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The Core of Christmas [Morning Devo] · The BLAZE (Bible Study)

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Speaker 1: Good morning, Good morning family, God bless you. Welcome back
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Speaker 1: to the morning Devo. She Bro Sam Lopez aka DJ
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Speaker 1: sam Rock so Win is with a z dot org
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Speaker 1: live that so Win is with a z dot org
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Speaker 1: streaming on the YouTube page which is simply called DJ
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Speaker 1: sam Rock and streaming on some metal platforms and some
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Speaker 1: other platforms around the Internet that allow the stream to
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Speaker 1: go through.
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Speaker 2: Thank you to all the groups.
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Speaker 1: That allow me to share this out on your social
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Speaker 1: media platforms with your community.
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Speaker 2: I don't take that lightly. I know it's it's.
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Speaker 1: Hard to trust other ministries when they come along your
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Speaker 1: page with the word of God or whatever whatever they're
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Speaker 1: promoting or whatever they're doing. But you trust the ministry
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Speaker 1: of Soul Winners and can celebrated networks. So thank you
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Speaker 1: so much for allowing me to be on your network
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Speaker 1: and in your.
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Speaker 2: Communities as well. God is faithful, He's good to his word.
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Speaker 1: Amen, And you know there's no surprise by we're staying connected.
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Speaker 2: Amen.
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Speaker 1: Today I want to get into the core of Christmas,
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Speaker 1: the core of Christmas. What's the main core idea behind
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Speaker 1: the traditional Christian celebration of Christmas?
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Speaker 2: Amen?
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Speaker 1: Before we look at everything that's that and everything that's this.
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Speaker 1: Let's look at what the scripture calls us to look
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Speaker 1: at concerning the birth of our Lord and our Savior,
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Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. So what I wrote down here is while
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Speaker 1: some elements of Christmas celebration, such as celebrations, such as
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Speaker 1: the timing and certain customs, may have been influenced by
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Speaker 1: pre existing, pre existing pagan festivals, the core of Christmas
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Speaker 1: is the celebration.
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Speaker 2: Of the birth of Jesus Christ.
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Speaker 1: You might think, oh, everybody knows that you're wrong. Everybody
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Speaker 1: doesn't know that. They think we're celebrating some pagan idea
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Speaker 1: or some Christmas tree or some other festivities that are
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Speaker 1: influenced by pre existing pagan festivals. After admit it, you're Christian,
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Speaker 1: you have to admit that there's some influences that we
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Speaker 1: do and our homes and our churches that are influenced
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Speaker 1: by pre existing pagan festivals. But agreed collagals shot the
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Speaker 1: number two versus sixteen and seventeen. It brings us back
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Speaker 1: to the core of Christmas. That's what we're going to
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Speaker 1: talk about today.
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Speaker 2: In the morning.
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Speaker 1: Devo is Joanne, I see you, Good morning, God blessed you.
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Speaker 1: Welcome back to the morning Devo, my sister, my friend. Amen,
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Speaker 1: as we are in anticipation of celebrating Christmas soon. A
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Speaker 1: man is a good time for people, it's a bad
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Speaker 1: time for people. A lot of people have lost loved
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Speaker 1: ones this year. A lot of things have been happening
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Speaker 1: with finances, with relationships at churches. Some churches are closing,
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Speaker 1: some churches are struggling financially as well.
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Speaker 2: Amen.
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Speaker 1: And we're all in this together as the body of Christ.
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Speaker 1: So we'd be mindful that this is not all festivities
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Speaker 1: for every single person, but this is a time to
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Speaker 1: reflect such a trying to focus on the core of Christmas. Amen,
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Speaker 1: the core of Christmas today in the morning, Devo. So
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Speaker 1: you have any questions, comments, concerns, or any prayer requests,
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Speaker 1: please don't hesitate to leave it on a live chat.
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Speaker 1: And that's what we're here for. If you're visiting over
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Speaker 1: at live that someone is with a zea Org. Thank
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Speaker 1: you so much for coming through there. I see the
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Speaker 1: numbers of people that come through there as well.
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Speaker 2: Amen.
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Speaker 1: If you haven't registered or signed up for that website,
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Speaker 1: I suggest you do taste like fifteen seconds, your name,
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Speaker 1: your email address, Amen, and then you're in. And then
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Speaker 1: you'll get notifications when we go live over there as well.
