How Christmas Heals Division

Okay, good morning everybody. Great to see you. If you don't know me, my name is Kevin and one of the elders here.

It's great to be with us together this morning.

Now, let's see if you can finish this famous Christmas sentence.

The Christmas sentence goes like this.

Glory to God in the highest and on earth...

Okay, sorry, I didn't hear that. Okay, try that again.

Glory to God in the highest and on earth...

And you got it. Okay, peace and goodwill to all mankind.

Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace and goodwill.

That means kind-heartedness, bigness of heart, generosity of spirit to all mankind.

These famous words are spoken by the angels at the time of Jesus' birth.

There are some shepherds out in the fields outside of Bethlehem.

And an angel comes and says, I bring good news of great joy.

Today, in the city of David, the town of Bethlehem, a Savior has been born.

And he is going to save the world.

You'll find him lying in a manger.

And then all these angels burst into song.

Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace and goodwill to all mankind.

We are three days away from Christmas, which is a wonderful thing.

But we also find ourselves at a time in our city and a time in the history of our city

when peace and goodwill amongst us as a city seems to be remarkably absent.

Not only in our streets and our universities, but also in our homes, around dining room tables.

If there was ever a time when we as a city needed peace and goodwill to all mankind,

this would be a great time.

Now this morning, what I want us to do is I want us to look at the book of Philippians,

which Theo and Janet read to us.

And I want us to see how Christmas gives us the resources that we need

to heal the divisions in our hearts and in our lives.

How Christmas gives us the resources that we need

to heal the divisions in our hearts and in our lives.

Okay, so we've got one point this morning.

That's the one point.

That's all there is.

Okay, let's go home.

No, let's look at the passage and see if we can make sense of this.

So, Theo and Janet read to us this amazing passage from the book of Philippians.

And the book of Philippians is written by the Apostle Paul

while he's under arrest in the city of Rome.

The Apostle Paul is a missionary.

He's a preacher.

He's just left the city of Philippi.

He's on his way back to Jerusalem.

And in Jerusalem, he gets arrested because he's preaching the gospel, etc.

He's disturbing the peace.

And so he has this trial.

And while he's on trial, he says,

I'm a Roman citizen.

I appeal to Caesar.

I want Caesar to hear my case.

And so he gets shipped off to Rome where Caesar is going to hear his case.

And while he's there, he's under arrest for two years in house arrest.

And while he's there, he writes these letters to the various churches

that he started and founded around the world.

And so he writes this letter to this small church in the city of Philippi

that he had just visited recently.

And he writes to encourage them and to strengthen them in their journey.

Now, in the book of Acts, we actually see how this city,

how this church in Philippi founded.

And the way it started was this.

It was Paul and his companions are traveling in the area,

and they don't know where to go.

They try and go up north.

They can't go there.

They try and go south.

They can't go there.

To the west of them is the sea.

And so they stuck.

And one night, Paul has a dream.

And in his dream, this man from the city of Philippi says,

Paul, come over and help us.

And so the next morning, Paul wakes up,

and he says to his companions,

I think God wants us to go to Philippi.

And so they go to Philippi.

And when they get there, they don't know what to do.

They don't have any contacts or friends.

Paul just had this dream.

And so they go down to the river where they expect to meet a bunch of men praying.

Generally, the men would go down and pray at this area.

But they don't find any men praying.

What they find is a businesswoman, a lady called Lydia.

And Lydia is a trader.

She sells cloth and material.

And she's a businesswoman.

And so they start to talk to her about the wonder of Jesus and the gospel.

And she believes.

She becomes a follower of Jesus.

And she gets baptized straight away as a sign of her following Jesus.

And then Paul and his companions spend a few days in Philippi.

And they are followed by this young lady who's a slave girl.

She's owned by some other people in town.

But she is under the controlling influence of a demonic spiritual power.

She's kind of controlled by the spiritual power.

And so she follows Paul and his companions everywhere they go.

And she's calling out saying, these men, they come from the one true God.

They're telling you how to become Christians, how to get saved.

And she's causing problems for Paul and his companions.

Because they're trying to have these real meaningful conversations.

And while they're trying to have conversations with people,

here's this lady that's calling out in the background.

These men are from God.

They've got a message for you.

And Paul gets so annoyed that one day he just turns around and he says,

evil spirit, come out of her.

And she's automatically brought to her senses.

She's no longer under the controlling power of this demonic spirit.

And she's just this normal young lady.

