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Transcript

Every Day Is Christmas- Minister Max Lucado · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Hi friends, I'm Max Locato. Welcome to Fresh Hope. I'm
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: so glad you joined me for this special series. It's
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: based on my book, Because of Bethlehem. And over the
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  Speaker 1: next four episodes, we're going to take a life-changing trip
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  Speaker 1: to a small village, the birthplace of our Savior, and
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  Speaker 1: the place where it all began. I love Christmas. Let
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  Speaker 1: the sleigh bells ring. Let the carolers sing. The more Santas,
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  Speaker 1: the merrier. The more trees, the better. I love Christmas.
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  Speaker 1: The ho-ho-ho. The rooty-toot-toot. The pa-rum-pa-pum-pum. The silent night in
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  Speaker 1: the sugar plums. I don't complain about the crowded shops.
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  Speaker 1: I don't grumble at the jam-packed grocery store. The flight
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  Speaker 1: is full. The restaurant is packed. Well, it's Christmas. And
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  Speaker 1: I love Christmas. Bring on Scrooge and Cousin Eddie and
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  Speaker 1: the official Red Ryder Carbon Action 200 shot range model
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  Speaker 1: air rifle. You'll shoot your eye out. The tinsel and
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  Speaker 1: the clatter and the waking up to see what was
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  Speaker 1: the matter. Being in his tunes, Macy's balloons, mistletoe kisses,
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  Speaker 1: Santa Claus wishes and favorite dishes. Holiday snows, warm winter
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  Speaker 1: clothes and Rudolph's red nose. I love Christmas. I love
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  Speaker 1: it because somewhere, someone will ask the Christmas questions. What's
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  Speaker 1: the big deal about the baby in the manger? Who
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  Speaker 1: was he? What does his birth have to do with me?
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  Speaker 1: The questioner might be a child looking at a front
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  Speaker 1: yard creche. He may be a soldier stationed far from
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  Speaker 1: home She may be a young mom who, for the
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  Speaker 1: first time, holds a child on Christmas Eve. The Christmas
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  Speaker 1: season prompts questions. I can remember the first time I
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  Speaker 1: asked those questions. I grew up in a small West
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  Speaker 1: Texas town, the son of a mechanic and a nurse,
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  Speaker 1: never poor but certainly not affluent. My dad laid pipeline
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  Speaker 1: in the oil fields and mom worked the 3 to
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  Speaker 1: 11 shift at the hospital. I followed my brother to
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  Speaker 1: elementary school every morning and played neighborhood ball in the afternoons.
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  Speaker 1: Dad was in charge of dinner. I was in charge
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  Speaker 1: of sweeping the floor. And we boys took our baths
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  Speaker 1: by 8 and were in bed by 9 with permission
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  Speaker 1: to do one thing before turning out the lights. We
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  Speaker 1: could read. The chest at the foot of our bed
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  Speaker 1: contained children's books, big books, each with a glossy finish
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  Speaker 1: and bright pictures. The three bears lived in the chest,
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  Speaker 1: so did the big bad wolf and seven dwarfs, and
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  Speaker 1: a monkey with a lunch pail whose name I don't recall.
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  Speaker 1: Somewhere in the chest, beneath the fairy tales, was a
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  Speaker 1: book about baby Jesus. On the cover, was a manger
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  Speaker 1: filled with yellow hay. A star glowed above the stable.
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  Speaker 1: Joseph and a donkey, equally big-eyed, stood nearby. Mary held
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  Speaker 1: a baby in her arms. She looked down at him,
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  Speaker 1: and he looked up at her, and I remember looking
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  Speaker 1: at them both. My dad a man of few words,
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  Speaker 1: had told my brother and me, boys, Christmas is about Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: In one of those bedtime book time moments, somewhere between
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  Speaker 1: the fairy tales and the monkey with the lunch pail,
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  Speaker 1: I thought about what he had said and I began
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  Speaker 1: asking the Christmas questions. And I've been asking them ever since. Oh,
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  Speaker 1: I love the answers that I've found. like this one.
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  Speaker 1: God knows what it is like to be a human.
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  Speaker 1: And when I talk to him about deadlines or long
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  Speaker 1: lines or tough times, he understands he's been there, he's
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  Speaker 1: been here. Because of Bethlehem, I have a friend in heaven.
