NIGHT OF CAROLS 12-05-2021

LaRue Baptist Church, OH iconLaRue Baptist Church, OH

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Good evening. This is always a really exciting event, so it's always fun to hear everybody's talents and to praise the
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Lord in this way, so let's start with a prayer and then we'll get started.
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Dear Lord, we thank you again for bringing us here tonight. Lord, that we can serve you in this way, that these different individuals,
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Lord, and all of us singing these hymns, just to sing praise,
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Lord, and that this would go out with us tonight and for the rest of our days,
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Lord, that we could share this with other people, Lord, and we pray these things in your Son's name. Amen. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.
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Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.
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You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy, they rejoice before you, as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
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For the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.
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For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle -tomah, and every garment rolled in blood, will be burned as fuel for the fire.
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For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called
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Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
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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 to uphold it, with justice and righteousness, from this time forth, and forevermore, the zeal of the
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Lord of hosts will do this. Could you please stand, and sing
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O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. O come,
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O come, Emmanuel, O come, O come, Emmanuel, O come, O come, Emmanuel, O come, O come, Emmanuel, O come, Emmanuel, O come, Emmanuel, O come, Emmanuel, O come, Emmanuel, O come, Emmanuel, O come,
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Emmanuel, O come, Emmanuel, O come,
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Emmanuel ,hee may be seated.
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♪ ♪
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Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.
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When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the
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Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.
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But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take
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Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name
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Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the
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Lord had spoken by the prophet, behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name
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Emmanuel, which means God with us. When Joseph woke from his sleep, he did as the angel of the
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Lord commanded him. He took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son, and he called his name
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Jesus. A sign shall be given, a virgin will conceive, a human baby bearing undiminished deity.
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The glory of the nations, a light for all to see, and hope for all who will embrace this one reality.
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Emmanuel, our
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God is with us, and if God is with us, who could stand against us?
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Our God is with us, Emmanuel.
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Those who live in the shadow of death, a glorious light has dawned for all those who stumbled in the darkness.
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Behold, it has come.
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Our God is with us, and if God is with us, who could stand against us?
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Our God is with us, Emmanuel. Answer, oh will you hear the call of him who did not spare his son, but gave him for us all?
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On earth there is no power, there is no death or height that will ever separate us from the love of God in Christ.
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Emmanuel is with us, and if God is with us, who could stand against us?
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Our God is with us, Emmanuel. Emmanuel, our
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God is with us, and if God is with us, who could stand against us?
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Our God is with us, Emmanuel. The stars are brightly shining.
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It is the night of our dear Savior's birth.
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Lay the world in sin ever pining till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.
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A thrill of hope the weary soul rejoices for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
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Fall on your knees.
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Oh, hear the angel voices.
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Oh, night divine.
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Oh, night when Christ was born.
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Oh, night divine.
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Oh, night divine.
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He taught us to love one another.
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His law is love and his gospel is peace.
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Chains shall he break for the slave is our brother.
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And in his name all oppression shall cease.
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What grace untold to leave the bliss of glory and die for sinners guilty and forlorn.
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Christ is the Lord. All praise his name forever.
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His power and glory ever proclaim.
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His power and glory evermore proclaim.
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Fall on your knees.
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Oh, hear the angel voices.
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Oh, night divine.
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Oh, night when Christ was born.
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Oh, night divine. Oh, night.
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Oh, night divine. And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night.
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And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.
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And the angel said to them, fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
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For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is
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Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.
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And 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 among those with whom he is pleased.
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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.
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And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told to them concerning this child, and all who hear it wondered and what the shepherd told them.
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But Mary treasured up all the things pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned glorifying and praising
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God for all they had heard and seen as it had been told them. Would you please stand and sing
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Angels We Have Heard on High. Angels we have heard on high, sweetly singing o 'er the plains.
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We have sung the joys bending near, to touch their hearts of gold.
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Peace on the earth, goodwill to men, from heaven's our gracious King.
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The woods in summer's stillness lay, to hear the angels sing.
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Still through the glowing skies they come, with peaceful wings unfurled.
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And still their heavenly music flows, for all the weary sad ones.
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They both sound the blessed angels sing.
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As soon as peace our days are hastening on, let's sing of old.
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When with the ever -splendoring years shall come the time foretold.
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When peace shall the righteous landers flee.
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And all the song which now the angels sing.
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She washed and wiped its blood, an angel put it in her.
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A child today, a child lying in a snow.
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This child who shall redeem us all. And brings this gift of God to cherish well.
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Jesus our Lord Emmanuel. Joy, joy.
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Joy is sleeping, the shepherds watch are keeping.
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Through the silent night.
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Then suddenly an angel of the
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Lord appears. I have good news, you cannot need to fear.
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Holy, holy. This tiny babe reveals the
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Father's love. Emmanuel. Christ today,
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Jesus Christ. All in shine.
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Most of glory has sent to tell the story.
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Of the Savior's glory. To God in the highest days there's joy.
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And still it rings throughout the ages long.
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Holy, holy. Jesus sent down from heaven above.
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This tiny babe reveals the
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Father's love. Emmanuel is born to us today.
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Jesus Christ. All in shine.
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As all creation sings.
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This tiny babe is the King of kings.
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All in shine. Jesus sent down from heaven above.
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This tiny babe reveals the
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Father's love. Emmanuel. My essay does not want to stay in place.
