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Hey man, all right, tonight's sermon is going to be family time, right? And it's, especially in regards to the fact that we're in the month of December, and one of the highlights of December, of course, is Christmas. And so, look down in your Bibles at Jeremiah chapter 10 in verse number 2, it says, Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the heathen are dismayed at them, for the customs of the people are vain. For one cutteth the tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workmen with the axe. And the title of the sermon this evening is Vain Customs for Celebrating Christmas. Vain Customs for Celebrating Christmas. And here we see that in Jeremiah, God's people were learning the way of the heathen. They were learning their manner of practice as far as when it comes to worship. They were applying their customs to themselves and how they would worship God. Now go with me to Exodus chapter 32. Exodus chapter 32. But we see a clear commandment there that we should not learn the way of the heathen. This is not just for the nation of Israel, but this is applicable to us as well, that we as God's people today in 2018 should not learn the way of the heathen. We should not apply the customs of the people which are vain. And it doesn't matter how popular a trend is or how enticing it may become or how our families may celebrate it in this manner or whatever it may be, we should not adhere to that. You know, as God's people, we are a peculiar treasure. We're a peculiar people. We're the people of God. And therefore we should be different from everyone else. And look what the Bible says in Exodus chapter 32, verse number 1. Here's an example of this. It says, when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron and said unto him, up, make us gods, which shall go before us. For as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we want not what has become of him. And Aaron said unto them, break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. And all the people break off the golden earrings which were in their ears and brought them unto Aaron, verse 4, and he received them at their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool after he had made it a molten calf. And they said, these be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it, and Aaron made proclamation and said, tomorrow's a feast unto the Lord. And they rose up early on the morrow and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up to play. So what do we see here? We see that Aaron's a little weakling of a compromising leader. But what he did is basically Moses is not coming down from the mount, so to appease the people, he chooses the customs, the vain customs of the people, the way of the heathen to worship the Lord. He basically compromises the convictions of the word of God. And what do we have today? We have today Aaron's, who are Christians, but during Christmas, what do they do? They apply the heathen ways and the customs of the people, what? To appease their family? To appease their aunt and their uncles and their cousins? We don't want to offend them, so we're just going to go there and celebrate Christmas the way they would do it. But you know what the Bible teaches us is that we not to learn the way of the heathen nor practice after their manner. We should basically go to the word of God and celebrate Christmas the way, a biblical way to do it without sin, without worldliness, without the ways of the heathen. And look, we can do all those things. We can have a great time without sinning, amen? We can have a feast unto the Lord. We can sing songs without being, acting foolish. We can fellowship with brethren and with people without alcohol being involved and all this stupidity which we're going to get into in just a bit. Go to Colossians chapter number two. So we see here that Aaron's being a little weakling and we need to make sure as the men in our church, I'm speaking to the men now, the men in our church, we need to make sure that we lead our homes in such a way that we're not like Aaron. Where Aaron just buckles under the peer pressure of the people and just gives in to the way of the heathen because everyone says that's the way you should do. Well my mom says, well who cares what your mom says if you're a married man? You're living in your home and look, I'm not saying dishonor your mom but if your mom is causing you to do something that's, or your parents are causing you to do something that's anti-bible, then don't do it. You know, you don't have to rebuke your mother, you don't have to rebuke your father, but we need to honor God before we honor anybody else. So don't have this mentality that you just basically want to appease and you compromise the word of God and the clear convictions of the Bible just to adhere to or appease your family members or friends because you don't want to seem like a weirdo to everyone else. No, they're the weirdos if they use fag on a shelf in Santa Claus and all these other vain customs to celebrate Christmas. You need to stop acting as though you're the weird one. You know, no, we're peculiar, a peculiar treasure, but we're not the weird ones. The strange ones are those who do things contrary to the word of God. Now look at Colossians chapter 2 verse 16, it says, let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink or in respect of a holy day or of the new moon or of the Sabbath days. And I want you to notice the word holy day, which is what we would say holiday. Now someone would listen to a sermon like this and say, hey, you're violating your own sermon there buddy. You know, you shouldn't judge anybody in regards to holy day. Yeah, but holy means clean. Holy means righteous. Holy means godly. And the things that I'm about to mention to you right now are not any of those things. So the Bible is telling us here that people are not to judge us in regards to a holy day, in regards to a holy practice. But when it comes to the works of darkness, the Bible says rather reprove it. So we need to reprove the works of darkness and make manifest that which is in error to warn our people in the church and also to instruct people who may not know. Okay. Now go to Proverbs chapter 23, Proverbs chapter 23. So we're talking about vain customs for Christmas. Now what is, what is one of the customs that people have? Now I already mentioned it, but it's worth just talking about again is drinking alcohol is a vain custom for Christmas. If you got saved later on in life, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Many households during Christmas are filled with beer and wine and drunkenness and foolishness and stupidity. And the memory, the Christmas memories of the children are just marred because of that. Fights break out. Mom fights with her and or with her hand. You know, things just, it just, it's just chaos. Why? Because of alcohol. You