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  Speaker 1: Because of Bethlehem, I have a Savior in heaven. You see,
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  Speaker 1: Christmas begins what Easter celebrates. The child in the cradle
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  Speaker 1: became the king on the cross. And because he did,
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  Speaker 1: there are no marks on my record. Just grace. He offered,
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  Speaker 1: come in and I'll clean you up. And it's not
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  Speaker 1: my grip on him that matters, but his grip on
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  Speaker 1: me and his grip is sure. So is his presence
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  Speaker 1: in my life. God is always near us, always for us.
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  Speaker 1: always in us. We may forget him, but he will
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  Speaker 1: never forget us. We are forever on his mind and
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  Speaker 1: in his plans. He called himself Emmanuel, which, as Matthew 1.23 explains,
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  Speaker 1: means God with us, not just God made us, not
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  Speaker 1: just God thinks of us, not just God above us,
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  Speaker 1: but God with us. John 1.14 says, The Word became
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  Speaker 1: flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus entered our world, not
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  Speaker 1: like a human, but as a human to a human,
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  Speaker 1: a mother named Mary. On a starlit night in the
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  Speaker 1: company of sheep, cattle, and a bewildered Joseph, Mary's eyes
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  Speaker 1: fell upon the face of of her just born son.
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  Speaker 1: She was bone weary, surely, in pain, likely, ready to
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  Speaker 1: place her head on the straw and sleep the rest
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  Speaker 1: of the night away, probably. But first, Mary had to
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  Speaker 1: see this face, his face, to wipe the moisture from
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  Speaker 1: his mouth and feel the shape Well, some years ago
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  Speaker 1: I wrote a chapter titled, 25 Questions for Mary, in
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  Speaker 1: which I imagined the ponderings that young Mary had about Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: The idea captured the imagination of an elementary school teacher,
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  Speaker 1: She asked her students to make a list of questions
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  Speaker 1: that they would like to ask young Mary. Here are
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  Speaker 1: some of their responses. Could you believe that you were
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  Speaker 1: pregnant for the whole world? Were you scared of not
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  Speaker 1: doing a good job? What was Jesus' first word as
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  Speaker 1: a baby? Was he beautiful? Did he ever get sick?
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  Speaker 1: Did Jesus ever misbehave? Was Jesus born with hair? What
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  Speaker 1: was his favorite food? Did you feel any holier? Did
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  Speaker 1: he ever have a pet? Well, these are legitimate questions.
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  Speaker 1: And the fact that we can ask them raises a
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  Speaker 1: greater one. Why such a journey? Why did God go
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  Speaker 1: so far? I believe that the primary reason is this.
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  Speaker 1: He wants you to know that He gets you. He
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  Speaker 1: understands how you feel and has faced what you face.
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  Speaker 1: As Hebrews 4 verses 15 and 16 says, Jesus is
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  Speaker 1: not out of touch with our reality. He's been through
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  Speaker 1: weakness and testing, experienced it all, all but the sin. So,
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  Speaker 1: Let's walk right up to him and get what he
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  Speaker 1: is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.
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  Speaker 1: Since you know he understands, you can boldly approach his throne.
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  Speaker 1: Because of Bethlehem, you can answer these crucial questions. Does
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  Speaker 1: God care if I'm sad? Well, look at Jesus weeping
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  Speaker 1: outside the tomb of his dear friend Lazarus. Does God
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  Speaker 1: care when I'm afraid? Watch Jesus stand by the disciples
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  Speaker 1: in the boat while they fear the storm. Does God
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  Speaker 1: care when I'm ignored or rejected? Well, just see Jesus
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  Speaker 1: stand up for the adulterous woman when no one else would.
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  Speaker 1: Hebrews 1 verse 3 says, Jesus radiates God's own glory
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  Speaker 1: and experiences the very character of God. Jesus himself stated
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  Speaker 1: in John 14 9, anyone who has seen me has
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  Speaker 1: seen the Father. In other words, anyone who has seen
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  Speaker 1: me weep has seen the Father weep. Anyone who has
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  Speaker 1: seen me laugh has seen the Father laugh. Anyone who
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  Speaker 1: has seen me determined has seen the Father determined. Would
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  Speaker 1: you like to see God? Well, take a look at Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: You see, everything changes when we see the face of God.
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  Speaker 1: He came with tears too, and he knows the burden
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  Speaker 1: of a broken heart. He knows the sorrow that this
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  Speaker 1: life can bring. Now, he could have come as a
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  Speaker 1: shining light or a voice in the clouds, but he
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  Speaker 1: came as a person. Does God understand you? Well, find
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  Speaker 1: the answer in Bethlehem. Gaze where Mary gazed. Look into
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  Speaker 1: God's face and be assured. If the king was willing
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  Speaker 1: to enter the world of animals and shepherds and swaddling clothes,
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  Speaker 1: Don't you think He's willing to enter yours? Bethlehem was
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  Speaker 1: just the beginning. Jesus has promised a repeat performance. Bethlehem,
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  Speaker 1: Act 2. No silent night this time, however. The skies
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  Speaker 1: will open, trumpets will blast, and a new kingdom will begin.
