WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.339 You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama. 00:00:06.799 --> 00:00:09.359 Our passion is to experience and express grace. 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:10.500 Join us. 00:00:12.640 --> 00:00:16.320 Kids, I'd like to invite you to come on the steps again. 00:00:16.440 --> 00:00:22.080 We've been meeting together and talking about things that get you excited about Christmas. 00:00:23.019 --> 00:00:24.699 Have you all had a good Christmas? 00:00:25.080 --> 00:00:26.019 Who's had a good Christmas? 00:00:26.740 --> 00:00:27.920 You enjoyed celebrating? 00:00:28.140 --> 00:00:28.320 Yeah? 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:29.320 All right. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:32.259 Does anybody know what this is? 00:00:32.439 --> 00:00:33.299 A manger. 00:00:33.460 --> 00:00:34.659 A manger, yeah. 00:00:34.799 --> 00:00:37.539 Of all of the Christmas decorations. 00:00:37.939 --> 00:00:38.079 It's a farm. 00:00:38.399 --> 00:00:40.200 Yeah, it looks like a farm, doesn't it? 00:00:40.399 --> 00:00:40.640 Yeah. 00:00:41.320 --> 00:00:43.840 You know, kids love Christmas decorations, don't they? 00:00:43.899 --> 00:00:48.820 But I think my favorite Christmas decoration has always been manger scenes. 00:00:50.079 --> 00:00:52.620 Adults sometimes call them nativity sets. 00:00:53.359 --> 00:00:56.480 I've heard that some of y'all call them away in the mangers. 00:00:56.859 --> 00:00:58.600 And I think that's a really good name for them. 00:00:58.600 --> 00:01:00.219 And that is very sweet. 00:01:00.679 --> 00:01:00.859 And so… 00:01:00.859 --> 00:01:04.960 I would call it a farm of God. 00:01:04.960 --> 00:01:06.320 A farm of God. 00:01:06.320 --> 00:01:08.359 That's a great way to say it. 00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:09.680 Because you know what? 00:01:10.820 --> 00:01:18.960 If you had one of these, there's one thing that you probably wouldn't expect to find in a stable in a farm, isn't it? 00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:19.659 A farm of a manger. 00:01:20.059 --> 00:01:20.379 Yeah. 00:01:20.539 --> 00:01:22.979 I mean, there's some things that are usually there. 00:01:23.119 --> 00:01:25.879 Like, you think a cow might be in the stable? 00:01:26.199 --> 00:01:26.559 Yeah. 00:01:26.559 --> 00:01:26.899 Yeah. 00:01:26.979 --> 00:01:27.759 Should we put him in there? 00:01:28.179 --> 00:01:31.000 You think there might be other animals on that first Christmas? 00:01:31.099 --> 00:01:32.119 Was there a donkey around? 00:01:32.219 --> 00:01:32.619 Yeah. 00:01:32.620 --> 00:01:33.100 Yeah. 00:01:33.100 --> 00:01:35.420 Mary and Joseph had to ride on something, right? 00:01:35.780 --> 00:01:38.719 So there they'd come on a donkey and then… 00:01:38.719 --> 00:01:39.939 Don't forget baby Jesus. 00:01:40.280 --> 00:01:42.980 Well, we won't forget him, but we're not there yet. 00:01:43.840 --> 00:01:47.719 We got to get the shepherd and the sheep there, right? 00:01:48.200 --> 00:01:50.080 They were all used to being in mangers. 00:01:50.200 --> 00:01:54.159 But what would you almost never find in a stable like this? 00:01:54.920 --> 00:01:56.000 Baby Jesus. 00:01:56.000 --> 00:01:56.599 Baby. 00:01:57.680 --> 00:01:58.079 Nothing. 00:01:58.959 --> 00:01:59.219 Yeah. 00:01:59.379 --> 00:02:07.180 And the baby shows up at Christmas right in the middle of all these people who are usually here is the baby Jesus. 00:02:07.480 --> 00:02:08.960 But not just any baby. 00:02:09.099 --> 00:02:10.000 Baby Jesus. 00:02:10.280 --> 00:02:10.960 You're right. 00:02:11.020 --> 00:02:12.580 It's not just any baby. 00:02:12.699 --> 00:02:14.460 Because babies usually don't come here. 00:02:14.460 --> 00:02:22.099 But baby Jesus reminds us that God shows up sometimes in places where we would not expect him to be. 00:02:22.219 --> 00:02:25.280 And we sometimes forget that he would be there. 00:02:25.360 --> 00:02:25.860 You know that? 00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:28.300 Jesus is with you when? 00:02:28.439 --> 00:02:29.419 Just on Christmas Day? 00:02:30.400 --> 00:02:30.960 When? 00:02:32.020 --> 00:02:34.680 All the time and every day. 00:02:34.939 --> 00:02:36.800 Some of you probably like to draw pictures. 00:02:36.960 --> 00:02:41.080 Maybe some of you will draw a picture while Pastor Will is preaching this morning, won't you? 00:02:41.379 --> 00:02:42.159 Will you draw pictures? 00:02:42.159 --> 00:02:44.420 And you might draw a picture of your family. 00:02:45.159 --> 00:02:48.080 You might draw your parents and your siblings. 00:02:48.819 --> 00:02:53.080 And don't forget to draw God because he's there with your family. 00:02:53.080 --> 00:02:56.120 When you draw a picture of your school. 00:02:56.120 --> 00:02:58.580 You might put classmates. 00:02:59.259 --> 00:03:00.719 You might draw your teacher. 00:03:01.219 --> 00:03:02.719 And you know who else is there at your school? 00:03:03.039 --> 00:03:03.520 God! 00:03:03.580 --> 00:03:07.680 God is there with you at your school all the time. 00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:08.819 He's everywhere. 00:03:08.819 --> 00:03:09.939 He is everywhere. 00:03:09.939 --> 00:03:10.280 He is everywhere. 00:03:10.280 --> 00:03:13.560 He is everywhere at every time and every day. 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:14.299 You're right. 