Latest / Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services / Christmas Eve 2025

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Christmas Eve 2025 · Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services

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Merry Christmas. Wow, you know, how many years
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have you sat in services like this somewhere on the planet and
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heard those old songs? And they never lose their
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impact, do they? Their their history written in
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lyrics and music that we can sing and reminisce and think
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about it from the time we were probably smallest and youngest
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to the time that we are at right now in our age process.
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And it's interesting how you have different emotions at
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Christmas time based on how long you've been around and what
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you've been through in this life thus far.
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If you're a little kid, everything is super exciting and
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positive and wonderful and magical, and it should be that
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way. I'd love to be able to go back
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to those days again, just for a little while.
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But I love watching children and grandchildren and you guys, your
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kids, everybody experience Christmas to the the fullest way
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that they possibly can. And then we have people that are
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in times of trials and difficulty transition, whether
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it's issues of losing a loved one, We have some of our
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families in our church this year who lost precious loved ones
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that are with Jesus now. And that's hard to have your
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first Christmas, isn't it without your your mom or your
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dad or your grandparents or your kids or whatever people who have
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passed on. It's, it's just not quite the
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same. People have health issues.
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Many people have health issues, people have marital issues, they
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have kids issues, they have financial issues, they have all
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kind of issues, right? If you have a chance to talk to
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people with with an open heart and they know you're open and
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you're interested in their lives and what they maybe you're
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dealing with, they'll usually tell you a little bit about what
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they're dealing with. And Cindy, this week, my wife,
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she's dealing with a lot of health issues at one time.
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It's like, it's almost like a domino thing in our home right
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now. But the Lord is with us.
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Help us get through with it. The visiting nurse was there
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this week and she was talking to Cindy and Cindy could tell that
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she was really burdened about something, but she wasn't going
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to, you know, violate her privacy sense of privacy.
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But the Holy Spirit was put on Cindy to ask her, you know, what
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she was dealing with And she said she was going through a
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terrible divorce, very, very painful woman, about 28 years
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old, eight-year old child son didn't know how to process that
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with him at this time of year. And so Cindy listened to her
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and, and, and meanwhile, Cindy is like an agony.
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I, I could tell you more about that, but I'm not going to bore
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you with the details. This pray for her.
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But Cindy had the heart to say, well, could I say a prayer for
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you? And so she did.
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And that's really what Christmas is about.
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It's about us somehow becoming a little bit more like Jesus,
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where we care about others more than we think about ourselves.
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Jesus, when we study his life, he was 100% focused on you,
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never himself. And even as Christians, on our
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best day, it's really hard to be 100% focus on someone else,
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isn't it? When you have your own
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challenges, your own issues. But when the Holy Spirit comes
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into our life, when we become believers and we trust in Jesus
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as our Lord and Savior, which I trust all of you have done.
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And if you haven't, the greatest Christmas present you could ever
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experience is to have Christ come into your heart and reveal
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His love for you and His forgiveness to you and give you
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the promise of everlasting life. That's the best.
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Doesn't get any better than that.
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Jesus is the reason of the season, isn't it?
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Isn't he? And everything else is some
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somewhat superficial to some extent.
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So I want to read some history here tonight.
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Some of you are familiar with this, maybe some of you have
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never heard these verses from the book of Luke, but it talks
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about the virgin birth, Christ being born through a Virgin Mary
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and no sex, no man involved, just a miraculous birth God
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becoming man in the person of Jesus Christ, fully God and
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fully man. And one of the things I was
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thinking about is I was reading this and maybe you thought about
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it. When Jesus is a baby, he's, he's
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fully God, right? Was he aware?
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OK, temporarily, I'm a baby right now.
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When I'm 33 years from now, I'm going to be a full man and I'm
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going to die on the cross. This is why I've come to save my
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people from their sin. Be fascinating to to know all
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those details. Someday.
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I think we will when we're with him in heaven.
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But he never left his Godhead, even when he was an infant, when
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he was a baby. And we know he was age 12 in the
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synagogue and he was doing deep conversations theologically with
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the the religious leaders at the time.