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Speaker 1: It has a live interactive Bible, it has a live chat,
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Speaker 1: it has a place where you could subscribe to my podcast,
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Speaker 1: a place where you could subscribe to my YouTube page,
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Speaker 1: and it.
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Speaker 2: Has so much more on that page. And it's kind
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Speaker 2: of like distraction free.
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Speaker 1: It's not like social media that you'll get these pop
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Speaker 1: ups during the morning devo and you get all this
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Speaker 1: other distracting things. It's no distractions over there, one hundred
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Speaker 1: percent distraction free. That's why I built that website at
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Speaker 1: live that someone is with a Zea Org for those
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Speaker 1: who want to stay more focused on the Word of
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Speaker 1: God on these morning DeVos.
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Speaker 2: Just putting it out there. Amen, that's a place for
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Speaker 2: you as well. Over there.
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Speaker 1: Make sure you visit our sponsors that so wins with
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Speaker 1: a Zea Org, and make sure you visit my donate page.
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Speaker 1: Thet donate page is not just a button to give
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Speaker 1: money donate page. The donate page shows you everything and
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Speaker 1: that we're trying to do in the ministry according to.
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Speaker 2: How God called us to run this ministry and to
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Speaker 2: be you know, over this ministry.
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Speaker 1: So it's a lot more than just live streaming and
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Speaker 1: radio's a lot more if you look at that page and.
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Speaker 2: You know when you have time to go ahead and
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Speaker 2: look at it. So let's pray first.
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Speaker 1: After we pray, we share this out for like sixty seconds,
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Speaker 1: and when we come back on the other side of
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Speaker 1: those sixty seconds, we'll get right into the core message
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Speaker 1: of Christmas. When we read Collajans chot the number two
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Speaker 1: versus sixteen and seventeen. You ready, I'm ready. God, bless
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Speaker 1: you so Father, Thank you so much for the core
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Speaker 1: message of Christmas, your birth. Thank you, Lord God, that
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Speaker 1: we're not going to deviate and create things that don't
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Speaker 1: need to be created. We're not going to be in
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Speaker 1: pagan festivals. We're not going to be doing this, that
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Speaker 1: and the third that are dishonoring to you. We want
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Speaker 1: to honor, Thank you, Lord God.
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Speaker 2: We want to respect your word.
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Speaker 1: We know that your prophecies and your blessings and your
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Speaker 1: promises in your word.
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Speaker 2: Are all yea and amen.
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Speaker 1: I thank you for the hedge of protection over your children,
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Speaker 1: over our families, over our household, over our finances. So
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Speaker 1: I speak that over every single person on the other
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Speaker 1: side of the screen and on the other side of
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Speaker 1: this mic, the power of God's protection over you, the
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Speaker 1: power of God's protection over me and myself, my family,
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Speaker 1: my wife, our children, on both sides of our family.
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Speaker 1: Treat that you would guide, guard and protect us all
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Speaker 1: by your power, by your might, by your glory, by
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Speaker 1: your grace, by your mercy, and you would set forth
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Speaker 1: arquen angels and dispatch them to our current places, a
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Speaker 1: current situation right now. In Jesus Holy Name, I pray
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Speaker 1: that by faith, knowing that you are the core of Christmas,
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Speaker 1: that we can't have Christmas without Christ and the Birth.
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Speaker 1: So as we read your word, Lord God, illuminate that
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Speaker 1: word to our hearts, in our minds, holy spirits continue
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Speaker 1: to speak through me and through us as we are
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Speaker 1: in perfect union with.
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Speaker 2: The Lord Jesus.
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Speaker 1: I thank you for every single person right now that's
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Speaker 1: with us, and every single person that will listen or
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Speaker 1: watch later on. In Jesus Holy Name, I praise by
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Speaker 1: faith and those who agree we.
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Speaker 2: Say amen to the amen. Amen. So let's go for it.
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Speaker 2: Help me share this out sixty seconds.
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Speaker 1: When we come back, we'll get right into the core
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Speaker 1: of Christmas today on the morning.
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Speaker 2: Devil, I'll be right back.
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Speaker 1: I try to share as much as I can and
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Speaker 1: during that time, and it's like, oh D that you
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Speaker 1: got to share that out to all those people.
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Speaker 2: Amen. But I'm so faithful.
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Speaker 1: I'm to share because I know that this word is
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Speaker 1: faithful to those groups as well. And again, thank you
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Speaker 1: so much for allowing me to share all your group pages.
