December 23, 2024 • 27 mins
This week dives into the rich significance of the Magi's visit to Jesus and what their gifts reveal about worship and intentionality. By examining their journey and gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, we uncover profound lessons about seeking Christ and giving our best in response to His love.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Merry Christmas.
We're excited because we're ina season of discovering what it
means to follow after Jesus, andour focus today is to discover
the Magi of Christmas.
You know so much of what we doat Christmas time.
It hovers around this idea ofgifts, and when we think about
the Magi, so often it'scorrelated to gifts, and so you
(00:21):
know it's interesting because itdoesn't mean as much when you
have a lot of them, but wheneveryou don't have any, it matters
a lot.
And I want to say thank you toall that helped out at Mercy
House yesterday, where over 500gifts were given out to kids who
otherwise wouldn't have such agreat Christmas.
Thank you for serving, thankyou for giving, thank you for
(00:42):
being those that gave toys tothis endeavor, and for those
that serve, you are a blessing.
We had people that were there,that showed up early to set
things up and days in advance,and it was an amazing event.
There was a lot of people fromour community of faith that were
there.
You can see Mika hereaddressing the crowd and
encouraging them.
Mika has been 30 years of MercyHouse and we give God praise
(01:05):
for that An amazing day.
I want to say thank you to Mika, to Christina, to the whole
team that made it possible forall these things to happen.
You know it was not just us, itwas a whole community of people
that came together.
There's motorcycle clubs thatwere there, car clubs that were
there, different groups thatwere there helping out and
serving, giving of their time sothat other people would know
(01:27):
what it's like to have a MerryChristmas.
We gave out over a thousandpounds of food to families in
need, which was an amazing thing, and I wanna say thank you to
all those that serve at MercyHouse, not just at Christmas,
which is awesome, but alsothroughout the year.
Every single week we haveministry going out for Mercy
House.
You know that it's amazing.
We have a hand for them.
(01:48):
Amazing.
We have those who are teachingthe Bible study, which is
something that Cornerstone is.
We support is the Bible studyon Tuesday for adults, the Bible
study for kids on Thursdays.
We have tutoring that goes forkids on Tuesday and Thursday as
well.
We have lots of thingshappening, including a reading
program in the summer with someteachers that are just out of
(02:11):
our church as well, and otherplaces.
We are helping that communitybecause we want to be the hands
and feet of Jesus extended tothem.
Amen.
We're giving food and clothingthrough the pantry every other
week, and so let me encourageyou in this that you too would
be intentional to be those thatpartner with things like Mercy
House, that we can be a gift oflove of Christ to other people.
(02:33):
Would you say yes to that?
Amen.
Well, I'll tell you this.
You know the gift side ofChristmas.
I think there's half of us thatare pumped about getting a gift
and half that are pumped aboutgiving a gift.
How many people are the gettinga gift crew?
It's all right, you guys don'twant to raise your hand, but you
know it's you.
It's okay, it's fine.
How about giving a gift crew?
You guys are the giving a giftcrew and you know it changes a
(02:55):
lot depending on where you're at.
You know we have a lot and I'mlike a lot of December babies in
the house.
I'm sorry for that.
You guys are like this countsfor both.
(03:16):
You're like does it really?
Does it really?
It better be good then.
But we know that it's not justabout the presents.
The presents are great, thepresents are fun.
The reason we give gifts isbecause Christ is a gift to us.
But it doesn't need to be themain focus of all that we do.
How many people know what I'msaying?
See, the presents are a goodpart of it.
It's a giving part of it, it'sthe joy of being able to
participate in showing somebodythat love.
But the real focus in theChristmas season is the arrival
(03:40):
of Jesus.
To us, is the gift for allpeople, for all time.
That is the real reason ofChristmas.
So let me encourage you in thisthat you would focus your heart
in Christmas and take a look atwhat Jesus wants to do in your
life.
Would you say amen to that?
Scripture says it like thisbehold, the virgin shall
conceive and bear a son, andthey shall call his name
(04:01):
Emmanuel.
And they shall call his nameEmmanuel, which means God with
us, amen, amen.
Hey, if we haven't met, my nameis Jay and we're so excited
that we have this opportunity toworship together the Lord at
the Christmas time.
You know, here at Cornerstone wevery much see ourselves as
people in need of a savior.
None of us is perfect we're thefirst to tell you so but what
(04:23):
we are is people that areintentionally on a journey
following after Jesus.
We're embracing what he wantsto do in our life and the work
of God and our character,because we want to be more like
Jesus, and that's why we do thiscollectively to love God and
make disciples and reach theworld.
We wanna be intentional in ourgrowth as a disciple ourselves.
(04:44):
That's why we connect and wegrow and reach the world.
We wanna be intentional in ourgrowth as a disciple ourselves.
That's why we connect and wegrow and we serve.
It's who we are as thecommunity, the body of Christ.
When we talk about church,we're talking about its people,
not a building or a location,and so where the church of God
is is where the world isembracing and getting to
experience the love of Christworking through us.
So be more like Jesus whereveryou go.
(05:07):
Amen.
Now, in this season, we'retalking about what it means to
discover the focus of Christmasand discover the meaning of
Christmas and the message ofChristmas, and we see the
miracle of Christmas in Christ.
Today we're talking about theidea of discovering the magi of
Christmas, taking a look at whatit means to be those of wisdom
(05:29):
who are seeking God.
We pick up here.
I'm going to encourage you toopen your Bible, your tablet,
your phone to Matthew 2.
Look at verse 11 here, startingout, it says and going into the
house, they saw the child withMary, his mother, and they fell
down and worshiped him.
Then, opening their treasures,they offered him gifts of gold
(05:50):
and frankincense and myrrh.
Let's pray, lord.
We thank you so much for yourword.
We thank you, lord, for prayingover it.
Lord, by your spirit, lord,making it alive, that it would
be transformative in us andRamah God, we ask Lord for your
spirit and your power in ourlives.
