Savior

Amen. What a great time of being able to sing and lift our voices into worship Jesus. And by the way, this time is no different as we turn our attention to the Word, and as we continue in worship, to be able to lean into the truth of Jesus, to exalt him, to lift him high. My name is Edwin, if we've never met before. I serve as the Lockport campus pastor. And I'm just, I'm grateful to be able to be here today, grateful to be with you all, and excited for what God is gonna say through his Word to each of our hearts today. You know, just recently thinking about birth announcements and how birth announcements can be a very exciting time and a very exciting thing. In fact, just recently came across an article, as I was recently looking this up, and the article was titled "41 Instagram Birth Announcement Ideas". I mean, I was like, all right, well, I'll take a look at that, especially in light of what I'm talking about. And so I'm gonna read to you all 41 of these. I'm not. That would be too much. But just even thinking, I will read a few of some of these. And the idea is, is that you would post maybe on Instagram or whatnot a photo of your newborn baby, and then caption that photo with maybe one of these phrases. "There's a new baby in town." "Our home has grown by two feet." "Look who decided to show up." That kid might need counseling, I don't know. That's an interesting one. "It's time for dirty diapers, sleepless nights, and endless love." And I would be remiss to not share this, but my wife and I, we actually welcomed our first child back in January, a baby girl. And so she's almost one. And just even thinking about birth announcements and whatnot, I thought I would show what we did. We didn't use any of those phrases, by the way, but we did post this photo. There she is. And we said, "It's a girl, Penelope Jane Perez, mommy and daddy love you so much already." And we could just keep her up here. We're gonna keep her up here the whole time. So just makes everyone happy and good. And that's great, right? So, I'm kidding. There she is. But it's awesome to be able to think of some of those things and just the idea of celebrating the birth of a new baby, it really does bring a level of excitement and it brings a level of just newness and, you know, change and whatnot. And I bring this up because hopefully you can already begin connecting this to Luke chapter two and the birth announcement. And that's where we're going to be because I'm going to talk about today an announcement that brought newness in such a way that I can't even begin to describe. This announcement changed everything. And this announcement, by the way, has further given us insight into this reality. Heaven has come to Earth because a Savior has been born to us. We're gonna get there, but I'm gonna set some context in Luke chapter two before we get to the announcement in particular. So beginning in verse one, "In those days, Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone went to their own town to register so Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem, the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. And while they were there, the time came for the baby to be born. And she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger because there was no guest room available for them." Now when we get to Luke chapter two, this is a really familiar passage of scripture, if you're familiar with it, or if not, that's okay, I am glad that we're able to talk about this, but many are. And we just think about maybe how this has been associated with tradition, right? And maybe the Christmas story, and maybe even sometimes it can get sentimentalized a little bit. And maybe we lose kind of the impact of what Luke is trying to communicate to us, the impact of what is happening here. And here's what we have to realize. Luke, the Gospel writer, he's presenting a Savior to us. And this would help us really understand this, because even in this, what we can really find, if you were to look maybe in verse one, okay, Luke one of chapter two, it says, in those days, who? Caesar Augustus. Now, Caesar Augustus, brief history lesson here for you, okay? I'll be brief, I promise. For those of you guys that like history, this is for you. So Caesar Augustus, also known as Octavian, he was the grand nephew of Julius Caesar. But even moreso, he was adopted into Julius Caesar's will, which would make him kind of the heir to the throne. And even being the heir to the throne, you know, thinking about some of this, we just have to realize that even after great military conquest, he was granted the title Augustus. And you know what Augustus might mean? Majestic and holy. And he was ascribed, and he was given this title as a Roman God, as he would really kind of shift the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire. And in this Roman Empire, he would really kind of rule and kinda shift the power to himself. And in so doing, he kind of initiated this idea of Pax Romana, which simply would mean Roman peace. And so I just wanted to read this historical inscription for us that can hopefully be helpful as we look at this. It says, "Augustus is the father of his divine homeland, Rome, inherited from his father Zeus, and a Savior of the common folk. His foresight not only fulfilled the entreaties of all people, but surpassed them, making peace for land and sea, while cities bloom with order, harmony, and good seasons. The productivity of all things is good and at its prime. There are fond hopes for the future and goodwill during the present, which fills all men so that they ought to bear pleasing sacrifices and hymns." Now, isn't it interesting that as we look at this, that in Luke, we find even at this historical inscription, that Caesar Augustus, also known as Octavian, kind of the chief heir to the throne, eventually became the Roman ruler over the Roman Empire, it was viewed that he was to bring this kind of peace within the land, and it was viewed that way. He was the Savior, he was viewed as a Savior. He was almost this, he was viewed as this divine