Go a little deeper
Pastor Keith Kirkpatrick acknowledges the burdens people may carry beneath a composed appearance. Recalling Pastor David’s earlier comment about a “plastic smile,” he describes church as a place of hope for those who feel bruised or disqualified. He urges listeners to place their hope in God rather than their own willpower.
Pastor Keith explains the Hebrew term halal as praise and discusses psalms sung across generations. Reading Psalm 118, he highlights hesed as God’s enduring kindness and mercy. He presents the Bible as God’s story and argues that love originates in God’s nature. He reads Isaiah 59:2 and Romans 3:23 to describe humanity’s separation from God, then presents Luke 2’s announcement of Jesus’ birth as God’s provision of a Savior.
From there the message moves through 1 John 4, God's eternality, and the Trinity to argue that God has always loved within himself and did not create out of need. Pastor Keith traces sin's entrance in Genesis 3, the promise of Genesis 3:15, Isaiah's sign, and Matthew's explanation of Emmanuel, then connects Bethlehem, the House of Bread, to Jesus as the bread of life in John 6:35 and the Lamb of God. The sermon closes with a call to repentance and a communion service tied to the Passover and Psalm 118.
Take this with you
Praise is the right response when you don't know what to do
Pastor Keith explains that halal, the root of hallelujah, means praise, and argues that praising God is what people were created to do. He points to Psalm 118, a psalm of praise, sung and memorized across generations, as a way worshipers join what God has already done in history.
God’s love has no endpoint
Reading Psalm 118, Pastor Keith explains hesed as God’s enduring mercy and kindness, a recurring description of God in the Old Testament. Drawing on 1 John 4, he argues that love is central to God’s eternal nature. He urges listeners to begin with God’s character and keep Jesus at the center of their understanding.
Sin is the root problem, and Christmas announces the Savior
Pastor Keith uses Isaiah 59:2 and Romans 3:23 to describe sin as humanity’s fundamental problem and a source of separation from God. He then presents Luke 2:10–11 as God’s response: the joyful announcement of Jesus’ birth and his role as Savior.
The Trinity and God’s eternal love
The sermon argues from 1 John 4 that God’s nature is loving and eternal, so he has always loved. Pastor Keith points to the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit loving one another in unity—as the reason God did not create out of need, and cites Paul's closing benediction in 2 Corinthians 13:14 naming Father, Son, and Spirit together.
Bethlehem's name points to the bread of life and the Lamb of God
Pastor Keith notes that Bethlehem means House of Bread and that Micah named it long before the birth. He connects that name to John 6:35, where Jesus calls himself the bread of life, and to the shepherds keeping sacrificial lambs, tying the birthplace to John the Baptist's title, the Lamb of God.
The conversation,
in their words.
Transcript from the recording’s captions. Select any timestamp to hear the original audio.
there are a lot of people hurting right now I don't know if it's just abnormal more people are hurting right now than before or if it's just sometimes God gives you an alignment of your heart that you can see it sometimes people wonder what I do for a living they think I'm just a preacher I like to put it this way I'm in the people business and because I'm in the people business I get a peak behind the curtain and right now behind the curtain it's really hard there are a lot of marriages ending right now look like there's no hope like it's it's done divorce is like it's it's the trains left the station I mean these marriages that went into a covenant to say we're in this to win it and all of a sudden it's like the devil gets a hold of this it's broken and it's done and
with that just comes a whole slew of problems I'm just talking about guilt and shame and Brokenness and the stuff that just comes with it it's not just marriages it seems like every corner we turn there's cancer addictions man I just I'm constantly shocked I always say I'm never going to be surprised and then I'm surprised because addictions are are they they just abound and the people sitting around you the addictions they have and they look so good but I'll just tell you we all got our issues alcohol now it's just fentanyl you cannot judge somebody else because you could look at somebody it looks like they got their stuff together only to find out that behind closed
doors there's something more serious happening sexual addiction all over the place just Brokenness after Brokenness after Brokenness and and I want to just say today I believe that God gave Pastor David that prophetic word because they were just supposed to keep going in the music and he stopped and he he just mentioned those two words plastic smile and I believe that's prophetic because when you come into this house which is church if you feel beaten up if in your soul you feel bruised if you feel beaten down by the world if you're wondering do I even have a place in the house of God does God see me and what I'm going through where I've been does God know what what I've done what was done to me and I'm talking last night last week
last year I want you to know this is exactly the right place you should be this is the house of God which means it's a Hope House we do believe there's hope for everyone if we don't believe that we shouldn't be coming here but we believe that Jesus can do anything he's the god of Second Chances third chances fourth chances fifth chances he's the god that when you think you've messed up too much and you're coming home with the speech to give to your father that you can't even be a son but you just want to be a Slave he runs to you and says I want to give you a new identity a ring on your finger a robe around you I just want you to know that you have a place in the family of God no matter where you
came from no matter how you're feeling right now in this moment you feel hopeless that's okay because we have a god of hope we're not asking you to muster it up so you do it with your own will that's not what we're asking you to do we're asking you to trust God he's your hope you don't be your own hope I just speak to you right now you're not God you're a bad God so don't try to be God I've done it many times every time I realize what a terrible God I actually am there's but one God and he's worthy of Praise And so I want to dive into that today and I want to teach you what that looks like that that God is love and I want to start right now by teaching you a Hebrew word it's a very important Hebrew word because in English it will make sense I want to teach you the word Hal everyone say Halal Hal it's