Use this word to challenge us.
We pray in Jesus' name, amen.
(06:12):
Now, as we're talking about themagi, it's directly correlated
to gifts.
And as we talk about gifts, weknow, as we start getting to a
certain age, it's really notabout just what you get.
It's very much about what youare giving to others, and that's
what actually starts to changein your life is.
It's not about what you'regetting, it's about what you're
giving.
And I think there's a piecewhere you're excited about
(06:34):
getting something.
I mean, you know beyond socks,you know what I mean Like
something good.
But there's a piece of itthat's really not about that at
all.
It's really about yourintentionality to give to
another person.
And I'll say this it doesn'tmatter the size of the gift you
get.
I think whenever someone givesyou something, it means that
they were thinking about you andit means they had
(06:54):
intentionality towards it.
Think about, whenever someonewraps a present, they're doing
so with this intentionality.
They're doing something andpreparing it for you to give it
to you.
And even if it's just a simplething, or even a gift card, how
do you say praise the Lord forgift cards?
Praise the Lord, though?
Gift cards cannot be turnedinto tamales.
So this is a problem.
You see the problem.
You need both.
(07:16):
Anyway, you get the idea, butthe thing is like whenever
you're giving a gift, even inits small nature, it's
intentional, it's showing I careabout you, it means I value you
, I was thinking of you, and soin doing so, that's the heart
that we have, because that'swhat Christ was doing for us is
that he was coming to us as thegift for all people.
(07:37):
He was the gift for you, he wascoming for you, and so, in the
same way that's the gifts thatwe give is the same heart is
that we give those the way thatChrist gave.
We give because we love, wegive because we care, we give
because we want to show othersthat they have value, just the
way that God came into thisworld to show you that you have
(07:59):
value, amen.
When we look at the magi, westart to pick up with these
characters in the Bible that area little bit.
There's a concept, thisquestion around who they are,
and so we pick up here,understanding where their story
begins.
It's in Matthew 2, verse 1 and2.
It says now, after Jesus wasborn in Bethlehem of Judea, in
(08:20):
the days of Herod the king,behold wise men from the east
came to Jerusalem saying whereis he who has been born king of
the Jews?
For we saw his star when itrose and have come to worship
him.
And that's what we mean by themagi is.
It goes back to this scripture,it's concept of the people who
(08:41):
had wisdom of old, and so theytalked about those people being
magi or magicians and lookinginto the spiritual things or the
ancient things.
They looked about the thingsthat they were forecasting, or
the prophecy of God becomingfulfilled, and so the magi were
very much that.
They were someone of notoriety,of wisdom, of understanding,
and not just of their ownculture and their own ability to
(09:04):
read and write, but of othercultures.
They were able to look atHebrew scripture and to look
into it to see hey, this is theprophecy that was going to be
fulfilled.
So we talk about magi, that'swhat we're talking about.
And very likely these peoplewere also someone of wealth,
because they had to have theability to give the gifts they
gave and to make the travelsthat they did in their day.
(09:26):
So most likely, they also wereconsidered those who ruled over
others, having that ability.
So they were likely kings orpeople who ruled in that way,
someone important in a greatcourt perhaps.
But they come from these otherplaces and there's pieces of
mystery around them.
But all of them came withintentionality, with the worship
of God, and you think aboutthat, because as they come, they
(09:49):
come with this thought processof hey, we're gonna show up
where he leads us to go.
And so they were looking withintent towards what God was
leading them to do.
When we think about the star,that's exactly what the star is.
The star is God's direction forthem.
So they were think about thestar.
That's exactly what the star is.
The star is God's direction forthem.
So they were looking for thestar to arise because it was
(10:10):
sparked in their heart that thisis the very important thing
that should be coming aboutright now.
Let's go and worship the comingking and think about that in
our own lives.
That, as God is directing youand guiding you, as you're
seeking him first before youmake the big decision on where
to go and what step to take, asyou are the one who's seeking
(10:32):
him first, that we're goingafter him with intentionality
and following God with our heartand with our lives and with our
effort.
So we pick up here in this storyand it says that you know, they
start, they go to where theplace they think it's going to
be.
So they see the star hasappeared and they're like let's
go and follow the star.
Let's go to Jerusalem.
(10:52):
That's where the king should beborn.
Problem Herod did not have ababy and so he has no new baby,
no new heir.
That's come.
And they're like hey, we'rehere to celebrate the new king.
The star is in the sky.
And he's like I'm sorry, what'sgoing on?
They're like we're here.
You know the star, the one fromscripture, the one you guys
(11:13):
weren't paying attention to,it's in the sky.
We're here to worship.
And he was perplexed.
You know they go and theyscramble, they're like, oh,
where's it supposed to be?
And they find out what's goingto happen.
He's like listen, if you guysfind the baby, let me know about
it, because I want to goworship him too.
Slash, kill him and everybodyaround him so I can continue to
(11:33):
be powerful.
So they go and they go toworship Jesus and it says that
the star directed them in whereto go and they had this spark of
joy when they saw it.
When they saw the star, theyrejoiced exceedingly, with great
joy.
And of course, they're knownfor what they give to Jesus.
(11:56):
They give these gifts.
It means that it cost themsomething to worship as they
came, and they didn't come toworship empty handed.
You know, I think about thisoften is that question of what
would you give Jesus.
If you were going to give himsomething, what would you give
him?
What would be worthy to givehim as a present?
(12:17):
Do you think like it'd be, likeyour house keys, your car keys?
You think that'd be enough.
But I wonder what it would beif it would be like, you know,
draining your 401k or some otherkind of thing, or what would be
enough to be a gift for theliving God.
And I think this, friends,while all those things are good
(12:38):
and all those things are greatintentionality, I think this,
friends, while all those thingsare good and all those things
are great intentionality, Ithink the thing he really wants
the most is not any of thosethings.
