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Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:14, ESV
God gave us the ultimate sign of His being and love and grace: He sent His Son, God in the flesh, to be with us.
When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
Matthew 2:10-11, ESV
Do you get excited over signs that Christ is present?
Are you paying attention to the fact there are signs?
Are you bringing your gifts to bring glory to Christ? Being His hands and feet in a dark and lost world?
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 5:16, ESV
Emmanuel – God with us – showed us the way to live and love others, that we may manifest the Lord through our actions toward and for others.
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:57, ESV
We have victory over death and sin because our God came and overcame these in our place, for our benefit, and for His glory!
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14, ESV
Our God is not aloof and uncaring. He sees our struggles, came and experienced this life, and revealed the truth of our situation with love and grace.
Jesus can be trusted and loved.
All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;
2 Corinthians 5:18, ESV
One reason God sends hardships and persecution our way: we know how to comfort a lost world and draw them into reconciliation with their Creator through Christ.
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
James 1:2-3, ESV
God wants strong, faithful followers and friends.
Sometimes He allows bad things to happen. Sometimes He sends them.
It is to grow us in Christ, The Faithful One who endured trials God us.
The modern version of this Charles Wesley hymn is titled Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus, but I like the old version better. When I consider that God the Son condescended to becomeman, to live here on earth among His own creation, my mind feels like it’s being stretched too far. I can’t comprehend this type of love. We went to a Christmas town yesterday, a cold front moved in and it was way colder then expected. Wind chills at -11. I hate being uncomfortable, even for the few minutes we stood outside to watch the parade. Christ left the glories of heaven, He entered His creation, He lived a perfect life, He died an excruciatingly painful death having our sins poured out on Him by the Father. All of this willingly, all of this for wretches like me. What love is this, that while I…
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Today (Dec. 15), we are handing out Thank you/Christmas cards to all of our volunteers. My wife is the more introverted one who also overanalyze every word to make sure it sounds right, is not offensive on some way, and it’s understood. If she can get through this process (with a little added help from me, since I am one of the leadership, as well!), we all can.
And it is okay to all for help.
And it is okay to keep our simple.
And it is generally okay to add a hug if you see them.Daniel
This Sunday at Church I want to encourage you to do the following: Write a note or letter to someone.
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Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.
Psalm 42:11, ESV
Sometimes this life can get us down or even feel pointless and beyond hope.
But God is God. If we turn to Him and praise Him alone, we will find our joy and peace.
a simple man of God 