where we get the word hallelujah everyone shout hallelujah hallelujah you ought to say that word often because halel means praise when you don't know what else to do with your life the one thing you should do is what you were created to do which is to praise now when we say hallelujah we say praise the Lord yah meaning Yahweh the the Lord God Almighty who's always been God who will forever be God and that word Hal is very important because it's used throughout the Hebrew scriptures in English we we we have it as hallelujah or we have it as praise or we have it as some other translation into our English but it doesn't always do it justice now in the Psalms if you open up your Bible the Bible's made up of 66 books may I just pause for a moment can we just take a pause all right here's a pause I need you to do this with me all right this is
metaphoric but I just need you just for a moment to put on your ADHD hat with me all right I've never been diagnosed but I'm pretty sure I'm adhddd D D D D I want to warn you with this sermon I've been a little bit nervous about this we are going to go all over the place we're going to go back and then forward and back and then forward again because I need you to see God throughout the scriptures so I'm not just going to look at one scripture today so this will be like a roller coaster ride and I had to warn you so that you don't get sick and nauseous of all the sermons it it will be difficult to take notes and I always want you to take notes so you might just get out your phone and just take a picture of the scriptures to come back could y'all just put on your ADHD hat
with me are you ready okay because I I I might speak quickly because I don't have a lot of time I just want to cover like all of the Bible and an eternal God in just a few minutes can we do that that's just on my heart to you somebody needs this today I don't know who it is but it I feels like an audacious task and I'm going to try to do that and I need you to track with me all right here we go you ready to go so in the Psalms if you open up your Bible the Bible's made up of 66 books Psalms are really easy to find if you just open it up you find all these poems and songs now there's a section of the Psalms known as the hals that's Psalm 114 through Psalm 118 they would be sung often what does halel mean again shout it out praise well done so what they would do is when you when the Jewish people would have festivals or they would travel they would sing the great hals together they would praise God and they would memorize these songs
SS from a very early age now this is important to know that we would understand that what we do is we're joining what God has done through history let me share share with you the the last Hal in Psalm 118 which says this I'm only going to read four verses of the song oh give thanks to the Lord for he is good for his steadfast love endures forever now pause there for a moment that phrase steadfast love I'm reading from the English Standard Version that that phrase in the Hebrew is HED everyone say hassed that's a very very important Hebrew word because it's woven throughout the Old Testament scriptures as the most common attribute and characteristic of God now sometimes it's translated as a steadfast kindness sometimes it's translated as Mercy yet
if we look at the ancient texts it's the same word hassed now HED is God's steadfast Mercy his kindness his love love is who God Is So to understand H said is to understand God that his loving kindness his loving Mercy his love how long does it last forever so we sing about this we say it we praise God and remember who he is look at verse two let Israel say even today let Israel say his steadfast love endures forever let the house of Aaron say these are the wor worshippers by the way his steadfast love endures forever let those who fear the lord say if that's you say it with me his steadfast love endures forever
now these were songs that would be sung as a praise hello these were ancient songs that were sung from generation to generation to Generation Now I want to connect the dots with you so that you understand that whatever you're going through in your life today the answer answer to what you're going through may not be someone else may not be something else your answer might be praise could it be that the Eternal God who who actually is forever is enough the title of today's sermon is this God is love I stole that from the Bible God is love would you say that with me God is love now I say that because I need you to understand the the whole reason the Bible was written is that you would know God the Bible is not your story
it's not history it's actually God's story this is the story of God from the beginning to the end that we would know who God is but the problem is we seek love in all the wrong places love did not originate with your parents loving you love did not originate with your first crush which you had this chemistry and emotions love did not come from Hollywood in some movie love is not found in a song God is love so if we don't come to the understanding of who God Is We Will We Will overemphasize the wrong things in our life and we will underemphasize that which should be most emphasized which at Journey Church we say it's all about Jesus now now this is so important that you see this that this
is going to sound cliche but I mean this with the deepest conviction of my heart all of your answers are found in Jesus all of your answers so therefore if you have a problem in your life you ought to align somewhere and say where is my relationship with Jesus wrong and how do I make it right in the wisdom of Proverbs we're told this and it said two different times there is a way that seems right to a man but its end is the way to death come on have any of you ever thought you were right and then you ended up in the place you didn't want to be there's a reason that person isn't ex now you didn't think they were going to be you thought it was right you thought it was good in your way you thought it
would work out but in the end it is not only not good it ends in death so if we just get honest with God and with God's word we would say you know sometimes when I choose things my way I don't end up in the place I want to be I want to go where God wants me to be and then we have to recognize that I've got all sorts of problems in my life which brings me back to the Christmas story which the season is all about Christmas actually tells us why we have so many problems and I'm I'm talking about the Christmas story of Jesus being born I'm not talking about presents and trees and it seems like every single year I'm told by some religious fanatic that don't you know that Christmas has Pagan roots and just like every year at