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Speaker 1: I'm being honored by that, humbled by that, and that
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Speaker 1: you trust the ministry when we push the word of
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Speaker 1: God forward, the Gospel message forward, Amen, it's for the
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Speaker 1: benefit of all those who choose right to listen to
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Speaker 1: the word of God.
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Speaker 2: Right.
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Speaker 1: And as a believer, we all know that it's going
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Speaker 1: to benefit all those whosoever who call upon name of the.
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Speaker 2: Lord to be saved. Amen.
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Speaker 1: And that's the good news of the Gospel that Jesus Christ.
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Speaker 1: Amen is Lord, He's Savior, He's King, He's the Prince
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Speaker 1: of Peace, wonderful counselor Almighty God. Right, He's a provider.
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Speaker 1: He provides every single thing that we need. He sees
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Speaker 1: it all and provides for every single one of those
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Speaker 1: needs according to His riches and glory through Christ Jesus.
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Speaker 1: Nothing else like it c out his word, and we
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Speaker 1: could trust him. He's the most trustworthy person in the universe,
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Speaker 1: right of all creation. He's the creator of all creation man.
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Speaker 1: So we got the core of Christmas is the Lord Jesus.
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Speaker 2: Amen.
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Speaker 1: So I'm gonna put this on the screen for those
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Speaker 1: who are listening on the radio. Thank you so much
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Speaker 1: for coming through. I see the numbers. They're so encouraging. Amen,
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Speaker 1: before twenty twenty five. From the time of this recording,
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Speaker 1: we're in twenty twenty four. I believe there's more increased
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Speaker 1: to come, and I believe there's going to be more
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Speaker 1: people that go to join the network.
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Speaker 2: In twenty twenty five.
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Speaker 1: They get to cash the vision and they got to
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Speaker 1: continue to move forward with the gospel message according to
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Speaker 1: how God is moving them in their ministries, and we're
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Speaker 1: good to unite. I sense it, Amen, If God allows
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Speaker 1: me to live another year, Amen, I sense that strongly
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Speaker 1: that God's going to send the right people to connect
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Speaker 1: with the ministry of someone's inc and celebrated network.
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Speaker 2: I just know it. God is faithful to his word
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Speaker 2: and his promise. Amen. So let's put this on the
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Speaker 2: screen for those who are just listening. No worries. I'm
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Speaker 2: going to read a word for word because I.
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Speaker 1: Know you're just listening because you might be driving, you
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Speaker 1: might be working out, getting ready for work, getting ready
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Speaker 1: for whatever.
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Speaker 2: You have to do today. Amen. So thank you so
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Speaker 2: much for giving me your listening. Ears. I'm going to
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Speaker 2: read a word for word as we see see on
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Speaker 2: the screen. Amen. Let me get this ready over here.
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Speaker 2: There you go. So the core of Christmas, Amen, And
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Speaker 2: it's not what you might be thinking. You might be thinking.
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Speaker 2: The core of Christmas is gift giving.
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Speaker 1: Gift giving is cool, Amen, But if you're like me,
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Speaker 1: I'm like I don't have enough financial gain to give
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Speaker 1: everybody and every kid in my family a present.
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Speaker 2: It's just that simple. Amen.
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Speaker 1: I know a lot of people won't admit that, especially
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Speaker 1: evangelists on these live streams and pastors and churches, they
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Speaker 1: won't admit that they're struggling in that area. I'll admit
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Speaker 1: it because I'm truthful to the core, Amen, And because
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Speaker 1: I really honor the ministry when finance is going to
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Speaker 1: the ministry and use that for the ministry.
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Speaker 2: Amen, I don't mix it too.
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Speaker 1: So there's no personal gain on my end, But the
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Speaker 1: ministry will prosper, the ministry will succeed, and as that
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Speaker 1: goes forward, and God's word gets pushed out to the masses.
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Speaker 1: I believe He's going to take care of our needs
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Speaker 1: here and my family as well, and not only going
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Speaker 1: to be on Christmas, is going to be during other
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Speaker 1: times that God is needed throughout the year, right, Amen,
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Speaker 1: Colligans Chapter number two Versus sixteen and seventeen, the Bible says, therefore,
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Speaker 1: let no one judge you in regard to food and drink,
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Speaker 1: or in regard to the observance of a festival, or
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Speaker 1: a new moon or a Sabbath day. Such things are
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Speaker 1: only a shadow of what is to come, and they
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Speaker 1: have only symbolic value.