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And his mom and dad were freaking out because they
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wondered where he was at. And he said, don't you know him
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about my father's business? So we know even at age 12, he
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was fully aware of the purpose for why he came.
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But it says in verse 26 of Luke chapter 1.
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Now in the sixth month, the Angel Gabriel was sent by God to
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a city Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man
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whose name was Joseph of the House of David.
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The virgin's name was Mary. And having come in, the Angel
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said to her, Rejoice highly favored one, the Lord is with
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you, Blessed are you among women.
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But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and
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considered what manner of greeting this was.
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Then the Angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you
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have found favor with God, and behold, you will conceive in
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your womb, and bring forth the Son, and shall call his name
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Jesus. He will be great, and he will be
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called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God will give him
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the throne of his Father David, and he will reign over the House
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of Jacob Forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no end.
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Then Mary said to the Angel, How can this be, since I do not know
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a man? And the Angel answered and said
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to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of
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the Highest will over shadow you.
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Therefore also that holy One who is He be born will be called the
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Son of God. And so a miracle, obviously.
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And then it goes on to tell us in chapter 2 of Luke.
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And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from
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Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.
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This census first took place while Carinius was governing
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Syria. So all went to be registered,
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everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee
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out of the city of Nazareth into Judea to the city of David,
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which is called Bethlehem because he was the of the house
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and lineage of David to be registered with Mary and be his
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betrothed wife who was with child.
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So it was that while they were there, the days were completed
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for her to be delivered and she brought forth his, her first
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born son and wrapped him in Swahili clothes and laid him in
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a Manger because there was no room for them in the inn.
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And now in the Christmas letter we sent out to everybody, we had
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a insight in the fact that Jesus first experienced when he was
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born was his vision being focused on pretty much his
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mother's face, I'm sure. But also all he saw was
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blackness, The Cave, the darkness of The Cave.
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It wasn't any fancy hotel or residence or anything.
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It was, it was a pretty tough place where animals hung out and
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he would smell for the first time and he wouldn't smell
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cookies baking in the oven or wonderful sense of dinner being
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made or whatever. He was smelling the animal,
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animal dung, which I'm sure was really gross, but nonetheless,
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that's what he experienced. And he was not laying in a
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comfortable bed or a crib or a bassinet.
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He was laid in a bed of hay, which was prickly and I'm sure
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jagging him and all that kind of stuff.
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It wasn't like, like what we experience when we go to bed at
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night, right? And so when you think about
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everything like the trees, it's so fun and festive and the
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presents are fun and the dinner and the party and the family and
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all these things are awesome to experience, right?
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But think about it. When Jesus was born, there was
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nothing like this, nothing at all.
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And we study the Bible and we don't see any evidence of any
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kind of major celebration in December or any month in regard
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to his birth. The focus was on his
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resurrection and and Easter Pasca.
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Whenever Christ after he died on the cross for your sins, he was
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buried on the third day he rose again from the dead.
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That is what we really celebrate.
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Christ's birth is awesome because if he wasn't born then
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there would be no death, burial, and resurrection.
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But his focus was not on his birthday.
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His focus was on his resurrection day.
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And that's what makes our faith and our Christian heritage
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different than every other religion in the world.
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We worship King Jesus, a risen savior.
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We worship not a man, but a God. Man fully, man fully, God
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perfect, never sin, Jesus Christ our Lord.
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And so the glory of what happened that night was after
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this occurred, and this birth occurred in the Manger.
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Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in
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the fields, keeping watch over the flock by night.
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Now to be a shepherd was a lowly occupation.
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There was nothing glamorous about it.
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It was cold, it was desolate. You were responsible for
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protecting these animals. Many of them would be used as
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sacrifices in the temple on behalf of the people's sins that
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didn't realize that Jesus was the only one that could take
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away sin. Animal sacrifices were still
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occurring, but these guys are out there at night, I'm sure,
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looking at the stars and doing whatever they do.
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And all of a sudden they had this encounter, this miraculous
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experience. At night as they were watching
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the sheep, a behold, an Angel of the Lord stood before them, and
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the glory of the Lord shone around them.
