Reclaiming The Glory Of Christmas

Well, I don't know about you, but in our house, the Nye household has been pulling out some old favorite Christmas stories, both to watch and to read.

One of my favorites is called Mooseltoe.

Moose and mistletoe.

It's really funny.

You'll have to read it.

It's one of my kids' favorites.

My daughter absolutely adores the nutcracker tale.

But probably my favorite is this one right here, The Grinch.

Anybody like this one?

It's become a cultural classic.

And if you don't know the story, which I'm sure is a minority of you, all the Who's down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot.

But the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville, did not.

And that's how the book starts.

And the Grinch is this horribly mean character who decides that he is going to steal Christmas from the Who's.

And the way he does it is he becomes the anti-Santa Claus.

And he dons a Santa Claus hat and coat.

And he invades their homes.

And instead of giving, he takes.

And he sucks every Christmas tradition, decoration, food, everything out of their house.

Even the log for the fire.

So that the crumbs that he leaves in their houses are much too small for all of their mouths.

And it is a horrible thing to do.

He steals Christmas.

And he loads it all up in his sleigh, pulled heroically by his little dog, Max.

Who knows how he does it.

And he takes it up 3,000 feet up to the top of Mount Crumpet to dump it.

And he is standing there.

And it's balanced on the peak of Mount Crumpet.

And he's ready to shove it over the side.

And he says, poo-poo to the Who's.

He was grinchously humming.

They're finding out now that no Christmas is coming.

They're just waking up.

I know just what they'll do.

Their mouths will hang open a minute or two.

And then all the Who's down in Whoville will all cry, boo-hoo.

That's a noise, grinned the Grinch, that I simply must hear.

So he paused.

And the Grinch put a hand to his ear.

And he did hear a sound rising over the snow.

It started in low.

And then it started to grow.

You've got to love Dr. Seuss.

But the sound wasn't sad.

Why?

This sound sounded merry.

But it couldn't be so.

But it was merry, very.

He stared down at Whoville.

The Grinch popped his eyes.

Then he shook.

And what he saw was a shocking surprise.

Every Who down in Whoville,

the tall and the small,

was singing.

Without any presents at all.

He hadn't stopped Christmas from coming.

It came.

Somehow or other,

it came just the same.

This is when I start to tear up.

Seriously, every time I read this to my kids,

I'm like...

And the Grinch,

with his Grinch feet ice cold in the snow,

stood puzzling and puzzling.

How could it be so?

It came without ribbons.

It came without tags.

It came without packages, boxes, or bags.

And he puzzled three hours

till his puzzler was sore.

And then,

the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before.

Maybe Christmas, he thought,

doesn't come from a store.

Maybe Christmas, perhaps,

means a little bit more.

A little bit more.

If a Grinch came to your house

and sucked all the Christmas traditions,

all the festivities,

the lights,

the cookies,

the decorations,

the activities,

the presents,

the stockings,

sucked them completely out of your house.

Is every physical evidence of Christmas

completely gone?

Would there be any Christmas left?

Another way to ask this,

my wife and I were talking about this the other day,

what is the bare minimum,

the lowest common denominator,

that has to be there

in order for Christmas

to be Christmas?

Is there a center of gravity

to the whole Christmas season

that if you could take it out,

Christmas would just implode

or it would just be an empty shell?

You could almost ask the question this way,

what is the glory

of Christmas?

What is the center of gravity

that weighs it all down?

What's the oomph

of Christmas?

When the Bible uses the word glory

to describe something

or someone,

it's getting at the idea of oomph,

weight,

gravity,

importance,

fullness,

excellence on display.

So what is the weight?

What is the oomph?

What is the excellence on display

at Christmas?

Well,

I'd like to argue this morning

that the glory of Christmas

is this.

The glory of Christmas

is that the fullness

of God's glory

came to dwell

with us

as one of us.

The glory of Christmas

is that the fullness

of God's glory

came to dwell with us

as one of us.

Now,

I don't want you

to move past that

too quickly.

Keep gazing at it.

Look at that baby

in the donkey's feeding trough.

Get it in your mind's eye.

He is the fullness of God

who became a human being

and did not cease

from being God.

Chew on that for a sec.

It's the most weighty,

the most wondrous,

the most meaningful

thing that has ever happened.

