"A Son Is Given" - Christmas Message | Pastor Harley Doneburg | December 22nd, 2024

Christmas, the most celebrated time of the year.

Amazing, I love it, you might love it.

I like it because you not only get Christmas,

you get Christmas Eve, there's gifts, there's food,

family should have been first probably.

And there's Christmas, there's Christmas,

there's Christmas, there's Christmas,

there's Christmas, there's Christmas,

there's Christmas, there's Christmas,

and there's New Year's, it follows right after

and then you make all your resolutions

and start to lose some of the weight

that you put on at Christmas time.

So enjoyable, I love it, I love the music,

I love every part of it.

And it should be a time of family, joy, celebration,

really remembrance of what Jesus did,

but it's not that way for everyone, it's not that way.

Studies show that Christmas triggers anxiety,

depression, stress, emptiness, loneliness,

more than any other time of the year.

And I think it's because the message of hope

and the gospel that God gave His only Son.

Our message is lost, it's been either replaced or forgotten.

And sometimes we forget as Christians,

you can forget easily in the hustle and bustle.

When I was growing up, Christmas to me

wasn't Jesus in a manger, although I'm sure people told me that.

For me it was everything that's being kind of pushed,

Santa, elves, North Pole, those types of things,

you know, gifts, it was like better than my birthday,

I felt like, Christmas.

So when I realized actually what Christmas was about,

I got saved, I became a Christian,

I understood that this was God's gift

sent in a manger as a baby to us, Savior of the world.

I made sure I told my kids that,

and maybe I've told you guys this story.

Lydia, our firstborn, she's our oldest, she just had a baby,

but we made sure we told her what Christmas is all about.

And when she was very young, she was I think at Walmart,

and there was a Santa Claus Christmas ornament type of thing,

but he was full-sized, not full-sized, but he was pretty big,

three or four feet tall with the beard and the hat and the red suit,

he had everything there, and Lydia kind of walked up to him,

because we had been teaching her what Christmas meant,

and she was rubbing his beard strangely, rubbing it,

and she grabbed him by the beard, and she looked him in the eye

and said, you racked up Jesus' birthday,

pushed him back on the shelf, you know.

We taught her well, that little girl.

But it's true, and anxiety, depression,

we lose sight of what the meaning of the season is.

Christmas is a witness to the world.

It's a celebration of the single most important event in human history

that God sends his only Son on our behalf.

So we're going to take a look at the announcement of that birth

and the first Christmas, if you turn with me to Luke 1 for a moment.

We're going to jump into just a few Scriptures this morning.

We did a few extra worship songs this morning.

We have to make up for it by going extra long today.

Just kidding.

The announcement to Mary, Luke 1.

We're going to take a look at this young lady, probably 15 or 16 years old.

It says this in verse 26 of Luke 1.

Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God

to a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin betrothed,

that's the spouse that's engaged, but literally married.

They would be considered married.

To a man named Joseph of the house of David,

and the virgin's name was Mary.

Having come in, the angel said to her,

and the voice highly favored one, the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women.

But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying

and considered what manner of greeting this was.

And the angel said to her, don't be afraid, Mary, for you found favor with God.

Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son and call his name Jesus.

And he will be great, he'll be called the son of the highest,

and the Lord will give him the throne of his father David.

He'll reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there'll be no end.

And then Mary said to the angel, how can this be, since I don't know a man?

And the angel answered and said to her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you,

and the power of the highest will overshadow you.

Therefore also, the Holy One who is to be called the son of God,

that Holy One who is to be born will be called the son of God.

Now indeed, Elizabeth, your relative has conceived a son in her old age.

And this is the sixth month for her who was called barren.

For with God, nothing will be impossible.

And then Mary's response at 15.

Behold the maidservant of the Lord, let it be according to your word.

And the angel departed from her.

Amazing, Mary, she's 15, 16 years old, and an angel tells her,

listen, you're blessed among women.

You're chosen.

That was the hope of every young Jewish girl, to bring forth Messiah.

And here she is.

The angel makes this announcement, and Mary says, let it be according to your word.

