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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hello, thank you for listening to your Daily

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Speaker 1: Bible Verse, the podcast that Exaemon's one verse each day

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Speaker 1: to learn more about God and his will for us.

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Speaker 1: I'm your host, Kirol McCracken, and after a short word

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Speaker 1: from our sponsor, we'll continue with our advan series Experiencing

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Speaker 1: Christ this Christmas with the discussion on John one fourteen.

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Speaker 1: Today's Bible verses. John one fourteen, the Word became flesh

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Speaker 1: and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory,

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Speaker 1: the glory of the one and only Son who came

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Speaker 1: from the Father full of grace and truth. Many years ago,

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Speaker 1: my husband had a medical emergency right is Christmas and proached.

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Speaker 1: We were discovering a heart issue that required immediate hospitalization,

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Speaker 1: and suddenly everything I planned for our little family, the

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Speaker 1: Christmas traditions, the memories I wanted to create with our

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Speaker 1: young son, the joy I thought we needed, was interrupted,

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Speaker 1: completely halted. I remember feeling immature in that moment, though

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Speaker 1: I didn't realize it then, it felt like Christmas had

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Speaker 1: been taken from me. I wanted to celebrate. I wanted

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Speaker 1: the pictures, the cookies, the moments, but instead I was

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Speaker 1: in a hospital room with monitors beeping and uncertainty hanging

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Speaker 1: in the air. But even in my disappointment, God was

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Speaker 1: quietly weaving something else, something better into that Christmas. A

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Speaker 1: friend stepped in and offered to watch our son, loving

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Speaker 1: him with the tenderness I couldn't give. In that moment,

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Speaker 1: members of our church came by the hospital, not for long,

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Speaker 1: not too intrude, but just long enough to stand beside

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Speaker 1: us and remind us we weren't a life. Their presence

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Speaker 1: was simple but profound. They didn't bring fanfare, They brought

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Speaker 1: a Manuel God with us. That Christmas didn't have all

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Speaker 1: the traditions, lights and music I thought we needed, but

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Speaker 1: it had what actually mattered. The holiday wasn't about the

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Speaker 1: play or the performance, or even the warm glow of

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Speaker 1: everything going according to plan. It was about God drawing

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Speaker 1: close to us through people who cared, prayed, and held

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Speaker 1: us up. Looking back, I wasn't ripped off at all.

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Speaker 1: I was lovingly cared for That Christmas revealed a deeper truth.

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Speaker 1: Advent isn't something we manufacture. It's a reality. God brings

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Speaker 1: us sometimes in the hospital rood, sometimes in the dark,

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Speaker 1: sometimes when everything feels disrupted, and that's exactly what John

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Speaker 1: one fourteen tells us. When John writes the word became flesh,

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Speaker 1: He's given us this theological beat of Christmas. John didn't

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Speaker 1: start his Gospel with the major scene, or the shepherds

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Speaker 1: or the angels. He begins before creation itself. In the beginning,

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Speaker 1: was the word. The Greek term he uses, logos, was

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Speaker 1: packed with meaning. For Jewish readers, the word of God

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Speaker 1: wasn't just communication. It was God's active power, his creative life,

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Speaker 1: giving self revealing presence. God spoke and worlds came into being.

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Speaker 1: God spoke and prophets heard his voice. For the Greek mind,

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Speaker 1: the logoss was the rational order behind the universe, the

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Speaker 1: guiding force that made sense of everything. So when John

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Speaker 1: says the word, both audiences would have leaned in. And

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Speaker 1: then John does something shocking. He says that this word,

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Speaker 1: the eternal, divine, creative, sustaining force of the universe, became flesh.

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Speaker 1: He uses the Greek word sarks, a blunt, earthy term

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Speaker 1: for real human existence. Jesus didn't simply take on a

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Speaker 1: mask of humanity or dip into the appearance of flesh.

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Speaker 1: He became fully human. He entered our limitations, our vulnerability,

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Speaker 1: our physicality. He stepped into the world of hunger, fatigue, misunderstanding, joy, tears,

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Speaker 1: and community. Then John adds, he made his dwelling among us.

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Speaker 1: Literally translated, he pitched his tent, or he tabernacled among us.

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Speaker 1: This would immediately call to mind the Old Testament Tabernacle,

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Speaker 1: the place where God's presence rested with his people in

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Speaker 1: the wilderness. When the Tabernacle was completed, God's glory filled it,

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Speaker 1: not to be distant, but to dwell among his people.

