WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:01.439 Good evening, good to see you. 00:00:01.520 --> 00:00:03.839 My name is Russ Masterson, the pastor here. 00:00:03.919 --> 00:00:28.960 And so whether you're one of our regular folks, or I know a lot of you might be here through family and you're visiting, and you came, and some of you are really excited about that, and some of you are family and you got drug here, and you're not so excited, but we are excited you're here, and the thing that we are excited to say every single week, and even in the middle of that passage that Jin read for us, it said, uh, good news of great joy. 00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:30.960 What is this? 00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:33.119 What is this good news of great joy? 00:00:33.359 --> 00:00:42.960 The sentence that we say every single week to summarize it is we're more broken than we originally thought, but we're more loved by God and Jesus than we could dare to dream. 00:00:43.119 --> 00:00:50.240 That's what our church is about, that's what we sing about, that's what we talk about, learn about, that's what we grow in and rest in, and that's the good news. 00:00:50.399 --> 00:00:58.399 So we heard the story read from Luke chapter 2, but I want to begin us in John chapter 1, verse 14. 00:00:58.880 --> 00:01:01.840 And the word became flesh and dwelt among us. 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:04.079 So there we have, there we have Christmas right there. 00:01:04.239 --> 00:01:06.159 The word became flesh and dwelt among us. 00:01:06.319 --> 00:01:13.680 And we have seen his glory, glory as the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:26.239 Now that word, word, the third word in that verse 14, word is the Greek word logos, meaning account or speech, and here referencing the Christ. 00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:38.319 So if we put all this together, John is saying to us, God's account or God's speech to us about himself, is this Jesus for us to see? 00:01:39.120 --> 00:01:47.519 So we may still have a thousand questions for God and about God and why this happened and that happened, and he's this, but this happened, this thing. 00:01:47.680 --> 00:01:49.280 You may have a million questions, too many questions. 00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:50.079 I have a lot of questions. 00:01:50.159 --> 00:01:54.159 Like, sign me up for the line with the questions when I'm in heaven, right? 00:01:54.319 --> 00:01:56.079 Like, I have questions. 00:01:57.200 --> 00:02:03.120 But we don't have to wonder what God's heart is like for us. 00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:07.120 Because we get to see Jesus in this way. 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:15.120 Our family, one of our favorite things during the Christmas season, like a lot of you guys, is to check the mail, right? 00:02:15.199 --> 00:02:18.000 Because it's like finally something other than bills and junk. 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:19.680 It was you get Christmas cards, right? 00:02:19.759 --> 00:02:21.120 You get some Christmas cards. 00:02:21.199 --> 00:02:29.759 And some of you send us Christmas cards, and we look at your cards, and we get Christmas cards from you know family and friends from different parts of that live in different places. 00:02:29.919 --> 00:02:39.439 Maybe we haven't seen them in a while, and we leave them on our kitchen island while we're eating, and we look at the cards, and slowly we kind of hang them up in a few doorways, and we look at the cards over and over again. 00:02:39.520 --> 00:02:50.639 And maybe you receive some cards and you look at them, and you know, we're looking at sweet, just sweet families, like like we weren't all arguing two seconds before the picture was taken, right? 00:02:50.719 --> 00:02:53.759 Like to get like you better smile, like to get the perfect shot. 00:02:53.919 --> 00:02:58.479 And it's just a I mean, it's a great source through the Christmas season of just like love. 00:02:58.560 --> 00:03:00.400 You're like, oh man, I love those people. 00:03:00.479 --> 00:03:02.400 Like, I haven't seen them in a while, and I'm I love them. 00:03:02.560 --> 00:03:03.599 A little jealousy, right? 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:06.000 A little jealousy because you're like, where are they at? 00:03:06.159 --> 00:03:07.520 Like, where's that picture? 00:03:07.680 --> 00:03:10.159 Like, how are they hiking in Tibet during the pandemic? 00:03:10.319 --> 00:03:12.159 Like, how'd that how did that happen? 