CALEB CHAPPLE

Well, good morning, Valley Creek Church. Hey, it is so good to see you guys. Hey, let's go ahead and welcome in all our campuses together. Denton, Lewisville, Gainesville, Flower Mound. Everyone joining us online. Man, it is so good to be here with you. My name is Caleb. I get to serve as one of our student directors here at the Flower Mound Campus. And man, it is a fun Sunday here at Valley Creek. Because we are one week away. One week until our Christmas services. And man, we have an amazing experience planned for you and your family. But wow, one week until Christmas. That came fast. Like somewhere in my brain, I think we're still back in September. But one week until Christmas. Which means one more week of last-minute gift shopping. Myself included. One week of family coming in town. One week of hot cocoa, gingerbread houses and a super high electric bill because for some reason we keep those lights running all day long. One more week. But man, we know Christmas is so much more than that. Christmas is so much more than the decorations and the gifts we buy, than a service or a church building. And even more than gathering together as family because Christmas is all about Jesus. See, Christmas is the time when we got to experience the hope of Jesus once and for all. Christmas is when Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us came to be with His people. And so, Christmas is all about Jesus. And so, our hope for today is really myself and two other communicators, we just want to point your eyes to Jesus. To lift your eyes to our Savior. Our Lord, the Messiah, Jesus. And so, each of us wants to share one thing that God has placed on our hearts for this Christmas. One thing for this Christmas. Not Christmas in the past. Not Christmas in the future. But this Christmas. One thing that, because of Jesus, we now get to experience. And so, Valley Creek, this Christmas, because of Jesus, may you be present. Be present. Not like open all the presents. You can do that too. But be present. See, as I've been reflecting on the Christmas story, there's been one group of people that God's been highlighting to me. And it's a group of people who had to be very present that first Christmas. And that's the shepherds. See, I think we talk about the shepherds, but I don't think we think about them much. We might know the verse, and there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby keeping watch over their flocks at night. Maybe you heard that in a Charlie Brown Christmas. Students, maybe you don't know what that is. It's okay. And we kind of give them that verse, and that's about it. We don't pay much attention to the shepherds beyond that. But we forget that the shepherds were like the first people ever to see Jesus. Well, maybe besides Mary and Joseph. They were the first people besides Mary and Joseph to see Jesus, the Messiah. The Savior of all mankind, the Lord, God's presence with us. They were the first people to witness Emmanuel, God with us, all because they were present keeping watch over their flocks at night. Because they were present, they got to be the first to experience Jesus. I'm not just talking about being at the right place at the right time or the right field at the right time. No, they were present in the moment. They weren't just thinking about tomorrow or the years ahead. They weren't just aimlessly killing time. They were present. And see, this Christmas, I feel like God's inviting me to simply be present. I feel like that's been the invitation for me really this entire year.

