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The Perfect Gift for Jesus- Minister Max Lucado · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Merry Christmas, everyone. Isn't it a wonderful time of the year?
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: It's a special, special time, and it's that time in
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: which we're all thinking about what.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Kind of gifts to give to each other.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: We're trying to survive the shopping and the eating. And
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: my pants always get very tight.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: I don't know why.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Somewhere between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I know that doesn't happen.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: to you as you're making your list of gifts and
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: people for whom to shop can I encourage you to
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: be sure and add to that name Jesus Christ he's
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: the hero of the holidays and he deserves our finest
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: gift and in just a moment I want to talk
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: to you about a gift idea for Jesus under this title,
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: The Perfect Gift for Jesus.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: Before I pray, let.
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: Me encourage you to keep the Christmas musical as well
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: as the candlelight services on your calendar.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: And also keep in mind that.
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: This is the perfect time to bring your family and friends.
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: Whatever campus you're on, whatever service you wish to attend,
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: there are people who just looking to be invited. This
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: is the time. Invite your family and friends and let's
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: celebrate our Savior, Jesus Christ. And one more thing. I
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: have just picked up a bit of Portuguese in the room.
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: Many of you know that I lived in Brazil for
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: many years. Two of my three daughters are are Brazilian,
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: born in Brazil, and I think they're all right here.
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: I heard Brazilians behind me. Stand up. Look at this.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: Sejam bem-vindos.
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: Estamos muito contentos de ter vocês aqui. Amen. Thank you, Lord,
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: for this day, for the blessings that we have of
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: belonging to you, our great King. Thank you, precious Lord.
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: For the story of Christmas. We never would have imagined.
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: That God would become a baby. That the word would
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: become flesh. Thank you Father.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: Warm our hearts.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: And now prepare our hearts. In this Advent season. For
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: the great Advent. Your return. Would you please forgive our speaker?
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: You know that his sins are many. And help us
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: to see Jesus. Just Jesus. Through Christ we pray. And
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: all God's people said, he deserves our pity. When you
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: see him, please do not laugh. Do not mock. Do
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: not point. Just gently walk him over to the nearest
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: bench and help him to take a seat. Have pity
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: on the man. He's so fearful. He's so wide-eyed. He's
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: so out of his element. He's a deer on the
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: streets of Manhattan. He's Tarzan walking through the urban jungle.
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: He's a whale that's beached. And has no clue how
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: he got there. Or how he'll ever get back. Who
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: is this forlorn creature. Who is this ashen faced. Orphan.
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: He is. Please put your hand over your hearts. As
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: I tell you. Because your hearts are going to break.
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: He is.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: A man in the women's. Clothing department. And he's looking
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: for a gift.
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: A gift. This is the time of year he appears.
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  Speaker 2: He comes out of his normal habitat in the mall.
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: He comes out of the sporting goods department, out of
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  Speaker 2: the food court. He turns his back for just a
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: moment on that big screen television in the appliance section.
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: And here he ventures into the unknown world of women's wear.
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  Speaker 2: You'll spot him easily. He stands motionless in the aisle.
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  Speaker 2: And were it not for those big rings of sweat
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  Speaker 2: beneath his arms, you would think he was a mannequin.
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  Speaker 2: But he's not. He's a man in a woman's world
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: and he's never seen so much underwear. At the Walmart
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: where he buys his, It's all packaged neatly on one shelf.
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: But here, he's in a forest of lace. His dad
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: warned him about places like this. And though the sign
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: above him says to linger E, linger E, he knows
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: he shouldn't. And so he moves on, but he has
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: no clue where to go. You see, not everyone has
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: been prepared for this moment like I was. My dad
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: saw shopping for the lady in a man's life as
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: a rite of passage. A bit like teaching a son
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  Speaker 2: to shave or tie a necktie or that talk about
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  Speaker 2: birds and bees. And so he had a talk with us.
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  Speaker 2: He sat my brother and me down. I can remember
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: it to this day. And with a very solemn voice,
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  Speaker 2: he said, sons, there will come a day in which
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  Speaker 2: you are called upon to purchase a Christmas gift for
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  Speaker 2: the lady in your life. And in order to prepare
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: you for that day, remember these three words. Estee Lauder.
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: I thought he was giving me a basketball cheer.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: Stay louder. But I never forgot it.
