O Little Town of Bethlehem, Will you Welcome your Saviour? | Rev. Elisha Satvinder

Come to this one, uh, key thought here is this: uh, it’s a two-part series this week, next week, and I kind of wrap it up during Christmas Day. Yeah, but seeking Him. Can I have the first slide? Seeking Him, preparing Him room. Bethlehem, if you look at it, um, can we keep in tandem? Okay. Bethlehem is a microcosm of humanity.

We can read this morning. I was reading with the children, and I said, “Come, let’s get into the story a bit. Let’s think how it applies to us.” So, Bethlehem. Bethlehem actually speaks in volumes about our own life. So, we sing that song “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” isn’t it? It’s talking about receiving its Savior.

So Bethlehem, what is this town? It’s actually, and I’ve been to Bethlehem, it’s—now of course it’s very different—but more than 2,000 years ago, it’s actually a small town. It’s unassuming. But this little town, let’s say it’s like, uh, maybe Taiping. Can I say Taiping? Or maybe, you know, Bahau. You know, that little town was chosen for an amazing significance.

O Little Town of Bethlehem. This little, small town, unassuming, chosen for the grandest event of the world. It’s not the World Cup. The grandest event, what is it? The birth of the Savior. There’s no other greater event in the world, isn’t it, in humanity? The birth of Jesus. Yet this town was almost completely unaware of what was happening. It didn’t realize what was happening. It didn’t realize who was coming in.

So when I look at this, I realized this is not just Bethlehem’s story; it’s actually our story. It’s your story. It’s my story. O Little Town of Bethlehem. It’s our story. They were distracted. If we’re going to realize soon, what they were distracted. And our lives can be distracted. Our lives can be busy. Our lives can be indifferent. Busy and indifferent to what? To welcome the Savior into our hearts. I think you would agree with me: we all can miss Christmas for its real reason, meaning. We all can miss Christ.

Let’s look at Luke 2:1-7. It says this: In those days, Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria. You know what census is. In Malay, they call it banci, not bunyi. Yeah, banci. Okay, okay. So they come to your home. Nowadays, they come to your home. “How many people in the house? Mom? Dad? Okay, what? Okay.” And then they will—have you seen in your home? So I was talking to the kids, I said, “If you go home today, look, most of your homes should have a little card there, isn’t it? How many people there?” So this is what the census—but those days, you had to go to that place and register yourself. So if you are born in Penang, all those born in Penang have to go back to Penang and register. Okay? If you’re born in Sabah, everybody born in Sabah all fly up there and register yourselves.

So this is what’s happening here. And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea. He’s born, Joseph of course, from Nazareth. Where does he go to? To Bethlehem, the town of David. So now, when you sing the hymn, it means a bit more, isn’t it? “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” Because he belonged to the house and the line of David.

He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born—the water burst, a bit more graphic, okay? And she gave birth to her firstborn—a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because—everybody shout, “Because!”—because there was no guest room available for them.

This Little Town of Bethlehem—what was the hullabaloo all about? Everybody is coming back to town to register their names, and they got so busy that they forgot one thing—that history was registering the greatest birth of all, the birth of Jesus. Bethlehem, a town too busy to notice. All the Airbnb taken up, hotels booked up, no room—sorry, manger. He goes into a place where there are animals.

So, what is the idea that we can—I, I’ve got three things that I want to look at today. And this is the first: Bethlehem. So Bethlehem was filled with activity. What? Everybody balik kampung to register. Okay? Caesar decree—you have to go and do it. Homes are crowded, relatives come, no place to stay, all have to bunk in. Okay? Everybody is showing up. All right. And all these demands overshadowed the arrival of Jesus.