God

became

man.

God

and humanity

united

in one person.

The God-man.

And he's right there

in the manger

swaddled

and weak.

All of their glories

fade into the background.

It's staggering.

It jars you

if you let it.

That's the glory

of Christmas.

It's the glory

of history.

But why?

Why

would the fullness

of God's glory

come to dwell

with us

as one of us?

What I'd like to do

with the rest of our time

together

is I want to explore

that question

by

sketching out

the story

of glory

in the Bible.

We're going to do it

in three chapters.

Chapter one

is reflection

and residence.

Chapter two

replacement

and removal.

Chapter three

re-entry

and renewal.

You don't have to

remember that.

We're going to tackle

them one at a time.

I'll be in a couple

different passages

but we're going to

start at Genesis

chapter one.

So if you would

turn there with me.

It's pretty easy to find.

Very beginning

of the Bible.

Genesis chapter one.

Let's explore

this first chapter

in our story

of glory.

Reflection

and residence.

reflection

and residence.

One of the things

that I've had the

privilege of doing

for the most

majority of my

adult life

is teaching

teenagers.

And I've either

been a teacher

or a pastor

and there's a reason

it's a privilege

is because teenagers

although they're

really good at

hiding it

are almost as

curious as my

preschoolers.

They ask

good questions.

Really good

questions.

As long as they

can overcome

the uncoolness

of asking

questions.

And one of the

consistent questions

that I face

as a Bible

teacher or as a

pastor for

teenagers is

why did God

make everything

anyway?

What made him

want to do

this?

Was he lonely?

Was he bored?

It's a great

question.

It's a fantastic

question.

Now I'm not

going to read

the whole

creation account

but what I

want to do

to begin to

answer this

question is

begin to look

at how good

everything is

and then that

will lead us

into the whole

idea of

reflection.

So let's

look at the

beginning of

the creation

account.

Verse 3

God makes

something.

Let there be

light he says

and there was

light and God

saw that the

light was

good.

So what he

does is he

speaks,

creates something

and steps

back and

assesses his

creation and

then he gives

it his quality

control seal of

approval and he

says good.

It's good.

The whole of

creation from

the cosmos to

koala bears is

soaked in

goodness and

not just

impersonal

goodness.

No it's a

reflection of

the goodness of

their creator.

creator.

The whole

created order is

an overflow.

It's a reflection

of the goodness

of the creator.

It's just a

sample of his

creativity, of his

beauty, his

strength, his

majesty, not to

mention his

sense of humor.

I mean who

else would come

up with the

idea of a

three-toed sloth

that moves like

.2 miles an

hour?

Or a flamingo

with ginormous

legs?

psalm 19 sums

it up the best.

The heavens

declare the

glory of God.

The sky above

proclaims his

handiwork.

The universe is

24-7 busy

shouting out the

glory of the

creator, reflecting

his glory.

glory.

It's a spectacle.

It's a lavish

tribute to his

glory.

But wait, there's

more.

Skip on down to

verse 26 and

27 of Genesis

1.

Verses 26 and

27.

Then God

said, let us

make man in

our image after

our likeness.

And let them

have dominion

over the fish of

the sea and

over the birds of

the heavens and

over the livestock

and over all the

earth and over

every creeping

thing that creeps

on the earth.

So God created

man in his own

image.

In the image of

God, he created

him.

Male and female,

he created them.

So here he makes

humans in his

image.

When you look at

a mirror, you

see yourself.

But what you

see is not

you.

It's a reflection

of you.

When God looks

at humans, he

sees a reflection,

a mirror image

of his glory.

Sit and ponder

that one for a

sec.

Every person

that you see,

every person

sitting in this

room, is

is actively

reflecting the

image of the

glory of the

creator.

And we are

not God, but

we image him.

We reflect his

glory in a way

that sloths and

whales and

koala bears, they

can't.

They do exhibit his

glory in many

other ways, but

not in the full

way that we do.

So we are like

walking, talking

mirrors.

And we are

designed to be

glory reflectors,

par excellence,

scattering beams of

his goodness and

his wisdom like

human disco

balls, magnifying,

making known his

glory to all of

creation and to

each other.

But what good is a

mirror unless you're

near it for it to

reflect you?

And now, we've got

the idea of

reflection down.

