The Sword that Pierces John Kane

Faith Bible Church

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I'll begin reading at verse one. And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

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This census took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.

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

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Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife who was with child.

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So it was while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. 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.

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Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.

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And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were greatly afraid.

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Then the angel said to them, do not be afraid for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people.

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For there is born to you this day in the city of David, a savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you.

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You will find a babe 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, goodwill toward men.

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So it was when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the

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Lord has made known to us. And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger.

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Now, when they had seen him, they made widely known the saying which was told to them concerning this child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

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But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. When the shepherds returned glorifying and praising

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God for all the things which they had heard and seen as it was told them. And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the child, his name was called

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Jesus. The name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. Now, when the days of her purification, according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the

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Lord. As it is written in the law of the Lord, every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the

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Lord. And to offer a sacrifice, according to what is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons.

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And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And this man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel.

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And the 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. So he came by 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, which you have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the

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Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel. And Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him.

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Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, behold, this child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel and for a sign which will be spoken against.

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Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

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Now there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Ephanuel of the tribe of Asher. She was of great age and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity.

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And this woman was a widow of about 84 years who did not depart from the temple but served

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God with fasting and prayers night and day. And coming in that instant, she gave thanks to the

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Lord and spoke of him to all those who had looked for the redemption of Jerusalem.

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So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own city

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Nazareth and the child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom and the grace of God was upon him.

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May God add his blessing to the reading of his word. Let's open our service before Harold comes with some prayer.

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Father God, it is with great joy that we gather together on this Sunday. Oh Lord, to think about the birth of Jesus Christ, to think about the promises that were kept on that beautiful evening,

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Father, to think of the responses of the people, the shepherd's God, running to Bethlehem, God, to see the child, the wise men traveling far from the

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East to come and to worship him, God. Father, may this time of worship this morning,

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God, be a time of heartfelt praise and adoration of the

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King of Kings, the promised Messiah, God. God, may our worship be in a manner that is worthy of your glory.

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As we sing these beautiful carols, as we remember the promised birth of Jesus Christ that we remember this time of the year, may this worship service, every one of us, be done in spirit and in truth, for we ask it in Jesus' name, amen?

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Amen. Thank you, Harold. Well, good morning and welcome again.

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We're grateful you're here. Our hearts go out and our prayers go out to those that aren't here with us that are able to fellowship with those that are here this morning.

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But our hearts are with you and we just pray that God has his hand upon you, that you are walking with the

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Lord and are blessed by today's service and blessed by the hearing of his word.

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So we're just grateful, all grateful to be here at this. And Merry Christmas to everyone.

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And it's such a wonderful thing that as a believer, we can say that with a full heart, with a whole heart.

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And if you haven't been with us here before, I pray that you would be blessed and feel a sense of our love for God and a love for the people of his church.

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And because we do believe it's important to gather together. We know that in a small way, we try to go through life together and COVID hasn't helped that situation at all.

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But however best we can, we pray that we can do that and be a blessing to you. So would you just join with me this morning?

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John already opened a prayer, but let's continue praying for our country and for our church. And so let's pray together.

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Lord God, we thank you, Father, that you have brought us together, Lord, by your purpose for your good,

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Lord. We are to worship you corporately is such a privilege in this country,

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Father. And to be able to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Father, is just almost overwhelming,

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Lord. Father, we know that we face many challenges in our country, Lord, in our state, and Lord, even in certain respects in our church as we go through a kind of a transition time,

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Father. But we know that we are in your care, that we can trust you, that you love us, that you love the people in this country,

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Lord. May your spirit touch our nation's leaders, Father. We pray that you would give them wisdom to know what is right.

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Encourage to do the right thing, Father. Give us your light and your truth, Father, to guide us in your ways, that we would be obedient to your calling, that we would seek your will in our lives, in our personal lives, in the life of this church, in the life of this country,

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Father, for it is in your hands. Bless our service today again, Father. And Lord, we commit everything that we do to you this morning, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.

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So let's, you're gonna have to dust off your vocal cords a little bit this morning. We have quite a lineup of Christmas carols and what a joy that is, that we can rejoice.

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We have so much to be grateful for, to be joyful for. And for those at home, you might, yep, you could start a fire in the fireplace.

