your sin, to be freed and redeemed from the power of Satan.

That's the plan he has for your life. And that right there is the foundation of eternal life, fulfilled life that you can live today. God's plan isn't about your popularity. It's not about your glory. It's not about your rule or your reign.

It's actually not about your success. It's about his good and his glory. Can I chase some rabbits today? Would y' all mind if I do that? You know, we did this class on Wednesday night in Jeremiah 29:11.

Can I just wreck your favorite verse? I just made eye contact with somebody who said, you killed my life first. And I said, you're welcome. Because the people who received this word, I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you, to not harm you, to give you a hope and a future. Will you please go read that in context?

It was written to those who had been sent to Babylon, and they would die in Babylon because It would take 70 years for God to bring his people to you all back to Jerusalem. God's plan was about their judgment. Because they had sinned against God, they had turned their backs on them, and God sent them into exile as he promised he would in Deuteronomy 30. God keeps his word. And so the good plan is their redemption, not their success in a business.

I know. I just read your favorite verse, didn't I? You are welcome, too, because there's so much more beauty in that. Because here's what I found in life, people. And then, you know, you almost call them crisis Christians.

When a problem comes up, they run to God and they'll stay there and they'll pray and they'll sing. And then when it evades, they go away. And then another crisis comes up, and they run to God and they'll say, well, I know God's plans for me, but they somehow leave out verse 13. You will find me, God says, when you seek after me with your whole heart, your success shouldn't be the diamond of your eye. It should be the Lord himself.

If I want to find out that good plan that God has for my life, he has to be at the center of it. I can't. And that's the lie that Satan puts in our life. I could probably stop right there, because here's the truth all have sinned, all deserve death. And Jesus died the death that you and I deserve to forgive our sin.

Our major problem is our sin problem.

And in the mercy and the grace of God, he sent his son, Galatians 4:4, at the fullness of time right now, he sent his son on Christmas to live a perfect life and die a sinless lamb so that we could be washed under the flow of his blood.

That's not very Christmassy, is it? But aren't you thankful they used the color red at Christmas. It ought to remind us not of pretty bows and boxes. It should remind us of the blood of Jesus Christ. And maybe we need to take a plunge in that flow, as the song says.

Alright, I won't chase any more rabbits, but I will point you to verse 67 of Luke chapter one. Let me. Quickly, quickly, I say quickly because last service, I took a little bit longer on this introduction than I should have. But the book of Luke was written to a man named Theophilus. Most likely Luke is the only Gentile writer of the New Testament.

And he says all the way back in 14 that he wrote this so that Theophilus would know the exact truth about the things that he had been taught. And he opens the story not with Mary, he doesn't open the story even with Jesus. He starts, he opens the story with Zacharias and Elizabeth. Zachariah, I don't know if you've ever heard. Some of you younger kids may not have heard this part of the Christmas story, but it's fascinating because Zacharias was a priest, which meant he was a Levite.

His wife Elizabeth was also a Levite, going all the way back to Aaron himself. You couldn't get any more levitish than this. And if you remember, the Levites didn't have land because they were set apart for the service of the Lord. And so the Bible says they were advanced in age. Y' all know what that means?

Means they were old, just like Abraham and Sarah. Sarah was beyond her childbearing years and so was Elizabeth. And they had been asking God, God, we want a child. And here's how cool God is. God will answer our prayer here in the moment that fits into his big plan.

Because they didn't know what this child would become. They didn't know what this child would be called to. And he's called even before he gives existing to the ministry that he would perform, which would be the forerunner of his Christ. And so Zacharias by lot is called to go and burn incense. Probably a once In a lifetime deal.

But see, God is sovereign, right? He knew, Zachary. He knew. He knew. Cause he orchestrated time.

He knew what was going to happen. So Gabriel comes and visits Zacharias just like he does Mary. And he tells him, hey, you're going to have a child and you're going to name him.

What's his name? John. Oh, which John? There's a bunch of Johns. This is John, the John the Baptist.

And he tells him that he would take this, what we call the vow of the Nazirite, but that he would go and begin to preach for the Messiah to be able to come, which was repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. And he was baptizing. He will, in latter chapters here, be baptizing them in the Jordan River. Repentance. Repentance.

Why? Because the plan of God was to solve the problem of sin. When you and I truly understand and begin to embrace that we are sinners. And whether you've committed five sins or five million sins, it does not matter. You deserve death.