What he wants is your heart.
What he wants is your life.
What he wants is anintentionality and a
relationship with you.
That's the reason he came.
So, as we look at that settingof them coming with these gifts,
(12:59):
they're coming to worship, sothey have a heart to worship the
living God, and you could seewhat it might be like for them
to come and to start explainingwhy they're there.
Could you imagine, if you'rethere and you're Joseph and Mary
, you have the newborn, the onethat all the angel prophesied
about, and the heavens opened upand declared his glory, and
(13:19):
these shepherds came out andthey're like hey, the angels
told us to come and to celebratewith you, and now you're kind
of got settled a little bit.
And then these rich, wealthy,wise guys out of the East show
up and you're like oh, what isgoing on?
I would have put on a betteroutfit.
You know what I mean.
I mean you think about it likeyou know, their lineage the
lineage that you see that comesdown was of David, but the power
(13:42):
had been taken from them.
There were no longer kings inthat line.
It had been given to Herod bythe Romans, and so, though they
were in that lineage, theyweren't people of great means.
And so these people of greatwealth and these people of high
status, these people with likelynot just three of them, but
most likely a caravan of peopleeach they arrive and they're
(14:03):
there to worship.
You had to imagine what theirhearts were like in accepting
these gifts and as they eachbent down to present what that
would have been like.
Scripture says it like this and, going into the house, they saw
the child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and
worshiped him.
Then, opening their treasures,they offered him gifts gold and
(14:27):
frankincense and myrrh, and soyou could see that they didn't
come empty-handed, they camewith worship.
Of course, you wouldn't come toa king empty-handed.
So they come with these giftsand intentional saying listen,
this is my worship, it costs mesomething, it costs me the
effort to come, but also from myheart, that I want to give this
(14:47):
to you.
And so they give him somethingthat should be given to a king.
They give him gold, and itrepresents exactly what you
think.
It's that it's one king givinganother king gold.
So they hold Jesus, as theysaid as they came to worship the
new king, the one that's arised.
They're giving him this presentthat costs them a great amount.
(15:10):
It's something that befits aking, so it talks about who
Jesus is as our king, the kingof kings, the Lord of lords, the
king forever in glory, and sohe gets this present.
They didn't know that it was anecessary present.
They didn't know that Herodwould try to kill Jesus, and so
they needed to flee to Egypt,and this very gold that they
(15:30):
just got would help them makethe way to Egypt and stay there.
And so they didn't understandthat all these things were there
.
But guess who did?
God knew, and he made a way forJesus.
He was the one that sparkstheir hearts so that they come a
long distance off.
So they follow the star andthey come to worship him in the
way he should be worshiped.
(15:52):
The second gift of frankincenseis one of significance because
it's what we see in use by thosewho are of the priesthood.
It's those who made thisdeclaration before God and they
offered it as one of thoseofferings before the Lord.
You'd see it in the tabernacleand in the temple and they would
make incense before God, asweet selling aroma, this
(16:14):
anointing piece that they woulduse.
And so often, even as we see itin the New Testament, there's
this representation of theanointing of God being used by
his followers, saying theanointing of God is upon you and
that's what you would use thisfor.
And so in that time, whatthey're doing is they're coming
and saying that we hold you notjust as a king, but we hold you
(16:34):
as God's holy one, therepresentation for us all, as
the high priest of God on high.
The anointing of God is upon youand, friends, here's the thing
the same way that it's the costthat costs us in the great kind
of gift that we would give tothe Lord, the same way that we
have that anointing that comesfrom God, that's the same
(16:55):
anointing he wants you toexperience as well.
And the same way that we givehim something that's of great
value, that's our heart, thatit's our life, the same way that
we give him also all of ourobedience and that we be used by
God in the anointing of God forhis glory.
What happens if we ask more ofthe Holy Spirit in our lives and
(17:18):
we step out in faith andbelieve the prayer of faith and
see the miracle happen?
What if we experience the HolySpirit's empowerment on us and
we have a word of encouragementfor our coworker or for our
family member?
What happens if we, by theSpirit of God, have knowledge
and start praying for someone tohave wisdom in their
decision-making process and sayGod, open the doors for them?
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See, all these things arepossible and more, made first by
the high priest, jesus Christ,who opens these up for all of us
.
They first come and theyworship him as the high priest.
The last gift is that of myrrh,and myrrh was one that's used
very much like frankincense, butalso in preparation for burial,
(18:02):
and it was used to prepare forburial so very much.
Myrrh is a gift for the Messiah, because the purpose of the
Messiah is for the Messiah tocome and to make everything
correct Very much, as Jesus'sarrival signifies.
His real meaning for us wasthat the end of the manger is
the cross, and so the road forthe Messiah is to take the place
(18:25):
for all of us, and so this giftactually signifies his very
purpose on earth as the kingthat God puts in place for all
of us forever, as the priest,the high priest, on making
prayers on behalf of us, forever, as the very Messiah, the
chosen one, god, the son of man,the one who was sent for us,
(18:50):
the only way to relationshipwith the father, and so, because
of it, christ, he himself takeson all of our sin and lives
that sinless life, and he goesto his death not for his
mistakes but for ours.
So as we start to embrace himand we start to discover what
God has for us, then it's aboutthose attributes that we would
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be those who, with our hearts,give him the best in all that we
have, which is our life, thatwe, as we go and we present to
him, we ask for his empowermentto live the things he asks us to
do, and that we, like him,would take up our cross daily
and follow Jesus, so that, ashim is king, that we would, too,
(19:36):
worship him with our hearts andwith all that we have, the most
valuable thing we have, that wetoo would ask for the anointing
from God, as he's the one whoanoints and that we too, would
be those that say Lord, today Iask for your daily bread, that I
would follow you.
Your kingdom come, your will bedone in me.