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That would be a blessing, how about that, Pastor John? I think he would probably agree with that. We don't quite have that benefit.

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I thought we could maybe put a little, you know how they have those, like fire on the wall, but we didn't get, you know, we didn't plan ahead that closely, so.

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Anyway, I'd like to read John, passage from John 12, 44 through 50, to kind of set the tone a little bit, to know why

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Jesus came. And Jesus cried out and said, whoever believes in me, believes not in me, but in him who sent me.

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And whoever sees me, sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.

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If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him, for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.

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The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge. The word that I have spoken will judge him on that last day.

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For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment, what to say and what to speak, and I know that his commandment is eternal life.

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What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has sent me. So praise God for that.

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You can remain seated as we begin, as we settle in now to let's just sing together, to lift our voices.

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That's one primary way that we can express our joy to the Lord is in song.

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So let us, let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened. We're gonna sing, O Come, All Ye Faithful.

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♪ O come, let us adore, let us adore him,

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Christ the Lord ♪ ♪ Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation ♪ ♪

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O sing, all ye bright hosts of highest ♪ ♪

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Come, let us adore, let us adore him,

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Christ the Lord ♪ ♪

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Yea, we thee mourn this happy morning ♪ ♪

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Behold, we give flesh appearing ♪ ♪

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Come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore, let us adore him ♪

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There were shepherds in the fields keeping watch over their flocks. We're gonna sing the first Noel.

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♪ The first Noel, be it say, was to certain poor shepherds ♪ ♪

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In fields as they lay, in fields where they lay ♪ ♪

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Keeping their sheep on a cold winter's night ♪ ♪

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And so did Noel, is the king of Israel ♪ ♪

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And saw a star shining in the east beyond to the earth ♪ ♪

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And so it continued, for he is the king of Israel ♪ ♪

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And so it continued, for he is the king of Israel ♪ ♪

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The same star, three wise men came a tree far to see ♪ ♪

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For a king was their intent, and to follow the star ♪

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The holy one to be born will be called the

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Son of God, O holy night. O the stars are brightly shining, it is the night of our dear

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Savior's birth. In sin and error pining till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.

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A thrill I sense for yonder breaks, a new and glorious morning was born.

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Next we're going to sing, Who is in yonder stall? The Lamb is the Lord of Lords and the

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King of Kings. Let's stand together.

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Who is he in yonder stall?

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At whose feet the shepherds fall? Who is he in deep distress, fasting in the wilderness?

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Tis the Lord, O wondrous hope! Tis the

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Lord! At his feet we humbly pray.

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Who is he with people his words of gentleness?

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Who is he? To him we bring all the sick and sorrowing.

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Tis the Lord! O wondrous story! Tis the

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Lord! At his feet we humbly fall.

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Who is he that stands in weeps, as restleaps?

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Who is he? The gathering call. Greet him with loud trumpet song.

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Tis the Lord! O wondrous story!

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Tis the Lord! At his feet we humbly fall.

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They spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child. What is this child?

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What child is this who lay to rest?

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Mary's lap is sleeping. Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,

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While shepherds watch are keeping.

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This, this is Christ the

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King Whom shepherds guard and angels sing.

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Haste, haste to bring him all the sun.

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May I see in such mean

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A state where ox and ass are feed.

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Deep, good Christ shall live for sinners heed.

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The silent word is pleading.

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This, this is Christ the King Whom shepherds guard and angels sing.

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Haste, haste to bring him all the babe,

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The son of man. So bring him incense, gold, and myrrh.

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As a king to bring salvation,

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Let hearts in thrall.

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This, this is Christ the King Whom shepherds guard and angels sing.

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Haste, haste to bring him all the babe,

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The son of man. In the highest stand on earth peace.

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Hark the heralds, angels sing. Let's sing together.

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Hark the herald angels sing. Glory to the newborn

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King. Peace on earth and mercy mild.

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God and sinners reconciled. Joyful all ye nations rise.

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Join the triumph of the sky With angelic host proclaim.

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Christ is born in Bethlehem. Hark ye to the new -born

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King. Let heaven adore Christ, The offspring of the

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Virgin's womb. Hail, dim -fleshed God at sea.

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Hail, the incarnate Deity. Pleased as man with man to dwell.

