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Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern

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Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

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And now here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg. We have two gospel texts that we'll be reading today because we will be celebrating not only

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Advent 4 but also the Feast of the Nativity. Our first gospel reading is taken from the

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Gospel of Luke chapter 1 verses 26 through 38. In the sixth month the angel

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Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was

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Joseph of the house of David and the Virgin's name was Mary and he came to her and said greetings

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O favored one the Lord is with you. She was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.

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The angel said to her do not be afraid Mary for you have found favor with God and behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call his name

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Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High and the

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Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no end.

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And Mary said to the angel how will this be since I am a virgin and the angel answered her the

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Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you therefore the child to be born will be called holy the

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Son of God and behold your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren for nothing will be impossible with God and Mary said behold

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I am the servant of the Lord let it be to me according to your word and the angel departed from her.

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Our second text is taken from the Gospel of Luke chapter 2 verses 1 through 20.

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In those days the decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

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This was the first registration when Quirinius was the governor of Syria. It all went to be registered each to his own town.

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Joseph also went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea to the city of David which is called

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Bethlehem because he was at the house and the lineage of David to be registered with Mary his betrothed who was with child and while they were there the time came for her to give birth and she gave birth to her firstborn son wrapped him in a swaddling in swaddling cloths laid him in a manger because there was no place for them in the inn and in the same region there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night and an angel of the

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Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were filled with fear and the angel said to them fear not for behold

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I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people for unto you was born this day in the city of David a

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Savior who is Christ the Lord and this will be a sign for you you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths lying in a manger and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising

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God and saying glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased and when the angels went away from them into heaven the shepherds said to one another let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the

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Lord has made known to us and they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger and when they saw it they made known the saying that had been told to them concerning this child and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them but Mary treasured up all these things pondering them in her heart and the shepherds returned glorifying and praising

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God for all that they heard and had heard and seen as it had been told them this is the gospel of the

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Lord in the name of Jesus a little bit of a sidebar at the beginning of the sermon have you ever stopped to think why is it that some

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Christmas specials only air once while others become classics ones that we watch over and over and over again have you ever thought about that I mean that A &E network the estrogen channel they put pump those

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Christmas specials out every year and does anyone watch them over and over and over again no no it seems like they're just kind of churning kind of churning but ever since I was a kid there's certain

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Christmas specials that I end up watching all the time one of them is a

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Christmas classic and there's a reason why it's a classic let me explain what the important feature is that makes it a classic classic

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Christmas specials are the ones who as Tolkien that's

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J .R .R. Tolkien of the Lord of the Rings noted they're the ones that tap into what is called the deep myths now let me explain what

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I mean there if you've seen the Lord of the Rings or you've watched if you've read the books then you're going to know that J .R

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.R. Tolkien purposely set out to retell the story of Christ his death his resurrection and his being crowned as king but he told it in the world of Middle -earth and in some strange way we can connect with it because our yearning and our longings are similar to what we see in a story like that I find it fascinating that even atheists will watch the

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Lord of the Rings movies over and over and over again and it's funny that they do so they tap into the deep myths let me tell you about another

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Christmas special that taps into the deep myth one you may not think does but this is the reason why people watch it year after year hope you're sitting down good looks like you are

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Rudolph the red -nosed reindeer the one with Burl Ives as the snowman yeah that one the guy who sang have a holly jolly Christmas have you ever thought why it is that kids watch that one over and over and over again and I would posit that the reason why is because it taps into some of the most amazing themes of what is called deep myth now this doesn't mean it's not real but it's tapping into the same archetypes the same themes that our texts today tap into let me explain if you know the story

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Rudolph the red -nosed reindeer is born well a misfit he's got a little bit of a problem every other reindeer has a black nose he has one that is red it's shiny and it glows and he is eventually cast out from the community of the

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Santa Claus village and he becomes a misfit and he's out on the road and in his adventures as his character grows he comes to a place called the

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Isle of Misfit Toys now stop and think for a second each and every one of us because we are sinful we are a lot like those broken toys on the

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Isle of Misfit Toys and these are toys that long to be loved long to have a purpose long to be to live for the reason why they were created but each and every one of them has major flaws the jack -in -the -box is named

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Charlie in the box the train has square wheels it's it's just a mess and Rudolph the red -nosed reindeer promises that once he finally returns to Christmastown that he will tell

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Santa Claus about the toys on the Isle of Misfit Toys so that they can be saved but as the story progresses there's this ginormous winter storm

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Christmas is about to be canceled and as we all know how the song goes Santa Claus goes to Rudolph and says

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Rudolph with your nose so bright won't you guide my sleigh tonight and Christmas is well saved it's on again but as the

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Christmas classic goes once Rudolph is hitched to the team and is at the front of it the first stop is the

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Isle of Misfit Toys and there's this wonderful scene in there and it has these toys in the darkness around a small fire and they're all kind of lamenting that it's