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  Speaker 2: And every Christmas, my mom would get three gifts from
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  Speaker 2: the three men in her life.
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  Speaker 1: Estee Lauder. Estee Lauder. And Estee Lauder.
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  Speaker 2: My problem was solved until I got married. My wife
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  Speaker 2: does not like Estee Lauder. Even though I told her
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: it made her smell motherly. Didn't change her mind. As
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  Speaker 2: a result, every year I have been in a bind. Now,
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  Speaker 2: my wife, Dean Lynn, is not with me on this trip,
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  Speaker 2: so I can tell you if you promise not to
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  Speaker 2: tell her. But I've been shopping, and I decided this
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  Speaker 2: year I would get her, I would purchase her a purse.
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: What's complicated about buying a purse? I've carried the same
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: money clip for eight years. No doubt I'll have it
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: for the rest of my life. What's complicated about a
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  Speaker 2: tool that carries money and carries cards?
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  Speaker 1: Oh, naive soul that I am.
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  Speaker 2: Tell an attendant in the men's department that you want
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  Speaker 2: a wallet and you're escorted to a small counter next
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  Speaker 2: to the checkout. Tell a woman, attendant, that you would
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  Speaker 2: like to look at a purse and you are taken
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  Speaker 2: into a room the size of the American Airlines Arena.
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  Speaker 1: With shelf upon shelf.
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  Speaker 2: Shelves with purses, purses with price tags, small but.
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  Speaker 1: Potent price tags. Have you seen what these purses cost?
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  Speaker 2: That should remove the need for a purse because you
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: don't have any money after you purchase one. That was
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: exactly my thought when the attendant asked me some questions,
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  Speaker 2: questions for which I had absolutely no answer. Sir, what
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: kind of purse do you want? There's more than one kind.
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: She said, yes. Handbag, shoulder bag, glove bag, backpack, shoulder pack,
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  Speaker 2: fanny pack, change purse. I grew dizzy. I grew weak.
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  Speaker 2: I had to sit down. I had to place my
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  Speaker 2: head between my knees. I was afraid I was going
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: to faint. She leaned over me like she was a dragon.
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: sergeant and kept yelling at me money bag tote.
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  Speaker 1: Bag pocket book satchel I perked up.
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  Speaker 2: Satchel there was a baseball player named satchel page that
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: must be heaven's answer I told her I wanted a satchel.
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  Speaker 1: Apparently, she did.
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  Speaker 2: Not like my answer. And forgive me for saying this
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: at church. Forgive me for saying this at Christmas. But
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: she began to curse at me.
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  Speaker 1: She did.
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  Speaker 2: I didn't understand the language. I think it was French.
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  Speaker 2: She called me a Louis Vuitton. Right there in front
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  Speaker 2: of everybody. And then she called me a Dooneyburg. And
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  Speaker 2: then she said, I want all your Armani. And threatened
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: to brighten me.
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  Speaker 1: So I turned. I walked out. But then I stopped.
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: And I gave her a taste of her own medicine.
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  Speaker 2: I looked at her and I.
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  Speaker 1: Said, Estee Lauder, lady. And I left.
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  Speaker 2: Christmas and gifts. They've always been associated. And rightly so.
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  Speaker 2: Since the first Christmas, the Magi came with the gifts
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  Speaker 2: of gold and frankincense and myrrh. The shepherds came with
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  Speaker 2: their gift of presence and encouragement. Mary gave the gift
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  Speaker 2: of her womb, Christmas and gifts. They've been interlocked since
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  Speaker 2: the very first one. But there's one gift that is
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  Speaker 2: most curious.
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  Speaker 1: And most of the gifts make sense.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, The Magi's gift of gold, frankincense, and myrrh,
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  Speaker 2: that may have funded the escape of Joseph and Mary's
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  Speaker 2: family to Egypt. The gift of the shepherds to be present,
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  Speaker 2: they needed that encouragement.
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  Speaker 1: And how could.
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  Speaker 2: Baby Jesus be baby Jesus without the gift of Mary's womb?
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  Speaker 2: But there is one gift, the gift of the angels.
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  Speaker 2: which is a curious one. Do you know about their gift?
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  Speaker 2: The gospel writer Luke tells us about it. Suddenly the
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  Speaker 2: angel was joined by a vast host of others, the
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  Speaker 2: armies of heaven, praising God. Glory to God in the
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  Speaker 2: highest heaven, they sang, and peace on earth for all
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  Speaker 2: those pleasing him.