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Speaker 2: See that.
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Speaker 1: But the substance, the reality of what is foreshadow belongs
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Speaker 1: to Christ. In other words, don't let them judge you
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Speaker 1: as a Christian because you celebrate Christmas. They're gonna say,
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Speaker 1: you know, there's pagan festival ritualistic things in your Christian
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Speaker 1: Christmas celebrations, And they're right, let's admit it. As Christians,
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Speaker 1: we adopted some things that shouldn't be there, and then
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Speaker 1: we made it a tradition, and it's been so long
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Speaker 1: that nobody wants to go against it.
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Speaker 2: Amen, I see it. They see it in the word.
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Speaker 1: Whoever is continually adding more and more and more to
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Speaker 1: the crystal celebration at church. But for some reason, no
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Speaker 1: one wants to move on it because we're going to
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Speaker 1: go against our traditions, and whoever goes against traditions is
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Speaker 1: pretty much this is going.
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Speaker 2: To be outcastic.
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Speaker 1: But when you get to the Word of God, we're
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Speaker 1: not going to be judged in regard of the food
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Speaker 1: or drink, or regard to the deservance of a festival,
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Speaker 1: a new moon, a celebration of Sabbath Day, whatever you
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Speaker 1: want to call it. Such things are only a shadow
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Speaker 1: of what is to come. Jesus came in the form
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Speaker 1: of a baby boy, and then he grew into a
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Speaker 1: form of a man. He lived thirty three and a
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Speaker 1: half years on this earth, died on the cross willingly amen,
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Speaker 1: and rose again on the third day. Whatever you want
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Speaker 1: to celebrate about that, go ahead and celebrate it, and
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Speaker 1: don't worry about what people think. Aymen, you want to
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Speaker 1: take communion every single day of your life, you can
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Speaker 1: because people can't judge you in regard of food and drink.
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Speaker 1: You want to take the wine, you want to take
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Speaker 1: the bread, and that represents his blood and his body broken.
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Speaker 2: Amen.
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Speaker 1: Blood spuilt, body broken, come on or body broken and
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Speaker 1: blood spilt in that order. We could do that. We
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Speaker 1: could have these deservances, We could have these celebrations. We
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Speaker 1: can have these festivals.
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Speaker 2: Or a new moon.
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Speaker 1: You have to study what a new moon is because
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Speaker 1: it's talking to the culture at the time.
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Speaker 2: Amen.
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Speaker 1: Or Sabbath Day, which is the Lord's Day, the day
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Speaker 1: of rest. Such things are only a shadow, and once
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Speaker 1: we remember it's only a shadow of things to come,
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Speaker 1: they will put everything in its proper perspective, including the core.
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Speaker 2: Message of Christmas.
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Speaker 1: I know this is helping somebody because you might be saying, well,
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Speaker 1: you know, we've been doing this so long, there's no
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Speaker 1: way to change it. No, we don't have to change
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Speaker 1: anything that the Word has already deemed to be true.
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Speaker 1: But if we have a tradition that continues on and
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Speaker 1: on and on and on in the churches, it's going
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Speaker 1: to continue, right.
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Speaker 2: Got to deal with that.
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Speaker 1: I don't think it has anything to do with our salvation,
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Speaker 1: but we need to line things up more correctly with
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Speaker 1: what the Word of God says. I try to be thematic.
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Speaker 1: I did it early in this ministry when I started
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Speaker 1: broadcasting and doing live streams. I try to be thematic,
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Speaker 1: you know, try to do Easter messages, Christmas messages, New
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Speaker 1: Year's message like I try to do everything according to
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Speaker 1: the calendar, to the calendar that's hung up on my
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Speaker 1: wall in my studio.
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Speaker 2: Then I realized, who's doing that? Is that a traditional thing? Yes?
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Speaker 1: When I heard from Holy Spirit, he never told me
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Speaker 1: to do those things thematically a man. And I know
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Speaker 1: some preachers that they use a yearly planner a man
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Speaker 1: to plan out their messages throughout the year. You know
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Speaker 1: whom I have judge they want to do that. They
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Speaker 1: could do that, Amen, But it becomes a tradition, it
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Speaker 1: becomes things that are are if you're not understanding what
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Speaker 1: the scripture just said, there are.
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Speaker 2: Shadows of things to come.
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Speaker 1: We don't have to preach thematically all through the year,
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Speaker 1: every year.
