Merry Christmas! There is something in the story of Christmas that brings us all here tonight, that draws us in. For many of us it’s a familiar story that draws us into things like wonder, joy and hope during this particular season each year. But the interesting thing about the story of Christmas from the Bible is that we end it just as the story is getting started! The Christmas story is the miraculous beginning of an even more miraculous story, a story that ends more gloriously than we could ever imagine. If all we read is the story of the angel’s visit, the shepherd’s joy, the wise men’s journey, we would never get the full Christmas story. We would miss out on the most amazing truth about us and the most amazing truth about God that only just began that first Christmas morning. So what is the whole story? What happens after the shepherds leave, the wise men go back, the angels return to heaven and, like your house, there is now plenty of room at the inn because everyone has gone home? How does the Christmas story end? Well, the angels in the story actually tell Mary, Joseph and the shepherds the whole story. Hidden in their glorious pronouncements is the whole story of what Christmas is all about: it is about Immanuel. A way, a chance for God to be with us again and we with Him. That all people can know the great joy of being close to their Heavenly Father again; tidings of great joy for all people. Tidings of great joy for those who are not perfect and are tried of pretending to be. We need a Savior because we were created to be with our Creator God in vital, purpose-giving, life-restoring relationship. And all of our ills, all of our brokenness in us and around us in our world comes from living life separated from God. What the angels announce that first Christmas is no less than God’s offer of forgiveness, that He will send us Himself. The infinite God will become an infant for us. He will be our Savior who will bring us back into abundant life with the One who made us. It is His forgiveness that will save us out of the lostness and brokenness of our sin against Him. The angel’s message on that first Christmas was filled with hope for us; the hope of our Savior, now come to us, born of God and born as one of us. In the angel’s message is the whole story of our forgiveness. And because forgiveness is always costly, our forgiveness will require both the joy of the cradle and also the pain of a cross.

A survey once asked a group of 90-year olds to define what love is. One man said of his wife of 67 years: “It’s not like the Hallmark Channel. She was beautiful of course…but she was my best friend. And that made our love take on a different sort of glow.” Another gentleman said, “I want to go downtown, but she wants to go to Westmount Square. So, we went to Westmount Square, and I'm very happy. That’s love.” Another woman said: “We all have our flaws and baggage we bring into love. Love is giving each other a generous baggage allowance.” The Apostle John was also in his 90’s when he wrote his own definition of love: “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:8). As we finish out the Advent season in our fourth week, we join with the church around the world in focusing on love, the love expressed in the gift of Jesus. We started our Advent series in John 1, and it’s back to John’s gospel in chapter 3 that gives us a definition of the love that the Father put on display for us at that first Christmastime.

The Christmas story is one filled with joy. Both gospel accounts of the birth of Jesus, in Matthew 2:10 and Luke 2:10, use the phrase “Mega Joy” when referring to the events surrounding the birth of the Savior. The word megàles in Greek, which we have shortened to “mega” in English means: “the maximum range of what is actually possible.” That’s a lot of joy! That phrase “Mega Joy” is only used in the gospels at the birth of Jesus and only again at the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. “Mega Joy” always centers around Jesus. This morning we are going to take a look at one of those times “Mega Joy” is used in the gospels, when the wisemen finally saw the newly born king. Their journey will tell us a lot about our journey to joy as well.

It’s ironic that many of our traditional Christmas passages talk about peace. And yet, the season in which we celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace Himself is often the time of year when peace seems to escape us most. There may be peace as we sit by the glow of our Christmas tree for a quiet moment before the sun comes up, or peace as we see everything blanketed by a new covering of snow. But then the sun comes up and the day begins. The tree lights dim, the snow melts, and life begins in full force with its deadlines and crises and reminders that peace is like that hard-to-find gift on your Christmas list. The world has convinced us that peace is a feeling to be chased. But God wants to convince His children that peace is a concrete reality to be lived out of, even when we can’t or don’t feel it. Let’s look deeper into the promise of Isaiah 9 that unto us a child is born, the very Prince of Peace Himself.