Easter don't you know that there's Pagan roots with this and even the name Easter is not exactly from God and I would just say this I absolutely know that but don't you know what the Bible says that Joseph whose whole life was full of evil at the end of it he looked at his brothers and says hey what you intended for evil God used for good I want you to know today that there might be something in your life that came from some bad place and it originated from some bad place and I'm talking about that Christmas time happens at around winter solstice and has connections to people worshiping false god but I want you to know what we do at Journey Church is we celebrate Jesus so we like to come back to his birth and was he born on December 25th we all know yes no just
kidding I'm just joking we don't know his birthday but we do know that God did come to this Earth as a man and that's what we're going to look at today God is love that's what it's all about and the root of all of our problems every single one of your problems the root of every single problem is sin the root problem of every marriage is sin the root problem of every addiction is sin the root problem of poverty is sin the root problem of homelessness is sin oh the root problem of depression the root problem of loneliness the root problem of any problem that has ever existed especially if you would just
make this personal in your life is sin now what does Sin do sin separates us from God sin is anything contrary to god god is perfect and cannot sin the prophet Isaiah wrote it like this in chapter 59:2 but your iniquities that word iniquities means your bad behaviors the things you do that aren't of God your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God your sins have hidden the fa hid face from you so that he does not hear you so we have a problem sin separates us from God sin separates us from each other sin is the root of all problems now Romans 3:23 tells us for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God just look at
your neighbor and say you sinner come on somebody you sinner you're sinner I'm a sinner we're all sinner we have a massive problem when people come to me for some marriage help oh Pastor our marriage is hurting we're falling apart I look at them and say no duh there's two Sinners that are trying to become one you you got two Sinners born in two separate household born from Sinners whose grandparents are sinners whose great-grandparents are sinners and somehow you think you were going to figure this out without problems every problem's root is sin now now we're going to talk about where that sin came from in just a moment but here's where the Christmas story ties in when an angel came and met
with some shepherds in the same region where Jesus was born that angel proclaimed a great announcement here's the angel said to them in Luke 2:10 fear not for behold I bring you good news everyone Shout good news good news of great joy shout great joy great joy this is the message of Jesus it's good news of great joy now the angel proclaimed this good news of great joy will be for all the people everyone needs some good news Jesus stepped into a world of bad news Jesus stepped into a world full of sin now this is what the angel proclaimed in verse 11 for unto you was born this day there was a child that would do what no other child has done before unto you this day in the city of David which by the way is Bethlehem talk
about that today as well a savior everyone shout a savior a savior who is Christ the Lord God came up with a solution for our sin a savior you cannot save yourself you cannot buy your way into heaven you cannot be good enough to get into heaven every single person needs a savior now the whole point of Christmas is that God loves us so much he came to give you a solution for your sins namely a savior who is that Shout It Out Jesus that's what Christmas is all about oh but yet all of us have a Christmas time stress we have worry we have anxiety oh so many people are hurting from the loss of a loved one so many people are hurting right now because of financial burdens that are
too big so many people are hurting because of health problems so many people are hurting in their lives because of relationship issues and uncertainty of what's going to happen next and yet Christmas is going to come and it's going to go if there's one thing Christmas ought to point us to is Jesus because he's not going to come and go he's going to be with you in January in February that we've got to root our hearts we got to Anchor our souls to the hope that's found in Jesus that God loves you so much he gives you the solution to every single one of your problems let me read for you a section of scripture that will teach us that God is love 1 John 4: 7-9 Beloved the writer
John writes in his letter let us love one another oh you could hear the heart of this writer John he's been loved he wants to love now he's encouraging the church to love for love he says is from God and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God verse eight says anyone who does not love does not know God because God say with me God is love we're told right here if love is absent if something is wrong then then something is wrong with our relationship with God look at verse nine in this the love of God was made manifest Among Us that God sent his only son into the world so that we might live through him verse n is the Christmas story The
Easter Story and the gospel story all put together you love has been made manifest and known to all the world all history here it is God sent his son that by believing in him it changes everything it changes your problems you have a hope in a God that's greater than anything you're going through God is love now the Bible tells us that God is eternal he's always existed and he will forever exist I don't know why but mortal man tries to figure that out we we try to understand well where is the beginning of God what do you not understand there is no beginning you will never understand this you have a
beginning and you have an end so therefore we cannot understand a God that has always existed he did exist and he will forever exist so if this is true that God is eternal and cannot change if according to 1 John 4:8 that God is love that means God has always loved now here's what we're told in the Bible Genesis 1:1 is the origin of all things the beginning of all things says in the beginning before anything was what did God do he created the heavens and the Earth every creature was created by God it was his idea and by the way he's a creative God I love how we took a hippo and a unicorn and he made a rhinoceros come on he he is so creative I love God