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And they were greatly afraid, I should say, so I'd be afraid
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too, wouldn't you? Then the Angel said to them, do
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not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great
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joy, which will be to all people.
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Now this is the good news. You and I have good news to tell
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people about what Jesus Christ did for us and what He can do
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for them if they humble themselves and repent and admit
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they're sinners and that they need a Savior.
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It's that simple. It's good news.
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Not any is a good news for the fact that He is a risen Savior,
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but it's good news because He takes away all your sin, His
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blood cleanses it, and He gives you a brand new life and a
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future that will be with him for all eternity in heaven one day.
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This is something we want to tell everybody, everybody we
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know, everybody we love, everybody we come in contact
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with. We want to know if they have
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ever heard any good news. There's so much bad news now,
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isn't there? I mean, people get paid millions
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of dollars to give you and me bad news on the major news
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networks, right? I mean, it's, it's madding,
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people being killed, shot, terrible things happening.
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I mean, we don't need any of that stuff, right?
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We need good news, right? And that's why it tells us some
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Philippians sync on these things, not negative things,
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sync on things that are pure, lovely, just and a good report.
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You have a good report, don't you?
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Jesus Christ is your Lord and your Savior and he forgave you
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of your sin. Tell everybody you have a chance
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what he's done for you. And so he's telling them, I'm
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giving you good news here. For there is born to you this
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day in the city of David a savior, not a baby.
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He said a savior. I'm sure they thought like, what
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does that mean? Who is Christ the Lord?
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He named him. The Angel named him,
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specifically Christ the Lord. And this will be assigned to
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you. Go and you'll find a babe
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wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a Manger.
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And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the
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heavenly host, praising God, saying, Glory to God in the
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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,
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that the shepherd said to one another, Let us now go to
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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, they
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ran, they went as fast as they could to get there, and they
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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
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which was told them concerning this child.
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And all those who heard it marveled at those things which
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were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things
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and pondered them in her heart. And then the shepherds returned,
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glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had
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heard and seen and was told to them.
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Now I wonder about me and you. Tonight we've heard the story
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every year of our life. If we've been Christians and
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attending a Bible church, we know the Bible ourselves because
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we've read it and we've studied it.
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Are we making widely known that which was told them concerning
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this child? Not a guilt trip, but an
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opportunity maybe for all of us today and tonight, whoever we're
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with, to tell people that don't know Jesus yet what he who he is
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and what he's done for us and making it widely known.
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I love the parable, the sewer or the picture of the artwork.
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One of my favorite paintings, I have it by my bed and it's a
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picture of Jesus with a smile on his face with a satchel over his
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shoulder taking seed, which is representing the word of God.
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And he doesn't take well. Like I think I'll put one seed
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here in Greensburg. I'll put 3IN Latrobe, I'll put
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five in there. Like he just took it and like
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blitzed the ground with it. I mean, the ground was totally
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covered with that seed. So much seed that Jesus threw
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out to teach us that you don't throw it out in a sparse way.
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You throw it out as aggressively as you can, wherever you can
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throw it so that people have a chance to hear what Jesus has
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done for you. Our country, our world is
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fractured because there's a lack of seed being sown.
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People don't have hope. They don't know what to believe
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in. They don't know where to go
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anymore. They're hopeless.
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He's the God of all hope and the God of all comfort.
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And so it's exciting for me, and I'm sure to you tonight as you
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hear His word and you think about it.
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Lord, I want my kids to know you.
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I want my grandkids in there. I want my neighbors to know you.
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I want the people I work with to know You.
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Show me how to share the Word. Show me how to sow the seed.
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Show me how to love people enough that I really, really
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want to tell them what it's all about.
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Don't let me be insecure or intimidated.
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We're embarrassed. Help me care about people the
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way you do. Everywhere Jesus went, He told
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people who he was and the people that followed him the closest.
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Learn how to do the same thing. Tell everyone what the Lord has
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done for you because I think of the times that we're living in
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right now. If everybody had a chance to
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have open mic tonight, not karaoke, but open mic where we
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could just tell everybody like, what are you dealing with?
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What have you been through? What is it you need help with?
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And what's your greatest prayer right now?