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Speaker 2: For the rest of our lives. Amen.
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Speaker 1: But we just need to know what the Word of
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Speaker 1: God is speaking. We need to know what Holy Spirit
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Speaker 1: is speaking and what he's saying. We need to have
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Speaker 1: a listening ear a man to move accordingly because the
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Speaker 1: calendar that we have in our homes is not lining
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Speaker 1: up with the calendar of God. I can tell you
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Speaker 1: that a man's not lining up. We have these days
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Speaker 1: and times that we are created beings. God is creative overcreation.
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Speaker 1: He sits outside of time. He's an eternal being. He's
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Speaker 1: an eternal God. He doesn't look at a calendar and say, well,
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Speaker 1: it's Monday, so I guess I have to do this.
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Speaker 2: That and the third. No, you know, people are going
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Speaker 2: to work today and either some people are happy about that.
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Speaker 2: Some people are not happy about that. If you're on the.
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Speaker 1: East coast right now in the Northeast, it is freezing
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Speaker 1: brick outside, so whoever has to go out there, they're
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Speaker 1: not happy about that.
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Speaker 2: Some people love this type of weather.
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Speaker 1: I'm not a fan, but I don't have to get
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Speaker 1: out there this early in the morning, Thank you Jesus.
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Speaker 1: I'm still indoors, and I just pray for those who
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Speaker 1: have to go outdoors, amen, and be out there. Pray safety,
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Speaker 1: travel and mercies and all that. But let's be grateful
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Speaker 1: for what we have now. Some people might call that,
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Speaker 1: you know, some kind of ritual. It's a ritual that
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Speaker 1: you have to get up right, go to work, support
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Speaker 1: your family and have do an honest, humble living.
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Speaker 2: That's all right.
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Speaker 1: Nobody could judge you for that, Amen, neither can they
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Speaker 1: judge us for the Christmas celebration because it's just a
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Speaker 1: foreshadow of things to come, just just already came though,
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Speaker 1: So that's actually something that a finished work. Jesus already came,
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Speaker 1: was born on this earth through a virgin birth, virgin
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Speaker 1: marry a man, holy spirit impregnated the baby Jesus. Amen
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Speaker 1: pregnated excuse me, it's pregnated Mary and she gave birth
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Speaker 1: to the baby Jesus, the Savior of the world, before
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Speaker 1: she got with Joseph.
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Speaker 2: Right. So this is an incredible God story.
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Speaker 1: It's not a man made, divisive type story that will
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Speaker 1: only benefit us. Like why would us creating a god
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Speaker 1: of having an earth benefit man? Think about it because
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Speaker 1: some people say, well, you know your Bible is created
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Speaker 1: by man. Well, of course, God us men to write
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Speaker 1: down the scriptures.
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Speaker 2: Why should that be a problem. As a matter of fact,
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Speaker 2: everything I've ever read has been created by man or woman.
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Speaker 2: What about you?
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Speaker 1: What are you reading that has been created by robots
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Speaker 1: or created by aliens? If you have some writings like that,
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Speaker 1: just let me know, Amen, I'll read it too. But
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Speaker 1: God is sovereign over those aliens and over all those
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Speaker 1: other things as well, Brother Maurice, I see you. Good morning,
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Speaker 1: my brother, God bless you, and good morning. Blessings to
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Speaker 1: your family and you and the most joyous holiday season.
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Speaker 2: Amen. Amen.
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Speaker 1: I hope you enjoy where you're doing and what you're at.
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Speaker 1: Where you're at, Amen, and I pray God's peace over
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Speaker 1: your heart and mind and life and body, physically, emotionally
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Speaker 1: and spiritually. In Jesus Holy Name, thank you so much
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Speaker 1: for connecting with us here in the morning Devo. My
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Speaker 1: bro sister Joanne says, I actually to pray for my
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Speaker 1: sister Melody, and not only her, my husband. You woke
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Speaker 1: up this morning, he's not feeling good. I actually to
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Speaker 1: pray for them this year. It's going to be a
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Speaker 1: hard year for my sister because of her son passing
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Speaker 1: away and not having them here. Yeah, during the season,
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Speaker 1: it's not easy for everyone. A men, loved ones are
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Speaker 1: passing away, people are getting older and health issues and
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Speaker 1: all that's happening. Let's be mindful of that. Let's come
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Speaker 1: to people's side and comfort them. Hey man, let's not
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Speaker 1: bypass just because the traditions.
