We conclude our series "The God of the Christmas story" by discovering the God of provision. God will continue to provide for His people.

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OC Church of Christ

We are actually concluding

a sermon series.

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That we started several weeks ago

called the God of the Christmas story.

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And so what we've been doing over the last

several weeks is looking at the Christmas

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story, but trying to figure out what do

we notice about our God through this?

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What do we see about our Heavenly

Father as we examine and study

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out a very familiar passage?

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Of the Christmas story, and so we've been

looking at just the first two chapters

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from the gospel Matthew and so in the

first one Matthew chapter 1 We saw how the

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God of the scriptures is the God of hope

and we saw that through the genealogy of

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Jesus Then we move forward and we looked

at verses 13 to 25 and we saw how God is

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a God of mystery by bringing about the

birth of his son through the Virgin Mary.

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And then last week we talked about the

God of invitation chapter 2 verses 1

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through 12 and how God when he brings the

Magi really is inviting all of mankind

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to an eternal relationship with him.

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And today we'll conclude by finishing

out chapter two and we'll see how God is

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a God of provision, a God of provision.

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Let's go to our Father in prayer.

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Father, we thank you so much for this

opportunity for most of the OC church

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to come together on this Christmas

Eve and be able to worship you.

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God, we've been encouraged just to see

friends that we haven't seen in a long

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time, to be able to sing songs about the

birth of your son Jesus, and God, to be

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reminded that you provide in the waters.

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Father, it was so encouraging to see

Josephine get baptized yesterday.

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Father, as she has entered a new

life, and we thank you because it

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was Jesus who allowed us all to

have an opportunity at eternal life.

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Father, I pray that you will speak.

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Father, it's not about

anything else except you.

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May you speak to every soul.

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Father, put to the side any

distraction that can get in the way

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from hearing the message you have.

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In Jesus name, Amen.

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Amen.

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Now again, provision means to provide.

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Says, we see if God is the God

of provision means God is the

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God who provides for his people.

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So let's get into the scriptures.

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Matthew chapter two,

starting off in verse 13.

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And those in the coastline,

south and central ministries.

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I know I haven't had a chance to

speak in a long time to you or

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maybe you've never heard me speak.

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So let me remind you of

something real quickly.

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Then if we want the next

several minutes to go well, I

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need you to be fully engaged.

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And I need a couple of amens.

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Oh, my man, what's going on?

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It's been a minute.

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All right, so we need some amens.

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We need some hallelujahs.

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You know what I'm saying?

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We need some come on and all

that good stuff We just don't

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need to hear get off the stage.

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That's the last thing you need to

say All right, if you do that, the

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Lord will strike you where you sit.

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Okay.

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All right.

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All right.

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Let's go ahead Let's get into it Matthew

chapter 2 verse 13 It says when they

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had gone an angel the Lord appeared to

Joseph in a dream get up He said, take the

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child and his mother and escape to Egypt.

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Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is

going to search for the child to kill him.

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So he got up, took the child

and his mother during the night

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and left for Egypt, where he

stayed until the death of Herod.

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And so was fulfilled what the

Lord had said through the prophet.

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Out of Egypt I called my son.

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When Herod realized that he had

been outwitted by the Magi, he

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was furious and he gave orders to

kill all the boys in Bethlehem.

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And it's vicinity who were two years

old and under in accordance with the

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time he had learned from the Magi.

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Then what was fulfilled then what

was said through the prophet Jeremiah

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was fulfilled a voice is heard around

my weeping and greet morning Rachel

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weeping for her children and refusing

to be comforted because they are no

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more after Herod died an angel the Lord

appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt

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and said Get up, take the child and his

mother and go to the land of Israel.

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For those who were trying to

take the child's life are dead.

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So he got up, took the child and his

mother and went to the land of Israel.

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But when he heard that Hercules was

reigning in Judea in place of his

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father Herod, he was afraid to go there.

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Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew

to the district of Galilee, and he went

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and lived in a town called Nazareth.

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So was fulfilled what was said

through the prophets, he, that

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he would be called a Nazarene.

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Let's stop right there.

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Hopefully you already caught it.

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But we see the God of provision

on full display in this passage.

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And we're going to break

it down here a little bit.

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And so in verses 13 and 14, we see

that God provides provision through

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providing protection from Herod.