Now, it's possible that she becomes a follower of Jesus.

We don't know exactly whether she became a follower of Jesus.

But the men that owned her are now very upset with Paul.

Because she used to make a lot of money for them as a fortune teller.

She would go around town saying,

here, this is what's going to happen to you.

And he would give money.

And they'd say, Ellen, I'll tell you your future if you give me some money.

And so this lady made a lot of money for her owners.

And now she can't do that anymore.

So the owners go to the magistrate and they say,

these guys, Paul and his friends, are causing trouble in our town.

We better arrest them quickly.

And so Paul and his friends get thrown into jail.

And while they're in jail, they start talking to the jailer.

And the jailer becomes a Christian.

And he starts following Jesus.

And he and his whole family become Christians.

And they get baptized that very day.

And so here you have, in this town of Philippi,

the two founding members of this church,

and possibly a third one.

You have this wealthy businesswoman who's a trader,

and she knows how to make money.

You have this jailer who's pro-establishment,

working for the central government.

Remember, Philippi is a city in the Roman Empire.

He's working for central government.

He becomes a follower of Jesus.

And possibly the third member of the church

is this slave girl who, until recently,

had a demonic spirit controlling her.

Now, I've been thinking quite a lot recently

about church planting.

At Watermark, we've spoken about it for a long time.

And I would love for us as a church

to plant a church sometime in the next couple of years.

To take 20 or 30 people from Watermark

and say, hey, why don't you guys go start

a new church in Hong Kong somewhere?

We'll support you and encourage you.

I love the idea of us planting a new church.

But one of the things I've been thinking about

is how do you get the perfect core team together,

the right team that's going to start off a church,

the team that you can train them and equip them

and are on the same page and think the same way.

Because if you get your core team right,

you have the most chance of success.

Think about the core team of this new church in Philippi.

You have this jailer working for the government.

You have this businesswoman that's a trader.

And you possibly have this lady that was just demon-possessed,

a slave girl, uneducated, who has just been delivered.

One theologian, a common scholar, put it like this.

These early converts were the most diverse

and unlikely group of people with which to ever start a new church.

And so this is how the church begins.

Right from day one, the Philippian church is diverse,

it's multicultural, it's multi-socioeconomic

from different backgrounds, different cultures, different careers,

and they've come together because Jesus has worked in their hearts.

Now, that's a wonderful thing.

One of the most beautiful things about the local church

is its diversity and its complexity

and its multicultural and multi-ethnic component.

The church family is a family, but we're a diverse family.

We're an eclectic family.

And what unifies us as a church is not our personalities or our preferences.

I like the soccer team.

You like the soccer team.

Hey, let's join the same church together.

What unifies us is that Jesus has worked in our hearts.

But that diversity does come with its challenges, right?

There's misunderstanding.

I think one thing.

You think a different thing.

I like this thing.

You like that thing.

I think we should do things this way.

You think we should do things that way.

So our diversity is a beautiful gift, but it does come with complexity.

It comes with challenges.

There can be misunderstanding.

There can be diverse views on how we should do things.

Let's be honest.

It's so much easier just to gather with a group of people

who think like you and talk like you and act like you

and dress like you and are just like you.

But when we come together, diversity brings its challenges.

Friends, isn't this what we see in Hong Kong a bit at the moment?

Diverse opinions, diverse political views,

diverse ways on how the current empire should be handled.

Diversity brings its challenges.

And diverse opinions and views can lead to a lack of peace

and a lack of goodwill amongst all mankind.

When you look at the book of Philippians that was read to us earlier,

one of the things we see is that this church is starting to experience

a little bit of division in the church.

It's not massive.

It's not huge.

But there's people that have got different opinions.

And Paul writes the book of Philippians to them

to encourage them to be unified in their faith.

If you've got your Bible, turn to Philippians,

and you're going to have to follow with me.

There's a couple of verses I want us to look at.

Look at what he says in chapter 1, verse 27.

He says,

Paul's emphasis here is on their oneness,

their oneness of mind, oneness of heart, oneness of unity.

And he says,

Don't be fighting against one another.

It's not me against you.

I want you to be standing next to each other,

shoulder to shoulder, united for the cause of Christ.

He appeals to them to be one.

Look at chapter 2, verse 1 and 2.

He says,

If there's any encouragement in Christ,

any comfort from love or participation in the Spirit,

complete my joy by being of the same mind,

having the same love,

being in full accord and of one mind.

