WEBVTT

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 Well, as most of you here already know, Advent is that season leading up to Christmas where we prepare our hearts to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

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 And during this season, we often go back, as we were just singing, to reflect on how things were before Jesus came.

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 We think about the darkness. We think about the upheaval.

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 We think about the brutality and the conquest of the years before his first coming.

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 We think about the people of Israel. We think about God's patient love.

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 We remember how time and time again God sent the messengers, prophets, to graciously call the people to repentance.

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 It's all too easy to forget the darkness of those days.

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 I just happened to be in the Old Testament in my Bible reading this past week, and those days were awful.

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 Wicked kings built altars and set up idols to other gods and worshipped them.

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 They even brought some of these idols and altars right into the temple of the Lord.

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 They had male prostitutes in the temple of the Lord.

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 They were sacrificing their children to Baal.

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 The rich and the powerful were brutally oppressing the weak and the poor.

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 And bloodshed and murder was rampant.

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 Finally, God said, enough is enough.

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 They had repeatedly refused to listen to his call to repent that came through the prophets.

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 And so God gave them into the hands of the Assyrian and Babylonian empires.

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 Many who survived went into exile, and they were scattered from their homeland.

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 But God is so rich in mercy and grace and love, even towards sinners like you and me.

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 He brought the children of those who were exiled back to the land of Israel by moving the hearts of the most powerful rulers in the world at the time.

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 And there they were, a small remnant of the people of Israel in the province of Judah,

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 rebuilding Jerusalem and rebuilding the temple of the Lord amidst regional pressures and opposition,

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 like a candle flame shining that just will not be snuffed out.

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 And again, God sent them a prophet, a man named Zechariah, some 500 years before the birth of the Messiah.

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 Imagine yourself there in the streets of Jerusalem,

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 the once glorious city now looking better, but still very much under construction.

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 Feel the anxiety and the uncertainty of those days when a neighboring city or people could just kind of come out armed for battle at any time looking for plunder.

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 And imperial taxes consumed so much of what you had worked for each month.

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 And here's this weirdo, Zechariah, in the midst of all this, saying,

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 This is what the Lord, Yahweh Almighty, says.

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 Rejoice greatly, daughter Zion.

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 Shout, daughter Jerusalem.

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 See, your king comes to you.

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 Righteous and victorious.

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 Lowly and riding on a donkey.

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 On a colt.

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 The foal of a donkey.

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 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war horses from Jerusalem and the battle bow will be broken.

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 He will proclaim peace to the nations.

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 His rule will extend from sea to sea.

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 And from the river to the ends of the earth.

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 This was God's message to the remnant of Israel and Judah 500 years before the Messiah's birth.

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 Rejoice.

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 Shout for joy.

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 Shout for joy.

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 Why?

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 Because, said Zechariah, your king is coming.

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 A king not like the wicked kings of old.

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 This king will be the righteous king.

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 Not like the kings of old who again and again were defeated in battle.

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 This king will be victorious over all enemies.

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 Over all who would dare to come against him.

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 Doesn't that sound wonderful for a people living in dark and dangerous times?

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 And what will this king accomplish?

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 Through him, God will take away the chariots of Ephraim and the war horses of Jerusalem.

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 He will break the battle bow.

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 These words paint a picture of how this king will put an end to war.

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 No longer will there be need for these implements of war because conflict will cease.

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 He, this king, will proclaim peace to the nations.

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 He won't just be a local governor or a regional ruler.

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 He will usher in global peace.

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 His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the river,

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 kind of a reference to the Euphrates in those days,

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 to the ends of the earth.

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 Zechariah appointed the people there in Jerusalem to a worldwide kingdom

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 ruled by this king.

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 What are you picturing as you hear this?

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 Perhaps a legendary conqueror,

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 a man of great military prowess,

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 courage and valor,

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 riding his horse into battle

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 with countless multitudes behind,

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 armed and ready.

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 Is that what Zechariah sees in his vision from God?

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 He says,

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 See,

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 your king comes to you righteous and victorious,

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 lowly,

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 and riding on a donkey.

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 Now, I know this passage is a Palm Sunday favorite.

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 Some of you might think I got the wrong holiday here.

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 But it speaks to Christmas as well.

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 The manner in which this king will come,

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 says Zechariah,

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 will be lowly

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 and peaceful.