00:03:14.419 --> 00:03:17.259 And I want you all to remember that because that's how much he loves you. 00:03:17.340 --> 00:03:20.479 That he's always with you in everything that you do. 00:03:20.799 --> 00:03:26.340 You may even want when you clean up your Christmas decorations and you get ready to put your nativity set away. 00:03:26.340 --> 00:03:34.200 If your parents let you, you might even leave baby Jesus out in your living room this year to remember that he doesn't leave you, does he? 00:03:34.719 --> 00:03:36.740 He doesn't go away when Christmas is over. 00:03:36.860 --> 00:03:38.659 He's with you everywhere you go. 00:03:39.060 --> 00:03:41.520 And that's what I want you all to remember this Christmas, okay? 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:47.080 Jesus came to be in a place you might not have thought he would be because he is with you everywhere. 00:03:47.740 --> 00:03:48.659 Can I pray for us? 00:03:48.659 --> 00:03:54.620 Jesus, thank you so much that you came to be with us. 00:03:54.819 --> 00:04:03.099 Thank you that you love these kids especially so much that you were born as a baby to be with them, never to leave them. 00:04:03.099 --> 00:04:12.240 And I pray that this year that they would know that you're with them when they go to school and when they play on the playground and when they're running around their house. 00:04:12.359 --> 00:04:18.300 That they would know that you're with them and that you love them and that they would follow you every moment of every day. 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:21.100 And we pray in Jesus' name, amen. 00:04:22.220 --> 00:04:23.860 Thank you all so much for helping me out. 00:04:24.140 --> 00:04:31.580 You can go back to where we were sitting or if you go to kids' worship, you see Miss Beth back there by the door, you can go right back there to Miss Beth and go to kids' worship. 00:04:32.140 --> 00:04:33.520 Thank you all for coming up here. 00:04:34.920 --> 00:04:36.640 It's been a lot of fun to talk with them. 00:04:39.060 --> 00:04:47.740 And to pray for God's work in their lives and for us to see the joy of Christmas in some of these same places that our kids do. 00:04:48.660 --> 00:04:51.420 I'm going to read you something as we get started. 00:04:54.420 --> 00:04:59.540 Those who believe in God can never in a way be sure of Him again. 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:14.080 Once they have seen Him in a stable, they can never be sure where He will appear or to what lengths He will go or to what ludicrous depths of self-humiliation He will descend in His wild pursuit of man. 00:05:14.079 --> 00:05:27.800 If holiness and the awful power and majesty of God were present in this least auspicious of all events, this birth of a peasant's child, then there is no place where we can hide from God. 00:05:27.800 --> 00:05:35.819 No place where we are safe from His power to break in and to recreate the human heart. 00:05:36.120 --> 00:05:40.980 Because it is just where He seems most helpless that He is most strong. 00:05:41.680 --> 00:05:46.439 And just where we least expect Him that He comes most fully. 00:05:48.439 --> 00:05:54.600 Theologian Frederick Buechner wrote that profound reflection in his book, The Hungering Dark. 00:05:54.600 --> 00:06:09.840 God, in His wild pursuit of us and of coming to recreate our hearts, shows up just where we least expect Him. 00:06:10.580 --> 00:06:12.439 Like in the manger. 00:06:12.439 --> 00:06:17.540 A very everyday place for many things to be. 00:06:17.540 --> 00:06:23.540 But perhaps, we think, not for God. 00:06:24.180 --> 00:06:25.740 I mean, the kids knew that, right? 00:06:25.939 --> 00:06:28.220 Not for the baby Jesus. 00:06:31.220 --> 00:06:41.920 Until God Himself humbles Himself and shows up in of all places right there. 00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:58.060 My heart for us this morning, as we move through the end of the Christmas season into a new year, is to wonder for a few minutes, to marvel at this shocking reality of Christmas. 00:06:58.060 --> 00:07:03.660 This incredible display of divine love. 00:07:03.819 --> 00:07:07.220 And that we would just stand back and marvel together. 00:07:07.740 --> 00:07:16.279 And then, that in light of it, we might rewire our expectations for where God might show up. 00:07:17.279 --> 00:07:19.680 Right in our everyday lives. 00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:33.439 Before we leave our Christmas celebrations behind, might the wonder of Christmas and the Christ of Christmas actually come into this next year with us? 00:07:33.879 --> 00:07:35.600 I certainly hope so. 00:07:36.899 --> 00:07:44.939 We'll start this morning with the Christmas story in Luke chapter 2, in which the manger is not incidental. 00:07:44.939 --> 00:07:52.240 Yeah, so I'll admit Jesus wasn't born in the barn behind the local hotel with no vacancy. 00:07:52.639 --> 00:07:54.360 Maybe like we sometimes pictured. 00:07:54.699 --> 00:07:58.980 But the manger part, Luke makes very clear. 00:08:00.040 --> 00:08:01.240 Verse 16. 00:08:01.240 --> 00:08:11.319 They, the shepherds, went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. 00:08:11.319 --> 00:08:22.079 Now, shepherds would have been very familiar with mangers, but they wouldn't have often seen babies there. 00:08:22.540 --> 00:08:23.819 But it's highlighted. 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:29.240 It sticks out in part because that's where the shepherds were sent to look. 00:08:30.079 --> 00:08:33.480 See, manger is in Luke 2 three times. 00:08:34.139 --> 00:08:35.379 Just in a few verses. 00:08:35.379 --> 00:08:36.120 Verse 7. 00:08:36.460 --> 00:08:40.120 Mary places her newborn son in the manger. 00:08:41.320 --> 00:08:42.879 And then verse 12. 00:08:43.240 --> 00:08:48.560 The sign for the shepherds will be the baby in a manger. 