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Christmas Eve and they know Santa should have left by now and they think that they had somehow been overlooked yet again that their salvation has not appeared but then off in the distance you hear the sleigh bells ringing and you see

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Rudolph's nose burst through the clouds and one of the characters literally cries out it's

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Rudolph we're saved that is the reason why that story gets watched over and over and over again because each of us longs for that type of salvation we languish here in this cursed creation as we grow older and sicker and weaker as the cumulative effect of our sin takes a grip on us we desire and long for salvation we long for a homeland where we will finally be saved where we will be loved and so I would like to go back through a few of our texts but we first have to make a trip back farther in the

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Old Testament because I want to show you something about this theme in Scripture if you would return with me to Exodus chapter 3

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Exodus chapter 3 this is the commissioning of Moses and I want you to pay attention because you're going to see that some of the features of this story have the exact same features as our gospel text does today

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Exodus chapter 3 begins with these words Moses was keeping the flock of his father -in -law

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Jethro the priest of Midian Moses is a shepherd the opening of this chapter watch this so he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and he came to Horeb the mountain of God and the angel of the

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Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush ah light has burst into the darkness if you would he looked and behold the bush was burning yet it was not consumed and Moses said

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I will turn aside to see this great sight why the bush is not burned and when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see

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God called to him out of the bush Moshe Moshe and he said here

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I am he said do not come near take your sandals off your feet for the place in which you are standing is holy ground and he said

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I am the God of your father the God of Abraham the God of Isaac the

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God of Jacob Moses hit his face he was afraid to look at God and then the

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Lord said I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters

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I know their sufferings and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the

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Egyptians and to bring them up out of the land to a good and broad land a land flowing with milk and honey look at this

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God himself says that he knows their sufferings and he himself has decided to come down from heaven in order to deliver them out of the hand of slavery to the

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Egyptians and as we've learned this is type and shadow the reality is actually found in our gospel text today but you're going to note darkness light

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Shepherd God announcing that he has what he is coming down now with that let's return to our text from our

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Old Testament reading from the prophet Isaiah Isaiah chapter 9 the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light those who dwelt in the land of deep darkness on them the light has shined remember last week our gospel text talked about John the

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Baptist not being the light but bearing witness about the light he was the voice out in the wilderness out in the darkness saying repent prepare the way of the

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Lord and now our texts have taken a totally different turn the light has now entered the world the people who walked in darkness they have now seen a great light those who land in the depth dwelt in the land of deep darkness on them the light has shined you have multiplied the nation you have increased its joy they rejoice before you as with at the harvest as they are glad when they divide the spoil for the yoke of his burden the staff for his shoulder the rod of his oppressor you have broken as on the day of Midian and the picture is beautiful here light burst into the darkness in the slave shackles the iron and the rod and all of these things that are holding and oppressing us they are all broken and fall off and every boot of the trampling warrior in battle of tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire and here's the reason why for unto us a child is born to us the

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Son is given it's Jesus we're saved and that's the theme the government shall be upon his shoulder his name shall be called wonderful counselor mighty

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God everlasting father prince of peace and of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and uphold it with justice and with righteousness in other words no longer shall we be oppressed by tyrants terrible politicians those who are sexually harassing their employees or oppressing and murdering their citizens we are saved for unto us a child is born to us a son is given and with that we return to our gospel text and we're gonna note something very important Luke chapter 2 in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered this was the first registration when

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Quirinius was the governor of Syria it's as if C -SPAN wrote the opening verses of this particular chapter this sounds like something that's as exciting as watching

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Washington Today or something like this week politics and taxes and registrations and censuses give me a break but see you're gonna note that all of these little details tell us that what we are reading here is not mythology it's history that this really took place this is the minutia of human history this isn't about well a story that took place a long time ago in a galaxy far far away or about a story that took place in the mythical somewhere

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North Pole near the Isle of Misfit Toys this took place in Judea 2 ,000 years ago when

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Caesar Augustus was the Emperor of Rome this was the first registration when

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Quirinius was the governor of Syria all went to be registered each to his own town

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Joseph also went up from Galilee to the town of Nazareth to Judea to the city of David which is called

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Bethlehem because he was of the house in the lineage of David to be registered with Mary his betrothed who was with child and while they were there the time came for her to give birth she gave birth to her firstborn son wrapped him in a swaddling swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger

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I always like to picture those swaddling cloths as a picture of Christ's soon to be burial clothes laid him in a manger because there was no place for them in the end and you're gonna note that the

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King of Kings and Lord of Lords as Philippians 2 tells us emptied himself went from the highest place that there is in all of the universe the very throne of God and he was born into abject poverty

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I mean God the Father didn't even call ahead and make a reservation for him at Motel 6 he was on his own his parents were poor and we'll learn next week when it came time to dedicate

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Christ and have him circumcised they couldn't even afford a lamb they can only afford the two turtle doves and so there's our