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:13.280 How'd they pull that off? 00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:18.400 Or you're like, that'sn't that like six times at the beach this year, and like I don't like that, and then I'm a little jealous. 00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:24.159 So a lot of love, a little jealousy, a little je I know, I know, a little jealousy, a lot of love, right? 00:03:24.800 --> 00:03:25.439 A lot of love. 00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:27.680 Here's the favorite, my favorite card this year. 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:29.759 You didn't win because this is not you. 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:34.080 So this is some friends of ours that live in Atlanta, and this is the rich family. 00:03:34.159 --> 00:03:37.280 These are our friends who've been friends with these folks for like 20 years. 00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:40.400 All their children, by the way, I know you were wondering that. 00:03:40.560 --> 00:03:41.439 You're also counting. 00:03:41.520 --> 00:03:42.960 Some of you are like, how many is that? 00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:44.479 And you're like, is that a church? 00:03:44.639 --> 00:03:48.960 No, it's not a church, it's not a community, not a neighborhood, just their family. 00:03:49.199 --> 00:03:53.520 Seven children, there's two biological, there's five adopted. 00:03:53.759 --> 00:04:01.439 And I can remember all the way back when Josiah, who's the oldest son there on the far left, I remember when Josiah was born. 00:04:01.599 --> 00:04:05.840 I hadn't seen him in a while, it's been a while, and we got this card and sat on the kitchen island for a while. 00:04:05.919 --> 00:04:08.080 I kept looking at it over and over because I love these people. 00:04:08.159 --> 00:04:09.919 I mean, these are some of my best friends. 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:12.240 I love these people, but I hadn't seen Josiah in a while. 00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:15.120 I'm like, that he like he became like a little man. 00:04:15.280 --> 00:04:18.560 Like he's like a man boy, and you're like, ah, he seems like a little man boy. 00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:20.800 He's dressed like his dad. 00:04:20.959 --> 00:04:23.360 Like if you look at it, let's just start to analyze the card. 00:04:23.439 --> 00:04:27.199 I hadn't told my friends that we're gonna do this at our church this week. 00:04:27.759 --> 00:04:29.680 He's dressed like his dad. 00:04:30.240 --> 00:04:34.079 Uh his nose and his smile, it's like his dad. 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:39.279 The way the skin folds, like around his mouth, it's like his dad. 00:04:39.759 --> 00:04:43.439 His ears, and they kind of fold, they're kind of folded back, it's like his dad. 00:04:43.600 --> 00:04:45.120 His hair is like his dad. 00:04:45.519 --> 00:04:45.839 Right? 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:48.800 I mean, he just he just looks like his dad. 00:04:49.279 --> 00:04:49.600 Right? 00:04:49.759 --> 00:04:51.519 This is what John is saying. 00:04:51.680 --> 00:04:52.879 This is what John is saying. 00:04:53.040 --> 00:04:56.639 John's saying, Jesus is the account of God. 00:04:56.959 --> 00:04:58.319 You're gonna have a lot of questions. 00:04:58.480 --> 00:05:00.879 You keep having a lot of questions, of course. 00:05:01.120 --> 00:05:06.720 But if you want to know what the Creator's like, his heart for you, we can look at Jesus. 00:05:06.959 --> 00:05:08.240 What a gift. 00:05:08.639 --> 00:05:09.279 What a gift. 00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:12.720 This week I just I just wrote out, like just thinking about the New Testament. 00:05:13.120 --> 00:05:14.800 What are some observations? 00:05:15.279 --> 00:05:16.079 20 seconds. 00:05:16.240 --> 00:05:19.040 I just wrote out observations of Jesus. 00:05:19.439 --> 00:05:24.079 Here's what we know about Jesus: He comes into the world in humility in a manger and a barn. 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:24.800 Right? 00:05:24.879 --> 00:05:26.000 So he's communicating right. 00:05:26.160 --> 00:05:27.519 He comes right into our mess. 00:05:27.759 --> 00:05:28.720 He's accessible. 00:05:28.879 --> 00:05:31.360 He seeks the worn out, the weary, broken down. 00:05:31.439 --> 00:05:35.360 He's always moved toward the prostitutes and the lepers and the marginalized. 00:05:35.439 --> 00:05:38.160 He shares time with them and meals with them, the leper. 