Modern-day parallel. How can we look at it? Well, don’t you think Christmas is the busiest season of the year? Yeah. Around the world, isn’t it? The whole world is, uh, you know, thinking of Christmas, isn’t it? It is so busy. Wow. One of my bucket lists is to have a white Christmas. I came close, close to it, close to it. Yeah. But still, everywhere, shopping, discounts. You know, some of us go shopping—when we come home, it’ll be shocking for the other person to, you know, to see how much is spent. Okay? So, often, Christmas can be so busy. Are you busy, ready for Christmas? Oh, come on, don’t lie. Come on. Some of us are busy planning holidays. So I asked the children, “Will there be Christmas without Jesus?” No, I said. Yet it’s Christmas, we do without Jesus. I am planning everything about me. Everything is about me—the food, the holiday, whatever it is, it’s all the preparation in my home. It’s about me. It’s about the festivity. It’s the holiday. You know, I—I love decorations. I love decorations, and especially if it’s really done tastefully. So I like to walk through places at times and just see the beauty of it. And yet, when I was walking, then I realized I’m enjoying the music. I’m enjoying the atmosphere. Then I realized one thing: I have forgotten why the decorations are out. I actually missed Him. And I said, “Ah, Lord, actually, in the midst of the music and the celebration and the hot apple cider and whatever not, I actually missed Him.”

O Little Town of Bethlehem—am I too busy to notice that the greatest birth is being registered? She gave birth to her firstborn—a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in the manger because there were no guest rooms available for them.

So we risk being the Little Town of Bethlehem. We gather, we say Merry Christmas. Christmas. Merry Christmas. We sang it just now, right? But is there Christmas without Christ? So, it’s a perspective for us, not just because we’re closing the year, but our daily life. Every day is a new day. Every day is a gift given to us. Do I celebrate that Savior? Do I celebrate His birth? Do I celebrate His resurrection? Why? Because He’s the meaning and the purpose of life, isn’t it? Amen? He is the meaning of it. So I can be so preoccupied in life, even my daily life, that I still miss Christ. Christ—I still miss Him. So, imagine hosting this grand event—and I’m sure some of us are hosting, going away, holidays, whatever it may be. We are doing various things. So imagine you are having this great grand party. Last night, Patrina and I, we came back a bit too late. Somebody had invited us for their 40th wedding anniversary. It was pomp and fanfare. Trust me, it was really—they flew in jazz all the way from Buenos Aires, and—and wow, beautiful. Great celebration. But can you imagine, in a great celebration, you actually forget to greet the guest of honor? You’re so worried about your drinks and the food and the decorations and whatever not, you know, and you forget the guest of honor.

That was the tragedy of Bethlehem. That was the tragedy of Bethlehem. That mustn’t be the tragedy of our life. Why? Busyness is not just a distraction. It is often a symptom of misplaced priorities. Jesus warns us against the cares of this world choking out what is eternal. We know from that parable, isn’t it? He says, “But the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.” And there’s a lot of desires—of gifts and whatever. I’m not saying kill joy, you know, go and have sackcloth and ashes, dip yourself in vinegar. I’m not saying celebrate Christmas. Please, we must celebrate, right? But make sure we don’t miss who we celebrate and why we celebrate it. Because He makes all the difference, yeah. So, it’s eternal. He does it.

So, the second group of people I want us to look at. So we’ve seen the town of Bethlehem, and we realize it’s also our story. And then I want to come to this peculiar people in the Bible story of Jesus—the shepherds. The ordinary people with open hearts. So, the main idea here is this: they were actually lowly people, men working through the night. Shepherds were not regarded much in society, okay, because they stink of sheep. They have jobs that pay them very little, and they work long hours, okay, through the night. But something significant is happening. Think with me: here is a town bustling with activity because of the census. Here comes Mary and Joseph. A child is born. Unto us, a child is born. The greatest birth. The greatest event of history. And everybody is busy. There’s no place. Just further down, as we will read in the Scripture, there’s this bunch of shepherds. Now they hear this angelic declaration, announcement. Their hearts were ready. They responded with urgency and joy.

How can we apply to maybe what we think today in our modern parallel? Our culture celebrates prestige and success, right? Anybody celebrates failure? None. All of us want prestige. We want success. We want some amount of wealth and prosperity. We want all these different things, all right. But isn’t it interesting, God often reveals Himself to those who are humble and overlooked. I want us to think of Bethlehem in this season again. Who did Jesus come to? Shepherds. Or rather, who did the angels announce to?

So, my question for us in this season is this: are we willing to embrace the simplicity of faith to encounter Him this season? That’s my desire. That’s my prayer—not just for you, for myself, for everybody—that we will encounter the real reason for Christmas so that as we go into 2025, we go with a clarity, we go with an optimism, we go with a purpose. Amen? Everyone? So, there’s a clarity in our lives to do that.

