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Speaker 1: And she brought forth her first born son and wrapped

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Speaker 1: him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger,

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Speaker 1: because there was no room for them in the inn.

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Speaker 1: Luke two seven, Heavenly Father, it saddens me to think

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Speaker 1: of the Savior of the world being born in a

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Speaker 1: manger because there was no room for him in the

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Speaker 1: comfort of the inn. The humble birth of your son

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Speaker 1: was offensive to those who thought the King of Glory

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Speaker 1: would come in power and majesty. His lowly birth shows

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Speaker 1: me how much you identify with the least of humanity.

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Speaker 1: You came to love them and relieve their oppression. You

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Speaker 1: came to heal them and give them a future and

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Speaker 1: a hope. You came to restore their dignity. The world

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Speaker 1: is ruled by power, blust and greed, but your kingdom

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Speaker 1: is ruled by love, compassion, and mercy. Bless your holy name. Amen.

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Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to today's daily prayer. For more

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Speaker 1: inspiration and an incredible message from our feature pastor, stay

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Speaker 1: tuned to prey dot COM's Sunday service. Hey prey dot

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Speaker 1: com family, Welcome to our Sunday special. I'm so excited

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Speaker 1: to share a Christmas Day message and Christmas message today.

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Speaker 1: I'm in a special location. I am here in Jerusalem,

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Speaker 1: in Israel. Right behind me, i have the old City

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Speaker 1: of Jerusalem with the Holy Sepulcher behind me, with Temple

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Speaker 1: Mount behind me, and I'm so excited to be able

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Speaker 1: to share this Christmas message with you here on pray

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Speaker 1: dot com. And so today let's get started with a

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Speaker 1: powerful word. And if you'd like to stay connected with us,

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Speaker 1: you can visit us at ALFC dot faith and we

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Speaker 1: would love to stay in touch today. The location that

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Speaker 1: we're going to be sharing and talking about is the

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Speaker 1: city in the town Bethlehem, where our Lord Jesus Christ

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Speaker 1: was born some two thousand years ago. I'm so excited

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Speaker 1: to be able to share a Christmas Day message with you,

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Speaker 1: and i just want to say a statement with you

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Speaker 1: today that we're gonna look at in Luke chapter two.

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Speaker 1: And I'm just gonna share a few thoughts with you

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Speaker 1: this Christmas morning. I want to say this statement to you.

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Speaker 1: We are all shepherds. God has called us to all

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Speaker 1: be shepherds. You know a lot of times when you

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Speaker 1: hear the story of Jesus's birth, a lot of times

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Speaker 1: we focus on Mary or Joseph, or we focus on

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Speaker 1: just the birth moment where Jesus was placed in the

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Speaker 1: manger because there was no room for him in the end.

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Speaker 1: Maybe sometimes we just focus on the magi, the wise

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Speaker 1: men that would come and offer Jesus's gifts, and share

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Speaker 1: about the holy gifts that the wise men would give Jesus.

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Speaker 1: But today we're gonna talk about the shepherds, the ones

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Speaker 1: that were out in the field when the Angel of

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Speaker 1: the Lord would appear to them and tell them, give

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Speaker 1: them a message to say that the Messiah Christ, our Lord,

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Speaker 1: Jesus was born. Because the shepherd is truly the story

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Speaker 1: of my life and your life. All of us are

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Speaker 1: called to be the shepherds, like this story where the

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Speaker 1: shepherds were told that Jesus was born and they went

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Speaker 1: to see and behold with their eyes that Jesus was

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Speaker 1: in Bethlehem with Mary and Joseph. And so I'm gonna

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Speaker 1: read about eleven verses with us today, and I'm gonna

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Speaker 1: take them kind of verse by verse as we share

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Speaker 1: some thoughts of encouragement this Christmas morning, before all of

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Speaker 1: the presents get wrapped, before all of the food and

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Speaker 1: the fund and the activities let us spend a moment

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Speaker 1: reflecting and spending time with God as we reflect on

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Speaker 1: the goodness of God that he would send his only

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Speaker 1: begotten son to us to save us. I want you

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Speaker 1: to look in Luke chapter two, starting in verse eight.