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We would be here probably till tomorrow morning.
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I'm sure there'll be that much information come on forth.
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But when you think about your life and Cindy and I, we try to
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pray in the morning as often as we can.
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And usually the prayer in the morning is repentance.
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Starting with repentance. Honey, I'm sorry how I treated
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you. I'm sorry, Sorry how I didn't
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have patience with you. I'm sorry how I criticize you.
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I I'm, I'm sorry. You know, this is always Cindy
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repenting, not me. I don't have to No, I'm just
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kidding. It goes both ways.
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But anyway, we, we start with that, right, So that our, our
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hearts are pure and there's nothing against each other,
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right. And then we reflect on the
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goodness of God and how merciful and how patient he's been with
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us and how the, the privilege we have to serve you guys at
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Calvary Chapel and teach the word of God.
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There's there's no greater calling as far as I'm concerned
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as a man to have the chance to teach people the word of God.
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And we have many men and women in this church and teach others
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the word of God. And then we have intercession
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and we pray for you guys as I know you pray for us and we can
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see your faces and we know the story.
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And Pastor Lewis and myself and George and John, we, we know the
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heartache in the church. We know the people what they're
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going through. And you guys are on our hearts
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all the time because you're on Jesus heart all the time.
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And we represent him and we carry you in our hearts and lift
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you up to the Lord. And then we have a time of
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gratitude, thanking God so much for all that he's done, more
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than we deserve. And one of our biggest prayers
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right now, we're asking Jesus to make us more like Jesus, just
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not have knowledge in our head or information.
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But how can we shine Jesus to other people?
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As I said, there's heartache in the world, there's illness,
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there's conflicts, family issues, children issues, aging
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issues, loss of loved ones, marriage, finances, sin,
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culture, the nation's everything.
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We are in these last days and we're to look up for.
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Our redemption draws nigh. I was a Giant Eagle this
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afternoon for the fifth time in two days, I think.
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I get there and I text Cindy, is there any you need?
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No, we're good. You know, I'm thinking on I
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don't believe it, but I come home, I'm out again today.
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She's oh, we need baked beans. I got to get the baked beans
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right? And these lines are like huge,
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right? And I'm thinking like, come on,
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why am I here? And I was tempted to cut in the
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line and think of myself right, but I waited.
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So I'm in line. This nice young fella is behind
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me and we just started striking up a conversation.
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He had quesadillas. His mom was making quesadillas
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for, for a Christmas dinner. I thought the point.
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That's interesting. That's a change.
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So we were talking and, and then he began to tell me he had gone
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to Hemfield for a while. And then he went to prep school
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and he he went to prestigious education school.
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He's studying economics. And I asked him what he wanted
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to do and he said he wanted to get into real estate development
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and all that. And I said, yeah, he says, what
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industry are you in? I said, well, I I sell
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eyeglasses to people from Spain. And I said, I'm also a pastor.
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I always like to get that in there because that's what I
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really want to talk about. He says, where are you a pastor
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at? And I told him, he says, yeah,
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we go to church. My parents are very spiritual
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and we go to a very, very small church.
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Not a whole lot of people there. I said, well, it's not a matter
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of how many people that go to the church, it's whether they're
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going to the church for the right reason, right.
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And I said, it sounds like you have a very, very nice church.
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And then he said, you know, he said, I've been thinking maybe
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I'd like to be a pastor. And I said, boy, that's a
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wonderful idea if that's what you sense God calling you do to
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do. And I encourage him to pursue
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that, right, because I said it will far fulfill you so much
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more than any worldly success you'll get.
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It's, it's good to have a career, It's good to be
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successful, all that kind of stuff.
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But it's it, it, it has a, a bottom there, there.
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It's not limitless where you serve Jesus and you live for
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him. There's no limit to the blessing
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and the benefits you have when you have a chance to, to serve
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and represent him. So we, we wish each other a
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Merry Christmas. He, he went on his way and I
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think as I, as I saw him there and had the chance to have that
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providential meeting with him in regard to ministry calling, I
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think like every second of our life, if we're tuned into the
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Spirit of God, there's a reason and there's a purpose for
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whatever you're going through and whatever you're
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experiencing. There's no mistakes.
