More Than A Tradition Pt. 3 | Chris Gross | Radiant Life Church

little we're going to talk this morning

as we continue our Christmas series and

today really the topic as we jump in

this morning is more than a gift if you

couldn't tell thinking about gifts. Now

this morning I was I was looking and

thinking and my wife she apparently I

knew this already by the way bae but is

creative because she does all of our

wrapping and she's almost done which I

think is a a record maybe. So that's

pretty great. We're pretty excited. But

I found that she has three different

kinds of uh paper at least. And each one

has their own bows with their own kind

of little tags on them, like formal,

informal, uh all these things. I didn't

bring it. The box was too big, but one

had a Snoopy on it. I like it. Little

tag. And Christmas gifts are something I

think everyone enjoys receiving. I'm

just gonna Anybody not want a gift? Like

you just don't want a gift this

Christmas? Okay, good. Nobody is in the

house that says, "I don't want a gift."

Everybody would like a gift. And gifts

can come in all different shapes and

sizes and packages and kinds, right? All

of the things that we see uh are are

special. Maybe some of them more special

than others. Now, I'm going to tell on

myself, there was one year um that we

were doing minimal Christmas for like

each other. And so, my wife, she got

something. She had thought long and hard

about it. She had planned and she had

prepared. And so she got me some things

that I had been talking about, which

were like some nice beard care stuff and

some stuff. And I'm going to be honest,

I was super disappointed. I don't know

what I thought she was going to do with

a super small amount of money, but she

was like, "Oh, I thought I was trying to

be sweet." And I I ruined that whole

entire thing. We kind of joke about it

periodically. Uh I'm difficult to buy

gifts for apparently. The problem is I

Everything I want costs a lot of money.

I think that's my problem. It's like

small gifts. What What do I want that

costs like 40 bucks? Nothing. I don't

think I want anything literally. But if

400 bucks, 4,000 bucks, I I could find a

whole bunch of things. It's a problem.

It is an issue. Um, we don't do that.

But that's easy stuff to me. Like I

could get a whole list. And the gifts

that we give, sometimes we think of the

sweet nature of them. Sometimes we think

of of the kindness of them. Sometimes we

receive them with joy. And maybe

sometimes we blow it royally and are

disappointed. and even the gifts that

people try to give us that are kind and

that come with thought and with caring.

And this morning we're going to read

about the ultimate gift about Jesus.

We're going to be in Matthew 1:es 18- 25

this morning and see the story of of the

angel coming to Joseph and this

situation. So we're going to read here

in Matthew 1:18. It goes, "Now the birth

Matthew 1:18

of Jesus Christ took place in this way.

When his mother Mary had been betrothed

to Joseph before they came together, she

was found to be with child from the Holy

Spirit." And her husband Joseph being a

just man and unwilling to put her to

shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.

But as he considered these things,

behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to

him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of

David, do not fear to take Mary as your

wife, for that which is conceived in her

is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a

son, and you shall call his name Jesus,

for he will save his people from their

sins." All this took place to fulfill

what the Lord had spoken by the prophet.

Behold, the virgin shall conceive and

bear a son, and thou shalt call his name

Emmanuel, which means God with us. When

Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the

angel of the Lord commanded him, he took

his wife, but he knew her not until she

had given birth to a son, and he had

called his name Jesus. Now, I don't know

about you, but just I try to read the

Bible and I try to put myself into the

situation and just imagine what it would

have been like. What would it have been

like to be Joseph in this situation? You

find out that you're the one you're

betrothed to. And I think this is

important real fast just to to hit on

for a moment. This betroth was almost

like you were married. You didn't

necessarily you didn't live together.

You didn't have relations in a married

sort of way, but you were given to that

person. And even as it said, it called

him the husband, right? They were not

married like we were think and they

didn't move in together. They hadn't

gotten in the house together, but they

were promised to one another. And Joseph

doing the right thing of divorcing her

was instead of even to the point of

putting her to death could have been an

option because of the seriousness that

it would have been

to be found outside of the marriage

ceremony.

going and and doing those things with

other people. And all of a sudden, the

angel comes and says, "Joseph,

that's not what you think it is, Joseph.

It's okay. You can still take Mary.

Joseph, what is in Mary comes from the

Holy Spirit?"

