Transcription downloaded from https://sermons.stmarksplumstead.org/sermons/25070/saviour/.

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[0:00] So what does it mean to save something? Think about it. Think about that word, save. What does it mean to save? We use it in a lot of different ways, don't we? We use it to talk about saving money.

[0:11] Boys and girls, who saves money? Who has a piggy bank or something? You save money. Okay, Olivia, you've got a piggy bank. Amy, good. Okay, so you save money. What about a goalie making a save, right? A goalie saves the ball, saves a goal from being scored.

[0:26] What other kind of saving do you get? Saving a game, saving your computer game, right? Does anybody recognize where that save game screen is from? I know you know.

[0:37] Where is it? Minecraft, yeah. You save your game so you don't lose it, right? And what about saving a document? We save things every day, don't we? We're all saviors, actually, because we're all saving something, saving money, saving our Word documents, saving our spreadsheets.

[0:54] Now, in all of these examples, the way we use the word save, it means the same thing. And technically, this is what save means. It means to preserve from loss.

[1:05] To preserve from loss. And that is what it means in the Bible, too, quite simply. When we read the word save in the Bible, we read about a Savior and Jesus saves.

[1:16] It's not talking about him saving his Word document or saving his money, but it is talking about him preserving from loss. And so when the angels came and announced that a Savior is coming into the world, what they were saying is that something has now happened in our world that can preserve you from loss.

[1:36] And that's why we all need to pay attention to Christmas, whether you're religious or not. Because if you think about it, we are all in danger of loss.

[1:48] We can all very easily lose what we have. It's not nice to think about, but it is true. I don't think we realize how easily what we have can be lost. I always lose my keys. I don't know why.

[2:01] I need one of those tags on it where you clap and it makes a beeping sound. Because I'm always losing my keys. You can ask Gene. And it's always when I'm about to leave and I'm in a hurry and I need my keys, but no, they're not where I thought I'd put them.

[2:15] But we make the same assumptions, don't we, about a lot of things in our life. We think they're safe. We think we have them under control. And we think we have them secure. And then they're lost. They get lost overnight sometimes.

[2:27] Health. Our health that we assume is, is good today, so it'll be good tomorrow. But COVID has shown us that that's not necessarily the case. Our possessions. We know in South Africa all too well.

[2:39] When you leave anything of value in your car, and your car's unlocked, and you go into the cafe to buy something, it's not going to be there when you get back, probably. Our possessions are fleeting.

[2:49] Jesus said it's moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal. Our relationships as well can easily be lost. We can be in good terms with someone, and then something can happen and we can be in conflict with them.

[3:02] And a relationship can be ruined. Things we have one day, we can lose the next. It's frustrating that the most valuable things are often the easiest to lose. Isn't that frustrating?

[3:13] But the most valuable of all is life itself. And that's also very easy to lose, isn't it? We don't like to think about that, especially on Christmas Day.

[3:25] It's supposed to be joyful and happy. And yet, life itself is very easy to lose. People lose their lives every day without expecting to. Many, most of those people who die every day don't wake up expecting to die.

[3:38] And any of us can lose everything we have in a moment. But you know what? The Bible tells us that's not how it's meant to be.

[3:50] We're not meant to lose the things that God gives us. God didn't give us life just so that we would lose it. It turns out God does not want that.

[4:01] The Bible tells us, these angels announce, God wants to save the world. God wants to save what He's given us. God wants to save our lives.

[4:12] Just as much as we want to save the things that we make, right? You write a document. You spend hours progressing in a game. You want to save your progress. You want to save your work.

[4:22] You want to save your document. Well, God made this whole world and He gave us beautiful lives. He doesn't want those to be lost. He wants to save them. Just as much as we want to save the things that we make.

[4:34] God wants to preserve the life He's given from loss. So then why do we lose it? Why do we lose the things that God gives us? Why do we lose our life if God doesn't want us to?

