Thanks for listening. This podcast is a ministry of Mariners Church and everything we do to serve you, our communities, and our global family happens because of your generosity. Your financial support in the month of December is vital, as we prepare for the next year of ministry. Everything you give equips us to reach our world with the hope of Jesus and serve those around us in His name.
To give now and partner with us, visit MarinersChurch.org slash give or click the link in the show notes. Thanks for your generosity and God bless you. Welcome to the Mariners Church Life Group Leader podcast. This weekly conversation is designed to equip and resource youth to build a healthy life group community that studies God's word, practices spiritual rhythms, and changes the world together.
Welcome to the Life Group Leader podcast. I'd like you guys are joining us today for the special Midweek episode, where we're doing a series overview of our Christmas service, God with us. We are here. Can you believe it?
We're all fresh off of our post Thanksgiving turkey commas. Boom. Coming into the Thanksgiving season and that boom that you heard. That's our secret pastor Eric Geiger.
So glad to have Eric here with us. Man, I love doing this. Love our life people here so much. I love it a little bit.
That's it. Man, I love this time of year too. I love this time of year, not just because of culturally what it means more time with family and looking back on the year that was. There's some beautiful traditions culturally within Christmas, but principally for what it means for us as followers of Jesus.
This is the most significant thing that has ever happened. God, the son was born. Jesus, the Christ came into our life and I love that we're going to spend some time during this season of Christmas unpacking these deep theological truths that have real life implications. That's right.
Christmas is beautiful. Christmas is also really theological. Guide this on entering our world. I was just thinking ending the series on Daniel as we did, which is incredible.
I've said before, I've been around church for a long time and I don't think I've ever been in a spot where there was a dedicated servant series to go really first by verse, but through the book of Daniel, that ending as we did, looking towards Jesus and his return that we stand. We sit at that moment right now waiting for the return of Jesus. Daniel actually goes really well in the Christmas. It's a total.
Because you have the prophecies about Christ coming the first time and we have the prophecies of him coming a second time. It's actually a really great setup for what we're going to be talking about next several weeks. That's right. Two arrivals, right?
And we can have confidence that he will come again because he already came to be with us the first time, which is beautiful. All right. So we walked through just week by week. What's the looks?
How many weeks do you think most life group leaders listen in are going to meet with their groups over Christmas? Every single one. All life group leaders are so committed. What about you?
What about your life group? I know from my life group, if we're the next four weeks, if we get two in that, people are going to be traveling. I think that's probably our life group too. I guess it's that we'll have one study and maybe abbreviated study slash party.
Totally. Yeah. It's my guess. That's our plan to study social, hang out, do some Christmas stuff together.
So your life group and if you are, you're currently listening as a life group leader. We'll spend four weeks through different, really prepositions of what Christmas means. Actually, the series title initially was Christmas prepositions. Our creative team told me that was a bad title.
And you agree? I agree. Guys, I just I know what I give is it's the pre-season servants. Yeah.
Yeah. You want to call them by never.o uncle. English grammar exercise or we look at. Yeah.
So the reason was called initially Christmas prepositions. This will make sense to you. Yeah. It was because week one is God is before us.
And we're going to see that. I mean, we don't want people to believe that Jesus was created. Right. That that God, the Son was created.
But God, the Son's always existed. He's before us. In the beginning was the word. And the word was with God.
And the word was with God. He was with God. In the beginning, John chapter one verse one. It's the incarnation told from the headling account of the gospel of John.
And he is before us. So week one, he's before week two. He's four. So he enters our world.
God, the Son, Jesus, the Christ enters our world. And he's not against us. He's for us. He came here to rescue us, to accomplish salvation and forgiveness for us.
He's for you. That's what we do. Week three is God is within us. And for those of us who believe in Jesus, he not always stepped into our world.
But when we believe to him, he stepped into our lives. God has moved within our lives. Right. And then Christmas week is God with us.
It's the, it's the Emmanuel passage. So you have God before God. God is for us. For God.
God before God. For God within. And God with. So later, what I would do is, depending on what you meet, is I would just spend a little bit of time talking about the beauty of those statements.
You know, it's amazing that he, you know, we've won that he's before. The reason that's so awesome is because you know, you have a God who planned your rescue. You have Jesus being the creator, not the created, which means he was able to look into time and choose the exact moment he went into this world, which means he's also able to look at you and the people in your group. And you're never going to find yourself in a moment where he's not already been said.
He also gets, so he's already there. The next trial that you are going to face, he's already there. He already sees it. He's getting you ready for it right now.
The end of your life, he already sees it and he's there and he's going to welcome you home to be with him forever. He is before you. And then we too, he's for you. How we can marvel.
We'll actually spend a little time in Romans chapter eight and we do the incredible rhetorical questions of Romans chapter eight. If God is for me, who can be against me. Yes, of course, there's a good letter against me. But does it really matter when God is for me is what the Apostle Paul is saying.