00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:40.800 Anybody broken? 00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:45.519 And then he's breaking religious rules and societal rules to do that, to love. 00:05:46.720 --> 00:05:50.399 He wraps his arms around the weak, not the powerful. 00:05:50.639 --> 00:05:53.360 He wraps his arms around the wrecked. 00:05:53.680 --> 00:05:59.120 He speaks healing words to just broken and ruined bodies and lifeless hearts. 00:05:59.439 --> 00:06:02.879 He hangs on a cross and welcomes the thief. 00:06:03.600 --> 00:06:06.480 He dies on the cross and he forgives his murderers. 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:08.639 Wow. 00:06:09.360 --> 00:06:16.879 I mean, what a what a compelling, astonishing, loving life that he's pouring out. 00:06:18.240 --> 00:06:18.560 Right? 00:06:18.639 --> 00:06:22.240 And it says that he came to save all and love all. 00:06:23.920 --> 00:06:30.319 The question that this week I read as I was thinking about all this is from Priest Henri Nowen. 00:06:30.879 --> 00:06:36.000 He said, Can I accept that I am worth looking for? 00:06:37.040 --> 00:06:39.040 Can I accept that I am worth looking for? 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:41.279 That I might be one of those. 00:06:42.319 --> 00:06:50.959 Okay, now in Matthew 1, verse 23, when Jesus is born, it's declared there, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, like we say. 00:06:51.360 --> 00:06:56.399 And Emmanuel means God with us, so not God against us, right? 00:06:56.480 --> 00:06:58.000 And a lot of us will sign up for that right away. 00:06:58.079 --> 00:06:59.439 You're like, yeah, I'm good on that. 00:06:59.519 --> 00:07:03.199 God with us, not, you know, is against me. 00:07:03.519 --> 00:07:10.319 But it doesn't even mean, so it's not even not God's sort of for us, once we're really for him. 00:07:10.720 --> 00:07:13.199 That's really kind of common, Christian faith belief. 00:07:13.279 --> 00:07:16.160 Like, like, oh, if I get my act together, then God will be for me. 00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:20.000 If I'll meet him halfway, then that will cause him to be for me. 00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:22.560 But the word Emmanuel is different than that. 00:07:22.639 --> 00:07:25.600 The word of Emmanuel is like forcibly toward us. 00:07:27.120 --> 00:07:31.519 It occurs three times in the Bible, here in Matthew, twice in Isaiah. 00:07:31.680 --> 00:07:40.160 So in Isaiah 800 years before the birth of Jesus, in Isaiah 7 verse 14, the prophet says that Emmanuel will come to a virgin. 00:07:40.319 --> 00:07:45.519 And then Isaiah 8.8, the prophet says that the people of God belong. 00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:48.240 Belong to Emmanuel. 00:07:48.639 --> 00:07:50.800 Oh, what a beautiful promise for us. 00:07:50.959 --> 00:07:53.920 I mean, if you're anything like me, just looking for belonging. 00:07:54.079 --> 00:07:56.399 Like who, like, where can I belong? 00:07:56.639 --> 00:07:59.199 Like, who will give me that stamp of validation? 00:07:59.839 --> 00:08:04.480 And you belong, and I belong to this Emmanuel, to God with us. 00:08:06.399 --> 00:08:09.680 Now, here's the point of the sermon, just a one-point sermon today. 00:08:09.839 --> 00:08:10.240 Amen. 00:08:10.399 --> 00:08:11.040 Short sermons? 00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:11.680 Anybody? 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:13.279 All right, here's the point. 00:08:14.079 --> 00:08:16.800 The heart of God is for you. 00:08:17.199 --> 00:08:18.560 I'm gonna just try to keep it simple. 00:08:18.720 --> 00:08:22.800 The heart of God's for you, and he desires to be with you. 00:08:23.519 --> 00:08:26.639 The heart of God is for you, and he desires to be with you. 00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:31.439 The promise of Emmanuel is God's presence with us no matter our condition. 00:08:31.839 --> 00:08:34.159 Beloved where you are. 00:08:36.080 --> 00:08:58.960 That God's love could actually, God's love could actually go into messes that you think if somebody knew about this part, like this mistake, this sin, that thing back then, or the thing that you hadn't told anybody, or the thing nobody knows about, or that pain, or that wound, that shame, that guilt, like that God's love could actually come into that. 00:08:59.440 --> 00:09:03.759 God could know all about it and still love you. 00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:06.320 And still be with you. 00:09:06.720 --> 00:09:11.279 Now, if we get that, we'll have real change, like from our heart outward. 