00:08:49.080 --> 00:08:56.540 That they go, in verse 16, and find just as promised. 00:08:58.120 --> 00:09:00.340 Well, what's it a sign of? 00:09:00.620 --> 00:09:02.600 The baby in a manger is the sign of what? 00:09:02.600 --> 00:09:13.120 That a Savior, the Messiah, the Lord, will be a baby in a manger. 00:09:13.279 --> 00:09:14.960 That He has arrived on earth. 00:09:15.240 --> 00:09:16.980 That He's in Bethlehem. 00:09:17.200 --> 00:09:20.240 This will be a sign to you. 00:09:21.019 --> 00:09:22.340 What does God make? 00:09:22.460 --> 00:09:26.800 A sign of Himself so that we won't miss His arrival. 00:09:27.080 --> 00:09:28.420 So that it won't be missed. 00:09:28.620 --> 00:09:30.279 Everyone will notice that He's come. 00:09:30.279 --> 00:09:35.879 Will it be a mighty king on a war horse clothed in robes? 00:09:37.139 --> 00:09:37.839 No. 00:09:38.839 --> 00:09:48.059 A tiny baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. 00:09:48.059 --> 00:09:56.339 What an unusual and humble place for a Messiah to be. 00:09:57.259 --> 00:10:01.500 Now, these shepherds likely weren't experts on Messiahs. 00:10:02.359 --> 00:10:07.859 But they knew enough to know that the promised Messiah would be an anointed one. 00:10:08.279 --> 00:10:09.079 A king. 00:10:10.399 --> 00:10:12.719 He was going to be their deliverer. 00:10:13.299 --> 00:10:15.059 He was going to reign in power. 00:10:15.059 --> 00:10:19.759 So undoubtedly, they envisioned someone who would stand out, right? 00:10:20.359 --> 00:10:26.039 Probably physically imposing, socially influential, powerfully arrayed. 00:10:26.039 --> 00:10:27.159 He would look the part. 00:10:29.479 --> 00:10:36.719 And yet they're told what they should look for is a baby in a manger. 00:10:36.720 --> 00:10:44.300 To look in a place they were quite familiar with, part of their everyday world, but usually full of animal food. 00:10:45.200 --> 00:10:47.300 Not babies. 00:10:49.940 --> 00:10:58.000 We should probably be getting the idea already at this point in the story that this Messiah is going to upset a lot of expectations. 00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:03.340 He'll have a kingdom, sure enough, but not of this world. 00:11:04.460 --> 00:11:11.100 He'll have power, sure enough, but he'll use it to help others, not to elevate himself. 00:11:12.200 --> 00:11:18.919 He'll go to Jerusalem, sure enough, the place for any with religious or political aspirations. 00:11:18.919 --> 00:11:25.000 But he'll go there to suffer and die. 00:11:27.000 --> 00:11:30.799 Part of Christ's humiliation is that he was born. 00:11:31.939 --> 00:11:34.740 And that in a low condition. 00:11:35.539 --> 00:11:39.959 Living in this world of pain and brokenness under the law. 00:11:39.960 --> 00:11:48.500 See, he's showing us that the Messiah has indeed come to seek and to save, but not necessarily the most impressive draft picks. 00:11:48.639 --> 00:11:50.900 The most spiritual lot. 00:11:51.100 --> 00:11:54.100 The top performing pillars of the community. 00:11:54.920 --> 00:11:58.160 Now he's come to seek and save shepherds. 00:11:59.220 --> 00:11:59.759 Sinners. 00:12:00.700 --> 00:12:01.259 Gentiles. 00:12:01.700 --> 00:12:02.519 Tax collectors. 00:12:03.180 --> 00:12:06.840 Scum of the earth, we might say colloquially these days. 00:12:06.840 --> 00:12:17.879 The lost, the sick, the weak, the foolish, ordinary, everyday, nobodies who are precious to him. 00:12:18.220 --> 00:12:20.060 That's who he's come for. 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:24.800 Is there any length to which God will not go? 00:12:25.220 --> 00:12:29.740 Is there anywhere too humble or too lowly for him? 00:12:30.900 --> 00:12:36.180 The birth of the Messiah in a manger says no way. 00:12:36.179 --> 00:12:38.559 Even to you. 00:12:39.059 --> 00:12:43.500 To you who feel unworthy or lowly. 00:12:44.639 --> 00:12:46.459 He comes down to you. 00:12:46.699 --> 00:12:50.279 However far you feel like that is, he comes there. 00:12:50.359 --> 00:12:56.819 In fact, just where he seems most helpless, he is most strong. 00:12:57.879 --> 00:12:58.639 I love that. 00:13:00.039 --> 00:13:02.519 A similar point being made in John chapter 1. 00:13:02.519 --> 00:13:06.120 I want to reflect on verse 14 for a couple of minutes. 00:13:08.699 --> 00:13:12.559 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. 00:13:13.100 --> 00:13:14.659 And we have seen his glory. 00:13:14.939 --> 00:13:20.399 Glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 00:13:20.960 --> 00:13:23.740 The Word became flesh. 00:13:24.899 --> 00:13:25.620 Unbelievable. 00:13:25.620 --> 00:13:28.620 Like really, actually unbelievable. 00:13:29.740 --> 00:13:33.120 The religious in this day, they didn't have a category for this. 00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:39.240 The logos, the Word, for them, in their minds it was central to everything. 00:13:39.240 --> 00:13:41.240 God's creative power. 00:13:41.240 --> 00:13:41.879 God's creative power. 00:13:42.080 --> 00:13:44.600 His divine eternality. 00:13:45.019 --> 00:13:48.080 That he always existed and always would exist. 00:13:48.419 --> 00:13:49.960 Their only hope. 00:13:51.100 --> 00:13:54.180 But of all things, certainly not human. 00:13:55.180 --> 00:13:56.240 Not fleshly. 00:13:57.299 --> 00:13:59.440 Not with us or we'll die. 00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:04.640 On the other hand, the religious didn't have a category for it either. 00:14:04.960 --> 00:14:08.460 The logos was in their minds as well, central to everything. 00:14:08.780 --> 00:14:10.220 A great life principle. 00:14:10.700 --> 00:14:12.040 The goal of existence. 