What a amazing moment. I think I'll use

the word a crazy moment. If you just put

yourself in that position, can you

imagine being there? Can you imagine

like, whoa, this angel just showed up to

me. What I thought was amazing, my

future uh wife, Mary, we're going to

live our lives together. Now all of a

sudden, I don't think we are. And then

the angel shows up and wow, this is from

God. This is way bigger, I guarantee,

than anything Joseph had ever thought

could possibly happen in his life.

In fact, in their history and throughout

history, there's maybe no greater honor,

I don't know, than Mary giving birth to

the Savior. Joseph fathering the Savior

on earth.

But everything changed.

Everything looked different. This gift

that was conceived by the spirit wasn't

something that you could just, well, I'm

just going to be disappointed because I

didn't want that or I didn't want this.

Or maybe you uh are have a little more

sleep right before that and that's not

it. You're like, "Woo, thank you for

whatever it is, right? Any gift." We

tell our kids if you are not thankful

for the gifts that you get,

>> then you don't need to get any gifts and

we'll take them all back. Anybody else

ever been in that moment like we put so

much effort and okay but is it possible

that there are moments in our life when

we don't think about the gifts and the

things and the opportunities that come

before us and it's actually from God but

we don't understand it yet. We didn't

realize all of the blessing that has

come that sometimes seems like a super

big problem. There's no way that Joseph

and thought anything else besides my

life is kind of ruined. This perfect

situation I believe for is gone.

Joseph's plans though changed when God

spoke. When the angel came, everything

began to look different because what he

thought he was going to do, putting Mary

away and divorcing her quietly, turned

into an entire different thing. And he

chose the route of obedience. He chose

the route of saying, 'Lord, I'm going to

do what you have. Right? Obedience must

follow revelation. And when Joseph was

told what had taken place, then Joseph's

plans looked entirely different.

As we think about Christmas, we think

about Jesus coming. We think about this

story and the story that is our life.

When revelation comes to us, we cannot

stay the same as we once were. But we

must let change come. We must change who

we are. We must change how we act. We

must change how we live. It's not just,

well, this is how I grew up or this is

what my culture said or this is what I

feel. No, no longer. When revelation

comes, just like Joseph, it's time to

say yes. I'll do what you would have for

me to do. The word Jesus became flesh.

He's spoken life. He's given us truth.

And this angel showed up in Joseph's

life. And you know, when I think about

Dublin, Ohio, and I think about where we

live, maybe you live in a community

around Dublin, around Columbus, but I

think reputation is a pretty big deal

here. Most people really care what

people think and really care what they

have and their status. They they really

care about these things. And something

else I find to be amazing is a lot of

you really care about privacy. Like

really really care about privacy.

Sometimes we find out that things happen

in your life or situations or you've

been in the hospital and it's like why

didn't you say anything? Oh, I didn't

want anybody to know. But we believe in

the power of prayer. And if we believe

in prayer, we have to be praying, right,

Don? Doesn't that make sense? We

believe. So, we need to get our people

around us, which means sometimes we need

to be a little less private and let some

people in our lives.

>> And when we think about this story and

you think about Joseph and you put it in

yourself, I think there's often times

when maybe we have heard what God has,

where we know what we should do, where

we really know, maybe we need people in

our corner helping us along the journey.

But we don't want that because we don't

want people to know there's any problem

or any sickness or any issue in our

life.

It's easier if no one knows. Then I

don't have to worry about it. I still

look like everything's good inside of

the four walls of my house.

And I think we see from the word of God,

even from this story, that when Jesus,

the angel, when the power of God shows

up, everything that was our plan or was

our intention or was what we thought the

future was going to be, all of a sudden

we should be willing to lay that down to

give that to the Lord and let him be the

God of our life.

Just going to throw this out there. It's

possible that God's plan for some of you

is to be millionaires and to lead

companies and to do just amazing things

in that front. But can I say in the

other side, it's possible that for some

that's not the plan or the call that God

has for you. He has you in a specific

place or a specific area for a specific

reason. And I want to say today that if

you're following the Lord, if you're

walking in his way, you're walking in

his his path, it's possible the next

rung up or the next promotion at some

other job you could take isn't what God

has.

It's possible, right? I'm just throwing

it out there. Don't get too quiet. What

does the Lord have for you? What does

the Lord speak? And are we obedient to

the voice of the Lord?

Now, maybe maybe you're like me and

you're like, "Well, if the angel of the

Lord would just show up, that'd be a

whole lot easier, right, Pastor Dave?"

Like, "Oh, yes, you need to do this,

Pastor Dave." Well, that would be maybe

a little bit easier.