and what he's able to do have you ever seen a giraffe you know their long necks go go do some just some Googling some factchecking here their hearts are so massive because they've got to pump blood from their heart to their brain and make it all the way up there God designed all of those things and we read that in the very first verse of all the Bible Genesis 1:1 in the beginning God he was there he did it this is who God is he's the Creator all things came about by him through him him for him it was his idea and he's Eternal so before there was you before there was a monkey before there were Dolphins before there was anything else God existed now if God is love that means God Loved Before there was something to
love he didn't need you to love he didn't need anything to actually love because God is love so who did God love I'll tell you who God loved God loved himself now I've heard this argument for those who who who have yet to put their faith in Jesus who have yet to fully experience the greatness of God's love some might say well that sounds pretty self-seeking a little selfish God would love himself for billions and trillions of years before he Cate why did he create was he lonely did he need something would he just mess with us that he created this world that we live in and someone to go down this rabbit hole that the devil wants to take them I need to explain who God is for just a moment we have one God and three persons called the trinity the word Trinity is not in the Bible but yet God is all throughout the Bible because it's his
story he's one God in three persons Triune the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit if you heard this before I didn't make it up it's all through the Bible God is Triune therefore if God is Triune the Father the Son the Holy Spirit The Father loves the son the son loves the spirit the spirit loves the father perfectly in unity never not loving that's Perfection and his finest one God three person not three Gods complete unity and community love God is love because God doesn't have to try to love he doesn't look to love there's never a day where he just wakes up grumpy and says I can't love you today God does not love you because of your good behavior we've got eradicate everything we've ever experienced through our parents or our grandparents or even at school God doesn't love a
better version of you you say oh man if you just cleaned up your life I sure would love you a lot more that's not how God works God is love love despite where you are love is what motivates the change not law so if God is love he's always eternally existed and so we have to understand this and we see this by the way throughout the scriptures I'll give you a couple quick examples second Corinthians the very last birth uh verse of Paul's letter to the second Corinthians or to second letter to the Corinthians in chapter 13:14 he says the grace the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ there's the Son and the love of God there's the father and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit there's the spirit be with you all so so Paul in concluding this letter didn't just say hey Jesus be
with you or God be with you or the spirit with be with you may God the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit be with you all this is for all people now Jesus said something very controversial in John chap 10:30 Jesus actually made this statement he says I I and the father are one and this may not sound controversial to you but at the time and to the Jewish hearers of the day Jesus was claiming to be one with God he's saying I and the father I came from the Father the father loves me we are one together one God now we're told this was so controversial the very next verse verse 31 says the Jews actually picked up stones to kill Jesus Jesus looked at them with rocks in their hands and said
I've shown you many good works from the father talking about all the Miracles that he's done he's healed the sick he's helped ladies he's helped men and he asked for which of them are you going to Stone me the Jews answered him in verse 33 it is not for the good work that we're going to Stone you so they liked the Miracles but it's for your blasphemy because they said you are being you being a man make yourself God now if we put ourselves in their shoes of course it would be confusing there's never been anyone like Jesus 100% God and 100% man not 50% God and 50% man God became a man the Creator became one of the created and now Jesus in the flesh is declaring it's me and of course it might be confusing
because he may not look the way you thought he would look he may not act the way you thought he would act and Jesus at this place says I and the father are one so you want to get to know God get to know Jesus now we have such a great God according to First John God Is What Love Therefore if God is love we're told in Genesis chapter 1 this God in verse 26 then God said let us notice the plural not let me let us the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit let us make man in our image after our likeness so if God is God and he has all authority he says I will make a creature unlike any other creature this creature will reflect a god that is love I mean zebras are cool they're like horses but black and white
uh we we've got all sorts of cool creatures everyone loves dogs and we got all sorts of cool creatures but God says there will be one that will stand out unlike any other creature this creature will have dominion over the dogs this creature will have dominion over the birds this creature will have dominion o over the fish look at verse 2 7 so God came up with this idea we'll make one creature in our image so God created man in his own image in the image of God he created him male and female he created them we are made in the image of God God is love he made them male and female now today we've got all sorts of debates over all sorts of things because the root problem is what sin is not somebody else so if someone says something
contrary to what I believe the ultimate issue is not them the ultimate issue is we've got a sin problem that's why marriages go wrong that's why finances go wrong that's why Health goes wrong we have a sin problem God created people perfectly he created this Earth perfectly so what went wrong I'll tell you what went wrong the author Moses the writer of Genesis tells us in chapter 3 that Satan who was kicked out of heaven earlier because he has a free will just like every single human he came and he slithered into the human story literally came in like a serpent and the first thing Satan does in Genesis chapter 3 is this is he asked the question to the woman Genesis 3:1 he said to the woman did God actually say this is the Temptation from the