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Speaker 2: Oh, I have to do this.
18:36
Speaker 1: So I can't go on to the best side of
18:38
Speaker 1: somebody in the hospital. I can't visit this person. I
18:41
Speaker 1: can't do this. I can't because I have to do
18:43
Speaker 1: this traditional things. Be careful with that man. You want
18:46
Speaker 1: to go and Christmas carol throughout the town and do that,
18:49
Speaker 1: but be mindful of the people who need you indoors
18:54
Speaker 1: with them, to pray for them, to be by the side,
18:56
Speaker 1: to listen to their heart a man, and to grieve
18:58
Speaker 1: with those who are grieving, Laugh with those who are laughing,
19:01
Speaker 1: cry with those who are crying. It's the time of
19:02
Speaker 1: peace and it's time of war. This is the time
19:04
Speaker 1: for everything under the sun. There's nothing new under the heavens,
19:07
Speaker 1: the Bible says. So let's be those people that have
19:10
Speaker 1: the core message of the Gospel and bring the core
19:13
Speaker 1: message of Christmas to those who are in need of love, grace, mercy. Right,
19:17
Speaker 1: we should be the people that are being helped by
19:20
Speaker 1: the comfort ourselves, and when we're comforted, we should be
19:23
Speaker 1: able to comfort others.
19:24
Speaker 2: Amen.
19:25
Speaker 1: Amen, Sister joways say, he didn't have no health issues
19:27
Speaker 1: or nothing was wrong with him. He was healthy. He
19:30
Speaker 1: was only thirty seven years old. Yeah, it's incredible how
19:33
Speaker 1: those things happen. And I'm unexplainable. Right when you think
19:37
Speaker 1: about it, be like why and then maybe sometimes God
19:40
Speaker 1: will give us the why so why that happened? Other
19:43
Speaker 1: times he doesn't. We just need to trust God. God
19:46
Speaker 1: knows what's best. That it might not seem like the
19:49
Speaker 1: right thing to say, but it's the truth that God
19:51
Speaker 1: knows everything. He knows what's going on. I always think
19:55
Speaker 1: of it like this. If God allows tragedy in my life,
19:57
Speaker 1: it's for a greater purpose that I don't understand, right,
20:02
Speaker 1: I just don't understand. I'm human, finite being. God is
20:06
Speaker 1: an infinite being, and his ways are not like our ways,
20:09
Speaker 1: and his thoughts are not like our thoughts. So I'm
20:13
Speaker 1: sorry to hear that he was only thirty seven, very young.
20:16
Speaker 1: I'm not pray for you and your family continuously knowing
20:18
Speaker 1: that God will send you comfort, will send you love,
20:21
Speaker 1: will encourage you to move on and move up to
20:24
Speaker 1: levels of love for your family that people will think
20:27
Speaker 1: that there is no way. God will make a way
20:30
Speaker 1: for you to love on your family members, amen, and
20:33
Speaker 1: to have a great encounter with the Lord on a
20:35
Speaker 1: day to day basis. Not only in Christmas seasons, not
20:38
Speaker 1: only in the Eastern season, not only in the holidays,
20:41
Speaker 1: but every day of your life. We should have this
20:43
Speaker 1: heart of celebration, every single day for what Jesus has
20:46
Speaker 1: done for us yesterday, what he promised to do for
20:48
Speaker 1: us in the future, and what he's doing for us
20:50
Speaker 1: right now.
20:51
Speaker 2: A joyful heart, a joyful mind. Amen. It would do
20:54
Speaker 2: us good. It would do us well.
20:57
Speaker 1: So the question whether Christmas has pagan origins, it's a
21:00
Speaker 1: topic of historic debate. People want a debate about that
21:04
Speaker 1: every single year around Christmas time. They could get ahead
21:07
Speaker 1: and debate that. We're not going to debate that over
21:08
Speaker 1: here on the Morning Devo. If you want a debate, though,
21:11
Speaker 1: I know some people that are great and debating, amen,
21:14
Speaker 1: and I could refer you to them, But that just
21:16
Speaker 1: doesn't happen here. And man, I used to have debates
21:19
Speaker 1: on platforms and all that stuff. To me, it has
21:22
Speaker 1: its value. But when somebody goes under those debates and
21:25
Speaker 1: they're already convinced and they're really hard hearted and they're
21:29
Speaker 1: not going to listen to any other side, then you're
21:31
Speaker 1: really throwing dirt at each other. And once you throw
21:34
Speaker 1: dirt at me and I throw dirt at you, we
21:35
Speaker 1: lose ground and nobody gets anywhere, and we're firmly planting
21:38
Speaker 1: on feet in mid air.