Let's get to this

idea of residence in

this first chapter.

It's incredible.

Go to the beginning

of chapter 2 in

Genesis.

Let's flip the page

or look across the

page.

Chapter 2.

Thus the heavens and

the earth were

finished, all the

host of them.

And on the seventh

day, God finished

his works that he

had done, and he

rested on the

seventh day from

all the work that

he had done.

So God blessed the

seventh day and made

it holy because on

it God rested from

all his work that he

had done in

creation.

Now, I'm pretty

sure we're all

agreed that God

resting doesn't mean

he sat and took a

breather.

He's God.

He doesn't get

tired.

What does it mean?

Well, it means a

couple of things, but

one of the most

exciting things that

it points to is

this.

Genesis was written

at a time when all

the other pagan

cultures around

Israel worshipped

lots of different

gods and they built

temples for them.

And the way that

these ancient pagan

cultures described

their gods living in

their society,

separate temples,

it would say they

rested in them.

And so that rest

language is pointing

to an idea of a

temple, of a divine

residence.

What's so cool about

this is that this is

saying that God has

just made an entire

universe temple for

him to reside in with

his glory reflectors,

his image bearers,

us, so that we

would be near him,

residing with him,

with his great glory,

reflecting and enjoying

and delighting in him

forever.

God created the universe

and he was

so that brings us

back to the great

question I keep hearing

from teenagers.

Why did God make

everything?

I think we can

summarize it by saying

God created the

universe not only to

be a theater of

reflecting his glory

but also as a temple

in which his glory

could reside and be

with his image bearers

for his glory,

which is, by the way,

our great delight.

That's God's plan.

But tragically, as I'm

sure that you know

all too well, that's

not how the story of

glory continues.

So we're ready for

chapter two.

Replacement and

removal.

Replacement and

removal.

We're going to be in

Romans chapter one,

so sorry for making you

launch all the way

across your Bible.

So back, let's go to

the New Testament,

Romans chapter one.

Matthew, Mark, Luke,

and John are the four

gospels, then go to

Acts, and then Romans

is right after that.

I'll let you have a

second to get there.

One of the most

condemning lines in all

of scripture is found

in Romans chapter one.

And if you found it,

we're going to be in

verses 21 through 23.

We'll start in verse

21.

Romans chapter one,

verse 21.

As I read, listen for

glory language and

image language.

For although they knew

God, they did not honor

him as God or give

thanks to him, but they

became futile in their

thinking, and their

foolish hearts were

darkened.

Claiming to be wise,

they became fools and

exchanged the glory of

the immortal God for

images resembling mortal

man and birds and

animals and reptiles.

Part of the perverseness

of sin is that we would

take his precious glory

that we were designed to

soak in and reflect and

delight in and replace

it.

Replace it with a lesser

glory.

Sin is exchanging the

glory of the undying

eternal God for images

of time-bound mortal

creatures.

Now, Paul here is

describing idolatry.

Idolatry is the

fundamental sin in the

Bible.

It is the unnaturally

natural tendency of the

human heart to get a

glimpse of God's glory in

some created thing that

was meant to reflect him

and point us to him and

say, hmm, there is

something good.

It is created by God to

reflect God's glory and

to inspire me to delight

in him.

But you know what?

I think I will take it,

turn it into God instead,

find my all in all in it

and not in the one who

made it.

It is a classic example

of this in Exodus 32.

You don't have to turn

there.

Let's tell you the story.

God's people, Israel, had

already beheld his glory,

not only in the incredible

rescue from slavery in

Egypt, but also they're

right at the base of

Mount Sinai and God's

visual glory is on

display right there on

the mountain in the

form of a thunderstorm.

They've heard his voice

speak.

They've been following

his glory cloud until

it led him to the

mountain.

No other people in

history have seen so

many visual glory

fireworks as these

people, but right here

at the base of a

mountain where God is

visually displaying his

spectacular glory, they

take a bunch of gold,

they melt it into a

image of a domestic

animal, they call it

God, and they worship

it.

Worshiping something that

is even less than a

copy of a copy when the

original is right there

in front of you.

I mean, there are just

no words for the sheer

audacity and stupidity of

this kind of glory

replacing idolatry.

And yet, this is us.

This is me.

This is you.