know, and it doesn't matter what these Calvinists say. They, oh, you know, you know, wine makes the heart marry. Yeah, juice does. And in fact, the Bible says that alcohol perverts your heart. It causes you to speak foolishness and look upon strange women. Jeff Dirtbag, you know, that he wants to, he wants to spend his entire ministry just justifying alcohol and how it's okay. And I'm sure he's going to be drinking himself to death during this Christmas season. But the Bible clearly states that drinking alcohol is a sin. It's wicked and it's foolish. And look, you may say, well, you know, I'm not drinking alcohol. I'm just hanging out with those who do. You know, why are you partaking in another man's sin? Why are you approving? Look, by not saying anything, you're approving of what they're doing. And let me say this. We ought not to just take a stand for ourselves, but our stance should be manifest to all men as well. So when someone is doing something that's not appropriate and we're there in their household, this is what you do. You leave. This is what you do. Say, hey, either you put that stuff away or we're leaving. Oh, we're family. Yeah, but either you put that stuff away or we're leaving. Yeah, but you know, we've always done it this way. Okay, let me, let me say it a different way. Either you put that stuff away or we're leaving. And if they don't put it away, then leave. Better to honor God than to offend your tia. Better to honor God than to offend your mom or your dad. I'm not saying do it with a negative spirit, but the fact remains is that they know where you stand on this issue. You know, they're basically trying to test the waters to see if you'll compromise. Now look what the Bible says in Proverbs chapter 23. I'm gonna read to you from Proverbs chapter 20 verse one. It says, wine is a mock or strong drink is raging and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. Proverbs 23, 31. These are familiar verses, but it's worth reading. Look at verse 31. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright, at the last it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder, because it's poison, thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. I mean, think about this. Those of you who got saved later on in life, you know that most of the fights break out is when people start drinking and start bringing up old things, right? You know, old conflicts and all these things, and all of a sudden Christmas is just ruined. Now in Hispanic homes, people typically celebrate Christmas at 12 midnight. Let me know what I'm talking about, okay? We don't necessarily do it on Christmas day. We open our presents on Christmas Eve, midnight is what we do. Everyone dresses in suits, and you got your clip-on tie and everything like that, and you just have to wait till midnight. Well, you know, alcohol ruins that, okay? Why? Because then people start fighting and saying perverse things, and look, that should have no place within a Christian home. It says here, Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mass. They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick. They have beaten me, and I felt it not. When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again. So alcohol should never have a place in a Christian home, but not only that, let me give you some practical tips here. If you're going to go to a family member's house for Christmas, and you know that they potentially have the propensity to bring out the alcohol, you know, you need to get on the phone and say, hey, we want to go over there, but if you guys are going to have alcohol, we're not going to go. Oh, we're just going to have a little bit of, okay, then we're not going to go. Well, come on. We're not going. Just take a stand. What's so crazy and radical about saying we're not going to Christmas with family because they have alcohol? You know, oh, but you know, they're going to have food and presents and phooey with all the food and presents. Go find a church member, you know, and invite yourself to their house, amen? Come to my house if you need to come to my house. You know, better to inconvenience yourself and do it the right way than do it the wrong way for the sake of comfort and not offending others. Okay? So we need to make sure that we're never around alcohol, especially when it comes to this matter of Christmas. Because look, I'm telling you, your family members, they're going to test you. They're going to test you. And they're going to try to see if you approve, well, you say, well, you know, how do they do, how do they make sure that we're approving of what we're doing? If you don't say anything, then they win. They win if we don't stand up and say, all right, we're out of here. Okay? So let me, I'll get into some other things in just a bit, but drinking alcohol, obviously no Christian should be involved in alcohol. And if you are drinking alcohol, come and see me after the service. I got something to talk to you about. Okay? According to 1 Corinthians chapter five, you know, oh, but I'll only a sip. Come and see me after the service. We'll go ahead and talk about that. But I'm about 99% sure that people here are not drinking alcohol. Okay? But you know what? You might be approving of those who do, though. You might be fellowshipping with those who do. And in that case, that's wicked. Now go to Acts chapter 20. That's a vain custom for Christmas. They think that alcohol can help them to have fun. We don't need alcohol to have fun. And look, I'm not talking about sparkling cider. That's good stuff right there. Who likes sparkling cider? I love sparkling cider. You know? I don't need to drink myself and damage my liver and act like a fool and forget what happened the next day to have fun. I rather remember what happened so I can have good memories. You know? I rather eat, drink, and be married for tomorrow. I live. Tomorrow we go soloing, yeah. You know, I rather hang out with the brethren and enjoy the time and not have a hangover the next day. Right? You know, people will wake up on Christmas Day or the 26th with a hangover and a bunch of bad memories. You know, you can have that without the alcohol. You can, excuse me, you can have a good time without the alcohol, obviously. Okay? And look, you may, if you're new in the Lord and you know, this is new to you, well, this is something you should apply this month. That's why I'm preaching this a couple weeks before Christmas so you can basically predetermine, just like Daniel did, purpose in his heart that he will not defile himself with the king's meat. Don't defile yourself with your auntie's drink. Amen? Purpose in your heart. And look, if you're struggling with that, you need to learn how to hate alcohol. You need to learn how to hate sin. You need to learn how to hate the repercussions of alcohol and what it does to the lives of people. Now, what's another vain custom of Christmas with