According to scripture, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And the only hope that you and I have is mercy.

It's mercy. Elizabeth gets pregnant. And six months into her pregnancy, as we read last week in verse 26, Gabriel shows up to Mary. And if you remember, she says, how will I know this? And Gabriel explained, like we talked about last week, that the Spirit would overshadow her.

But he says, and even your relative Elizabeth conceived a son in her old age.

In verse 39, after all this happens, we leave this out of the Christmas narrative. It says now at this time, Mary arose and went in a hurry. She got up and left, and she went to the Hill country, to Judea or to Judah, and entered into Elizabeth's house.

Six months. How long does it take for a baby? All right, keep that in your. Keep that over here. So she goes, you want the defense of why we don't support abortion?

It's right here. The Holy Spirit came upon them, and John leapt in the womb because Mary had walked in the door. We don't know at this point whether she was already pregnant or not. We don't know.

But Elizabeth, by the Holy Spirit, knew exactly who she was. She wasn't just, hey, cuz, what's going on? You are the mother of the Christ. And Mary at that time, begins to sing a song. Or we call it the Magnificat, if you want to know the word magnify.

That's a better probably way of putting it. And it's awesome. Because she begins to bless the Lord and exalt in him. And parents, here's a great illustration. We remember.

We think she was a young teenager, but she knew Scripture so much. Look through the allusions and the quotations that are there. This young Mary knew her Bible. She kept the Word in her heart. And we're going to see that in just a minute with Zacharias Prophecy.

They knew Scripture. So guess what we need to do? We need to know Scripture so that we can draw from it in these moments. And one theme that stands out in there, verse 54. He has given help to Israel in remembrance of his mercy, his mercy.

Mercy is kindness or good will toward the miserable and the afflicted. Or like one author said, God's mercy is his willingness to enter into the chaos of others. Mercy. We don't earn it. If you earned it, it's cheap.

If I discredit it, I'm turning my back on something so rich and so full, inexpressible and valuable. And it's his mercy that is the response to our suffering. And on the day that John's birth came, on the day that he came, they declared that the Lord magnified great mercy. He looked down just like he did in Israel when they were in Egypt. He looked down and saw them in his suffering.

It says he remembered them. Well, God didn't forget them. It was time. It was time. And so they bring John.

John's born exactly three months later. And it looks like Mary may have stayed there till almost John was born. They leave. John's born. And because of the priestly lineage and them being Jew, on the eighth day, they took John to be circumcised.

Traditionally, he would be named after his father, Zacharias. But she said, Elizabeth said, nope, his name is John. And they were all like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You need to name him after his daddy. That's not how this works.

And so Zacharias, because he had been struck mute because he didn't trust the angel. He didn't trust what the angel said. When he said, you'll have a son, he was struck mute. And so at the moment that he writes on a tablet, his name is John, his mouth is opened. We don't know how long he was mute because we don't know that they got pregnant the day that he came out of the temple.

We don't know. But the people knew he couldn't speak. And all of a sudden, miraculously, he's got his voice back and he doesn't hold back. And what he talks about. He gives a prophecy.

He gives a prophecy. In fact, he says he was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, the only other time the word prophesy is used in the book of Luke is when Jesus is arrested and they're slapping him and saying, hey, tell us who slapped you. Tell us who slapped you. Prophesy. Prophesy.

They mocked him. So Luke didn't use this worm loosely, that what he's about to say matters. So I want to give you five things, five observations, five keys about the plan of God that we find out in Zacharias prophecy. And the first one is this. God's plan is redemptive, not fearful.

God's plan is redemptive, not fearful. Alfred Plummer observes that there's at least 10 allusions or quotations from the Old Testament in what Zacharias is about to say. And so he says, blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited us. Notice the word visit, because you will see it again later in the text. He visited us and accomplished redemption for his people.

Say redemption. Redemption is this idea in that time of buying back a slave and then granting to them freedom.

I think we need to think on that one for a moment. Because he said he accomplished redemption for his people. Notice, he said, and he has raised up a horn of salvation. It's like it's been sitting and it's been waiting, and now the fullness of time has come and that horn is being sounded because God has come to buy back his people in order to redeem something. It cost something God sent his son, the most priceless, invaluable thing that has ever existed.