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Speaker 1: Here's the story how it begins concerning the shepherd. It says,

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Speaker 1: and in the same region, the region of Bethlehem, there

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Speaker 1: were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch of their

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Speaker 1: flock by night, and an angel of the Lord appeared

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Speaker 1: to them, and the glory of God shone around them,

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Speaker 1: and they were filled with great fear. So in this moment,

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Speaker 1: what we see is we see the shepherds are a

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Speaker 1: little ways off of Bethlehem, and they're letting their sheep graze.

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Speaker 1: Which was very common for shepherds to do. Is a

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Speaker 1: shepherd would go and as crop season would end, there

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Speaker 1: would be bits of fragments of grass and seed and

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Speaker 1: other things, and shepherds would come in the outskirts of

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Speaker 1: Bethlehem and they would let their sheep graze amongst the land.

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Speaker 1: And so as the shepherds are there, potentially sleeping at night,

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Speaker 1: potentially resting as their sheep are grazing, the shepherd would

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Speaker 1: travel anywhere that there was food. And so in this

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Speaker 1: moment we see that God appears, and the Angel appears

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Speaker 1: and tells them that the Lord God, the glory of

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Speaker 1: God would shown around them. This is something that we

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Speaker 1: would know as the Shakinah glory, the glory of God.

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Speaker 1: It came around them. The presence of God was there

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Speaker 1: in front of the shepherds, and the Angel of the

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Speaker 1: Lord had a message to those shepherds. And it's through

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Speaker 1: the glory of God that they would hear the message.

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Speaker 1: It says in verse ten, and an angel said to them,

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Speaker 1: fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of

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Speaker 1: great joy that will be for all the people, for

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Speaker 1: unto you is born this day in the city of David,

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Speaker 1: a savior who is Christ, the Lord. It's in that

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Speaker 1: moment that they tell the people and those shepherds in

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Speaker 1: Bethlehem that there would be a savior that was born,

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Speaker 1: the Messiah Christ, our Lord. This was a fulfillment of

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Speaker 1: prophecy that the Messiah would come out of Bethlehem, the

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Speaker 1: city of David, the same city that King David had

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Speaker 1: come from years and years and years before, for thousands

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Speaker 1: of years before, when David would slay Goliath. It was

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Speaker 1: a prophecy that out of the line of David would

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Speaker 1: come a king forever. And here, in this moment is

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Speaker 1: what the Jewish people had been waiting for, a Messiah

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Speaker 1: to be born, a Messiah that would rule his kingdom.

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Speaker 1: And they tell him this that Christ is our Lord,

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Speaker 1: the Messiah is our Lord. Now we look at verse twelve.

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Speaker 1: This is what the angels say, and this will be

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Speaker 1: a sign for you. You will find a babe baby

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Speaker 1: wrapped in a manger, in swaddling cloth, lying in a

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Speaker 1: major And suddenly there was there with the Angel a

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Speaker 1: great multitude of heavenly host praising God, saying this glory

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Speaker 1: to God in the highest and on earth, peace among

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Speaker 1: those whom He is pleased. In this moment, as the

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Speaker 1: shepherds are waiting in the field, here an Angel of

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Speaker 1: the Lord appears with the Shicinah glory surrounding him. And

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Speaker 1: then all of a sudden, as he tells them that

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Speaker 1: the Messiah is born truly in Bethlehem, you will find

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Speaker 1: Jesus in a manger, wrapped in swaddling cloth. Here amongst

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Speaker 1: this Angel of the Lord appears a multitude of heavenly hosts,

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Speaker 1: and they all cry out together glory to God in

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Speaker 1: the highest praise God, that peace would be here on

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Speaker 1: earth and among the people. God is the God of peace,

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Speaker 1: and Jesus is the one who brings peace to you

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Speaker 1: and I Today. God is a god of peace, and

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Speaker 1: he brings peace to those who he is pleased with.

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Speaker 1: He is pleased with you this morning. God loves you.

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Speaker 1: He has brought peace to your life. Now here's where

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Speaker 1: the fun part comes, where we see the reaction of

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Speaker 1: the shepherds, where you and I are both shepherds. I

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Speaker 1: want you to recognize that in this moment we're about

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Speaker 1: to read, this is you and me. When we recognize

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Speaker 1: and we hear that Jesus was born to save humanity.