00:14:12.320 --> 00:14:13.540 The highest ideal. 00:14:13.820 --> 00:14:15.680 That's how they talked about logos. 00:14:17.220 --> 00:14:21.120 But certainly apart from and outside this world. 00:14:21.320 --> 00:14:24.060 Not something that we could personally encounter. 00:14:24.200 --> 00:14:25.120 Absolutely not. 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:32.279 The one place you would not expect the logos, the Word, to be found is in a human body. 00:14:33.879 --> 00:14:34.659 So ordinary. 00:14:35.379 --> 00:14:39.820 So beneath his majesty, however you understood it. 00:14:41.060 --> 00:14:45.759 And yet, that is the wonder of the incarnation, isn't it? 00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:56.019 God takes on flesh, wraps himself, as it were, in our frailty and walks on the very dust he created. 00:14:57.259 --> 00:14:59.100 Theologian J.I. Packer writes, 00:14:59.580 --> 00:15:03.960 The Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, 00:15:04.899 --> 00:15:09.679 needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child. 00:15:10.860 --> 00:15:14.679 The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. 00:15:14.679 --> 00:15:21.120 Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as the truth of the incarnation. 00:15:22.759 --> 00:15:25.719 Truth, stranger than fiction, he says. 00:15:26.079 --> 00:15:27.839 No one would have come up with this. 00:15:27.919 --> 00:15:29.459 Nobody would have made it up this way. 00:15:29.879 --> 00:15:33.059 How is God going to accomplish his mission in the world? 00:15:33.339 --> 00:15:35.679 How will he come and rescue his creation? 00:15:36.359 --> 00:15:37.539 Anybody have any ideas? 00:15:37.959 --> 00:15:40.639 Well, certainly not by entering into it. 00:15:41.079 --> 00:15:42.819 That is preposterous. 00:15:42.820 --> 00:15:45.860 That is not even something that would cross anyone's minds. 00:15:46.620 --> 00:15:49.180 That is where the problem is in his creation. 00:15:49.320 --> 00:15:51.560 That is where the pain is, the mess is. 00:15:51.660 --> 00:15:53.440 God will stay away from that. 00:15:55.480 --> 00:16:03.940 And yet, he dwells for a while among us. 00:16:03.940 --> 00:16:12.300 He comes in flesh. 00:16:12.300 --> 00:16:15.000 Inside time. 00:16:15.380 --> 00:16:17.580 Within human limitations. 00:16:18.100 --> 00:16:20.680 And dwells among us. 00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:25.140 He knows what it's like to feel aches and pains. 00:16:25.139 --> 00:16:32.740 He knows what it's like to wake up with such deep sadness that you just aren't sure you can go on. 00:16:34.379 --> 00:16:37.799 He knows what it's like to have people let you down. 00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:40.240 And no one let you in. 00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:52.279 And he could have, unlike you, theoretically avoided all of those awful experiences. 00:16:53.399 --> 00:16:54.519 But he didn't. 00:16:55.060 --> 00:16:57.980 The word became flesh. 00:16:58.240 --> 00:17:02.600 Where we least expected him, he showed up most fully. 00:17:02.600 --> 00:17:07.339 Not just a bit of God, but his full glory. 00:17:07.660 --> 00:17:08.819 Full of grace. 00:17:09.220 --> 00:17:10.620 Full of truth. 00:17:11.059 --> 00:17:15.660 All the perfection of the perfect God. 00:17:16.160 --> 00:17:20.519 The radiance of his glory that used to kill anyone who looked at it. 00:17:20.519 --> 00:17:29.079 The incomprehensible combination of utter grace and absolute truth brought together. 00:17:30.639 --> 00:17:32.539 Sitting beside you in school. 00:17:34.680 --> 00:17:36.720 Working with wood in his dad's shop. 00:17:36.819 --> 00:17:39.500 Building your cabinets and pulling a splinter out of his finger. 00:17:41.519 --> 00:17:44.519 Crying next to you at a funeral. 00:17:47.339 --> 00:17:48.740 You're not alone. 00:17:48.740 --> 00:17:50.740 Ever. 00:17:51.740 --> 00:17:52.839 No matter where you go. 00:17:53.339 --> 00:17:54.299 No matter what happens. 00:17:54.819 --> 00:17:55.620 You're not alone. 00:17:55.880 --> 00:17:58.420 What great comfort is there in that? 00:17:59.039 --> 00:18:00.480 The word became flesh. 00:18:02.079 --> 00:18:05.039 If, like me, you've got some questions for God. 00:18:05.400 --> 00:18:10.240 You know, some things you just can't wrap your mind or perhaps your heart around about him. 00:18:10.900 --> 00:18:11.680 That's okay. 00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:13.819 This is a good place for questions. 00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:15.700 God loves to hear them. 00:18:15.819 --> 00:18:17.539 I want you to know it's okay to have them. 00:18:17.539 --> 00:18:19.359 I also want you to know this. 00:18:20.319 --> 00:18:22.139 He has entered your world. 00:18:23.420 --> 00:18:26.579 It's not the way we sometimes think that he's far off. 00:18:26.619 --> 00:18:28.480 He's actually very near. 00:18:28.879 --> 00:18:35.339 Whatever that we struggle to comprehend, we can trust him for because he's hurt with us. 00:18:35.339 --> 00:18:40.139 He's not hiding far off in divine safety, protected from all the struggle. 00:18:40.279 --> 00:18:44.399 He has entered into the confusing struggle with us. 00:18:44.500 --> 00:18:46.779 The one you're living in right now. 00:18:46.779 --> 00:18:53.839 It is hard to wrap our minds around the reality that God wrapped himself in flesh. 00:18:53.839 --> 00:19:03.299 Thou who art God, beyond all praising, all for love's sake, becamest man. 00:19:03.299 --> 00:19:25.440 One more meditation on this theme from Philippians chapter 2. 