Herod | A Promise of Peace Week 4

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There's a part of the Christmas story

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that you've probably never heard before,

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but could change your life

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and bring you peace this Christmas.

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Hey, I'm Kyle. Welcome to Crossroads.

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And I'm going to make an assumption

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that we all know the same Christmas story, right?

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You've got Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the wise man.

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But what about everybody else?

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I mean, is there anybody else?

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Well, the truth is, the Christmas story

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goes much further than just your classic nativity scene.

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And today we're going to uncover

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some of the unexpected supporting characters

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at Christmas, people left in the shadows,

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but who holds significance for our lives today.

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You can unlock the peace that you need this Christmas.

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I've asked our senior pastor, Brian,

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to tell us Herod's story.

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- No one, no one can beat the plan of God.

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Christmas is about God's promise of real peace,

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real peace found in resolving your conflict

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with King Jesus.

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How you react to the king

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determines whether or not you're going to have peace.

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I'm Brian. Welcome the Crossroads.

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We're looking for peace this Christmas, at least I am.

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Do you want some? I do.

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And we're looking for it in some of the characters

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in the Christmas story that

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aren't talked about all that much.

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Today, we're going to talk about Herod.

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You might have heard of Herod before,

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but you probably haven't heard

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the things we're going to look at.

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That he was a middle manager.

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He was incredibly angry.

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And he died one of the most brutal, disgusting ways

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you could possibly imagine.

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Let's just take a look at the original Christmas story

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in Matthew 2:1. Here's what it says:

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Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea

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in the days of Herod the King,

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behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem

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saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?

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For we saw His star when it rose

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and have come to worship Him."

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When Herod the King heard this, he was troubled,

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and all Jerusalem with him.

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And assembling all the chief priests

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and the scribes of the people inquired of them

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where the Christ was to be born.

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Inquires where the Christ was to be born,

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but he doesn't want to know for any other reason

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than to protect his turf.

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And his turf isn't what he wanted it to be.

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You had the emperor of Rome

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and you had all the other rest of the Jews,

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and here you had Herod, who was right in between,

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who was entrusted in a role as a middle manager

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by the emperor of Rome to get him taxes and such.

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And you had these people who are Jews

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who didn't like him at all.

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He's known as Herod the Great.

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And I think it's important to note that this is

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one of those times when, again and again and again,

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the Bible actually proves to be true.

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There's a guy in here named Herod

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and history has discovered his tomb.

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Israeli archeologists in 2007 at the site of

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the City of Herodium, eight miles south of Jerusalem,

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found his broken sarcophagus.

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That's a box where bones are put.

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But no corpse, someone had stolen him.

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He had the title of King, King Herod,

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but he actually wasn't the king.

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He was just a middle manager who had a level

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of authority from the Emperor of Rome,

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and nobody liked him, nobody respected him.

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His Roman boss abused him, and his subjects hated him

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because his father was Arabic, not Jewish.

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So he was seen as a quote unquote half breed.

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They had massive race problems back then,

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just like we do in America today.

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Everyone looking to one up somebody else

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or think that somebody else is less than them

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or less less purebred than them,

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and they considered him, the Jews, an outsider.

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So Harod decided to make them love and respect him,

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or at least make sure they knew to fear him.

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See, he never got any peace and he never got any peace

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because he was never content with where he was.

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He was always trying to prove something.

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He always wanted something more.

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He always was trying to prove other people wrong.

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You and I are going have to do better

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if we want to have peace.

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He was the great, not because he was admirable,

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but because he did things as a master manipulator

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to win the approval of Jewish people.

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He also was great because he was an amazing architect,

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had some of the most amazing building plans

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that the history of the world has ever known.

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One of them is the Masada fortress.

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I've been to it a bunch of times.

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There was a movie made on it a long, long time ago.

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It's on the Dead Sea.

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It's this huge, massive fortress

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that overlooks the The Dead Sea,

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and the Romans later on had to suppress the coup

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that the McKibben's had done inside of this fortress,

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and they couldn't get up to it.

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So they devastated miles and miles and miles,

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every timber they could find and stacked it up

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for a ramp and then tamped the sand down

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to go up there and get at these folks.

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Herod knew how to make a place that was impregnable.