So he says,

My dear brothers and sisters,

I long to hear that you are unified and one

in the way that you are operating together.

Look at chapter 2, verse 14.

He says,

Brothers and sisters,

do all things without grumbling.

Without disputing.

I know there's reason to have differences of opinions,

but try and do things without grumbling

and disputing together.

And then look at chapter 4.

This is a very famous verse.

In chapter 4, verse 2, he says this,

I urge Yodia and I urge Sintiki

to agree in the Lord.

Yes, I ask you, my true brother,

to help these two women

who have contended for the gospel at my side.

Isn't that a remarkable thing?

That for some reason,

God decided to preserve for all time,

for all cultures,

for the rest of time on earth,

these two ladies' names in the Bible

who couldn't get along together

and who are disagreeing.

I'm so glad my name isn't in the Bible.

I'm so glad my name isn't in Paul.

Just Kevin and Theo,

just sort yourselves out

and get along better, right?

And for all time,

everybody's going to know

these two guys.

Paul writes,

and he says,

Dear ladies,

I know you've worked with me.

I urge you to see it out,

to be of one heart and one mind.

Paul writes this very warm and loving letter

to this church

to help them deal with the divisions

and to restore the peace

and the goodwill amongst each other.

Now, here's the question I want to ask you.

Paul writes to encourage this unity.

To what does he appeal?

What is his argument?

What is his flow?

What is his reasoning

that he gives them

why they should be unified

and why they should be humble

and selfless

and serving towards one another?

What's his argument?

Well, look at chapter 2,

verse 3 and 4.

Remarkably,

Paul appeals to Christmas.

He appeals to the Christmas story.

Look at what he says here in verse 3.

He says,

Do nothing from selfish ambition

or conceit,

but in humility,

consider one another's

more significant than yourselves.

Friends,

imagine living in a world like that.

Imagine living in a family

or an office

or a city

in which everybody,

the prevailing decision of our minds

was not what's in it for me,

not how can I advance my cause,

but how can I advance your cause?

How can I help you

succeed in life?

Verse 4,

Let each of you look

not only to his own interests,

but also to the interests of others.

That's a remarkable statement.

Imagine we lived in a world like that

where everybody thought,

It's not about me,

it's about how can I serve your interests?

Verse 5,

The reason why I should adopt this

is because this is the attitude of Christ.

Verse 5,

Adopt the same attitude

as that of Christ Jesus.

This is what Jesus was like

and as followers of Jesus

we are learning to become like him.

Now Paul,

what do you mean

that this is what Jesus was like?

Do you mean that

when Jesus was arrested

he didn't retaliate?

Is that what you mean?

Do you mean when Jesus

was betrayed by Peter

and denied him

that you forgave him?

Is that what you mean?

Well,

those things are coming

but before Paul even gets there

he starts off

with the story of Christmas.

Look at what he says here

in verse 6.

For Jesus Christ

who though he was

in the form of God,

now when it says

the form of God

that doesn't mean

he was like God.

It doesn't mean

he was similar to God.

It means he was

really and truly God.

The NIV says

by very nature God.

So Jesus Christ

who though he was

by very nature God

did not count equality with God

something to be grasped,

something to be seized,

something to be exploited

for his own advantage.

Remember Paul's writing

to Philippians here

and he's encouraging them

because they're tempted

to look at life

through the lens of

what's in it for me.

How can I make the most

of my life?

How can I make sure

that I come out

of this situation on top?

How can I make sure

that I don't suffer

in the decisions

that I make?

And Paul writes

and he says

remember Jesus.

Jesus was God

and Jesus looked

or approached life

though he was equal to God,

though he was God,

he didn't consider

how he can grasp

or seize

or make the most

of his godness.

He didn't hold on

to or take advantage

of the fact

that he is God,

that which he is entitled to,

that which was only

fair and just.

He didn't exploit that

but rather,

verse 7,

he emptied himself.

He emptied himself.

The word empty

doesn't mean

he was no longer God.

It means he deprived himself

of something

that he was entitled to.

Jesus didn't stop

being God or divine

when he was born to Mary

or lying in the manger

outside of Bethlehem,

but he put aside

his glory and his rights

that intrinsically came

with being God.

Remember the wonderful

Christmas carol?

Mild he lays

his glory by,

born that man

no more may die.

And this is Paul's point.

Jesus,

in coming to us

as a man,

in taking on human form,

he emptied himself.

He lay aside

his glory,

taking the form

of a servant

born in the likeness

of humanity.