This Sunday marks the first day of Advent. During the Advent season the Church enters a season of waiting. Waiting is profoundly countercultural; we don’t have to use our waiting muscles much anymore. Black Friday starts in October and Christmas starts before Thanksgiving; for $2 more our packages can arrive at 4:00am the next day. The first Advent was a time marked not by celebration and twinkling lights but by darkness and longing for Christ’s arrival and redemption. Before Jesus came in that manger, long lay the world in sin and error pining. The thrill of hope was in the air, but a weary world was not at the rejoicing part yet. It’s hard to remember what waiting was like for something you already have. We already have what Jesus came to offer; we no longer have to wait in darkness. But Advent still disciples into us the ability to wait and to long for the completion of what we have in Jesus as we wait for His return. Longing is not the same as waiting a mere 12 months; longing is waiting a lifetime, waiting until we are weary. Longing carries with it the temptation to give up hope in a way that simple waiting does not. What are you longing for? In the weeks of Advent to come, we will look at the four traditional themes celebrated by the Church around the world for over a thousand years: Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. Let’s look at our first Advent text together this morning and see where the hope of Christmas lies in John 1.

Join us this Sunday as we read The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew’s gospel and learn how this prayer gives us a name, honor, a mission, provision, a likeness and protection (ft. Colin Campbell, Member at Elevate Hope Centennial).

Some events are just history; they happened with little or no impact on the world today. Other events in history still bear lasting change today. The resurrection of Jesus is a historical event; it happened. Government officials, soldiers, rich and poor, ordinary people—secular and religious alike—had to wrestle with an empty tomb. It’s easy to forget the impact that the resurrection has had on our lives every moment of today. Mark's gospel ends in such a way that we need to ask ourselves along with the women at the tomb, ”What does it all mean?” Join us this morning as we bring our series in the Gospel of Mark to a close!

Mark’s gospel opens with: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Writing from within the city of Rome, Mark’s entire gospel is an attempt to show the Romans that Jesus Christ truly was the Son of God; all of Mark’s gospel moves towards that aim. Now after the death of Christ, after He has poured out His life on the cross, the first Roman—a hardened soldier at the foot of the cross—finally understands who Jesus really is. The cross of Christ has had its effect. What started with one Roman soldier at the foot of the cross had grown to well over 1000 Christians in Rome by the time Mark wrote his gospel. What was it that made this first Roman soldier see what Mark hopes that we all will see, that Jesus is the Son of God given for us?

We like stories of hidden royalty and mistaken identity. There is something we continue to love about a king or a princess, who has been mistreated and misunderstood their entire life, revealing in the final scenes that they are in fact the ruler of the kingdom. In Charles Dickens’ classic, The Prince and the Pauper, Tom Canty gets mistaken for a prince and Edward Tudor gets mistaken for a lowly beggar simply because of their outward appearance. So it is with the Caesars, the kings and with Jesus in the final week of His life on earth. Those with the titles and thrones may look like Caesars and kings because of their palaces and power, but the one who is getting beaten, spit upon and treated like a criminal, though He doesn’t look at all the part, is king and lord over all, even over the ones who are sending Him to His death. The triumphant reveal of Jesus’ identity will come in part with the empty tomb and the risen Jesus. But even now our king is a king who is ruling in this world but still hidden. His kingdom is a kingdom that has already come but not yet in full as it will. But on the day Jesus stood in Pilate’s chambers in Jerusalem, the only thing anyone could see was a man claiming to be king who looked nothing like the part. So they dressed Him up and hailed Him as king only in mockery. But unlike our favorite stories, Jesus’ mistaken identity was no accident. The king who hung the stars in their place does everything He can to willingly allow Himself to be taken for a criminal and hung on a cross for us.

At the end of Mark 14, two disciples are placed side-by-side: Peter and Judas. Two men who sinned greatly against Jesus in His time of need, but two men with two very different fates. In their story is the incredible offer of our own salvation and God’s offer of salvation to our world. In our text this morning we see our denial, betrayal, and abandonment of God, as well as the life saving, life changing, restoring grace of God as it is truly offered to us in the gospel. Join us as we look at the end of Mark 14 this morning.

As we come to Mark 14, we recognize that each of the gospel writers slows down to focus on Jesus’ last week, but especially His last day before His death. The core truth of our passage this morning is that Jesus was denied, abandoned and forsaken so that we would be accepted, loved and redeemed. Join us in Mark 14 as we examine Peter’s sin, Christ’s sorrow and our salvation. (ft. Tim Sin, Assistant Pastor at Denver Presbyterian Church).