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Speaker 1: Here is you and I, and here is the reaction

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Speaker 1: you and I should have this Christmas Day. It says

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Speaker 1: in verse fifteen, when the angels went away from them

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Speaker 1: into heaven, the shepherd said to one another, let us

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Speaker 1: go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened,

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Speaker 1: which the Lord has made known to us. And they

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Speaker 1: went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the

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Speaker 1: baby lying in a major And when they saw it,

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Speaker 1: they made known, saying that there had been told to

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Speaker 1: them concerning this child, and they went and told everyone

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Speaker 1: about it, and all who heard wondered at what the

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Speaker 1: shepherds told them. I want you to see two things today,

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Speaker 1: briefly together, family, here's a couple of things. As you're

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Speaker 1: listening or watching with me, we learned two important factors

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Speaker 1: that the shepherds did when they heard that Jesus was born.

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Speaker 1: Here's the first thing that they did. The scriptures tell

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Speaker 1: us that moved with haste. They were quick. They didn't say, oh, well,

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Speaker 1: hold on, let me finish this email, or hold on,

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Speaker 1: let us get to this place, or hey, hold let

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Speaker 1: me let me get some things finished, let me do

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Speaker 1: some things. It says when the angel had left them,

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Speaker 1: it says they looked at each other and they said, hey,

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Speaker 1: we gotta go. The Messiah is in the city of David.

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Speaker 1: He's in Bethlehem. He's supposed to be with a person

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Speaker 1: nay Mary and Joseph. He's lying in a major he's

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Speaker 1: wrapped in swaddling cloud. We have to get out of here.

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Speaker 1: We have to go see this Savior for ourselves. We

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Speaker 1: have to go and experience the Messiah for ourselves. When

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Speaker 1: I was younger, many times. What we would do is

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Speaker 1: when we'd be leaving the house. When I was a child,

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Speaker 1: how many of you guys were one of those kids

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Speaker 1: that always wanted to ride in the front seat of

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Speaker 1: the car. And so I remember when I was a

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Speaker 1: young child, when me and my brothers I have two

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Speaker 1: older brothers, when we would leave our house, we had

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Speaker 1: a rule kind of in our family. Whoever ran out

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Speaker 1: of the door first and touched the door handle of

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Speaker 1: the passenger seat got to ride shotgun first. And so

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Speaker 1: right when you would touch the door handle, you would

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Speaker 1: yell shotgun, and that meant that you made it first

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Speaker 1: to the passenger front door. So that meants you get

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Speaker 1: the seat. You see in this moment, the shepherds look

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Speaker 1: at each other and they say, we got to go

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Speaker 1: ride shotgun. The Messiah has been born. We need to

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Speaker 1: go and run with haste. There was a hurry to

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Speaker 1: see Jesus. There was an excitement to see Jesus. And

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Speaker 1: so I want to ask you this question today as

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Speaker 1: you woke up today to celebrate Christmas, was the first

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Speaker 1: thing on your mind the presence under the Christmas tree?

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Speaker 1: Or was the first thing under your mind the Messiah

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Speaker 1: Jesus who was born for us. Was the first thing,

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Speaker 1: the thing that you've been asking for on your Christmas list?

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Speaker 1: Or was it to go and just make some breakfast

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Speaker 1: and start your day? Or as you wake up on

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Speaker 1: Christmas Day, do you run with haste to say God,

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Speaker 1: thank you so much that Emmanuel, God is with us,

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Speaker 1: was born on Christmas Day. You see, we have to

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Speaker 1: run to God with haste when we recognize him. Don't

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Speaker 1: go in a slow manner. Don't move in a manner

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Speaker 1: like a turtle. You got to be like a rabbit.

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Speaker 1: You gotta move when you know that Jesus truly is

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Speaker 1: the Messiah and he was born for us. Here's the

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Speaker 1: second thing that we see that the shepherds. Do you see,

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Speaker 1: the shepherds had sheep, So the shepherds would have gone

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Speaker 1: all throughout Israel grazing with their sheep. Wherever grass was,

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Speaker 1: wherever seed was, they would take their sheep with them.

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Speaker 1: I'm here in Israel today and I've seen shepherds all

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Speaker 1: over grazing all over the land with their sheep. Where

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Speaker 1: your sheep are hungry, that's where they go. So it

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Speaker 1: meant that shepherds went all over the land. So what

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Speaker 1: we see in this story is that God chose shepherds

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Speaker 1: who would go city to city with their sheep as

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Speaker 1: the messengers to proclaim that the Messiah was born. The

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Speaker 1: scriptures tell us that when the shepherds saw Jesus with

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Speaker 1: their eyes, it said that from that point they went

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Speaker 1: and told all who would hear that the Messiah was born.