One theologian

explained it like this.

said equality

with God

is something

that was inherent

to Christ

before he became

a man.

Nevertheless,

Godness,

the fact that

Jesus was God

didn't mean

that Christ

was a grasping,

seizing being

as it would

for the gods

and the lords

of the Philippians world.

It was not something

to be seized upon

to his own advantage,

which is what you

would normally expect

from lordly powers.

Rather,

his equality

with God

found its

truest expression

when he emptied

himself in his

incarnation,

becoming a man.

Friends,

think of,

the last couple of weeks

we've been looking

at the book of Revelation,

right?

And think of the

emperors in the time

of the Revelation.

Domitian,

one of the things,

the laws he passed

was that when he

comes into town,

everybody must say,

Domitian is lord,

Domitian is god.

Think of,

when the emperor

goes past,

everybody bows down

and worships him.

The lords of that day

demanded that you

serve them,

you honor them,

you exalt them,

you lift them up

and you humble yourself

before them.

But what does Jesus do?

Jesus doesn't exalt himself,

he humbles himself,

God becoming man.

Jesus born in a manger

with shepherds and cattle

as his very first observers.

Friends,

do you know the feeling,

what it feels like

when somebody has been

condescending towards you.

Do you know what the word

condescending means?

Condescending means

when somebody treats you

smaller or less worthy

than you deserve.

Somebody speaks down at you.

Maybe you feel like

somebody's speaking to you

and they're treating you

like a child.

I had that recently.

Somebody spoke to me

and I wanted to say,

by the way,

I'm not three years old,

right?

I'm not a child.

You can talk to me as a peer.

Do you know that feeling

when someone's been

condescending towards you?

They make you feel small

or inferior

or unworthy

or they're disrespectful

towards you.

One of the words

that Bible scholars use

for Jesus coming to earth

is his condescension.

Friends,

when Jesus was born as man,

no one was condescending

towards him.

Jesus chose

of his own free will

to condescend,

to be made smaller,

to come down

to our level.

Not because he had to

but because he chose to.

Or maybe think about

what it feels like

to be humiliated.

Have you ever been humiliated?

Treated shamefully

or made to feel

less worthy

than you deserve?

Look at what it says

here in Philippians.

It says,

Jesus embraced

his humiliation.

He humbled himself

taking on the form,

there's our word again,

of the very nature

of a servant.

Friends,

it's remarkable

to think that the God

who made all things,

who brought everything

into existence,

the one who thought

of the molecular structure

that the wood

by which the manger

is created,

in which he's lying,

the God who designed

that and came up with that

and thought of that

in the first place,

this sovereign,

majestic God,

the divine,

infinitely glorious God

would become a baby,

a crying,

helpless,

dependent,

nursing baby.

One Christmas carol

said it like this,

Behold within the manger lies

the one who built

the starry skies,

the one who created

all the universe,

lying in a manger.

And the reason why

is because of his

profound love for us,

because of his love for us.

And friends,

this is the apostle Paul's

encouragement.

Let that soften our hearts.

Let that produce

a gentleness,

a humility in the way

that we deal with

and handle one another

and view our differences.

But that's not all.

Look at what he says

in verse 8.

Jesus becoming a man,

what would he do

with his humanity?

The fact that Jesus

is now a human being,

what would he do?

Would he use his humanity

like a Trojan horse

to crush his enemies?

You know the story

of the Trojan horse?

Some men want to go

and attack the city of Troy,

I think it is.

Is that right?

And they don't know

how to get in there.

And so they build

this majestic horse

and they come to

the city of Troy

and they say,

we've got a present for you.

We have built

a horse in your honor.

But they don't know

that inside this wooden horse

soldiers are hiding.

And so the city of Troy

opens its gates

to welcome in

this big majestic horse

and as they wheel it

into the city center,

all the soldiers

jump out the middle

and they attack

and they defeat

the city of Troy, right?

Is that what Jesus did?

Did Jesus say,

let me hide myself

in a man

and then once I'm a man

I will destroy my enemies.

What did Jesus do

when he became a man?

Look at what verse 9 says.

Verse 8.

Being found in human form,

he humbled himself further,

becoming obedient

to the point of death,

even death on a cross.

You see friends,

the Christmas story

doesn't end

with three wise men

bowing down on their knees

with gold and frankincense

and myrrh.

The Christmas story

doesn't end

with the wise men

hearing that Herod

actually wants to kill Jesus

and so they sneak off

a different way.

