Make Room for Jesus

Make Room for Jesus

Allen Snapp

Grace Community Church

Dec. 28, 2025

Make Room for Jesus

2 And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. ² This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. ³ So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.

⁴ Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, ⁵ to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. ⁶ So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. ⁷ And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:1-7  NKJV

Christmas to me has a pretty strict beginning and end: I don’t want to hear Christmas carols or see Christmas lights before Thanksgiving and pretty quickly after Christmas is over I’m ready to move on to a fresh New Year. The lights and tree and Christmas songs that are so meaningful as we prepare for Christmas lose that Christmas feel when Christmas is over. 

So having said that, you might wonder why we’re looking at a Christmas passage on Dec. 28^th. I felt the Lord put a simple message on my heart that is really good advice for us as we prepare to enter a New Year and that message is make room for Jesus!

1. We make room for Jesus by trusting in God’s quiet sovereignty

Mary and Joseph know that the child growing within her is Immanuel, God with us, the Son of God. Mary has it all planned out: she’s getting close to the due date but Joseph is with her, her family is with her, maybe her mom is going to help her deliver Jesus, maybe the town midwife will be the one, but it’s all planned out…and then it came to pass! Out of nowhere Caesar Augustus issues a decree that totally messes up their plans and at the worst possible time forces Mary and Joseph to leave their home and support system and travel 80 miles to Bethlehem, Joseph’s ancestral town – with Mary heavy with child! Then when they get there, it came to pass there was no room for them in the inn so they ended up in a stable where the only bed for baby Jesus was a manger. 

And it came to pass…sounds so random. It came to pass is a part of the story of all our lives – we can all look back and see where our lives were unfolding in one direction and then it came to pass. Sometimes what comes to pass is good. Sometimes what comes to pass seems bad or at least bad timing. Sometimes it brings pain, heartbeak, and loss. Sometimes it brings inconvenience and hardship, like it did for Mary and Joseph.

For most people in the world, both in Luke’s day and in ours, what comes to pass is just passed off as a series of random events. It came to pass that Caesar Augustus got it in his head he wanted a census. So everyone’s scrambling to get where they need to be, the streets are crowded, the hotels are full, 

everyone’s inconvenienced but what can you do? It came to pass. 

But the quiet implication in Luke’s account is that God is sovereignly moving all the pieces around to where they need to be. It came to pass because God sovereignly decreed that Augustus would decree a census. Mary and Joseph live in Nazareth, but Jesus had to be born in Bethlehem:

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” Micah 5:2

The shepherds keeping watch wouldn’t find Jesus in a little hotel room where they couldn’t even squeeze in. They’d find him in an open stable, accessible to all. They could gather around him and wonder. Wise men could come bringing their gifts. What seemed like really bad, really random timing that was in actuality added hardship to Mary and Joseph’s lives, was actually God’s quiet sovereignty at work.

As we close out 2025 and welcome 2026, let’s make room for Jesus by trusting in God’s quiet sovereignty over our lives. It doesn’t matter what’s come to pass in your life - God is in control! It doesn’t matter how bad things look or how much it seems like your life is just getting battered to and fro by circumstances beyond your control, God is in control! 

Trusting in God’s sovereignty shouldn’t lead us to passivity but should give us great peace. God’s in control – nothing enters our lives except by permission of our heavenly Father. Even the things that just seem to randomly “come to pass” are guided by our Father’s will and purposes. 

He’s in control of your health. Your finances. Your relationships. He’s in control of the circumstances that are beyond your control AND that you think you have under control. 

2. We make room for Jesus by choosing to obey God’s revealed will

Some people say, well if God is sovereign over all then it doesn’t really matter what I do. Everything is going to go as God planned and purposed it to go. That is called fatalism – it’s all planned and it doesn’t matter what we do. The other end of the spectrum is that we determine what happens through our choices and God is doing the best with what He has to work with. Both of these teachings are unbiblical. 