covetousness? It's a custom. I mean, Black Friday, people, I think like 14 people have died so far from Black Friday. A hundred and seventeen people have gotten injured. It's ridiculous what people will do to get a deal on something. Just order it on Amazon, amen? Get Amazon Prime, just order it there. But people are literally just trampling people and killing people because they're covetous. Now, here's the funny thing about this. Look at Acts chapter 20, verse 35. I have showed you all things, how that so laboring you not to support the weak and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. Now, here's the thing about Christmas. Christmas, the essence of Christmas is to give to others. The essence of Christmas is the gift of salvation. How do we symbolize the gift of salvation on Christmas? By buying gifts for others. You know what it's turned into? Buying gifts for yourself. Being covetous yourself. Wanting to get things yourself, you're covetous. You're not content with the things that you have. Okay? Go to Psalm 119. And it says right here, it's more blessed to give than to receive. People think that it's the other way around. You're more blessed to receive than to give. Right? They want to know how many gifts they're going to get, what deals they can have, are they going to get that one gift that they want. You know, it shouldn't be that way with Christians. We need to make sure that we're content with the things that we have. And look, the way you can enjoy what you have, or you can enjoy Christmas, is don't expect anything. Right? You have low expectations for Christmas, so then when you get that ugly Christmas sweater, oh, thanks, Auntie, I've always wanted this. You know? You know, when you get that gift, you actually appreciate it. But if you have your heart set on that specific thing, and that's what you want, and you allow your heart to grow covetous, guess what? You're not going to be pleased with anything that you have. Why? Because the Bible says that godliness with contentment is great gain. We need to make sure that we practice contentment in our personal lives, and be happy with the things that we have. Be joyful with the things that we have. And look, if you're the type that struggles with covetousness, this is what you do. Just give a whole lot during the Christmas season. Find a bunch of people to give to if you need to overcome covetousness. Right? I will volunteer myself. You can give to me. I can help you out with that. I want to be a blessing to you. Right? See, it's more blessed to give than to receive. I'm giving you the opportunity to be a blessing to me. Thank you. So, we need to make sure that we keep covetousness, mortify covetousness, and work on contentment during the Christmas season. Okay? And look, one of the ways, obviously contentment helps us to get rid of covetousness. Giving helps us to get rid of covetousness, but also just being thankful for family, being thankful for the people in your life. That's the most valuable thing ever. Okay? Forget the material wealth. Forget the possessions. How about your wife? How about your husband? How about your children? How about the fact that, oh, I don't have any of those things? Okay, then what do you have, you big complainer? It's easy for you to say, you're married, you have kids. Okay, but what do you have? Are you saying that God, you know, every good gift and every perfect gift coming from above from the Father of lights. And the Bible says that God loads us daily with benefits. And if you have that kind of attitude where it's just like, well, I don't have anything, then obviously you're covetous and you're not content because you're not thinking upon the benefits that God has given to you today. And look, if you're in this church, you should be happy. Amen. You should be content. Why? Because now you have a church family. Okay? And so look at Psalm 119 verse 36. This is another thing that will help us not to be covetous. It says, incline my heart unto thy testimonies and not to covetousness. Turn away my eyes from beholding the sale ads or as the Bible would call it vanity and quicken down me in thy way. So how can we eliminate covetousness in our personal lives? We need to not, we need to start, stop or take our eyes off of those things that we don't need or guess what? Take your eyes off of the things that you don't even know exists as of yet. Because most things that you want, you wanted when you saw and before you saw it, you didn't even know you needed it. It's not until you saw that, I was like, oh man, I need that. It's like, you didn't even know that existed. You didn't even know, you didn't even know that was, that was on sale. And I'm not saying, look, don't try to get a good price on certain things that may be a blessing to your family that can help you be more efficient at the home or at work or whatever it may be. But when you are constantly looking for things to buy, even when you just don't need anything, you're allowing your eyes to behold vanity, you know? And by the way, that's how people get into debt. And debt is sinful, okay? We need to make sure that we are abstaining from living beyond our, what comes in, okay, beyond our income above that. Practice contentment. Take your eyes away from the television, take your eyes away from beholding vanity and beholding those things that would cause you to covet something that you don't need. But I remember when I was in high school and I talked to the guys about this, man, high school helps you to be covetous. Everyone's got the Nike high tops, Air Force 1s, and mom bought you Payless. You know, the Airwalks. Or the downtown LA, you know, Nike's where the Nike's like backwards or something, you know? And you just like, and you go to school and you're just like, oh man, I want those so bad, you know? That's the kind of culture that our society conditions children to be. So we need to make sure that as parents we help our children to be content with the things that they have. And look, I'm not saying don't be generous with your children, be generous with them during Christmas. You know, we ought to be generous with them just as God was generous with us. He gave us that which is most valuable, which is his son, okay? But practice contentment. Go to Jeremiah chapter 6. Or else you're gonna raise a little brat. A spoiled, just narcissistic little brat who's just not happy with anything that you give him. And he's like, oh, that's so stupid. You know, I like when I give my son something and then he takes it out of the box and you know what he likes to play with? The box. He's like, you know? That's great. I'm happy about that because I want my son to learn contentment, okay? And the way you can teach your children not to be spoiled little brats is that you don't give them everything that they want all the time, okay? So that when they do get something nice, they'll actually appreciate it and teach them