Friends, it's my challenge toyou, my challenge to us, that we
(20:00):
would discover what God has forus in this season, that you
would press deeply into him, notjust for yourselves, not just
for your family, but for whatGod wants to do in and through
your life, in a greater levelthan what you even have for
yourself.
That the Lord can use you tobring the peace, the
(20:22):
encouragement, even the joy ofthe Lord in the message of the
gospel, to other people aroundyou, in a world that so
desperately needs the light ofthe gospel.
Friends, as we discover theMagi of Christmas, we do so in
echoing their worship of theLord that we would discover all
he has for us.
The challenge for each one ofus today is to answer that
(20:45):
question have you embraced Jesus?
See, no one can answer thatquestion for you.
It's your question to answeralone, and maybe you're here
today and you never asked Jesusinto your heart and life.
Friends, I challenge you thattoday would be the day you make
a commitment to follow Jesus.
For us, the symbol of the crossis one of freedom and
(21:07):
forgiveness, because the crosssymbolizes where Jesus, where he
took all of our pain, where hetook all of our mistakes.
He took all of our brokennessand he paid for it upon the
cross once and for all.
And so for us, the cross meansfreedom, because it means that
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Jesus, he loved me so much thathe gave his life for me there.
He loved you so much that hegave his life for you there too.
The Apostle Paul, he writes itlike this to the church at Rome,
challenging us to place ourfaith and trust in Jesus,
because if you confess with yourmouth that Jesus is Lord and
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believe in your heart that Godraised him from the dead, you
will be saved.
For with the heart one believesand is justified.
With the mouth one confessesand is saved.
Friends, today is your day.
It's your day to invite Jesusinto your heart and life, to say
Jesus, I believe you are whoyou say you are and, lord, I ask
(22:13):
you to forgive me.
I want you to be the Lord of mylife.
I want to start a new life withyou.
I'm going to ask everyone inthe room if you'd stand right
where you're at, just bow yourhead.
If you're online, prepare yourheart for what God wants to do.
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Friends, if that's you, youwanna make a decision to follow
Jesus.
You're ready to make thatcommitment to him and you never
made that decision ever before.
Today's your opportunity.
Or maybe you're here and youhave made the decision in the
past, but you haven't beencommitted to living it.
But today you make a decisionto recommitting your heart and
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life to Christ as heads arebowed here in the room.
If that's you and you want tomake a decision to follow Jesus
today, if you just raise yourhand right where you're at, say,
pastor, remember me in thatprayer that I would make a
decision to follow Jesus today.
Thank you Lord, thank you Lord.
Thank you Lord, as people aremaking decisions for Christ
online as well.
Thank you Jesus.
Thank you Lord.
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Friends, I'm gonna ask you ifeveryone would just repeat this
prayer after me Lord, thank youfor loving me.
Thank you for sending Jesus.
I believe Jesus died on thecross for my sins.
I believe he rose again.
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Forgive me of my sins.
I surrender my life to you.
In Christ's name, I pray Amen,amen.
Friends, we rejoice in youmaking a decision to follow
Jesus today.
Praise the Lord.
If that was you, we encourageyou to connect with us back by
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the prayer banners or even atthe cafe.
We want to put some materialsinto your hands so you can be
successful living this lifeafter Christ.
If you're online, message us.
We'll be able to connect withyou so that you don't live this
life alone.
Friends, before we go, we wantto come to this opportunity of
worshiping the Lord and comingto this altar.
We do so with thatintentionality that we just were
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challenged with from the Magi,that we give our very best,
which is our heart, our life, toGod.
That we do so asking for hisimpartation of the Holy Spirit,
anointing to live for him and todo the things he's called us to
do in obedience.
And the third thing is that wewould daily make the decision to
pick up our cross and followhim.
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Lord, we thank you so much foryour word.
We thank you, lord, for thechallenge that you bring to us
today through your scripture,lord.
I thank you, lord, for thesemagi, lord, that were seeking to
know where you were leadingthem.
Lord, they were seeking firstwhere you were to guide them,
and so, lord, in the same way,impart to us your direction and
your wisdom.
Lord, we lack wisdom.
We ask for your wisdom and,lord, that you would guide and
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open doors in front of us thatwe need to go through.
Lord, at the same time, we prayyou would close doors that need
to be closed and, lord, I praythat you would break off the
chains of addiction and otherbad perspectives from the past.
Lord, we would no longer walkin those things but instead be
free.
In the name of Jesus Christ.
Lord, we ask for an anointing,an impartation of your spirit,
(25:29):
lord, to live obedient to whatyou've called us to do, lord,
that we would say yes to whereyou're guiding us to go, lord,
and that you would use us as amouthpiece of your love to other
people.
Lord, at the same time, we ask,lord, that you would help us,
lord, to deny ourselves.
It is our prayer your kingdomcome, your will be done in us.
(25:49):
Lord, as we come to this altar,we do so with our hearts
towards you.
We do so asking, lord, for yourimpartation in our lives.
Lord, we're asking for ablessing in our family's life,
asking, lord, for a blessing inour community that you've placed
us in.
As we come to this altar, we doso with a heart after you.
We pray this in the name ofJesus Christ Amen.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
Well, we are so glad you joined us today.
I want to let you know thatthis week of Christmas we have
some special services takingplace.
Tomorrow night and Tuesdaynight.
It's going to start at sixo'clock.
It's the same service twonights in a row.
We'd love for you to join us.
It's a candlelight service.
It's very special.
It's one of my most favoritetimes of the year.
So come, plan a night that youcan join us, and we are going to
(26:30):
lift up the name of Jesus andjust go into Christmas full of
joy.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
Amen Before you go as well.
We also have some cookies andsome hot chocolate for you out
in the courtyard, so that'ssomething to celebrate together,
and Celeste prayed over it, soit has no calories.
So praise God Before we go.
I want to pray this blessingover us today the Lord bless you
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and keep you.
Lord, make His face to shineupon you and be gracious to you.
Lord, lift up his countenanceupon you and give you peace.
