WEBVTT 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:02.640 Alright, so Christmas sermon. 00:00:02.959 --> 00:00:04.719 So there's going to be a Christmas movie. 00:00:04.879 --> 00:00:09.359 My favorite Christmas movie is Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase. 00:00:09.439 --> 00:00:11.279 I know I'm not alone in this. 00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:15.679 You know, and you know, your mileage may vary. 00:00:15.839 --> 00:00:17.199 This is not for everyone. 00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:23.199 There are some parts that are not, you know, appropriate for young people or anyone. 00:00:23.519 --> 00:00:24.800 But I love it. 00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:26.000 It's hilarious. 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:29.519 It's not really about Jesus in any way. 00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:44.159 But it's as as the title, you know, National Lampoon, it lampoons kind of the things that happen during the holidays, especially with family, and um just makes me laugh. 00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:48.640 And uh Stacy and I quote various lines from this movie throughout the year. 00:00:48.799 --> 00:00:52.719 So it is, it's the it's the gift that keeps on giving all year round. 00:00:52.960 --> 00:01:08.319 Uh the underlying tension of the movie, if you really want to get into it, Clark Griswold, the main character, the the father, the patriarch of the family, he has put a down payment on a pool for their home in Chicago. 00:01:08.480 --> 00:01:15.280 I didn't know people in Chicago had pools, but he has put down a down payment, but he his check can't clear. 00:01:15.359 --> 00:01:16.799 That's how old the movie is. 00:01:17.040 --> 00:01:20.799 His check can't clear without his end-of-year bonus. 00:01:20.959 --> 00:01:34.480 And so he needs his bonus check to be arrived, to be deposited, or you know, his check's gonna bounce, he can't have this uh swimming pool for his family that he's impulsively paid for. 00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:46.799 Uh and as Christmas is drawing near, right, end-of-year bonus check comes in December, the check has not arrived, and so there's this growing level of tension that just ripples through this movie. 00:01:46.879 --> 00:01:47.519 Not really. 00:01:47.680 --> 00:01:49.280 But that is what's going on. 00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:59.840 Finally, uh Christmas Eve in the evening, there's a knock at the door, and it's the courier, and he has an envelope. 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:02.959 There it is, it had fallen between the seats, he's very sorry. 00:02:03.280 --> 00:02:12.159 Clark takes the envelope from the courier's hand, closes the door in his face, he walks into the living room, transfixed. 00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:14.159 His family gathers around him. 00:02:14.319 --> 00:02:17.039 He says, This is it, this is the bonus. 00:02:17.360 --> 00:02:19.120 They're so excited. 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:28.000 Uh and he tells them that uh if there's enough left over, he's gonna fly his whole family back to Chicago to open the pool. 00:02:28.159 --> 00:02:30.560 This must be an incredible bonus check. 00:02:30.719 --> 00:02:31.759 Uh I don't know. 00:02:31.840 --> 00:02:36.479 I mean, I know what he did for a living, but uh spoiler alert for this movie. 00:02:36.639 --> 00:02:38.159 I'm sorry, here it comes. 00:02:38.319 --> 00:02:40.319 He opens the envelope. 00:02:43.039 --> 00:02:50.240 It is not the bonus check he expected, but a membership in the Jelly of the Month Club. 00:02:51.919 --> 00:03:02.159 To which Cousin Eddie, back there in his blue leisure suit, says, Clark, that's the gift that continues to give all year round. 00:03:02.719 --> 00:03:05.520 To which Clark says, That it is, Eddie, that it is. 00:03:05.759 --> 00:03:10.319 Now that may be the most Christian message in the movie. 00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:15.280 It's the title of my sermon, and uh here's the point. 00:03:15.599 --> 00:03:24.479 Though Christmas is a day that we celebrate uh once a year, or a 12-day season, Christmas is the gift that gives all year round. 00:03:24.639 --> 00:03:26.560 So let's let's see how that is. 00:03:26.800 --> 00:03:27.759 First point. 00:03:28.080 --> 00:03:32.159 Christmas gives us the gift of hope all year round. 