God gave it so that from the house of David, his servant, he could buy us back. And today, you and I, According to Hebrews 2:15, we stand in great need and we live in fear. Sin causes you to live in fear because it causes you to be insecure. Fear causes you to not know whether or not you are right with God. But I'm telling you today, if you're in Jesus Christ, you are fully saved and fully right before our God.

And you can't do enough to clean yourself up. You can't change your clothes and look a certain way. Your success in life isn't going to give you greater audience with the Lord.

And you have right standing before God that I can come boldly to his throne of grace to receive mercy. You know what the French word for thank you is? Merci. Guess what word comes from merci? Mercy.

Mercy. The day great mercy is available to us, but only. Only if we'll believe.

He was redeeming them in a temporal sense, he was going. God had promised that he would bring them liberty, but in a spiritual sense, he's brought us liberty. What is God redeeming us from? Because we're the ones that are being redeemed. What is he redeeming us from?

From Satan and from sin. From Satan and from sin. Eve and Adam submitted themselves willingly to the serpent, and because of that, to his taskmaster ways. And today, some of you in this room, you have claimed to be a Christian for so long, but you still are not living outside of the bonds and the whipping and the control of Satan and death. That has a hold in your life.

And you have yet to experience the freedom that redemption brings. You ever had a shock collar on a dog?

Some of y' all think that's cruel, but, you know, we had this wild, crazy dog, and the only way we could keep him even in a pen was to put a shock system back there. And you know what you do with the shock system? You train the dog like you put the flags out. And so when the dog gets close to the line, you let it get zapped a little bit. And it works so efficiently that eventually the dog, you can take the collar off.

And what will the dog do? It won't go across the line. Even though it's free, it won't go across the line. And a lot of you are like dogs without shock collars. You've been set free, but you're still living under the taskmaster Satan.

And under the bonds of sin, he has come to redeem you and set you free. No fear.

No fear. The greatest Christmas present you might could receive this year is that Satan has no hold on you. You are free. And how did that happen? Because God's plan is merciful, not forgetful.

It's merciful. Some of you come in here today and you feel like God's forgotten you. Everything in the world has compounded on you. And you're no different than the Israelites who feel like God had left them too. In fact, if you pick back up with me in verse number 70, he says as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets, from of old saying, salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.

Do you know where that came from? It comes from Genesis 22, after Abraham brings Isaac to sacrifice him. God stays his hand. And he says to him, by myself, this is God speaking to Abraham. I swear, God says, because you have done this thing and not withheld.

Your son, your only son, I will bless you. And I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven and the sand on the seashore. Your seed shall possess the gate of their enemy. You and I today have received great mercy. And just because things are coming on you in life does not mean that God has forgotten you.

He hasn't. But we have forgotten Him.

Today I want to call your attention to remember that God's given you this precious gift of mercy by his grace. To not give us what we deserve and to withhold us from those things that probably should happen to us. He's kept it back. Why? Because he wants to draw you into a faith filled relationship in his son.

Deuteronomy 7:9 says there know therefore that the Lord your God, he is God, the faithful God, who keeps his covenant and his loving kindness to a thousand generation with those who love Him, Keep his commandments. Micah 7:18 through 20. He says he will again have compassion on us. He will tread our iniquities under his foot. Yes, you will cast their sin into the depth of the sea.

You know what that means for me? I can trust God no matter what, and that he does not forget me. If you feel forgotten today, can I introduce you to Jesus Christ? Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, who wants to have a personal relationship with you. But the only way you can have that relationship is to admit that you are a sinner.

To repent of your sins and trust that Christ, because of his death on the cross, takes away every sin you have committed. Do you believe that? Because if you do, that's not where it stops. I'm afraid in church we've done a disservice to people because we'll get them to an altar of confession and they'll make a profession. But then we leave them there and we don't teach them how to have a relationship with Christ.

I'm telling you today, guys, you can have a relationship with Christ closer than any relationship you have with another human being on the face of this planet. Unless you don't have a plan. Unless you don't trust in his plan. Because the third thing his plan does is his plan is sanctifying, not ineffective. Yes, we come and confess our sins.

Yes, we declare he is Christ. Yes. But he had a purpose in doing it. Listen to what he says in here. He said to grant us rescued by the hands of our enemies, that we might serve him without fear.