You see, back in January, our staff got to be a part of what we call our dream retreat, which is a great time where we come together, get some vision for the year. Get to unify together, and get to do a little bit of hard work for the season ahead. And one of the sessions, whoever was leading it brought out these giant wooden planks, literal two by fours, and brought up the verse, "Why do you pay attention to the speck in your brother's eye when there's a plank in your own eye?" And so, I knew it was going to be good. And so, we were encouraged just to ask the Holy Spirit, "What's the plank in my eye? What's the thing that I don't see that's whacking others, that's hurting both myself and the people around me?" We got to reflect, and I was thinking it was going to be something like pride, control, selfishness. Something that was a little obvious. But as I asked the Holy Spirit, I sat there and reflected. It felt like he was highlighting the words not present. Not present. As I started to think about it, I reflected on all the areas of my life that were literally arranged around not being present. I keep the TV running while I'm doing anything at home. I'm constantly playing music in the car on the way to work. I'm bouncing from thing to thing and meeting to meeting. I spend half a meeting just thinking about the meeting that happened right before it. If I have to wait for anything, if I have to wait for coffee, I just pull out my phone and I start scrolling. I'm thinking literally when I get home for the day, I'm thinking about all my to-dos for the next day. It's like I was so not present, I didn't even realize I wasn't present. And so, now I have the gift of a giant 2x4 sitting in my office that says not present on it. Which, by the way, is people's favorite thing to put on my desk when I'm out of town. So, I get it, guys. I get it. I'm not present. But it's a constant reminder that every single moment is an opportunity I have to be present. That every single moment is an opportunity to be present. And I can confidently say that after a year of working on it, I'm still not great. But I'm a person of progress. And I'm becoming a person who is more present. And I want to be a person who is more present. I'm arranging and rearranging the things in my life to become more present. See, I think this Christmas there's an invitation for all of us to be present. There's an anointing in Christmas because Christmas is the time where God came to be present with us. Where the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. Where God literally moved into our neighbourhood and took up a dwelling of flesh and blood. Where Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us, literally came to dwell with us. See, one of the names of God, one of the names for Jesus in the Bible is literally an ever-present help in trouble. Jesus is ever-present. Present is who He is. There was never a moment where He wasn't present. If you read the story of Jesus, it's so hard to miss how present He was with people. How in the moment, how present He was with the people around Him. He saw the people that others passed by. He looked at them and loved them. Instead of seeing things as interruptions, He saw them as opportunities. Jesus was so incredibly present with people. And He still is. Jesus is so present with you now. He is ever-present with you. His presence holds all things together. He's with you in every moment. And when we're able to pause and slow down and be still and know that He is God when we're present, we realize how present He is with us. That Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us is with you in every moment. He's the God who's with you. The God who sees you. He's the God who knows you and loves you and enjoys you. Sometimes we just have to be present enough not to miss it. As you think of all the things that the shepherds would have missed out on that first Christmas if they weren't present. Think about all they got to see though. All they got to experience by being present. Now, imagine what you could experience this Christmas if you choose to be present. What would it look like for you to be present this Christmas? What would you see? What would you experience? What would you get to enjoy this Christmas by choosing to be present? By even simply choosing to say, "This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it." This is the Christmas the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. What if you chose simply to say like, "This is the day. Today, that I choose to be present." I choose to look someone in the eyes. I choose to have that conversation. To slow down, to not rush from thing to thing. Maybe just create some space and margin. Just enjoy watching the kids open their presents and not just worry about taking that perfect photo. To have a conversation with that family member just to enjoy being together. What if you chose this is the day? Don't just rush to get to Christmas like it's the moment that's going to save everything. And what if instead of looking back in January, wondering how it went by so quick, we chose this is the day. Today. This is the Christmas that I choose to be present. To enjoy God and the life that He's given me. So, Valley Creek, because of Jesus, may you be present this Christmas.

PASTOR TODD BADEN

All right. Well, hey everybody. My name is Todd and I get to serve on staff here at Valley Creek as the pastor of finance. My wife and I, we've been coming here for the last 15 years or so. And can I just say, I love this church. I love this church. And I love what God is doing in me and what he's doing in my wife and what's he doing in my kids. And so, it really is an honour to be able to share here this morning. Because what I sense what the Lord wants to say is that this Christmas, because of Jesus, be generous. Be generous. Because that is what Christmas is all about. Hear me. Christmas is not about generosity because of Santa or the presents or the gifts or the dinner parties. No. Christmas is all about generosity because God gave us the greatest gift on Christmas. His one and His only son. John 3:16. "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." And we think this verse is an Easter verse, but it's actually a Christmas verse. Because God gave us His one and only Son on Christmas. And He didn't give us the bottom of the barrel. He gave us His very best.