[4:47] That's an important question. I want you to think of it like saving documents on a cloud. You know what I mean? For those who are maybe born a bit earlier than the rest, you might not be familiar with the idea of saving documents on a cloud.

[5:05] I wasn't familiar with it until Google convinced me to start saving my documents on a cloud on Google Drive, which I now do. All the sermons that I write and the things I prepare, I save on a cloud.

[5:17] And the reason is, and what that means is you save it online. So the reason is that if my computer is lost or destroyed, the work that I've done isn't. The work is saved.

[5:28] But I can only keep all my documents safe as long as I have a connection. And that's how it works. If I have no connection, if my computer has no connection, then everything I do on my computer is always at risk of being lost.

[5:45] And that's why I need the connection in order to save the things I have, even if my computer is destroyed. That's what it means to save on a cloud.

[5:56] Now you know if you didn't before. But it's the same with life. It's the same with life, the Bible tells us. If we have no connection with the God who gave us life, everything we do here is always at risk of loss, eternal loss.

[6:10] And the reason we don't have that connection, the Bible says, is because by nature we don't actually want that connection. We want to do our own thing.

[6:22] We want to live life our own way. By nature, each of us. We essentially want to go on airplane mode so that God doesn't bother us. You know when you switch your phone on airplane mode so that no one can contact you?

[6:33] That's what we all by nature do with God. We all want to go on airplane mode so that God can't bother us. And that we can do whatever we want. But that's the reason we can't save what we have, because we've severed that connection.

[6:48] And so without that connection, we can't save our lives. But the good news, the Christmas news, is that it doesn't have to be like that.

[6:59] The news of Christmas is that 2,000 years ago, God sent a Savior into the world. And the reason He came? The reason He can save our lives is because He came to reestablish that lost connection between humanity and God, so that our lives can be saved.

[7:22] And throughout Jesus' ministry, He is reminding people of this. Even though they think they're losing things, He tells them no. No.

[7:33] Listen to what He says, for example, to Martha. Remember Martha? Her brother Lazarus died and she thought she had lost him. Jesus tells her these words, Your brother will rise again.

[7:46] He says later, I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.

[7:57] Literally, you know what that says? It says, will not die forever. Because the connection has been reestablished. That's what it means when people's lives are saved.

[8:08] And that's what Jesus meant in Luke 10, when He said to His disciples, His disciples were doing some crazy things. He had given them power to drive out demons and to engage in the spiritual realm.

[8:19] And they were really chuffed with this. And they come to Him and say, Whoa, Jesus, you should have seen what we did. You know what He says to them? He says, Don't rejoice that the Spirit submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.

[8:32] Rejoice that you've been saved. You've been saved. The connection has been restored. Your lives are saved. That's the most important thing. No matter what you can achieve on this earth.

[8:45] No matter what power you have. No matter how successful you are, the most important thing is that your name is written in heaven. That that connection is reestablished and that your life is safe in heaven.

[8:58] And so my question to you this Christmas is, has your connection been restored? Or are you still on airplane mode? Ask yourself. Are you still on airplane mode?

[9:10] Cut off from God because you actually don't want Him to contact you. Or have you allowed Jesus to restore that connection? That's the most important question you can ask in your life.

[9:22] Is your life saved yet? Or are you still right now sitting there at risk of losing everything? Well, the answer to that question depends on what you've done with Jesus.

[9:34] Because it turns out He's the only one who's ever been able to restore humanity's broken connection with God. And He says it Himself in John 14. He says, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father but through Me.

[9:49] It's quite an exclusive claim. He's saying all the other religions and religious systems and religious figures aren't going to help you. But why? Why can't any of the other religions help us?

[9:59] Surely there's some great things in Islam and Judaism and all the other Eastern religions. Well, no matter what they've got, there's one thing that all those religions don't have, and that is a Savior.

[10:15] None of them have a Savior. None of them claim to save. But they will try to help you save yourself. That's what human religion does.