So, let’s look at the Scripture. Luke 2:8-20. And there were shepherds living out in the field nearby. Their shepherds are not like ours today. So today, we think of the FL Jag guy, lah, okay. The guy is taking, so he throws them into the shed, locks it up, then he goes back home. Right? There, then, it didn’t happen. They actually live with the sheep for their entire season. So, and there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby. Nearby where? Where Jesus was—just came into the world, near Bethlehem—keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and the bangra came, and me—sorry. Now, I’m a bit jet lagged, a bit jet lagged. And they were terrified. I—I think they would be terrified if they were bangra dancers, okay, in that 2,000 years ago. They would be terrified here. But—but the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.”

I want to, in your mind, keep doing that contrast. Bethlehem: no room. The angels come, declare to the shepherds, and say, “Hey, guys, this news is going to change the world. It’s going to change the world. It’s going to change you. It’s going to change everyone. It’s going to be so significant. Today, in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you. He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: you will find a baby”—we read that earlier, isn’t it?—“wrapped in cloths, lying in a manger.” If you were the shepherd, what would go through your mind? Why would such a great birth be in such an insignificant place? And why is it that you picked me to announce this? Never, ever feel that your life, where you are at, is worthless, is hopeless, that God doesn’t speak to you. God will not speak to you. God will not use you. Because God works in little, insignificant things because it is Him who brings the significance. Amen? It is Him who does it. He does. He didn’t come with pomp and fanfare in a palace. He came this way.

Suddenly, a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angels, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest.” In fact, you know what, let’s all read this together. Are you ready? Let’s read it out loud. A bit of enthusiasm. Can, can? Okay, let’s do it one more time: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.” Amen. When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go back to sleep.” I mean, no, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen Him, they spread the word concerning what they had been told about this child. And we read it in the Great Commission, isn’t it? Now, “Go therefore.” The shepherds, now, they’re going to go. They’re going to tell all these guys, the whole town of Bethlehem that missed Him, missed Jesus, and they’re going to say, “I bring you good tidings of good news. A Savior has been born.” And all those who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

Sometimes we are so afraid. You know what, the greatest time to herald Jesus is at Christmas. You know what, we shouldn’t be ashamed at this point. Tell me, look at the shepherds—probably insignificant people. This Christmas is the time we say, “Hey, it’s Christmas season. Come to church with me.” What amazing responsibility God gives us. Because if Christmas remains a tree for me, and a candle, and some gifts, and under the tree, I have missed the significance of Christmas. My encouragement—hey, it’s Christmas. You know, statistics show this: people are more ready to come to church during Christmas than Christians are ready to invite people. Challenging question: have you invited anybody to church for Christmas? Painful question: are you on a holiday? It’s Christmas. It’s Jesus.

So, we must—this, this shift of what’s going on in our own hearts. Because we don’t want the story of Bethlehem to be our story. We want our story to be the story of the shepherds. So, hey, all who heard were amazed. Church, what an opportunity for us to say, “Will you come?” We sang the song just now: “We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Good tidings to you.” Let’s do that. Can we do that? You think, good tidings to others? Let’s do that. That’s my encouragement to you. We should be celebrating the amazing gift of Jesus, not just for ourselves, and just live it the way we want to live it, but every week, every day of our lives, heralding this amazing birth of the most amazing person, Jesus.

Thank you for that underwhelming response. Amen. Good to have you back, Pastor. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, and those who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. So they had to talk. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. Wow. If that doesn’t excite us, my, what else could excite us and stir us to say, “It’s Christmas, Lord. Let me bring, let me be the shepherd there, and let me herald Your birth. And let me invite people to say, ‘It’s Christmas. Come, it’s Christmas.’” Amen? Come on, let’s do it one more time. Well, on, amen. Okay, should I go for a longer holiday? It was on holiday’s work. Okay, should I go away longer? Yes, go, go longer.