to say thank you, okay? Say thank you. I remember my father-in-law, he would have his kids go to their uncles and their uncles would always give him lollipops. And one day, I don't know if it was three or two of them, they came and he gave them lollipops and then as soon as they walked away, my father-in-law came and snatched it away and says, you're not having this because you didn't say thank you. And that taught him, hey, anything that you get, whether a lollipop or money or gift card, be grateful, say thank you, okay? Look what the Bible says in verse 13 of Jeremiah chapter 6, for from the least of them even to the greatest of them, everyone is given to covetousness. And from the prophet even unto the priest, everyone dealeth falsely. So this is a sin that often permeates all of Christianity, all of leadership and even those who sin in the pews. You see pastors who are covetous, rolling around in their expensive cars and just showing off their goods and stuff like that. That's wicked. You know, a pastor should not be rich. A pastor should live content with the things he has and just live a normal life to provide for their family and have that which is just the basics of life. And anything above that obviously is a blessing from the Lord, but not strive to have those extra blessings, not strive to have those icing on the cakes, be content with the things that you have. Now, go to Ephesians chapter number 5. So drunkenness is a vain custom of the people. People want to use drunkenness as a means to have fun. You don't have fun when you're throwing up your lunch. You know, if anyone's ever thrown up, you know that's not fun, but that's what they do, don't they? They pound the liquor, they pound the liquor and the beer, and then they're just throwing up their guts later on at night. That's a horrible way to spend Christmas. I just want to forgive all my sorrows. Why don't you just count your blessings instead? Count your blessings instead and then you can enjoy Christmas. You know, I'm not saying life is not full of sorrows. There's sorrows in life obviously. But what you do is you're thankful for those sorrows and understand that all things work together for good to them who love God, to them who are called according to His purpose, and count your blessings. Okay? Now, so drunkenness, covetousness. Here's another vain custom, godless company. Godless company. Look at Ephesians chapter 5 verse number 11. Says here, and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them for it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. Now, this is the spectrum of what I'm talking about here. If you have a reprobate in your family, Christmas is not the exception to hang out with them. You understand that? You know, if there's some godless, reprobate, god-hating faggot in your, I don't appreciate you saying that, then go somewhere else. Look, I have a godless, reprobate, god-hating faggot in my family. I don't want my family to have nothing to do with that person. I don't want them to go near my family. I don't even want them to look up in my family. I don't want them to follow me on Instagram or on my, I don't want nothing to do with them. Because here's the thing, at the end of the day, they're no longer my family. They're twice dead plucked up by the roots. So we need to make sure that we don't keep godless people around during Christmas holiday events like this. You know, if you are part of a big family and you guys all reunite in one place, you know, and you know that that reprobate is there with, you know, fellowshipping with you, you know, you should have no part of that. You know, and I've told my wife, my wife has, there's a, just like in my family, there's a reprobate in her family as well. And I told her, hey, for Christmas and Thanksgiving, you make sure you call the family and ask them, hey, is that person going to be there? And if that person is there, we're not going. It may, you know, shake the cage a little bit. It may rifle the ruffle the feathers a little bit, but you know what? I'm the ruler of my home. I'm the boss. I'm the lord of my kingdom. I'm responsible to leave my house and the way it should go. You know what? I have to answer to God for that. So I don't want to have any, even if that person's across the room, I hate that person. Why would I want anything to do with that person? You know, what is it going to think of you? Let them think what they will. I'm concerned with God will think about me. You know, is God saying, you know, are you just a little compromised? You just preached from the pulpit against the reprobates, but then you fellowship with them during Christmas. You know, lump that. Don't have any godless fellowship with anybody during Christmas. And look, we're not the Baptist police. I'm not going to go, hey, so any reprobates? Who's there? Tell me who that, I'm not going to do that. I'm preaching for the pulpit and Lord willing, you have the wisdom to say, hey, that's true. You know, I have a reprobate in my family. I got to make sure that that person is not in any event that I'm going to. Okay. Now, look at 1 Timothy 5 verse 22. But not just reprobates, just godless activity in general. Of course, drinking is involved with that. Loose talking is involved with that. You know, we have children. What does that say of us when we stand for right on a regular basis, but during Christmas, we allow our children around people who are saying vile things or they're talking about things that are not pleasing unto the Lord. We need to make sure as fathers, we take a stand and say, you know what, let's just have a sandwich Christmas at our house rather than turkey and ham or whatever it may be. You know, better is a dinner of herbs than a stalled oxen hatred therewith. Better to make sure that you just are pleasing God. No one in this church should ever experience a dinner of herbs during Christmas. Okay. And if you feel like you don't have anywhere to go during Christmas, just talk to me after service. You know, we'll come to my house. All right. We'll go to my house. We'll have champorado. We'll have all the goods. We'll play the Christmas. We'll make the Christmas memories for you, amen. I never had a Christmas. They come over to our house, we'll start some Christmas memories, some Christian Christmas memories. So you don't have any excuse. I just have to go to my Godless aunts because just as what we do, I have nowhere to go. No, you have the Mejia house to come to if you want to. And if you don't, you go there, then that's on you. That's basically, you want to be a part of that. You want to partake in that wickedness. Look at 1 Timothy 5, 22, lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins. Keep thyself pure and keep your household pure. Okay. You may not be the one partaking in the filthy jokes. You may not be the one partaking in the alcohol and in the things that displease God, but you're hanging around with