You see, Jesus is God's perfect representation of generosity. And I would define generosity as giving God's resources to others in a way that extends His kingdom. Generosity is giving God's resources to others in a way that extends His Kingdom. Because that's what God did for us. He gave us Jesus that then started the entire movement of hope. The Father gave Jesus to us as a baby to establish His Kingdom on earth. And then, He uses us to extend His Kingdom on earth. Jesus established. We extend. Christmas was the beginning of Jesus establishing His rule and reign. He was born and then He lived and then He died. And then, He was raised back to life. God gave us Jesus as a baby in a manger who then became a man on a cross who then became the resurrected Savior of the world. And then, He ascended into heaven leaving us here to extend His Kingdom. We are Christ ambassadors as if God was making his appeal directly through us. So, we get to extend His Kingdom. We get to go. We get to reach out. We get to expand. So, Jesus established His Kingdom. We get to extend it. And generosity is one of the primary ways that we extend the Kingdom of God. How? Well, because when we're generous, we actually get to show people that aspect of God's heart. The aspect of love. God so loved that He gave. We get to show people that they're known and that they're seen and that they're not forgotten. And here's the thing. You can give without loving, but you can't love without giving. Because love is the primary motivation of generosity. And I see it this way. That we have all the resources of the kingdom over here. And all of the needs of God's people over here. And then, we, the people of love, are right in the middle. And God is looking for people that he can entrust the resources of heaven with to then distribute to His people according to His will. And so, at the same time, we are reminded that the ultimate goal of our lives is not to make more money. See, it's to follow and to become more like Jesus. And so, when we're generous, it's like our own declaration that we don't worship money like the world does. No. We worship the King. And Christmas actually shows us that we get to worship the King by being generous. So, when I think of generosity and Christmas, I can't help but think of the wise men. Matthew 2, "On coming to the house, they saw the child with His mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped Him. Then, they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh." And what I love about this verse is it actually shows us that we first start Christmas, and we first start with generosity by seeing Jesus. By beholding Jesus. You see, we actually first have to seek Jesus, the Messiah, the Christ, the King. We actually put our eyes on him, and then we're compelled to worship. You see, the order matters. The wise men, first they saw, then they worshiped, and then they opened up their treasures and presented it to Him. But the wise men, they didn't just come with gifts. They also travelled a really long way to do it. The Scripture tells us that these men are from the east. And so, many historians believe that these men were from ancient Persia. And so, ancient Persia was about 1,200 miles from Bethlehem. So, for some context, that's about the distance from here to Detroit. And it takes about 18 hours to drive there in a car and about three months to do it on the back of a camel. Many of us think that the most costly gift that the wise men brought was the gold. But how many of us would be willing to get on the back of a camel and ride it to Michigan? That would cost you big time. And what an incredible sacrifice. But here's why they did it. They were compelled. They couldn't not follow the star and offer their gifts to Jesus. And I can't help but think that the wise men didn't get a whole lot of time with the baby. I don't think that there's a text that I can point you to. I'm just trying to play that story out in my mind. That they don't make this long trip and bring these gifts, but then expect to get blessed by Joseph and Mary having dinner and a movie for the next several months. I don't think they got anything tangible in return for their trip and their gifts, but that wasn't the point. The point was that they were compelled to celebrate the newborn King, to celebrate Christmas with generosity. And if we're honest with ourselves, we have a long trip to make. We have a long trip to make in our own minds and in our own hearts to become generous people. We might not have to travel 1,200 miles physically, but we have this long trip in our hearts to overcome a scarcity mindset or orphan thinking or the fear of just not having enough. But you might be sitting there thinking, "Todd, I have travelled 1,200 miles in generosity over these last several years." And to that, I want to say, "That's incredible and praise the Lord and thank you." But let me ask you this question. If Jesus were to ask you, would you travel 1,200 more and would you do it with a cheerful heart? And if you haven't started that journey yet, can I just encourage you that that trip gets shorter when we just start? That trip gets shorter when we just start the trip. I love how Matthew tells us that when it was time for the wise men to leave, they left a different way than they first came. When we're generous, our lives immediately go a different way than we first came. The distance in our heart towards generosity gets shorter. And I guess a different way to say that is that when we're generous, we just become more free. And when we become more free, we then freely give. And then, when we freely give, we become more free. And when we become more free, we freely give. Yes. And that's what I want for us this Christmas. Because when we're generous, something deep inside our souls gets satisfied and chains get broken. And then, we actually get to walk in the freedom that Jesus came as a baby to give us. And I know that to be true because that's what happened for me. You see, I used to be the least generous person. I wouldn't tithe according to Scripture just because I didn't want to give anymore. And when we would go to a restaurant, I wouldn't tip because I didn't want dinner to cost more. And I was so tight-fisted with money, my wife and I, we would fight about money all of the time. And that wasn't fun. But once I got the revelation that Jesus loved me, I wanted to give because I loved Him. When I got the revelation that generosity is actually a response to Jesus's grace, when I got the revelation that generosity is actually a way I get to worship the King of my life, when I actually started to be generous, my life completely changed. And so, now generosity is an overflowing of the love that I have in my spirit. And when we go to a restaurant, I now see it as an opportunity to bless someone, to extend His Kingdom. And generosity by itself has drawn my wife and I closer together instead of further apart. See, generosity has changed the entire course of my life. So, let me ask you this question. What does it look like for you to be generous this Christmas? And generosity can be expressed in a lot of different ways. It can be with your finances, but also your time and your energy and your love and your encouragement. So, what is the Holy Spirit saying to you about what treasures you have that you need to open up and present to Him? Is it as simple as buying a cup of coffee for the person behind you and just telling them that God is good? Or maybe it's giving someone something significant or giving an anonymous gift that just blows somebody away. Or maybe it's being overly generous with your words of encouragement to your spouse or generous with your time with your kids. Here's the thing about incredible acts of generosity. They actually have nothing to do with the amount of money that we give. It has everything to do about the posture of our hearts. A posture to worship and a posture of love. And if any of you are sitting here thinking, "Man, this is just really difficult for me to hear." If any of this sounds like an obligation or like a fundraising speech, can I just encourage you to just see Jesus this Christmas? Just behold Jesus this Christmas. Start there. Because the journey, your journey towards generosity starts at the exact same place that Christmas began. At a baby in a manger where God so loved you that He gave. So, this Christmas, because of Jesus, be generous.