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Again, provision means to provide, and

so this God of provision provides in many

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ways and provides many different things.

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In the first off, we see

that God provides protection.

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Herod wants to kill the child, Jesus.

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And so he tells him to move and to

escape, and he's warned in a dream.

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We also see God provides

direction for the family.

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Hey, going over to Egypt.

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Later on, going over to Israel.

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Now what's interesting and really

cool about Egypt is that, you

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know, Egypt actually had a large

population of Jewish people.

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And so this would actually

be the destination that many

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Jews would go to whenever the

nation faced trouble or trials.

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Many of them would, would, would

leave town and they would go to Egypt.

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And so there were large colonies.

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And in fact, one scholar said there

was probably at least a million

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people in the land of Egypt.

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A million Jews in the land of Egypt.

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And so it's interesting,

God says, Go to Egypt.

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You got a bunch of people there.

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By the time you arrive, you'll fit in.

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You'll be okay with your newborn.

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And you'll probably have a safer, not

safer, but a quicker way to get on

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your feet and provide a way of living.

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Then he says, alright, I

want you to go to Nazareth.

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Now we know from the gospel of

Luke that that's Joseph's hometown.

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So now you can go back.

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Don't go back to Bethlehem,

but go to Nazareth.

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On over to the area of Galilee and

Nazareth, hometown, you can probably

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get quickly back on your feet and

be able to provide for your family.

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So he provides direction.

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We also see that God provides

resources for the trip.

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If you remember, the Magi, I know

some of you guys weren't with

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us last week, but most of us are

very familiar with the passage.

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But the Magi came and

they provided some gifts.

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Let's go and look at it again.

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On coming to the house, they saw

the child with his mother Mary, and

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they bowed down and worshipped him.

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Then they opened their treasures

and presented him with gifts of

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gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

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Now again we understand there's A lot

of spiritual implications and symbolism

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that took place in these gifts.

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But guess what?

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They were practical

means of transportation.

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And by the time they

get there, guess what?

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Hey man, I got some gold.

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I got some frankincense I could,

man, can I get, let's, let's

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barter, let's exchange so I can

provide for my wife and my newborn.

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Well, the Lord provides.

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I'm sure Joseph was like, thank you,

Magi, because a brother needed that coin.

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You know what I'm saying?

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Some of y'all like, yeah, thank you

for that, that bonus this month.

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Or thank you just for that

extra check that came in.

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We also see that God provides

reassurance to trust him.

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He provided it then, but as Matthew writes

this letter for this Jewish Christian

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audience, and that we are enabled and

benefited to be able to read ourselves,

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we are reminded that God provides

reassurance that we can trust him.

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The Bible is filled with many scriptures

saying, Trust God, do not fear.

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And we see in the passages here

that Matthew decides, you know what,

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let's take some of these passages.

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We don't have enough time to

break down the prophecies and

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how peculiar they really are.

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But he provides these scriptures

to say, hey, you know what?

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God has been present the whole time.

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God's had a plan the whole time.

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God's been inviting his

people the whole time.

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And God's been providing and

still provides the whole time.

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Again, we see the God of hope.

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We see the God of mystery.

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We see the God of invitation, and

we see the God of provision as

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we examine the Christmas story.

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And so God is providing all these

things, and here's the great thing about

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it, brothers and sisters, is that God

is still the God of provision today.

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He 2, 000 years ago, I'm

not gonna provide anymore.

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I did enough.

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Even though He could, and that

would still be sufficient.

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But he's still the God of provision today.

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That means he provides for his

people now and he will provide.

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God provides an escape route

from danger in our lives.

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He'll provide some shelter and protection

from evil that is lurking in our lives.

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He'll provide direction for our life.

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Support means and necessities to survive,

and that will strengthen our faith in Him.

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Protection, direction, resources,

reassurance, often seen and

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experienced today in different ways.

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Sometimes the miraculous, sometimes

it's just simple divine methods of God.

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All available for you and me this hour.

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Let's break down a couple of these.

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Church, are you still with me?

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God provides through his word.

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Think about it.

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Protection, resources, reassurance,

direction for our lives, help, evidence

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to trust him, all found in the scriptures.

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Also, through his Holy Spirit.