What, what would be an illustration that I can give you? Can you imagine a janitor—why do I want to use a janitor? Because can you imagine KLCC? Everybody’s been to KLCC, right? Everybody likes to hang around in Pavilion, KLCC. True confession is good for the soul, okay? A janitor. Do we ever notice janitors in KLCC? What’s our feeling towards them in nice-looking complexes? Not much, isn’t it? Come on, let’s be honest. True? Yeah. Yeah, that’s how people looked at shepherds. So can you imagine the janitor is going about, and the fire alarm rings, but everybody is so busy shopping that they can’t hear the alarm? The only person hearing it is the janitor. And the janitor packs his broom and his mop, and he runs away and says, “Bye, idiots!” No, he doesn’t. Could everybody else who’s shopping be Bethlehem? And could the janitor be the shepherd who says, “Fire, come on, get out.” So, can you imagine, if only a janitor hears the fire alarm, and nobody else hears it, that would be a tragedy, isn’t it? Right? That would be a tragedy. Our eyes may not see, our hearts may not respond, but the shepherds saw, and they responded. I think that’s a good lesson to ponder on this, this Christmas. Yeah. So, what, what’s the thing that I would like us to, to

think about is this, um, uh, Isaiah. But this is what I want to say first: God delights Himself in revealing His love, His purposes to those who seem insignificant. And I want to speak that to your heart. You are not insignificant, no matter what you feel. God sees your significance, because through that, He will want to use you to be a herald of His birth and His salvation and His purpose for others. Amen? Amen. Remember that.

Isaiah 57:15 says, “I am the high and holy God.” You look at the contrast now. He says, “I’m the high and holy God who lives forever. I live in a high and holy place, but I also live with people who are humble and repentant.” Sometimes we think, “Oh, I’ve messed up too much. I am insignificant.” You know what, my heart, can I challenge you with one thing here? Deal with that thought this morning, and embrace your significance in your Savior. Embrace your purpose in Jesus, and be the herald of Christ. God is holy. Yes, He’s holy. But this holy God chose to come through an insignificant virgin by the name of Mary, a 17-year-old girl, born in the most interesting of places—a manger. Witness the birth is witnessed by whom? By cows and sheep.

The first human beings to see it? Shepherds. Your janitor. They could have said, “Oh, the glory was too much. Who am I? I’m just a janitor. Hey, I don’t have time, chief. I got a night shift. I have to take care of the sheep.” But the message was too overwhelming.

“I am the high and holy One, holy God who lives forever. I live in a high and holy place, but I also live with the people who are humble and repentant, so that I can restore their confidence and hope.” Amen?

Let’s look at James 4:6. He says, “But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says: God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble.” The shepherds remind us of what? Spiritual readiness comes from humility, not status. Spiritual radiance—it comes by the “why them,” not status.

And the third group of people I want to look at are the wise men. So if you look chronologically, they come much later actually. Okay? So, we looked at Bethlehem briefly. We looked at the shepherds. Let’s look at the wise men.

They were seekers who would not stop. How is this significant to us now? They call them the Magi—not the “mai” or the “Mei.” Okay, we will read it later. It’s spelled Magi—M-A-G-I-I. You will see some of our other translations may use “wise men,” but they will use Magi—M-A-G-I-I. Okay? Not M-A-G-A—that one is something else. Make America Great Again. Okay?

Yeah, so they traveled thousands of kilometers, guided by what? A star. Seeking one who has been born King of the Jews. You know, I came across a cartoon, uh, was it yesterday? Yeah, yesterday, when I was preparing something. I came across a cartoon. I thought it was so significant. And, uh, it’s Joseph and Mary, and the—this—different people. And they are looking at an inn to stay, an Airbnb, whatever it is. And he says, “The ratings are four stars, so we want to go for a holiday.” What is the, uh, what are the reviews? How many stars? We look at all that. And then here is this insignificant lady. She’s turning away. She’s looking over at the sky, and she says, “Only one star matters.”

Wow. Only one star matters.

So, they came thousands of kilometers. What did their journey cost them? Time. These wise men—Scott Wesley Brown, some of you may remember his song long ago called Wise Men Still Seek Him. It costs you time. Asking the children, I said, “If your parents left your handphone next to you in the night, in the morning, what would you go for first?” Because we are talking about bringing a gift to Jesus. I said, “Jesus is not going to wrap and say chocolates, you know. He’s not going to do any of that.” Okay? I said, “Which will you go first? Because, of course, I had this conversation with them about what matters most. What do you think you can give Jesus?”

So, I said, “Your answers actually are all surfaced, curated in our minds. We know how to give the right answers, but we cannot live the reality of it. So, if I put a handphone—your parents leave a handphone and a Bible—which would you go for first, first in the morning?” They were honest enough to say, “Handphone.”

All of us, which one do we go for first in the morning? Come on.