And the stigma, what she had to hold on to and walk through her whole life,

people's accusations, what Jesus dealt with 30 years later.

People said, the scribes and Pharisees religious leaders says,

hey, we're not born of fornication like you.

And Jesus wore that, Mary wore that, the accusation that it was some adulterous affair

that Mary had when the reality was God took Jesus and placed him in the womb of this young girl.

And Mary said, I'll do it.

And the announcement came to her.

Let's take a peek at the announcement to her husband, Joseph and Matthew.

If you turn there with me for a second.

There was a cost for Mary.

There's a cost for Joseph too.

Joseph would be the stepdad.

Matthew chapter one.

In verse 18, it says this, that the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows.

After his mother, Mary was betrothed to Joseph.

Before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.

Verse 19 says Joseph, her husband being a just man and not wanting to make her a public example,

was minded to put her away secretly or privately.

Imagine Joseph.

Mary says, hey, Joseph, I got to tell you a story here.

May not believe this, but I'm pregnant.

Joseph, you know, they're engaged, blasting her, exposing her.

And what he'd done, he loved Mary.

He says, you know what, I'm going to put her away.

Divorce her, but I'm not going to let anyone know because of this woman.

And he didn't treat her bad.

But it was hard to believe.

Imagine Mary having to tell Joseph, her parents, his parents, I'm pregnant.

Yeah, no, not Joseph.

It wasn't anyone else.

This is a special baby.

She tells Joseph and Joseph is not believing, but it says this, verse 20, while he thought about these things, he goes to bed, anxiety.

He thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, Joseph, son of David, don't be afraid to take to you, marry your wife.

Considered married already, not consummated in the marriage yet, but engaged.

For that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit, and she'll bring forth a son and you'll call his name Jesus.

For he will save his people from their sins.

Jesus, and that's what the angel told Mary.

His name is going to be called Jesus.

Common name, Joshua in Hebrew, Jesus.

And it means Jehovah is salvation.

Kind of a common name.

A lot of Joshua's.

We have a Joshua, but it meant something and names mean something.

We're going to look at a few of the names of Jesus this morning.

A few of the things that he was called in a second.

We're going to look at what Isaiah said that he'll be called Emmanuel.

God with us.

His name is Jesus.

Isaiah 59 also says this, that the Lord's hand isn't short, that it cannot save.

Save and his ear isn't heavy.

That he cannot hear.

But he says, this is the problem.

Your sins have separated you from him.

The problem with humanity is a sin problem.

It's in our DNA.

And you know that because if you have kids or you know kids, hopefully mom and dad isn't teaching them to lie, steal, be mean to their brothers and sisters, right?

Because that stuff is inside of them already.

It comes out happened in the garden when man chose to rebel against God and sin in the garden.

Adam and Eve.

This thing was passed down called sin.

And Isaiah says, and that has separated you from your God.

It's not that God can't hear.

It's not that his hand is short.

The problem is sin is separating you from him.

He wants to help and he wants to listen.

But the problem is sin.

And people.

So God's message to humanity is the angel says, Listen, call his name Jesus.

Jehovah is salvation because God wants to save you.

That's his desire to step into your life.

Listen to all your problems, everything you've got going on.

And he wants to save your life.

The first issue he wants to deal with is an eternal one. Salvation.

Eternal life.

He wants to help.

Paul, as he wrote to Timothy, kind of a son in the faith, he was discipling Timothy in the ministry.

He told the first letter that he wrote to Timothy in the very first chapter, the fifteenth verse.

He says, Timothy, remember this, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.

Remember that when you walk into the ministry, when you're heading into ministering to people.

They get messed up that are broken, that are hurting, self-inflicted wounds, addictions, different things going on.

Paul says, Timothy, remember this.

Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, messed up people, people that mess their lives up.

That make mistakes willingly and unwillingly, knowingly, unknowingly, hurt by others, hurting others.

Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Timothy, remember that.

And then he goes on and finishes that epistle. Then he writes him another letter.

But he wants to put an exclamation point on a very important fact that Jesus came into this world to save sinners.

That's what the meaning of Christmas is, the first Christmas. Why Jesus came.