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  Speaker 1: When this great army of angels.
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  Speaker 2: Had returned again to heaven, the shepherds said to each other,
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  Speaker 2: come on, let's go to Bethlehem and let's see this
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  Speaker 2: wonderful thing that has happened, which the Lord has told
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  Speaker 2: us about. The angels filled the night with lights and
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  Speaker 2: the sky with music and.
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  Speaker 1: Well, that's it.
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  Speaker 2: That's it.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, don't you think they could have done more?
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  Speaker 2: Joseph could have used a chaperone back to Nazareth. But
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  Speaker 2: those who loved him the most gave him this simple gift.
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  Speaker 2: The gift of worship. They placed their love on a
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  Speaker 2: pillow of praise. And presented it to Christ. That's all
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  Speaker 2: they gave. But is that not the greatest gift. To
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  Speaker 2: give Jesus this Christmas. And that is to imitate the angels.
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  Speaker 2: With the wonder of worship. To give Jesus. Your worshiping heart.
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  Speaker 2: You know what they're still worshiping. Even at this very moment.
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  Speaker 2: As we're gathered. Revelation chapter 4 and verse 8. Tells
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  Speaker 2: us that heaven is still reverberating. With the sound of
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  Speaker 2: loud corporate worship.
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  Speaker 1: Day and night. They never stop saying. Holy.
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  Speaker 2: Holy. Holy.
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  Speaker 1: The word worship.
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  Speaker 2: Evolves from an old English word. I'm not sure how
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  Speaker 2: to pronounce it. But it's something like worth shite. And
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  Speaker 2: the idea is that when you worship, you are declaring
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  Speaker 2: the worthiness of the one to whom you give worship.
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  Speaker 2: Worship happens anytime you turn your heart and your head
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  Speaker 2: toward heaven and you say you are worthy. You are worthy.
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  Speaker 2: You are good. Worship happens whenever you clear your calendar
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  Speaker 2: for prayers. Whenever you turn the radio dial to praise music.
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  Speaker 2: Whenever you use your lunch hour for meditation. Worship happens
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  Speaker 2: in barns, in pastures. Worship happens in workplaces, in cars.
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  Speaker 2: Worship happens in homes. And yes, worship happens in God's house.
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  Speaker 2: Our highest call is to be a people of worship.
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  Speaker 2: Whenever God's people make a public and plural proclamation of
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  Speaker 2: God's goodness, they are and we are worshiping. God is
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  Speaker 2: on the hunt for worshipers. He is on the hunt
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  Speaker 2: for people. who will bow their knees, who will open
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  Speaker 2: their hearts, who will open their mouths and declare glory
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  Speaker 2: to God in.
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  Speaker 1: The highest heaven.
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  Speaker 2: Jesus said the Father is actively seeking such people to
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  Speaker 2: worship him. Right now, he's looking for worshipers. This is
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  Speaker 2: what he wants from you this Christmas. You might say, well,
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  Speaker 2: what if I don't worship? Oh, but you will. You will.
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  Speaker 2: The question is not, will you worship? The question is,
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  Speaker 2: to whom or to what will you give your worship?
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  Speaker 2: We're all worshipers. And the great calamity of mankind is
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  Speaker 2: that we worship counterfeit gods. And the consequence of worshiping
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  Speaker 2: a counterfeit god is a broken heart. When I was
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  Speaker 2: eight years old, I asked my parents for a Schwinn
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  Speaker 2: bicycle for Christmas. Not just any Schwinn bicycle, but a
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  Speaker 2: Schwinn bicycle with a banana seat and high bar handlebars.
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  Speaker 2: Oh my goodness, was that not a great day? Basking
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  Speaker 2: in the light of the Christmas tree that morning, there
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  Speaker 2: it was. It invited me to climb aboard and ride
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  Speaker 2: away into the bliss of childhood. I decorated the handlebars
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  Speaker 2: with tassels. With my own money, I bought a reflector
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  Speaker 2: for the fender. And I attached a playing card. Do
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  Speaker 2: people still do this? I attached a playing card to
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  Speaker 2: the spokes so that as the wheels pass, what sound
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  Speaker 2: would be made.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, how was George Clooney cool? I rode that bike.
