Rick Warren - Christmas Is for All People
Merry Christmas, everybody. In fact, Merry Christmas to all of you, Saddleback at all campuses. And on behalf of all your Saddleback family, brothers, and sisters meeting today on four different continents, I want you to know that the rest of us and all the other Saddleback campuses are praying for you this Christmas weekend. By the way, did you know that the 12 days of Christmas are the 12 days after Christmas? Not 12 days before, but 12 days after Christmas is actually called Christmas time. The days before Christmas are actually called Advent.
Now this Christmas weekend, I want us to focus on just three words of the Christmas story. It is the phrase, for all people, for all people. It’s found in the words of the angels in the very first Christmas announcement in Luke 2:10. Luke 2:10 says this, «The angel said to the shepherds,» you know this story. «Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be,» circle this, «For all people». «Good news of great joy for all people». This is the first public announcement of Jesus' birth and who is this announcement for? Everybody, everybody, everyone, all people. That means, every race, every religion, every economic status, both men and women and people in all places around the world.
When the angel announced the good news of Christmas is for all people, do you see any restrictions there? No. You see any qualifiers there? No. Any limits? No. Any conditions on who gets to hear and respond to the good news? None. Christmas is for all people. Now, that’s the title and the theme of this Christmas weekend message. By the way, 40 days later, when Jesus goes to the temp, 40 days later when he goes to the temple to be dedicated by his parents to the Lord, there, are a very old priest named Simeon, held the baby Jesus and said this, Luke 2:25–34, «I have seen the savior that you’ve given to all people». Underlining that, to all people. «He is a light to reveal God to the nations».
Now, we take this phrase, for all people, to all people, very seriously at Saddleback Church. We call ourselves an all nation congregation. You’ve heard me say many time, we speak 169 languages in our church family. We meet on four continents. We say we want our church family to look like heaven. Why? Because God doesn’t play favorites. And God loves diversity. If you don’t like diversity, you have a problem with God, okay? Because it’s His idea to make us all look and talk different. And it’s His idea. And also, by the way, if you don’t like diversity, you’re not gonna like Saddleback Church. Because if you only want a spiritual home for everybody looks like you, thinks like you, and smells like you, that’s not us. We’re a church for all people because that’s what God wants.
By the way, next year, 2022, in honor of the 54th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s death, Saddleback is going to do a civil forum. We weren’t able to do them during the last two years of pandemic. We’re gonna do a civil forum and this one’s going to be on the legacy of Martin Luther King. Now remember, Martin Luther King was a pastor, not a political activist. He was first and foremost a Baptist pastor of a local church. In fact, I am the only white guy to be asked to preach in Dr. King’s church, by the King family, which was on the 40th anniversary of his death. This next year, it’ll be his 54th anniversary of his death. I’m lining up some incredibly well-known guest speakers for that event. But Christmas teaches us five facts about what God thinks about all people. This includes everybody and how he treats all people.
I want you to write these down on your message outline this Christmas weekend. Number one, first, God shines His goodness on all people. God shines His goodness on all people. Many people think you only get good from God if you are good. No, no, no. That’s confusing God was Santa. Santa is the one who said, «You better watch out». Santa Claus coming, you better do good. No, no, no. The Bible says in Job 25:3, «God’s light shines on all people». Matthew 5:45, «God causes His sun to shine on all people, both the good and evil, and He sends rain to both those who do right and those who do wrong».
See, God doesn’t play favorites with His grace and with His goodness. This is called common grace. It’s given to everybody. And common grace is given even to atheist. You wouldn’t draw your next breath if it weren’t for the grace of God. You wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for the grace of God. Whether you accept Him, follow Him, love Him, serve Him, trust Him, God gives you His grace very moment of your life. The Bible tells us that every good thing in your life is a gift from God. Psalm 145:9 says this, «The Lord is good to everyone».
