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[2591.94 --> 2595.32] And precisely because Christmas did happen,
[2595.44 --> 2597.80] that Jesus did come in history,
[2597.96 --> 2601.72] precisely because this is the greatest story ever told
[2601.72 --> 2604.70] and its greatness is largely owing to the fact
[2604.70 --> 2605.80] that it's real,
[2606.10 --> 2610.78] we constantly need to re-narrate our lives
[2610.78 --> 2612.14] in the truth of the gospel
[2612.14 --> 2615.94] and the truth of Jesus' come and his coming again.
[2615.94 --> 2619.28] And here's the thing about that
[2619.28 --> 2622.40] where I'd like to spend a little time with you this morning.
[2623.72 --> 2625.54] Because you see, this time of year
[2625.54 --> 2630.08] and our places in the world,
[2631.32 --> 2633.44] our responsibilities,
[2634.28 --> 2637.22] our idea of meaning, right?
[2637.82 --> 2642.34] Meaning comes from these stories.
[2642.34 --> 2644.44] That meaning is found,
[2644.66 --> 2645.68] it is identified,
[2645.94 --> 2646.62] it is made,
[2646.74 --> 2647.84] however you want to put it.
[2648.14 --> 2651.10] Meaning comes out of the story
[2651.10 --> 2653.90] that you are rooting yourself in.
[2656.60 --> 2659.26] I listened to a podcast recently
[2659.26 --> 2662.20] called The Four Horsemen of Meaning.
[2662.58 --> 2663.50] We can talk about it later.
[2663.56 --> 2664.52] I don't need to get into the details.
[2664.66 --> 2665.62] It's two and a half hours long.
[2666.20 --> 2667.00] But in there,
[2667.08 --> 2668.90] there was a whole conversation about meaning
[2668.90 --> 2670.14] and the source of meaning.
[2670.26 --> 2672.32] And the people in this conversation
[2672.32 --> 2674.16] was a cognitive scientist
[2674.16 --> 2676.08] and a psychoanalyst,
[2676.44 --> 2678.02] an art theologian,
[2678.12 --> 2679.28] and a Catholic bishop.
[2680.14 --> 2682.44] And the whole conversation was about meaning
[2682.44 --> 2684.46] and where meaning is found
[2684.46 --> 2685.50] or how we find it
[2685.50 --> 2686.92] and how we come by it.
[2687.08 --> 2687.88] And at one point,
[2687.94 --> 2689.94] one of the people in this conversation
[2689.94 --> 2692.60] said that meaning comes
[2692.60 --> 2695.90] from living in purposive relationship
[2695.90 --> 2697.02] to the true,
[2697.34 --> 2697.76] the good,
[2697.84 --> 2698.60] and the beautiful.
[2700.32 --> 2701.58] And as Christians,
[2701.92 --> 2702.10] right,
[2702.14 --> 2703.60] we know that the ultimate true,
[2703.72 --> 2704.32] the ultimate good,
[2704.40 --> 2705.20] the ultimate beautiful
[2705.20 --> 2706.98] is God.
[2708.80 --> 2709.26] Now,
[2709.46 --> 2712.58] I would add to that conversation
[2712.58 --> 2715.76] that the way that we have
[2715.76 --> 2717.78] a purposive relationship
[2717.78 --> 2718.78] to the true,
[2718.92 --> 2719.28] the good,
[2719.34 --> 2720.00] and the beautiful
[2720.00 --> 2723.50] is as God reveals himself
[2723.50 --> 2725.76] to us in his word.
[2727.26 --> 2727.44] Now,
[2727.58 --> 2730.34] let me be really clear with you,
[2730.38 --> 2730.54] right,
[2730.62 --> 2732.14] because all people,
[2732.66 --> 2734.16] whether or not they are Christian
[2734.16 --> 2736.90] or whether or not they call it as such,
[2737.20 --> 2739.32] all people have a relationship
[2739.32 --> 2740.26] to the true,
[2740.38 --> 2740.66] the good,
[2740.70 --> 2741.30] and the beautiful
[2741.30 --> 2743.66] or an idea of what the ultimate true,
[2743.80 --> 2743.98] good,
[2744.06 --> 2745.48] and beautiful is.
[2746.36 --> 2747.90] And as Reformed Christians,
[2748.10 --> 2750.84] as our branch of Christianity
[2750.84 --> 2752.96] and the Protestant stream,
[2753.50 --> 2754.56] as Reformed Christians,
[2755.00 --> 2757.20] we call that general sense
[2757.20 --> 2758.12] of relationship
[2758.12 --> 2759.02] to the true,
[2759.14 --> 2759.30] good,
[2759.36 --> 2759.74] and the beautiful,
[2759.80 --> 2761.56] we call that general revelation.
[2762.52 --> 2762.62] Right,
[2762.70 --> 2763.74] God reveals himself
[2763.74 --> 2764.56] to the world
[2764.56 --> 2765.50] in the order
[2765.50 --> 2766.62] and the majesty
[2766.62 --> 2767.94] and the magnitude
[2767.94 --> 2769.30] of creation.
[2769.66 --> 2770.48] God reveals himself
[2770.48 --> 2771.08] to the world
[2771.08 --> 2772.02] in its beauty.
[2774.08 --> 2774.64] But,
[2774.98 --> 2776.46] the way that you have
[2776.46 --> 2777.74] a purposive,
[2778.10 --> 2778.26] right,
[2778.44 --> 2780.20] a meaningful relationship
[2780.20 --> 2780.90] to God,
[2781.00 --> 2781.44] and thus,