We replace the glory of

God with created things

that were only meant to

reflect him and point us

to him.

We exchange the eternal

pleasure of his glorious

presence for short-lived

thrills of pleasure, power,

wealth, status, recognition,

entertainment, fill in the

blank.

And in so doing, not only do

we replace his glory, but we

ridicule it and we rob God

of his glory.

We ridicule it by reducing

his infinite goodness to a

petty thing and exchanging

and exalting his creation

over him.

And worst of all, we rob him

of his glory by seeking to

exalt ourselves over him.

We crowd him out of his

rightful place, demanding

recognition and ultimately

worship for ourselves.

If we were designed to be

mirrors reflecting the glory

of God, then we have

become mirrors that bent

in on ourselves, seeking

to reflect ourselves, seeking

to delight in ourselves.

The problem is that mirrors

that do that get shattered.

And that's what happens to

us.

There is a natural consequence

to this too.

We've looked at the

replacement.

Now let's look at the

removal.

We get removed from his

glorious presence, which by

the way is our only good and

our greatest good.

If you flip back to Genesis for

just a moment, I'd like to show

you something.

The nice thing is it's all the

way back to the beginning.

Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

Adam and Eve have just done some

glory replacing.

They've replaced God's glory with

the glory of self.

They have replaced his rule with

their own self-rule.

And they've declared themselves

independent from God.

And then his glory draws near.

Look at verse 8 of chapter 3.

Genesis 3 verse 8.

Genesis 3:8

And they heard the sound of the

Lord God walking in the garden in

the cool of the day.

And the man and his wife hid

themselves from the presence of the

Lord God among the trees of the

garden.

Their greatest delight, the very joy

that they were made for, draws near

and they run.

They remove themselves from his

presence.

They hide in fear and shame.

And this leads us to verse 23 of the

same chapter.

Therefore the Lord God sent them out of

the garden of Eden to work the ground

from which he is taken.

God finishes and formalizes the

removal process.

Adam and Eve began it.

And then God

finishes it up.

He sent them out from his presence.

He blocked them off from his glory.

Which they themselves have already

done.

And if you keep on reading Genesis,

the evil and the perversion that

results from this removal from his

glory is shocking.

And it's heartbreaking.

But I don't think we need to read

Genesis to know that, do we?

You and I know that pretty well.

We're very well aware of our unnaturally

natural tendency to replace God's

glory and to rob him of his glory.

To remove ourselves far from him.

Each one of us knows pretty well that

sense of shame and I want to hide and

get out of here.

I don't want to be exposed.

We are those curved in mirrors.

Those mirrors bent in on ourselves.

And we're shattered and we're broken.

But the story of glory continues.

And there's a light of hope that dawns.

Chapter 3.

Re-entry and renewal.

Re-entry and renewal.

Have you ever been reading a story or

watching a movie and then all of a

sudden an old character that you

thought was written out of the story

suddenly re-enters after an absence?

I'm thinking like Gandalf from Lord of the

Rings.

If you haven't, I'm totally going to

spoil it for you.

I'm sorry.

He falls into the abyss.

You think he's gone.

And then he comes back.

He re-enters the story and hope

dawns again.

Well, the same thing happens with God's

glory in the story of glory.

God has been at work since the garden.

He's been initiating relationship by

grace with a guy named Abraham.

He's given, he's made a people out of

his descendants and he's called the

people to himself.

Even rescued them from Egypt.

And then his glory shows up again in

the book of Exodus.

Would you turn to Exodus 24 for me?

Exodus 24.

Referenced it earlier with the story of

the golden calf, but

God's glory shows up on a mountain and

God's people are beholding it.

And

it makes you realize

his glory is re-entering.

There's hope still.

Only this time

his glory is veiled.

And it's a little scary.

So

look at verses 15 through 18

in chapter 24.

This gives us just a taste of

what God's people get to see.

Verse 15.

Moses went up on the mountain

and the cloud covered the mountain.

The cloud is God's glory

made manifest.

The glory of the Lord dwelt

on Mount Sinai

and the cloud covered it

six days.

And on the seventh day

he called to Moses out of the midst

of the cloud.

Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord

was like a devouring fire

on the top of the mountain

in the sight of the people of Israel.

Moses entered the cloud

and went up on the mountain.

And Moses was on the mountain

40 days

and 49.