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 Not only is this fulfilled as Jesus rides into Jerusalem

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 on that first Palm Sunday,

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 but it's fulfilled in Jesus' birth.

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 Lowly.

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 Jesus came not to the capital city of Jerusalem,

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 but to the lowly Bethlehem,

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 the shepherd's village.

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 He came not to a luxurious palace,

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 but to a stable,

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 because there was no room in the inn.

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 His little crib was not finely crafted of exotic woods,

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 but it was a feeding trough

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 for animals.

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 And his royal birth announcement

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 and first visitors were not kings and rulers,

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 but sheep tenders.

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 It seems that God has had it in his heart

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 to surprise the world

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 and to humble the proud

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 by the way his Messiah came.

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 Lowly.

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 And peaceful.

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 What kind of God is this?

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 This glorious creator

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 promising to bring everlasting peace

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 on earth

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 in such a humble and gentle way.

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 This is one of the many things

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 we celebrate at Christmas.

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 The birth of this very King.

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 Jesus, the gentle and lowly.

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 But there's another way

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 that all this speaks to us today,

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 all these years later.

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 You know, we live in different times,

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 but in some ways

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 the times are similar.

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 We look out into the world

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 and we see all kinds of darkness

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 and upheaval,

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 brutality,

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 and even war in our world today.

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 We look at the news.

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 We lament at how things are going.

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 We look at our government and leaders

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 and we're often left wanting more.

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 We see self-interest.

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 We see hypocrisy and even corruption.

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 We see division in our communities,

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 in our nations,

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 tensions and conflict.

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 We see the vitriol flowing back and forth

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 between people on social media.

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 We see the war

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 between Russia and Ukraine

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 and tensions rising between China

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 and other nations.

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 and I could go on.

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 Again, our hearts are drawn back

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 to these words of Zechariah.

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 We too are waiting for the advent of this King.

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 Not His first coming,

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 but His second and final coming.

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 We're waiting for the day

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 when this baby who was born in Bethlehem,

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 now a man,

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 will return from heaven

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 and establish this peaceful kingdom

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 from sea to sea

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 to the ends of the earth.

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 A glorious global kingdom

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 and not a kingdom won by vicious brutality,

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 treachery, or lust,

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 but a kingdom founded on goodness,

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 righteousness,

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 and love.

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 We are looking for the day

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 when the weapons of war,

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 bombs, missiles, artillery, tanks,

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 will be taken away,

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 broken,

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 never needed again.

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 Do you know that Jesus is the Messiah,

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 the Christ, the King,

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 who will bring this to pass

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 when He returns?

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 This too is a part of what makes Christmas special.

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 It's not just the birth

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 of a good man

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 who died long ago

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 that we celebrate.

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 No.

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 It's the birth of this King,

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 this one,

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 who died, yes,

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 but rose again,

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 who reigns on heaven's throne,

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 and who one day,

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 when He returns,

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 will put our broken world

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 to right.

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 Do you long for the coming

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 of this King,

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 Jesus?

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 Jesus.

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 When Jesus came,

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 His message was this,

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 the time has come.

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 The kingdom of God

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 has come near.

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 Repent

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 and believe the good news.

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 Have you done that?

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 Have you put your hope,

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 your faith,

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 your trust

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 in Jesus,

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 the King?

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 Have you surrendered

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 your life to Him?

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 For when He comes,

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 He will be King.

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 Does He have your allegiance?

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 Let's pray.

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 Father in heaven,

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 we thank You for Your Word,

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 which You spoke long ago,

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 and that even though

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 You said it so many years ago,

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 thousands of years ago,

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 it still speaks to us today.

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 We too are waiting.

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 We too are longing

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 for that day

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 when Your Son will

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 bust through the clouds

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 in glory

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 and bring this world

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 to its grand finale,

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 its good

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 and rightful close.

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 And I pray

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 that in anticipation

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 of that day,

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 each one of us

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 would be ready.

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 Each one of us

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 would have a firm faith

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 in You

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 and know You

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 and be Your servants.

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 I pray that you

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 will find faith

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 here in Davidson

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 on the earth

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 when You return.

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 Bless us now,

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 we ask in Jesus' name.

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 Amen.

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 I'll invite the worship team

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 to come back

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 and we'll sing

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 one more song.

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 Thank you.