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Jesus, our Emmanuel. Hark, the saints.

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Glory to the new -born

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King. Hail, the head -born Prince of Peace. Hail, the

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Son of Righteousness. Bright and hot to all

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He brings. Risen with healing in His wings.

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Mild He lays His glory by. Born that man, the sons of earth.

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Born to give Him second birth. Royalty.

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Glory to the new -born

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King. Thank you. Please be seated. Pastor John. Well, praise the Lord. When's the last time you sang that much in church?

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There is just something about Christmas music that no matter what is going on in your life or the world, it just lifts your heart, doesn't it?

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It's just a wonderful thing. So open your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke.

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Gospel of St. Luke. And we're going to be going to Luke 2.

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Luke 2, verse 34 in a moment. But as we get started,

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I think we would all agree that this is and will be and could even be more of one of the oddest

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Christmases any of us have ever experienced in our lifetime. I mean,

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I know everybody's obeying the stay -at -home order and the don't -go -anywhere because of all the traffic on the roads.

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And I'm still seeing Christmas presents in cars, which I'm thankful for. But I know that online is,

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I mean, I wish I had bought Amazon 10 years ago, that stock. With each passing day, it seems like it gets even stranger as the government exerts more and more control over our lives.

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So you know what I want to do today? I want to examine a few ways, by God's grace, to have this

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Christmas impact us in an encouraging and positive and uplifting way.

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Amen? You know, Hebrews 4, verse 12 says, For the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two -edged sword, piercing even down to the division of the soul and the spirit and of joints and marrow, and listen carefully, and is the discerner of the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

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Now, I want to give you the updated John Cain 2020 translation of that verse, okay?

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Call it the Living Cain, if you want. The Living Cain version. When someone reads or hears the word of God, it impacts them in such a way that it reveals the thoughts and intentions of their heart.

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When someone reads or hears the word of God, it impacts them in such a way that it reveals their heart.

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Now, take a look at Luke 2, verse 34 with me. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, that is,

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Jesus' mother, Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel and for a sign which will be spoken against.

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Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

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I want to encourage us today to purpose to allow Christmas to impact our relationship with God in a positive way because this is one of the reasons why

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Jesus Christ was born. If you look at verse 10 in chapter 2, Then the angel said to them, to the shepherds, because if you look at verse 9, they were greatly afraid, as I read earlier.

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The angel said, Don't be afraid. For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.

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So what we want to understand this Christmas is that Jesus Christ is appointed by God's decree to the rise and fall of many, meaning some will hear the gospel and be saved and some will reject the gospel and not be saved.

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Some will receive Christ and go to heaven for all eternity. Some will reject Him and say no.

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You see, this Christmas can be like any other Christmas. It can be one that we celebrate with a troubled heart or we can use this coming week to spend time with God, to commune and fellowship with God in a deeper and a more meaningful way with joy in our heart.

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And the message title today, if you looked at your note, is The Sword That Pierces.

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And that sword, that sword, beloved, is Jesus Christ and the word of God.

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It is the sword that pierces. Let's pray. Father, we want to commit so desperately this word to your care.

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There are people watching by video, Father. Some have not been in church for months and months and months.

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There are some, Father God, that have loved ones that have been touched by the various things going on in this world.

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What a wonderful time of the year, God, to lay all that aside and to focus on Christ.

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I pray and ask that the Holy Spirit might indeed empower your word today as it is preached.

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God, we need Christ. We need Jesus. Please help us this morning, we pray.

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And especially those watching by video, God, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. So I think we would all agree that Christmas can reveal things.

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Reveal things about us and reveal things about others. For example,

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Christmas tends to bring what's important to people out in them.

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I mean, kids and their Christmas list, right? What do you want?

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Have you heard about the fights over this thing called PlayStation 5? I mean,

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I read last week these guys, a truck was delivering this thing, whatever it is.

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I know it's some kind of game that you play on the TV. And the car went the speed of the truck.

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And these people jumped out of the car on the hood, jumped on the back of the truck while it was driving in order to steal this thing off the back of the truck while it was moving down the road.

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I mean, Christmas tends to bring out these kinds of things, right?

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When we open our presents and our cards, the first thing we look for in the card is what? The check.

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Then we read the card. So for some people, the gifts are the main attraction.