00:03:32.479 --> 00:03:38.879 Now, the prophet Isaiah, from which our sermon text comes, uh, is known for his messianic prophecies. 00:03:39.039 --> 00:03:44.319 Most of the prophecies you know about Jesus coming as Messiah probably come from Isaiah. 00:03:44.479 --> 00:03:46.479 Listen to verse 10 again. 00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:50.159 He says, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. 00:03:50.319 --> 00:04:08.000 My soul shall exalt in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with jewels. 00:04:08.639 --> 00:04:24.399 Through Isaiah, uh Messiah is speaking of what is to come, and he is rejoicing, he's exulting in God because God has clothed him, as he says, with the garments of salvation, the robe of righteousness. 00:04:24.480 --> 00:04:35.519 And what he says, it's it's like a bride and a groom on their wedding day, who are meticulously preparing for the ceremony. 00:04:36.160 --> 00:04:40.319 Every detail is considered, they are dressed to the nines. 00:04:40.560 --> 00:04:49.040 And so too does Messiah take great care in his adornment as he prepares for what he has come to do. 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:59.839 Messiah is saying to God's people, some 300 years prior to his coming, that he is in the dressing room, right? 00:04:59.920 --> 00:05:10.879 That green room, that ante-room right outside the sanctuary, ready and waiting to enter into the sanctuary for this grand wedding ceremony. 00:05:11.279 --> 00:05:15.279 Now, to God's people, this is a message of incredible hope. 00:05:15.439 --> 00:05:24.879 In the midst of all the chaos that's going on in Isaiah's time that we won't get into this morning, this was a word of hope spoken to a desperate people. 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:41.759 And yet, what struck me as I prayed over and meditated on this passage was that 300-year gap between the giving of the prophecy and its fulfillment in the first Christmas. 00:05:45.839 --> 00:05:52.319 Have you ever felt the fatigue that comes from waiting on God's promises? 00:05:53.680 --> 00:05:59.439 Have you ever looked around at the carnage of your own life? 00:05:59.920 --> 00:06:07.600 Whether it's your marriage or your children, your parenting, your career, or the lack thereof? 00:06:08.959 --> 00:06:16.160 Or you look around at the dysfunction and the world around us, and you've wondered, is God even paying attention? 00:06:17.279 --> 00:06:23.759 What are all these grand promises that we gather from the scriptures that we sing about, especially at Christmas? 00:06:23.920 --> 00:06:26.079 What is God doing? 00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:27.439 Why is he waiting? 00:06:27.519 --> 00:06:34.480 And sometimes the discouragement gets so heavy that we actually begin to wonder if God is even there at all. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:47.439 This week, uh Stacy and I were hanging out and we were just talking through Christmas, the whole the season, the time with family, and just kind of talking through it, processing it. 00:06:47.839 --> 00:06:48.720 And it was wonderful. 00:06:48.800 --> 00:07:01.600 It was a great time, but there were also a number of little things that happened that just kind of injected a little bit of sadness and a little bit of grief kind of the whole week. 00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:14.639 Um and it just reminds me, and as we're all familiar with, that the joy of Christmas is always mingled with the sadness of the reality that the world is still broken. 00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:28.560 Now, part of the good news for me and for you is that that sense of fatigue, that those doubts that are raised, um waiting for God's promises to be fulfilled, is not unusual for God's people. 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:33.680 Here's a couple of my favorites, one from the old, one from the New Testament. 00:07:34.319 --> 00:07:47.120 I love this line from Exodus chapter 17 that comes out of the mouths of the newly freed nation of Israel who've just been miraculously saved from slavery in Egypt. 00:07:47.279 --> 00:07:51.279 They say to Moses, they cry out, Why did you bring us out of Egypt? 00:07:51.519 --> 00:07:52.720 To kill us? 00:07:55.199 --> 00:07:56.720 Have you ever wondered that? 00:07:57.040 --> 00:07:59.439 God, are you trying to kill me? 00:07:59.680 --> 00:08:07.920 I love the disciples' response or question to Jesus after his resurrection, proving that they still don't get it. 00:08:08.560 --> 00:08:14.720 Acts 1.6, they say, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? 