And now, this is very different from what the world teaches. The world teaches you that you get what you deserve in life. Hindus call it karma. Karma is if something bad happens to you is 'cause you deserve it. You were bad in the previous life. That’s what they believe. I don’t believe that. But that’s karma. And I’ve actually dealt with people who believed in karma and when a hurricane or a shooting or disaster comes along and you say, offer some hope, they don’t have any hope. Why? Because they believe, if you believe in karma, it means this, you just get what you deserve. And if your home was blown away by a hurricane last week, well, it’s 'cause you were bad in a previous life.
Now fortunately, God operates by grace, not by karma. If we got what we deserve, none of us would be here. If we got deserved, we would have nothing. Did you deserve to be born? No. Do you deserve to breathe air? No. Do you deserve to be able to see color and to taste flavors with your taste buds? No. Those are gifts of God. Do you deserve forgiveness? No. You see, the secret of getting through dark times, listen, is to focus on God’s goodness, and God is good to everybody. Let me tell you a story. Robert Reisner was a military pilot. And during the Vietnam War, when his plane was shot down over north of Vietnam, he was captured. He was tortured for 32 days.
And then he spent the next seven years in a hole hell or a hell hole of dank, dark, dirty cell. And he spent seven years as a prisoner of war, including three years in dark solitary confinement with no light. He described those years as the essence of despair. And the way Robert kept his sanity during those dark days was amazing. He actually pried off the lid of the floor drain in his cell and he would lower his head into that opening. And there, through that cell drain, he could see a small ray of light and a solitary blade of grass. And Reisner wrote, «That little ray of light and that little spring of color was like my daily transfusion for my soul. And I would begin each day in prayer to God, lying on the floor with my head down that vent, focusing on that single blade of grass,» he said, «I’d talk to God. It was my faith in God’s goodness that kept me going all those dark years».
By the way, after his release, he continued in the air force until he retired as a brigadier general. Now, you may feel you’re in darkness these days. What do you do? Do the very first thing at Christmas. Look to God’s goodness in little things. Look for God’s goodness in the things you take for granted like water and air and a bed. You’ll see God’s goodness if you just slow down and look. Now, in the Bible, Jesus is called the goodness of God. Jesus, who we celebrate His birth, when God came to earth in human form. Titus 3:4-6 says this, «When the goodness of God appeared, He saved us». Who’s the goodness of God? Jesus. So at Christmas, God’s goodness showed up in the flesh like a Hallmark card. God cared enough to send the very best. He didn’t send a prophet. He didn’t send an angel. He didn’t send a teacher. He didn’t send a politician. He came Himself.
So first at Christmas, we see that God shines His goodness on all people. Number two, how is Christmas for everybody? God showers His love on all people. He shines his goodness, but he showers his love on all people. God has never created anybody he doesn’t love. You ever had a wedding shower? You ever gone to a baby shower? What happens when you go to a shower? You get tons of gifts. Psalm 145:9 says, «God showers compassion on all His creation». I had to stop and pause right here and tell you a personal pet peeve. One of my personal pet peeves is water saving shower heads. Oh, come on. They’re so stingy. Don’t call it a shower, call it a dribble. And they’re so interested in saving water. Yeah, I know that’s important, but not on the shower. Okay? God, doesn’t dribble out His love. He showers it to us and He showers it to all people.
Psalm 42:8, «Each day, the Lord pours out, pours out His unfailing love upon me». I don’t know about you, but when I eat salad dressing, I don’t dribble the salad dressing on the salad. When I eat a salad, I pour on the dressing in honor of God pouring out His love. He just pours it out on us. Now let me be clear about this, unconditional love, which God has for you doesn’t mean unconditional approval of everything you do. God loves you unconditionally. He certainly doesn’t approve of everything you do. He loves me unconditionally. He certainly doesn’t approve of everything I do. Do you love your kids? Yes. Do you approve of everything they do? No. Do you still love them? Yes. God doesn’t approve of everything you do or that everything other people do, but He still loves you and He still loves them.