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For others, it's being together with family. For some, it's the fun of the food, just the holiday itself.

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We have a man in our church, that's what he says every year. What he looks forward to is just the holiday, just being at home with his kids and grandkids and his wife.

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Every year he says that. That's what he looks forward to the most. You can have the presents, he says. And for others, it's remembering the birth of Jesus Christ and all that it means and how the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ has impacted their life.

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Now, if you look at Luke chapter 1 and 2, just in your mind's eye, there are details regarding the responses of those who encountered

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Jesus upon his arrival on the earth and how it impacted him. You might know some of these off the top of your head.

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For example, Herod. When Herod heard about this Messiah that was to be born, he had heard about it through the

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Jewish people of that day because he ruled over modern -day Israel under the Roman Empire.

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And if you know anything about the Gospel of Matthew and the Christmas account of the birth of Jesus, Herod was greatly troubled.

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That was the impact of the birth of Christ. He was greatly troubled. And then what did he do? He set out to kill him. All of the people of Jerusalem were troubled with him, it says in Matthew chapter 2.

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And then on top of that, the religious leaders of the day that came to Herod...

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Sorry about that. Yeah, came to that guy right there. When they came to Herod, and he said,

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Where is this Messiah to be born? And the religious leaders of that day said, In Bethlehem.

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The prophet says, In Bethlehem. What did they do? Nothing. Just the facts. And then you come to Zacharias here in Luke chapter 1, the priest who didn't initially believe in the signs and what happened to him.

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He became a sign. Couldn't talk. Then there's Mary the young lady.

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And if you know anything about Mary, one of the things about her that's so remarkable is she knew Hannah's song from the

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Old Testament because her Magnificant, which is in the Gospels, basically follows and parallels what

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Hannah sang to the Lord when Samuel was born. And then in chapter 2, we come to the shepherds.

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If you know anything about Bible history, you know that the shepherds were the outcasts of society. They smelled.

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People looked down on them. Probably thought of worse than the homeless people we see camped along the interstates now.

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They became the first responders to the birth of Jesus Christ. And then look at how their encounter with Christ impacted them in verse 16.

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And they came, the shepherds, with haste. They didn't make a slow, leisurely stroll over to Bethlehem.

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They made with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger.

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Now, when they had seen him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this child.

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So they're going all along, and we saw this angel came and talked to us, and we saw the heavenly host, and we were scared to death.

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And the angel said, Don't be afraid, for this day unto you, a child is to be born in Bethlehem.

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And they're telling everybody about it. All those who heard it marveled at those things which were told to them by the shepherds.

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See, an encounter with Jesus Christ reveals one's heart. Harold was troubled,

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Herod was troubled, and wanted to kill the child. The religious leaders of that day could have cared less.

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And then we come to Simeon in verse 34. Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary his mother,

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Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken again.

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Yes, a sword will pierce through your soul also that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

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See, an encounter with Jesus Christ will always reveal a person's true heart, and Jesus always impacted people, everyone, either positively or negatively.

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And the text says, may be revealed. I don't know if you caught that. The thoughts of many hearts may be revealed, but actually the

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Greek is, it will be revealed. It's not might be, it will be revealed.

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Then you go to the Gospel of John, which Harold read from, John 1 .1. In the beginning was the

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Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Then you go to John 1 .14,

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and we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And then we go to the apostles and his impact on the apostles.

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And then we go all the way over to Hebrews 4 .12. See, an encounter with Jesus Christ will always reveal your heart.

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Hebrews 4 .12, for the Word of God is living and powerful. Some translations have active and sharper than any two -edged sword, piercing even at the division of the soul and the spirit, and of the joints and the marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intentions of the heart.

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When someone is exposed to the person and the message of Jesus Christ, whether for the first time ever, and please listen, church, whether for the first time ever, or every

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Sunday in church, or every time they open up their Bible, or whether it's this

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Christmas, that impact on the person reveals their heart, good or bad.

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You look back at verse 21, and look at this, the immediate context of the verse that we're going to be studying this morning.