person. And it's in his reign and even into this perspective that Luke addresses here, that we can see that, okay, we have Caesar Gustus, in those days thought of as divine, thought of as the one who would bring goodwill, peace on earth. And, you know, even described as someone who might be even worthy of worship, kind of this deity emperor. Yet it's into this context that Luke introduces a different Savior. And that's something that even as we continue to look at in Luke chapter two, would be important for us to pay attention to. So as we look at Luke two, we find right out of the gate that Caesar Augustus, he issues this decree, and this decree would be for taxation purposes, and it would be for people to be able to go to their hometown to be taxed. And so Mary and Joseph, they leave Nazareth and they go to a place called Bethlehem, which is the town of David. And it's there in Bethlehem, as prophesied in the Old Testament, where Mary would give birth to her firstborn, to a son, to a child, and place the baby in a manger. And now we're gonna get to this announcement here, as we can see, "And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, they were terrified. But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you. He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you, you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.'" So we get to this infamous birth announcement. And isn't it interesting, by the way, that as we've learned a little bit about Caesar Augustus, and it's interesting, but that by the time we look at verse one, we find royalty, but then by the time we get to verse eight, we find shepherds. And shepherds, by the way, I just gotta tell you something, they have quite the job. I recently looked up maybe what are some of the most popular jobs, if you will, in 2023. And I gotta tell you, shepherds did not make the list. Just so you were aware of that. And we all laugh at that because we kinda, we realize that the job of a shepherd might not be super desirable for many. But also, I was recently involved in student ministry and was kinda a student pastor for a while. And in this, just thinking about former students, I can tell you this, that there were not any former students that I had or was, you know, hoping to minister to that wanted to be a shepherd when they graduated high school. So just as a heads up, not a really desirable job. But in the ancient world, shepherds were outcasts. Shepherds were outcasts in society, were viewed as unclean. And they were viewed as dishonest, as they might maybe rob, maybe travelers coming to and fro. And they would maybe not even be viewed as credible witnesses in court because they would be gone from their families or just even isolated, really, from the community for long periods of time. And so when we look at shepherds, this was a despised occupation, very lowly job. And yet the glory of God appeared to them. Just think about that for a second. The glory of God appeared to outcasts. The glory of God appeared to those who were viewed as such lowly members in the society. And you can imagine just maybe being out at work one night, and as they're out at work one night, just, you know, maybe chasing their sheep, I guess, I'm not a shepherd, so I can't tell you exactly, but that's kind of the job, right? You watch after your sheep and whatnot. And I can just imagine maybe Bob and Larry, the sheep are running, I gotta go with "Veggie Tales" names. When in doubt, just go with "Veggie Tales" names, you know? So they're running off maybe, and then all of a sudden they're having an ordinary night's work, and then boom, the glory of God appearing to shepherds, appearing to them. And their response, they were terrified. Older translations might translate it this way, "sore afraid." They were so afraid that it hurt. Have you ever been like, have you ever been there before? By the way, if I ever get to like, the edge of a cliff, heights just doesn't do it for me. I mean, if I'm harnessed, I'm okay. If I'm not, you know, forget it. But if I'm over kind of over the edge of a cliff and just looking over, and I'll quickly come to that sore afraid feeling. You know, and maybe you have other fears or whatnot, but it's something that we can view here, that the shepherds were terrified, they were sore afraid. Yet what does the angel do? The angel, he announces and proclaims that there is a Savior who has been born, a Savior has been born. And what does the angel talk about? He talks about this glorious announcement for the shepherds to hear that night, this glorious announcement. And by the way, it is a glorious announcement for you and me today. The glorious announcement of a Savior, that a Savior has been born. And if I could pull out maybe a truth that can help us understand this, it's this, Jesus is our true Savior. You see, Jesus, he is our true Savior. And so what can we learn about our Savior? Because don't you want to just press into the kind of Savior that we have? Don't you wanna just continue to lean into the truth of the Savior that we have together in Jesus Christ? And so that's what we're gonna do. And so what we're gonna do to be able to learn this together is look no further than the birth announcement. Look no further than the birth announcement, because it's there that we're gonna find some beautiful truths that I believe can really help us here today and really give life to our hearts and life to our souls as we look at this. So here's the first truth that we can see, our Savior stills fear with his peace. You see, that's the first truth, our Savior stills fear with his peace. You see, as we read, the shepherds were terrified. And rightfully so. Because even as I recall all throughout the scripture, as we look at people encountering the glory of God, and even as we uncover that and find that and we see examples of that, what do we find from people encountering the presence and the glory of God? Their response is absolute fear. Absolute fear. However, surrounding the announcement of a Savior, what does the angel tell the shepherds here? What does the angel say? Listen to it in verse 10. "But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid.'" Do not be afraid. You see, the shepherds were terrified over the presence of God. Because think about it, think about it just for a second. Just for a second, think about it. They were face to face with absolute holiness. They were face to face with absolute perfection. They were face to face with absolute radiance. And the weight of that terrified these shepherds. And by the way, it would terrify you and I as well. Yet the angel said to them that they don't have to stay in fear. Why? 