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  Speaker 2: We explored subdivisions and drainage ditches and dirt roads and alleys.
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  Speaker 2: I loved that bike. Yes, I worshipped that bike. You see,
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  Speaker 2: I was counting on that bike to deliver me, to
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  Speaker 2: be my source of joy, to be my identity. If
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: a girl wanted to meet me, she had to see
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: that bike. I was Max, the owner of the red bike.
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  Speaker 2: But then guess what? I broke it. I bent the frame.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, I really had a bad wreck and my
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: dad and I tried to fix it, but it was
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: never the same.
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  Speaker 1: I was so disappointed. It let me down.
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  Speaker 2: And I was counting on it to do so much,
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  Speaker 2: you know, to deliver me, to entertain me, to fulfill me.
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  Speaker 1: And then it didn't. What about you?
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  Speaker 2: You were counting on that career to entertain you, to
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  Speaker 2: deliver you, to fulfill you. But then... what about that
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: marriage you were counting on to deliver you, to fulfill you,
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  Speaker 2: to sustain you? What about that retirement you were saying
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  Speaker 2: would carry you Would be the reason for life. The
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: hope of your existence. But it has fallen short.
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  Speaker 1: You see.
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  Speaker 2: Worship might not be the word you use. To describe
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  Speaker 2: your fascination. With stuff or people. Or events. But it
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  Speaker 2: is worship. Anytime we trust an object.
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  Speaker 1: Or activity. Or person. To give us life and meaning,
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  Speaker 1: we worship it.
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  Speaker 2: And when we make good things the ultimate things, we
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  Speaker 2: set ourselves up for disappointment, don't we? We set ourselves
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  Speaker 2: up for heartache. If we depend upon a career, a relationship,
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  Speaker 2: or a purchase to give our lives meaning, what happens?
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  Speaker 2: What happens when it doesn't? Worshiping these imposter gods leaves
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  Speaker 2: us lurching from one disappointment to the next until we
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  Speaker 2: come to the end of our lives looking back and
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  Speaker 2: thinking nothing ever truly satisfied me. And that is because
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  Speaker 2: we settled for worshiping puny deities. God-centered worship, on the
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  Speaker 2: other hand, us. It rescues us from bamboozlers, from counterfeits.
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  Speaker 2: Worship does to your soul what a spring rain does
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  Speaker 2: to the Texas ground. It softens it and it prepares
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  Speaker 2: it to receive the seed that brings life. Worship Are
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  Speaker 2: you broken hearted? Then worship the prince of peace who
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  Speaker 2: will give you hope. Are you stressed? Then worship the
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  Speaker 2: king of the universe who holds all of the galaxies
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  Speaker 2: in the palm of his hand. Do you feel small?
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  Speaker 2: Then bow before the great one who dares call you
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  Speaker 2: his child. Worship. Worship daily. Worship Honestly, worship with a
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  Speaker 2: longing heart. The healthiest thing you can do is to worship.
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  Speaker 2: It sets us right. It straightens us up. It causes
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  Speaker 2: our hearts to be full. And it delivers us from
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  Speaker 2: those false small gods. For your own sake, do what
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  Speaker 2: the angels did. And make a big deal out of
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  Speaker 2: the arrival of the king. Well, how do we do this?
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  Speaker 2: Three ideas and then I'm done. Number one, worship verbally.
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  Speaker 2: Worship verbally. Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to
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  Speaker 2: God a sacrifice of praise.
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  Speaker 1: Look at this.
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  Speaker 2: The fruit of lips that openly profess his name. In
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  Speaker 2: the early 1980s, the great theologian Willie Nelson recorded a
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  Speaker 2: song in which he apologizes for unexpressed love. And the
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  Speaker 2: song goes something like, maybe I never told you. Maybe
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  Speaker 2: I never called you. Maybe I never showed up. But honey,
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  Speaker 2: I want you to know you were always on my mind.
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  Speaker 2: That song makes my wife want to puke. He did
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  Speaker 2: not consult women if he wrote that, did he? Ladies,
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  Speaker 2: no sweetheart would accept that excuse. You never told me
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  Speaker 2: that you loved me. You never gave me flowers or compliments,
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  Speaker 2: but I was always on your mind. Yeah, right. God
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  Speaker 2: doesn't buy it either. God doesn't buy it either. He
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  Speaker 2: wants to hear our affection. It is out of the
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  Speaker 2: abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks. So when
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  Speaker 2: the mouth is silent, the heart is in question. Do
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  Speaker 2: you love God? Let him know. Out loud, in public, unashamed.