How do you know God loves you? Well, there’s several ways. Scripture tells us. First, He pays attention to every detail of your life. You’ve heard me say before that love is attention. When you pay attention to what’s important to somebody else, you are loving them in that moment. Now you may be saying, «Well, God isn’t interested in me. He doesn’t pay attention to me». Are you kidding me? This was gonna blow your mind, but God is fascinated with you. «Huh»? Yeah. He’s fascinated with you. He has enough brain capacity, enough knowledge, enough intelligence to be fascinated with everything He’s created every day. He sees every tear that’s fallen from your face. He’s heard every laugh you’ve laughed. Every giggle that you smile that at a dumb joke or comedy you’re watching. He knows every hair on your head.
The Bible says, «Your hairs on your head are numbered». He knows which is ones fell out today in the sink. He even knows the original color. Now in Job 23:10, it says this, «God knows every way I take». And He is concerned about it, and He pays attention to it. Does God ever get too busy for you? No. Does God ever forget you? No. I’ve talked to a lot of people who have tattoos and I’ll often say, «Why did you get tattoo? Where did you get tattoo? What’s the meaning behind that tattoo»? And people get tattoos often to remember something. They often get it to remember a loved one. Did you know that God has a tattoo of you? He does. Isaiah 49:15–16 says this, «Can a mother forget her nursing child? But I will not forget you. I have engraved you on the palms of my hands».
You may feel forgotten, but He’s paying attention. «On the palms of my hands». What’s He talking about? The nail prints that Jesus had from dying on the cross for you. That, God says, the nail prints in Jesus' hands are God’s tattoo of you. You may feel forgotten, but He’s paying attention. Now, you know that He loves you, not only because He’s paying attention, but because He took the initiation, He took the initiative to save you. Love is action. Love is not just merely words. It’s like the guy said, «Honey, I love you. I love you. I would die for you». And she says, «Oh, you’re always saying that, but you never do it».
Love is acting on the behalf of others. Love is making your problem my problem. And that’s exactly what God does when He says, «I love you unconditionally». He takes your problem. He makes it his problem. Jesus coming at Christmas to die for you on the cross is the greatest example. Luke 2:10, «Today, in the City of David,» that’s Jerusalem. «Today, in the City of David, a Savior for you has been born. He is the Lord». By the way, when Jerusalem is Bethlehem, which is the City of David, because that’s where David came from. But He says, «A Savior for you has been born. He is Christ the Lord». So think about this. How do we know Christmas is for everybody, for all people? Good news, for all people. First, God shines His goodness on all people, whether they’re good or not. God showers His love on all people whether we know it or don’t, whether we respond or not.
Number three, God shares the pain of all people. God is not some distant God when you’re going through pain, when you’re hurting. God is not unfeeling. He’s not aloof. He’s not callous. God is not some cosmic force in the sky, may the force be with you, that doesn’t really care if you’re in pain. He is aware. And not only is He aware, He cares. And He actually even goes beyond that. He shares. He shares the pain with you. Now, as a pastor, I talked to people in pain, literally every day in my life. I don’t know what pain you’re going through right now. I don’t know what causes the pain that you’re going through right now. But I do know this. God is aware. God cares. And God is sharing. He shares your pain. The Holy Spirit, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, all three of them are sharing your pain.
First, the Father shares your pain because He wired you. God made you. You’re made in God’s image. The only reason, by the way, you have the ability to feel anything is because you’re made in God’s image. God is an emotional God. The Bible says, «God grieves. God weeps. God gets frustrated». The Bible says, «God gets impatient». The Bible says, «God gets angry». Why do you have all those emotions? You’re made in God’s image. And so God is an emotional God. Psalm 33:15 said, «God made the hearts of all people so He understands everything they do». In other words, God’s never shocked by your emotions. He’s never shocked by your thoughts. He’s never shocked by anything. He understands why you do, what you do better than you do.
Now, not only does Jesus be aware of your pain and care about your pain, but He shares your pain because He suffered it on earth. When Jesus was born at that very first Christmas, couple thousand years ago, He certainly wasn’t born in the lap of luxury. He was born into poverty. He was born into a barn. When the angel said, «Here’s how you know you found the Messiah, you’ll find a baby lying in a manger». No other baby was laying in a manger that week. I can guarantee you. What is a manger? It’s a trough, a man-made trough that you feed animals with. And it’s very dirty. It’s filled with straw, but it’s also filled with the slobber of cows and goats and horses and anybody else who eats. It’s a feed trough. That’s what a manger is. And they said, «You’ll find the baby born in a manger». You don’t get more humble than that.