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:13.279 If we get that. 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:17.120 That God is with us in that sort of way. 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:20.240 This past week, this hit me. 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:24.320 I was I'm re-watching The Office, you know, very important part of my daily life. 00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:28.240 In the evening, I'll watch a couple episodes, watching them with my oldest daughter. 00:09:28.399 --> 00:09:34.480 And uh we hit season two, the episode conflict resolution. 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:39.679 And you would guess that the source of Christmas inspiration came from Toby. 00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:42.080 Here's a picture of Toby, if you don't remember. 00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:44.960 This is his face all the way through the office. 00:09:45.120 --> 00:09:47.759 Every episode, this is the face that he carries. 00:09:47.919 --> 00:09:49.919 Just a fount of wisdom, Toby is. 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:51.840 You wouldn't have guessed it, but he is. 00:09:52.159 --> 00:09:56.639 So the episode, if you don't remember, is Michael discovers the boss in the office. 00:09:56.960 --> 00:10:02.879 Michael discovers that everybody's been going to Toby, the HR guy, and complaining about everybody else in the office. 00:10:02.960 --> 00:10:05.200 And he's just filing away, just listening. 00:10:05.759 --> 00:10:06.480 Just listening. 00:10:06.639 --> 00:10:08.080 He's just being with these people. 00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:12.799 Just present, listen, just present with them, listen, file it away. 00:10:13.039 --> 00:10:15.039 And Michael discovers it, and he's like, no, no, no. 00:10:15.120 --> 00:10:17.919 Michael begins to insert himself into every complaint, right? 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:30.159 Like Oscar starts with Oscar complaining about Angela, like there's a poster with a baby playing a saxophone, and it offends Oscar, and then uh Jim's complaining that Pam's planning her wedding, of course, you know, that. 00:10:30.240 --> 00:10:37.600 You know, then Dwight's complaining uh about everything about Jim, and Michael just begins to insert himself into all this, and then everybody just hates each other, right? 00:10:37.759 --> 00:10:38.320 By the end of it. 00:10:39.440 --> 00:10:46.000 And Toby's wisdom, the very beginning of the episode, was just like, hey, just be with, just be with them. 00:10:46.480 --> 00:10:50.639 And it's amazing what happens if you just listen to somebody. 00:10:50.960 --> 00:10:52.000 Just be with them. 00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:55.120 It's amazing what that kind of grace can do. 00:10:55.600 --> 00:10:58.639 Of course, Michael, by the end of the episode, he thinks it's a self-revelation. 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:01.919 That same exact lesson that he deems is like so revelatory. 00:11:02.159 --> 00:11:04.080 But of course, you already know this. 00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:08.960 Because you love calling your grandmother. 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:09.600 Right? 00:11:09.759 --> 00:11:11.200 Or that one friend. 00:11:11.440 --> 00:11:17.200 You love calling that one friend that you know will actually listen to you. 00:11:17.519 --> 00:11:33.120 And not just wait to give you advice, or wait to try to fix you, or wait to share like all their problems, or their views on the you know, new variant, or uh what news they watch, or if Die Hard's a Christmas movie or not, which it is. 00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:33.759 It is. 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:35.279 Thank you, somebody right there. 00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:41.919 It is right, they're not just waiting to say all that, they're actually just listening. 00:11:44.080 --> 00:11:48.320 And you called and she was really present with you, and you shared your concern. 00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:56.399 I mean, you shared it all, and and you finished, you know, all she said to you, all she said to you, she said, I'm so sorry. 00:11:57.039 --> 00:11:59.440 Which I just never say, but it's not always wait to give advice. 00:11:59.519 --> 00:12:00.960 I just can't wait to give advice, right? 