00:19:25.440 --> 00:19:35.299 Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 00:19:35.820 --> 00:19:44.960 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of man. 00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:51.180 This is the first verse of that great Christmas hymn DJ just sang. 00:19:51.840 --> 00:19:58.480 Thou who wast rich beyond all splendor, all for love's sake becamest poor. 00:19:59.279 --> 00:20:02.960 Thrones for a manger didst surrender. 00:20:03.480 --> 00:20:06.480 Sapphire paved courts for stable floor. 00:20:06.960 --> 00:20:13.940 Thou who wast rich beyond all splendor, all for love's sake becamest poor. 00:20:14.960 --> 00:20:19.620 Jesus didn't cling to the thrones and the glories of heaven. 00:20:19.779 --> 00:20:23.000 No, he laid them aside to come to earth. 00:20:23.259 --> 00:20:26.519 In fact, to become a servant. 00:20:28.100 --> 00:20:28.940 A servant. 00:20:30.660 --> 00:20:33.819 Kings in this day, and I think it's fair to say still to this day, 00:20:33.880 --> 00:20:36.579 they're not known for their humble service, okay? 00:20:36.880 --> 00:20:40.000 That may be the understatement of the year coming in right at the end. 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:49.880 But the one who is king of kings over all of creation with power and glory beyond any other ruler 00:20:49.880 --> 00:20:52.460 comes as we would least expect him. 00:20:53.220 --> 00:21:02.539 The king of creation becomes its servant to redeem and restore rebellious subjects and a groaning kingdom. 00:21:02.539 --> 00:21:09.019 In fact, he would take this humiliation to an unheard of level, 00:21:09.519 --> 00:21:14.759 to the point of death on a cross. 00:21:16.740 --> 00:21:20.700 You all know most kings demand their subjects give their lives for them 00:21:20.700 --> 00:21:24.039 to protect the king and the king's life. 00:21:24.039 --> 00:21:32.379 This king gives his life for his subjects to protect them, to give them life. 00:21:32.599 --> 00:21:33.659 What a servant! 00:21:34.259 --> 00:21:35.200 Unlike any other. 00:21:37.259 --> 00:21:38.019 I mean, think about it. 00:21:38.059 --> 00:21:45.259 Is there anywhere that you would less expect to find the Lord and giver of life 00:21:45.259 --> 00:21:50.960 than in a tomb wrapped in grave clothes? 00:21:53.319 --> 00:21:54.779 And yet there he is. 00:21:56.960 --> 00:21:58.180 For our sakes. 00:21:59.019 --> 00:22:02.299 All for love's sake. 00:22:04.140 --> 00:22:08.059 Most nations have one king and lots of servants. 00:22:08.759 --> 00:22:12.680 Plenty of people to do the dirty work so the king never has to, right? 00:22:12.740 --> 00:22:13.519 That's the idea. 00:22:13.519 --> 00:22:18.079 And yet our king is among us as one who serves. 00:22:18.440 --> 00:22:23.559 Who came not to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many. 00:22:23.700 --> 00:22:27.779 Who showed his love for us by washing our dirty feet. 00:22:30.299 --> 00:22:36.019 And so the shepherds run to an ordinary, everyday manger 00:22:36.019 --> 00:22:40.319 filled with an ordinary, everyday body 00:22:40.319 --> 00:22:45.059 belonging to an ordinary, everyday servant 00:22:45.059 --> 00:22:51.039 and they find God himself. 00:22:51.039 --> 00:23:02.200 Where else will we find the holiness and awful power and majesty of God to show up? 00:23:02.599 --> 00:23:11.359 Or better yet, if he's there in that manger, where would we not now expect him to show up? 00:23:11.359 --> 00:23:19.899 This is the way God operates over and over throughout the story, showing up in our everyday lives, right? 00:23:20.179 --> 00:23:23.959 Moses is tending sheep just like every other day in the desert 00:23:23.959 --> 00:23:30.299 when God shows up in a burning bush with a shocking calling, a redemptive mission for him. 00:23:30.299 --> 00:23:36.980 When a broken and lonely woman is taking her daily walk to get water, 00:23:37.980 --> 00:23:43.799 Jesus shows up to talk with her and to transform her life and her community. 00:23:44.279 --> 00:23:49.240 When Saul is on his daily journey to yet another city where he's going to kill some Christians, 00:23:49.240 --> 00:23:56.380 this time it's Damascus, God shines in an interruption, a name change, and a new mission for Paul. 00:23:57.400 --> 00:24:03.440 See, he's the God who all the way back in the Old Testament tells us to teach our kids about him, right? 00:24:03.839 --> 00:24:04.359 How's that? 00:24:04.559 --> 00:24:06.180 Is it in one grand presentation? 00:24:06.940 --> 00:24:11.299 I sure hope Julia remembers her baptism this morning because we're not going to talk about it again. 00:24:11.920 --> 00:24:14.180 Is it in just a once a week kind of thing? 00:24:14.180 --> 00:24:21.460 No, this God says every day when we sit, when we walk, when we lie down, when we rise, 00:24:21.660 --> 00:24:24.259 whether it's on your bodies, whether it's on your homes, 00:24:24.519 --> 00:24:28.820 wherever that we can write the truth about him on our hearts, 00:24:28.860 --> 00:24:33.620 it is to be an everyday experience that we're saying over and over, 00:24:33.720 --> 00:24:35.420 look kids, God is here with us. 00:24:35.720 --> 00:24:37.720 Look kids, God is here with us. 00:24:37.940 --> 00:24:42.019 Look kids, this is what God is like and how he loves us every day. 00:24:42.019 --> 00:24:51.839 He loves to show up in the lives of those who are alone, overwhelmed, ashamed of their sinful failures. 00:24:52.240 --> 00:24:56.720 The people you'd least expect to see God do something, earth shattering through, 00:24:56.839 --> 00:25:05.180 and then bam, God shows up with grace for the failure, with strength for the weak and the weary. 