As we go through Mark together, we come to the final week of the life of Jesus. The week that the crowds tried to get Him to avoid; the week His disciples tried to get Him to avoid. Even Satan himself at the start of Jesus’ ministry tried to get Him to avoid this week. This is the week that the chief priests and scribes thought would never come. For every gospel writer, this week occupies the majority of their gospel. The early church knew that this wasn’t just another list of historical events; this was the week in history that changed everything. This week would form the basis of the church’s worship and of her witness to the world. The worshipping church worships a risen Savior; the witnessing church proclaims a crucified and risen Savior. And the week begins with a beautiful act of worship by one of Jesus’ followers that would be remembered and recounted until this very day. Let’s look together in Mark 14.

As we go through the gospel of Mark together, we are coming to the events leading up to Jesus’ trial and passion. In preparation of that, let’s examine a psalm that will help us in understand the suffering of Jesus. This morning we will be examining Psalm 91.

Join us this Sunday as we once again dive into Exodus 20 to look at the tenth and final commandment — You shall not covet. (ft. Colin Campbell, Member at Elevate Hope Centennial).

In Mark 13, Jesus’ disciples wanted to know if there would be any signs that the end times were coming. How will we know when the end is here? What should we be watching for? Jesus doesn’t tell them exactly when but He does tell us exactly what. He tells them exactly what they should be doing while they watch and wait for the signs. And this whole discussion starts because Jesus’ followers are in awe of the beauty of their place of worship, the temple.

In 2006, the cost of producing a penny became higher than its actual face value for the first time. Driven by the increasing price of metals like zinc and copper by 2024, the cost to produce and distribute one U.S. penny reached an all time high of 3.69 cents, over three times its actual value. In our passage this morning, Jesus calls over His disciples to observe something that gives joy to the heart of God: a poor widow gives to God what Jesus says are her last and only two pennies. He says that the value of those two pennies given with the heart that she has is greater than the value of the large amounts given by the wealthy worshippers that day who had plenty to spare. Jesus knew what is true of the penny today. In God’s economy what it takes to form and to forge a heart that is willing to give those last two pennies is of more value than the face value of the actual pennies themselves. God’s economy is famous for not working the same way that our earthly economy does. Let’s look deeper at how two pennies in an open hand to God are a much greater sum than a closed fistful of dollars.

On December 2, 2018 about 90 people shuffled into the downstairs gym of Deer Creek Church in Littleton, Colorado. Many of them were there out of curiosity, some were there for the free bagels. But most were there because they wanted to be a part of a new work of the gospel in Metro Denver in some way. Out of that gym, and from this surrounding community, came a group of about 35 adults, toddlers, children and teens who formed the Launch Team of Elevate Hope Centennial: a church for people who aren’t perfect and don’t pretend to be, bringing the real and lasting hope of Jesus to Metro Denver and beyond. We didn’t know what was going to happen, but we knew that God’s plan for reaching cities with the hope of the gospel is to plant more churches. And we would hear His call to start a new church in Centennial, Colorado where people could Connect with God, Connect with Others and Connect Others to God who were far from Him. In the last part of our Scripture passage this morning, people wanted to debate where the long awaited Savior would come from but Jesus wanted them all to know what kind of Savior would he be. And as I was prayer walking around this building a couple of weeks ago, I believe that our going to Dry Creek elementary was not about the “where are we going to be a church this summer?” but “what kind of church are we going to be when we return?” What does it look like to live out Jesus—to embody Him—in our communities so that His glory expands to every corner of South Metro Denver. That is what being a disciple of Jesus is all about!

God’s ultimate plan for human life is resurrection. Resurrection into new life, into a new existence that has the capacity to dwell with the holy God who made us for eternity. If the ultimate plan of God for His people is resurrection, then our sin-wrought death is no longer the period at the end of our life story. How would we summarize that great story in all of its hope and glory? Jesus chooses one unlikely verse of Scripture to do just that when confronted with skeptics who denied that God can raise us to something new. Let’s look at our passage this morning in Mark 12.