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  Speaker 2: Let there be jubilation. Let there be celebration. Let there
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  Speaker 2: be festivity. Shout to God with a joyful praise. Make
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  Speaker 2: a joyful shout to God all the earth. I love
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: this quote from John Wesley. He wrote, sing lustily and
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  Speaker 2: with good courage. Beware of singing as if you were
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  Speaker 2: half dead. Or half asleep.
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  Speaker 1: But lift up your voice with strength.
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  Speaker 2: Be no more afraid of your voice now. Nor more
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  Speaker 2: ashamed of its being heard. Than when you sung the
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  Speaker 2: songs of Satan. Speaking of Satan. He hates worship. He's
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  Speaker 2: not welcome. In a house of worship. He cannot bear worship.
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  Speaker 2: Because Satan. He wants to be worshiped. And when he
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  Speaker 2: sees people worshiping the living and loving God, he ducks
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  Speaker 2: his pointed tail and turns and runs. The quickest way
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  Speaker 2: to purge your house of demonic and evil presence is
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: to fill it full of worship.
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  Speaker 1: Just fill it.
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  Speaker 2: Let there be worship in your house. Let there be
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  Speaker 2: worship in your car. Let there be worship. When you
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  Speaker 2: tuck your children into bed at night, lean over them
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  Speaker 2: and sing a verse of worship. As you awaken in
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: the morning, begin with a verse, a chorus of worship.
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  Speaker 2: As you're driving your kids to school, let the car
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  Speaker 2: be full of worship. Let them know that there is
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  Speaker 2: somebody more That deserves our praise. Rather than the team.
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  Speaker 2: Or the clothes. Or the tennis shoes. Teach your children.
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  Speaker 2: The power of God centered worship. James the half brother
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  Speaker 2: of Jesus said. Yell aloud no to the devil. And
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  Speaker 2: watch him scamper. But just say a quiet yes to God.
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  Speaker 2: And he'll be there in no time.
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  Speaker 1: Worship.
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  Speaker 2: This is the high call of churches to worship. Other
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  Speaker 2: organizations organize people. Other organizations feed hungry people. Other organizations
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  Speaker 2: build buildings. Other organizations offer counsel and fellowship. But only
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  Speaker 2: God's church is called to be a house of worship.
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  Speaker 2: That's our calling. And we cannot fail in this, our
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: highest calling. The Lord is seeking those. He is actively
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: seeking those who will worship him. Amen? Worship verbally. And
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: then also worship in community. In community. On the night
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: Jesus was born, there was a multitude of the heavenly
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: hosts praising God. You see, the presence of Jesus deserves
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: an abundant chorus. Every generation has had its share of Jesus, yes, church, no, Christians.
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: For a variety of reasons, people turn away from church attendance.
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: And I would tell you, they do so at great loss.
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: They do so at great loss. There's something about getting
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: up out of your lazy boy and getting in your
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: car and putting on your britches and lipstick or whatever
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: you need, going to the effort of driving wherever you
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: go and walking in and seeing that the reason we're
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: all here together is we believe that Christ has come
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: and Christ is coming again. When you see my face
• 29:08
  Speaker 2: in the sanctuary, when I hear your voice in the chorus,
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: we are mutually edified. Granted, we don't always sing well.
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: That's okay. Our singing is imperfect. We sing off key.
• 29:25
  Speaker 2: Our attention span, well, it tends to wander. Even so,
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: let us worship. The sincerity of our worship matters more
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: than the quality. Let's see how inventive we can be
• 29:47
  Speaker 2: in encouraging love and helping out. Not avoiding worshiping together
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: as some do. But spurring each other on. Especially. Especially.
• 29:59
  Speaker 2: As we see the big day approaching. So worship verbally.
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: Worship in community.
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: And then lastly. Worship demonstrably.
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: Let your body express what your heart is feeling. And
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: let your heart be awakened by your body. May the
• 30:22
  Speaker 2: lifting of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: Wrote the psalmist.
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: Because your love is better than my life, my lips
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: will glorify you. I will praise you as long as
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: I live. And in your name, I will lift up
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: my hands. Yes, outward expressions of worship can be used inappropriately.
