Episode 227: Do You Make Room for Christ?: Jonathan Youssef (Reprise)

[00:00:00] Hello and welcome to Candid where we never settle for less than the truth. I'm your host Jonathan

[00:00:11] Youssef, each week we'll tackle tough issues, answer your hard questions and take a candid

[00:00:17] look at the Christian faith. I wanted to share a review that we just received from Ryan.

[00:00:24] He wrote, I've been listening to Candid for a couple of days now and I'm hooked. I

[00:00:29] love this podcast. It's such a nice thing to hear testimonies and stories of people being

[00:00:35] free in many ways. God bless. Thank you for taking the time to write a review, Ryan. We

[00:00:42] love that you are listening and enjoying the podcast. You all have no idea how much these

[00:00:50] reviews encourage our team. If you have been enjoying the podcast, would you take a minute

[00:00:55] and log on to your favorite podcast platform and rate us and leave us a review. It would

[00:01:01] be a great Christmas gift to the Candid team now onto this week's episode.

[00:01:23] So many people read the account of Jesus' birth each Christmas. Do we slow down and

[00:01:30] truly reflect on the circumstances surrounding this marvelous and miraculous moment in history?

[00:01:37] It is the moment that all of creation had been waiting for with great anticipation. Profits

[00:01:45] predicted it, men and women of God prayed to see it. Still the world was completely unprepared

[00:01:52] for how this moment would unfold. Bethlehem was bustling with congestion and busyness created

[00:02:00] by the mandatory census issued by Caesar Augustus. No one was exempt from the census that required

[00:02:08] families to return to their town of origin. Despite being very close to her delivery date,

[00:02:15] Mary and Joseph braved the long and tiring journey home to the city of David without the

[00:02:20] hotels and restaurants that populate large cities today. Hospitality was a precious commodity

[00:02:26] under normal circumstances, but the crowds for the census had exceeded Bethlehem's capacity

[00:02:33] for this type of hospitality. Into this hectic scene rides an expecting Mary led by her

[00:02:42] betrothed Joseph with the fulfillment of prophetic promises coming in mere hours. The couple

[00:02:49] found no housing in their time of need. There was no room for them. Mary and Joseph were alone

[00:02:57] in their town, finding themselves in a precarious situation. No room, no accommodation, no regard

[00:03:05] from others. They were surrounded by a town overcrowded with people who were too busy to make

[00:03:12] room for them. It isn't unlike today, when we gather together to celebrate Christmas,

[00:03:19] some of us return to the town of our family's origin. Our streets are crowded,

[00:03:24] towns are buzzing, inns are full, accommodations must be negotiated where to stay for how long

[00:03:31] and with which relatives. In the midst of this chaos, do we make room?

[00:03:37] For others, cultural traditions and social obligations battle for priority. The centrality

[00:03:44] of Christ in the Christmas season comes under attack from pluralistic, hedonistic, and materialistic

[00:03:51] societies. Christmas has quickly become a series of twinkling lights and sparkling presents with no

[00:03:58] inkling of the eternal truth of Christ. In the midst of our cultural traditions and social

[00:04:06] obligations, do we make room? For others, isolation is the focus of the season and we find ourselves

[00:04:14] alone with no place that we really call our own. It seems that the most we can hope for is an

[00:04:21] uneventful evening. Maybe we will fill our time with gratifying our own desires or focusing on

[00:04:28] our work. Perhaps the time will be spent entertaining a looming feeling of regret.

[00:04:35] In these moments of isolation, do we make room?

[00:04:40] In the midst of that crowded city, the Messiah quietly came into the world.

[00:04:47] The streets were still busy, the ends were still full, the travelers were still above in the town

[00:04:54] and God took on flesh. Can you imagine being in Bethlehem that night and missing this miracle?

[00:05:04] The wonder of the Christmas story is this, God's power makes regular intrusions even when we make

[00:05:11] no room. No room in the end, God still took on flesh. No room in your holiday traditions,

[00:05:20] God still calls to your heart. No room in your isolation, the Savior still invites you

[00:05:27] to intimacy with him. God's plan continues even if we make no room for it. The awesome and the

[00:05:35] miraculous occur every day as he calls men and women from death to eternal life in Christ

[00:05:41] and he wants us to experience these miracles. Do not crowd God out at Christmas.

[00:05:51] Open your heart, mind, soul, home, family, and traditions to God. Make room for him,

[00:06:00] not just at Christmas, but every single day.

[00:06:31] We have done over 120 episodes at this point. This month you have a unique opportunity to give

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