Hebrews 4:15 says this, «Jesus sympathizes with our weaknesses since He faced all of the same temptations we do». Why? Because on earth, as a human being in human form, Jesus went through the same temptation. He understands emotional pain. He experienced abandonment. He understands loneliness. He understands being hated, being criticized and maligned unjustly. He understands bigotry. He understands discrimination. He understands rejection and betrayal. All of those emotions, Jesus experienced. So He understands when you go through any of those. And then He understands physical pain. His death on the cross was excruciatingly painful. I don’t have time to go into all of the details of how painful the torture and death of Christ was. And then He had mental pain and spiritual pain.
Can you imagine taking all of the guilt of all the world? Can you imagine being on the cross and all of a sudden, you’re carrying the guilt of every murder, every incest, every rape, every torture, every evil thing done throughout history? Jesus is taking the sin of the world on Himself. That was an incredible burden. That was painful. So Jesus cares and is aware and He shares your pain. But the other thing is God’s Spirit in you prays for you when you’re in pain. The Bible says this that God’s Spirit prays for you. We’re talking about you praying to God. Yeah, that’s good. But the Bible says that God, His Spirit, prays for you when you’re in pain.
Romans 8:26, «When we’re weak and we’re tired, God’s Spirit is right there alongside helping us along. And if we don’t know how or what to pray, it didn’t matter. He, that’s the Holy Spirit, does our praying in and for us, making our prayers out of wordless sighs and aching groans». So when you’re going, «God, I’m so sick and I’m so tired. I don’t even know how to pray». And you’re just groaning. You don’t even know what we’re saying. The Holy Spirit is praying for you. You say, «Wait a minute. How does God pray to himself»? Oh, you never talked to yourself? Of course you do. And the only reason you have the ability to talk to yourself 'cause you’re made in God’s image. God talks to Himself all the time about you.
When you talk to God, that’s called your prayer. When God talks to Himself about you, that’s a prayer too. Did you know that God has kept a record of every hurt you’ve ever experienced? He’s aware. He cares and He shares it. Psalm 56:8, «You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. And You have recorded each one of them in your book». Wow. I can’t remember all my tears. But the Bible says, «God has recorded and kept those tears,» symbolically in a bottle. Where is God when I’m in pain? I’ll tell you where He is. He’s grieving with you. He’s standing by you. He’s suffering for you. He’s not some aloof God. He goes, «Oh, I’m sorry, you hurt». That’s just nothing. Sympathy is saying, «I’m sorry, you hurt». Sympathy is, «I’m sorry, you hurt». Empathy is, «I hurt with you».
But compassion is, «I’ll do anything I can to stop your hurt». And that’s what Jesus did. He had compassion on us, even going to the cross to stop our hurt. For those of you who are in pain This Christmas weekend, Psalm 34:18 says this, «The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, And He rescues those who are crushed in spirit». You may feel all beat up at the end of this last year, 2021. You may feel crushed in your spirit. You’re never closer to God than when you have broken heart. He is there because he sees and he cares and he shares. So let’s review. This shall be good news to all people. Why do we know it’s for all people? Because we know God shines His goodness on all people. We know that God showers His love on all people. And we know that God shares the pain of all people. Let me give you a couple more.
Number four, God sacrificed His son for all people. God sacrificed His son, that’s Jesus, for all people. That old guy in the temple in Jerusalem was named Simeon. And when they brought the baby Jesus to be dedicated at the temple, Simeon looks at the baby and says, «I have seen the Savior given for all people,» all people. And the Bible says in first 1 Timothy 2:5-6, «Jesus sacrificed Himself for all people to free themselves from their sins». Now in the Bible, if you’ve read through the old Testament, you know that the symbol of sacrificing for the benefit of others is a lamb because the lamb was sacrificed once a year on the day of atonement to atone for the sins of everybody else.
