A Joyous Hope
December 27, 2020
27:29
Dr. Jack Graham's mission is to glorify God by introducing Jesus Christ to as Lord to all people.
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A Joyous Hope
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- Hello, everyone. Jack Grahamhere, pastor of Prestonwood
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- Church and PowerPointMinistries. And we are thrilled
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- to welcome you to a very specialproduction called "A Joyous
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- Hope." That joyous hope, ofcourse, is the message of
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- Christ: it's the message ofChristmas. We're going to have
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- lot of fun. We're going to besinging some of the great carols
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- and songs of Christmas. Andthen, of course, the great
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- sacred songs, songs of faiththat we've been singing for
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- generations. And we're going tobe speaking of the hope that we
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- have in Christ. Jesus is thehope of humanity. The Savior who
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- was born in a barn so long agois humanity's hope. And when
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- Christ was born, the angel saidit, "Unto you is born this day
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- in the city of David a Saviorwho is Christ the Lord." And
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- this is good news of great joy.If we've ever needed the message
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- of hope, it is right now. Sowe're going to be talking about
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- Mary and Joseph, and wise men,and shepherds and all who
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- gathered around that firstChristmas. We want to help you
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- deepen your love for the Savior,and strengthen your faith, and
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- increase your joy and your hopein Him.
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- [Music- Screen shot - "A JOYOUSHOPE"]
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- [Instrumental]
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- [Singers on stage:]Angels we have heard on high
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- Sweetly singing o'er the plainsAnd the mountains in reply
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- Echoing their joyous strainsGlo....ria In excelsis deo
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- Glo....ria In excelsis deo Harkthe herald angels sing Glory to
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- the newborn King Peace on earthand mercy mild God and sinners
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- reconciled Joyful all ye nationsrise Join the triumph of the
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- skies With th'angelic hostproclaim Christ is born in
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- Bethlehem Hark the herald angelssing Glory to the New.....born
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- King!
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- [Instrumental]
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- What child is this who laidto rest on Mary's lap is
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- sleeping Whom angels greet withanthems sweet While shepherds
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- watch are keeping This, this isChrist the King Whom shepherds
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- guard and angels sing Haste,haste to bring him laud The babe
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- the son of Mary This, this isChrist the King Whom shepherds
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- guard and angels sing Haste,haste to bring him laud The babe
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- the son of Mary
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- The babe the sonOf Mary
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- [Instrumental]
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- The first Noel the
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- angels did say Was to certainpoor shepherds in fields as they
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- lay In fields where they laykeeping their sheep On a cold
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- winters night that was so deepNoel Noel Noel Noel Born is the
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- king of Israel They looked upand saw a star Shining in the
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- East beyond them far And to theearth it gave great light And so
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- it continued both day and nightNoel Noel Noel Noel Born is the
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- king of Israel Noel Noel NoelNoel Born is the king of Israel
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- O come let us adore him O comelet us adore him O come let us
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- adore him Christ The Lord TheLord
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- [Dr Graham:]
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- The story of Jesus... the storyof Christmas is the greatest
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- story ever told. It's the storyof the Bible. And in God's Word
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- we read of this joyous hope,Jesus who came to earth so that
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- we could go to heaven. He wasborn at Bethlehem, but before
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- Bethlehem came Galilee. Andthere was a young couple by the
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- name of Mary and Joseph. Marythe favored one, chosen of God
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- to be the mother of the Messiah.She couldn't understand it
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- because she'd never known a man,and yet the angels said to her,
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- "With God all things arepossible." And she believed, and
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- she received the truth and thepromise and became the mother of
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- the Lord Jesus Christ. Josephwas a stalwart man, a solid man.
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- He was a faithful one. He waschosen of God to be the
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- parent... the godly father ofJesus on earth. While he
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- couldn't understand it either,he believed because of a dream
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- and what the angel said to him.And the angel said, "His name
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- will be Emmanuel, God with us."And so Mary and Joseph believed
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- the promise of God. And God didan amazing thing in their lives,
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- an impossible situation. Itcould be in your situation, you
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- find yourself... well, it'simpossible. It may be a doctor's
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- report, it could be arelationship issue, a financial
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- problem. I don't know what itcould be that looks impossible
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- in your life, but with God, allthings are possible. When you
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- trust and believe in Hispromises, God can do anything
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- but fail. And the same God thatcame through for Mary and
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- Joseph, He will come through foryou. He will live in you. God is
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- with us; He is also within us bythe Holy Spirit, and therefore,
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- we need to do what Mary did, andsimply say, "Be it unto me,
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- Lord, according to Your word."Let's celebrate like Mary did,
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- who sang the first carol andmagnified the Lord who is the
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- Savior of the world.
