King Herod

Well, good morning, chapel family across all of our campuses here today, whether you're in this room watching online or listening via the radio. So glad just to have you tune in with us here today. I just wanted to pray over us. I wanted to pray over our time. My name is Edwin Perez. I'm our Lockport campus pastor. Just so grateful to be able to share God's word with us today, but let me just begin our time with prayer today. God, I thank you so much for your goodness. I thank you for the incredible privilege that we have to hear from you. Lord I pray that you would speak to us, God, that you'd speak to us clearly, that we would listen to you, that we would respond in a way that you would see fit. For the glory of your name and for our good. We love you. It's in Jesus name that we pray. Amen. So it's fully Christmas season if you haven't realized it yet, right? The Christmas season is the most wonderful time of the year. And even as we think about the Christmas season, one of the things that I can't help, but think about are Christmas movies. Christmas movies, just make the season all that it is. And so when I start to think about it, I start to, I can't help but think about some of the quarantine season and in the hallmark channel actually played Christmas movies in like the spring time. I can't do Christmas movies or Christmas music until, I believe probably post Thanksgiving. So, once Thanksgiving happens, I'm all about the Christmas season. Play the Christmas music, play the Christmas movies. We're good to go, can I get an amen for that? All right, a few of you, Thank you, yeah, awesome. And so, when I start to even process this, one of the movies that I can't help, but watch every year is "The Grinch". Now I know pastor Jerry had referenced "The Grinch" last week, but when I start to understand the story of the Grinch, isn't it interesting how, he steals Christmas. And then I think to myself, what would it take for someone to actually want to steal Christmas? I guess someone would have to have a heart two sizes too small. And so he, you know, he decides to seal all of the gifts, the trees, the lights from Whoville, and he takes it up to his mountain. And as he's going up there, he then hears whoville singing. And then he's like, oh man, maybe I didn't steal Christmas after all. And so what does he do, he goes, and he returns all the gifts and he takes part in the Christmas celebration. And so I mentioned this story. If you're unfamiliar with it, you should be by now. It's been out for like ever. But when I start to even process this story, I can't help but think that I don't think Dr. Seuss was the first person to actually introduce us to a Grinch like character during the Christmas season. You might be thinking, What! There's another Grinch? Yes. In fact, I believe there's a Grinch like character that the gospel writer Matthew was onto well before Dr. Seuss was, his name King Herod. Yep, if the Grinch's heart was two sizes too small, I'm gonna say King Herod's heart, was probably 10 sizes too small. But even when we start to see the gospel of Matthew, make no mistake about it that Matthew is establishing the kingship of Jesus. When you begin to read the Christmas story, and really when you begin to read the gospel of Matthew, you can see Jesus being established as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. But we get to Matthew chapter two. And I want you to see what Matthew said here, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the East, came to Jerusalem and asked, where is the one who has been born King of the Jews. We saw his star when it Rose and have come to worship him. So, we can see here beginning in Matthew chapter two, which is where we're going to be today, because Matthew, in this chapter, we're going to see two Kings that unfold. We're going to see King Herod and kind of what led to his demise. But then also we're going to see the beautiful King Jesus. And so right here, beginning in Matthew, chapter two in verse one and two, we see that there's, Magi from the East that come to King Herod to worship this new King of the Jews. And so these Magi, this is traditional where we think of the three wise men and such. But when you start to think about this further there was likely more than three. In fact, these Magi, they were very prominent People in the land and they likely traveled in groups or traveled in an entourage of sorts. And so they come to King Herod, this group of Magi, and they say, we have come. We followed his star and we're here to worship this King of the Jews. Now, for one, in the ancient world when it relates to the star, this was, a star that heralded the birth of someone of significance was a widespread phenomenon that occurred here. But secondly, we shouldn't be too surprised by this either due to the fact that the prophet Balaam in Numbers, chapter 24 actually prophesied about this and take a listen. Balaam said, I see him, but not now. I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob. A scepter will rise out of Israel. So we see this idea of a star being prophesied long ago that would ultimately find it would point forward to King David, but it would find ultimate fulfillment in King Jesus, Messiah Jesus. So when these Magi come to Herod saying that we have followed this star and we want to worship this King of the Jews. Herod did not take this very well at all. In fact, what we can find from Herod that he felt threatened. He was afraid. There were some things going on beneath the surface within his heart that we should pay attention to. In fact, let me give you this reason why Herod was so troubled. King Herod, he was a disturbed King. King Herod, he was ultimately a disturbed King. Listen to Matthew chapter two, verse three, when King Herod heard this, he was disturbed and all of Jerusalem