00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:22.399 I don't mention these to make fun of, God's people, uh, but to identify with them. 00:08:23.040 --> 00:08:26.160 These are the questions that I continue to ask. 00:08:26.399 --> 00:08:32.879 As a follower of Christ, I grow weary and even doubt at times. 00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:43.039 Now, the apostles and the New Testament writers were so aware of this in themselves and in those they ministered to, they they even addressed it in some of their writings. 00:08:43.200 --> 00:08:45.120 Listen to what Peter wrote in one of his letters. 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:59.200 He said, The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not waiting, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 00:08:59.440 --> 00:09:02.960 But he says, the day of the Lord will come. 00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:09.120 That's what the people of God were wondering, that's what they were waiting for. 00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:12.080 Will God keep his promises? 00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:19.200 And that's why, just as an aside, the Old Testament, this is why the Old Testament is so important for the church, so important for us. 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:38.320 Because the time between God's promises to Abraham in Genesis 12, to the coming of Messiah at the birth of Jesus, God's people had a multitude of opportunities to wonder at God's promises, to doubt, to ask, to cry out. 00:09:38.480 --> 00:09:41.440 And so it meets us in a special way. 00:09:41.919 --> 00:09:46.320 Because we also are in a time in between promise and fulfillment. 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:58.080 Yes, we have seen the birth of Christ, his death on the cross, his resurrection from the dead, and yet we await his second coming and the fulfillment of all things. 00:09:58.240 --> 00:10:06.639 And so the reason Christmas gives us hope is that we sit on the other side of this promise's fulfillment. 00:10:07.200 --> 00:10:14.240 God's people through Isaiah heard this promise that Messiah was coming, that he was decked out as a bride or a groom. 00:10:14.720 --> 00:10:17.759 And yet it took 300 years. 00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:26.159 But we who sit on the other side of the first Christmas, we know that these very words were fulfilled. 00:10:27.200 --> 00:10:30.879 And as we look at their fulfillment, it defies our imagination. 00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:47.679 If you've studied Old Testament prophecy and the promises of Messiah, the intricate and beautiful way that God was able to pull together hundreds of prophecies that all came to their fulfillment in Jesus. 00:10:48.960 --> 00:11:02.399 When you look at the grandeur of God's ability to orchestrate so much in history to come to this one focal point, it's enough to make us bow down and worship. 00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:26.559 And so when we look at Christmas, we are reminded that God has all ability to fulfill his promises in ways that we cannot imagine, but we can trust and hope that when they come to fulfillment in his second coming and the restoration of the new heavens and the new earth, that it will be more grand and better than anything we could have imagined. 00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:31.279 And so Christmas is that gift of hope that gives all year round. 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:35.919 Point two, Christmas gives us, is the gift of patience all year round. 00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:39.200 Now I bring in patience here because it's what Scripture does. 00:11:39.360 --> 00:11:45.279 Scripture tightly ties together the ideas of patience and hope. 00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:53.440 In his letter to the church in Rome, Paul identifies with this same idea of groaning, if you're familiar with Romans chapter 8. 00:11:53.759 --> 00:11:54.480 He says this. 00:11:54.639 --> 00:12:07.360 He says, Not only does the creation, but we ourselves who have the first fruits of the Spirit, we groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for the adoption of sons, the redemption of our bodies. 