those who do. That's your Godless company. Christmas is not, look, Christmas should be, it's a holy day. We're honoring God, we're honoring the birth of Christ. And all of a sudden you're going to do these Godless things in order to celebrate that. That's a vain custom. You're learning the way of the heathen. Okay. Go to Exodus chapter 20. I know these are basic, but we need to cover these on a yearly basis, amen. So, Godless company, drinking alcohol, covetousness. Here's one, idolatry. Now what's one aspect that we're going to go through a couple of things here, but what's one aspect that people really, really just violate? Well, manger scenes is one of them. Okay. Look at Exodus 20 verse 3, thou shall have no other gods before me. Thou shall not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shall not bow down thyself to them nor serve them, for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me. So let me ask you a question. Where's Jesus Christ right now? Heaven. So, what do they have in the manger scene? They have Jesus, baby Jesus. That is a graven image of Jesus Christ. There's animals within that manger scene. It's very Catholic to say the least. You have Baptists who preach against Catholics all the time and they're against Catholic traditions and religion, but yet they just adhere to it during Christmas. That's weird. It's like, what in the world are you doing? You're spiritually bipolar? Are you spiritually schizophrenic? You don't understand? So all 11 months of the year, you're just like against idolatry, against all these things, but then in December, that just goes out the window? Now go to James chapter one. So that's an obvious one. No one should have manger scenes in their house. Okay. But here's another one, and I preached against this last year, but unfortunately something happened with the recording and never got put up. Santa Claus. That wicked, fat Santa Claus is a cheap substitute for Christmas. It's a cheap substitute for Jesus Christ. He's anti-Christ. Because he's in the place of Christ. Oh, you're exaggerating. Well let me see, let's see if I'm exaggerating. Okay. Now Santa Claus is actually a blend of three specific figures in history. One of them is Saint Nicholas from the fourth century Greek Christian Bishop famous for his generous gifts to the poor. The second is Father Christmas from the 16th century in England typified the spiritual good cheer, so it's not an actual person, but this is just an image, a spirit, yeah, spirit that basically showcases his good cheer. That's why they get the jolly old Saint Nick thing. And the third one is the most wicked one of all, which is Odin. Prior to Christianization, the Germanic peoples, including the English, celebrated a mid-winter event called Yule. Old English, with the Christianization of Germanic Europe, numerous traditions were absorbed from yuletide celebrations into modern Christmas. During this period, supernatural and ghostly occurrences were said to increase in frequency, such as the wild hunt. By the way, this is where Halloween comes from as well. Okay, relax, alright, just calm down, I know. This is the El Monte, this is what we have the cages here for. No one's gonna get hurt. There's enough men in here, we got a purple belt right there, blue belt right there, and so on and so forth. Everyone in here can fight. During this period, supernatural and ghostly occurrences were said to increase in frequency, such as the wild hunt. Oh, that's what I was talking about. This is where Halloween comes from. As well as Satan Claus, a ghostly procession through the sky. So you know that image where you have Santa going through the sky? This is where this comes from, from this ghostly wild hunt procession through the sky. The leader of the wild hunt is frequently attested as the god Odin. So this is a false god. Satan Claus is a, oh that's your ad hominem, ad hominem. They sit right here as a god, little g. He's satanic, burying the names, and then they have some names here, Yule Figure, Long Beard, not to be confused with my beard, amen. So this is a false god, that's where they get this entire image from. And everyone's like, oh, jolly old Saint Nick. No, he's wicked. And they want to have the scene where he's bound down to baby Jesus. Yeah, he will be bound down to baby Jesus. But no one should have that manger scene in their house at all. Why? Because he's a wicked, evil, satanic figure. Now why is that? Well, because number one, he makes himself the source of all gifts. Right? Look what James 1 says, verse 16, it says, do not err, my beloved brethren, every good gift and every perfect gift cometh from this fat, red guy from the North Pole. No, it's from above and coming down from the father of lights, whom is no variable, it is neither shadow of turning. So the Bible tells us that every good gift comes from God. It comes from Jesus Christ. And in fact, Jesus Christ is the manifestation of the greatest gift that God has ever given to us. Yeah, what does Satan Claus do? Well, he's the source of all gifts. We got kids all around the world making their Christmas list and trying to get something from Santa Claus. Go to Deuteronomy chapter 8. I'm going to read to you from Genesis chapter 27, verse 28, it says, therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of corn and wine. Make sure you teach your children that Santa Claus does not exist and that he's wicked. And say, hey, Bruce, Santa Claus is wicked. You know, Jesus Christ, you know, Jesus Christ, who's a savior is the source of all gifts. The Bible says that every good gift, every good thing that you could ever have comes from God, not from Satan. Satan Claus. Okay. Look at Deuteronomy 8, 18 says, but thou shalt remember the Lord thy God, for it is he that giveth the power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant, which he sware unto thy fathers as it is this day. It's God that gives you the power to buy those gifts, to wrap them up and give them to your children. You know, don't try to, you know, I'm thankful for my mom. She never taught me about Santa Claus. I come from Hispanic, she's like, we're not doing all that. I'm paying for those things. You know, I remember when I was a kid, she would take me to Toys R Us and say, you can get two gifts and here's the limit of the price. And it wasn't very much. And she's in the, she's like, you wrap them up, you know, and you better act surprised when you open them on Christmas. Hey, I'm all for that. You know what I mean? So we were wrapping them up. But I knew early on, Satan Claus does not exist. Mom's the one who actually buys me these gifts. Okay. So, you know, and yeah, don't have this imaginary figure that you want to implement in your children's imagination, you know, to say that that's where gifts come from. Well, first of all, it comes from God, but it comes from their parents. Okay. Now, so he's wicked because he makes himself the