But we have the greatest thing. We have

the word of God that speaks life. We

have the word we can study. We can show

ourselves approved. We have the spirit

of God that leads us and guides us. And

maybe or maybe not. In certain

situations, you might hear his voice.

And other times, you may just know

inside because the spirit leads you. And

we must be willing to say, God, if it's

an angel, if you show up in visitation

or if it's a still small voice that I

just know, Lord, this is the choice.

This is what you have for me. Lord, help

us to be. Help me to be. Please be

obedient to the voice of the Lord and to

his call.

If the origin is divine, then the aim

must be decisive. If you know that God

has spoken, when you hear God speak

through whatever means he would use,

it's time to be decisive to not to say,

"Oh, it's fine." No, it's not fine. If

God would call you, if God would show

you, if God would reveal to you, we must

be decisive to take action. Just like

Joseph that what he thought he was going

to do, which was actually being a noble,

good guy in their culture, he said, "No,

I'm going to do what the angel has

spoken. I'm going to do what the Lord

has spoken. My life's going to look

different than what I thought it was cuz

God showed up." And that's what should

happen in our lives.

The gift was conceived by the spirit.

And as we go on this morning, the next

thought is that the gift came with a

purpose. In verse 21, I I love this

verse. This is what it is all about. She

will bear a son, and you shall call his

name Jesus, for he shall save his people

from their sins.

Not only is there a gift, but there's a

purpose to the gift. Now, I go back to

the gift that I mentioned just a few

minutes ago, and Rachel had heard me

whine and complain about my beard being

itchy, had heard me whine and complain

about all the things that go with like

grooming and this stuff. So, what does

she do? She buys me something to take

care of the problem that I've been

complaining about. Anybody does that

sound like it makes sense. Like, that

sounds like it makes a lot of sense. Uh,

anybody else in the room when God comes

and speaks truth that would heal and

restore and make new and fix the

problems, been kind of like me that day

and all of a sudden it's like, I don't

want that. I I I mean, this would be

cool. I like this, but I don't want

what's actually going to help me in my

life. Hello.

>> And when Jesus came, he didn't just

come. He didn't just come and woo, I'm

here. But he came to save his people

from their sins. But you know what

saving means? It means pulling it out,

turning the other direction, looking the

other way, which means what is sin in my

life? Jesus came to cover it, to give

grace, but also to help me go the other

direction and no longer walk in that

sin.

Jesus came to this earth so you do not

have to live in sin anymore. You don't

have to live in those old ways anymore.

You don't have to let that be who you

are, but instead you can walk in

freedom. Cuz my favorite definition I've

ever heard of sin is sin is something

that hurts you or hurt somebody else.

Sin is not to punish you. It's not to

make life boring or whatever things we

can come up with. It's the exact

opposite that when we walk free of sin

in our life, church, we're not

backbiting. We're not lying. We're not

stealing. We're not taking other

people's things. People aren't taking

ours if they're not sinning, right?

We're we're doing the things encouraging

one another. We're not gossiping. We're

not doing things that hurt those around

us. Sin is something that we need

removed from our lives so we can walk in

true freedom.

What does sin also often times do? It

binds us. If it's alcohol or if it's

nicotine or whatever thing you want to

say, things that hold us and they bind

us and we we must have these items or

else our life is no good. We need that

next thing,

right? Sin

sin hurts, it wounds, it destroys. And

Jesus, he didn't only come not only

given by the spirit, but he came with a

purpose. For he will save his people

from their sins.

Titus 2:1-14 says, "For the grace of God

Titus 2:1–14

has appeared, bringing salvation for all

people, training us to renounce

ungodliness and worldly passions, and to

live self-controlled, upright, and godly

lives in the present age, waiting for

our blessed hope, the appearing of the

glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus

Christ, who gave himself for us to

redeem us from all lawlessness.

and to purify for himself a people for

his own possession who are zealous for

good works. Church, Christmas is not

just about a gift. It's not just about

we're given, but it's about a God in

heaven who sent Jesus to our sin away to

help us walk in his power and in his

authority to help us be who he's called

us to be, which means we're going to be

the best version of ourselves on this

earth. And that doesn't even mention one

day when we get to live with Jesus in

eternity forever and we get to

experience his power forever. Where

there's no more tears, no more death,

where sin has been washed away. Church,

that's what Christmas is all about.

Jesus came and he came with a purpose.

He came with a purpose.