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Savior the one who has come to save us ten little fingers ten little toes a tiny little nose making oh it's like little babies do and it's wonderful and it's terrible at the same time we're saved we're truly saved but as our sermon hymn noted out in verse 2 why lies he in such meanest state where ox and ass are feeding good

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Christian fear for sinners here the silent word is pleading nails spear shall pierce him through the cross be born for me for you hail hail the word made flesh the babe the

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Son of Mary and see that's it we're saved because the wood of the manger gives way to the wood of the cross the swaddling cloths give way to the sword and spear flogging it's wonderful and it's terrible we're saved but we're saved at a great cost the life of this very child who's come to save us and in the same region there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night an angel of the

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Lord appeared to them and listen to this the glory of the Lord shone around them over and again we depict that the light that the shepherds saw was the light of the angels but that's not what the text says here the glory of the

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Lord makes an appearance this is the very glory of the Lord that the book of Revelation describes is the thing that will it will light up the earth after Jesus's return the very thing that we will always see and so for just a brief moment the very glory of the

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Lord shows up and shown all around them and they were filled with fear the angel said to them fear not for behold

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I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people for unto you is born this day in the city of David a

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Savior who is Christ the Lord for unto you is born a

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Savior unto us a child is born unto us a son is given and he's

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Christ the Lord and this will be the sign for you you'll find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths lying in a manger and then suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising

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God and saying glory to God in the highest and on earth peace shalom among those with whom he is pleased and see brothers and sisters the reason why we find ourselves living in darkness the reason why we find ourselves languishing and suffering because of our sin the reason why we have to toil to put bread on the table to pay the electric bill to pay our gas bills and keep our houses warm on cold days like this and the reason why we have to get up every single weekday at the crack of dawn and go punch in and that punch clock and then pray that we have enough leftover so that we can somehow retire from all of this labor the reason for all of this is because each and every one of us was born dead and trespasses and sins and at war with God hostilities that we launched by disobeying

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God but rather than saying destruction and death to you the good news that is announced to us because of this baby of Bethlehem is peace peace because God has chosen to reconcile you to the

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Father to end the hostilities and bring peace by himself becoming one of us and going to the cross so glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased and he brothers and sisters is pleased with you not because you're so pleasable or pleasing he is pleased with you because he has clothed you in the righteousness of this little baby he has clothed you in the righteousness of Christ himself and covered you in his own glory if you would as a gift because of his great love for you and so this is such an amazing mystery this is such good news that well we living in darkness couldn't have spotted it ourselves that's the nature of our darkness so the angels they couldn't keep quiet any longer they just had to sing about it glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased and so when the angels went away from them into heaven the

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Shepherd said to one another let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the

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Lord has made known to us and so you'll note yet again the glory of the

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Lord appears to a shepherd multiple shepherds this time but the glory of the

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Lord showed up to take that Shepherd Moses and commission him for the work that he was to do and all of that is a picture of God's great love and desire to relieve us from our sufferings to free us from slavery to sin and yet again now the glory of the

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Lord shows up again this time not in a burning bush but shows up to the shepherds out in the field and of course they've got to go and figure this out so let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened you can almost hear

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Moses saying I've got to go over there and see why that bush is burning but isn't burning up I've got to go and see this thing that the

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Lord has done and so they went with haste hurry hoof it Mary and Joseph and they found them and the baby lying in a manger when they saw it they made known the saying that had been told to them concerning this child and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds had told them but Mary treasured up all these things pondering them in her heart and the shepherds returned glorifying and praising

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God for all that they had heard and seen as it had been told to them and see to the average observer in Bethlehem that day walking by where Mary and Joseph were and seeing a baby in a manger someone may have been tempted to say oh a little baby how cute as women are prone to do men are not exactly prone to doing that and they would have had no clue what had what that all meant but see

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God himself sent these angels to explain what exactly what was going on and what looks so humble with looks so mean which looks so common which looks so ordinary which looks so blah is the greatest thing ever it's the greatest thing ever it's the sound of sleigh bells off in the distance light shining in the darkness it's this wonderful news the

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Paul tells us about in our epistle text that the grace of God has now appeared literally burst onto the scene bringing salvation for all people and see we here like the toys on the

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Isle of Misfit toys we have been waiting for our blessed hope in the appearing of the glory of our great

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God and Savior Jesus Christ who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession there it is the great theme brothers and sisters as we sit here in the darkness

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I can hear the sleigh bells I can see the light and I announced to you with great joy we're saved we're saved we're finally going to have a home where we will be loved forever all because of God's great love for us let us cast off our sin let us leave the darkness let us rise up with joy in our hearts and our throats and our mouth and shout out this great news unto us a child is born unto us son is given we are saved in the name of Jesus if you would like to support the teaching ministry of kungsvinger lutheran church you can do so by sending a tax -free donation to kungsvinger lutheran church 15950 470th

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Avenue Northwest Oslo Minnesota 56744 and again that address is kungsvinger lutheran church 15950 470th