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: I get that. Some people show off. Some people strut.
• 30:51
  Speaker 2: Some people worship to be seen, but don't let potential
• 30:56
  Speaker 2: abuse preclude appropriate use. Don't let potential abuse preclude appropriate use.
• 31:09
  Speaker 2: Lift your hands. Clap your hands. Bend your knees. Bow
• 31:13
  Speaker 2: your head. Fall on your face. Something powerful happens, dear church.
• 31:21
  Speaker 2: When we worship. Something powerful happened on the day that
• 31:26
  Speaker 2: the soldiers did. Christmas Eve. 1915. World War I was
• 31:35
  Speaker 2: raging in northern France. Frigid temperatures shook the bones of
• 31:43
  Speaker 2: the fighters and bombs shook the soil of Europe. Most
• 31:49
  Speaker 2: of the soldiers were Well, they were kids. Just a
• 31:54
  Speaker 2: year or two removed from their homes. They were young, homesick,
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: longing to be with loved ones. And the guns had
• 32:05
  Speaker 2: blazed for a month. Christmas seemed far away from the
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: blood-soaked land. And yet on one night, one particular night,
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: that Christmas Eve night, across from the German side street,
• 32:21
  Speaker 2: Of the field came a chorus. Of soldiers voices.
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: Singing.
• 32:28
  Speaker 2: A holiday hymn in German. Sleep my child and peace
• 32:35
  Speaker 2: attend thee. All through the night. Guardian angels. God will
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: send thee all through the night.
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: Soft. The drowsy hours are creeping.
• 32:47
  Speaker 2: Hill and veil and slumber sleeping. I, my loving vigil
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: keeping all through the night. And as the Christ child
• 33:01
  Speaker 2: was honored, the soldiers placed their weapons on the ground.
• 33:09
  Speaker 2: And for a moment in that moment, there was no war.
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: There were no enemies. It was just a song. And
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: what happened next can only be described as a miracle.
• 33:29
  Speaker 2: The night was spent in carol singing. The entire night,
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: the soldiers would sing. At one time, it would be
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: the Welsh soldiers. Another time, it would be the German soldiers.
• 33:45
  Speaker 2: One time, it would be in English. One time, it
• 33:47
  Speaker 2: would be in German. Back and forth. Back and forth.
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: Around dawn. The feelings of goodwill. Emboldened the soldiers. To
• 33:57
  Speaker 2: step up out of their trenches. And walk across. And
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: they shook hands. And then they began. Exchanging gifts. They
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: didn't have much. They had German beer. And sausages. And
• 34:15
  Speaker 2: spiked helmets. They had corned. beef and biscuits and buttons
• 34:23
  Speaker 2: but they gave what they had and they intermingled then
• 34:27
  Speaker 2: all of a sudden a soccer game broke out right
• 34:32
  Speaker 2: there in the middle of no man's land it was
• 34:35
  Speaker 2: awkward it was disjointed it was disorganized there were like
• 34:38
  Speaker 2: 50 on each side but they played soccer And it
• 34:48
  Speaker 2: all began with worship. We can only pray that the
• 34:57
  Speaker 2: worship of God's people to our Heavenly Father will cause
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: weapons to be lowered yet again. Amen. Will cause those
• 35:08
  Speaker 2: who are angry with each other to be at peace
• 35:11
  Speaker 2: with each other. As we lift our hearts and look
• 35:16
  Speaker 2: toward the skies, And thank the prince of peace. We
• 35:21
  Speaker 2: pray that he would bring peace again. So this Christmas.
• 35:27
  Speaker 2: Why don't you give the gift that the angels gave.
• 35:31
  Speaker 2: The gift of grace. Thank you father. Thank you for
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: the privilege of worship. Would you please forgive us for
• 35:40
  Speaker 2: when our hearts are sleepy. Or our minds are distracted
• 35:44
  Speaker 2: because we tend to forget. But would you make us,
• 35:49
  Speaker 2: would you make us into a congregation of worshipers? And
• 35:55
  Speaker 2: may we continually keep our knees bent, our hearts open,
• 36:02
  Speaker 2: and our mouths full of gratitude for all you have
• 36:05
  Speaker 2: done for us. Through Jesus we pray. Amen. Thank you
• 40:41
  Speaker 2: for watching! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
• 43:36
  Speaker 2: Thank you.