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  Speaker 1: He will empty the tombs and melt the winter of death.
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  Speaker 1: He will press His thumb against the cheek of humanity
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  Speaker 1: and and wipe away all tears. Be gone sorrow and
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  Speaker 1: sickness and wheelchairs and cancer. Enough of you screams of
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  Speaker 1: fear and nights of horror. Death, you die. Life, you reign.
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  Speaker 1: The manger dares us to believe that the best is
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  Speaker 1: yet to be, and it could all begin today. But
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  Speaker 1: if it doesn't, there is a reason. No day is
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  Speaker 1: accidental or incidental. No acts are random or wasted. Look
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  Speaker 1: at the Bethlehem birth. A king ordered a census. Joseph
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  Speaker 1: was forced to travel. Mary, as round as a ladybug,
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  Speaker 1: bounced on a donkey's back. The hotel was full. The
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  Speaker 1: hour was late. The event was one big hassle. Yet
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  Speaker 1: out of the hassle, hope was born. It still is. Now,
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  Speaker 1: I don't like hassles, but I love Christmas because it
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  Speaker 1: reminds us of the promise in Romans 8, 28, God
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  Speaker 1: causes everything to work together for the good of those
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  Speaker 1: who love God. The heart-shaping promises of Christmas. Long after
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  Speaker 1: the guests have left and the carolers have gone home
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  Speaker 1: and the lights have come down, These promises endure. Perhaps
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  Speaker 1: you could use some Christmas this Christmas. Let's do what
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  Speaker 1: I did as a six-year-old, red-headed, flat-topped, freckled-faced boy. Let's
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  Speaker 1: turn on the lamp, curl up in a comfortable spot,
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  Speaker 1: and look into the odd, wonderful story of Bethlehem. May
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  Speaker 1: you find what I have found, a lifetime of hope.
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  Speaker 1: I hope you'll join us again, my friend, as we
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  Speaker 1: continue to explore the promise of Christ. Because of Bethlehem,
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  Speaker 1: every day is Christmas and every heart is a manger.
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  Speaker 2: I'll be all right.
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  Speaker 1: You don't have to stay. If you've already chosen, I
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  Speaker 1: won't stand in your way.
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  Speaker 2: I can feel it in your distance In the way
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  Speaker 2: you barely speak Like your heart is somewhere else now
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  Speaker 2: Somewhere I can't reach I was trying just to hold
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  Speaker 2: us While you slowly slipped away Now I'm left with
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  Speaker 2: all the silence You didn't want to say Maybe I
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  Speaker 2: just held on To something.
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  Speaker 1: Already gone I'll be fine, you can leave You.
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  Speaker 3: Don't owe me anything If your heart is found away.
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  Speaker 4: Out of what we used to be I'll be fine,
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  Speaker 4: don't look back I'll survive this empty space Not tonight,
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  Speaker 4: maybe not soon.
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  Speaker 2: Be okay we don't need to fake the feeling i
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  Speaker 2: can see it in your eyes there's no reason left
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  Speaker 2: for staying when.
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  Speaker 3: The love already.
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  Speaker 2: Died through the quiet in your.
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  Speaker 3: I can hear your choice.
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  Speaker 4: I'll be fine.
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  Speaker 3: You can leave.
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  Speaker 4: You don't owe me anything. If your heart has found
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  Speaker 4: a way.
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  Speaker 2: Out of what.
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  Speaker 1: We used to be. I'll be fine.
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  Speaker 3: Don't look back.
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  Speaker 4: I'll survive this empty space. Not tonight.
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  Speaker 2: Maybe not soon. But I'll learn to be okay.
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  Speaker 1: I don't need a reason why. I can see it
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  Speaker 1: in goodbye.
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  Speaker 4: And it breaks me it does but i won't ask
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  Speaker 4: you to stay.
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  Speaker 3: I'll be fine you can't leave you don't owe me
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  Speaker 3: anything if your.
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  Speaker 4: Heart is found away I'll be fine, don't look back I'll.
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  Speaker 3: Survive this empty space Not tonight, maybe not soon But
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  Speaker 3: I'll learn to be.
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  Speaker 2: Okay I'll
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  Speaker 1: Be alright