So realize that Christmas reminds you that he's for you. And then week three, how such good news that he wants to be with me so much that he's moved within me. He's actually not always stepped into this world, but moved into our lives. Right.
So he's within us. And then we for that he's with us, which is that we can look at the incredible passage of Emmanuel. He wants to be with you. Yeah.
Yeah. And we need each and every single one of these deep truths about who Jesus who Jesus is. I mean, I think often we like to think about and it is true that Jesus came and flashed to be with us that he's our companion, that he's empathetic because in every way that we were tempted that Jesus was also tempted. And we need that we need that our souls need that.
But even more than that, we need someone who's overcome everything that we've that we face. And so Christmas tells us that yes, he's he's with us. He's before us, but he's also the one that is overcome everything that we face. And that's that's that we need our souls need that.
Yes. It's beautiful. Hey, there's every year right now, the mall, the restaurant, you're going to hear Christmas music. You're going to hear songs about Jesus.
It's really fascinating. I'd be at night. That's an Eden, mold is still a clippers game. And there's like a state regarding across the street.
Yeah. We right there. Yeah. And there's Christmas music playing silent night.
Jesus Lord, add, I burp. Come on. That's being played in downtown LA. Jesus Lord, I burp.
So Christmas is a time when the culture actually tolerates all of these really overt Christian lyrics. Right. And but some tolerate because they like the Christ of spirit. They like the feelings of Christmas.
The reality is you have to look at the moment of reincarnation, God, the internal world. Look at the moment of the manger and ask, what is this really mean? Right. Is this just a symbol?
Is this just a person? And we're saying, no, no, this is God before. This is God with this God within. This is God for us.
Yeah. Not just a person. I'm more example, a symbol or a prophet, but this is God himself. That's right.
Which demands a response from every single one of us. If this is free, which we believe it is true, that it's not of it's not of any consequence. It is the most substantial thing that for our eternity, how we respond to the gift of grace given through Jesus to be with us for us. He's before us and he's within us.
So can't wait to study this together with you all weekend and week out. It's going to be an incredible season. And then Christmas at Mariners. Oh, we do Christmas.
So right. We do Christmas. So right. It's going to be an incredible celebration.
Week one December 2nd and 3rd. We've got tree lighting. I'll be here at Irvine, but all of our different congregations are going to have different aspects of that. Kids choirs.
And then, of course, on the Christmas weekend, 22nd, 23rd, 24th. We've got a full list of full gamut of services happening there. The worship service is really easy to find. We'll end to invite a friend to come with you.
Yeah. We would say to you for life, your pleaters. You want to have the conversation about, of course, as you always would. What service are we attending to?
But also, where are we going to serve this Christmas? It's a great opportunity that we get to have to host our community during these Christmas services. And so we want you to attend. We want you to invite.
But what a great time to do it. You serve. You have another really cool thing to ask life. You believe is to ask your life groups.
Hey, let's all spend a moment. Who really invite? That it really needs to hear the message of Christmas and the ceremony and praying for the people that you're going to invite. That would be a really, really powerful experience.
It would remind you that Christmas is only for you. Christmas is for you. But it's not only for you. That is for other people too.
That's right. And we'd love for them to experience the hope of Jesus during Christmas season and then just right around the corner. We'll go too much into that. We're going to be in that new year on the table.
We're going to be in that sermon series in January, which we're going to be addressing five questions. Six questions. Thank you for the correct six questions that are commonly asked. Different questions.
Yes. Right. That's right. That's right.
We asked it seriously. Is it a stinking? No. No.
The whole different set of questions that your friends are asked that people are wondering about. And there's really good news that Jesus and his word meets us with both grace. Very gracious. Another question.
But also true. Awesome. Good. Great.
All right. Last one. Favorite Christmas song? You mentioned one.
You got one that you're like, this is the one I can't wait to go to every year. I don't think we sing it as much. But. That's the best voice.
That's the best voice you're listening to. Yeah, yeah. Great. I really like, and just being honest, I think it was spiritual.
I really like the little drummer voice on. That's great. You know why? Well, but love to know.
It's that part where I have no gift to bring. Yeah. So I have nothing to offer, but I'm going to do my best. I'll play my best for him, me and my drum.
And I just love that. I remember hearing that from a new lancer, I became a Christian. I was like, I had that much to offer God. I don't have hardly anything to offer God.
I'm going to give him my best. They brought gifts of gold for instance of her. I don't have anything like that. And I mean, I was a 19 year old college kid, but I thought, man, I want to give him my best.
I want to give him my heart and my life. That's it. That's the best song that's seen deep, castle truth. And that's awesome.
And the BC Boys Christmas. Alright. Awesome. You guys can get away to see it very Christmas.
It's going to be a great season to be here together. And as we said, invite others to come and join and experience Open Christmas and then let's serve together during this Christmas season.