Lord, I pray a blessing uponyour church, your people.
You would empower us by yourspirit to live your love out to
those around us.
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We pray this in the powerfulname that is Jesus Christ.
Amen, amen.
Know this.
We love you very much here atCornerstone.
God bless you and MerryChristmas.
Merry Christmas.
We're excited because we're ina season of discovering what it
means to follow after Jesus, andour focus today is to discover
the Magi of Christmas.
You know so much of what we doat Christmas time.
It hovers around this idea ofgifts, and when we think about
the Magi, so often it'scorrelated to gifts, and so you
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know it's interesting because itdoesn't mean as much when you
have a lot of them, but wheneveryou don't have any, it matters
a lot.
And I want to say thank you toall that helped out at Mercy
House yesterday, where over 500gifts were given out to kids who
otherwise wouldn't have such agreat Christmas.
Thank you for serving, thankyou for giving, thank you for
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being those that gave toys tothis endeavor, and for those
that serve, you are a blessing.
We had people that were there,that showed up early to set
things up and days in advance,and it was an amazing event.
There was a lot of people fromour community of faith that were
there.
You can see Mika hereaddressing the crowd and
encouraging them.
Mika has been 30 years of MercyHouse and we give God praise
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for that An amazing day.
I want to say thank you to Mika, to Christina, to the whole
team that made it possible forall these things to happen.
You know it was not just us, itwas a whole community of people
that came together.
There's motorcycle clubs thatwere there, car clubs that were
there, different groups thatwere there helping out and
serving, giving of their time sothat other people would know
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what it's like to have a MerryChristmas.
We gave out over a thousandpounds of food to families in
need, which was an amazing thing, and I wanna say thank you to
all those that serve at MercyHouse, not just at Christmas,
which is awesome, but alsothroughout the year.
Every single week we haveministry going out for Mercy
House.
You know that it's amazing.
We have a hand for them.
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Amazing.
We have those who are teachingthe Bible study, which is
something that Cornerstone is.
We support is the Bible studyon Tuesday for adults, the Bible
study for kids on Thursdays.
We have tutoring that goes forkids on Tuesday and Thursday as
well.
We have lots of thingshappening, including a reading
program in the summer with someteachers that are just out of
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our church as well, and otherplaces.
We are helping that communitybecause we want to be the hands
and feet of Jesus extended tothem.
Amen.
We're giving food and clothingthrough the pantry every other
week, and so let me encourageyou in this that you too would
be intentional to be those thatpartner with things like Mercy
House, that we can be a gift oflove of Christ to other people.
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Would you say yes to that?
Amen.
Well, I'll tell you this.
You know the gift side ofChristmas.
I think there's half of us thatare pumped about getting a gift
and half that are pumped aboutgiving a gift.
How many people are the gettinga gift crew?
It's all right, you guys don'twant to raise your hand, but you
know it's you.
It's okay, it's fine.
How about giving a gift crew?
You guys are the giving a giftcrew and you know it changes a
(02:55):
lot depending on where you're at.
You know we have a lot and I'mlike a lot of December babies in
the house.
I'm sorry for that.
You guys are like this countsfor both.
(03:16):
You're like does it really?
Does it really?
It better be good then.
But we know that it's not justabout the presents.
The presents are great, thepresents are fun.
The reason we give gifts isbecause Christ is a gift to us.
But it doesn't need to be themain focus of all that we do.
How many people know what I'msaying?
See, the presents are a goodpart of it.
It's a giving part of it, it'sthe joy of being able to
participate in showing somebodythat love.
But the real focus in theChristmas season is the arrival
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of Jesus.
To us, is the gift for allpeople, for all time.
That is the real reason ofChristmas.
So let me encourage you in thisthat you would focus your heart
in Christmas and take a look atwhat Jesus wants to do in your
life.
Would you say amen to that?
Scripture says it like thisbehold, the virgin shall
conceive and bear a son, andthey shall call his name
(04:01):
Emmanuel.
And they shall call his nameEmmanuel, which means God with
us, amen, amen.
Hey, if we haven't met, my nameis Jay and we're so excited
that we have this opportunity toworship together the Lord at
the Christmas time.
You know, here at Cornerstone wevery much see ourselves as
people in need of a savior.
None of us is perfect we're thefirst to tell you so but what
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we are is people that areintentionally on a journey
following after Jesus.
We're embracing what he wantsto do in our life and the work
of God and our character,because we want to be more like
Jesus, and that's why we do thiscollectively to love God and
make disciples and reach theworld.
We wanna be intentional in ourgrowth as a disciple ourselves.
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That's why we connect and wegrow and reach the world.
We wanna be intentional in ourgrowth as a disciple ourselves.
That's why we connect and wegrow and we serve.
It's who we are as thecommunity, the body of Christ.
When we talk about church,we're talking about its people,
not a building or a location,and so where the church of God
is is where the world isembracing and getting to
experience the love of Christworking through us.
So be more like Jesus whereveryou go.
(05:07):
Amen.
Now, in this season, we'retalking about what it means to
discover the focus of Christmasand discover the meaning of
Christmas and the message ofChristmas, and we see the
miracle of Christmas in Christ.
Today we're talking about theidea of discovering the magi of
Christmas, taking a look at whatit means to be those of wisdom
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who are seeking God.
We pick up here.
I'm going to encourage you toopen your Bible, your tablet,
your phone to Matthew 2.
Look at verse 11 here, startingout, it says and going into the
house, they saw the child withMary, his mother, and they fell
down and worshiped him.
Then, opening their treasures,they offered him gifts of gold
(05:50):
and frankincense and myrrh.
Let's pray, lord.
We thank you so much for yourword.
We thank you, lord, for prayingover it.
Lord, by your spirit, lord,making it alive, that it would
be transformative in us andRamah God, we ask Lord for your
spirit and your power in ourlives.
Use this word to challenge us.