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Everything that happens, good, bad, ugly, God's using it to, as
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George said to me earlier tonight, to grind us down.
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So we have no confidence in anything or anybody but Jesus
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that we're nothing but a a pile of dust and there's not a lot
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that holds us up or stabilizes us except for him.
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Jesus, you may be here tonight and you've come to the service
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because someone's dragged you here relative or something.
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You might be here tonight because it's traditional.
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You might be here tonight. That's because you love Jesus.
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And that's, but I pray the real reason you're here tonight.
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But you might feel overwhelmed tonight.
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You might be stressed out. You might be fearing some things
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in your life. You might have some anxieties
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and you might be hopeless. Well, our prayer tonight for
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those who are listening on Grace FM and those who are watching on
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YouTube. And I'll see this later perhaps,
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and maybe now that as you sit here and as we prepare to take
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the Lord's Supper together, and we do that every time we gather
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to remember really what it's all about.
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And that's the Lord Jesus, knowing him, living for him,
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following him, and letting him be your passion in this life.
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There's an answer to life for the problems we all have.
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Cindy and I were talking about that this morning.
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Jesus tells us in Matthew that he says come unto me, all you
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that labor and are heavy laden. That means like just a ton of
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stuff on you. You're overwhelmed.
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You just can't take it another day.
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You're just like done right. And Jesus says, come unto me and
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take my yoke upon you, for my yoke is easy and my burden is
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light. He says right, and you're maybe
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carrying a burden tonight and you're thinking there's no way
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this is light and there's no way it is easy and He knows that.
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But if you take whatever it is that's weighing you down and do
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what He says, learn of me for I am meek and lowly of heart, and
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you will find rest for your soul.
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It's all in Jesus, telling Him what it is you're struggling
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with, telling Him what it is you can't handle, and telling Him
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and asking Him to help you learn his life and how to trust Him
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and how to follow Him. Once you tap into that, you'll
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never need another self help book.
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You'll never need another psychiatrist.
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You'll never need another counselor.
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Because He is the mighty counselor, He's the answer to
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life and Jesus gift to you. This Christmas ISM is himself
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and I think for a moment, God bless you.
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What if he hadn't come? Where would we be tonight?
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Maybe many of us would be dead in prison, sitting at an end of
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a bar stool with the 30th drink, trying to get rid of our sorrows
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and our worries, right? But we're here to commune with
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him and the fellowship with one another.
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So if you have your communion elements available there, I'm
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going to read something before we take the communion because
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this highlights really everything about the communion
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from the book of Colossians chapter one.
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It says that you may work, walk worthy of the Lord, fully
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pleasing Him, being fruitful and every good work and increasing
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in the knowledge of God. That's where you want to put
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your focus. Strengthen with all might
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according to His glorious power, not your power, but His power
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for all patience and long-suffering with joy.
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In spite of what Jesus went through, He always had joy,
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right? And we need to experience that
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joy and express that joy in the midst of all the challenges that
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we all go through. Giving thanks to the Father who
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has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints
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in the light. He has delivered us from the
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power of darkness. That's what the cross did.
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When He died on the cross, He turned the light on full blast
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and spoiled the powers and energy and abilities of the
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devil and all the hell forces of darkness.
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He delivered us from that power of darkness and conveyed us into
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the Kingdom of His Son, the Son of His love, in whom we have
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redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
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He is the image of the invisible God, the first born over all
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creation. For by Him all things were
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created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and
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invisible, whether they're Thrones or dominions or
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principalities or powers or UFOs.
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It's not in there, but they're out there, right?
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All things were created through Him and for Him, and He is
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before all things, and in Him all things consist.
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And He is the head of the body, the Church, who is the
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beginning, the first born from the dead, that in all things He
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may have the preeminence for it please the Father, that in Him
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all the fullness should dwell. So if you're empty and you want
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to be full, it's only going to happen if you're full of Jesus,
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because He is the fullness. And by Him, to reconcile all
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things to himself, by him, whether things on earth or
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things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of his
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cross. And you who were once alienated
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in enemies, and that's every one of us.