And so

and there's another part of Exodus

where people are like

Moses

you got to handle this.

We can't bear

being so close

to this glory.

It's frightening to us.

And for a glory replacing

and glory robbing people

the pure glory of God

would be kind of frightening.

So Moses goes up

as a mediator.

He's a middle man.

He's a priest

who can relate to God

on behalf of the people.

He can also relate to the people

on behalf of God.

And God wants

to reside

with his people

so they can see

his glory

and be satisfied

with his glory.

His glory is reentered

but it has to be veiled.

It can't be unveiled.

They would die.

And also

there has to be a mediator.

Someone to go back and forth.

And so

to summarize

the rest of the story

of Exodus

his people can't go up

to be where he is

because of their sins

so he comes down

and comes to be

where they are.

He gives Moses

these really fancy

instructions

to build a tent

called a tabernacle

so that his glory

can reside

with his people

and yet be veiled.

Veiled in a tent.

And the glory

has to have priests

mediators

who can relate to

God on behalf

of the people

and relate to the people

on behalf of God.

But even though

it's veiled

and it needs a mediator

the glory has reentered.

Hope.

There's movement.

The plot's going.

And once his people

get to the land

that he has for them

the land is pictured

in the Bible

as a place

where it's kind of

a recapitulation

of Eden

of the garden

so that

God's glory

and God's people

can be together

again.

As long as

his glory is veiled

in a temple

and there's mediators

priests

and they obey

his word

and they follow him.

Israel failed

miserably.

They vomit.

Ultimately

in the book

of Ezekiel

he gets a vision

of the glory

of God

departing

out of the temple

and standing

outside the city

of Jerusalem

in judgment

and Israel

gets demolished

by the Babylonians

and God's people

are banished.

They've been removed

from God's presence

once again.

But then

in Ezekiel 43

there's this promise

that God's glory

is going to come back.

He's going to come back

and reenter

a new temple.

And

it's going to bring

renewal

to the human heart

to be able

to be in God's presence

and live

and reflect his presence

once again.

Well time passes

a new temple

is built

but nothing like

Ezekiel's vision

comes to pass.

And

God's people

are wondering

when will God's glory

come to reside

with us again?

When is he going

to reenter

and it's going

to be the same

as it was?

When will he renew us

so that we can

behold his glory

like we were meant to?

That's getting us ready

for the glory

of Christmas.