The Christmas story

doesn't end

with Joseph and Mary

evading Herod

by running off to Egypt.

Friends,

the Christmas story

ends 30 years later

with Jesus being nailed

to a cross.

Jesus dying

and taking the sins

of the world,

your sin and my sin,

my brokenness

and my self-centeredness,

my guilt

and my shame,

my self-glory

and my pride

and my self-righteousness.

Jesus took it

upon the cross.

Jesus took the very worst

about me

and he took it

on the cross

and there he cried out

and he said

of those that were

hanging in there

and he said of us,

Father,

forgive them.

They know not

what they do.

Friends,

Jesus took upon himself

the sins of the world,

your sin

and my sin

so that we can be forgiven,

acquitted,

set free.

Jesus is in

a magnificent love

for us.

The Christmas story

ends with him

dying on the cross.

Only of Jesus

can it be said

the reason he was born,

he was born in order

that he may die.

And friends,

the degree to which

we see that

and understand that

and feel the graciousness

and the kindness

of Jesus towards us

is the degree

to which we will offer

grace

and compassion

and tenderness

to those around us

when they hurt us

and they let us down

or when we have

differences of opinions.

Said another way,

friends,

the degree to which

I have anger

and bitterness

and animosity

in my heart

is the degree

to which I don't understand

the kindness

and the grace of God

towards me.

Think about how

Peter writes this

in 1 Peter.

He says,

he says,

bless those

that persecute you.

Pray for those

that revile you.

When someone

is evil towards you,

don't be evil back.

Pray for them

and bless them

and love them.

And what's his reasoning?

What does he appeal to?

Why should we do this?

Look what he says

in verse 18.

For Christ suffered

once and for all

the righteous

for the unrighteous

that he might

bring us to God.

Friends,

the reason that we can

respond to antagonism

with grace

and gentleness

is because

once upon a time

Jesus responded

to my antagonism

towards him

with unbelievable

grace and tenderness

hanging on the cross

taking my sin

and my guilt

for me

so that I can

be reconciled

to the Father.

I'm sure many of you

saw this.

In the last year,

there was an amazing story

that came out of the US.

September last year,

September 2018,

a young African-American man,

he's 26 years old,

he's sitting in his apartment block

in Texas.

He's watching TV one night

and a white lady,

an ex-police officer,

comes in the apartment

and shoots him dead.

And what happened

is that this lady

has just come off duty,

she's tired,

she's maybe worked all night,

she comes in the apartment

and she thinks

she's on the fourth floor

of the apartment block

but she's actually

on the third floor.

And so she goes to the door,

she's surprised

that it's not locked,

she walks in

and she sees this man

in her house

and she thinks

he's a burglar.

And so her first instinct,

she reaches for a gun

and she shoots him dead.

And as she sees

what's happened,

she looks around

and she realizes

she's not in her apartment,

she's actually

in his apartment.

And so she's just killed

this innocent man.

And she's panicking,

she phones 911

while he's busy dying,

she tries to get

an ambulance there

and the ambulance

doesn't come in time

and before the ambulance

gets there,

this man dies.

Anyway,

she's obviously guilty,

she hands herself in

and she goes on trial

and she's sentenced,

she's convicted

of manslaughter.

And before she's sentenced,

there is a thing

called a victim impact statement

which means

one of the victims,

someone who's been affected

by the crime,

can speak to the jury

about how this crime

has affected them

so that the jury

can give an adequate sentencing.

And so the victim's brother,

this young man,

he's 23,

24 years old,

he makes this victim

impact statement

and he goes

and he's standing

in the dock

to speak about

how this crime

has affected him

and how he thinks,

you know,

traditionally how the jury

should ramp up the charges

and the sentencing.

And this young man,

he doesn't speak

for very long

but he takes the stand

and this is what he says.

he looks across the room

at this police officer

that's killed his brother

and he says,

if you are truly sorry,

I want you to know

that I forgive you.

I can't speak for others

but speaking for myself,

I want you to know

that I still love you

just the way

I love any other person.

I do not hope

that you rot and die

like my brother died.

Right now,

I want the very best for you.

He says,

I wasn't going to say this

in front of anybody else.

I don't want to see you

going to jail.

In fact,

I want the very best for you

because that's what,

I know that's exactly

what my brother Botham

would want for you.

I think giving your life

to Christ

would be the very best thing

that Botham

would want you to do.