00:12:08.159 --> 00:12:10.720 For in this hope we have been saved. 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:16.080 But hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he sees. 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:22.320 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. 00:12:23.279 --> 00:12:29.120 Hope, when nurtured in Christian maturity, yields patience. 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:32.240 So it's Christmas time. 00:12:32.559 --> 00:12:37.440 I have an 18-year-old, a 16-year-old, and a 12-year-old. 00:12:38.399 --> 00:12:44.480 And my 12-year-old is still young enough that he just cannot wait to open Christmas gifts, right? 00:12:44.559 --> 00:12:49.200 If you guys have little kids, uh I assume they're as bad as mine. 00:12:50.080 --> 00:12:55.519 He is incessant at asking, can I, can I, can we open a gift early? 00:12:55.679 --> 00:12:57.200 Can I just, can I just one? 00:12:57.279 --> 00:12:59.279 Can we just can I open one gift? 00:12:59.600 --> 00:13:05.679 It's uh and you know, once I had officially shut that down, he just he just he just wouldn't shut up. 00:13:05.759 --> 00:13:08.399 I just can't I can't wait for Christmas morning. 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:11.279 I can't wait to open presents. 00:13:12.639 --> 00:13:21.039 And as annoyed as that makes me, uh it's also um really beautiful. 00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:26.960 That longing, that anticipation in a kid that they can barely contain, you know. 00:13:27.120 --> 00:13:29.200 This may be his last year, you know. 00:13:29.360 --> 00:13:34.720 He'll officially be a teenager next year, so it'll probably be too cool for presents like his sisters. 00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:41.600 Um but that anticipation is contagious for adults, I think, and I think it's a beautiful thing. 00:13:41.759 --> 00:13:48.320 Uh and I still I love Christmas morning, I love opening gifts with family and all of that. 00:13:48.559 --> 00:13:59.600 But as I have experienced a number of Christmas mornings, and I have grown in my Christian maturity, I actually appreciate the waiting. 00:13:59.919 --> 00:14:15.120 I know it's coming, I anticipate it, I look forward to it, but the waiting contains a lot of the joy, and so I have learned the gift of patience in that sense, something that I couldn't and didn't have as a small child. 00:14:15.279 --> 00:14:18.080 Now listen to Isaiah 62:1 in our passage. 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:33.200 He says, For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, as her salvation, a burning torch. 00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:42.799 This is the prophet Isaiah himself, filled with the zeal for God's people, love for God's people given to him from the Lord. 00:14:42.879 --> 00:14:51.919 He says, I will not keep silent, I will never stop crying out to the Lord until he has fulfilled all his promises. 00:14:53.840 --> 00:15:13.200 He declares and foreshadows the ministry of Jesus himself, Messiah, that Jesus, even after his death and resurrection, he is seated now at the right hand of the Father in heaven and he intercedes for us, he prays for us, he reminds the Father to be faithful. 00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:26.559 And he points at his own wounds, his own faithfulness, and says, You have every reason to be faithful to your people because I was the perfect sacrifice. 00:15:27.840 --> 00:15:32.960 And knowing what Jesus has done for us allows us to be patient. 00:15:33.120 --> 00:15:36.720 We know that he has done the work and he continues to do the work. 00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:46.240 Jesus will never stop until the Father has ultimately fulfilled all his promises. 00:15:46.960 --> 00:16:04.000 It's the tenacity of God that we see so brilliantly fulfilled at the first Christmas that allows us, his children, to now, though we wait and though we long and though we pray with John, who wrote the book of Revelation, come quickly, Lord Jesus. 00:16:04.240 --> 00:16:08.320 How long we can wait in patience. 00:16:08.799 --> 00:16:14.240 Point three, Christmas gives us the gift of comfort and joy all year long. 00:16:14.320 --> 00:16:29.200 And now again, I'm gonna return and kind of promote this is why it's so important to know biblical history and to understand the history between the time of Isaiah's prophecy and the coming of Jesus, the first Christmas. 