devil to each of our hearts to question the promise of God's word if you do not take God at his word then you will not believe the promises of of God so if God says I am love and I made you in my image if you don't believe that then you won't take God at his word now Satan comes into the story and he he traps Eve the first woman he traps Adam and they cave into sin you could read the story on your own in Genesis chapter 3 they C into sin they rebelled against God gave God gave a perfect instruction of what they can and cannot do and of all the things they did they did the one thing God said not to do that's because they sinned the root of
their problem was not God it was not his word it was sin and from that point forward every single one of us have sinned now why did God let Satan come into the story anybody ever thought of that come on God you could have stopped that snake you could have built a a a fence around this Garden you could have done all sorts of things but God in his sovereignty wants us to to get to know him for who he really is Jesus made another audacious claim when he said in Luke 10:18 he said to them I saw Satan fall like lightning from Heaven you know why Jesus can say that he was there Jesus is eternal he was there before even the Earth began and when Satan who was a created angel of God to be a great worshipper decided to rebel against God
he wanted to be worshiped instead of worship he took a third of heaven with him you could read more about this story and Revelation 12 you've got to read it in its entirety because it uses this apocalyptic imagery which is awesome let me just read you one verse that says this therefore Rejoice oh heavens and you who dwell in them anyone excited to go to heaven no sin no Satan it's going to be a good place but woe to you oh Earth and sea anybody still on Earth just making sure you're still with me all right wake up your neighbor if they aren't because woe to you for the devil has come down to you in in great wrath because he knows his time is short now the devil goes against God there's a war between good and evil but do not mistake the devil is not equal with God he knows his time is short one day the devil's going to be locked up in Hell forever
now what is hell you've got to understand this hell is separation from God any person that does not have a solution for their sin is separated from God and they spend eternity with Satan which is separation from God but God is love and he provided a solution to sin he actually did it in the garden Genesis 3:15 says I will put enmity between you and the woman the Lord said to the serpent Satan and between your Offspring and her Offspring and here's what the seed that will come out of a woman will do he shall bruise your head and he said of Satan you shall bruise his heel who was he talking about he was talking about the solution for sin who would this be Isaiah the prophet writes some 740 years before for the birth of Jesus therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign here's how you'll know who the
savior is Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and you shall call his name Emmanuel now in the story of Christ's birth we read in Matthew 1:23 behold the Virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel which Matthew explains means god with us the solution that God gave in the garden would come through one woman that woman would be a virgin this will be impossible even when the angel came to Mary and said you will carry the Son of God look what she says in Luke 1:34 Mary said to the angel how will this be since I'm just a virgin and the angel answered her it won't be on you the Holy Spirit who's the Holy Spirit God the holy
spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you therefore the child to be born will be called holy that means complete completely set apart the Son of God hallelujah do you see the Christmas story we have a sin problem the Christmas story is God provided a solution a savior because God is love let me jump over to Romans 5'8 where the author tells us but God shows his love for us you want to know how much God loves you he's shown you in this that while we were sinners Christ died for us that no matter how much you've messed up there's no sin so great that a god that is love wouldn't demonstrate his love for you and that he died on the cross
for every one of your sins oh I love how 2 Corinthians 5:21 says for our sake he made him Jesus to be sin who knew no sin so that in Jesus we might become the righteousness of God hallelujah I need you to see this Jesus did what no man has done before he was born without sin he lived without sin he never sinned therefore when he died he did not deserve death he did nothing wrong he willingly gave his life on the cross to take your sin that there would be a great exchange that by believing in Jesus he forgives you not only of all your sin he gives you his own righteousness so that when you come before God you are no longer a sinner
you're considered a saint I love next year we're going to be doing an indu study through the book of Ephesians which means we're going to go very slowly through this book of Ephesians so that we can understand what does God want from us and in Ephesians chapter 1 let me just give you a taste of what the author tells us to the church blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us come on he blessed you this God has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the Heavenly places do you know that God God wants to give you every spiritual blessing do you know where that's found right down the street at the cannabis shop come on excuse my factious cynical heart what I'm trying to say is we seek blessings in all the wrong places is not
found in the stock market it won't be found in the next president of the United States it will never be found in a relationship that you're longing for it cannot be found in things the blessings that you're made to be satisfied with are found in Jesus Christ now let me keep read read in verse four even as he who by the way is eternal chose us in him before the foundation of the world that'll mess with your mind before he made anything he was thinking of you that we should be holy and blameless before him I need you to see these next two words in love would you say in love in love this is true love he predestined us for adoption to himself as Sons through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of his will verse 6 says to the praise Hal of his glorious Grace with which he