00:25:05.879 --> 00:25:08.420 And if you didn't see it coming, and he showed up. 00:25:08.420 --> 00:25:15.480 When we work, wherever, wherever he takes us each day, he says that he sees us, 00:25:15.720 --> 00:25:19.560 that we're to work not for the eyes of man, the approval of a boss, 00:25:19.700 --> 00:25:26.000 but for the eyes of God who shows up to work powerfully in our mundane faithfulness, 00:25:26.039 --> 00:25:29.000 who says he sees what is done in secret that nobody else sees, 00:25:29.080 --> 00:25:33.580 but he sees you, and he loves you, and he's working right there. 00:25:33.579 --> 00:25:37.039 That's what I want you to leave thinking about today. 00:25:38.659 --> 00:25:40.859 Don't let Christmas be over, 00:25:41.199 --> 00:25:46.980 and Jesus get put away from your life with the nativity sets until early December next year. 00:25:49.439 --> 00:25:52.480 As you clean up from Christmas, maybe, this year, 00:25:52.879 --> 00:25:53.279 think, 00:25:54.679 --> 00:25:57.299 Jesus enters our world. 00:25:57.299 --> 00:26:02.019 Where is God going to show up in my life? 00:26:02.399 --> 00:26:04.599 Right in the everyday this next year, 00:26:04.680 --> 00:26:06.700 where might he show up? 00:26:08.099 --> 00:26:11.859 My prayer is that each of us will take the wonder of Christmas, 00:26:12.079 --> 00:26:15.039 the Messiah in a manger. 00:26:16.519 --> 00:26:20.440 The Word become flesh. 00:26:20.440 --> 00:26:25.480 The King become a servant. 00:26:26.440 --> 00:26:29.539 That we'll take that wonder into 2025. 00:26:30.720 --> 00:26:35.580 You can count on God's Word always pointing you to the wonder of that Savior, 00:26:35.740 --> 00:26:39.039 whether you read along with us or on your own every day, 00:26:39.120 --> 00:26:40.100 you can count on that. 00:26:40.480 --> 00:26:41.779 Maybe to help your kids, 00:26:41.900 --> 00:26:46.460 baby Jesus does stay out in his manger in your living room this year 00:26:46.460 --> 00:26:48.519 as a reminder that God's there. 00:26:48.519 --> 00:26:52.619 Or maybe you do something silly like set an alarm on your phone every day 00:26:52.619 --> 00:26:54.599 for the same random time. 00:26:54.819 --> 00:26:57.139 Like, I don't know, pick a Scripture reference. 00:26:57.299 --> 00:27:01.799 2.16 in the afternoon for Luke 2.16 that says manger. 00:27:02.599 --> 00:27:03.839 Or Emmanuel. 00:27:04.200 --> 00:27:05.359 And every day it goes off, 00:27:05.420 --> 00:27:08.379 and you stop every day to remember you're not alone. 00:27:09.500 --> 00:27:10.599 And to see God. 00:27:10.920 --> 00:27:13.379 Where is he in my everyday right now? 00:27:14.879 --> 00:27:16.799 Some of us have already started. 00:27:16.799 --> 00:27:18.480 I know this stresses some of you out, 00:27:18.559 --> 00:27:20.240 but some of us like to plan ahead, 00:27:20.319 --> 00:27:22.940 and so we've already pulled out a 2025 calendar 00:27:22.940 --> 00:27:25.379 to put some dates on it. 00:27:25.399 --> 00:27:26.599 That's coming this week, 00:27:26.639 --> 00:27:28.159 and that's stressful for some of you. 00:27:28.240 --> 00:27:30.619 I know you want to enjoy Christmas a little longer, 00:27:30.740 --> 00:27:32.159 but when you get to the calendar, 00:27:32.240 --> 00:27:34.279 even if it's three weeks from now, okay, 00:27:35.720 --> 00:27:38.079 maybe somewhere on each page, 00:27:38.180 --> 00:27:39.259 you draw a little manger 00:27:39.259 --> 00:27:42.159 on your calendar, 00:27:42.279 --> 00:27:42.859 on your planner, 00:27:43.000 --> 00:27:43.720 whatever it is, 00:27:43.720 --> 00:27:45.500 as a reminder. 00:27:46.039 --> 00:27:47.059 Whatever helps you, 00:27:47.120 --> 00:27:48.440 I'm not hung up on that. 00:27:48.700 --> 00:27:50.980 I want you to remember the truth. 00:27:51.240 --> 00:27:53.180 This is the truth you need to live in this year. 00:27:53.559 --> 00:27:55.059 Nothing on your calendar. 00:27:55.559 --> 00:27:56.779 No place you'll go, 00:27:57.120 --> 00:27:58.480 no event you'll attend, 00:27:58.799 --> 00:28:00.279 no plans that you have 00:28:00.279 --> 00:28:03.279 is safe from God showing up. 00:28:03.799 --> 00:28:06.539 From him showing up to do his work, 00:28:06.600 --> 00:28:07.400 to do what he does, 00:28:07.519 --> 00:28:10.740 which is to break and recreate your heart 00:28:10.740 --> 00:28:12.259 and others' hearts. 00:28:12.400 --> 00:28:13.779 He might show up right there 00:28:13.779 --> 00:28:15.200 in that event that you've already put 00:28:15.200 --> 00:28:16.099 on the calendar, 00:28:16.259 --> 00:28:17.700 and that's scary, isn't it? 00:28:17.920 --> 00:28:18.839 That he might show up 00:28:18.839 --> 00:28:19.960 and might break my heart 00:28:19.960 --> 00:28:21.160 where I don't expect it, 00:28:22.299 --> 00:28:25.180 but he always is putting you back together too. 00:28:25.519 --> 00:28:26.500 So it's scary, 00:28:26.599 --> 00:28:28.059 but it is really exciting. 00:28:28.420 --> 00:28:30.339 I hope that you can go into every day this year 00:28:30.339 --> 00:28:31.460 with that kind of excitement, 00:28:31.720 --> 00:28:33.620 that God is going to be here with me 00:28:33.620 --> 00:28:35.059 in this everyday moment. 00:28:35.359 --> 00:28:37.299 He's with you because he's for you. 00:28:37.519 --> 00:28:38.920 He's working in you, 00:28:38.920 --> 00:28:41.400 and he's working through you all the time. 00:28:42.920 --> 00:28:44.220 Some of you shared recently 00:28:44.220 --> 00:28:45.700 at our Thanksgiving service 00:28:45.700 --> 00:28:47.460 about how God has met you 00:28:47.460 --> 00:28:49.600 in life and death situations. 00:28:50.580 --> 00:28:52.240 He's met you in cancer treatments. 00:28:53.720 --> 00:28:56.220 He's met you in painful moments of parenting. 