Well, what would cause me to have fear? Well, if I'm walking in sin, I'm insecure. But when I repent of my sins and I trust in full confidence that Christ takes away all of my sin, I can stand in confidence. Some of you in this room, you've spent way too long acting like the worm of the earth, feeling like you're not good enough. Well, truth is, you're not.

You're not good enough. But coming to the Lord and saying, well, God, I've messed up again. I'm the worst human being on the face of the planet. I'm a worm underneath thy feet, you can say all those things. But he said that if we're in him, we're sons and daughters of God.

We need to live in that confidence. Yes, I know as long as I'm in the flesh, I will always deal with sin till the day I leave this world. But I can stand in confidence knowing that I can come to my Christ and receive continued love, grace, mercy and forgiveness. And you know how he wants us to serve holiness and righteousness. In holiness and righteousness.

It's not. This is what Christianity is not. If you're a crisis Christian today, I want to compel you to stop being a crisis Christian. To be as faithful to Christ when things are good as when things are bad.

But for you and me, the goal is, is to put us in a place where we can serve in holiness and righteousness. And so my question for us today, if that's true, then is that true for me? Have I laid out a plan in my life to serve the Lord, or do I just like the benefits that he gives? That's what Christ is Christianity is about. I like that God will do things for me, but, Lord, don't ask me to do anything for you.

And on one hand you're like, well, you know, I'm too good to do that. Or on the other side, I'm not good enough. Dispel both of those extremes and come to the Lord in humility and say, God, use me. He's the one that sets you apart in holiness and he gives you the gift of his righteousness. What excuse do we have?

The only excuse we can give is that I'm just unwilling. So, Father, give me the willingness to serve you in holiness and righteousness. God, give me the desire to crave and hunger after your righteousness. God, give me what I need to be what you planned for me to be, not what I planned for me. Tony Evans compared this idea of Christ as Christianity to seeking God like a spare tire.

Spare. Maybe let's call it spare tire Christianity. You're Going down the road and your tire goes flat. You get off the road, you go and get the spare out of the trunk. How many times you see people?

This scares me to death. By the way, A spare tire is not meant for an interstate. Teenagers, look at me. I don't think your parents have told you this. If you are driving on a spare tire, you're not to be doing 75 miles an hour.

Because that's not what a spare tire is to be. It's to get you to the place where you can get your tire fixed. But we treat God like a spare tire. And then when it falls off our car, we're sitting there going like, what in the world happened? I drove by, a guy was on the side of the road, his car broke down and his wheel was missing.

I pulled up and said, hey, man, do you need some help? He's like, man, my tire just came off. Okay. Do you need help? Like, he was so, so dumbfounded at that moment.

He didn't know what to do. That's the way we are with God sometimes. His plan for your life is to serve him in righteousness and holiness. And you can't do that in and of yourself. It's not for your glory and your honor.

It's for his.

The whole essence of the new covenant was to put the spirit inside of us and cause us to obey his commands. And if you're not and it doesn't bother you when you sin, something is wrong. Are you hearing me? Look at me. As my friend Levi Skipper would say, eyeball to eyeball.

Come on. If you are willingly falling into sin and doing what sin compels you to do, you may not know Jesus Christ. I'm not saying there's not. Some of you in this room says, you know what? I've got this issue and I've struggled with it for years.

Well, get some help. There are men and women in this church that'd be more than willing to walk alongside of you and help you. But if sin doesn't bother you and it doesn't convict you, something's wrong.

Because God's plan, point four, is for saving us, not condemning us. See, if you feel condemned in your sin today, there's only one of two things that could be going on. Number one, Satan is having his day with you. He's not just the tempter, he is also the accuser. And he stands there, and this is what Satan tells you.

You're not good enough. You're not good enough. Look at you. You've messed up Again, what kind of Christian are you? You think you're something special?

You go in there, you phony hypocrite, and you bend down the knee and you pray with those other Christians. If they only knew what you were thinking in your closet and what you were doing with your spare time. That's what Satan does. But you know what I want to encourage you to do? The next time Satan tells you those lies, the next time your flesh is condemning you, I want you to go to Romans 8:1.

The there is therefore now no condemnation.

For those who are in Christ Jesus. So if you're feeling condemned, there's only one of two things that's going on. Either you're giving in to the condemnation or you're not in Christ, where it's black and white. There is no gray in this. It's either you are or you are not in Christ.