with him. Now, when it says all of Jerusalem with him, this is likely because a lot of the religious leaders at this point were appointed by King Herod. So things had gotten really political at this point. Got weird. And so, you can imagine that these leaders were also troubled with Herod, but also if here's just a word of advice back then, you just did not want to make Herod upset. That was just bottom line, you did not want to make the dude upset. But it says that King Herod was disturbed. He was troubled. In fact, the Greek word, when you start to unpack it for that word disturbed, it means this inner trouble, this turmoil, to be shaken up or stirred up. This is what's happening within the heart, within the life of King Herod. It's probably very similar to when the Buffalo Bills lost on the hail Mary pass this year. That sense of deep trouble you experienced. And you're like, no, like what happened, right? It's okay, they're still gonna go to the Superbowl this year. You heard it here first. But in either case you can see that King Herod was deeply troubled. He was shaken up. He was stirred up and isn't it odd that he was so shaken up over the birth of a baby. It seems somewhat odd to think about doesn't it. When was the last time you felt so threatened or afraid by the birth of a baby? I can't remember the last time I was threatened or afraid by the birth of a baby, but King Herod here was so shaken up by this news, by these prominent Magi who were connected to royalty who came and made this announcement that there's this King of the Jews that is to be worshiped. Now, I think there's a few reasons why when you start to sit with the phrase King of the Jews, this would not have been an okay statement for Herod. And here's the reason why, I think there's a few reasons. Number one, that Herod was, he was an Edomite. And so one thing to remember about the Edomites is that they were descendants of Esau and throughout Israel's history, there was tremendous trouble. In fact, the Edomites were probably some of the greatest enemies of the Israelites. So you can imagine King Herod an Edomite, now ruler of the land in Judea, not going so well for the Jews. They don't respect him as their King but also there's a second reason. And it's because the previous dynasty that once ruled over Judea was called the Hasmonean dynasty. And in fact, this came to be because of Judah Maccabee and the revolts that had happened. And so this was really an attempt to purify the temple to protect Jewish thought and religion because a lot of the Hellenistic thought was coming into the land. And so this was a way for revolts to happen and to establish the has Hasmonean dynasty here. And so, what happened here is King Herod then comes with the backing of the Roman empire. He comes and he overthrows this Hasmonean dynasty. And, therefore what happens is the Jews are upset because he's basically doing everything opposite that they had worked so hard to be able to establish during this time. In fact, Herod, who was a friend of Rome, he also established much of Greek Hellenistic thought within the land. He made things really, truly about himself and it did not sit very well, but Herod, nonetheless he tried to have stability within the land of Judea, tried to appease the Jews in many ways, but then also he was really a pawn in the Roman empire because he was just someone that helped to gain more power and more land for the Romans in Judea. So nevertheless, we can see that Herod's circumstances are such that he would never be Israel's true King, and this didn't sit well with Herod at all. He felt threatened by it, because he always felt that due to the Hasmoneans, that they would revolt, that there would be someone coming up from that line, someone that would help to rule over the Jews and provide peace for them. And he was always fearful that someone from this dynasty, someone from this family line would come and would ultimately overthrow him. And so he was afraid, he was fearful of this. And so you can imagine that when the pronouncement comes from the Magi, that there is this King of the Jews, he's troubled, he's disturbed, there's this inner turmoil that's happening. So what does Herod do? In fact, take a listen. 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. So we can see here that Herod called together, the religious leaders and teachers of the land. And he asks, where is this Messiah to be born? And then sure enough, they quote Micah here as they hear it is in Bethlehem. So you can imagine this, that Herod had dedicated his whole life, his whole kingship to building up his empire, to building structures and buildings, and palaces. He even rebuilt the second temple, which historian say was one of the most beautiful structures in the world. And ultimately he is told that there is another King in his land. And ultimately this troubles, Herod, this causes him to be deeply, deeply disturbed. But secondly, we could also see this about King Herod and it's this, he was a manipulative king, played the role of deception, manipulation. This can be clearly seen in Matthew chapter two, take a listen. So here's what Herod does next. Then Herod called the Magi secretly 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. You and I both know here based upon what we know from Herod already that this, Herod is lying like a rug right here, right? I mean, he is lying through his teeth. So he sends the Magi. He says, all right, hey, you know what, go worship this King. Make sure you come back, why? So that I too, I too may go and worship him. Herod had no reason necessarily not to believe that the Magi would go ahead and do this. So he doesn't send a delegate or anything along those lines. But the Magi they go, they worship the King and then, you know the story, they don't return to Herod. And here's why. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod they returned to their country by another route. My translation, Herod got punked. Herod got duped, right here. So what we can see is the Magi, they go, they worship this King of the Jews but ultimately they're in a position where they're warned in a dream to not go back to Herod. So Herod, he's deeply, deeply upset, but you can see he plays the role here with the Magi where he's trying to deceive and manipulate. But then thirdly, I think we can see this about King Herod and it's this. Well, he was a corrupt King, that ultimately Herod was a corrupt King. Look no further than Matthew two verses 13 through 18. When they had gone an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, get up, he said, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him. So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so, was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet, out of Egypt I called my son. When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi. He was furious and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled. A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning. Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted because they are no more. This is a tragic scene when you start to see this, that Herod's lust for power, his control, his wealth and his fame corrupted his heart. Why? Because he loved those things so much. And ultimately it corrupted him to a place where he ended up doing corrupt and wicked things. I mean, can it get any worse than the killing of boys two years old and under, but this, believe it or not, this was not too far out of character for Herod as crazy as that might sound. In fact, the ancient historian Josephus actually talked about how Herod was obsessively attempting to defend his throne. In fact, I want you to listen to some things that Herod ended up doing. Due to the fact that he greatly feared this Hasmonean dynasty, and people connected to this family line, which were his predecessors. He was so fearful that they would revolt against him that he ended up executing his brother in law, his mother-in-law and his most beloved wife who we're all connected to Hasmoneans. But then he was also incredibly fearful and threatened by the fact that he thought his three oldest sons were plotting to take his throne as well. So he had them executed. And even to make matters worse upon his death he requested that all of Jewish nobility would be executed when he died. Thankfully this plan wasn't carried out, but the reason being why he wanted the Jewish nobility to be executed when he died, it's simply because he wanted the morning at his funeral to be genuine and real. Merry Christmas. I don't know why they haven't made a hallmark movie about this guy yet, huh! But you start to think about, man, how corrupt could this have got. Now, before you tune me out and think to yourself, well, thanks for the history lesson, but I'm no King Herod, I mean, I got my stuff. I got things going on, but I'm not that guy. Well, before you rush too far ahead, I wanna pull something out for us that I think is really, really impactful for us to pay attention to, here it is. King Herod, missed Christmas because he was too afraid to surrender his throne to the one true King. So King Herod, he missed it. He missed Christmas why? Because he was too afraid to surrender his throne to the one true King. See, that is ultimately the reason being why Herod had missed Christmas. He was too afraid to surrender to the one true King that could have actually healed Herod's life. That could have saved him, that could have made him new. But instead he was too afraid to give that up. He feared that ultimately there were people that would overthrow him, even though the hope of the world was staring him right in the face, because the true King of Kings, the true Lord of Lords has come in the person of Jesus and it was staring Herod right in the face. And he missed it. Why? Because he was so centered on himself. He was so centered on the empire and his power, and his control that he had built up over a lifetime that he couldn't actually see what he needed was staring him in the face. And so what I wanna do is because Matthew talks about King Jesus in Matthew two. And I, I'm gonna pull out some truths about Jesus that I think can really help us. Herod failed to realize some of these truths and my hope and my goal is that we would not fail to miss these things. My prayer is that we would recognize who King Jesus is and what he has come to do so that we would continue to be healed and saved and made new by this King of Kings, by this Lord of Lords. So here's the first truth that King Herod missed that we should not miss. King Jesus is worthy of all worship. You see King Jesus is worthy of all worship. In fact, when you continue to read in Matthew's gospel in verse number nine of Matthew two, you can see this. After they had heard the King, they went on their way, the Magi, 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 over joyed. On coming to the house they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. You see these Magi, they go and they worship the King of Kings, but Herod was too afraid to learn from the Magi. Why? Because his whole kingdom centered upon himself. And when you see this, isn't it interesting that when Herod left this world, that all of the structures, all the palaces, all of the things that he spent his whole life building up, he was able to take none of those things with him. Isn't that exactly what Paul told Timothy. Timothy who was leading the church at Ephesus. Listen to what Paul said. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. You see Herod failed to realize this idea but even when I start to understand more and more of who King Jesus is, how can we not, how could we not live for the praise of King Jesus, who became one of us, who made his dwelling with us, who ultimately went to a cross to take upon my sin and your sin. So that now when we put our faith in Jesus Christ, we can be healed, we can be forgiven, we can be set free, made alive and made new. How could we not worship this King? See, in Jesus death has been defeated. The grave has been emptied. Hell has been conquered. We have a new hope, new meaning and a new purpose. See how could we not live, for the praise and the worship and the adoration of this King. And I can even think to the fact that even in our day and age, I think that there are temptations of Herod that can be seen in us today, or at least that can be seen in the culture that we live in today. In fact, let me give you some examples. We live in a culture that tells us this, whatever makes you happy or fake it until you make it, or maybe pursue your own dreams. See, we live in a culture that tells us all of these things that ultimately tells us that our dreams and our happiness is all centered on us. See that's a Herod heart. That's a Herod heart. If we try to pursue all of these things based upon our own selfish gain, that's a Herod heart. But when we come to a place where we actually realized that we can never be King or queen over our own lives, that's when life change begins because you were actually never meant to be the King or the queen over your own life. You were never meant to live off of the praises and the worship and the adoration of other people. You were never meant to have the self-determining power for your own will, for your own life. You see, I know that in the culture that we live in, it screams at us, yes you do. But ultimately, when we make ourselves the King or the Queens of our own lives, that's going to lead to destruction. It did in Herod's his life. And I'm sure if he could be with us today and tell us he would say the same Thing. And so when we think about this idea, I can't help but even think about my own story and even how Jesus has rescued me. See, I know that even when I can think about my own life, God got a hold of my heart, it was probably my freshman year, my sophomore year of high school and, it pointed some things out in me. That I was living for the praise of self, that I was trying to do things based upon hurt and brokenness to just try and make me happy. And Jesus, He reminded me, He called me to repentance and helped me understand that I was never meant to be my own King, that everything that I was searching for and longing for can never be found in all the things that I was pursuing. But instead they could be found, contentment and joy, and peace, they could all be found in Jesus. See, that's the thing, is that when we come to a place and surrender the throne of our hearts to the one true King, here's what begins to happen, you'll realize and understand, and come to recognize how could I not live for this King, who has made me new, who has caused me to go from spiritual death to life. Where all of the treasures of this world mean nothing, why? Because I treasure the true King. Where he means more to you than life itself. See, this is what begins to happen when you surrender the throne of your heart to the one true King. 'Cause you were really, you weren't meant to be King and queen over the throne of your own heart. That position, that spot is left for Jesus. And when you surrender that to him, it'll change your world.
Not only did King Herod miss the fact that King Jesus is worthy of all worship, but I think he also missed this idea, is that King Jesus is worthy of our treasure. You see King Jesus, He's worthy of our treasure. Listen to what Matthew two goes on to say here. It says, then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. You see these Magi, they go and they present these treasures to Jesus, and they present him with gold, frankincense and myrrh. Can you just imagine the scene? Can you just imagine what this must have been like? That these pagan Magi, as far as we know, weren't even following God, they brought Jesus gifts and treasures. How interesting is that? Not only is that a fulfillment of Isaiah 60, but also, the Magi recognized that this King is a worthy King, that this King is worthy of their treasure. So I would ask you, is Jesus your greatest treasure? Is Jesus your greatest treasure? Here's how you can tell if he is. Does He have access to all of your treasures? See, that's how you can tell if Jesus is your greatest treasure, does he have access to all of your treasures? Cause by the way, it's all his anyway. And we're called to be stewards of the things that he has given to us. And so if we're going to bring Jesus our treasure, if we're going to say Jesus, you are worthy of our treasure, what would it look like for you even this Christmas season, this Christmas time, to steward your treasure in such a way where you make him known to the world around you. Maybe it's giving gifts to a family in need. Maybe it's being a part of the season of giving that we have been a part of in doing together. Maybe it's helping those in this COVID season, 'cause I know that there has been many businesses and people affected. Maybe it's blessing a family who's in need. You see, when Jesus is your greatest treasure, he has access to all of our treasures and he can say and do as he wills with the stuff that he has given us. Why? Because it's all his. You see even this Christmas season, what would it look like for you to present to Jesus, your treasure? Even recently, we had the opportunity, I know our Lockport community did and then also our Cheektowaga community. We were able to bless those communities with Christmas trees, able to just show up at houses and just give some folks, some trees and bless them and pray with some folks. It was truly, truly awesome. It