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He did not just be a great builder,

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but he did it because he knew it had military value

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for the Romans and he would sell it for a lot,

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a lot of jack.

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He knew how to make money.

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He knew how to exert his force.

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And even though he gave Rome vast riches,

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and even though he tried to build the Jewish people

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a Grand Temple in hopes that they would accept him,

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they never did.

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The Port of Caesarea he designed, he brought --

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he brought Judea a massive amount of wealth

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with this port, this deep water thing

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that he had enabled, but no one still ever liked him.

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He just tried to hard.

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He was never a content with himself,

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and he was always trying to push people down

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and exalt himself.

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You can't have peace that way.

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At best, all of us are middle managers.

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God's in control, God's the King, not me.

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He's working a plan.

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I know this doesn't sound good

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to the self-esteem cult members that we have

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in 21st century America, but you and I,

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we just don't matter that much. We don't.

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There's a king that's in control. He's got plans.

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His plans are more important than my plans,

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and I hope I fit into them.

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And I want to do the role that He gives me

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as a middle manager, but the things

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that He's given me to manage and oversee

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they're all actually His.

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There is a role we're all meant to play in this world.

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It may not be as big in grandiose

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as the dreams we have for ourselves.

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We've got to get at peace with them

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or else we're not going to have peace.

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Herod couldn't be the Emperor of Rome, he can't be king.

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That position is already filled.

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It was on an earthly level, it was Caesar.

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And on an ultimate level,

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his name would actually be Jesus.

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Matthew 2:7, we see Herod

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being the manipulative middle manager.

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Let's take a look at what it says:

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Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly

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and ascertained from them

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what time the star had appeared.

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They sent them to Bethlehem saying,

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"Go and search diligently for the child,

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for when you have found him, bring me word

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that I too may come and worship him."

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That I too may come and worship him.

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Yeah, right.

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Herod had zero interest in worshiping anybody,

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he just wanting to put other people down.

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He didn't want to exalt anybody else.

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When you want to be adored and worshiped

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by other people, they will let you down all the time.

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And Herod became angry.

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In the great quote from Elf:

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- He's an angry elf.

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So Buddy said to Tyrion, Remember that?

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No, not Tyrion, that's Game of Thrones. Same actor.

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He's an angry elf, Buddy would look at Herod and say,

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"You're a maniacal,

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out-of-control anger maniac elf."

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You can't have your Christmas cheer on

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when you're not at peace and when you're angry.

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His architectural genius is remembered to this day.

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However, all of his achievements

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were never enough to give him peace.

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His anger always got the most of him,

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and everybody around him got the brunt of it.

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His family was constantly plotting his downfall,

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so he had them murdered.

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He killed his father in law,

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several of his 10 wives, 10 count them,

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and two of his sons.

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Nobody in Herod's family had any peace at all,

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because if Herod wasn't happy, wasn't nobody happy?

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That's what it's like for you and I,

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when we're not at peace, everybody around us suffers:

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our family suffer,

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the people we work for or who work for us suffer.

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We suffer, our own physical health suffers.

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Anger never gets anybody anywhere.

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And yet we all have justification

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for why we're as angry as we are.

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And all those idiots aren't doing what they should do

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and why they don't pay attention to my thoughts

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and yada yada yada.

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And no one loses except us.

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Peace has an amazing payout. Anger only extracts.

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And Herod had nothing but energy and life

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sapped out of him as he kept trying to power up

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on people and squelch people who weren't doing

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what he thought they should be doing.

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Let's go back to our story, Matthew 2:9:

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After listening to the King, they went on their way

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and behold, the star that they had seen

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when it rose went before them until it came to rest

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over the place where the child was.

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When they saw the star

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they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.

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And going into the house, they saw the child

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with Mary, His mother,

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and they fell down and worshiped Him.

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Then opening their treasures, they offered Him gifts:

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gold and frankincense and myrrh.

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And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod,

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they departed to their own country, by another way.

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- We're about to continue with the story of Herod,

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but first, I want you to know that Crossroads

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is a community that you can belong to

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no matter where you live.

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If at any point in this episode you have questions,

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you want prayer, or you want to know more

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about belonging to this community,

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just go to online.crossroads.net.