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About Jesus being the sword. Verse 21, And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the child, his name was called

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Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. Now when the days of her purification, according to the law of Moses, were completed, they brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the

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Lord. As it is written in the law of the Lord, every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the

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Lord. Now there's a lot here, but something interesting and significant here is that when

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Mary and Joseph bring the Lord Jesus to the temple as required under the law, they encounter some people who we might call interesting, and I don't know if you experience this, but sometimes when you go to Walmart, you might say to somebody,

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I encountered some interesting people. Would you not say that sometimes?

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So they come to the temple, and they encounter some interesting people.

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And what is so revealing is that these interesting people were vessels, but they were willing vessels.

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Herod, unwilling. Religious leaders, unwilling. But these different people were very willing.

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And what's so revealing is that the most significant encounters that Mary and Joseph had when they got to the temple, listen to me, were not the religious people.

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They were not the priests. Encounter number one. Imagine with me an elderly man from the community of Jerusalem.

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His name is not Victor. And look at chapter 2, verse 25.

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And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. He's a friend of Victor's. And this man was just and devout.

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Look carefully. Just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel.

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And the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the

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Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. So he came by the

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Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the law, what was his response?

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How did seeing this child impact him? He took him up in his arms, and he blessed

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God. Lord, now you're letting your servant depart in peace according to your word.

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For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the

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Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel. How did this encounter impact

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Simeon? He took the child in his arms. He held him up, and he blessed the

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Lord. That's encounter number one. Now, encounter number two. Imagine with me an 84 -year -old woman who loiters at the temple night and day.

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And we can almost imagine that anybody going to the temple, here is this 84 -year -old woman.

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She's at the temple every day. And the people come in to do their sacrifices and give their offerings and their temple tax and whatever business that they had at the temple.

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And here is this woman. What in the world is she doing here? Day after day after day after day you come at night, you come in the morning, and you can imagine how they talk about it at the store.

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You know, that lady, what is it with her? Every time I go to the temple, she's there.

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What is going on? Verse 36. Now, there was one,

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Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher.

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She was of great age and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity. And this woman was a widow of about 84 years who did not depart from the temple, but served

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God with fastings and prayers night and day. And coming in that instance, she gave thanks to the

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Lord and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

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How did Anna's encounter with Jesus impact her?

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She immediately, immediately, verse 38, began giving thanks to the

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Lord, and she started witnessing and sharing the good news. So how is

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Christmas going to impact you this year in terms of your relationship with God?

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Two encounters with Jesus. And the question we want to answer today is how, by God's grace, how can

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Christmas more fully impact our relationship with God or how we view

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Jesus Christ that this year, as strange and as odd as it has been, to count this

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Christmas with all joy. Right? Count it all joy when you face various trials.

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How can we count this Christmas with joy? Number one, if you have your notes, by recognizing the one who fulfilled

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God's righteousness. How can Christmas more fully impact our relationship with God or how we view

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Jesus Christ this Christmas? For one, by recognizing the one who fulfilled

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God's righteousness. See, the shepherds in the fields recognized him.

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The wise men from the east recognized him, even going so far as dropping everything in their lives and traveling a long distance to worship him.

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But the religious leaders of that day that knew, that knew where the

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Messiah would be born didn't even bother to go visit Bethlehem. Now, typically, when people go shopping around this time of the year, there is traffic and a line of cars.

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In fact, Janet had to run an errand yesterday in Folsom, and it's a difficult drive from our house to where she had to go.

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And she was shocked because it was bumper -to -bumper traffic in Folsom. I mean, if all the restaurants are closed and the stores are supposed to have 25 % of whatever, but it was just solid cars.

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Often, there are lines at the registers, but here's the thought. Who's in line for Jesus?

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Why aren't people seeing? You think about how many years Simeon waited in line.

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For decades. Verse 26 tells us, He would not see death before he had seen the

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Lord Jesus. How many years did Anna wait? Anna was 84 years old when she saw the

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Messiah waiting in the temple after becoming a widow. Now, if she was a typical

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Jewish girl, she would have been married probably early teens, late teens.

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She's married. She's with her husband seven years. He dies. She spends the rest of her life in the temple, single.

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She's looking for the redemption of Israel. So if she was widowed in her early 20s, mid -late 20s, she had been waiting some 50 years.

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These two individuals were looking for years when Jesus arrived on the scene, and they immediately recognized him.