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Speaker 1: That word tabernacle signaled closeness, involvement, nearness. John is saying

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Speaker 1: God's done it again, but this time not in a building,

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Speaker 1: not behind a curtain, but in person. If the Tabernacle

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Speaker 1: was God's portable dwelling place, then Jesus is God's permanent

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Speaker 1: dwelling place. Now he didn't just visit humanity, he became

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Speaker 1: part of it. He moved into the neighborhood. John continues,

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Speaker 1: We've seen his glory in the Old Testament, and God's

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Speaker 1: glory was overwhelming, untouchable, unapproachable. Moses could only see the

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Speaker 1: very edge of it. But now God's glory is wrapped

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Speaker 1: in humanity. We see it in compassion in healing and teaching.

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Speaker 1: In forgiveness, we see it as Christ takes children into

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Speaker 1: his arms, touches the untouchable, and brings dignity to be overlooked.

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Speaker 1: This is glory, but glory that draws near, not glory

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Speaker 1: that pushes away. And then John describes, Jesus is full

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Speaker 1: of grace and truth. Not grace without truth, which leaves

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Speaker 1: us unchanged. Not truth without grace, this would leave us crushed.

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Speaker 1: Jesus brings all grace and all truth perfectly bound together.

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Speaker 1: Grace that welcomes, truth that transforms, Grace that meets us

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Speaker 1: where we are, Truth that calls us into freedom. In

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Speaker 1: the hospital Christmas, I didn't feel like I was experiencing glory.

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Speaker 1: I felt like everything was falling apart. But the real

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Speaker 1: glory of God wasn't in the holiday plans I had created.

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Speaker 1: It was in the God who came near through his people.

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Speaker 1: It was in the quiet strength of those who stood

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Speaker 1: beside us. It was in the peace that slipped into

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Speaker 1: the room despite the uncertainty. That was a Manuel God

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Speaker 1: with us. That's the invitation that Advent gives us. Adman

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Speaker 1: doesn't ask us to pretend, and everything is bright and shiny.

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Speaker 1: It doesn't demand perfect holidays of perfectly planned moments. Advant

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Speaker 1: reminds us of the truth we often forget that God

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Speaker 1: came close not when humanity had a great ear, but

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Speaker 1: when the world was dark and weary and broken. He

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Speaker 1: came close when people were oppressed, confused, burdened, and longing

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Speaker 1: for hope. Adven is for people in hospital rooms. Adven

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Speaker 1: is for people whose plans didn't work out. Admin is

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Speaker 1: for people who feel overwhelmed or overlooked. Advent is for

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Speaker 1: people who wonder where God is. Advant is for real life,

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Speaker 1: Your life and mine, And because Jesus came to dwell

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Speaker 1: among us, he still dwells with us now. His spirit

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Speaker 1: lives in every believer, reminding us that God's nearness isn't seasonal,

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Speaker 1: it's prominent. You don't have to search for him, you

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Speaker 1: don't have to earn his closeness. You don't have to

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Speaker 1: perfect your life to be worthy of his presence. He

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Speaker 1: has pitched his tent with you. This means that today,

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Speaker 1: right where you are, you can look for Him, not

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Speaker 1: just in the extraordinary moments, but the small ones and

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Speaker 1: the friend who checks on you, the person who prays

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Speaker 1: for you, the unexpected kindness, the quiet peace and a

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Speaker 1: tense moment, the strength that rises when you didn't think

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Speaker 1: you could keep going. All of that is a Manuel.

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Speaker 1: So this adventage you like the candles and prepare your heart.

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Speaker 1: Remember the glory of Christmas is not in what you create.

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Speaker 1: It's in the God who came close, the God who

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Speaker 1: stays close, the God who became flesh and made his

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Speaker 1: dwelling among us, and who still dwells with you. Now,

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Speaker 1: will you pray with me, Dear Lord in heaven, thank

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Speaker 1: you for the greatest gift ever, your one and only

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Speaker 1: perfect son, when we least expect it. Sometimes you come

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Speaker 1: to us, not in the form that we would expect,

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Speaker 1: but you come to us. You comfort us. You comfort

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Speaker 1: us in the things that aren't so pretty and lovely

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Speaker 1: and twinkly and tasty and tradition making. But you come

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Speaker 1: to us and the quiet words, the nearness. You reach

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Speaker 1: out when we need you most. And Lord, all we

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Speaker 1: have to do is look, and you're there. Help us

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Speaker 1: to wait properly this adnant season, no matter what we're

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Speaker 1: dealing with, Because sometimes things aren't good in this broken world,

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Speaker 1: but sometimes they are. And Lord, your presence is forever.

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Speaker 1: No matter what our current circumstances are, we just need

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Speaker 1: little reminders sometimes. Thank you for sending people that remind

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Speaker 1: us of your nearness and your precious name. We pray

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Speaker 1: im in