When we think about our lives, going

back, bringing it right here, right to

our own home, what is the purpose of

your life? What has God called you to

do? We've all been given a great

commission to go and make disciples of

all nations. We've all been given the

commission to live on on uh doing the

will of God and walking in his way. And

I want to encourage you today that if

you want life to be boring and you want

to get lost and you want to get

confused, then live life to try to have

more stuff and to have nicer things. And

the definition I think that comes to me

is things that will break and then cause

you frustration. The best things you buy

at some point will break and then cause

you frustration. If that's what you are

looking for, then the good, the awesome,

the blessings will turn into the

opposite.

Is that what we're looking for? Or is

God and has God given you're living for

him that you're walking

in the company you're a part of that

you're leading people towards Jesus?

You're pushing people towards the

presence of God. And it may not include

in this moment getting your Bible and

standing up on your chair in your

cubicle or in your office and and

preaching the gospel. That might not be

what you can do. You won't have a job

anymore possibly.

So do that only if Jesus speaks clearly

to you and the angel shows up then do

what he says. Right. Absolutely. But

every one of us is called to talk about

Jesus to share Jesus to talk about the

one that matters more than anything else

to us. You have a purpose and Jesus came

to take our sin. And now we get to be a

part of seeing the world around us

realize who he is.

And it might take days, maybe weeks,

months, maybe years for some in our

lives, maybe even decades that we have

to be consistent and we have to be

faithful and we have to be people of

prayer and we have to use every

opportunity to talk about Jesus. And we

do it in the way, not in a pushy way

that's going to push him away, but

instead Jesus lead us, guide us, the

words that he would have us until they

come to a point where they finally

understand the goodness and the grace of

God. What am I saying? What happens if

your work or your job or your family,

all the things that you do instead of

just being about you and what you get is

instead about you and what you can give

to the people that are in those

locations. How you can change people's

lives because you are called by the one

who redeemed and saved and set us free.

The one that came with a purpose. He

came with a purpose. So you can also

live with a purpose.

Salvation's purpose leads to salvation's

promise of Jesus. Let's live for him.

Let's follow him and let people be able

to follow us to Jesus.

The gift was conceived by the spirit.

The gift came with a purpose. And third

and finally today, the gift brings God's

presence. Verse 22 and 23 and 24 say,

"All this took place to fulfill what the

Lord had spoken by the prophet. Behold,

the virgin shall conceive and bear a

son, and they shall call his name

Emmanuel." What? What's that? Emmanuel,

which means God with us.

He came to save us. He came to free us,

to take our sins away. He t came with a

purpose. But church, I'm so thankful

that it's not only about even just

saving us. It's not only about just

getting us out of the junk of the world

and life, but the God of the universe

wants to be with you.

>> Wants to live with you. He's Emmanuel.

He's God with us. The gift brings God's

presence. Jesus brings his presence.

John 1:14 says, "And the word became

John 1:14

flesh and dwelt among us. And we have

seen his glory. The word became flesh.

Then he gave us his word to us. We get

to live with him. We get to experience

him. It's why the word of God is so

precious and powerful. It's why there's

no word of his of the word of God that

we would get rid of, but we hold it

tight to us because the word became

flesh. He dwells with us. And not only

his Bible, but his spirit that you and I

get to walk in the presence of Jesus.

It's why I love anytime when a group of

people gather together to worship and to

praise and to lift up the name of Jesus

because there's nothing like being in

the presence of God because that's one

of the maiden reasons why he came to

save us to but to be with us

church the greatest gift the one who

sacrificed it all he did it for you and

I just want to throw this out

forgiveness is precious, right? It's

it's great. I'm so thankful for it. But

presence is the point and his presence

is the best.

And today, if you walk in the the things

of God, and maybe you're like, I'm I'm

trying to figure this out. I'm trying to

figure out what this spiritual walk is

and this religion or all these things.

Jesus came.

He's given you a gift of salvation. All

you have to do is take it. and that he

wants to walk with you in Christmas

season, but also in the middle of the

summer, in every other moment. He wants

to walk with you when things are great

and it's all going well. And he wants to

walk with you when you're just hiding

yourself away because life's just not

going as you want it to go. He wants to

be with you. He wants to be with you

when you're doing it right and you're

staying on the straight and narrow, the

word of God that And you know what? He

also wants to be with you when you've

messed up and you need him once again to

come and pick you up cuz you did it

again. That thing got you again. That

temper, that whatever it was, he loves

you. He knows when he died for you. He

already knew the things you would do. He

already knew the situations that you'd

put yourself in because we're all good

at that.