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The power, the strength, and direction

to make things clear, although the

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Holy Spirit does it in different

ways on different occasions.

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He also provides through his church.

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God working through relationships, advice,

intangible help, intangible resources.

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Have you ever been helped

by anybody in the church?

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If you say no, yes you have.

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How'd you even get here today?

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Okay, somebody in the church.

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I'm sure the Holy Spirit

didn't direct you here.

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Maybe he did, but I doubt that.

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You see, God provides through

his word, through his spirit,

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and through his church.

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So what does this mean for you?

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In me today.

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It means we can trust God.

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It means we can trust God.

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We can trust God's plan and directions

for our lives that are found in

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scripture or that are directly

designed for us in our lives.

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God's provided a plan and we can

trust his plan to overcome evil and

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give eternal salvation through his

son, Jesus, and through his return.

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Someday we can trust his promises.

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We can trust that following His

word will benefit our lives,

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benefit our relationships,

and benefit those around us.

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We can trust that.

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And so what does that

mean we should do then?

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Well, I think it's simple.

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Trust and follow.

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The response to the God of provision

is to trust Him and to follow

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His direction for our lives.

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To trust that He'll provide

and then to follow His will.

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But see, we have to learn to place our

trust in God's protective timing and care.

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And so we might have it for a moment,

but we need to be reminded of it.

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I got into an accident last Wednesday.

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I know man.

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You telling me it appears that I'm at

fault But I've been struggling every

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single day, and I'm like I don't know

if I was at fault even this morning

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I was like Karina I think he cut in

front of me But I'm not gonna get

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into the whole story because then I'll

start struggling okay And I might just

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go in some other place spiritually

okay, so now we have this hassle of

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dealing because it now It's a total

loss Raul knows I call Raul like man.

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I'm in trouble And so it's a total loss

and so now here we are and I'm starting to

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fret I'm looking like what should we do?

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I'm asking Kenny Barber

for advice the other day.

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And so I'm there and Karina she's

like God's gonna provide She's like

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he's always provided for us a car.

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I was like you right.

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That's true.

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That's right Okay, and it helped me.

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I did say a hallelujah.

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I was like, you know what God

provided this car He provided that

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car that car that car man got a bit.

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He's got a track record Why am I tripping?

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Let's see.

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We need to learn this again.

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We might have it for a moment, right?

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The problem is it maybe if you're like

me is that we can easily forget and

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then we doubt which leads to missed

opportunities, which usually lead to

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miss blessings in our lives, which can

often lead to mistakes that we make.

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Send or damage and or damage

to our lives or those around us

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because we didn't trust him enough.

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We decided I'll make this decision.

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I won't seek input because

I know what's good.

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I have a track record and

then what happens is regrets.

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But if we can go back to the God of the

Christmas story and we can remember he's

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a God of provision that we can remember,

recall and stand firm in our trust.

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But then we have to follow

his lead and direction.

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It's a two parter.

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We have to follow God's direction.

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Just think about this.

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God gave direction to Joseph and Mary.

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He gave them a plan, but then

he gave them some direction.

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So Joseph and Mary, their responsibility

and their role was to do what?

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To trust him, but not trust him by staying

put, but actually following what he said.

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Just imagine if they decided

we trust you, but we aren't

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going to follow what you said.

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How would that Christmas story turn out?

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I don't know if me and you

would be here this morning.

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And so what do we learn?

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Is trusting is good, but it's

not true trust until we actually

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make a step in following.

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And so what we learn, and this hit me as

I was studying this out, is that this, is

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that revelation requires participation.

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When God reveals something to

us through his word, through his

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people, through the Holy Spirit, it

requires you and me to act upon it.

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Just to receive it and do nothing

with it is useless and pointless.

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So when God reveals his eternal

will for our lives on a lifestyle

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of holiness, we have to trust him,

but then actually follow through.

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When God starts to reveal things for

your life individually, you gotta trust

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him, but then follow his direction.

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Because when God provides

direction, then the protection

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and help we have, we experience.

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You see, revelation means

nothing without participation.

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I'm sure a lot of you, especially

you coming from different parts

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of town, you probably used

GPS this morning, didn't you?

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Look, she's nodding her

head like, Yeah, I sure did.

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I've never been over here before.

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She's like, Placentia,

is that in Orange County?

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You know what I'm saying?