ERIC SOMMERHAUSER

Merry Christmas. My name is Eric. I get to serve on staff over at our Denton Campus. And this Christmas, because of Jesus, make room. See, there's one character in the Christmas story who doesn't get nearly the airtime that the shepherds get. Doesn't have some really sweet gifts that the wise men have to offer. And yet it's a character I think all of us can learn from this Christmas. And that character is more famous for what they did not do than for what they did do. And that character is the innkeeper. Did anyone play any innkeepers in their Christmas pageants growing up? Innkeeper, 1997. Let's go. But here's the thing. So, the innkeeper is kind of famous. We don't really love the innkeeper because we know the innkeeper is one of the only bad guys in the entire Christmas story. He's the one that literally, you have a pregnant Mary and Joseph showing up at his door with the unborn baby Jesus. And he basically slams the door in their face and says, "I have no room for you in my inn." That's the innkeeper. He's the reason that Jesus ends up born in a manger where it says this. It says, "Mary wrapped Him in clothes and placed Him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn." See, the innkeeper is the person that had no room for anything that God wanted to do that Christmas. And here's the thing. I actually think I super relate to the innkeeper. Because I don't know about you, but if you think about the context of the story, the Roman government calls a census. So, all of a sudden, the innkeeper, at the end of the year, at Christmastime, is flooded with people. All of a sudden, his calendar, his energy, everything is the busiest it's ever been. Not like any of us at Christmastime. And then, you have an unwanted guest show up in an unexpected way at a time you are not ready for, knocking at your door. I don't know about you. I don't like unwanted guests in my house. I like a plan. I like to know what day are you coming over. What time are you coming over? Approximately when are you going to leave my house? I would like to know all of that well ahead of time. And yet, the innkeeper has an unwanted guest at an unexpected time. And so, he has no room.

The innkeeper, I think, actually fits in a 2025 Christmas really, really well for all of us. And so, the flip of it is, man, maybe because of Jesus, what if instead of no room, we actually made room this Christmas? What if we expected the unexpected? What if we planned for the unplanned this Christmas? What if instead of no room, we actually made room? And what if as disciples of Jesus, we just did what Scripture actually asks us to do when it says things like, "Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God's grace and its various forms." I love that it says, offer hospitality. Basically means, make room for people. Make room for Jesus and make room for people. In other parts of Scripture, it actually says, practice hospitality. I love that because it means we don't have to be the perfect host or hostess. We also don't have to have super fond feelings for hospitality, but we're asked to practice it. To try it. To try it again. To try it again. To make room for people. And what I also love is that it says, "Whatever gift you have received." The shepherds were not expected to bring frankincense, gold, and myrrh. The wise men were not expected to raise the baby Jesus They were just asked to use whatever gift they had received and were they willing to offer that in hospitality to the people around them? So, the question is, what have you received this year? If you've received friendship, maybe you need to offer, making room for someone else to be a friend this Christmas. If you've received the most important gift of all, revelation and knowing that I am loved by God because of Jesus, maybe there's a responsibility to offer that. To make room for someone else to come and experience the love that Jesus has for them. What would it look like for us to actually make room for someone? Because here's what is interesting about this verse is I think our offerings accidentally become grumblings when we just don't make room. The offerings of I know I want to be generous, but I didn't really make any room for that.