source of gifts, but also because he's omniscient according to people, you know, go to Proverbs chapter 15. Yeah. Proverbs chapter 15. He's omniscient according to them. You better watch out. Better not cry. You better whatever. I'm telling you why. You know, he knows when you are sleeping. He knows when you're awake. That's freaky. He knows when I'm sleeping. He knows when I'm awake. But what is he omniscient? So this old dude, this gluttonous old man, this overweight gluttonous wine-bibber knows when you're sleeping and he knows. By the way, children. He knows when the children are sleeping when they're awake. Keep that in mind, little pervert. You know, that's the omniscience that belongs unto the Lord. Look what the Bible says in Proverbs 15 verse 11. The hell and destruction are before the Lord. How much more than the hearts of the children of men. Look at verse number three. The eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good. So God is the one who beholds the evil. God is the one who beholds the good. Why? Because he's omniscient, not Santa Claus. You're exaggerating. I mean, can you deny the correlation between the two here? Can you deny the fact that he's trying to take on these divine characteristics that only God has? Look at Acts chapter eight. He said, what do you have against Santa Claus? Because Santa Claus never came to the hood, that's why. I'm just kidding. But also, he's wicked because he perverts the gospel. He perverts the gospel. Why is that? Because the way children get the gifts, how? They have to be good. Which is a stupid way of viewing a gift. You have to be good. You got to make sure that you're not doing anything wrong, then I'll give you the gift. That's a perversion of the gospel. I mean, the essence of Christmas is the fact that we got something not because we deserved it, but by the grace and the mercy of God. Not because we did something to earn it. But yet here we see that Satan Claus has this false gospel that says, well, you better be good because I'm going to mark you down. If you're not, you're not getting any gifts. That's wicked. Look at Acts, Acts eight verse 18 says, and when Simon saw that through the laying on the hands of the apostles, laying on the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money saying, give me also this power that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said unto him, thy money perish with thee because thou has thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou has neither neither part nor a lot in this manner for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent, therefore, of this thy wickedness and pray God of perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. You see the gift of God cannot be paid with money. It's by the grace of God that we receive for by grace are you safe through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works that steady men should boast Satan Claus. Okay. But what do we have people? Hey, and parents use that on their children. Hey, you better be good. You're not going to get any gift from God. And then you wonder why people when we go out and door knock have a misconception of what a gift is. Go to Psalm 81. So that's what's wrong with Satan Claus. Okay. So this is what you do when you go home and you have Satan Claus, satanic Claus all over your house, just burn it. Throw it in the garbage, burn it, throw it away because he's a perversion of Jesus Christ. Okay. Oh, but it's just tradition. We have, it's a bad tradition. I'm for traditions. We started a tradition yesterday, Christmas caroling. It was great. Chapurrado churros and caroling the three C's. Amen. And I had a great time. No one was hung over. Maybe they, maybe you guys had a sugar hangover, but that's better than a, than an alcohol hangover. I'm not against traditions. I'm against these wicked traditions that are perverting the ways of the Lord. Okay. Another idol, fag on a shelf or as they like to call it, elf on a shelf. Okay. Now how many of you know what that is? How many of you have heard of that? It's something that's very popular where parents will buy this faggoty looking elf. It's about this big and they'll literally put it on the shelf and there's an entire, I'm going to read you, let's read Psalm 81 verse eight. Here all my people, and I will testify unto thee, O Israel, if thou will hearken unto me, there shall no strange God be in thee. Neither shall thou worship any strange God. Now what's another, what's a synonym for strange? Queer. What's elf on a shelf? He's a queer God. He's a queer image is what it is. You don't believe me. Look it up on your phones right now. Do it. If you don't believe me, go on Google images and look up elf on a shelf. It's like this Peter Pan looking effeminate freak. Now let me read this to you. This story describes how Santa's scout elves hide in people's homes to watch over events. Once everyone goes to bed, the scout elf flies back to the North Pole to report to Santa the activities, good and bad, that have taken place throughout the day. Before the family wakes up each morning, the scout elf flies back from the North Pole and hides. By hiding, he creeps in unawares is what he's doing. By hiding in a new spot each morning around the house, the scout elf plays an ongoing game of hide and seek with the family. The elf on the shelf explains that scout elves get their magic by being named and being loved by a child. In the back of each book, families have an opportunity to write their elves' names and the date that they adopted it. Once the elf is named, the scout elf receives its special Christmas magic, which allows it to fly to and from the North Pole. The book tells how the magic might disappear if the scout elf is touched. So the rule for the elf on the shelf states, there's only one rule that you have to follow, so I will come back and be here tomorrow. Please do not touch me. My magic might go and Santa won't hear all I've seen or I know. So they put this elf on a shelf and it's just like, deity. Don't even touch it. Right? That's what it says. He's like, you can't touch it. If you touch it, the magic will go away. Okay? Although families are told not to touch their scout elf, they can speak to it and tell it all their Christmas wishes so that they can report back to Santa accurately. Picture how stupid this looks. This queer elf is sitting on the shelf. They can't touch it and they're just like, we want this and we want that. I want to, what game is this? I want an Xbox. I want a BMW. You're exaggerating. I mean, is there any difference between this and what people did in the Old Testament towards Dagon, Baal, and all these wicked gods? It's the same thing. The story ends on Christmas Day with the elf leaving to stay with Santa for the rest of the year until the following Christmas season. This is a false god. This is an idol that people are setting up in their homes. And I'm so sick and