But Jesus loved us anyways. He came as

the perfect gift. He came with purpose

and he came so that he could give us

God's presence. He wants to be with us

today in the power of God. His presence

is here. His presence is here. And if

you're here and you're like, I don't

know. I don't I don't know. I'm not sure

if I feel his presence. All you have to

do is open your heart to him and let him

speak. All you have to do is open your

heart to him and let him show you

himself. All you have to do is open your

heart to the word, the word of God.

You dive in. You begin to study. You

begin to to look. You begin to read. You

begin to say, "Lord, what do you want to

speak to me?" Let his presence

overshadow all the things of life.

Can I even say even the good things of

Christmas, it's just stuff. If Jesus is

not at the center, so focus on Jesus.

Focus on who he is. Focus on the power

of God. Focus on his grace that he's

poured out upon you. Focus on the fact

that he loves the people that you

struggle with sometimes

because there's people that struggle

with you.

But he loves you. He loves them. He's

the God that loves the people that he

created and you're one of them. And when

we think of Christmas, it's not only

gifts. It's not only the things that we

could be given.

It's not only how nice things look or

how well things are put together. Maybe

even how thoughtful they are. Maybe you

have someone in your life that is so

thoughtful and they always figure it

out. Awesome. But maybe maybe that's not

their gifting. That's okay. It's not

about the gift. It's about presence

starting with being with Jesus.

And then it's not about the gift, but

it's about being together. Get it. Get

together with those people you care for,

the people you love. And the gifts are

just a byproduct. They're just a

blessing. There's something on top. But

be together. The presence of one

another.

It's why I say often when we together as

the church family, there's nothing

better. There's nothing better because

be to be in each other's presence with

Jesus among us is the greatest thing,

the greatest gift.

I invite you to focus your heart on the

thing of Jesus. What does he have for

you? A couple of challenges this morning

is maybe God is revealing something to

you. Maybe God is showing you something

that you know maybe it's been for a long

time and you're walking in some of that

sin, some of that stuff that it it's

it's not right and you know it's not

right. Then I want to encourage you

before the Lord just to lay that down.

You might be a follower of God. You

might walk with Jesus. You might love

his word and still struggle in areas.

And I encourage you, don't just let it

be, I just can't do anything about it.

No. Come to Jesus. Let him forgive you.

Let him make you new. And you might have

to step out of that bubble. You might

have to step out of that privacy thing

and go ask somebody, "Hey, I need some

help." You might need a brother or

sister to come alongside of you. Maybe

you need to get counseling. Whatever the

things are, great. But it all is focused

through Jesus. Let him heal and restore

and make new. So maybe you need to come

to him. Maybe you have something in your

body, we prayed earlier that you need

him to heal. You need him to restore.

You need him to touch. I want you to

know that in the same moment when

there's people that are working, there's

there's problems and there's issues,

we're seeing Jesus move in great power

and great authority.

Trust the Lord. Give yourself to the

Lord. And you know, I think one of the

greatest things when we think about our

bodies

is we can give it to him. We can trust

him. Because if you're walking with

Jesus, the day you're absent from the

body, you're present with the Lord,

which means, hey Lord, I trust you in

all things. I give you myself. I don't

have to be anxious or worry because God,

if I'm not here, I'm with you, right?

Which means I'm free. Which means I can

trust him. Which means I can give him

all. Which means I can believe for

healing. And I know if it doesn't happen

here, I'm going to be healed. Healed

when I get to heaven and they'll never

be anymore. Which means, Lord, I trust

you. Every part of my life, the sin of

my I give it to you. The health of my

life, I give it to you. And I think that

leads to the most important thing that

we can do, which is if you're here and

you say, "I've never made Jesus the Lord

of my life. I've never given him myself.

I I'm not walking in relationship. The

the word who became flesh, I don't

follow him. I don't follow his word. I

don't let the word speak to me over my

own understanding. And if you say, "Hey,

I've never made Jesus the Lord of my

life." The greatest thing we can

possibly do, the reason we're here out

on the front is one more for Jesus. And

if you'd say, "I've never made Jesus

Lord of my life." That's what Christmas

is all about. That's why Jesus came and

he's here for you today.

So, I just want to offer a moment. And

in fact, if we can just turn this into a

place of prayer,

maybe bow your head, close your eyes,

whatever you want to do to focus on

Jesus right now.