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- [Instrumental -Mountain lake scene:]
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- O holy
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- night the stars are brightlyshining It is the night of our
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- dear Savior's birth Long lay theworld in sin and error pining
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- Till He appeared and the soulfelt its worth A thrill of hope
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- the weary world rejoices Foryonder breaks a new and glorious
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- morn Fall on your knees O hearthe angel voices O night divine
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- O night when Christ was born Onight divine O night o night
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- divine Truly He taught us tolove one another His law is love
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- and His gospel is peace Chainsshall He break for the slave is
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- our brother And in His name alloppression shall cease Sweet
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- hymns of joy in grateful chorusraise we Let all within us
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- praise His holy name Christ isthe Lord O praise His name
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- forever His pow'r and gloryevermore proclaim His pow'r and
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- glory evermore proclaim Fall onyour knees O hear the angel
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- voices O night divine O nightwhen Christ was born O night
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- divine O night O night divine Onight divine
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- O night divine!
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- [Music ] [Dr. Graham: scenicriver bridge]
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- You can't thinkabout
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- the Christmas story withoutthinking about the angels. The
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- angels who on the night thatJesus was born, danced on the
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- clouds and sang with the starsto the glory of God. As a matter
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- of fact, the Scripture puts itthis way: "And suddenly there
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- was with the angel a multitudeof the heavenly hosts, praising
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- God and saying, 'Glory to God inthe highest, and on earth,
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- peace, goodwill or grace tomen.'" Did you know that angels
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- are all around us? Just as therewere angels in the heavenlies
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- that night, that there areangels all around us today? Yes,
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- God created the angels. They'vebeen present even at the dawn of
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- creation. And when Christ wasborn, of course, the angels
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- would show up; of course, theangels would shout to the glory
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- of God. And the angels whoshouted and sang that night are
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- present in our lives today. Likemighty warriors, protecting us,
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- as... as witnesses of the goodnews of Jesus Christ, making
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- great announcements throughGod's Word, and then, of course,
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- they are worshipers. Whereveryou look in the Scripture,
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- people are worshiping the LordGod, and the reason the angels
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- worship... the reason Mary andJoseph worshiped... the reason
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- wise men and shepherds worshipis one reason: The Babe who was
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- born is God. He is the LordJesus Christ and is worshiped as
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- the King of kings and the Lordof lords. You know, in life all
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- of us were on a bridge gone toofar, walking away from God,
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- separated from God. But whenJesus was born... when God came
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- to earth in the person of JesusChrist, heaven came down and the
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- bridge... the connection wasmade. And now we can have a
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- relationship with God throughJesus Christ. The Savior who was
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- born so that we could be bornagain, and live forever and
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- ever. [Scene change- soaring inthe mountains] [Instrumental]
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- Like the wisemen from a foreign land We'd
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- give anything to see Your faceLike the shepherds we would
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- treasure A sacred moment to seeYour face Heaven kissed the
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- earth when You came The greatestlove reached down my soul to
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- save All the earth is longingfor the wonder to remain Oh
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- Savior won't You come that closeagain
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- [Instrumental]
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- Like the starlight in that
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- Christmas sky We will shinebright until You come Like the
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- angels on that silent night Wewill sing Your praise until You
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- come Heaven kissed the earthwhen You came The greatest love
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- reached down my soul to save Allthe earth is longing for the
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- wonder to remain Oh Savior won'tYou come that close again O come
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- o come Emmanuel We worship YouNoel Noel O come o come in Your
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- glory Lord It's You alone we arewaiting for O come o come
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- Emmanuel We worship You NoelNoel O come o come in Your glory
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- Lord It's You alone we arewaiting for Heaven kissed the
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- earth when You came The greatestlove reached down my soul to
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- save Heaven kissed the earthwhen You came The greatest love
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- reached down my soul to save Allthe earth is longing for
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- All the earth is longing forAll the earth is longing for the
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- wonder to remain Oh Savior won'tYou come that close again
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- Oh Savior won't you come thatclose again?