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:33.279 At the time of Isaiah, Israel was under incredible distress. 00:16:33.440 --> 00:16:35.840 Now, they were kind of the cause of that. 00:16:35.919 --> 00:16:40.000 They were wandering away from the Lord, and the Lord was calling them back to himself. 00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:49.919 But it was during that time that major nations, neighboring nations, came and completely devastated the nation of Israel. 00:16:50.080 --> 00:17:01.519 First, the kingdom of Assyria came and wiped out ten of the northern tribes, and then a couple hundred years later, Babylon came and took out the remaining two southern tribes. 00:17:02.639 --> 00:17:05.440 And many in Israel were taken away into exile. 00:17:05.519 --> 00:17:08.640 If you know much about Israel's history, you know about the exile. 00:17:08.880 --> 00:17:15.519 And they they lived under the reign of foreign kings like Nebuchadnezzar and King Cyrus of the Persians. 00:17:15.759 --> 00:17:33.279 Now, what's fascinating about this time is that through the prophets, God continues to show and to say that he is just as in control and just as engaged and active as he was when Israel was safe in the promised land. 00:17:34.559 --> 00:17:46.240 He humbled Nebuchadnezzar through madness, and he caused Cyrus, King Cyrus, to send the Israelites back to Jerusalem to rebuild the city and the temple. 00:17:47.519 --> 00:18:05.440 And though they awaited the full advent of the Lord's promises that were certainly not seen to them in this time of exile, they experienced countless many resurrections or acts of salvation all around them. 00:18:05.839 --> 00:18:08.880 And beloved, the same is true for us. 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:12.160 The Lord speaks of it in our own passage. 00:18:12.319 --> 00:18:14.400 Listen to these last couple verses. 00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:17.200 The nations will see your righteousness. 00:18:17.680 --> 00:18:20.720 This is Isaiah speaking to God's people. 00:18:20.880 --> 00:18:30.240 He says, The nations will see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give. 00:18:30.480 --> 00:18:37.759 You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. 00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:49.039 This is that theme that we talk about every week here at Redeemer because it's so vital, so foundational, so important, that those who are in Christ are God's beloved. 00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:52.720 Adopted daughters and sons. 00:18:53.279 --> 00:19:01.200 That the Lord calls here crowns of beauty, a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord. 00:19:01.759 --> 00:19:03.039 What does the Lord do with that crown? 00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:07.680 He puts it on his head and he says, My people are my crowning glory. 00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:10.559 He's not ashamed of us. 00:19:11.279 --> 00:19:12.400 We are beloved. 00:19:13.680 --> 00:19:21.599 But you see, it's not only his works of salvation that are promised here, it's his love for us is promised here. 00:19:23.680 --> 00:19:28.720 And that's vitally important for us to remember because as we've been saying, his timing is not our timing. 00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:37.680 And so as we wait with patience over time, years and decades, we must remember God's love. 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:43.119 Because we will be tempted to doubt it. 00:19:43.599 --> 00:19:51.839 And yet the reality of Christmas brings us back again and again how far God was willing to go for us, whom He loved. 00:19:52.000 --> 00:20:00.559 Again, He didn't stay far off and kind of send a lightning bolt like Zeus would do and kind of save us from afar and stay clean and detached. 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:10.720 The word became flesh and dwelt among us, and God took on our suffering, our mess, our sin, our suffering for us. 00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:14.160 This is incredible love. 00:20:15.839 --> 00:20:19.279 And beloved, this is our Christian superpower. 00:20:21.119 --> 00:20:26.640 The ability to have joy and comfort in the midst of a dark and a broken world. 00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:31.039 It's less our ability to be righteous, right? 00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:35.759 To do the right thing in the world and kind of show non-Christians what's right. 