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And it wasn't because Mary's Aunt Martha weaved a sweater that said, This is the

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Messiah, and that's what Jesus wore to the temple that day. How did they recognize this baby?

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The text says the Holy Spirit was on him. And it says

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Anna never left the temple. So something supernatural was going on, and what was that?

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It was God's grace at work. And see, what we need to understand, and this is really where I'm heading with this text, is this.

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They were looking. They were looking. They were waiting.

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And friends, that's what we need to be doing this Christmas if we want it to impact us.

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If Christmas is going to impact us in a positive way, we need to recognize the one who fulfilled

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God's righteousness. Why do people look for something? Why do people go to the stores or search online for things?

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Because they need something. What do these people recognize that they had a need for?

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In their own words in verse 30, take a look. Not my words.

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My eyes have seen your salvation. In their own words, they recognized they had a need for redemption or consolation or salvation.

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And Luke inserts something kind of intriguing here about Mary. Because if you look at verse 24, it says that they went to the temple to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the

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Lord, a pair of turtledoves or young pigeons. Now under the law, a woman who gave birth to a son was ceremonially unclean for 40 days.

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Leviticus chapter 12 says if it's a girl that is born, it's 80 days.

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It doesn't mean they're in sin, they're just in ceremonially unclean. So after that period of time was over, they were to go to the temple or the tabernacle if they were still in the wilderness, and they were to offer a yearling lamb or a dove or a pigeon.

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If they were poor, they could offer two doves or pigeons.

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So we see here this indication in verse 24 that Mary and Joseph were poor, or they would have brought a lamb.

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Now, what I want to point out to you is that Mary and Joseph were righteous people.

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Listen. And they recognized their unrighteousness. If they had not recognized their unrighteousness, they would not have gone to the temple with the turtledoves.

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And notice this refrain. It's mentioned five times in 20 verses.

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In verse 22, now in the days of her purification, according to the law, verse 23, as it is written in the law, verse 24, what is said in the law of the

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Lord, verse 27, to do for him according to the custom of the law, verse 39.

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So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord. Now, what's the point?

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The law couldn't fulfill righteousness. You could sacrifice a lamb seven days a week, 365 days a year, and that lamb would not satisfy the wrath of God.

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It was pointing to a greater lamb. This baby is the one who fulfilled the righteousness of the law and the word of the

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Lord. And we know that he continued in that ministry for his 33 years on his life on earth.

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And see, what we need to be thinking about at this point is this. How can someone, please follow my line of thinking here, how can someone recognize the one who would fulfill all righteousness if in their heart they had yet to see their own unrighteousness and their need for God's righteousness?

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See, we can go, we can go deeper and deeper into this.

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For example, does someone's lack of recognition of Christ or their lack of appreciation or depth of appreciation of the significance of Christmas reveal that their heart has yet to truly see its own unrighteousness?

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You see, you might think about this past week in your daily devotions or your daily activities or even this morning as we were singing these beautiful songs about the birth of Jesus, do we recognize him truly as the only one that is righteous?

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Are we in some way hanging on to our own righteousness?

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If someone is struggling to recognize him, part of the answer why is because they don't fully comprehend their own unrighteousness.

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And see, this encounter with Jesus, even right now at this very moment, should reveal our heart because every day people reject

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Jesus not only just for salvation, but professing believers that go to church reject

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Jesus. What better time of the year to allow by God's grace

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Jesus to impact our hearts and to go to the Lord in prayer and recognize he is the only one that can fulfill all righteousness.

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An encounter with Jesus by someone with a humble heart brings comfort to those who know that their hearts are prone to wander.

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That's why Jesus started the Sermon on the Mount with that wonderful, blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.

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And understand the word mourn there, the context has nothing to do with the loss of a loved one.

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It has everything to do with a person recognizing their own unrighteousness and their need for the righteousness that only

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God can provide. Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.

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So how can Christmas more fully impact our relationship with God or how we view

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Jesus Christ this Christmas? Number one, by recognizing the one that fulfilled God's righteousness.

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And number two, by embracing the only one who brings God's deliverance.

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Now, Christmas can be more meaningful this year. And it can impact us as far as our relationship with God by embracing the only one who brings

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God's deliverance. Verse 25. Verse 25,

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Simeon had been waiting all these years for what? You notice what it says?