tired of seeing this on social media where Christians so-called, you see it on the shelf and then they put it in their restroom. They put it in all these different places. This is an idol. And worse than that, it's a faggot idol. Who wants to look at some skinny jean wearing, skinny tight wearing Peter Pan elf? Go to 1 Timothy chapter 2, 1 Timothy chapter 2. So I hope you paid attention here that they say that this elf is the mediator, right? Between those asking for the gift and Santa Claus. Because he goes and he reports back and forth. You guys know where I'm going with this obviously, right? Oh, you're exact. That's what they said. You think these people just randomly came up with this? This is on purpose. You know, get your head out of the sand and understand that hey, I know we all got vaccinated, okay? I get that. But we need to get some smarts and some understanding and start making wise judgments and not think that everything, oh, you're just a conspiracy. Look at what they're telling you to do and compare that with scripture. It's a false, strange god. Look at 1 Timothy 2, 5 says, for there is one god and one mediator between god and man, the elf, the man Jesus Christ. And by the way, I like that it says the man, Jesus Christ. Not this queer, sissy, little, girly looking elf, the man Jesus Christ. He's the mediator between god and man, okay? Look at Psalms 115. Go to Psalm 115. How many of you remember me preaching against Elf on the Shelf last year? Okay. In case you forgot, I'm going to refresh your memory, all right? Psalm 115. So remember, these people, they buy this Elf on the Shelf, they put it on the Shelf, and what do they do? They don't touch it, they just speak unto it, okay? Well, let's see what the Bible says about that. Remember, the Bible has everything that pertains to life and godliness. Look at Psalm 115, verse 4 says, their idol are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not. Eyes they have, but they see not. They have ears, but they hear not. Noses have they, but they smell not. They have hands, but they handle not. Feet they have, but they walk not. Neither speak they through their throat. And look what it says, they that make them are like unto them. So is everyone that trusteth in them. What does that mean? Well, someone that cannot see or speak, they're dumb. So you know what god is saying right there? Those who make them are just like them, they're dumb. They're fools, okay? And everyone that trusteth them, because that's what they're doing, they're trusting in this elf to bring them these gifts and be the mediator between them and Satan clause, okay? Now let's see here. Go to Jeremiah chapter 10, where we started. I'm gonna read to you from Exodus chapter 23, verse 13 says, and in all things that I have said unto you, be circumspect and make no mention of the name of other gods. Neither let it be heard out of thy mouth. Joshua 23, verse 7 says that you come not among these nations, these that remain among you, neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them. And the sad thing is you have Christians doing this stupid stuff, these foolish activities of elf on a shelf. Jeremiah chapter 10, now this is where we start. Here's the funny thing about Jeremiah chapter 10, okay? Because these conspiracy theorists, such as the flat earthers and stuff like that, they're completely against what? Christmas trees. And they'll use Jeremiah 10 as a means to back up what they're saying. But study Jeremiah 10, just because it says it's decked, just because it says it's a tree does not mean that it's a Christmas tree. Because if that's the case, you gotta get rid of all your plants inside your house. If vegetation is sinful against God, you gotta get rid of all the plants in your house. Let's read Jeremiah 10, verse 1, hear ye the word of the Lord, which speaketh unto you, O house of Israel. Thus saith the Lord, learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the heathen are dismayed at them, for the customs of the people are vain. For one cutteth the tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of workmen. With the axe, they deck it with silver with gold, they fasten it with nails and with hammers that it move not. So they're picturing, oh, Christmas tree, because it's being fastened and stuff like that. Well, tents are fastened too. Does that mean that's a freaking Christmas tree? They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not. They must needs be born because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good. So what is this referring to? It's referring to an idol. Because it's being carved. That's what you make idols out of, wood. So at the end of the day, no one, no Christian should be a partaker of fag on a shelf. And don't be this trendy type of a Christian where you wanted to get into all the modern practices. You know, stick to the Christmas traditions, amen. Stick to the Christmas traditions of how to worship God and how to celebrate the birth of Christ, not using Satan's clause, this false Christ, this anti-Christ who's in the place of Christ, or this elf on a shelf, this mediator so-called. Okay. Now, I got to finish up here. Go with me if you want. I'm going to skip some of this. Go to Romans chapter 12. You know, there's Dia de los Reyes. If anybody knows anything about that. It's a Catholic. This is something that's actually celebrated in January. But the thing is with Dia de los Reyes, which is the three kings is what they say, is that they come on January 5th, and what they do is they come and they bring gifts into the children as well. Now, you say, what's so wicked about that? Well, specifically they say because in Spain, it is not baby Jesus, Santa Claus or Saint Nicholas who brings gifts on Christmas Day, but rather the three kings. So again, it's just another form of replacing Christ who brings the gifts with these three kings. Okay. And I won't get too much into that. That's easily debunked. Now, here's my last point here. Stay away from unbiblical phrases and what they symbolize. Okay. You know what we should say in Christmas? Merry Christmas. Amen. Merry Christmas. Well, I rather say happy Christmas. Let's say happy Christmas. Say anything that's closely related to the spirit of the Bible when you greet people. Okay. Stay away from Merry Xmas. What is Xmas? Well, where is X in that phrase? It's over Christ. This is a phrase that people have come up with because they hate Christ. They love the spirit of the Christmas season, so they put an X over Christ and say Merry Xmas. Okay. That's where that comes from. Or how about this? Happy Kwanzaa or Happy Hanukkah. I don't think there's much I need to say about Hanukkah because obviously we already hate Zionism which is that's exactly where it comes from. But a lot of people don't know what Kwanzaa is. Okay. Now, pelis de navidad is how you say Merry Christmas in Spanish. It's not a different form of