If you turn

to John chapter 1

John 1 · chapter mention

If we look at John 1

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John

in the New Testament

fourth book in

If we look at the gospel

of John

the first five verses

he describes

this person

named the word

in the beginning

was the word

and the word

was with God

and the word

was God

He was in the beginning

with God

the ultimate glory

reflector

All things were made

through him

and without him

was not anything

made that was made

in him was life

and the life

was the light

of men

the light shines

in the darkness

and the darkness

has not overcome it

so we get a glimpse

of hope

there's a person

out there

who is God

and yet he's

distinct from God

and all things

were made through him

he is God's

perfect self-reflection

he's the ultimate mirror

because he is God

and check out

what verse 14

says about him

this is the glory

of Christmas

and the word

became flesh

and the word

became

flesh

God's

perfect

mirror

the ultimate

image

of God

the ultimate

glory

reflecting

mirror

became

flesh

God's glory

is laying

on a feeding trough

he's visible

we can see

his glory

look at the rest

of the verse

verse 14

the word

became flesh

flesh

and dwelt

among us

the word

in the original

language

is literally

to pitch

your tent

God

God's

fullness

of glory

has come

to pitch

his tent

among us

just as God's

glory resided

with his people

in a veiled

tent

in the wilderness

now God

has pitched

his tent

to reside

among us

once again

but not

as a place

as a person

in a temple

of flesh

and bone

just like the

Christmas hymn

that we sang

Hark the Herald

veiled in flesh

the Godhead

see

hail

incarnate

deity

and the next

phrase

we have seen

it

we have seen

his glory

glory as of

the only son

from the father

full of grace

and truth

God's glory

has re-entered

the story

pursuing

his cracked

mirrors

pursuing

his broken

image bearers

he arrived

and he came

to renew

us

and if we

see

not in the way

that John

the apostle

saw

he got to see

with physical eyes

but plenty of people

saw Jesus

with physical eyes

and didn't see

the way that really

counts

which is seeing

and trusting

and believing

and understanding

by faith

if we see

this child

the glory

of God

as the one

who is

God's ultimate

mirror

came to restore

God's broken

mirror

God's broken

glory reflectors

then it renews us

and the fullest

display

is in John

John 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12

feel free to

skip over there

real quick

in John

John 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12

Jesus just

enters Jerusalem

for the last

time

he's there

ultimately

to die

and the way

that God

talks about

Jesus' glory

in the book

of John

is not

in terms

of

the mount

of transfiguration

where his

clothes are

shining

and his

face is

beaming

but it's

in terms

of this

look at

verse 23

of John

John 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12

this is the

glory

of

the

son of

God

the hour

has come

Jesus said

for the

son of man

to be glorified

truly

truly

I say

to you

unless

a grain

of wheat

falls

into the

earth

and dies

it remains

alone

but if

it dies

it bears

much

fruit

skip down

to verse

27

now my

soul

is troubled

and what

shall I

say

father

save me

from this

hour

but for

this

purpose

I have

come

to this

hour

father

glorify

your

name

and then

a voice

came

from heaven

I have

glorified

it

and I

will

glorify

it

again

so what

is the

glory

of Christ

what is

the

fullest

display

of God's

glory

that we

get to

behold

at Christmas

time

is that

this baby

who is

the glory

of God

came to

glorify

God

by dying

on a

cross

the place

it's this

beautiful

good news

where he

took on

the doomed

fate

of glory

replacers

and glory

robbers

like us

as the

perfect

glory

reflector

as our

substitute

and this

is what

renews

us

Paul

says in

2nd

Corinthians

that as

we behold

this stunning

glory

of this

good news

we are

changed

we are

transformed

in 2nd

Corinthians

he says

this is the

light of

the gospel

of the

glory

of Christ

who is

the image

of God

beholding

this glory

we get

to be

transformed

into his

same image

from one

degree of

glory to

another

when the

Grinch

beheld

the glory

of Christmas

when he

realized that

Christmas

isn't from

a store

but it's

something a

little bit

more

his heart

grew three

sizes that

day

he was

transformed

beholding the

glory of

Christmas

Christmas

and that

is God's

intent for

us

to behold

his glory

dwelling

among us

residing

with us

to renew

us

and one

day he'll

return

with unshielded

glory

and we will

behold him

face to face

we will

reflect his

glory like

disco balls

what we

once hid

from

which

once would

have destroyed

us

will then

give us

eternal

delight

and his

glory will

reside with

us forever

Revelation 21

is just

astounding

go home and

give it a

read

it's the

new residence

that we will

have with

him

and listen

to this

and I saw

no temple

in that

city

no need

for veiled

glory there

for its

temple is

the Lord

God the

Almighty

and the

Lamb

whereas

before

the universe

was a

temple of

God's glory

now

the new

Jerusalem

he is

the temple

and the

city has

no need

of sun

or moon

to shine

on it

for the

glory of

God gives

it light

and its

lamp

is the

Lamb

full

renewal

all because

of that

glorious

reentry

this is the

glory of

Christmas

feast on

it church

is this the

glory of your

Christmas

we are

distracted

people

maybe you

came in

pretty

distracted

and you

can't see

this

we are

weak

people

maybe you

came in

feeling pretty

weak and

empty and

exhausted

by life

we are

broken

people

we are

shattered

by sin

God's

glory is

able to

renew us

whether

broken

distracted

or weak

lift your

eyes to

the glory

of Christmas

let's

pray

father

thank you

for the

immense

mercy that

you have

shown

giving us

new birth

into a

living hope

of your

glory

your glory

veiled in

flesh in the

son of God

who came to

restore broken

glory reflectors

like us

God I pray

that this

truth would

sink down

deep into

our hearts

and that

we would

like the

Grinch

be changed

father I pray

particularly that

you would

help our

distracted eyes

to fixate

on the

glory of

Jesus

help those

father who

are weak

to attach

themselves by

faith and

then be made

strong

to the glory

of Jesus

father I pray

for those who

are broken

shattered by

sin

pray that they

would find

renewal

in the glory

of Jesus

we thank you

God for your

goodness and

kindness to us

in Jesus name

amen