And in John 1:29, the Bible says, «One day, Jesus was walking out to the Jordan River where John the Baptist had been baptizing». And in John 21, excuse me, John 1:29, it says this, «John saw Jesus coming toward him and he said, 'Here comes the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.'» Christmas has no significance without the cross. If Jesus hadn’t died for our sins, He would have just been a good teacher, another guru, another wise man, another philosopher with some good thoughts. No, no, no. There have been great thinkers, philosophers and good people throughout history who’ve shared great ideas, but none of them could save you. The only way you could have a savior is to have somebody dying in your place.
Most of you know that nine years ago, Kay and I lost our youngest son to his lifetime battle with mental illness. It was the worst day of my life. And in those dark, dark weeks and months after Matthew’s death to mental illness, it occurred to me in those painful sessions and season, during that grief that God knows what it’s like to lose a child. I had lost my youngest son. God had given His only Son for our salvation. 2 Corinthians 5:15 says this, «He died for everyone». He didn’t just die for Christians. He died for everyone. So the, underline that. «So that all who live would not continue to live for themselves, but would live for Him who died for them». Now, there’s one other truth I wanna share with you about Christmas is for everybody, this Christmas weekend.
Number five, God will share His home with all who believe and receive His Son. God will share His home for all who believe and receive His Son. Now, if you go through life saying, «I don’t want to have any part of God». God assumes that that’s true in eternity too. And God will say like, «Burger King, have it your way. You didn’t want me on earth. Why would you want me for eternity? So go spend eternity apart from me. That would be hell». You see, you weren’t just created for a 90 or 100 years on earth. You were made to last forever. And God has created an eternal home in heaven for His family. And the good news, that offer of heaven and eternal salvation is open to everybody.
I don’t care if you’re Catholic or Baptist or Buddhist or Mormon or Muslim, or you’re an atheist or an agnostic, or you have no faith, you grew up in church or you’ve never even been in a church, doesn’t matter. The Bible says in John 1:12 this good news, «To all,» that includes you, no matter who you are, no matter what age you are. «To all who receive Him and believed in His name, Jesus gave the right to become children of God». How do you become a child of God? You believe and you receive. You believe that Jesus is who He said He was. And you receive His love, His power and His salvation into your life. Have you done that? If not, you’re not a child of God. You’re loved by God. You’re created by God, but you’re not in God’s family until you asked to be in it, to humble, surrender of your life to him.
Acts 10:35 says this, «Makes no difference who you are or where are you from». It’s Acts 10:35, «Makes no difference who you are or where you’re from. If you want God and you’re ready to do as He says, the door is open». I love that in the message paraphrase. By the way, in that verse, there’s no mention of religion there. He didn’t say, «Come to religion». He says, «Come to a relationship». That’s what God wants to have with you, a relationship with God, a personal relationship with God the rest of your life. It’s available, literally billions of people have one. Do you? You may know about God, but do you know God this Christmas weekend? Acts 2:21 says this, «Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved».
Now, circled the word, will, will be saved. Now first it says, everyone. That’s an invitation for all of us. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, not might be saved, can hope to be saved, may pray and desire to be saved. It’s a will. It’s damn fact. It says, «If you do this, I’ll do that». If you call in the name of the Lord, you will be saved. Have you called in the name of the Lord? If you haven’t, you’re not saved. But if you have, then that salvation is given to you for the rest of your life and nobody can steal it from you. The fact is, I was thinking about this the other day. There are many areas in life where each of us feel left out.
Okay. Sometime we feel left out due to our appearance. Okay. I don’t look like those people. I’m not good looking. I’m not a rockstar, good looking person. We feel left out of our appearance. Sometimes we feel left out because of our ability. They’re better than me. She’s better than me. He’s better than me. Sometimes we’re left out because of our age. I’m too young. I’m too old. I’m not the right age. Sometimes we feel left out of culture. Sometimes we feel left out or whatever. Now, if you felt that way, you felt left out in some areas of your life, I wanna say this as clearly as possible this Christmas weekend, no matter who you are, no matter what you’ve done, no matter how long you’ve done it or who you’ve done it with, we want you in our Saddleback family. You are welcome here. We want you in our Saddleback family, wherever it meets all around the world.