has blessed us in the Beloved my friends here's God's plan God knew that you would sin so he provided a solution namely a sa savior so that by believing in this savior you no longer be separated you'd be adopted into the family of God if you're adopted into the family of God you're a child of God if you're a child of God you take God at his word and you get every blessing of God you can start praising him now because this is not the end of your story you're going through something right now your God is greater than what you're going through you have everything you need in Jesus Christ and when I say everything I mean everything oh the devil is a liar he wants to deceive you trick you distract you no the devil wants to destroy your life but I'm here to say today Jesus is the great Overcomer he overcame the enemy he's the
great Overcomer that he died for every single one of your sins that's who Jesus Is God is love love and he used the entire Old Testament to point us forward to the person of Jesus he used Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers and Deuteronomy all to point us to the person Jesus Christ God is love he would use the prophets the priests and the Kings to point us to the person Jesus he would use judges to show us the true great judge is Jesus over and over my God wants you to know who he is that you would find his love in the right place Jesus you know there are some crazy stories in the Bible That's why you should go through the whole Bible you ever heard of a book called Hosea yeah it's not rated R it's for
mature audience only I'm telling you this book is a crazy book God speaks to a prophet and says I want you to marry a prostitute come on a prophet marry a prostitute well maybe she's changed her life maybe she's born again maybe she goes to Journey Church if she's a prostitute but I'll tell you what my God says You' got to see what real love is is this Prophet marries the prostitute right away she goes and starts making love with other men and God says I don't want you to give up on her don't divorce her keep going after her God is love and then he would take that Prophet over and over and over again she would actually have children from other men but God says I don't care how far you go from me my love's even greater than that so no matter how much you've messed up I'm
going to keep loving you you see we may not be perfect but God is because God is love let me just bring bring you a reality of who God is Micah 52 says this but you oh Bethlehem who are too little to be among the clans of Judah from you shall come forth from me one who is to be ruler in Israel whose coming forth is from old from Ancient of Days y'all heard of Bethlehem where was Jesus born Micah wrote this 400 years before Jesus was born now Bethlehem is not a big city but Bethlehem is the very place that Jesus was born how was Jesus born in Bethlehem well his mother Mary was living in a in a town called do you remember what town she was living in Nazareth Nazareth is 70 miles from Bethlehem they didn't have Uber they didn't have a Tesla to put in the address to drive them there they didn't
have a train or a plane 70 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem how would this be let me read you Luke 2:1 in those days that acree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered this was the first registration when quinius was governor of Syria sounds like a history lesson if you're tracking here all went up to be registered each to his own town and Joseph who by the way was betroth to Mary would go from Nazareth to the city of David which is called what Bethlehem now I want to just pause there for a moment because I need you to see this Matthew 2:1 says this was fulfilled Jesus was born now after Jesus was born in where Bethlehem let me just give you a little history lesson I know there's a lot of Hebrew today but Bethlehem means the House of Bread the House of Bread So when you say Bethlehem it means the House of Bread
which is really curious that God would orchestrate through an emperor named Caesar who by the way thought he was Lord who would declare a census so he can get some more taxes and build his army God is love he will use the government no matter how evil it actually looks for his purpose and his will because his promises never fail how was Jesus born in Bethlehem because God is love now why do I tell you bethlehem's called The House of Bread Jesus later on would say such a controversial statements the Jews once again wanted to kill him when he said this in John 6:35 Jesus said here's the reality I am the bread of life whoever comes to me shall not hunger whoever believes in me shall not thirst are you still tracking with me so
the place Jesus was born is the House of Bread Jesus says I'll tell you where the real bread is you're fed in your soul from me Jesus talking sustenance because you know what food is life you don't eat you die Jesus says you don't have me you don't have real life one more picture that God is love in Bethlehem do you remember that that scripture I share with you out of Luke Chapter 2 an angel came to visit who Shout It Out Shepherds there were shepherds in Bethlehem now they weren't ordinary Shepherds you know who these Shepherds watch sheep over this is a crazy story here these Shepherds would watch over the little lambs that would be sacrificed at the temple at Passover are you tracking with me if you don't track with me that's okay because this is a Bible story and in this Bible story we read that that animals would be
sacrificed in the temple for our sins so that we would remember that only God forgives our sins and we deserve death but a little lamb would take our sin and God's mercy he would still love us said his steadfast kindness so Angel visits these Shepherds who are overseeing these sheep that are going to be led to the slaughter at the temple and in Bethlehem the very place where the Sheep are that will be slaughtered for the sacrifice of sins is the bread of life and also born in Bethlehem come on somebody is the Lamb of God God is love where you no longer have to bring a little sheep to the temple to be slaughtered by the high priest but now you can go to God himself the great high priest because Jesus Paid the price when John the bap apst saw Jesus he said Behold the Lamb of God he's the one
that's going to take away the sins of the world the Book of Revelation refers to Jesus nine times as the Lamb of God Revelation 121 says we overcome the accuser that is the Devil by the blood of the lamb and the word of Our Testimony God is love you know how you overcome the enemy today Jesus God is love the last verse and then we're going to going to pray and then we're going to take communion together Jesus said this in John chapter 10 excuse me John chapter 13:35 he says by this all people here's all people your family your co-workers the city of Bend by this all people will know that you're my disciples if you have love for