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You know, Crossroads is funded by people

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If you're a giver, thank you.

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you can give a crossroads.net/give.

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And as the year comes to an end, we would love

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if you considered Crossroads

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as a part of your year end giving.

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If you want to see exactly where the money goes

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and the impact we're having across the globe,

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again, just go to Crossroads.net/give.

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Now back to Brian.

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- The maja were not going to be pawns

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in Herod's twisted game.

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They come before Jesus, they worship Him.

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I have to believe they found some level of peace

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and they choose to go home a different way

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so they don't have to interact with Herod again

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and give up the whereabouts of Jesus,

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who is going to be the ultimate eternal king.

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Herod, his lack of peace never works for him.

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And being an awful middle manager,

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being an anger fiend, it never works for him.

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Up to the very, very end he dies, just like all of us,

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you know, all of us are going to die.

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The death rate is hovering right around 100%.

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But he dies in an amazingly brutal way,

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and he kind of foresaw that he was going to die

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and he took steps to make sure things

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went the way he wanted them to.

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He left explicit orders with his sister, Salone,

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that in the event of his death,

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she was to order the execution of a group

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of prominent and popular public figures

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so that guaranteed someone would be mourning

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in the land when Herod dies.

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Fortunately, that plan never came to pass,

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but it's another sign about his controlling tendencies

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and how he just wasn't able to ever find peace.

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He was holding on to things out of fear,

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and this fear sapped his life and in the end

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he would ultimately lose,

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just like all of us will ultimately lose

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if we stand up against the plan of God.

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God was working a plan

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to bring the king into this world

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who was going to ultimately rule our hearts.

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And trying to stop God's plan will never, ever work.

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In fact, if you try to stop His plan,

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it's going to end very painfully for you.

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ABC News said this about his death.

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I'm going to quote ABC News,

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because you're not going to believe it if I just tell you.

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I'll just quote ABC News in talking about Herod's death

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that more than 2000 years after Herod The Great

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succumbed at age 69 doctors have now settled

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on exactly what killed the king of ancient Judea:

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chronic kidney disease complicated by

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a very uncomfortable case of maggot infested

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gangrene of the genitals.

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Anybody here have maggot infested

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gangrene of the genitals?

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I hope not. Oh my goodness.

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He dies slowly of a flesh eating disease

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that affects the totality of his humanity.

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This what happens when we allow anger

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and lack of contentment to get its clutches in us.

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You can't have peace that way. It affects us.

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It affects us physically, we get ulcers,

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our hair falls out, it affects us emotionally.

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We're at odds with everybody around us

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and anger with people around us.

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Christmas is about the kingdom of God being built,

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and nothing can stop that.

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When God promises something, He is promising

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to give a deliverer, a savior to us.

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No human leader, no matter how powerful,

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can beat the plans of God.

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We need to participate with our bit in God's plan

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as good middle managers or we get steamrolled by it.

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Gosh, I hate to mention this word.

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We're all so sick of this word, but I'm going to.

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I personally got steamrolled a bit in COVID.

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And people would ask me because they know that

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as a follower of Jesus, we're we know that

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all things work together for good for those who love Him

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and are called according to his purpose.

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So Romans 8:28-30 says, 29-30.

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And so people would ask me in the midst of COVID

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when it was really, really bad,

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"Well, what have you learned about God?

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How's God forming you?"

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And I would always be like, "I -- I."

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I didn't say this at the time.

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I just, "Oh, I don't. I don't know. I don't know."

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What I should have said was, "You know what He's teaching me?

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He's teaching me this sucks. That's what He's teaching me."

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And then I wish I would have said,

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"I'm not going to know for a long time

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how He's forming me or how He's doing something in me."

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Enough time has passed now that I do know.

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What God has been teaching me is that

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I'm not all that important and as a middle manager,

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I'm just managing His stuff.

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And that includes the thing that's His,

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which is Crossroads Church,

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the thing that he's commissioned me to middle manage.

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And when things weren't going my way

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or things weren't happening the way

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I thought they should

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and people weren't coming to church

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and people are mad and people are leaving the church,

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it just brought all of this anger and anxiety.

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And I tried to strong arm everything

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and keep everything right and I just became very angry,

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an angry elf.