We'll get to the first things I

mentioned in a minute. But first, if

you've never made Jesus Lord of your

life, and you know today through the

word of God that you want Jesus to be

Lord, you want him to walk with you, you

want his presence with you, you might

need that salvation, you you need you

need him to to get rid of sin, but you

want his presence. If you say, "I want

Jesus for the first time." Or, "I need

to rededicate my life to the Lord. I

just want to invite you all over this

room." If that's you, just to raise your

hand high. I want to be able to pray

with you. I want to see you and be able

to We're going to pray together as a

church family. Is there anybody you'd

say, "That's me today. I need salvation.

I need the power of God. I don't want to

miss anybody. This is the most important

thing we can possibly do. Jesus, he's

the savior. Jesus, he's the God of the

universe. Jesus.

If you're at home today, if that's you,

all you have to do is ask him, "Lord,

forgive me of my sins. Make me new. I

make you Lord of my life. I repent." Put

in your own words. And he welcomes you

into the family. If you're able this

morning, if you can stand to your feet,

if you would join me, I would just love

to pray for you. and maybe a sin area in

your life, maybe something in your

physical body, maybe a relationship,

maybe a problem in any sort of way. He

is here. The gift Jesus came. He brought

his presence, his purpose. Maybe you

need him to re align your purpose. And

even as we're heading into this new year

to not focus on yourself or what's going

on around you, but to focus on the

people that you're called to minister

to, whatever it is, let's just open our

hearts to him. So Lord, right now we

thank you. We praise you, God, that you

are the gift, Lord. You are the only

gift, Lord, that truly matters when it

comes down. And we're thankful that you

did not stay in heaven, but you came to

earth, Lord, not of man's plans, but

Lord, the plans of God, conceived by the

spirit, Lord. You came with a purpose to

forgive us. And so Lord, I pray that

you'd help your church, Lord, today,

this week, Lord, that that you'd help us

to commit. And if there's sin in our

lives, Lord, help us to remove it. If

there's sin that's binding us, if

there's addiction, if there's things

even that we've had for many years,

Lord, break those things in the name of

Jesus,

Lord. And we're thankful, Lord, that

you're with us and you guide us and you

direct us. Bring healing and wholeness

to those areas, Lord. We pray, Lord, for

your presence to be around us, Lord,

that we wouldn't be able to go through

Christmas season, Lord, and miss you,

miss the whole point. So Lord, at every

gathering, at every event, at everything

that's left, as we maybe have a few days

off and different schedule, Lord, let us

focus on you and on your presence and on

your word. Lord Jesus, we thank you for

who you are. Lord, we need you. And

Lord, I do pray that you would heal. You

would restore. You would set free. You'd

give direction. You'd give each person

purpose. Lord, if they don't know why,

if they don't understand, Lord, let them

walk in you and realize, Lord, what you

have for them, Lord. And maybe the one

thing we all know is we're called to

make disciples. So Lord, everywhere we

go, let us lift up your name. Let us

talk about you. Just like when we get

that gift we love, we talk about it.

Lord, we've got the greatest gift. And

let us talk about you everywhere we go.

Lord, we love you. We thank you and we

praise you. Lord, let us see the gift

toward you. Then Lord, I pray that even

as we go and as we give gifts to people,

as we encourage people, as we're maybe

with family or friends, Lord, I pray

that every gift, physical gift that's

given, Lord, would come with love and

people, even those things would turn

those around us to you, to your

goodness. Lord, we love you. Bless your

people. Bless your church. I pray for

great testimonies of joy and of peace

and of happiness, but also of

opportunities to share you and who you

are with friends and family this

Christmas season. Thank you, Jesus. One

more time, Lord. We're thankful for you

coming.

You're so good. Bless your people. Let

us walk in you, Jesus. We thank you and

praise you. In your name we pray. Amen.

And amen. Well, come on, church. Our God

is good. He is so good. We Come on.

Absolutely. But we want to invite you

one more time. Wednesday night, 5:00,

come on out. Join us. And I want to

encourage you. Bring somebody with you.

I'm going to give you a little heads up.

We are believing that we're going to

have a packed house. We're even going to

move the curtains out a little bit.

We're going to have some extra seats

open. That means let's fill them up.

Let's fill them up. Bring some people.

Uh Christmas is one of those times when

people are willing to say yes. So come

let God uh use you as we go.