00:28:58.259 --> 00:28:59.940 Whatever you're going through today, 00:29:00.600 --> 00:29:03.120 God will show up. 00:29:03.340 --> 00:29:04.779 You can ask him right now. 00:29:04.860 --> 00:29:06.279 You can stop listening right now 00:29:06.279 --> 00:29:06.720 and just say, 00:29:06.779 --> 00:29:08.060 God, please show up. 00:29:08.059 --> 00:29:09.779 I need you right where I am today. 00:29:12.200 --> 00:29:13.480 A 90-year-old woman 00:29:13.480 --> 00:29:15.079 who was familiar with God 00:29:15.079 --> 00:29:18.000 walked into our grief group 00:29:18.000 --> 00:29:19.960 gathering just a couple weeks ago. 00:29:20.639 --> 00:29:22.099 She kind of wandered in late. 00:29:22.339 --> 00:29:23.779 We were in the middle of conversation, 00:29:24.079 --> 00:29:26.059 but after sitting there 00:29:26.059 --> 00:29:26.879 for a couple of minutes, 00:29:27.019 --> 00:29:28.519 she shared that she had just 00:29:28.519 --> 00:29:31.039 not long ago lost her husband. 00:29:31.039 --> 00:29:34.359 But after she shared that, 00:29:34.539 --> 00:29:36.500 she pretty quickly said, 00:29:36.559 --> 00:29:36.759 you know, 00:29:37.099 --> 00:29:38.500 do y'all ever wonder 00:29:38.500 --> 00:29:40.779 if you'll go to the same place 00:29:40.779 --> 00:29:42.559 that your spouse went to 00:29:42.559 --> 00:29:43.559 when he died? 00:29:45.019 --> 00:29:45.339 I mean, 00:29:45.440 --> 00:29:47.099 does anybody else wonder this? 00:29:47.180 --> 00:29:47.460 Because 00:29:47.460 --> 00:29:50.519 he was just such a good man. 00:29:51.220 --> 00:29:52.940 He taught Sunday school 00:29:52.940 --> 00:29:53.740 at church for years. 00:29:53.799 --> 00:29:55.519 He was always kind to everybody, 00:29:55.519 --> 00:29:57.259 and I've just been really struggling 00:29:57.259 --> 00:29:58.220 with him. 00:29:58.259 --> 00:30:01.119 Am I going to go to the same place 00:30:01.119 --> 00:30:01.819 that he is? 00:30:01.879 --> 00:30:02.900 Because I don't feel like 00:30:02.900 --> 00:30:03.879 I'm as good as him. 00:30:07.259 --> 00:30:09.099 In a beautiful God moment, 00:30:09.339 --> 00:30:10.140 Martha Brady 00:30:10.140 --> 00:30:12.759 got to remind her neighbor 00:30:12.759 --> 00:30:15.420 of the good news of Christmas, 00:30:15.420 --> 00:30:17.500 that she was struggling 00:30:17.500 --> 00:30:19.539 to apply in her everyday grief. 00:30:19.619 --> 00:30:20.660 It was something she knew, 00:30:20.660 --> 00:30:22.140 but she'd forgotten. 00:30:22.640 --> 00:30:23.900 God's not looking for you 00:30:23.900 --> 00:30:25.640 to perform your way up to him. 00:30:25.880 --> 00:30:27.880 He's come down to you. 00:30:28.500 --> 00:30:28.860 And in fact, 00:30:28.920 --> 00:30:29.820 he met us right 00:30:29.820 --> 00:30:31.460 in that everyday conversation 00:30:31.460 --> 00:30:32.780 in a retirement home, 00:30:33.040 --> 00:30:34.220 and we got to celebrate 00:30:34.220 --> 00:30:35.480 his grace together. 00:30:37.100 --> 00:30:38.180 I've told you before 00:30:38.180 --> 00:30:39.060 of Susanna Wesley. 00:30:39.940 --> 00:30:42.840 Number 25 of 25 kids. 00:30:42.920 --> 00:30:43.580 Can you imagine? 00:30:44.019 --> 00:30:45.780 I don't know how forgotten she felt, 00:30:46.100 --> 00:30:46.860 but she grew up 00:30:46.860 --> 00:30:48.320 to have 19 of her own. 00:30:49.200 --> 00:30:51.380 Lost several of them in infancy, 00:30:51.840 --> 00:30:53.040 but there were still many 00:30:53.039 --> 00:30:54.339 running around all the time, 00:30:54.440 --> 00:30:55.460 and God met her 00:30:55.460 --> 00:30:56.720 when she was overwhelmed. 00:30:57.059 --> 00:30:57.960 She would famously 00:30:57.960 --> 00:30:59.779 throw her apron over her head, 00:30:59.920 --> 00:31:00.779 and her kids knew 00:31:00.779 --> 00:31:01.879 that meant leave her alone. 00:31:02.159 --> 00:31:03.720 She was talking with God. 00:31:04.480 --> 00:31:05.480 They were talking, 00:31:05.659 --> 00:31:06.559 and we would talk 00:31:06.559 --> 00:31:07.899 when they were finished. 00:31:09.000 --> 00:31:10.299 Right in the midst 00:31:10.299 --> 00:31:11.200 of the chaos, 00:31:11.480 --> 00:31:13.139 there was God. 00:31:13.559 --> 00:31:14.920 And two of Susanna's boys, 00:31:15.200 --> 00:31:16.000 John and Charles, 00:31:16.079 --> 00:31:17.799 grew up to found Methodism 00:31:17.799 --> 00:31:18.899 and share the gospel 00:31:18.899 --> 00:31:20.500 with people around the world 00:31:20.500 --> 00:31:22.579 and leave us beautiful songs 00:31:22.579 --> 00:31:24.019 of the God who shows up 00:31:24.019 --> 00:31:24.640 in the manger 00:31:24.640 --> 00:31:25.259 like, 00:31:25.579 --> 00:31:28.059 Hark the Herald Angels Sing. 00:31:28.640 --> 00:31:30.000 Veiled in flesh, 00:31:30.380 --> 00:31:31.799 the Godhead see. 00:31:32.200 --> 00:31:34.920 Hail the incarnate deity. 00:31:35.920 --> 00:31:36.940 See, they learned 00:31:36.940 --> 00:31:38.900 that if Jesus came in the manger, 00:31:39.740 --> 00:31:42.579 if Jesus came to the apron, 00:31:43.859 --> 00:31:46.960 he'll come to our everyday lives. 00:31:47.299 --> 00:31:48.160 They knew that. 00:31:48.820 --> 00:31:50.220 See, God's glory and grace 00:31:50.220 --> 00:31:53.420 and truth will show up to you. 00:31:53.620 --> 00:31:55.680 We all need him every day, 00:31:55.800 --> 00:31:58.100 and they'll show up through you 00:31:58.100 --> 00:32:00.300 because we all bear his image 00:32:00.300 --> 00:32:02.960 every day and everywhere we go. 00:32:03.360 --> 00:32:04.080 You've told me 00:32:04.080 --> 00:32:05.000 of how he's shown up 00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:06.660 in performance review meetings 00:32:06.660 --> 00:32:07.300 at work, 00:32:07.400 --> 00:32:08.720 that you were dreading, 00:32:08.779 --> 00:32:09.800 and you ended up getting to care 00:32:09.800 --> 00:32:10.940 for someone who was anxious. 