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Speaker 1: And the scriptures tell us that people were amazed and

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Speaker 1: wondered at what they were saying. They said, with my eyes,

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Speaker 1: God sent me to Bethlehem, and I saw Jesus born. Yeshua,

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Speaker 1: God is salvation. They said, we saw it with our eyes.

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Speaker 1: You see, we have to be bold today to tell

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Speaker 1: others about Jesus. We got to be like the shepherds.

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Speaker 1: That's why God's called us to be like the shepherds.

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Speaker 1: When we meet Jesus, we need to move towards Jesus

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Speaker 1: with haste. And then when we encounter Jesus and when

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Speaker 1: we recognize who Jesus is, we need to be bold

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Speaker 1: in telling others. The shepherds did not keep it to themselves.

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Speaker 1: They didn't see this wonderful thing as a secret that

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Speaker 1: was only for them. They used it as some thing

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Speaker 1: that they would tell person after person that they were

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Speaker 1: encounter that Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, and it

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Speaker 1: amazed and it wondered people. You see nowadays, when people

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Speaker 1: have babies and they're pregnant with children, they do one

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Speaker 1: or two things. Many people will either have a baby

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Speaker 1: gender announcement, and so they'll invite all of their friends

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Speaker 1: over to their house and they're trying to discover whether

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Speaker 1: it's a boy or a girl, and so all the

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Speaker 1: friends come over and sometimes they'll pop a balloon and

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Speaker 1: blue will come out or pink will come out, and

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Speaker 1: that'll signify the gender. Other times we have big baby

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Speaker 1: showers where everybody brings gifts to the babies, everybody celebrates.

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Speaker 1: But we all have something very much in common when

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Speaker 1: we do it nowadays, is all of us will bring

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Speaker 1: cameras and videos, and some of us hire photographers and

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Speaker 1: we document it. And whenever we do a baby shower

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Speaker 1: or gender reveal, we put it on Facebook or Instagram

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Speaker 1: or nowadays TikTok because we want the whole world to

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Speaker 1: see all of our friends coming together and seeing how

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Speaker 1: important this moment is. I find it incredible that if

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Speaker 1: that were to happen today or in Jesus's day. The

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Speaker 1: thinking in Jesus's day was, if the king was gonna

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Speaker 1: be born, wouldn't he be born in a palace? Or

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Speaker 1: if you're watching me live today, or maybe behind me

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Speaker 1: at Temple Mount, maybe if the king was gonna be born,

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Speaker 1: maybe he would be brought there. That's where everyone was

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Speaker 1: in the town, That's where everybody had gathered in the city.

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Speaker 1: Why would Jesus not be born in a pallatious place.

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Speaker 1: Why wouldn't Jesus be born in a fancy place? Well,

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Speaker 1: I find it beautiful that that's God's plan, that God

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Speaker 1: wanted to be born and send his son in a

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Speaker 1: meek and humble place in Bethlehem, not only in a

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Speaker 1: place in town that signified where David King, David the

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Speaker 1: Shepherd was raised, but also that Jesus would be born

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Speaker 1: in a manger, a humble place where animals were. This

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Speaker 1: wasn't a palace, This wasn't all over the news. You

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Speaker 1: want to know who God chose for everyone to tell

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Speaker 1: the world that Jesus was born. God chose to reveal

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Speaker 1: it to shepherds, lowly, humble men that would go all

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Speaker 1: throughout the land and tell everyone about Jesus. That's our

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Speaker 1: call today that wherever your background is, wherever you're from,

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Speaker 1: God has called you. God has called me to go

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Speaker 1: tell it on the mountain, to go tell everyone that

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Speaker 1: Jesus is born today on Christmas Day. That is our

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Speaker 1: call as shepherds to run to Jesus with haste and

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Speaker 1: to tell the whole world that Jesus the Messiah is

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Speaker 1: born this Christmas Day. That's what we're here to celebrate

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Speaker 1: this morning. Who have you told about Jesus this Christmas Day?