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It says the consolation of Israel. Now, this phrase comes from the prophet

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Isaiah. And God willing, we might get to the prophet Isaiah depending on how the Lord leads, right?

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Sometime in spring. But then we got Easter. So we'll see about that, right?

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But it comes from Isaiah 40 and primarily from Isaiah 40, verse 1. And it says,

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Comfort, yes, comfort my people, says your God. Speak comfort to Jerusalem and cry out to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, for she has received from the

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Lord's hand double for all her sins. And the context of Isaiah 40 is the comfort that God would give them, right?

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After their enslavement to Babylon. Because remember, about 10 ,000, after the

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Babylonians invaded Israel and wiped out the southern kingdom and overran

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Jerusalem. And all those people died and the women were in the streets. You read about it in Lamentations.

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Just an unbelievable picture of famine because the Babylonians set a siege around the walls in order to get

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Jerusalem to surrender. And it's looking back to their enslavement to Israel's enslavement in Egypt, their enslavement under the

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Canaanites and the Philistines in the Book of Judges, their enslavement under the

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Assyrians when the ten northern tribes were wiped out, their enslavement under the Babylonians when the two southern tribes, and then they go off.

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And at this time, at the time of Simeon, they're enslaved to Rome.

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It's like God is saying through Simeon, Israel, what is it?

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What is it that you don't get about your slavery? I mean,

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Egypt wasn't enough. The various heathen nations wasn't enough.

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The Assyrians, Babylonians, Medo -Persians, and now the Romans. What is it that you don't get?

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And see, this is the whole kind of message, in a sense, an overview of the

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Old Testament. This, even today, this constant clamoring for exaltation and superiority among the kingdoms of this world.

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What is going on? It's a different kind of slavery. A slavery that God, in His matchless grace, keeps trying to get

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His people to understand. And it's this, our enslavement to the kingdom of self.

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Why is Jesus called the King of Kings? To remind us, Lord of Lords, to remind us we're not it anymore if we're truly born again.

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Look at verse 30. My eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared before the face of all nations, and a light to bring revelation to the

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Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel. See, Jesus would function as a deliverer, not just to the

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Israelites, but to all people, right? Like Romans 117. I'm not ashamed of the gospel because it is a power of God unto salvation to the

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Jew first and also to the Greek, to us. Now, I just need to move along here with a couple of things.

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How can we delight in Christ, who alone brings satisfaction when our heart has yet to thirst and allow

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Christ's sword to pierce our hearts and be impacted by Him this Christmas?

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Beloved, if we're going to get ahold of the sword of the Spirit, there's a couple of things that we can pray for.

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I put them in your notes. And, of course, you can pray for other things. But in order to have

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Christmas impact our hearts more fully, would you think about praying a couple of these things?

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Number one, you could pray for God to help us recognize our unrighteousness, our sin, and any idols in our hearts.

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We can ask God to help us see our enslavement. You see, the people of that day were enslaved to Rome.

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May God help us to see our enslavement to self.

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Finally, we can ask God to help awaken intense discontent with the things of this world so that we truly hunger and thirst for righteousness.

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You see, when someone is thirsty and they see

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Jesus, you remember the woman at the well? John chapter 4.

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She walks, it's a good half to three -quarters of a mile down the hill from the

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Samaritan city to Jacob's well. And she did it in the middle of the day.

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Hot in Israel, okay? You don't want to be out there. Most people went early in the morning.

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It's like when we lived in Arizona. Nobody from about mid -June to August, September, you didn't go shopping when we go shopping.

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You went at five in the morning because it was 118 degrees and you walked outside the door of the house, you thought you were stepping into an oven.

01:03:37

If you bought ice cream in the summer in Arizona where we lived, it was melted by the time you got to the car.

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So she, because of her embarrassment, everybody knows she's been married three, four times, right? She's living with a guy.

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She goes in the middle of the day and she says, give me some of this water so I'm not thirsty anymore.

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You see, when someone is thirsty and they see Jesus, the impact and the tendency is then to so delight in them that they will tell everyone, and that's what

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Anna did. Verse 38, and coming in that instance, she gave thanks to the

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Lord and she spoke of him to all those who looked for redemption. Can you imagine her running around the temple?