If you move on with me and Matthew, it says this.

He'll call his name Jesus. He'll save his people from their sins.

Jesus wants to deal with a sin issue first.

In verse 22, it says, So all this was done that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet,

saying, Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they'll call his name Emmanuel, which is translated God with us.

So Isaiah also says in chapter 7, here's a sign. Here's something that's going to happen.

The Virgin is going to conceive and bring forth a son. And here's what his name is going to be called.

Another one of Jesus's names is Emmanuel. Amazing name. I love that name.

Because it means God is with you. Right? God is with you.

That's what God wants to be. That's what Jesus came to do, is to be with you.

Not separate, not distant from you.

He wants to save you, help you, listen to you, but he wants to spend time with you.

That's what Emmanuel means. He's a God that is with you.

Right? You know, you go to, I don't know, if you went to the White House,

you probably couldn't meet the president or the vice president. They'd be distant.

You might turn on the TV or watch a news clip and hear them speak.

But if you went there, you might not be able to get in.

I've been to Africa before, a couple of different places on the mission field.

And one place I went in Uganda were some of the slums.

You know what? You had access to everyone there. You could talk to anyone and everyone. They were right there.

They would kind of flock to you when they see you. Well, that's the type of thing Jesus wants to have that kind of relationship.

He doesn't want to be distant. He doesn't want to just turn on the TV and hear about him or come on Sunday morning and have him just be talked about.

But he actually wants to spend time with you personally.

He wants to be able to whisper in your ear. He wants to talk to you out of the Bible. He wants to tell you how much he loves you.

That's what's amazing about Jesus. His name.

The angel says, Listen, he's also going to be called Emmanuel. He's going to be God with you.

Not going to be distant. He's going to be right with you.

Something that was a derogatory name given by the religious leaders to Jesus.

You might remember this. They said this mocking him that he's a friend of sinners.

Jesus is a friend of sinners. Look at the crowd he hangs out with. Look at the people he spends time with.

Look at that guy. Terrible who he hangs out with.

We hang out with the upper class, the spiritual people, religious.

But Jesus, they said, You know what? He's a friend of sinners. That's great.

That's good news for you and I, isn't it?

Because that's who we are.

Friend of sinners. A friend. You know, the Bible says that a friend.

Solomon says this that a friend loves at all times.

Loves at all times. Jesus loves you. That's why he came and died for you.

To bridge the gap, the separation between God and man.

That's how much Jesus loves you. A friend loves at all times.

He's not out to get you.

But he came to die for you and I.

Friend of sinners. People who miss the mark. They don't measure up.

They don't have it all together. They've got problems. Addictions.

Jesus said that he came to seek and save the lost.

Amazing. And the appreciation for someone like the woman at the well.

Or the woman caught in adultery. That Jesus was a friend of sinners.

Or the tax collectors that were ostracized.

Like Matthew or Zacchaeus. The disciples. You and I.

We can be thankful that the scribes and Pharisees called him that.

Because we fit right in that category. He's a friend of sinners.

Loves you and I. Cares about us.

Micah 5-2 says this.

Written 700 years in advance. Along with Isaiah was also.

Micah 5-2 says, But you, Bethlehem, Ephrathah, though you're little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to me the one to be ruler in Israel, whose going forth has been from old, from everlasting, from eternity past.

Now we read Luke chapter 2. It says, It came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

Luke 2 · chapter mention

In the census first took place while Pyreneas was governor in Syria.

And all went to be registered. Everyone to his own city.

And Joseph went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth under Judea.

We had south towards Jerusalem to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David to be registered with Mary.

His betrothed wife was with child.

How does Jesus get from Nazareth to Bethlehem?

An 80 mile journey taxes, unfortunately, taxes.

And so they go there to be registered because of taxes.

And it says this.

Verse six. So it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.

And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the end.

Amazing. This 80 mile journey on a donkey.

Heading from Galilee to Jerusalem. Can you imagine being pregnant at the end of your pregnancy?

Lee and I did that when we bought a house in town here. We moved into Perry when Lydia wasn't born yet. It was our first baby.