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I was more angry than ever

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and flipping out on certain staff members.

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My family would bear the brunt of my anger.

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My dog Peanut would get the brunt of my anger.

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Actually, no, not Peanut, because it's not possible

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to be angry with Peanut, not at all.

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Now, enough time has passed when I realize

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that what God's taught me through it is,

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"Brian, I'm going to do whatever I want to do

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and just don't take it personal.

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You personally are going to be spiritually developed

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in the midst of this, even if the thing

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that you're managing isn't going the way that you want."

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And I've come to a higher level of peace

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that Jesus is enough for me,

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no matter what else is happening around me

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or where else I'm losing around me, or who's mad at me.

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When you come to that place, you're really good.

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You can have peace that passes all understanding.

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I feel that right now.

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I hope it doesn't wear off for a long, long time.

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His came out of love for a world that didn't want Him.

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He Himself got steamrolled by it.

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He went to a cross and died of brutal death

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that people like you and I deserve

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for our rebelliousness.

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John 3:16, I don't even need my Bible to read it, says:

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For God so loved the world,

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that He gave His only begotten Son,

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that whoever believes in Him should not perish

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but have eternal life.

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Nothing has changed with Jesus or the world.

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This world is still His, He is still king,

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and He right now Himself is in heaven

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still serving the will of His Father.

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The plan of God is still marching forward

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and our goal isn't to just push off

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our physical death as long as possible.

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It's not a bad goal to not die of gangrene

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in your private areas. That's a good goal to have.

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But that's not the ultimate goal.

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The ultimate goal is to die inside the plan of God

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as good middle managers,

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having peace that passes all understanding,

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and having an awareness that my end will come

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just like Herod's did, but I want to finish well

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because no one, no one can beat the plan of God.

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Christmas is about God's promise of real peace.

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Real peace is found in resolving your conflict

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with King Jesus and how you react to the king

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determines whether or not you're going to have peace.

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Herod didn't react well to the presence of Jesus.

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You and I get to make a different choice.

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We can receive Him right now.

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Will you make room for Him in your life right now?

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Would you maybe give your life to Him for the first time

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or recommit your life to Him right now?

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Recommit that you're going to be a good middle manager,

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that you're going to be a peaceful person

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or a peaceful elf.

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And the end isn't going to freak you out.

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And as long as God gives you, you're going to serve Him

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and enjoy His peace as long as you can

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being on His agenda.

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His agenda marches forward.

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You can choose to be like Herod

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and hold tight to your a little bit of power

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or choose the peace that Jesus gives

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by coming into our lives.

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Ask Him right now into your life.

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Tell him, "Jesus, I want to give my life to You.

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I ask for Your forgiveness.

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I want to serve You the rest of my life."

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When you say prayers like that,

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when you make decisions like that,

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there's the peace that comes into our life

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that affects everybody who's around our life.

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Let's end our time together by doing a song,

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it's about being an overcomer.

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You want to overcome all the negativity and the cynicism

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and the selfishness that's embodied in people like Herod.

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We want to overcome and have a peace

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that overcomes our life and surpasses all understanding.

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- Harod's story is a part of the bigger Christmas story

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that can change the way we respond to God

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and see Him this Christmas.

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You know, God's plan won't be stopped by anyone.

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Because of Christmas, we can have peace with God

00:21:48

and peace with every single person around us.

00:21:52

You know, we know that the holiday season

00:21:54

can be difficult, and if that's you,

00:21:55

we want to be there for you.

00:21:57

If you need anything from us, encouragement, ideas,

00:22:00

how to deal with stuff, hope, you can find resources

00:22:03

that we've gathered just for you

00:22:04

at Crossroads.net/HolidayCare.

00:22:07

Next week, join us for Christmas Eve.

00:22:09

We're going to be exploring

00:22:11

how these unknown stories of Christmas

00:22:13

that changed everything back then

00:22:15

can change everything in your life still today.

00:22:20

- If God actually came to the world,

00:22:22

which is what Christmas celebrates,

00:22:24

everything is changed, our hopes, our dreams,

00:22:28

our aspirations, the importance of the things

00:22:30

I get stressed out about right now.

00:22:32

The birth of Jesus changes everything, it all changes.

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