We pray in Jesus' name, amen.
(06:12):
Now, as we're talking about themagi, it's directly correlated
to gifts.
And as we talk about gifts, weknow, as we start getting to a
certain age, it's really notabout just what you get.
It's very much about what youare giving to others, and that's
what actually starts to changein your life is.
It's not about what you'regetting, it's about what you're
giving.
And I think there's a piecewhere you're excited about
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getting something.
I mean, you know beyond socks,you know what I mean Like
something good.
But there's a piece of itthat's really not about that at
all.
It's really about yourintentionality to give to
another person.
And I'll say this it doesn'tmatter the size of the gift you
get.
I think whenever someone givesyou something, it means that
they were thinking about you andit means they had
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intentionality towards it.
Think about, whenever someonewraps a present, they're doing
so with this intentionality.
They're doing something andpreparing it for you to give it
to you.
And even if it's just a simplething, or even a gift card, how
do you say praise the Lord forgift cards?
Praise the Lord, though?
Gift cards cannot be turnedinto tamales.
So this is a problem.
You see the problem.
You need both.
(07:16):
Anyway, you get the idea, butthe thing is like whenever
you're giving a gift, even inits small nature, it's
intentional, it's showing I careabout you, it means I value you
, I was thinking of you, and soin doing so, that's the heart
that we have, because that'swhat Christ was doing for us is
that he was coming to us as thegift for all people.
(07:37):
He was the gift for you, he wascoming for you, and so, in the
same way that's the gifts thatwe give is the same heart is
that we give those the way thatChrist gave.
We give because we love, wegive because we care, we give
because we want to show othersthat they have value, just the
way that God came into thisworld to show you that you have
(07:59):
value, amen.
When we look at the magi, westart to pick up with these
characters in the Bible that area little bit.
There's a concept, thisquestion around who they are,
and so we pick up here,understanding where their story
begins.
It's in Matthew 2, verse 1 and2.
It says now, after Jesus wasborn in Bethlehem of Judea, in
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the days of Herod the king,behold wise men from the east
came to Jerusalem saying whereis he who has been born king of
the Jews?
For we saw his star when itrose and have come to worship
him.
And that's what we mean by themagi is.
It goes back to this scripture,it's concept of the people who
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had wisdom of old, and so theytalked about those people being
magi or magicians and lookinginto the spiritual things or the
ancient things.
They looked about the thingsthat they were forecasting, or
the prophecy of God becomingfulfilled, and so the magi were
very much that.
They were someone of notoriety,of wisdom, of understanding,
and not just of their ownculture and their own ability to
(09:04):
read and write, but of othercultures.
They were able to look atHebrew scripture and to look
into it to see hey, this is theprophecy that was going to be
fulfilled.
So we talk about magi, that'swhat we're talking about.
And very likely these peoplewere also someone of wealth,
because they had to have theability to give the gifts they
gave and to make the travelsthat they did in their day.
(09:26):
So most likely, they also wereconsidered those who ruled over
others, having that ability.
So they were likely kings orpeople who ruled in that way,
someone important in a greatcourt perhaps.
But they come from these otherplaces and there's pieces of
mystery around them.
But all of them came withintentionality, with the worship
of God, and you think aboutthat, because as they come, they
(09:49):
come with this thought processof hey, we're gonna show up
where he leads us to go.
And so they were looking withintent towards what God was
leading them to do.
When we think about the star,that's exactly what the star is.
The star is God's direction forthem.
So they were think about thestar.
That's exactly what the star is.
The star is God's direction forthem.
So they were looking for thestar to arise because it was
(10:10):
sparked in their heart that thisis the very important thing
that should be coming aboutright now.
Let's go and worship the comingking and think about that in
our own lives.
That, as God is directing youand guiding you, as you're
seeking him first before youmake the big decision on where
to go and what step to take, asyou are the one who's seeking
(10:32):
him first, that we're goingafter him with intentionality
and following God with our heartand with our lives and with our
effort.
So we pick up here in this storyand it says that you know, they
start, they go to where theplace they think it's going to
be.
So they see the star hasappeared and they're like let's
go and follow the star.
Let's go to Jerusalem.
(10:52):
That's where the king should beborn.
Problem Herod did not have ababy and so he has no new baby,
no new heir.
That's come.
And they're like hey, we'rehere to celebrate the new king.
The star is in the sky.
And he's like I'm sorry, what'sgoing on?
They're like we're here.
You know the star, the one fromscripture, the one you guys
(11:13):
weren't paying attention to,it's in the sky.
We're here to worship.
And he was perplexed.
You know they go and theyscramble, they're like, oh,
where's it supposed to be?
And they find out what's goingto happen.
He's like listen, if you guysfind the baby, let me know about
it, because I want to goworship him too.
Slash, kill him and everybodyaround him so I can continue to
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be powerful.
So they go and they go toworship Jesus and it says that
the star directed them in whereto go and they had this spark of
joy when they saw it.
When they saw the star, theyrejoiced exceedingly, with great
joy.
And of course, they're knownfor what they give to Jesus.
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They give these gifts.
It means that it cost themsomething to worship as they
came, and they didn't come toworship empty handed.
You know, I think about thisoften is that question of what
would you give Jesus.
If you were going to give himsomething, what would you give
him?
What would be worthy to givehim as a present?
(12:17):
Do you think like it'd be, likeyour house keys, your car keys?
You think that'd be enough.
But I wonder what it would beif it would be like, you know,
draining your 401k or some otherkind of thing, or what would be
enough to be a gift for theliving God.
And I think this, friends,while all those things are good
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and all those things are greatintentionality, I think this,
friends, while all those thingsare good and all those things
are great intentionality, Ithink the thing he really wants
the most is not any of thosethings.
What he wants is your heart.
What he wants is your life.
What he wants is anintentionality and a
relationship with you.
That's the reason he came.