We bought the house and we're working on it, getting all the rooms settled, got a little baby room for Lydia with a carpet and had, you know, got it all settled.

And then finally, the first night we were first night, it was like, all right, we can take a breather for a night.

We laid down. It felt like as soon as we laid down, Lee was like, oh, my gosh, I'm gonna have the baby. Like, what can we have one minute of peace?

Like, do I got to do this all again? No. She basically did everything.

But can you imagine 80 miles on a donkey to head back to unknown?

Like, are we going to have a place to stay? No, BGYN, no mom and no no little baby, you know, whatever that's got all the diapers and binkies and all the diaper bag, all the cool stuff in it.

And all the little outfits, the first shoes, the all those they they don't have that.

You know, they're making this journey and they get to the end. Sorry, we don't have any room.

Maybe you could stay in our barn. Really? Stay in the bar. I'm about to have a baby.

And they go there. Maybe a cave is probably what it was.

And Mary gives birth in this barn.

And they take the baby and they put him in a manger, which sounds so nice, doesn't it?

We have a manger scenes and all this major is so nice. It's a feeding trough where animals eat.

I told the kids this week,

Kailin called me up says, Harley, can you do chapel?

I'm like, yeah, I can.

And I just told the kids this week, listen, a manger, guys, that's a feeding trough.

And maybe you've seen cows eat. I don't know if goats or sheep.

Maybe that's what was lived in this.

But if you see cows eat, I've seen them before.

They're chewing and eating and this foam starts to build up on the side of their mouth and it's falling in the stuff they're eating.

Well, that's where they lay Jesus.

Like it's not this nice crib or bassinet or sort of thing that swings back and forth.

They lay him in this manger. Like exactly.

Like that's what I'd be doing. Like, oh, my goodness, this is where we got to put them.

But in the manger, Jesus is so accessible to anyone and everyone.

Wasn't born in a palace where you couldn't get to him.

He was in a barn.

He was there for anyone and everyone.

First, they went to the inn. Hey, can you get any room for us?

How much money you got?

This is all I got. Sorry.

That's enough for the barn.

You can stay in the barn.

That's OK, because that's why Jesus came.

He came humble, accessible for anyone and everyone to reach in, to go in and touch him and see him.

He was there.

It says this in verse eight.

There's the announcement to the shepherds, the birth announcement.

Maybe you've got birth announcements in the mail.

An angel goes to these guys.

It says there was in the same country shepherds living out in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night.

Behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them and the glory of the Lord shone around them.

And they were greatly afraid.

And the angel said, Don't be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people.

For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

And this will be assigned to you.

You'll find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger, the unthinkable.

That'll be your sign.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace and goodwill towards man.

He's not out to get you.

He's got goodwill for you.

His heart is towards you.

He loves you.

He came to save you.

And he said, The sign isn't going to be the angels singing what they said.

Here's going to be the sign.

You're going to find this baby.

That's what you want to follow.

That's what you want to watch.

The announcement to shepherds, strangers, not religious leaders, not scribes and Pharisees, Sadducees, but to shepherds in the field.

Probably taking care of the Passover sheep just outside of Jerusalem waiting.

And the announcement to these shepherds was, here's the Lamb of God who comes to take away the sins of the world.

Come and take a look.

You like lambs?

You like sheep?

Here's the best one you'll ever see.

It's the Lamb of God.

He takes away the sins of the world.

Come and check him out.

So the invitation to the shepherds, and then they say, don't be afraid.

This world is full of fear, isn't it?

We talked about it a little bit last week.

What am I worried about?

What am I afraid of?

I'm afraid I don't have enough to…

Honey, remind me what to worry about again.

Sometimes we just are afraid.

The Bible says 365 times.

Interesting.

Fear not.

One for every day.

You just have to find the right one.

Don't be afraid.

Because we're afraid of what?

Being alone.

Not having enough.

Afraid of dying.

There are a lot of fears in this world.

And the angels say, hey, don't fear.

I bring you good tidings of great joy.

Good tidings.

That's the gospel.

Good news.

That there's good news.

And it's of great joy to all people.

There's no exclusions.