was incredible because we actually had someone that came out to church. I believe it was like the following day. And they ended up coming and this person was so overwhelmed and so overjoyed by the fact that there would be people who would give trees, and give one particularly to her and to her family. And so she ended up saying to us, before she left, she ended up saying, I've never been encouraged like this in two years. It's two years and I have never felt the encouragement that I've felt today. You see when Jesus has access to our treasure, when we just steward the things that he's given to us for his glory, when we just wanna be obedient with that. And there's no limit to what God can do. It's beyond even what we can see or even comprehend in the moment because he's always working. He's always in control. He's moving beyond what we can see. So I would encourage you to present your treasures to Jesus, and let Him do and will, as he sees fit, why? Because Jesus is worthy of our treasure. Herod missed that, and he wanted to find all of his treasure, all of his possessions. He wanted to build his own empire and it was all found found in him. But I would also say, not only is King Jesus worthy of all of our worship, of our treasure but King Jesus is sovereign over all circumstances. You see, King Jesus, He is sovereign over all circumstances. You see, even as we start to see Matthew two unfold, it's interesting because we can see Herod's fear led him to doing incredibly corrupt things, where he wanted to have all of these boys that were two years old and under executed, such an incredible tragedy when you start to sit with that and think about that. But even into that, even in the midst of this incredible tragedy that has happened, you can see even in the midst of this that nothing can thwart the plans of God. That King Jesus, he's still sovereign. He is still in control, because what you'll find as you read Matthew two, which I will show you in just a second is that, even into this incredible tragedy the word of God is still being fulfilled. The word of the Lord is still coming to pass. In fact, listen to Matthew two. It says, so he got up, Joseph. He took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt where he stayed until the Death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet, out of Egypt I called my son. See how powerful is it that even in this incredible tragedy that has happened, that the word of the Lord is still being fulfilled as Joseph and Mary and Jesus, they go to Egypt and that is indirect fulfillment to what Hosea talked about out of Egypt, I will call my son, the word of the Lord is still being fulfilled. But then also you can keep reading in Matthew two. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled. A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning. Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted because they are no more. The word of the Lord still being fulfilled. See, but ultimately we should not miss this, is that what Matthew two is ultimately also a picture of what Matthew is doing when he's talking about King Jesus here, is he's also presenting Jesus as the greater and second Moses. See, because when you read Exodus one, what do you see? You see the Pharaoh decreeing that all of the Hebrew babies be thrown into the Nile, tragedy. In Matthew chapter two, what do you see? You see King Herod decreeing for the execution of baby boys, tragedy. But then what do you see when you start to understand even the story of Moses unfolding, you see Moses being spared and then you can also see in Matthew two, Jesus being spared as he's brought to Egypt. Then when you start to even think about how Moses would ultimately come to Egypt, out of the wilderness, and he would ultimately rise up to deliver the Israelites from captivity and into the promised land, right up to the promise land. And then what do you see with King Jesus? King Jesus would ultimately rise up and he would come and preach a message of repentance, so that anyone who would believe could be delivered from Spiritual bondage and be given eternal life. You see even in the midst of this great, great tragedy that is happening, don't miss that even as a baby King Jesus is still sovereignly in control. He's in control because even the word of God is being fulfilled as a baby. See Herod, missed all of that. And his desire for control was so great. But King Jesus all along is sovereign. And maybe that's something that you can be encouraged by even this day. Maybe for you this Christmas season. Maybe it's filled with a great degree of tragedy. Maybe it's filled with a degree of loss or difficulty. See this season, I want you to be reminded that even in the midst of all that may be happening in your world, King Jesus is still sovereignly in control. He still sits on his throne. In fact, I wanted to read a story that I think helps to picture the sovereignty of Jesus in our call to surrender. It was actually a blog post that I had read and it's called the gift of Surrender. Here's what the author said. The phrase a new normal has never worked for me. Nothing is normal when it comes to suffering, it doesn't feel very normal to have your life abruptly appended to have unexpressed tears stuck in your throat and to see your future plans vanish. However, what I can't accept is that with time and grace suffering can be a gift and a path to a life with purpose. It has been nine and a half years since Tommy's accident and I'm at the beginning of understanding what surrendering my will to God's will really means. Surrendering takes discipline, it takes prayer. It takes head and heart understanding of what surrender looks like and feels like, let's start with the opposite of surrender, which is control. What does control look like? Something like, it is my responsibility to