00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:42.480 It's more the ability to live with joy and comfort in the midst of the brokenness around us and inside of us. 00:20:43.200 --> 00:20:45.599 That is God's glory that radiates through us. 00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:52.400 And it's the ability to love those who are unlovely, our neighbors, with the love that God has given us. 00:20:52.640 --> 00:20:56.640 This is how the kings and nations will see God's glory. 00:20:56.880 --> 00:20:58.079 That's what Isaiah is talking about. 00:20:58.160 --> 00:21:08.799 When we are able to love and walk in the love we've been given in Christ, people see and people are drawn towards our Lord. 00:21:10.079 --> 00:21:15.920 That is the comfort and the joy of Christmas that we are given all year round. 00:21:16.720 --> 00:21:20.799 Okay, the end of Christmas Vacation has always baffled me. 00:21:20.960 --> 00:21:23.519 I don't know if you, again, if you've if you've ever watched this movie. 00:21:23.680 --> 00:21:31.759 Clark realizes that his company has uh canceled these year-end bonuses, and he goes on a rant. 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:38.880 It's a beautiful, poetic rant full of cuss words and creative things. 00:21:39.039 --> 00:21:44.559 And uh he tells his family how angry he is at his boss, the president of the company, Mr. 00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:45.519 Shirley. 00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:50.480 And then cousin Eddie, whose heart is bigger than his brain. 00:21:50.640 --> 00:21:52.799 Uh thank you, Clerk, he says. 00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:55.839 Uh he actually goes and he kidnapped Mr. 00:21:55.920 --> 00:22:01.680 Shirley from his house, and he brings him back to his house wrapped as a gift. 00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:09.599 And it just fits perfectly with the flow of this movie because things just get progressively worse and worse and worse. 00:22:09.759 --> 00:22:15.920 Now they have, you know, kidnapped someone, someone's going to jail, uh, things are bad. 00:22:16.079 --> 00:22:19.039 We've reached the climax, everything is falling apart. 00:22:19.359 --> 00:22:21.039 But then Mr. 00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:27.599 Shirley hears uh Clark's disappointment and canceling Christmas bonuses. 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:29.279 And guess what happens? 00:22:29.440 --> 00:22:29.759 Mr. 00:22:29.839 --> 00:22:31.119 Shirley repents. 00:22:31.839 --> 00:22:38.640 Like Zacchaeus, the tax collector, he reinstates Christmas bonuses and he says, add 20%. 00:22:39.759 --> 00:22:43.920 To which Clark just passes out on the floor. 00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:46.880 Beloved, this is a resurrection story. 00:22:48.799 --> 00:22:51.759 This is what this movie is all about. 00:22:51.920 --> 00:22:58.160 This is what Tolkien, right, the the author of The Lord of the Rings, he dubbed this a U catastrophe. 00:22:58.960 --> 00:23:02.240 Which comes from uh U means good catastrophe. 00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:06.240 We know that means it means something good coming out of something terrible. 00:23:06.480 --> 00:23:10.079 And this is what uh this is what he dubbed the cross. 00:23:10.319 --> 00:23:13.440 Out of a catastrophe, God brings about a great good. 00:23:14.319 --> 00:23:21.680 And so out of this kidnapping, out of a horrible Christmas season, uh Christmas bonuses get reinstated and added onto. 00:23:21.839 --> 00:23:25.359 So Christmas vacation is a real Christmas movie. 00:23:25.519 --> 00:23:27.279 Uh we have dubbed it that. 00:23:27.519 --> 00:23:42.240 And beloved, I what I want you to hear this morning is that though life often feels like it is falling apart, the gift of Christmas all year round is a gift of hope, of patience, of joy, and comfort for us all year round. 00:23:42.400 --> 00:23:43.440 Let's pray. 00:23:43.920 --> 00:23:46.480 Our Father in heaven, Lord, hallowed be your name. 00:23:46.640 --> 00:23:49.759 Thank you that you are the God who keeps his promises. 00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:57.599 Fill our hearts with hope, Lord, we pray, this Christmas season, that we will carry with us all year round for your glory and our good. 00:23:57.680 --> 00:23:59.359 We ask it in Jesus' name. 00:23:59.599 --> 00:24:00.079 Amen.