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They've been watching her all these years. Now she said, he's here, he's here. I mean, she's just crazy. What about the shepherds?

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What did they do? They went to Bethlehem. They said, you can't believe there's angels and they announced the

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Savior. I mean, can you imagine being that excited about the gospel? Well, it's when we know we're thirsty that we get that excited about the gospel.

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The sword that pierces. The word come in the flesh.

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Jesus in this passage is clearly portrayed as the object of all of Israel's hopes and dreams.

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Simeon and Anna recognized him and the impact, the impact of that encounter with Jesus lifted them out of the drudgery and the trial of living under Roman rule, and they responded with embracing, delighting, and resting in him.

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And I'm going to tell you, I suggest to you that in the days in which we live, this is something we all need.

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I just read this morning that England is going to more lockdown.

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There's a second strain of the virus, even more infectious than the first.

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When is this going to end? We need the grace of God to work in our hearts like it did in theirs.

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That's what we need. We don't need a vaccine. We need Jesus. We don't need some president to try to solve our problems.

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We need the king of kings. Do you understand that? Yes, we have to vote.

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May our prayer this Christmas be that God will continue to deepen our awareness of why we need

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Jesus in the first place and why we need him so much now. May our prayer this

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Christmas be that God will continue to deepen our awareness of why we needed

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Jesus in the first place and how much we need him now. May we, by God's grace, recognize the one that fulfilled the righteousness and embrace him.

01:06:55

May Jesus truly impact our hearts and lives this

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Christmas. Do you know that sometimes one of the more difficult things to do in the

01:07:06

Christian life is to simply open the word of God and start reading? It's so much easier to click on the

01:07:15

TV or the radio. And why?

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Because it pierces. It, like a sword, it pierces.

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May Jesus truly be the reason for the season in our lives this Christmas. Our country and us need

01:07:42

Jesus, not a vaccine. Purpose this coming week, of all weeks, to be people of the book, that God might impact our relationship with him this

01:07:59

Christmas and that we might rise and not fall because it's one or the other.

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That's one of the tough things about the gospel. If you look again as we close, verse 34,

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Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel.

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May it be us as a church and as believers this Christmas, rising, not falling.

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Amen? Let's pray. Lord God, there's no secrets here.

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You know our hearts. Even those watching, they don't have to be here.

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You're there, and you're here. You're omnipresent, and you're all -knowing.

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It is beyond our ability to comprehend how, that at this very moment, you know every thought and every intent of every person on planet

01:09:13

Earth. You know it right now, at this moment. You know everything.

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Everything. In everybody's life.

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Anywhere in the world. And you know it all in one moment.

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So there's no secrets. We pray God, because we can't, you know, if our heart is somewhat lukewarm towards you, there's nothing that we can do to change that any more than there was anything we could do to save ourself.

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You know many of us this week are gonna be with family or with a friend, and maybe we have a fear about that.

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And what we need is more and more of Jesus. I pray for anyone in our church family,

01:10:20

God, that's gonna get together. Pray for safety this week. Pray God for wisdom and just the things that we need to do, like washing our hands,

01:10:31

God, and being cautious. But I pray most of all, God, that as we get up each morning, that you would help us to open up the bread of life, the living water, and to feed upon that first and foremost,

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God, that Christmas this year might impact us, Father, and that we might rise with Christ and not fall.

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We pray in Jesus' name. Amen? Amen? Well, Merry Christmas.

01:11:00

Would you all stand with me? And let's sing joy to the world together. Joy to the world!

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The Lord is come! Let earth receive her

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King! Let every heart nature sing!

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And heaven and nature sing! And heaven and heaven and nature sing!

01:11:46

Joy to the earth! The Savior reigns!

01:11:53

And their songs employ While fields and floods,

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Rock hills and plains, Repeat the sounding joy,

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Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat, repeat,

01:12:13

The sounding joy! No more let sins and sorrows grow,

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Nor thorns infest the ground, He comes to make

01:12:32

His blessings flow, Far as the curse is found,

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Far as the curse is found, Far as, far as the curse is found,

01:12:48

He rules the world with truth and grace,

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And makes the nations prove The glories of His righteousness,

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And wonders of His love, And wonders of His love,

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And wonders of His love.

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Well, should we shout a Merry Christmas to one another? On three. One, two, three.