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Speaker 1: Who have you shared about Jesus this Christmas Day? Here's

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Speaker 1: the last couple of verses, and I'll share some last

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Speaker 1: final thoughts with you today concerning this Christmas Day with

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Speaker 1: the shepherds. Verse nineteen says, but Mary says, Jesus's mother,

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Speaker 1: Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.

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Speaker 1: She kept these things in her heart. What had happened

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Speaker 1: with the shepherds, what God had revealed to the shepherds

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Speaker 1: through the Angel of the Lord. And it says, and

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Speaker 1: the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all they

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Speaker 1: had heard and seen as it had been told to them.

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Speaker 1: Our job today is to glorify and praise God that

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Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, our Messiah, was born. We thank God that

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Speaker 1: he chose Mary and that she would say yes to

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Speaker 1: God's message to bear his son. We thank God for

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Speaker 1: Joseph for adopting Jesus into his household. And we thank

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Speaker 1: God for these shepherds that would run with haste to

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Speaker 1: Jesus and tell the whole world that Jesus Christ is born.

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Speaker 1: That's the beauty of this day. And the last verse

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Speaker 1: is this, and I'll close with some final thoughts. And

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Speaker 1: at the end of the eight days, when he was

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Speaker 1: circumcised circumcised, he was called Jesus or other words would

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Speaker 1: say yes Hua or Joshua, which means God is salvation.

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Speaker 1: God has sent salvation to us in the form of man.

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Speaker 1: And his name was Jesus, and the name was given

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Speaker 1: by the Angel of the Lord before he was conceived

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Speaker 1: in the womb. Here's some final thoughts for you today

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Speaker 1: as you reflect on this Christmas message. I just want

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Speaker 1: to share with you some practical implications. What are some

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Speaker 1: ways that we can celebrate Christmas today as a family

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Speaker 1: or by yourself. I just want to offer some really

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Speaker 1: practical applications. Here's some ways before you make it all

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Speaker 1: about the presence, before you make it all about the

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Speaker 1: food and the dinner and the hanging out, or whether

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Speaker 1: you're Hispanic and you're gonna have tamales or anything else.

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Speaker 1: Before we hit those things, here's some ways that we

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Speaker 1: could celebrate Christmas as a family. Here's the first thing.

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Speaker 1: Read the Christmas Story as a family. You can find

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Speaker 1: the Christmas Story in Matthew chapter one, verses eighteen all

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Speaker 1: the way to chapter two, or you can find it

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Speaker 1: like we read today in Luke chapter two, verses one

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Speaker 1: to twenty. But before you get started with your day,

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Speaker 1: bring your family around or sit by yourself for a

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Speaker 1: quiet moment and read the Christmas Story together and as

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Speaker 1: a family. Additionally, here's some things you can do is

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Speaker 1: create a Christmas centered playlist on Spotify, Apple Music, or

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Speaker 1: anything else. Make a playlist that is christ centered. You know,

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Speaker 1: there's a lot of fun songs out there. Mariah Carey's

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Speaker 1: got some great songs, and a lot of other great

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Speaker 1: people have some great songs. I'm not saying don't listen

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Speaker 1: to those this Christmas Day. What I am saying, though,

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Speaker 1: is for a period of time in your day, maybe

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Speaker 1: it's why you're getting dressed, Maybe you and your family

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Speaker 1: are driving somewhere to go visit family on Christmas Day.

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Speaker 1: At some point, make a christ centered playlist that's about

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Speaker 1: the birth of Jesus and listen to that either as

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Speaker 1: a family or by yourself, to reflect the goodness of

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Speaker 1: Jesus Christ being born on Christmas Day. Here's another thing

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Speaker 1: recognize as a family. It's not about material gifts that

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Speaker 1: we receive, but it's about the Messiah that we receive.

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Speaker 1: It's about the Messiah that we receive. Here's three final ones.

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Speaker 1: Post online Jesus centered Christmas versus to share Jesus with

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Speaker 1: your community. That's a modern way to be like a shepherd.

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Speaker 1: I know today we're gonna share about maybe you've got

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Speaker 1: your favorite watch you were looking for, maybe you've got

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Speaker 1: the new Apple Watch. Maybe you've got a sweet new bike.

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Speaker 1: Maybe you've got a car in the driveway with a

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Speaker 1: little bow on it. But before you share about all

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Speaker 1: those great presents, post online. If you're someone that lives

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Speaker 1: online or likes to post online, first, make it about Jesus. First.