[10:25] It gives you instructions of what you can do to try to save yourself and try to restore this broken connection with God. That is what all human religions are, except Christianity, which offers you an actual Savior.

[10:39] Imagine you're in distress at sea. I don't know if you've ever been out at sea in distress, but it's quite a scary situation. Because without any help, the sea will take you eventually, no matter how strong you are.

[10:53] If you're out at sea with no boat or way to get out, then eventually the sea will take you, no matter how strong you are, eventually you will have no strength left in you to swim, and you will start slipping below the waves.

[11:06] And in that situation, you need a rescuer, don't you? You need a Savior. You need rescue services to come and get you. But you know what? You don't need someone who's just going to come alongside you in a boat and stand over there and throw you a map and go, yeah, just follow the map and you can go to shore safely.

[11:25] And here's some flippers to help you on the way. No, you know what you need? You need someone to jump in and do what you can't do for yourself. You need someone to hold you up. You need someone to swim you to safety.

[11:37] You need a Savior. And that's what Jesus came to do. By leaving heaven and entering into our broken world and taking on the burden of sin that we couldn't bear, that was sinking us into death and paying its price for us by His atoning death on the cross.

[11:55] He is a Savior. And nowhere else can you find that in any other religion. That's the difference between the Christian gospel and all other religions. Only in Christianity can you find a Savior.

[12:08] Islam has a messenger in Muhammad. Judaism promises a world leader. Eastern religions give you sages that give you wise advice on how to live, but only Christianity gives you a Savior.

[12:22] And you know what that means about Christians? That means Christians are really nothing special, really. Look around you. You can see. Christians aren't anything special.

[12:33] There are simply people who have realized that they can't save themselves. That's all a Christian is. Someone who has realized that they can't save themselves, but that God has sent someone to save.

[12:46] And so they stop trying to save themselves and they cling to Him. That's what a Christian is. And that's all you need to do to be saved. Really. It's that simple.

[12:57] If you want to be saved, if you want to reestablish that connection so that your life will not be lost when you die, all you need to do is realize that you need a Savior.

[13:09] Realize that if you continue without establishing this connection with God, then no matter what you gain in life, you'll still lose it all. Listen to the words of Jesus in Mark 8.

[13:23] For what does it benefit someone to gain the whole world and yet lose his life? He makes a good point, doesn't he? Boys and girls, imagine you gained the whole world.

[13:36] Imagine you had everything in the whole world. All the Lego, all the computer games, all the cars, all the money, all the buildings. Wouldn't that be, wow, awesome?

[13:47] Jesus says, what's the point if you're not saved? If you're going to die and lose it all? And that's why Jesus teaches us that, you know, death is not our real problem.

[14:01] We're all scared of death more than anything else by nature. But Jesus says, no, no, no, no. Death is not the problem. We're all going to die. Our real problem is dying without our lives being saved.

[14:17] Because listen to how he puts it in Matthew. Listen to these words. Don't fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul.

[14:29] Rather fear him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell. Jesus is talking about God's justice to all who refuse to turn to him in life, who stubbornly stay on airplane mode.

[14:44] But you don't need to fear that. God doesn't want you to fear that. And that's why he made contact at Christmas. That's why he sent those angels in that dark night to those shepherds to announce to them and to all of us, don't be afraid.

[15:00] For look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people today in the city of David a Savior was born for you.

[15:15] Let's thank God for that. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for Christmas. We thank you for this reminder that you have sent a Savior to reestablish our connection with heaven so that our lives can be saved for eternity and that we can look forward to the resurrection.

[15:36] Lord, we we thank you for this reminder from your word that that is the real reason for Christmas and that is why it can never be cancelled. That is why it is good news for all people. Lord, make that good news for us in our hearts.

[15:50] May we go out here with joy knowing that we are saved and for those who don't know that, Lord, Lord, I pray that you would help them to realize their need for a Savior. Help them to see their Savior in Jesus and to turn to Him and cling to Him.

[16:05] In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen.

[16:41]  Malachia Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.