The Bible teaches that God is 100% in control of history and all things work out as He has planned AND we are 100% responsible for our choices and our choices matter and make a difference. There are several biblical examples of this:

1. Nehemiah 4:9 says that in response to threats against their city: 

But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.

2. In response to Hezekiah’s prayer God told Isaiah He was going to heal him and give him 15 more years to live. Then Isaiah told Hezekiah to apply a poultice to the infected place. 
3. In Acts 27 Paul is a prisoner on a boat and the boat hits a terrible storm that lasts for days and the sailors and soldiers after a while despair of life. But an angel of the Lord appears to Paul and tells him that the boat will be lost but no one on the boat will die so Paul tells everyone that. But then the sailors get nervous and sneak off to abandon the boat on a lifeboat and Paul tells the soldiers they need to stop them or they will all die. God said they will all live so you’d think Paul would say it doesn’t matter what anyone does everyone will live. But Paul says it’s vital that no one leave the boat or we will die. 

The Bible teaches an interweaving of God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. God says I will protect you so go post a guard. God says I will heal you, so put medicine on the boil. God says everyone will live, but don’t let the sailors abandon ship or everyone will die. 

It’s a mystery for sure but it’s not a contradiction. God is sovereign and we can know and trust Him with all the and it came to pass(es) that come our way. At the same time we know our choices matter. They make a difference. 

As we head into 2026, let’s make room for Jesus by trusting God’s quiet sovereignty in our lives AND by choosing to obey His word. God says in Deut. 30:15-19 behold I put before you life and prosperity and death and destruction! I command you to love the Lord your God and obey Him. If you choose that I will bless you in the land you are entering. As we enter 2026 God is ready to work whatever comes to pass in our lives out for good. That’s not to say everything will be easy or nice. That’s not to say there won’t be pain or even suffering. But God’s hand of blessing will be on you and nothing can be better than that.

On the other hand God says if our heart turns away from God and we disobey Him and find our hearts drawn away after other gods, the Lord says it’s not going to go well for us. Our choices matter! God says “choose life!”

In God’s sovereign plan there was no room at the inn because God wanted Jesus to be born in a stable that was accessible to all. But it’s also a picture of where most of the world was then and is now. As God was reaching down to save lost humanity, making salvation and restored relationship accessible to anyone who would come to Him, most people are too preoccupied with their own lives to notice Jesus. 

3. We make room by spending time with Jesus

The shepherds said, let’s leave our flocks, take time out of our schedules, and go see what God has done! The wise men said, let’s leave our comfort zones and go to be with the King that was born. Simeon and Anna were waiting at the temple hoping they would see him. 

When Jesus visited Mary and Martha, Martha (God bless her!) was so busy with this that and the next thing but Mary chose to sit at Jesus’ feet and just listen to him and be with him. Jesus said Martha you’re worried and upset about many things but only one thing is necessary. Mary chose the better part – spending time with Jesus. 

What or who we prize we spend time with. We want to be with those we love. Let’s make room for Jesus by spending time with him. 

1. Find time to read the Bible every day. Even a few minutes a day can help set our minds and hearts on the Lord – whether at the beginning of a day or at the end of a day.
2. I’ve been enjoying a daily singing and teaching devotional put out by the Worship Initiative. You can sign up for them (they’re free) at https://sing.theworshipinitiative.com. They’re free and are about 18 minutes long. I have found them very refreshing and encouraging. 
3. Be committed to fellowship. Come to church, consider joining a community group, join the men’s breakfast or the women’s monthly meeting. God loves to use our brothers and sisters to help us grow in our faith and stay rooted to Jesus. So many of you have made such a difference in my life for good. 
4. Look for opportunities to tell people about the hope of Jesus in your heart. Few things make our faith come alive more than telling other people about Jesus!

Let’s make 2026 an amazing year by making room for Jesus. Let’s ask God to help us cut through the clutter and noise and busyness and all that stuff and see what’s really important. Hear what’s really important. Who is really important.