So, as we look at that settingof them coming with these gifts,
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they're coming to worship, sothey have a heart to worship the
living God, and you could seewhat it might be like for them
to come and to start explainingwhy they're there.
Could you imagine, if you'rethere and you're Joseph and Mary
, you have the newborn, the onethat all the angel prophesied
about, and the heavens opened upand declared his glory, and
(13:19):
these shepherds came out andthey're like hey, the angels
told us to come and to celebratewith you, and now you're kind
of got settled a little bit.
And then these rich, wealthy,wise guys out of the East show
up and you're like oh, what isgoing on?
I would have put on a betteroutfit.
You know what I mean.
I mean you think about it likeyou know, their lineage the
lineage that you see that comesdown was of David, but the power
(13:42):
had been taken from them.
There were no longer kings inthat line.
It had been given to Herod bythe Romans, and so, though they
were in that lineage, theyweren't people of great means.
And so these people of greatwealth and these people of high
status, these people with likelynot just three of them, but
most likely a caravan of peopleeach they arrive and they're
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there to worship.
You had to imagine what theirhearts were like in accepting
these gifts and as they eachbent down to present what that
would have been like.
Scripture says it like this and, going into the house, they saw
the child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and
worshiped him.
Then, opening their treasures,they offered him gifts gold and
(14:27):
frankincense and myrrh, and soyou could see that they didn't
come empty-handed, they camewith worship.
Of course, you wouldn't come toa king empty-handed.
So they come with these giftsand intentional saying listen,
this is my worship, it costs mesomething, it costs me the
effort to come, but also from myheart, that I want to give this
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to you.
And so they give him somethingthat should be given to a king.
They give him gold, and itrepresents exactly what you
think.
It's that it's one king givinganother king gold.
So they hold Jesus, as theysaid as they came to worship the
new king, the one that's arised.
They're giving him this presentthat costs them a great amount.
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It's something that befits aking, so it talks about who
Jesus is as our king, the kingof kings, the Lord of lords, the
king forever in glory, and sohe gets this present.
They didn't know that it was anecessary present.
They didn't know that Herodwould try to kill Jesus, and so
they needed to flee to Egypt,and this very gold that they
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just got would help them makethe way to Egypt and stay there.
And so they didn't understandthat all these things were there
.
But guess who did?
God knew, and he made a way forJesus.
He was the one that sparkstheir hearts so that they come a
long distance off.
So they follow the star andthey come to worship him in the
way he should be worshiped.
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The second gift of frankincenseis one of significance because
it's what we see in use by thosewho are of the priesthood.
It's those who made thisdeclaration before God and they
offered it as one of thoseofferings before the Lord.
You'd see it in the tabernacleand in the temple and they would
make incense before God, asweet selling aroma, this
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anointing piece that they woulduse.
And so often, even as we see itin the New Testament, there's
this representation of theanointing of God being used by
his followers, saying theanointing of God is upon you and
that's what you would use thisfor.
And so in that time, whatthey're doing is they're coming
and saying that we hold you notjust as a king, but we hold you
(16:34):
as God's holy one, therepresentation for us all, as
the high priest of God on high.
The anointing of God is upon youand, friends, here's the thing
the same way that it's the costthat costs us in the great kind
of gift that we would give tothe Lord, the same way that we
have that anointing that comesfrom God, that's the same
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anointing he wants you toexperience as well.
And the same way that we givehim something that's of great
value, that's our heart, thatit's our life, the same way that
we give him also all of ourobedience and that we be used by
God in the anointing of God forhis glory.
What happens if we ask more ofthe Holy Spirit in our lives and
(17:18):
we step out in faith andbelieve the prayer of faith and
see the miracle happen?
What if we experience the HolySpirit's empowerment on us and
we have a word of encouragementfor our coworker or for our
family member?
What happens if we, by theSpirit of God, have knowledge
and start praying for someone tohave wisdom in their
decision-making process and sayGod, open the doors for them?
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See, all these things arepossible and more, made first by
the high priest, jesus Christ,who opens these up for all of us
.
They first come and theyworship him as the high priest.
The last gift is that of myrrh,and myrrh was one that's used
very much like frankincense, butalso in preparation for burial,
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and it was used to prepare forburial so very much.
Myrrh is a gift for the Messiah, because the purpose of the
Messiah is for the Messiah tocome and to make everything
correct Very much, as Jesus'sarrival signifies.
His real meaning for us wasthat the end of the manger is
the cross, and so the road forthe Messiah is to take the place
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for all of us, and so this giftactually signifies his very
purpose on earth as the kingthat God puts in place for all
of us forever, as the priest,the high priest, on making
prayers on behalf of us, forever, as the very Messiah, the
chosen one, god, the son of man,the one who was sent for us,
(18:50):
the only way to relationshipwith the father, and so, because
of it, christ, he himself takeson all of our sin and lives
that sinless life, and he goesto his death not for his
mistakes but for ours.
So as we start to embrace himand we start to discover what
God has for us, then it's aboutthose attributes that we would
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be those who, with our hearts,give him the best in all that we
have, which is our life, thatwe, as we go and we present to
him, we ask for his empowermentto live the things he asks us to
do, and that we, like him,would take up our cross daily
and follow Jesus, so that, ashim is king, that we would, too,
(19:36):
worship him with our hearts andwith all that we have, the most
valuable thing we have, that wetoo would ask for the anointing
from God, as he's the one whoanoints and that we too, would
be those that say Lord, today Iask for your daily bread, that I
would follow you.
Your kingdom come, your will bedone in me.
Friends, it's my challenge toyou, my challenge to us, that we
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would discover what God has forus in this season, that you
would press deeply into him, notjust for yourselves, not just
for your family, but for whatGod wants to do in and through
your life, in a greater levelthan what you even have for
yourself.
That the Lord can use you tobring the peace, the
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encouragement, even the joy ofthe Lord in the message of the
gospel, to other people aroundyou, in a world that so
desperately needs the light ofthe gospel.