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If there's one universal from this pandemic. It's that we all tried something new while we were in lockdown.
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Some of us started businesses. Some of us took up new hobbies or rediscovered old ones.
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In my case, I published a book. My husband took up woodworking.
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It started with birdhouses and grew to boxes, tables, cabinets.
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He made the ones in my office and the coat closet in our hallway. And now he's working on refurbishing some chairs.
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God certainly loves to surprise his children. Out of everything that could have taught me about Jesus Christ during this pandemic.
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I did not expect the most profound lessons about his character.
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To come from watching my husband working with wood. Don't get me wrong.
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I'd always known that Jesus was a carpenter. I've read the nativity story again and again.
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And I knew that Jesus learned carpentry at the sight of Joseph, his earthly father. But somehow
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I'd never made the connections between his quote -unquote day job. As we would put it in modern parlance and his ministry.
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I've always known carpentry was a creative skill. At its most basic, it involves taking raw materials.
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And altering them into something else. Whether for practical use or for pure ornamentation.
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Also, like with the chairs. It involves repairing previously created things to make them function better.
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I've always known that. What I failed to connect was that fact to the very real fact.
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That Jesus Christ as the second person of the Trinity is the creator.
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And since we as humans are made in his image. We have that creative impulse.
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And don't look at me or at somebody else and go, well I can't create anything. You may not be what the world terms an artist.
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But you're definitely creative in some area of your life. You were created that way.
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I've learned that carpentry is a skill that is almost unlimited. We tend to see a carpenter as limited to furniture or house building.
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But in reality woodworking is truly limited only by tools, material and imagination.
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Sounds to me like a description of the power Jesus possesses. His power is only limited by his own will and that of his father.
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Above all Jesus seeks to do his father's will and teaches us how to do the same.
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He has unlimited power at his beck and call. And yet he limits it to what is best for God's glory and for our good.
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That blows my mind. And here is where my historian slash librarian side comes into play.
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When my husband began woodworking I grew curious about it. As with anything I become curious about.
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I researched its history and the history of those associated with it. In this case
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Jesus' earthly father Joseph of Nazareth. And here's what I found the most interesting.
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One moment please. Carpenters were and are a job that was very much in demand.
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Things constantly need to be built or repaired. It was a job that was consistent, could be done anywhere as long as the tools and materials were present.
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And had the potential to be very, very lucrative. And yet Joseph was so poor that when they presented
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Jesus at the temple he could only afford two small birds as a sacrifice. Why?
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We're not told. But based on the Bible's description of Joseph when he was so kind that he was going to quietly divorce
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Mary when he found her pregnant instead of condemning her to be stoned. Well I can see
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Joseph being such a loving, generous man that he did much of the work for free if necessary.
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Or perhaps he worked for barter if need be. When the young family was in Bethlehem when the
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Magi arrived, Matthew says specifically that they were living in a house.
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How could someone so poor afford to rent a house? Again, we're not told.
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But my personal belief is that Joseph traded his carpentry skills for lodging and necessities.
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Jesus is watching all this as he's growing up. He sees that God his father has placed him in the care of a human father who is filled with love and caring.
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This reflects in Jesus' ministry. Again and again we read that he looked at a person or a group and had compassion on them.
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This is love. And John says in 1 John 4 .16 that God is love.
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If God is that, then so is Jesus. We see God when we see
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Jesus. Deep thoughts. Lots of things pulling together in my head.
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Observations about the power of Jesus, the creativity of Jesus, and the love of Jesus. I still don't understand all of it and I doubt
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I will in this lifetime or even after centuries of eternity. And all of it was sparked by watching my husband slowly learn how to be a carpenter.
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Like Joseph. And like Jesus. Excuse me, please stand again.
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As we sing Joy Has Dawned. Joy Has Dawned.
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Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was
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Simeon. And this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the
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Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the
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Lord's Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child
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Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed
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God and said, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word.
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For my eyes have seen your salvation, that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples a light of revelation to the
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Gentiles and for the glory of your people Israel. Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word.
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Blessed Lord, may we depart in peace.
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For our eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before us.
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He is the Lord.
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He is the
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Lord. He is the Lord. He is the
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Lord. He is the
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Lord. He is the Lord.
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He is the
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Lord. He is the Lord. To every shore ...
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I sing this ... He is the
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Lord. ...
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I sing this ... He is ...
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I ask you to stand once again as we sing Silent Night. The great way to worship
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God through songs and expressing our hearts to him and words that others have written, but that express what we feel and what we think.
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I'm going to close in prayer and then we want to invite all of you to come to the back and enjoy some refreshments and things together as we talk together.
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And as I pray, this covers the food. All right. So when you get back there, you can get in the line.
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So let's pray and then we'll be dismissed. Father, we are reminded of all that you are through the incarnation.
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For when we see Jesus, we see you. We are reminded of our humanity for when we see
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Jesus, we see us. And in him, we find all that you intended us to be.
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And we thank you for the standard by which we can understand the joy that you have for us as we are more and more conformed to the likeness of Jesus.
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Thank you that he reveals you to us, that if we want to know what you are like and what you, just the love that you are and the holiness and the mercy and the grace, the omnipotence, all that is you, we see it in Jesus.
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We thank you for this savior, this revelator, doesn't merely enlighten us, but saves us.
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And so we thank you now for this savior in his name. Amen.