make sure Tommy stays healthy. I need to have everything in order, legally and financially so that I'm not taken by surprise. Or maybe I find myself preoccupied with the family's health whether it be spiritual, emotional or physical. Surrender looks like, okay, all of these things are important and need to be considered. I will do my part to be wise and disciplined, praying for God's guidance with the realization that I am not in charge of the outcome. It takes time and discipline to practice this mindset. What helps me and strengthens my faith is to look back and see how we have been cared for in every one of these areas in unexpected ways, and most of the time without my help. Another area I've had to practice surrendering is accepting how much my life has changed. This is so hard, but God's grace is sufficient even for this. What it's taught me is to look at the lives of people in scripture that God used to bring him glory. You can also find inspiring stories in the media of people who have turned pain into purpose. A scripture story that resonates with me as Moses, an outsider in his own family, born an Israelite and raised in Pharaoh's household. His anger at the way the Israelite slaves were being treated got so out of control that he murdered an Egyptian. Talk about a life being flipped. But God had compassion and a plan for Moses. Moses went from walking the halls of a palace to tending sheep for 40 years, Moses had to learn the gift of surrendering his will and his life over to God. The result of this 40 year surrendering was a humble man who reluctantly agreed to lead the Israelites from slavery to freedom. During his Trek, through the wilderness, God gave the Israelites daily manner or bread to sustain them. This daily reliance upon God's provision is also found in the new Testament when Jesus taught us to pray, give us this day our daily bread. The message here is that we can trust God to take care of our needs, but we need to turn to him daily with faith and Thanksgiving. What if suffering and wilderness experiences our path to relying on God? What if relying on God builds our faith transforming anxiety and fear into strength? What if once strengthened through God's grace we are willing to step out of our comfort zone and participate in the relieving of the suffering of others? What if we stop thinking that hard times, disappointments or flip the lives are punishment? What if we accept all of life as a gift and appreciate even the hard times as an opportunity to become a vessel for God's glory and not our own? I found in my own life that the pretense of self-sufficiency tends to lead to pride, judgment and fear. I'm beginning to see that through surrender and God's grace there's a depth to life through meaningful connection, healing, purpose and peace. I would not have chosen this path for our family. However, I'm grateful for what I've learned so far. And I have hoped that ashes will be transformed into an eternal beauty for the glory of God who did choose to suffer and surrender for my sake and yours. See, what a beautiful picture of surrender. See, even in the midst of what is happening, even in the midst of maybe your world right now, Here's the truth, that you can still surrender to King Jesus. You see, King Jesus, He's worthy of our treasures. He's worthy of our worship. He can be trusted as the sovereign King who rules and reigns forevermore. But the question I would ask you is why are you still trying to be King or queen or your own life? Why are you still trying to be King or queen over your own life? Because ultimately, like Herod here's what will happen, that will lead to a desire to being so afraid to actually surrender the things that matter most, that's our heart. Maybe we have such a tight grip on our treasure. Maybe we're living in such a way that it's causing us to want to live for the worship and praises of others. Or maybe we're in a position where instead of allowing God to be sovereignly in control, we wanna be control. You'll miss Christmas. You'll miss Christmas if you're sitting on the throne of your own heart. But what this Christmas story teaches us, what we learned from King Herod is to surrender the throne of our hearts to King Jesus. That's what we learn, is to surrender the throne of our hearts to King Jesus. And what does that look like? Just saying yes to him. Yes, to his plan. Yes, to life. Yes, to joy. Yes, to peace. Yes, to hope. All the things that Jesus came, he lived and he died, rose again to give us so that we can know God and know him forever. That's the hope of Christmas, surrender the throne of your heart to the one true King. Let's pray. God, we thank you for the truth of who you are. Thank you for moments like this, where we can pause and we can think about the beauty of you, King Jesus, or that you came, you were born of a virgin, lived a sinless life. You went to a cross, you died, you were buried. You rose again. So that now in faith and trust in you, we can be redeemed and reconciled to the father. That's where hope and life and truth are found. It's found in you, King Jesus and you alone. God, I pray that we would surrender the throne of our hearts to you. And even when I think about the idea of surrender, even as Oswald chambers said, it's simply a personal sovereign preference for Jesus himself. Of how we want you, Jesus, we want you, more than anything, more than anything that this world can give, because you are truly the King that can satisfy, because when we realize and recognize and surrender our hearts to you, we'll come to find out that we were always meant and created to live for the praises and glory, and honor of your name, Jesus. So take your rightful place in our hearts as the true King of Kings and true Lord of Lords. We love you because you first loved us. It's in Jesus name that we pray, amen.