And the first prize goes to Pastor. Okay? Seeking God takes time. Seeking—they traveled thousands of miles guided just by one star. Just one star.

What are the stars we are looking at? The bright lights of Christmas or the brightest light who is Christmas? It takes time. If I don’t take the time, I cannot say, “Where is God? Why, God?” Because I don’t equate time as something important to invest.

We always talk about the quality of relationships by the time spent together. Is that true? We do that. We’ll say, “Husband and wife must spend time. Uh, boyfriend, girlfriend always look for time. Children, parents—time. Savior—ATM machine—time.”

Resources. We always say, “God, give me.” Can we bless God? So it’s a paradigm shift in all of our heads, isn’t it?

Resources and effort—mounting up those animals, going through the desert, going through all those different towns. An uncertain journey. Wow.

Church, every day we have a journey. We wake up in the morning, and we decide what’s the most important. Time, resources, effort. They were determined to find Jesus and worship Him.

What are some examples we can give? Um, we all look for purpose and meaning. Is that not true? Yeah, we all look for purpose, meaning. And somehow, more often than not, purpose and meaning is tied to money, to a person, to an experience, to work, car, home, job. It’s always tied, you know, to what satisfies me—temporarily.

So—and we will pay for it. “I want a great holiday. Let’s save money.” Why? I’m investing my time, my treasure, my effort. True? Holidays are not free, right? We invest. We do our research.

So when I think of what brings me significance or adds something to me, um, I’m pursuing, I’m looking for bonus, I’m looking for, “Oh God, bless me, the bonus.” And then Christmas, I don’t even remember the greatest gift.

So, it’s a challenge here—my whole—am I willing to pay for spiritual pursuits? What am I willing? I’m willing to pay to score A’s in exams, right? Yes? No? Oh, I’m willing to burn the midnight oil, forsake everything else, you know. I am willing. I’m willing to eat less, save the money. I can forsake so many things for so many different things. But will there be this spiritual pursuit where I will forsake distractions and say, “God, You have the words of life. You bring meaning and purpose into me.”

Remember that story about “He who gets the Son gets everything?”

The story of the one child—parent, husband and wife—wealthy. Wife passes away. Husband has to raise the son. But as he raises the son, he teaches him the finer things of business and curation. And, of course, uh, art—the Picassos and the Rembrandts and art pieces that are in the multi-millions of dollars.

The bond of the father and the son is so close. And, uh, wartime came, and the son has to go for war. He has to go and fight. He has no choice. He dies in the battlefield.

The father becomes a recluse—can’t handle it. One, he lost his wife. Now he’s lost the most meaningful thing in his life—his son.

Comes Christmas season, wintry morning, there’s this incessant knock on the door, and the butler says, “Sir, there’s this man looking for you.” He says, “He knows your son.” He says, “Send him away.” He says, “He’s not going away. He says he actually was in the battle with your son.”

So the father reluctantly agrees, and he starts walking down that hall. And when he walks through that hall, the memories are flooding in of collecting the different art pieces with his son. All these multi-million-dollar art pieces are in the walls of that hall that he’s walking through to go to that main door to greet this visitor that he doesn’t know of.

And when he opens the door, this young man greets him and says, “Sir, you don’t know me. This is my name. I was at the battlefield with your son. In fact, he died in my arms.”

So the father, of course, mixed emotions. He says, “Your son talked so much about you and the great adventures of finding art all around the world.” He says, “I’m—I’m not an artist, but I sketched your son the best I remember him.” He said, “If you would receive this gift, that’s all I have.”

And the father looks at the sketch. He thanks the young man, embraces him, and he says, “Thank you. It means a lot.” And he walks back into the hall. And that piece of that sketched image of his son—which is really not all that great—goes in the center of the hall.

Not long after that, the father dies. There’s no heir, so nobody is going to inherit anything. So, guess what happens? It’s going to be auctioned.

So people, art lovers all over the world come down because they know of this great treasure this man has accumulated. And before the auctioneer begins, he says, “There is a clause that we must first sell the piece called ‘The Son.’”

And when the picture comes out, that sketch comes out, everybody’s like, “Are you kidding us? Goodness me.” And everybody’s looking at each other, like—he says, “Sorry, the auction will not start until this is bought.”

And then you can hear all the chatter. And sheepishly, this guy—actually, the butler—picks it up for a few dollars.