And so, it's difficult to not be anxious when I'm actually giving. I know I want to invite someone, but it's hard to actually do it well if I'm so focused and my calendar's full, and I'm worried about getting to Christmas Eve services on time and then getting to dinner afterwards. And I don't just have room and space to show up a little bit early to host someone well that I invited and said, "Hey, I want you to come and experience Jesus this Christmas." Our offerings become grumblings, but instead we could actually make space so that we could expect the unexpected. So, we could plan for the unplanned. And so, I think to make space and make room this Christmas will require us to actually do some things differently. We're one week away and there might be some external things we need to actually make space for and make room for externally with our calendar and our time and our finances and invitations. But also, I think sometimes at Christmas time, the hardest innkeeper to convince to open up is the innkeeper of our heart. So, sometimes there's a lot of external things that we need to make room for, but Scripture also tells us, make room for us in your hearts. So, maybe this Christmas is the Christmas where disappointment has been kind of growing in your heart for people. Maybe this Christmas you've been realizing that there's expectations, the unhealthy kind of expectations I've been placing on my family for years. And there's an invitation not just to make external room for people, but there's an invitation to actually make room in my heart by taking a step towards forgiveness. A step towards blessing when I've been expecting blessing in return. Maybe the room that we need to make in our heart is actually to convince that innkeeper to say, "Open up your heart this Christmas." What I want to say to you is don't worry about what happened last Christmas and you're not committing to what you need to do for the next 10 Christmases. But this Christmas, would you make room in such a way that you've never made before? Would you pray like you've never prayed before? We have one week. One week until our Christmas experiences. And so, maybe there's a room that you need to make in your life. Maybe there's a room that you need to make in your heart to expect the unexpected this Christmas.

So, here's the beauty of Jesus. He doesn't need a lot of room to do something spectacular this Christmas. He's the only person that's ever existed that can make a manger into a palace. So, this Christmas, He doesn't need you to clear the whole house. He doesn't need you to do everything for him. He just needs a little bit of room. Just a little bit of room to show up because here's what I believe. We have one week. I believe everything is still possible this Christmas. I believe the family member you've been praying for, for 20 years could still experience and encounter Jesus this Christmas. I believe the unforgiveness that you've been holding in your heart for decades could actually be this Christmas that you're totally free from it. This could be the Christmas where you experience breakthrough and miracles and the beautiful life of Jesus on display this Christmas. Because Jesus is still at the door knocking. So, here's what's really cool. The innkeeper had 2,000 years ago, the unborn baby Jesus knocking at his door and that baby Jesus became the resurrected Jesus, which means Jesus is alive. And He actually says, "Look, I stand at the door and knock. If you hear My voice and open the door, I will come in." So, 2000 years later, Jesus is still coming to the innkeepers. Knocking. Now we get the choice. Open the door. "There's just so much stuff. There's so much stuff, Jesus." Or open the door. "Jesus, I've been expecting You. I've been expecting you." Some of us need comfort this Christmas. So, make some room for the Comforter this Christmas. Some of us need peace. So, make room for the Prince of Peace in a way you haven't before in any other Christmas. Some of us literally need a resurrection in our families so make room for the resurrection and the life to come on in this Christmas. This Christmas, because of Jesus, may your heart expect the unexpected King to show up in an unexpected way. Because He loves you. And He's still knocking this Christmas.

Would you close your eyes with me? So, Holy Spirit, we make room for You. We make room this week to do that which only You can do for us to encounter Jesus, the Prince of peace. May we make room for others. May we make room to experience the life of God flowing into us and flowing throughout an entire region. In this area that they would experience and encounter the love that You have. There is so much hope, and we hope in You this Christmas. In Jesus’ name. Amen.