Now, that’s important for you to know that there’s a group of people who want you, no matter what you’ve done or who you’ve done it with or whatever. But there’s an even more important point than this. God wants you in His family. That’s why He came at Christmas. God became a human being. He came in human form. If God had wanted to communicate to ants, He would have become an ant. If He wanna communicate to birds, He would have become a bird. But He wanted to communicate to us so He became one of us. Why did He come as a baby? Because He came to save us not to scare us, and nobody’s afraid of a baby. He came into this world just the way all the rest of us did.
Now, the spirit of Christmas is that God cares for all of us, loves all of us, has a plan for all of us, has a past to be forgiven in all of our lives and has a future, a hope in heaven for all of our lives. This, the spirit of Christmas is always gratitude and giving, gratitude and grateful for the gifts that God has given to us. And we were grateful for the others that God has put in our lives. And we give back to God. And I wanna end this Christmas weekend service doing three things. First, we’re gonna give our hearts to God in a prayer, giving back to God. Second, we’re gonna give our thanks to God through our Christmas offering. And third, we’re gonna give our praise to God in a song. But first, I wanna pray together.
Now, you don’t need to close your eyes on this. You can actually read the prayer on your notes right there, or you can read it here on the screen. It’s gonna be what I call a prayer for all peoples. Okay. A prayer for all people. And look at this prayer. Let me read it and as I pray it aloud, you pray this in your mind and say, «Me too, God. The prayer that Rick’s praying right now, I want it to represent my heart». Dear God, just say that in your mind, «Dear God, thank you for your goodness to me». Just say that, «Thank you for your goodness to me. Thank you for loving me and caring about every detail of my life. Thank you for sharing my pain. Thank you for sending Jesus at Christmas to come and save me. Jesus Christ, thank you for loving me enough to die on the cross for me».
Just say that, «Thank you for dying for me on the cross. I wanna receive you as my Savior». «For unto you is born this day, a savior,» God said. You know why you need a savior? 'Cause you can’t save yourself. So say this, «God, I want you to save me this Christmas. Save me from my past mistakes. Save me from the pressure of today, and save me for eternity in heaven with you». Just say, «Please forgive all the stuff I’ve done wrong and my rebellion against you. I asked you to accept me into your family. I wanna learn to love and trust you, and follow you the rest of my life, spend eternity with you in your home. I humbly ask this in your name, Jesus. Amen».
Now, did you mean that prayer? If you did, let’s look back at that verse of God’s promise. Acts 2:21 says this, «Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved». Only you know if you sincerely meant it when we prayed that prayer. Only you know if you called on the name of the Lord. But if you did, it says, the Lord says, «You will be saved». Not might, will be saved. Congratulations. Now, you need to let somebody know about it and I hope you’ll tell me. You can pull out your phone and text, new start to 86000, new start to 86,000, or you can email, new start at saddleback.com, and we’ll send you some material. You can do that, or if you’re in a service right now, pull out the welcome card that you started filling out earlier and check the box that says, «I’m giving my life to Christ today».
This is your Christmas present to God. By the way, it’s Jesus' birthday. What are you getting Jesus for His birthday? Why would you give gifts to everybody else when it’s not their birthday? It’s Jesus' birthday. What gift have you given Jesus? You said, «What do you give somebody who has everything»? You give Him your heart 'cause He didn’t have that unless you give it to Him. Now, we’re going to give our end of the year Christmas offering because God first gave to us. He blessed us this past year. We wanna help others. I want you to finish filling out that survey card and in this next song, place it in the basket. And if you meant that prayer, just mark the box on the survey. All right?
Thank you, guys. Let me just tell you this, this next year, 2022, I’m more excited about it. I’m more hopeful than I’ve been in several years. The last two years, I wasn’t real hopeful, but I am this year. I just have a sense that God is gonna use you and use everybody in our church family all over the world in an amazing way. So let’s thank God now for His goodness to everyone, His love for everyone, His salvation available to everyone, and His promise to take us to heaven for eternity if we just trust Him. God bless you, everybody.