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Speaker 1: Let your community know that follows you, that Jesus is

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Speaker 1: the reason for the season in your life. Of credit

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Speaker 1: to God. This day that December twenty fifth is Jesus's birthday.

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Speaker 1: In that same regard, do this as a family on

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Speaker 1: Christmas morning or Christmas afternoon if you have really little ones,

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Speaker 1: whether you're a grandparent or you're a parent, if you

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Speaker 1: have young children in elementary school, bake a birthday cake

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Speaker 1: for Jesus and then seeing Happy Birthday Jesus as a

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Speaker 1: family and enjoy the cake together. Let your kids know

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Speaker 1: that Christmas Day is about Jesus's birthday and not about us.

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Speaker 1: And then lastly, go in a circle with your friends

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Speaker 1: and family and tell each other what you love most

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Speaker 1: about them being a place of community, where it's about compassion,

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Speaker 1: where it's about praising God for the good things that

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Speaker 1: He does in our life. However you do celebrate today,

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Speaker 1: I encourage you no matter where you are, no matter

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Speaker 1: how life is going, no matter how good it is

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Speaker 1: or how difficult it is. Let's treat this Christmas Day

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Speaker 1: as a day that we glorify God, We honor God,

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Speaker 1: and we be like the shepherds. We run with haste

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Speaker 1: to God at all times, and we give glory to

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Speaker 1: Jesus that today truly Emmanuel, God is with us, was born,

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Speaker 1: and his name was Yeshua, God is salvation. Let's praise

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Speaker 1: God today that God would send Jesus down to us

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Speaker 1: in a low place, a manger, and he would choose

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Speaker 1: shepherds to be the messengers to let all of Israel

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Speaker 1: know that the Messiah has come. Israel would meet the

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Speaker 1: Messiah thirty years later, when Jesus would start his ministry

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Speaker 1: here in Israel. Thirty years there was a rumor that

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Speaker 1: Jesus was born in Bethlehem. And it is by the

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Speaker 1: shepherds that told everyone about it, and people saw him

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Speaker 1: coming thirty years later. And Soday, let us be bold

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Speaker 1: to share the message of Jesus and give God the

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Speaker 1: credit that he has truly saved us by Jesus Christ.

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Speaker 1: Let's pray this morning or wherever you're watching and whenever

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Speaker 1: you're watching this from God, we thank you so much

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Speaker 1: for this message. Lord. I just pray as everybody is

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Speaker 1: watching this, wherever they're watching this or wherever they're listening

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Speaker 1: to this, may they receive the message of Christmas Day today.

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Speaker 1: May they receive the message of Jesus Christ, our Lord,

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Speaker 1: the Messiah, the one who saves us, the one who

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Speaker 1: has been anointed to die on the cross for our

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Speaker 1: sins and to raise three days later. We thank you

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Speaker 1: God that you have redeemed us to yourself. And anyone

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Speaker 1: who hears this can call upon the name of Jesus.

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Speaker 1: Anyone who hears this that may feel far away from

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Speaker 1: Jesus can say yes to Jesus Christ. Today. It is

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Speaker 1: Jesus Christ who reconciled us back to the Father. And

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Speaker 1: it's through his death and resurrection that we can call

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Speaker 1: upon the name of Jesus and make him our Lord

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Speaker 1: and savior. And so if you're here today and you

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Speaker 1: believe that message, say yes to Jesus in Jesus name. Amen. Hey,

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Speaker 1: thank you so much for joining us today. I pray

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Speaker 1: you have an incredible Christmas Day. Abundant, livy family, Church

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Speaker 1: loves you, and we pray that you have an incredible day.

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Speaker 1: God bless you. See you soon. The podcast The Bible

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Speaker 1: in a Year with Jack Graham is a moving and

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Speaker 1: inspiring Biblical audio experience that will help you master wisdom

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Speaker 1: from the world's greatest book. In each episode, you'll learn

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Speaker 1: to apply Biblical principles to everyday life. Each cinematic episode

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Speaker 1: is a journey through the Bible's most profound stories that

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Speaker 1: will strengthen your appreciation of the word and inspire you

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Speaker 1: to keep alerting. Listen to the Bible in a Year

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Speaker 1: with Jack Graham on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you

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Speaker 1: get your podcasts.