21:39
Speaker 2: Right, no one's getting anywhere.
21:43
Speaker 1: So there's some elements, like I said earlier, Christmas celebrations
21:48
Speaker 1: that such as the timing December twenty fifth, What does
21:52
Speaker 1: that mean.
21:52
Speaker 2: On the calendar?
21:53
Speaker 1: You know, why did we do it on December twenty fifth?
21:55
Speaker 1: There's a whole historical thing about that. It's influenced by
21:59
Speaker 1: prisis in pagan festivals. And we have as Christians, we
22:02
Speaker 1: have to admit it that we do things like traditionally
22:06
Speaker 1: paganistic festival type things we do that don't know why.
22:10
Speaker 2: Amen.
22:11
Speaker 1: And someone has some explaining to do because it came
22:14
Speaker 1: way before we were here, right, and God will deal
22:17
Speaker 1: with that.
22:17
Speaker 2: Amen.
22:18
Speaker 1: But we could look at the Word of God and
22:20
Speaker 1: see what the core of Christmas is, and then from
22:23
Speaker 1: there we could realize.
22:24
Speaker 2: What we're doing and what we shouldn't be doing, what
22:26
Speaker 2: we're doing right, and what we're doing wrong. Right. So
22:30
Speaker 2: the core of Christmas and the core message of Christmas
22:33
Speaker 2: is the celebration of the birth of the Lord Jesus.
22:36
Speaker 2: So focus on Christ during the season. Amen. There's a
22:40
Speaker 2: lot of things going on in families all around the world.
22:42
Speaker 1: All around the country, all around the nation, and your neighborhood,
22:45
Speaker 1: and in my neighborhood and your family and in my family.
22:48
Speaker 1: Things are happening. We have to stay focused on Christ.
22:52
Speaker 1: So for us as believer, as believers, Christmas is primarily
22:57
Speaker 1: celebrating the incarnation of Jesus, not word that means God
23:01
Speaker 1: in the flesh. He revealed himself in the form of
23:04
Speaker 1: a man named Jesus, the Lord God yahweh elohem.
23:07
Speaker 2: A man showed up in the form of a man.
23:09
Speaker 1: That's the incarnation of Jesus, God becoming flesh to dwell
23:15
Speaker 1: among us. You can see that in John chapter one,
23:18
Speaker 1: verse number fourteen and fifteen. John chapter one, verses fourteen
23:21
Speaker 1: and fifteen. You'll see it right, Jesus came in the
23:24
Speaker 1: form of a man, the man, Jesus.
23:26
Speaker 2: The Christ.
23:28
Speaker 1: So this is the sin of focus right of how
23:32
Speaker 1: we could distinguish between holiday seasons, the holiday from any
23:36
Speaker 1: pagan associations. We don't have any pagan associations other than
23:40
Speaker 1: like Christmas trees and stuff like that, and traditionally that
23:43
Speaker 1: got into the church. Don't ask me when or how
23:46
Speaker 1: we know it's in the church because we have it
23:48
Speaker 1: in our churches. It's traditions, amen. But if you look
23:51
Speaker 1: at the word when I called to do that, when
23:53
Speaker 1: I'm mandated actually to celebrate Christmas, if you want to
23:56
Speaker 1: be honest. But the core message of Christmas should be
23:59
Speaker 1: about the birth of our Lord and saving the Lord,
24:02
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. It's the joyce, good morning, God bless you.
24:05
Speaker 2: Amen. Praise the Lord, God bless you as well. Thank
24:07
Speaker 2: you so much for coming through my system and my friend.
24:10
Speaker 2: So the central focus is what distinguishes the holiday from
24:15
Speaker 2: any pagan associations and emphasizes the significance significance of Christ's birth.
24:23
Speaker 2: Why don't we just stay.
24:24
Speaker 1: There, camp out there, amen, And we could do what
24:27
Speaker 1: needs to be done when we celebrate other holidays. So
24:29
Speaker 1: let's celebrate and focus on Christ during the Christmas season.
24:33
Speaker 2: But what happened.
24:34
Speaker 1: We started putting gifts under the tree, and we try
24:36
Speaker 1: to associate that with the magi giving Jesus the gifts.