“Going once, going twice—sold!”

And then the auctioneer brings the auction to an end, and everybody is up in arms now. They say, “What is this? Come on!”

He says, “No, there’s another clause. Let me read it to you: He who gets the Son gets everything.”

True? True.

He who gets the Son gets everything.

The problem is, our treasure is always in the Picasso, in the Rembrandt, and never in the Son. And yet, when we get the Son, we get the Picasso and the Rembrandt.

Time. Resources. Effort.

We find our significance in people, the relationships, food, sex—all these different things, our pride. We find significance in our education, in our work, in our money, in our opinions. But often, He says, “I come to the humble and the contrite.”

We seek purpose, but in Him, we find purpose.

You have people at home. We have people in our neighborhoods, in our workplaces, in our study places, wherever it is—they are all looking for purpose.

Church—Christmas—help them find that purpose.

Let’s invest our time daily with God, His Word. The wise men challenge us to what? To prioritize worship—pursuing God over convenience.

Sunday can be a convenience. Church service can be a convenience. Christmas service can be a convenience. Prayer can be a convenience. Reading—everything can be a convenience. But am I missing the treasure?

Think of the athletes—Olympians. They sacrifice a lot of comfort, don’t they? They sacrifice comfort. They cannot eat nasi lemak every day. Roti canai—forget it. Yeah. Why? Because there’s a goal.

The wise men embodied this for us—determination in their journey to seek Christ. Determination to seek Him.

“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, the Magi from the East came to Jerusalem and asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born the King of the Jews?’”

They haven’t even met Him. They’re already anticipating.

“‘Where is the one who’s born? We saw His star’—remember, only one star matters—‘we saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him.’

“When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.”

Why would Herod be disturbed? Because Herod, all of a sudden, felt threatened by another throne.

“When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born.

“‘In Bethlehem in Judea,’ they replied, ‘for this is what the prophet has written:

‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd My people Israel.’”

Then Herod called the Magi again, secretly. Why secretly? Because it’s so contradictory, what he says.

“And found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.

“He sent them to Bethlehem and said, ‘Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find Him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship Him.’”

What’s wrong with this? If I am so excited about Jesus, I’m so excited about the Savior, I will say, “Get me another horse. I’m going with you.” Don’t ask other people to go to church first! Come on! But let’s get others to come as well. Amen? Come on.

If he was so interested, he would have said, “Just give me two hours. I’m going to worship Him.”

“After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.

“When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.

“On coming to the house”—so you notice, from the manger, it’s the house now. So chronologically, it’s a few years already. Huh?—“they saw the child with His mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

“And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.”

They sought. They brought treasure. And they were satisfied, because they found the greatest treasure.

True worship requires us to what? Seek and sacrifice. Isn’t it called a sacrifice of praise?

So Christmas is a great time to reflect on all these things. Church, it’s a great time.

(Team, you can come up already.)

I want to read you two more scriptures as an insight I want to give you, and then I want to give you a closing thought on what you and I can do in this season.

True worship causes us to be seeking, requires us to be seeking and to sacrifice. The wise men remind us of what?

Let’s read this: Jeremiah 29:13—“You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.”

We—we know this scripture, right?

But it will require something more:

Romans 12:1—“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship.”

The wise men remind us of what? The greatest treasures are found when we give our best to Christ.

But often we say, “God, what can You do for me? And if You don’t, I’m not showing up.”

We give our best.

Bethlehem teaches us what? How easy it is to miss Him.

The shepherds teach us what?

And the wise men? That finding Him requires humility, urgency, and sacrifice.

Can we stand together, Church?

I want to invite you to quiet your heart and your mind this morning. I invite those of you online—just quiet your heart. Quiet your mind. Push away everything else.

If we’re already not busy, we’re going to get busy at Christmas. In the name of Christmas, we’re going to be very busy.

I’m asking you to do one thing this week. One thing.

What is one thing you can remove as a distraction to seek Him?

What is one thing to seek Him? Clear out that distraction that crowds your heart, your mind.

Will you give intentional time in prayer, in His Word, in worship, like the wise men?

Give Jesus the gift of your time and attention.

I want us to take a few moments right now. I want us to ponder on this message. We looked at Bethlehem. We looked at the shepherds. We looked at the wise men.

Who speaks to you today?