one another this is such a trip here he doesn't say the world will know your mind by what church you go to he doesn't say the world will know that you follow me you're my disciples by good preaching or through worship he doesn't say it'll be programs he does not say it'll be anything other than what how will the world know love the one thing you can do but you can't do it unless you've been loved unless you know love you know how we're going to transform the world in love now I know love love has a name is Jesus changes everything today if if you need to be forgiven of your sins right now from this day forward you can literally be set free of the burden that was passed on to you by your parents
your grandparents your great grandparents and great great great great grandparents if you want to be forgiven of your sins and start a new relationship with God I'm going to give you an opportunity right now this is between you and the Lord because a preacher can't save you a prayer can't even save you only Jesus can and I want to lead you to Jesus right now if you want him I'm going to ask every eye closed right now if you want a relationship with Jesus maybe this is for the first time or maybe you need to renew your relationship with the Lord and say I'm coming back I've been living in sin if you want to be forgiven today of your sins and you want to confess that right now to the Lord all eyes closed just put your hands up to to the heavens and say that's me I need Jesus I need Jesus praise God praise God praise God praise God families are being changed right now praise God praise God all over the place praise God put it up nice and high surrender to the Lord say
I'm I'm serious Lord yes I'm saying yes to you Jesus no more caring your sin say yes to the Lord anyone else put your hand up high praise God praise God today he loves you he forgives you you're found in his grace and his Mercy the Bible says if you believe in him and receive his name you're a child of God you can put your hands down all over the room I'm just going to ask if you've ever made this decision we do it with those for the first time repeat this prayer after me Lord Jesus I Repent of my sins forgive me Lord I receive your love I received the Holy Spirit and the gift of Salvation in Jesus name amen amen amen
amen amen God is love what's Christmas all about Jesus God is love I want to lead you in one more place if if you got a cup like this with two elements there's a cracker and there's some juice I want you to get this out if you did not get one of these put your hands up nice and high in the air and we'll make sure to run some over to you you right now if you did not get a little cup like this and you want one put your hand up in the air we're going to take these two elements I'm going to lead you in this right now put your hand up nice and high if you if you need one of these and we'll we'll run over to you if you got one of these take it out now let me read this to you Jesus we told in Matthew chapter 26 says now as they were eating by the way this was the Passover meal it would be the last time a lamb would be
slaughtered Jesus as they were eating the seder meal at Passover he took bread which is represented in the cracker we're going to take today and after blessing it he broke it and gave it to his disciples and said take eat this is my body there there's a greater sustenance than food he took a cup and when he had given thanks he had given it to them and said drink of it all of you for this is my blood of the Covenant which is poured out for many for the Forgiveness of sins then Jesus said I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it a new with you in my father's Kingdom I want to pause right there and I want us to do just that today I want us to remember Jesus if you would take out the element
of the cracker which represents the the body of Jesus we want to remember that Christ was crucified so that you could be one with God he gave his body as the atonement so that you would be made right with God can you take this spread right now and together we participate and remember the body of Jesus broken for [Music] you then he took a cup to show that he is the Messiah The Chosen One the Christ and of that cup he said of the wine that was in there that this is a representation a symbol of his blood for the Forgiveness of all sins once and for all there's no sin that he want won't forgive you of if you believe that today we're going to take of this cup and remember Christ's blood was shed to
forgive you of every single one of your sins let's take [Music] together before we leave we're going to sing one last song I'm going to pray but I want to read one more verse to you and I want to remind you of how we started today after they had done what we call today communion the bread in the cup when they had sung A Hymn they went out to the Mount of Olives do you know Jesus worshiped just like we worship because he loved the father and he loved the spirit wouldn't you want to know what hymn they sung we do know because often at the end of a seder meal they would sing a song found in the hello they were songs that they were
taught at a very early age and after the the seder meal they they would go to Psalm 118 they had it memorized and they would sing together oh give thanks to the Lord for he is good his steadfast love endures forever look at verse four let those who fear the lord say his steadfast love endures forever the song that they would sing would point us to Jesus he is the love that endures forever right in the middle of the song it says this I thank you that you've answered me you have become my salvation that points us to Jesus verse 22 the stone that the builders rejected became the Cornerstone that's
Jesus and the last verse says oh give thanks to the Lord verse 29 oh give thanks to the Lord for he is good say it with me for his steadfast love endures forever Lord today we thank you that your love is not temporary Your Love love has no bounds today I thank you Jesus you are the Fulfillment of all the promises in history for you are almighty God we thank you that we could celebrate that Christmas you did what needed to be done you're the solution for our sins we celebrate you today as our great savior we celebrate you today for those who said yes to you those who have been released from the from the burden of their sins so God protect your flock for you are the great Shepherd oh
God I plead your blood over your church I thank you Jesus we've overcome the Enemy by the blood of the lamb and the word of Our Testimony for that I thank you and I praise you I love you in the Great Name of Jesus and the church shouts together amen amen
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Praise and God's steadfast love
Pastor Keith explains halal as praise and hallelujah as praise directed to God. He describes psalms memorized and sung across generations, then reads Psalm 118 and explains hesed as God’s enduring kindness and mercy.