00:32:12.360 --> 00:32:14.080 You've told me about lonely kids 00:32:14.080 --> 00:32:16.060 at school who never expected 00:32:16.060 --> 00:32:17.100 you to sit with them. 00:32:17.099 --> 00:32:20.619 Who then became lifelong friends. 00:32:22.059 --> 00:32:22.959 Moments with someone 00:32:22.959 --> 00:32:23.939 walking in the neighborhood 00:32:23.939 --> 00:32:25.699 or working out next to you 00:32:25.699 --> 00:32:26.599 who all of a sudden 00:32:26.599 --> 00:32:27.699 feels the weight of the world 00:32:27.699 --> 00:32:28.679 crashing in on them 00:32:28.679 --> 00:32:29.539 and finds you 00:32:29.539 --> 00:32:31.000 as the one who can listen 00:32:31.000 --> 00:32:32.279 and pray. 00:32:32.959 --> 00:32:34.219 God shows up 00:32:34.219 --> 00:32:35.000 when you walk 00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:36.099 through the grocery store 00:32:36.099 --> 00:32:36.980 checkout line 00:32:36.980 --> 00:32:38.480 and treat the cashier 00:32:38.480 --> 00:32:40.559 like the image bearer of God 00:32:40.559 --> 00:32:41.199 that they are, 00:32:41.399 --> 00:32:42.619 the eternal being 00:32:42.619 --> 00:32:44.679 full of his image, 00:32:44.680 --> 00:32:45.860 and the earth becomes 00:32:45.860 --> 00:32:46.380 in that moment 00:32:46.380 --> 00:32:47.440 just a little bit more full 00:32:47.440 --> 00:32:49.340 of his glory reflected in us. 00:32:51.039 --> 00:32:52.200 How will you see 00:32:52.200 --> 00:32:54.140 and show his glory 00:32:54.140 --> 00:32:54.799 and grace 00:32:54.799 --> 00:32:55.820 and truth 00:32:55.820 --> 00:32:56.860 this year? 00:32:57.380 --> 00:32:58.840 It's exciting to think about 00:32:58.840 --> 00:32:59.480 because I don't know. 00:32:59.560 --> 00:33:00.660 Maybe you've got some ideas. 00:33:01.200 --> 00:33:02.640 Maybe you don't have an idea. 00:33:02.640 --> 00:33:04.360 Any idea at all. 00:33:05.200 --> 00:33:05.880 That's okay. 00:33:05.880 --> 00:33:08.260 He's usually got 00:33:08.260 --> 00:33:09.220 a much better plan. 00:33:09.320 --> 00:33:10.620 If you'll listen to his word 00:33:10.620 --> 00:33:11.960 and follow it 00:33:11.960 --> 00:33:12.880 to see Jesus, 00:33:13.740 --> 00:33:14.860 he shows up 00:33:14.860 --> 00:33:17.260 wherever you least expect him 00:33:17.260 --> 00:33:19.720 because he's pursuing you. 00:33:19.840 --> 00:33:22.300 Not just 2,000 years ago 00:33:22.300 --> 00:33:22.980 at Christmas. 00:33:23.140 --> 00:33:24.960 He keeps pursuing you. 00:33:25.100 --> 00:33:26.960 Even and perhaps especially 00:33:26.960 --> 00:33:28.840 if you're running away 00:33:28.840 --> 00:33:29.720 from him, 00:33:29.960 --> 00:33:31.520 he is pursuing you. 00:33:31.700 --> 00:33:33.220 Even if you don't want 00:33:33.220 --> 00:33:33.980 to be found, 00:33:34.240 --> 00:33:35.560 he is pursuing you. 00:33:35.559 --> 00:33:36.559 See, he's been 00:33:36.559 --> 00:33:38.139 to the manger, right? 00:33:39.299 --> 00:33:41.179 He won't lose track of you. 00:33:42.259 --> 00:33:44.000 You aren't too far down. 00:33:44.599 --> 00:33:46.399 You're not too far away 00:33:46.399 --> 00:33:46.980 for him. 00:33:47.179 --> 00:33:49.039 You're not too far gone 00:33:49.039 --> 00:33:50.639 for him to get to you. 00:33:50.639 --> 00:33:52.460 He stays with you 00:33:52.460 --> 00:33:54.319 whether you put the baby away 00:33:54.319 --> 00:33:55.919 with your nativity scene 00:33:55.919 --> 00:33:57.079 or not. 00:33:58.200 --> 00:34:00.539 Emmanuel has come 00:34:00.539 --> 00:34:03.000 to stay. 00:34:03.000 --> 00:34:06.640 He's come to make blessing 00:34:06.640 --> 00:34:09.400 flow far as the curse 00:34:09.400 --> 00:34:10.039 is found. 00:34:10.039 --> 00:34:12.159 He's come to raise 00:34:12.159 --> 00:34:13.739 the sons of earth 00:34:13.739 --> 00:34:15.260 with him 00:34:15.260 --> 00:34:17.400 back to the glories 00:34:17.400 --> 00:34:18.260 of heaven. 00:34:18.679 --> 00:34:19.980 Merry Christmas. 00:34:21.059 --> 00:34:22.440 Let's worship him in prayer. 00:34:23.800 --> 00:34:25.219 Jesus, all praise, 00:34:25.380 --> 00:34:26.260 honor, and glory 00:34:26.260 --> 00:34:27.420 be to you. 00:34:27.420 --> 00:34:30.760 the one who is above all 00:34:30.760 --> 00:34:31.840 and yet has brought 00:34:31.840 --> 00:34:33.519 God's presence 00:34:33.519 --> 00:34:34.639 to the lowly. 00:34:35.119 --> 00:34:35.780 Thank you. 00:34:36.680 --> 00:34:38.159 Thank you that you're with us 00:34:38.159 --> 00:34:39.960 never to leave us. 00:34:40.220 --> 00:34:41.460 Emmanuel is not 00:34:41.460 --> 00:34:43.159 a Christmas word alone. 00:34:43.320 --> 00:34:44.460 It is an everyday 00:34:44.460 --> 00:34:45.420 truth 00:34:45.960 --> 00:34:47.340 that we need 00:34:47.340 --> 00:34:48.700 and we love 00:34:48.700 --> 00:34:50.280 and we get to share. 00:34:50.280 --> 00:34:52.980 would you so work 00:34:52.980 --> 00:34:53.560 in us 00:34:53.560 --> 00:34:54.560 that we would live 00:34:54.560 --> 00:34:55.320 every moment 00:34:55.320 --> 00:34:56.140 of every day 00:34:56.140 --> 00:34:56.740 this year 00:34:56.740 --> 00:34:58.540 aware of your presence 00:34:58.540 --> 00:35:00.880 conscious of your power 00:35:00.880 --> 00:35:02.400 and eager 00:35:02.400 --> 00:35:04.019 to proclaim your praise. 00:35:04.920 --> 00:35:06.400 We ask it in Jesus' name. 00:35:07.000 --> 00:35:07.260 Amen. 00:35:08.900 --> 00:35:10.140 For more information 00:35:10.140 --> 00:35:11.400 visit us online 00:35:11.400 --> 00:35:12.440 at southwood.org 00:35:12.440 --> 00:35:22.480 Music