And his work, his plan, is to save you and me. Are you saved today? Is Jesus Christ the Lord of your life? Are you confident that your sins are forgiven? Cast into the depths of the sea, are you saved?

Verse 77 says, to give his people the knowledge of salvation. That was John's job, by the forgiveness of their sins. You cannot be saved if you're not forgiven of your sin. And you can't stay in your sin and be forgiven of your sin.

If I love my sin more than my Savior, I've got something backwards. God's calling us to holiness and righteousness. We can't muster that up on our own. It is a gift of God. Does that mean you're perfect?

If you're perfect, raise your hand.

But he can make me perfect in his righteousness, in his holiness. I want it as a gift. Because I can tell you if you try to muster up enough to say, look at how good I am. Look how righteous I am. You and I will always fall short.

My call to us today is that we can move into confidence in the forgiveness of God. Ephesians 1:7 says, in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace. Not my work. Colossians 1:14. In whom, talking about Christ, who transferred us into the kingdom, have redemption, the forgiveness of sin.

I cannot look at the Christmas story without thinking about my sin and the price that was paid. And you know what? There's hope in that. There's hope in that. There's this redemption that comes.

There's mercy given. There's this work of sanctifying and setting us apart because he has saved us. He wants to save us. God doesn't want you to die in hell. Die and go to hell.

He doesn't want you to spend eternity there. He wants all to come to know him. And that plan number five should be guiding me, not leaving me hopeless. Folks, we should be the most hope filled Christians ever. Yes, Napoleon was the one who coined the term hope dispension.

I don't know what it is in French. We should be hope dispensers. We should exude hope. We should wear hope on us. All over our clothes.

They should have hope perfume.

We should have hope just stuck in our hair.

Because of the tender mercy. Verse 78 says of our God that word tender mercy. This is one of Fred's got a couple of favorite Greek words and I've got a couple of favorite Greek words. This is one of Fred's favorite gut wrenching mercy. This is that kind that when you drove down the road and you saw that poor neighbor, your gut turned and the tears popped into your eyes.

That's the kind of mercy that God is extending to you and me. When it said Jesus looked on the people and had compassion on them because they were sheep with like shepherds, he was moved in his gut.

Can I flip that around? Then when you think about the tender mercy of God, does it move your gut? Does it move your bowels that you know that Even Balaam, who wasn't a fan of Israel, said, a star will come forth from Jacob and a scepter shall rise out of Israel. Then he says in verse 79 back in Luke 1, to shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. This is a direct quotation from Isaiah 9:2, that the people who walk in darkness will see a great light.

Light has come into the world. You and I can't drive without light. I'm at that age where anyone who's behind me blinds me. And I don't even wear these at night. And I don't know what it is about cool whites and how it can blind you, but here I am In Laura's little HRV driving and this big old F1050, I don't know what their numbers are now comes up beside me and I can't even see to turn the radio down because the headlights are like.

It's like when Clark Griswold turns on his Christmas lights. I blind you. Oh my gosh, folks, that's the light of Jesus. Come on. His light shines bright in the darkness so that I can Walk and see where I'm going.

That he's come into the valley of the shadow of death to guide me through that darkness. Today he's come to give you and me life. And if I choose to stay in my sin, I choose to walk in darkness, and I choose to walk in death. I don't have to. Because God sent his son the most precious gift ever.

Cause here's the plan. Let me wrap this up. I'm so sorry. I've chased too many rabbits today. God's plan is to save people from their sin through the sacrifice of his son.

Take that to the bank. I told you. Next year we're going to talk a lot about the Gospel. Right? There it is.

He sent his son to save his people from their sins. And we, if we accept that, we can be his people. Luke 22:20. When he. When he gives the words of the new covenant, he says, this is the cup which is poured out for you.

It's the new covenant. In my blood. He shed his blood. Let us plunge beneath its flow to cleanse us. And even John, when he gets to preaching one day, he's going to be down there and he's going to be baptized.

Remember, John's about six months older than Jesus. He knows Jesus. He knew him for decades.

Jesus is coming down to him. He doesn't say, hey, what's up, cuz? Caleb has coined that phrase. Very well. Sup, cuz?

We need to do a Jesus John T shirt. Sup, cuz? He didn't say sup, cuz. He said, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The plan, unwrapped, grants forgiveness by his mercy.