Psalm 118:1-4
- Why might praising God be described as something people were created to do, rather than just a good habit?
- What changes when you hear the call to give thanks and remember God's steadfast love as a line sung by generations before you?
- How does Pastor Keith connect praise with remembering God's enduring love in Psalm 118?
Love within the Trinity before creation
The sermon argues that God is eternal and unchanging, and since 1 John 4 describes God’s loving nature, God has always loved. The Trinity is offered as the reason love did not begin with creation: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have always loved one another in unity, so God did not create out of need. Paul's closing benediction in 2 Corinthians 13:14 is cited as naming all three persons together.
1 John 4:7-9 · 2 Corinthians 13:14
- How does the Trinity shape the claim that love is who God is rather than something God does?
- Pastor Keith says God's love does not rest on good behavior. What makes that difficult to believe?
- Where have you assumed God's love had to be earned, and what would it look like to trust it instead?
Sin as the root problem and the gift of a Savior
Using Isaiah 59:2 and Romans 3:23, Pastor Keith presents sin as humanity’s fundamental problem and a source of separation from God. He connects this with Luke 2:10–11, where the angel announces Jesus’ birth as a joyful message of salvation for everyone.
Isaiah 59:2 · Romans 3:23 · Luke 2:10-11
- How does calling sin the root problem differ from calling it just one problem among others?
- What does it mean that the angel announced a Savior for all people?
- If no one can save themselves, what would keep someone from saying yes to Jesus?
The promise of a Savior and God with us
The sermon traces the promise from Genesis 3:15 through Isaiah's sign to Matthew's explanation that the name Emmanuel expresses God's presence with people. It points to the virgin birth as God's provision of a solution to sin, and to Romans 5:8 and 2 Corinthians 5:21 for how God showed his love in Christ's death and the exchange of sin for righteousness.
Genesis 3:15 · Matthew 1:23 · Romans 5:8 · 2 Corinthians 5:21
- What does it mean that the name Emmanuel expresses God's presence with his people?
- How does Pastor Keith use Christ’s death for rebellious people in Romans 5:8 to describe God’s love?
- How does Pastor Keith explain Jesus bearing human sin and giving believers righteousness in 2 Corinthians 5:21?
Bethlehem, the House of Bread, and the mark of love
The sermon notes that Bethlehem means House of Bread and that Micah named it long before Jesus was born. It connects the name to John 6:35, where Jesus calls himself the bread of life, and to the shepherds keeping sacrificial lambs, pointing to Jesus as the Lamb of God. The message closes with John 13:35, which presents mutual love as the identifying feature of Jesus’ followers, and with Communion.
Micah 5:2 · John 6:35 · John 13:35 · Psalm 118:22
- How might the name Bethlehem, House of Bread, change the way you read the Christmas story?
- What does it mean that Jesus calls himself the bread of life for the hunger of the soul?
- Pastor Keith says love, not preaching, worship, or programs, is what identifies Jesus' disciples. Why does that distinction matter?
Answers from this recording
Start a conversation.
Why does Pastor Keith call sin the root problem behind every problem?+
Pastor Keith uses Isaiah 59:2 and Romans 3:23 to describe humanity’s separation from God through sin. He presents this as the deepest issue beneath human brokenness and connects it with Luke 2’s announcement that God has provided a Savior in Jesus.
What does the Hebrew word hesed mean, and why does it matter in the message?+
Pastor Keith reads Psalm 118:1 and points out that the phrase often translated "steadfast love" is the Hebrew word hesed. It is described as God's steadfast mercy and kindness, woven through the Old Testament as God's most common characteristic, and it is said to last forever. The sermon uses it to argue that love is not something God starts and stops but a description of who God is.
Why did God create, if he is eternal love?+
The sermon answers this with the Trinity: one God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Because those persons have always loved one another in unity, Pastor Keith argues, God did not create because he was lonely or needed something. The message grounds this in 1 John 4, which describes God’s loving nature, and in 2 Corinthians 13:14, where Paul names the Father, Son, and Spirit together.
Why does the location of Jesus' birth matter in this sermon?+
The message notes that Bethlehem means House of Bread and that Micah named Bethlehem as the ruler's origin before Jesus was born. It then connects that name to John 6:35, where Jesus calls himself the bread of life, and to the shepherds who kept sacrificial lambs. The conclusion: the place of the birth points both to Jesus as the food who gives real life and to the Lamb of God whose death answers sin.
How does Jesus say the world will recognize his disciples?+
Pastor Keith uses John 13:35 to present mutual love as the identifying feature of Jesus’ followers. He emphasizes love rather than church affiliation, preaching, music, or programs. He connects the ability to love others with knowing and receiving God’s love in Jesus.