00:12:01.279 --> 00:12:02.000 I just can't wait. 00:12:02.080 --> 00:12:04.399 And all she all she did for you is why you keep calling her. 00:12:04.559 --> 00:12:05.360 That's why you keep calling her. 00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:07.120 She said, I'm so sorry. 00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:08.480 I love you. 00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:10.240 I'm gonna pray for you. 00:12:10.320 --> 00:12:12.320 Can I call you in a couple days just to check up on you? 00:12:13.519 --> 00:12:17.600 You hung up the phone and she didn't fix your problem. 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:18.960 The problem's still there. 00:12:20.080 --> 00:12:26.240 You're still there, and yet, because this has happened to you, something changed. 00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:27.200 Right? 00:12:27.440 --> 00:12:36.399 Something inside, like something inside kind of opened up a little bit, like it untangled a little bit, like a little like a little bit freer in some way. 00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:37.919 Problem's still there. 00:12:38.960 --> 00:12:42.799 But the grace of presence that is powerful. 00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:43.919 It's powerful. 00:12:44.080 --> 00:12:48.639 Loving presence is powerful when we experience it. 00:12:49.519 --> 00:12:51.440 That's what this gift of Emmanuel is. 00:12:51.519 --> 00:12:58.000 Listen to the first thing Jesus communicated to his followers after the resurrection, the first time he is present with them. 00:12:58.240 --> 00:13:05.440 So this would be a right moment for me to ream a bunch of people who did not have their acts together and were not faithful to me, right? 00:13:05.679 --> 00:13:09.039 Because if you remember, this is a cowardly bunch at this point. 00:13:11.039 --> 00:13:17.759 Because Jesus has just died, and they they run, they hide, they deny, they're just they're hiding. 00:13:17.840 --> 00:13:18.720 They are so afraid. 00:13:18.879 --> 00:13:20.159 John 20, verse 19. 00:13:20.240 --> 00:13:32.639 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, and this is where I would adjust. 00:13:33.200 --> 00:13:35.519 Like, how dare you? 00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:36.480 Right? 00:13:37.519 --> 00:13:39.120 And he says, Peace be with you. 00:13:39.679 --> 00:13:41.120 First words out of his mouth. 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:43.120 Peace be with you. 00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:52.240 Martin Luther 400 years ago, about the birth of Jesus, says this. 00:13:52.960 --> 00:13:56.559 This is what is meant by your king comes. 00:13:56.960 --> 00:14:00.879 You do not seek him, but he seeks you. 00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:04.000 You do not find him, he finds you. 00:14:05.279 --> 00:14:06.799 You remember that New Testament verse? 00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:12.799 At just the right time Christ came for us while we were still sinners? 00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:16.080 I mean, that that's that's good news. 00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:16.960 That's great joy. 00:14:17.120 --> 00:14:20.960 I need that, like I need it, and I love it. 00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:23.440 Like I need that, and I love that. 00:14:24.879 --> 00:14:37.200 To be found, to be loved, to be loved in all my mess and all my pain and all my shame and my mistakes, and I know God is with me, even when I don't feel it, that's that's incredible. 00:14:38.080 --> 00:14:42.080 Wherever you are, you are beloved because of Jesus for you. 00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:47.200 That's how we're loved, and that's how we're changed, also. 00:14:47.679 --> 00:14:52.720 Now, here's what Charles Spurgeon said about this idea of Emmanuel, this this name for this Jesus. 00:14:52.960 --> 00:15:01.679 This glorious word Emmanuel means first that God in Christ is with us in very near association. 00:15:02.320 --> 00:15:07.360 The Greek particle here, now don't let that kind of worry you and check out as you're bored. 00:15:07.519 --> 00:15:09.120 Here's where it's where it hits us. 00:15:09.279 --> 00:15:16.399 The Greek particle here is used, is very forcible and expresses the strongest form of with. 00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:23.600 It is not merely an accompany with us, as another Greek word would signify, but with, together with, and sharing with. 00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:32.159 This preposition is a close rivet, a firm bond, implying, if not declaring, close fellowship. 