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- [Instrumental]
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- Come that close, come that closeCome that close again.
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- Come that close again.
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- [Dr Graham:] When I was a smallchild in a little town in
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- Arkansas named Conway, I wasfascinated by television. In
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- fact, it was the firsttelevision generation in the
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- 1950's. And there was a programon the air, a Christian program
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- led by a Catholic bishop by thename of Fulton J. Sheen. And as
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- a little Baptist boy, I wasreally fascinated by this
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- Catholic bishop, and he broughta very powerful message. But
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- what really captured myattention as a small child was
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- the intro to the incredibleprogram. And it began with a
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- hand coming out of the shadowson a dark screen, and a match
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- was lit and a candle wasignited. And then came a
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- voice-over which said, "Betterto light a candle than to curse
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- the darkness." And I'm
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- just thinking now with all thedarkness that has been around us
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- through the centuries and eventoday, that the bright light of
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- hope... the light of Jesus whichis come into the world gives us
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- joy, and yes, hope for today,tomorrow and forever. The Bible
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- says, "I know the plans for you,says the Lord, plans not to harm
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- you but to give you a future anda hope." That hope was born when
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- Jesus came to this earth. Whenyou look at the very first
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- chapter of the Gospel of John,there is a great and powerful
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- statement that goes like this:"In the beginning was the Word,
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- and the Word was with God, andthe Word was God. The same was
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- in the beginning with God. Andwithout Him was not anything
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- made that was made. In Him waslife, and that life was the
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- light of the world. And thelight shines in the darkness,
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- and the darkness could notcontain it..." the darkness
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- could not consume the light.
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- We're livingin a dark time. In fact, from
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- the dawn of human history,because of sin there has been
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- sorrow and death and darknessand disease. And all those
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- things that shroud the world.But God gave a promise and that
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- promise was filled with hope.Let me
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- take just a few moments to sharewith you how you can know this
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- hope in Jesus Christ. How youcan know that you're going to
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- heaven. Listen very carefully.Realize that you've broken God's
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- commandments. This is called sinin the Bible, and "The wages of
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- sin is death." And when yourealize that you've sinned, the
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- only thing you can do with yoursin is to trust in Christ who
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- died on the cross for your sins;not just for your sins, but as
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- your sin. He took our place onthe cross; He died. The
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- Savior... the cradle ofChristmas touches the cross
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- itself, and Jesus was born todie. He was born to die so that
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- you and I could live forever.Jesus came to earth so that you,
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- we could go to heaven with Him.So we come to that place where
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- we realize we can't saveourselves. All the promises that
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- we make, all the best behaviorthat we can conjure up, that
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- won't get us to heaven, becauseour sin separates us from God.
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- So God solved this problem bysending His Son Jesus... "For
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- God so loved the world, that Hegave His only begotten Son, that
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- whoever believes in Him wouldnot perish, but have everlasting
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- life." Do youhave a personal relationship
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- with the Lord Jesus Christ? Ifyou don't, you can right now
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- receive Him into your life bysimply praying this prayer:
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- Lord, I know that I have sinnedand broken Your commandments.
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- But I believe You died on thecross and rose again. And right
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- now, I turn from my sin, Irepent of my sin, and I receive
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- You into my life. Come into myheart. Be my Lord, be my Savior,
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- be my Master and Friend. And ifyou're praying that prayer right
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- now, then thank Him, becauseJesus said, "Whoever comes to
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- me, I will never cast out." Sothank Him for coming into your
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- life and lighting up your life,lighting up your world, and
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- giving you the hope and thepromise and the future that is
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- forever with Him in heaven nowand forever. Yes, this is the
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- joyous hope of Jesus.
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- If you made a decision for
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- Christ today text HOPE to 74788.We would love to connect with
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- you and send you some resourcesto help you grow in your faith.
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- From all of us at Prestonwood
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- church and PowerPoint MinistriesGod bless you and merry
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- Christmas! Michael, let's singit out, the great carol of
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- Christmas, Joy to the World.[Music starts] Thank you Dr.
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- Graham, Merry Christmaseverybody, we're so glad that
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- you've been with us, let's allsing it together. Joy to the
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- world the Lord is come Let earthreceive her King Let every heart
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- prepare Him room And Heaven andnature sing And Heaven and
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- nature sing And Heaven andHeaven and nature sing!
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