24:40
Speaker 1: Then we put Christmas tree up, associating with decorative festival,
24:45
Speaker 1: festival things that are pre existing pagan rituals and things
24:50
Speaker 1: along those ways. So we can't deny that, Amen. I
24:54
Speaker 1: won't deny it. I know some people will who will deny.
24:56
Speaker 2: It, but we do it.
24:58
Speaker 1: But our heart should be settled on the the fact
25:00
Speaker 1: that Jesus was born right and the fact that he lived,
25:04
Speaker 1: the fact that he died and the fact that he
25:06
Speaker 1: rose again, And that's just settled any celebration. As a believer,
25:11
Speaker 1: a man Eastern Christmas, especially sus Joint says, I thank
25:16
Speaker 1: the Lord for another day. He gives me to wake
25:18
Speaker 1: up in another day, for the breath, and I thank
25:20
Speaker 1: the Lord for watching over my family. But my family
25:23
Speaker 1: is so messed up. What I have felt left is
25:26
Speaker 1: only a brother and a sister. That's in holy family matter.
25:30
Speaker 1: I don't even know or Christmas or is Thanksgiving or
25:32
Speaker 1: anything to sit down around the table and thank the
25:35
Speaker 1: Lord for he gave us us today, I don't even
25:37
Speaker 1: know what a family is, and it's not all about getting.
25:40
Speaker 1: I'd rather give them, give them receive. I love Christmas
25:45
Speaker 1: so much. Christmas is so beautiful. I love Christmas so much, beautiful.
25:49
Speaker 1: But you don't know how it feels in my heart
25:52
Speaker 1: not to have anybody or nobody to come to my
25:55
Speaker 1: house when I cook a big meal and sit down
25:58
Speaker 1: and then just watch other people how they have all
26:01
Speaker 1: the family together well, since you join, I.
26:03
Speaker 2: Have news for you.
26:04
Speaker 1: Not everybody that looks like they have it all together
26:07
Speaker 1: has it all together.
26:07
Speaker 2: The families. I don't know what families you're looking at.
26:10
Speaker 1: Be careful for the TV of course, Lifetime and how
26:14
Speaker 1: you call it.
26:16
Speaker 2: Hallmark movies and all that stuff. They looks like the
26:18
Speaker 2: families have it all together.
26:20
Speaker 1: But in reality, every single family on this planet Earth
26:23
Speaker 1: has issues.
26:23
Speaker 2: Amen.
26:24
Speaker 1: And I understand where you're coming from. It's different now,
26:27
Speaker 1: right we get older, it's different. When I was younger,
26:29
Speaker 1: we used to sit down at the table and eat.
26:31
Speaker 1: The whole family was pretty much together. Now the family's scattered.
26:34
Speaker 2: Everybody has their own lives, have their own children, have
26:36
Speaker 2: their own kids. Amen. So life goes on.
26:39
Speaker 1: But the focus here is to stay focused on the
26:41
Speaker 1: core message of Christmas, which is the birth of the
26:44
Speaker 1: Lord Jesus, his life, his death, his resurrection. Once you
26:48
Speaker 1: have that, it's a core message in your heart.
26:50
Speaker 2: Amen.
26:50
Speaker 1: When you sit down, you no longer sitting down alone. Men,
26:54
Speaker 1: you need a visitation. You get the visitation from Holy Spirit.
26:56
Speaker 1: Be grateful for who's left in your family and who
26:59
Speaker 1: you have the Family of God, and those things were
27:01
Speaker 1: really settled in your heart. And those feelings and emotions
27:04
Speaker 1: won't be as big as they were before.
27:06
Speaker 2: Amen, But I'm out of time. Thank you so much
27:08
Speaker 2: for your comments, Thank you so much for your prayers
27:11
Speaker 2: and everything that you do for the ministry and we
27:13
Speaker 2: do together. Amen. We're almost done with twenty twenty four
27:16
Speaker 2: and I'm praying that twenty twenty five will be a
27:18
Speaker 2: year of victorious things that we could come and testify
27:21
Speaker 2: together and know that God is faithful. So let me
27:24
Speaker 2: just send you all off with a blessing.
27:25
Speaker 1: Make sure you go to Colligans chapter number two, read
27:28
Speaker 1: the whole chapter for yourself. God bless you all, God
27:31
Speaker 1: keep you all, and remember always that God is good.
27:35
Speaker 2: Please,