Friends, as we discover theMagi of Christmas, we do so in
echoing their worship of theLord that we would discover all
he has for us.
The challenge for each one ofus today is to answer that
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question have you embraced Jesus?
See, no one can answer thatquestion for you.
It's your question to answeralone, and maybe you're here
today and you never asked Jesusinto your heart and life.
Friends, I challenge you thattoday would be the day you make
a commitment to follow Jesus.
For us, the symbol of the crossis one of freedom and
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forgiveness, because the crosssymbolizes where Jesus, where he
took all of our pain, where hetook all of our mistakes.
He took all of our brokennessand he paid for it upon the
cross once and for all.
And so for us, the cross meansfreedom, because it means that
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Jesus, he loved me so much thathe gave his life for me there.
He loved you so much that hegave his life for you there too.
The Apostle Paul, he writes itlike this to the church at Rome,
challenging us to place ourfaith and trust in Jesus,
because if you confess with yourmouth that Jesus is Lord and
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believe in your heart that Godraised him from the dead, you
will be saved.
For with the heart one believesand is justified.
With the mouth one confessesand is saved.
Friends, today is your day.
It's your day to invite Jesusinto your heart and life, to say
Jesus, I believe you are whoyou say you are and, lord, I ask
(22:13):
you to forgive me.
I want you to be the Lord of mylife.
I want to start a new life withyou.
I'm going to ask everyone inthe room if you'd stand right
where you're at, just bow yourhead.
If you're online, prepare yourheart for what God wants to do.
(22:34):
Friends, if that's you, youwanna make a decision to follow
Jesus.
You're ready to make thatcommitment to him and you never
made that decision ever before.
Today's your opportunity.
Or maybe you're here and youhave made the decision in the
past, but you haven't beencommitted to living it.
But today you make a decisionto recommitting your heart and
(22:57):
life to Christ as heads arebowed here in the room.
If that's you and you want tomake a decision to follow Jesus
today, if you just raise yourhand right where you're at, say,
pastor, remember me in thatprayer that I would make a
decision to follow Jesus today.
Thank you Lord, thank you Lord.
Thank you Lord, as people aremaking decisions for Christ
online as well.
Thank you Jesus.
Thank you Lord.
(23:19):
Friends, I'm gonna ask you ifeveryone would just repeat this
prayer after me Lord, thank youfor loving me.
Thank you for sending Jesus.
I believe Jesus died on thecross for my sins.
I believe he rose again.
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Forgive me of my sins.
I surrender my life to you.
In Christ's name, I pray Amen,amen.
Friends, we rejoice in youmaking a decision to follow
Jesus today.
Praise the Lord.
If that was you, we encourageyou to connect with us back by
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the prayer banners or even atthe cafe.
We want to put some materialsinto your hands so you can be
successful living this lifeafter Christ.
If you're online, message us.
We'll be able to connect withyou so that you don't live this
life alone.
Friends, before we go, we wantto come to this opportunity of
worshiping the Lord and comingto this altar.
We do so with thatintentionality that we just were
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challenged with from the Magi,that we give our very best,
which is our heart, our life, toGod.
That we do so asking for hisimpartation of the Holy Spirit,
anointing to live for him and todo the things he's called us to
do in obedience.
And the third thing is that wewould daily make the decision to
pick up our cross and followhim.
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Lord, we thank you so much foryour word.
We thank you, lord, for thechallenge that you bring to us
today through your scripture,lord.
I thank you, lord, for thesemagi, lord, that were seeking to
know where you were leadingthem.
Lord, they were seeking firstwhere you were to guide them,
and so, lord, in the same way,impart to us your direction and
your wisdom.
Lord, we lack wisdom.
We ask for your wisdom and,lord, that you would guide and
(25:06):
open doors in front of us thatwe need to go through.
Lord, at the same time, we prayyou would close doors that need
to be closed and, lord, I praythat you would break off the
chains of addiction and otherbad perspectives from the past.
Lord, we would no longer walkin those things but instead be
free.
In the name of Jesus Christ.
Lord, we ask for an anointing,an impartation of your spirit,
(25:29):
lord, to live obedient to whatyou've called us to do, lord,
that we would say yes to whereyou're guiding us to go, lord,
and that you would use us as amouthpiece of your love to other
people.
Lord, at the same time, we ask,lord, that you would help us,
lord, to deny ourselves.
It is our prayer your kingdomcome, your will be done in us.
(25:49):
Lord, as we come to this altar,we do so with our hearts
towards you.
We do so asking, lord, for yourimpartation in our lives.
Lord, we're asking for ablessing in our family's life,
asking, lord, for a blessing inour community that you've placed
us in.
As we come to this altar, we doso with a heart after you.
We pray this in the name ofJesus Christ Amen.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
Well, we are so glad you joined us today.
I want to let you know thatthis week of Christmas we have
some special services takingplace.
Tomorrow night and Tuesdaynight.
It's going to start at sixo'clock.
It's the same service twonights in a row.
We'd love for you to join us.
It's a candlelight service.
It's very special.
It's one of my most favoritetimes of the year.
So come, plan a night that youcan join us, and we are going to
(26:30):
lift up the name of Jesus andjust go into Christmas full of
joy.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
Amen Before you go as well.
We also have some cookies andsome hot chocolate for you out
in the courtyard, so that'ssomething to celebrate together,
and Celeste prayed over it, soit has no calories.
So praise God Before we go.
I want to pray this blessingover us today the Lord bless you
(26:55):
and keep you.
Lord, make His face to shineupon you and be gracious to you.
Lord, lift up his countenanceupon you and give you peace.
Lord, I pray a blessing uponyour church, your people.
You would empower us by yourspirit to live your love out to
those around us.
(27:15):
We pray this in the powerfulname that is Jesus Christ.
Amen, amen.
Know this.
We love you very much here atCornerstone.
God bless you and MerryChristmas.
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