He looks her in the eye

and he says,

I love you as a person

and I don't wish

for anything bad

to happen to you.

And then he turns

to the judge

and he says,

am I allowed to get up

and give this lady a hug?

And the judge

doesn't know what to do.

It's like unprecedented

and breaking

all sorts of conventions

and so there's silence

for a few moments

and he asks her again

and eventually the judge

says,

okay, you can.

And this man gets up,

walks across the courtroom

to this lady

and he gives her this hug

and he says,

there's no bitterness,

all is forgiven.

I'm so sorry

that this has happened

to you.

And you can see

on the video

the judge pulling out

some tissues

and she's just crying

at what she's witnessing

before her.

Now friends,

what led to that?

What motivated

this young man to do it?

When you see the video,

he didn't have a script.

He wasn't premeditated.

He hadn't written out.

He's just sitting there

in the dark

sharing from his heart.

And what he says is,

I don't want anything bad

to happen for you.

I want the best for you.

I love you

and I forgive you.

What causes this young man

to do this?

Friends,

it is that his heart

had been so melted,

so softened

by the love of Christ

towards him

that he looks the person

that killed his brother

in the eye

and he says,

I love you

and I want the best for you.

Now,

we may say,

yeah,

but if we just go around

giving grace

and forgiveness to everyone,

where's justice?

Where's the justice in that?

Someone once said this,

mercy and grace

is like a stick of dynamite

that brings down

the walls of our hearts.

Friends,

mercy and grace

don't deny justice,

but they do rid our hearts

of the anger,

of the resentment,

of the bitterness,

of the hardness

that causes disagreements

and differences of opinions

to become divisive

and damaging.

Friends,

Jesus Christ on the cross,

we see mercy and justice.

Justice because the full weight

of my sin

and your sin

was put upon him.

Justice because the full wrath

and the anger of God

was poured out on him.

justice because none of it

was swept under the carpet.

Every evil thing

that was done,

every bit of wrong

that was done in the world,

every bit of pain

and wickedness

was fully dealt with,

fully punished on the cross.

But on the cross,

we also see extravagant mercy

because on the cross,

God,

there Jesus died

in our place

to take our sin for us

so that we don't need to.

Friends,

where there's division

and disagreement

in the church in Philippi,

where brothers and sisters

can't see eye to eye

and adults couldn't,

young adults couldn't see eye to eye

with their parents.

Paul doesn't write to them

and say,

come on,

you Christians now,

sort yourselves out.

You should be better.

Paul doesn't write to them

and say,

listen here,

.3, .2 of the membership document

says you shouldn't disagree

with one another.

Now just pretend to get along.

What does he do?

He reminds them

of the humility

and the kindness of Jesus.

He says,

Dear brothers and sisters,

do nothing from selfish ambition,

but in humility

count others

more significant

than yourselves.

Lower yourself

and lift others up.

Let each of you

look not only

to his own interests

but also to the interests

of others.

Remembering Jesus,

remembering his condescension,

remembering his humiliation,

remember his coming

to us at Christmas,

remembering his crucifixion

on the cross.

Friends,

this year,

many of us

are going to get

Christmas cards

that say words like

love and peace

and joy and hope

and all these good things.

Where do we get

those words from?

We get them

from the stunning

announcement

of the angels.

Glory to God

in the highest

and on earth,

peace and goodwill

to all mankind.

Friends,

because all this,

because God decided

to become one of us,

to take on human form,

to lay his glory aside,

born that men

no more need to die,

and ultimately

to go to the cross.

Friends,

this Christmas

and this next year,

with all the difficulties

going on in our city,

may the good news

of great joy

melt our hearts,

bring down the walls,

flood us with his grace,

that we too

can offer peace

and joy

and love

and grace

to those around us

and those in our city.

Let's pray together.

Father,

oh, heavenly Father,

we so desperately

need your gospel

to come and take root

in our hearts.

Father,

this Christmas,

we don't just need

to be told

what to do

or how to be nicer

kind of people.

God,

we need the good news

of Jesus

to flood our hearts,

to flood over us again.

God,

we need the kindness

of God

to melt our own hearts.

God,

to bring down the walls

in our lives.

Jesus,

I pray this Christmas

amongst all the festivities,

amongst all the food,

the presents,

the meals,

the hanging out

with friends,

God,

may you,

in the quiet place

of our lives,

may you,

Jesus,

reign supreme,

we pray.

We pray these things

in your wonderful

and your powerful name.

Amen.