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And so you used GPS.

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Just imagine if you used GPS and

you decide, I'm gonna turn it

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on, but I'm not gonna follow it.

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I'm gonna have that, that screen on, but

I'm just gonna go the way I wanna go.

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Where would you end up?

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Who knows where?

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You might end up in Long Beach.

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Riverside, Mexicali, who knows?

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But here's the thing, here's what

happens, brothers and sisters.

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We do this on a consistent basis.

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God reveals something, we turn it

on, but yet we don't follow it.

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Then we end up going, man, I'm

lost in my Spiritually, I'm off.

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This didn't go well.

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Man, this is causing damage and a mess.

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But the direction, the spiritual

GPS was on the whole time.

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We claim to believe it and follow it.

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But we decided to veer into our own path.

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You see, revelation

requires participation.

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It requires us to do something.

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But that's when we experience

the God of provision.

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We experience it, we see it,

we testify with our own lives.

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Once we actually trust

And follow His direction.

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This is why I need time in God's Word.

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This is why you need time in God's Word.

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So you can have an understanding

of God's will for your life.

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This is why we need personal

devotional time in prayer with God.

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So His Spirit can minister to us.

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This is why we need

relationships in the church.

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Because sometimes we're not listening.

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And we need God.

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And God's saying, look I'm going to speak

through my children to help you out.

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You see, God's provision is

experience when we trust and follow.

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Let, let, let's go ahead and

let's come in for a landing here.

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Let's get real practical.

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Those in the north know we

like action steps over here.

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And so I want to give us

some action steps this week.

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You can practice, you can put this into

practice in the next 24 hours, okay?

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And some will be a little bit longer.

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But here's, here's the first one.

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Go ahead and thank God for

his provision in your life.

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Spend some time in the next 24

hours thanking God for providing.

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When you start off, you'll end

up going down a longer list.

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Then you imagined you start there.

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I'll just give him a couple minutes

And if you start to really think you're

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providing you're gonna go down a path

and it's a good path And you'll start

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to appreciate the God of proof you start

to be reminded that God will provide

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this week Second go ahead and follow

his will in that one area of your life.

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You know that area You know that area.

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You know that area that God's

been trying to minister to.

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He's been trying to say something.

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But you've been hesitant.

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You've been resisting.

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Like, I don't know if I really

want to turn on the GPS.

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I don't know if I really want

to listen to it right now.

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I want to encourage you to make a

decision that you will follow through

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in his direction in your life.

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Whatever that that area is, maybe

it's being humble, forgiving

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or asking for forgiveness.

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Sharing the love of Jesus

with a family member.

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Prioritizing God first over

school or work in the new year.

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Whatever it is, follow His

will in that area in your life.

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You know, our Heavenly

Father is a God of provision.

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And we will experience His provision when

we trust Him and follow His direction.

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We're going to take communion right now.

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This is where we have the emblems, the

bread and the juice, they represent

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Jesus body and blood that was sacrificed

so that we could have salvation.

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And we remember as we look at the

God of the Christmas story is that

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He is the God who provided Jesus

to be our Redeemer and Savior.

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God provided Jesus to be

the example on how to live.

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And God provided Jesus

to atone for our sins.

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Let's close out with a very familiar

passage in John chapter three, verse

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16, for God so loved the world that

he gave his one and only son that

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whoever believes in him shall not

perish, but have eternal life for God

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did not send his son into the world

to condemn the world, but to save the

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world through him, the God of provision.

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Let's pray.

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Father, we thank you so

much for sending your son.

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God, you provided.

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Salvation through your son.

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You provided atonement for

our sins through your son.

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You provided forgiveness through your son.

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You provided hope through your son.

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You provided peace through your son.

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You provided joy through your son.

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You provided the ultimate

example of love through your son.

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You provided the church through your son.

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You provided us the Holy

Spirit through your son.

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You provided us a new resurrected

life through your son.

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We thank you for your methods.

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We thank you for your decision.

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We thank you for your character.

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We thank you that we can have an

eternal relationship with you.

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Thank you, not just for Christmas

events and celebrations, but

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thank you for Jesus being born.

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And God, we thank you for being

a God of hope, being a God of

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mystery, being a God of invitation

and being the God of provision.

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We pray in the name of Jesus.

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Amen.