'Cause the Savior has been born. And do you know how we would know the Savior, the Prince of Peace? See, because listen to Luke chapter two a little bit later. Here's what we find. "Suddenly a great company of the heavenly hosts appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest heaven and on Earth, peace to those on whom his favor rests.'" You see, it's so remarkable to think about the announcement that we don't have to be afraid any longer to approach God because we have a Savior who has been born, Jesus Christ. He came, he lived, he died. He lived a sinless life and ultimately allowed us to be brought back to the Father. We have a reverential fear for sure, in terms of just, we fear the Lord because it's the beginning of wisdom and we recognize that. But we don't have to be afraid to approach him. Because the Savior that we have stills our fear and he takes away our sin. So that, listen, we can approach God, ladies and gentlemen, we can approach God with freedom and confidence. Listen to what Paul wrote in Ephesians chapter three. "In Him, Jesus, through faith in Jesus, we may approach God with freedom and confidence." Isn't it a beautiful thing, church, to know that the Prince of Peace has come to still our fear? Isn't it a beautiful thing that you and I can now approach God and not have to live in fear, but we can approach him with freedom and confidence? We fear the Lord, but we don't have to be afraid of him. We don't have to be afraid of approaching him. We don't have to be afraid of coming to our Father with our need because we have access to the most holy place through what Jesus has done through his shed blood on the cross and rising again so that we can now come to the God of peace. And do you know what the God of peace gives us? His peace! He stills our fear with his peace. In fact, listen to what Jesus said. "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." So maybe there are things that you are afraid of this Christmas season. Maybe you're here and you've brought in some things in your heart right now that you're afraid of this Christmas season. Hear the same words that the shepherds did, church. Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. Maybe this Christmas season is going to be going to be a bit quieter than normal. Do not be afraid. Perhaps God is calling you to step out in faith and share your faith. Do not be afraid. Maybe God is calling you to be obedient in a certain area of your life. You don't have to be afraid. That maybe you're stuck in sin and shame and you're experiencing the fear of maybe what it looks like to confess. Don't be afraid. God meets you in repentance. Or maybe you're just afraid to approach God and be afraid of what he'll think of you. Here's, if you're in Christ, you're his. If you're in Christ, you belong to God. You're a child of God. So that based upon what he has done in giving us his spirit, we have a spirit and therefore we have His spirit in us and therefore, we don't have to live enslaved to fear any longer because the spirit that we received has brought about our adoption so that we can cry out and call out, Abba, Father. You see what glorious news this is, as the angel says to the shepherds, do not be afraid. And church, this is something we should take heart together today, that we don't have to be afraid to approach God. And that's something that Jesus has done for us, so that we can know him as our Father and be like him and changed by him. But also we learn that our Savior brings good news. Our Savior brings good news. Listen to Luke chapter two, verse 10. It says, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news." Again, breaking down this announcement for us. But who doesn't love good news? I mean, who doesn't love good news? Simply because we all know the feeling when someone says, hey, I gotta talk to you for a second, and doesn't say anything else, right? You're just like, ah, okay, great. What did I do, right? And you're just reeling, maybe your mind's just reeling and thinking about all those things. But isn't it such a relief when someone says, hey, I gotta talk to you, but don't worry, it's good news. What a difference. And in this announcement, we see that our Savior, he brings good news. And this phrase good news in our text, it's where we get the term gospel. And based on our context that we've set up so far to this point, you and I can recognize how significant this term is that Luke used. Because what this is essentially saying to us is that Caesar Augustus, he's not the good news that the then-known world is hoping for. He was not the good news that they were hoping for. But in fact, there is a different Savior who has brought good news, who is the good news, who is the gospel. And he would bring peace on earth. He would bring goodwill toward men. He is worthy of our worship. Caesar is not. So what the angel announces here and saying that there's good news, it's essentially saying that Jesus, he is the Savior. Caesar is not. And while that has great cultural implications and even great cultural implications here within this context in Luke two, there's also something that we should pay attention to as well. Because the writer Isaiah, when we look at his writings, he actually talked about the idea of how the coming of God would be associated with good news. Listen to it. "You who bring good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout. Lift it up. Do not be afraid. Say to the towns of Judah, here is your God!" So this idea