It's for anyone and everyone.

For whosoever.

There's born…

Verse 11.

There is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Interesting.

The angel says…

Because if you've ever had a baby, it's like I'm a recent grandpa.

Here in the last three weeks, Lydian had a baby, little Jordan.

And if you had a baby, it would be…

You know, it was born to Lydian.

Well, the angel says, hey, you know what?

This baby was born to you.

It's for you.

It's personal.

It's not just Joseph and Mary's baby.

This little baby is for you.

It's personal for you.

Pretty amazing that you can have a relationship with a living God, that he cares that much.

He came to this manger, into this world in such a humble way, and it wasn't just for

Mary and Joseph.

It's for you and I, for the shepherds, for anyone and everyone who wants to receive him,

because he loves us that much.

He's a gift.

And this will be a sign.

You'll find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was an angel.

There was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God, saying, glory to God in

the highest and on earth, peace and goodwill toward men.

I don't know.

For years, I thought God was out to get me.

I'd make mistakes.

I'd do things.

I'm like, oh, man, God is so mad at me.

Angry, upset.

And it drove me from him rather than pulling me to him.

But when I realized that Jesus had sin is bad.

That's why it required death.

Jesus had to die for it.

And when he saved someone, he changed him.

Not the same person.

You don't desire the same things.

He forgives us of our sins.

He's not out to get you.

Got goodwill for you.

He's got a good plan for you.

You have to receive it.

He's not out to get you.

He's there to save you.

He wants to improve you.

His plan is better than yours.

His will is better.

If you would turn with me to Isaiah, Chapter six, Isaiah,

Chapter nine.

I'm sorry.

Is that Chapter nine?

And we'll close right here.

Isaiah, Chapter nine, Verse six, for unto us a child is born

and unto us a son is given.

Very familiar passage.

And the government shall be upon his shoulder.

And his name will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God,

everlasting father, Prince of Peace.

Our perspective is a child is born.

I'm breaking all my rules with Jordan, my new grandson.

Normally I like to have babies.

I like to hold them at least a month later, maybe two.

Like, all right, now I'm ready.

They seem a little frail for me early on, but I've been holding

them like since they came over.

Every time they come over, it's like, hey, Grandpa, you want to

hold them?

Yeah, let me have them.

Normally I don't do that.

I try to hold off a little bit.

But people pinch babies' cheeks.

People love babies.

There's something about them.

They don't like changing them maybe, but there's a lot of other

things that people like about babies.

And this is the perspective for unto us a child is born.

And if it stops there, it's just another baby, there's a problem.

Then the heavenly perspective says this.

Unto us a son is given.

That's the greatest gift God could give is his son.

And you probably, it's Christmastime, we love giving

gifts, you love being thoughtful.

You know, I stress out.

Leah said, Leah told my kids, maybe I told you guys this

already, hurt my feelings.

She's told that not to go to Walmart, get a basket, fill it

up with all these random things.

Last minute.

But I don't feel like they're random things.

I think they're thoughtful gifts.

You know, put some cool things in there and it's the basket.

You can use the basket.

You can use everything in it.

I kind of like that.

But she didn't want that this year.

I had to put a little more thought into it.

The gifts, right?

And sometimes you get what you want, and sometimes you get

what you need, and sometimes the things that you need are your

favorite gifts.

And God, his gift to us was exactly what we needed.

We needed forgiveness of sins.

His number one gift, he knows what we needed.

Unto us a son is given.

I'm going to give you exactly what you need.

Right?

And then he goes on to give us a list of names.

And when I thought about this, I thought about, obviously we're

talking about some of the names of Jesus because names have

meaning.

They say something about a person.

And I thought about a toolkit.

And sometimes you look at a toolkit and you think, yeah, I

need that one tool, but if I buy this kit, it's got the one tool

I need and a whole bunch of other ones.

Well, that's what God did by giving us his son.

It's not only he gave us the number one gift, the most

amazing thing we needed out of that.

I hate to say this, disrespectful.

I don't want to be disrespectful, but he gave us the greatest

gift.

But with that, he gave us so much more.

