The God Who Comes Near | Francis Chan

Crazy Love Podcast

Crazy Love Ministries

Spirituality, Religion, Christianity, Religion & Spirituality, Religion & Spirituality:christianity

4.8 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 29 December 2025

⏱️ 22 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this Christmas teaching, Francis Chan invites us to slow down and truly adore Jesus. To not just believe in Him, but respond to the God who first came after us. Reflecting on the meaning of ”Emmanuel, God with us,” Francis explains how God has always been the initiator: creating humanity, pursuing us after the fall, dwelling among His people, sending His Son, and ultimately placing His Spirit within us. From the garden to the manger to the indwelling Holy Spirit, the story of Christmas is the story of a God who wants to be with us. This message reframes prayer, worship, and even repentance, not as efforts to earn God’s attention, but as responses to His mercy, grace, and relentless love. As we celebrate Christmas, we’re reminded that God is near, He is knocking, and He longs to pour His love into our hearts.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Crazy Love podcast.
0:07.0	At Christmas, we celebrate more than a moment in history.
0:12.0	We celebrate a God who came near.
0:15.0	In this special Christmas message, Francis Chan reflects on the meaning of Emmanuel, God with us, and reminds us that from the
0:23.2	very beginning, God has been the one who initiates. This is the good news of Christmas. God is
0:31.2	near. He is knocking, and he wants to pour his love into our hearts.
0:42.3	Hey, I don't know about you.
0:48.2	I feel like I've sung those songs my whole life, but they meant more this year than ever.
0:53.1	I just, I don't know, I'm picturing the angels singing.
0:57.1	I'm picturing, you know, as they're, you know, shouting together to the shepherds and
1:03.0	and that he's here.
1:07.0	And I don't know, the words just meant so much more.
1:10.5	Even the come let us adore him it's like did
1:13.7	really come with adoration like no not just I believe in him I'm going to celebrate Christmas I'm
1:20.6	going to sing this song but adoring adoring adoring I feel like the adoration keeps getting better in my life. I hope that's true with you because I feel like a lot of times it's the opposite. It's like, oh, this Christmas song again. And it becomes less and less every year rather than, gosh, it's more and more meaningful each time.
1:46.0	I mean, even when I say the Lord's prayer, it means more to me now.
1:52.0	And so I'm going to read from Matthew chapter one, the Christmas story.
1:58.7	You know, and I love that David, when he started us off, was talking about
2:04.8	Emmanuel God with us, because that's exactly what I'm going to be talking about today,
2:13.3	and we don't plan these things. We don't have time to plan.
2:22.1	We just, it's like, Lord, what are you putting on my heart?
2:26.0	It's like, Emmanuel, God with us.
	...

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