00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:38.240 God is peculiar and closely with us. 00:15:40.080 --> 00:15:48.320 Emmanuel's forcible language, when we sing that or we think of it, this name of Jesus, forcible loving language toward us. 00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:59.519 It's his movement toward us, that loving pursuit, to be in relationship with us with firm bond and close fellowship. 00:15:59.840 --> 00:16:06.080 So we're not talking about glue stick, like preschool glue stick barely holds two sheets of paper together. 00:16:06.159 --> 00:16:06.879 That's not what we're talking about. 00:16:07.039 --> 00:16:08.320 We're not talking about super glue. 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:09.759 We're not talking about gorilla glue. 00:16:09.840 --> 00:16:10.960 I know about gorilla glue. 00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:12.639 I've used gorilla glue, you've used it. 00:16:12.720 --> 00:16:13.519 It's not what we're talking about. 00:16:13.600 --> 00:16:14.399 It's a good glue, right? 00:16:14.480 --> 00:16:16.399 You're going like, that's a good glue, that's good glue. 00:16:16.559 --> 00:16:17.279 That's good stuff. 00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:18.960 That's not what I'm talking about. 00:16:19.200 --> 00:16:24.879 What we're talking about, because I researched this week, is D Lo adhesive. 00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:28.080 It's an adhesives magazine. 00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:34.240 If you're just looking for some thrilling holiday reading, you can just go online and read adhesives magazines. 00:16:34.399 --> 00:16:35.840 Thrilling stuff. 00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:44.559 DLo adhesives, because you're curious at this point, in 2019 wrote the Guinness Book of World Records for the firmest bond. 00:16:45.200 --> 00:16:46.960 You can't buy it at Home Depot. 00:16:47.039 --> 00:16:48.000 You can't handle it. 00:16:48.159 --> 00:16:48.480 Okay? 00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:51.039 You can't handle it. 00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:52.799 It's on airplanes. 00:16:52.879 --> 00:16:55.919 This is holding airplanes together type of stuff. 00:16:57.039 --> 00:17:02.559 The glue, to break the record, held a 17 and a half ton truck. 00:17:02.720 --> 00:17:03.679 Here's a picture of it. 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:07.920 17 and a half ton truck, this glue off the ground. 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:10.319 Off the ground. 00:17:10.640 --> 00:17:14.000 Bonded to just a thin aluminum cylinder. 00:17:14.319 --> 00:17:17.200 Held the truck up, just just the glue. 00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:20.559 That kind of bond. 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:23.200 That's the beginning. 00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:25.680 That's the beginning of an image. 00:17:27.839 --> 00:17:29.599 That's the beginning of the image. 00:17:41.279 --> 00:17:45.200 In Christ, God knows all of you. 00:17:46.319 --> 00:17:47.920 And never leaves you. 00:17:49.119 --> 00:17:51.119 He knows your deepest needs. 00:17:51.759 --> 00:17:55.920 And is working to bring you to greater and greater peace. 00:17:58.000 --> 00:17:59.039 God comes to you. 00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:02.240 He loves you and pursues you. 00:18:03.359 --> 00:18:03.920 Saves you. 00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:05.119 He walks with you. 00:18:06.160 --> 00:18:08.559 With a firm bond. 00:18:08.799 --> 00:18:09.839 Let's pray to God. 00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:17.759 God, thank you for your grace. 00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:21.759 Thank you for your mercy to us. 00:18:23.039 --> 00:18:30.240 May we know this Emmanuel in our hearts in greater and greater ways, a firm bond of relationship. 00:18:31.039 --> 00:18:32.480 Of you to us. 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:36.480 May we know it beyond traditions and rituals. 00:18:37.680 --> 00:18:40.799 May we know it in relationship with you. 00:18:42.720 --> 00:18:46.000 That we are fully known and we are fully loved. 00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:54.720 And when we think of this king that comes, may we think of this Emmanuel that forms and desires relationship with us. 00:18:54.960 --> 00:18:58.559 Help us to trust you and rest in you in greater ways. 00:18:58.720 --> 00:19:00.079 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:00.799 Amen.