The greatest application that I can give you today. I'm going to ask them to put this on the board. Y' all can write these down very quickly. I'm not going to elaborate them. I just want you to write them down.

1. Because it took me a day to come up with this list. No, I'm just kidding. It did take me a day to come up with the list. That's not why it's precious.

It's precious because this is a guide for you. The greatest thing you and I could do today is that if I don't know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, if I'm not sure, today be the day of salvation for you. Come and give your life to Christ in repentance of your sin and faith in Him. If you're walking in a worldly path or if you are a crisis Christian, what would happen today if you came down and said, you know what, Lord, in the new year, I'm not just going to balk when everything gets better. I'm not just going to run from the church when something hurts my feelings.

I'm going to be here. I'm going to be here in the good and the bad. But maybe today you just don't know how to practice confession. And that's what these eight things are. That when you realize that you have done something, that you have sinned, you know what the truth is.

You probably don't know all the sins you've committed. That's why the psalmist wrote to. To look at me, search me, know me, see if there be any wicked way of me. Start right here. Be quick, don't sit around, go.

Well, you know, I've sinned 557 times. I don't know if I can come to God again this time. No, go to him. Run to him. Be mindful of the gospel.

That's the only way you can be forgiven. It's not how much you confess or how intensely you confess. It's whether you confess or not. But what I'm sure of is if you don't confess and you don't repent, you can't be forgiven. But I can stand in confidence knowing that he forgives me of all my sins.

All my sins, not just a few of them, but all of them that I need to be honest. God, you know what? I've messed up again. Don't compare yourself to somebody else. Don't try to diminish it by going, well, I just can't help it.

Don't do any of that stuff. Go to him and say, God, I've sinned. Forgive me. And be specific. God, I should not have told a lie on so and so.

I should not have talked about so and so behind their back. I shouldn't have hated so and so. Be specific. And while you're being specific, know that you're being humble. Cause you'll never be exhaustive, but give it all to him.

Because God's opposed to the proud. But in being out there, here's the part that you probably don't do. When you're submissive, you're putting God in charge, which means now I need to be intentional. You know, that little part of the Lord's Prayer that lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. A lot of you go to the Lord and say, God, forgive me.

But then you never come up with a plan how to not do that again. I don't think y' all heard that, because I don't think you care. You're just like, okay, God, you'll just forgive me again and again and again. You know what? You're giving yourself permission to keep sinning over and over again.

Be intentional. Say, lord, show me how. Give me the way out. First Corinthians 10:13. Give me the way out.

And finally, thank him. Thank him for what he's done. Jesus healed a bunch of people and only one of them came back and said, thank you, Lord. Thank you. Because if you will thank him, it will grant you the security that you need to know that you're in right standing with Him.

Why not? Because of what you've done. Not how you've confessed, not how often you've confessed, not the way you've confessed, not the way you've put yourself up or put yourself down. None of that matters. The only way you're forgiven is by one thing.

You ready? Mercy. The mercy of God. So why don't we thank him for it? He says in Psalm 103:1 4, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of his benefits, which are the pardoning of our iniquities and the healing of our diseases.

This morning, I don't know what your need is. You know, altar time's always kind of open ended. Maybe you're here to mornin. You don't know Jesus Christ. Randy's here, Fred's here, I'm here.

There's other people, there's other ladies here that would love, love to talk to you about how to be saved today. Do you need to be saved today? Today? Don't play with fire. Do you need to be saved today?

Come see us. Or maybe you're like, you know what? I'm dirty. I just know I feel dirty. Come and let the blood of Jesus wash you and make you clean.

Let him wash you and make you clean. And maybe thirdly, this is the other thing. Maybe you need to put some of this confession into practice. Maybe not this morning, but in your quiet time to sit down and go, lord, I want to be more intentional every day. One of the first things somebody told me when I became a Christian was every day when I'd lay my head down, I'd say, lord, forgive me and show me where.

Where I need to be forgiven. What if you could incorporate that in your own life? What kind of freedom would that bring? And confidence. You know why?

Here's the thing. Because God doesn't just want you to be saved. He wants you to succeed. Do you believe that God's for you, not against you. Maybe today you need to hear there's hope in him.

When the world turns its back on you, God never leaves you. Father, thank you this day for your word. I just ask God that you work in our hearts and our Lord lives as we wrap up this service. We love you. In Jesus name, amen.