Mike Kai: "The Promise Of Christmas"
Mike Kai
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After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem
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and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
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When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
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When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born.
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“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
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“ ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ”
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Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.
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He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
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After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.
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When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.
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On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
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And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
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At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea,
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where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth.
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When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
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In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!
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But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
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As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
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Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”
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And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord
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and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
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for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed,
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for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name.
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His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.
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He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
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He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.
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He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.
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He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful
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to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”
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Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
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Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.
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A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the LORD ; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
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Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.
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And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
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A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
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The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass.
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The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”
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You who bring good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good news to Jerusalem,lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!”
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See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.
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He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.
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Traditions can be meaningful—unless they replace the message they were meant to honor. Dr. Tony Evans explains how the true heart of Christmas centers on our need for a Savior and how embracing that truth can transform everything.
Are You Planning to Do Good?
Pastor Mike Fabarez
Most Christians work hard at avoiding sin, but how many actually plan to do good? Pastor Mike Fabarez asks what righteous deeds you’ve resolved to accomplish this year. Are you just surviving or deliberately pursuing what brings God glory?
Good Tidings of Great Joy
Brett Meador
For too many, getting swept up in trying to make Christmas meaningful it’s easy to forget where the true meaning actually comes from in the first place. The search for just the right gift, can lead us to overlook that we’ve received our greatest need in the gift of the Savior. Pastor Brett Meador opens Today’s Word revealing the good tidings of great joy there is for us all.
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And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
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So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.
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They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.
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Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.
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That, however, is not the way of life you learned
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when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.
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You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
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to be made new in the attitude of your minds;
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and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
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Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.
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“In your anger do not sin” : Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,
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and do not give the devil a foothold.
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His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:
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“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them.
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He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David
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(as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
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salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us—
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to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant,
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the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
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to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear
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in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
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And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
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to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins,
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because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
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to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
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In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,
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to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
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The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
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Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.
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But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.
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You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.
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He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,
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and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
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“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
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The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
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Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.
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For no word from God will ever fail.”
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“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.