You get every other 16 tool kit, you get them all.

He says not only that, a child is born, but a son is given.

Beyond just a child being born, that happens all the time.

There's a special one.

Something happened 2000 years ago.

And the government will be upon his shoulders and his name, his

nature, his character.

Number one, he says will be wonderful.

Amazing.

He's going to be wonderful.

It means hard to understand, too high.

And that's what God is.

It's hard to understand.

The Bible says God's hand spans the universe, that he spoke this

world into existence.

It's hard to really, God told Moses, listen, if you see me, no

man can see me and live.

I'll let my glory pass by you.

You can see the back of me.

God is so big, but you know what he did?

He sent his son to be small so we could know him.

So he could tell us who God is.

So when you read the Gospels, you can understand who God

really is.

You read the Bible and you can understand God's heart and his

mind towards us.

He's wonderful.

Yeah, he's so high, but yet he became so small so we could know

him.

That's one of the most amazing things about the Bible and who

Jesus Christ is, that God is wonderful.

He wants us to know him.

He's a counselor.

Why?

Because we need counsel, don't we?

We need direction.

We need somebody to talk to.

Sometimes we need somebody because we don't know the

direction, the next step to take in our life.

We don't know where to carry our burdens.

We don't know who we can tell.

Will they share it with other people?

Will they give us good counsel?

Do they even care about what I'm going through?

Are they just listening to me?

Is there someone to talk and sort things out, to bear my

burdens?

Well, guess what?

Jesus is a counselor.

He's wonderful and he's a counselor.

He's a mighty God.

Remember the angel told Mary, hey, is there anything too hard

for me?

He's a mighty God.

Is there anything too hard?

Ephesians says that he's able to do exceedingly, abundantly

above all that we ask or think.

He goes above.

He can do whatever.

There's nothing too hard for him.

He's a mighty God.

You run into a situation in your life like, how am I going to

get out of this?

How am I going to sort this out?

Lord, what are you going to do?

Remember, he's a mighty God.

And then it says this.

His name will also be called everlasting father.

He won't give up on you.

He's everlasting.

He's eternal.

He's a dad.

He's a protector.

He's a provider.

He's someone to lean on.

He's someone to teach you.

If you've ever had, maybe you didn't have a dad growing up, a

good example, maybe you had a bad example, guess what?

You have one here.

The prophet said, listen, he's going to be everlasting father.

He's going to be right there.

You're going to provide, protect, teach you, steer you.

You're going to be able to lean on him.

And then he says, finally, he's the prince of peace.

Anyone lack peace today?

Because Jesus is the prince of peace.

He wants to give you peace in the midst of a storm.

He can calm the storm.

So much in this world filters into our life and it takes, robs

our peace, takes our peace.

And then we can go right to Jesus Christ and he wants to

give us peace.

When the storm is raging, when the storms come and trials hit

and difficulties hit.

He's a prince of peace.

Wants to bring peace into your lives.

So listen, as we, we're going to close here.

I don't know if I went too long, but this Christmas season,

remember the greatest gift, the first Christmas, the whole

design of it.

Jesus came to seek and to save the lost.

He came into the world to save sinners.

He loves you so much.

His plans for you, you are good.

Listen, read the names.

He's Emmanuel.

He's everlasting father.

He's wonderful.

He's a counselor, prince of peace.

Cares so much for your life.

Wants to infuse those things in your life.

He's not a distant God.

He wants to be close to you.

So I pray this Christmas season, this year, you'd be close to

him.

Draw close to him.

The Bible says, and he'll draw close to you.

That's a promise.

It's a guarantee.

You can hold onto those promises.

So Lord, we're thankful for your love.

Thank you for the greatest gift you could have ever given.

It's not only what we need.

It's what we want.

And it's so special, Lord.

And it's not unattainable.

Lord, so easy.

You made yourself so accessible to us, Lord, because you care.

So I pray this year, Lord, that we would always remember that,

Lord, as we navigate this season, Lord.

It can be difficult and there can be anxiety and stress.

I pray we'd remember that you're with us, Lord, and you love us,

Jesus.

In your name.

Amen.