Christmas. It's just how you say Christmas in Spanish. Okay. But that's not the same case with Happy Kwanzaa. People will think that. And unfortunately, like in and out, they have that on their stuff for Christmas. It's just like, you know, Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and they try to like appeal to everyone under the sun and say, you know, Kwanzaa is just like Christmas. It's just the way they do it in Africa. No, it's not. Let me read to you what Kwanzaa is. Okay. You're racist. No, I'm not because I believe in the human race. But more so than that, we're all of one race. One blood. We're the children of God. There's no difference between the Jew and the Greek. Kwanzaa is a week-long celebration held in the United States and in other nations of West Africa and the Americas. The celebration honors African heritage and African-American culture and is observed from December 26th to January 1st, culminating in a feast and gift giving. Kwanzaa has seven core principles and it was created by Malawana Karanga and was first celebrated in 1966, 67. You say, what's the problem with that? They're giving away gifts. That's just what you do, right? So let's see where this is founded in. Malawana created Kwanzaa in 1966 as the first specifically African-American holiday. And according to Karanga, the name Kwanzaa derives from the Swahili phrase meaning first fruits of the harvest. Although a more conventional translation would simply be first fruits of Kwanzaa in a celebration that has its roots in the black nationalist movement of the 1960s. Now let me skip some things here. During the early years of Kwanzaa, Karanga said that it was meant to be an alternative to Christmas. That Jesus was psychotic and that Christianity was a white religion that black people should shun these seven principles, that black people should shun. These seven principles comprise Kwanzaa and then they go into their stupid seven principles. Now that's why we should stay away from that because this celebration was specifically created to be an alternative to Christmas. And aside from that, they have a view that Jesus is psychotic. That's what you call blasphemy. So we don't partake in anybody's religion or anybody's celebration that blasphemes the name of Christ. So this is not an alternative to Christmas. It's not like, well, that's just how they do it in Africa. I don't care where they do it or how they do it. If they're blaspheming the name of Christ, I want nothing to do with it. In fact, not only do I want nothing to do with it, I'm going to reprove it sharply. You're going to call your race. Call me what you want. I'll rebuke it sharply. You know, Israel united in Christ. I don't care what race they are. By the way, it's not just black people who are a part of that. Mexicans are a part of that. Central Americans, all different races. But what is it? It is an agenda against Christ. That's what we're against. Shame on you for calling Jesus Christ psychotic. Shame on you for trying to make an alternative to Christmas when God gave his only son for you and he died for you to give you eternal life and then you just turn around spit it in his face and create this stupid celebration called Kwanzaa. You know, do your research before you say, happy Kwanzaa. Do your research before you say, happy Hanukkah. No, Merry Christmas. And when someone at a store tells me, hey, happy holidays, I say, Merry Christmas. You know, look, I'm for holidays, but specifically, you know what we're referring to this season? Merry Christmas. Christ-mas is what that's talking about there. Okay. The Bible says in Romans 12 five, so we being many are one body in Christ and everyone members one of another. So this goes to show us that it doesn't matter what race you are, we should celebrate as Christians the biblical holidays, which is Christmas. You know, some dude came here two weeks ago, saw our Christmas. You guys celebrate Christmas here? I'm like, yeah, we do. Oh yeah, you don't put a Christmas tree in here, do you? I'm like, man, I wish I could. So as soon as he said, as soon as he even said anything about it, showed anything negative about Christmas, red flag, mark it down. He's against Easter, mark it down. He's against birthdays. Mark it down. He's part of a workspace salvation guy. Okay. And he's like, yeah, you know, look, if you are against us celebrating Christmas, this is what you do. Number one, just keep your mouth shut. That's it. Because there's nothing wrong with celebrating Christmas. And look, if that's something that you believe, you know, that you shouldn't celebrate Christmas on the 25th or whatever, I'm not against you. What I'm against is if you try to propagate that and contour your face to show me that you hate it. You know, the guy looked like he sucked on a lemon. He's like, he's like, are you guys celebrating Christmas? I'm like, yeah, we do. And I was like, yeah, I just got a Christmas tree for my house. You know, because I just like digging that thing deeper. And I say, I say, we celebrate all the biblical holidays, you know, Christmas, Easter, because I already knew where this guy was coming from. And they're against the whole Easter thing. No, Easter. In fact, they were celebrating birthdays for December and all these things. You know, I don't want nothing to do with that. I don't want nothing to do with people who criticize a celebration of the birth of Christ. And look, if you want to celebrate the birth of Christ in January or in the middle of summer, it's up to you. But traditionally, we just do it in December, December 25th, okay? Anyways, so what's the message this evening? It's family time, and it's time to just remind ourselves, hey, we need to make sure that we're shunning the vain customs for Christmas, okay? Fain customs that people try to implement within Christianity for Christmas and just reject all of that and adhere to the traditional means of celebrating Christmas, amen? Spire heads and a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for the Christmas season and something about this season, of course, that causes people to be a little more open maybe to the gospel, a little more open to the things of Christ, to become a little more thankful. I pray, God, that you'd help us to do the same, Lord, and help us to shun these profane, vain customs of the heathen. Help us to shun Satan Claus and his false representation of Christ, this queer in a shelf, Lord, that we should have nothing to do with, this idol, and all these other celebrations that are anti-Bible. I pray, God, that you'd help us to take a stand even with our families. Help us to be a good testimony, not just look for a fight, but to stand for truth. If someone tries to get us to compromise our convictions, that we will boldly stand for it and do that which is right in the side of the Lord. Help us to obey you rather than man, and in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.