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At one time we hated Jesus. We lived in a way that surely
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didn't show that we could care less about His cross and what He
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did. I was there at one time, you
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were too. And yet in the midst of us being
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enemies in our mind, and by wicked works, yet He's now
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reconciled, means He's made peace with us, and with Him and
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the body of His flesh through His death, to present you wholly
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and blameless and above reproach in His sight.
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So He did it all for you and me. And it doesn't get any better
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than that, does it? I could go on for an hour and
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put you all to sleep. I think you probably get it by
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now. And if you don't get it, Lord
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have mercy on you. Listen to it later and listen to
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it again and again and again until it drills into your head
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and you finally say, I get it now.
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This is the best thing I've ever heard of in my life.
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And I want to follow Jesus and live for him and tell other
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people what he's done for me and what he can do for them too,
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right? Amen.
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God bless you guys. The worship team can come
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forward now. They're going to have one last
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song before we take off. And we wish everyone a wonderful
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Merry Christmas. My brother Paul here.
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Come here, brother. Give me a hug.
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He just lost his mom here a couple weeks ago, and here he is
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serving the Lord. He's not sitting home
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complaining. He's a testimony.
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My mother's here today, 92 years old.
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It's a miracle she's here. We're having to throwback
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Christmas down on our one. All the grandkids and the
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relatives and everybody's going to be at her house to
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celebrating her life and celebrate each other's life.
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Be thankful for who's in your life.
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Your children, your grandchildren, your wives, your
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husband, your grandparents, your relatives, especially the one
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that you don't want to sit beside at dinner.
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Maybe you intensely sit beside them this year.
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You know, I've sort of had an attitude against you.
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Please forgive me. I want to tell you about Jesus.
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I don't want to hear about that. That's all you want to talk
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about. Well, I'm going to tell you
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anyway. Jesus loves you, right?
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Let's prepare our hearts for the supper.
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Oh, Lord, our hearts are full tonight because of you being in
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them. You are the King of kings and
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the Lord of Lords. Lord Jesus, we're so thankful
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that you came and you went through the human experience.
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Never sin, never was hopeless, never gave up.
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You kept doing what you did for us, every one of us that would
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believe and trust in you that our worst places.
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Lord, you came to us and told us the good news through someone,
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through the word, through the radio TVA person that cared
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enough about us that share the good news.
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And when that happened that day that we heard it and understood
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it and believed our life has never been the same again and
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never will be. Thanks to you Lord.
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Thank you for everyone you brought here tonight, every
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family that's represented. Lord bless them and their
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families abundantly, Those who are listening as well.
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May this be a different kind of Christmas for all of us as we
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sit around and watch one another, see the joy and the
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happiness. May we enter into that
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celebration of life, thanking you for what it is you've given
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to each of us again for another day.
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Thank you for the example that all these people are to us that
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serve you here, their passion, their love, and their desire to
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go deeper in you, Lord, no matter what, I pray, Lord, you
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would give us strength in these days and increase our faith and
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make us like you, Jesus. That's what you said you wanted
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to do, to conform us to your image and likeness.
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We're up for that Lord. We're into that Lord 100%.
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Do what it is you want to do in us to make us like you.
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We don't want to stay the way we are.
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We want to be more and more like you Lord, so we can bless and
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help people in this life. And the night that Jesus is
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betrayed, he took the bread in his hands and he broke it and he
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gave thanks and he said, take, eat.
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This is My body which was given for you.
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Eat this in remembrance of Me. In the same manner that evening
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He took the cup, and he said, This cup is a new covenant in My
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blood, which was shed for the forgiveness of sins of many.
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Drink this in remembrance of Me. For as often as you eat this
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bread and you drink this cup, you show forth the Lord's death
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until he comes again. If anybody needs any special
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prayer tonight as you're leaving, especially those of you
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who have been through the loss of loved ones just recently,
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grab one of the leaders here. We'll pray with you and be there
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no matter how long you want to be here with us.
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We're not in any hurry to leave. So thanks for coming out
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tonight. Love you guys.
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Have a wonderful Christmas. Merry Christmas.