of the coming of God and good news would be paired together as we saw here in Isaiah's writings even hundreds of years before. And we see in Luke 2, this idea of good news and the coming of God. And within its culture here, an announcement that Jesus is Savior, Caesar is not. And then it is a proclamation to the shepherds, and it's a truth that the shepherds would receive even back then. But it's also a truth that you and I should receive today. Because when we think of the good news, when we think of this glorious announcement, when we think of the gospel, it's an announcement that there is hope and peace and reconciliation to God through Jesus. Peace on earth. This is what our Savior does, this is what he brings, and it's something that should cause our hearts to continue to be reminded of the truth of our Savior. And we see in Luke 2 this idea of good news and the coming of God. And within its culture here, an announcement that Jesus is Savior, Caesar is not. And then it is a proclamation to the shepherds. And it's a truth that the shepherds would receive even back then. But it's also a truth that you and I should receive today. Because when we think of the good news, when we think of this glorious announcement, when we think of the gospel, it's an announcement that there is hope and peace and reconciliation to God through Jesus. Peace on earth, this is what our Savior does, this is what he brings. And it's something that should cause our hearts to continue to be reminded of the truth of our Savior, that our Savior brings good news, but also our Savior causes great joy. See, our Savior causes great joy. As we continue to read in Luke chapter two in verse 10, it says, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people." Great joy. Here's the truth of what the scripture teaches. There is eternal joy in the Lord. There is eternal joy in the Lord. This is why, by the way, the shepherds did not have to fear. The shepherds didn't have to fear because there's good news, great joy, do not be afraid. And there's great joy that we can find in the Lord. And these shepherds did not have to fear because there was great joy available in this Savior, in this announcement. And these lowly shepherds, despite the outcasts that they were, can know the joy of meeting the Savior. They can know the joy of meeting the Savior. You see, our Savior causes great joy. Sometimes we just need to be reminded of that, that our Savior causes great joy. And within the context of even Jesus talking and sharing with his disciples, about abiding in him as divine, I just want you to listen to what Jesus said in John chapter 15. "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." You see, it's the joy of the Lord that is our strength. It's the joy of the Lord that is in you and I. Because it's the Savior, Jesus, who shares his joy with us as we abide in him so that our joy would be complete. But maybe as you reflect on this year, this Christmas season, maybe you might be feeling the opposite of great joy. Maybe in fact you're not feeling great joy at all, but maybe you're feeling great sorrow. Maybe your circumstances have you in such a spot where you're feeling great sorrow or you're wrestling with the Lord over a particular issue or a particular circumstance. Listen, that's okay. But something we should pay attention to is that the presence of hardship does not have to mean the absence of joy. Why? Because in the presence of hardship, we have the presence of God. And do you know it's in his presence that there is fullness of joy? And so this is something that even today, that joy is available to our hearts because it's his joy in us. It's the God that we serve. It's his life in us. And this is something in this announcement, the angel telling the shepherds, "Don't be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy." This joy is possible because the Savior shares his with us. And that's something that brings great news today for all of us, and something that we can hopefully wrap our minds and hearts around. But I would also tell us that our Savior is both Messiah and Lord. You see, our Savior is both Messiah and Lord. If you just listen to the latter part of verse 11, it says, "He is the Messiah, the Lord." You see, our Savior, he is the long awaited Messiah, the promised Messiah, which means, here's what that means. He's the anointed one. He's the anointed one. And in the Greek language, when you translate that, Messiah, it means Christ. It's where we get our term Christ. He is Messiah. He is the Christ. He has been the long awaited king that would come in the line of David, who would fulfill all of what Israel was destined to be, all of what Israel was hoping for, all of what Israel was longing for, the Messiah has now come and this announcement to the shepherds, to outcasts, to lowly members in the society are now recognizing and hearing about this Messiah has come, the promised Messiah has come, this Savior, this king, the one who has come in the line of David, this fulfillment of what we've heard even throughout the scripture, has now come in the Savior. But it also says he's not only Messiah, Christ, he's also the Lord. He's the Lord. He's the master. He's the owner. He rules. He reigns. All authority on heaven and on earth has been put under him, has been given to him. Why? Because we have to remember that this is God who has been born to us. This is God who has left heaven, God the Son coming to us, putting on flesh, coming to us in the person of Jesus. See, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And then even as we look at John chapter one, even in verse 14, the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. It is God who has been born to us. This is God himself, leaving glory to be born in a manger. He's the image of the invisible God. He's the firstborn over all of creation. He's the King of Kings, and he's the Lord of Lords. He's the Great I Am. And he's the one who reveals the Father to us. He's the alpha and he's the omega. He's the beginning and he's the end. He's reigns on David's throne and over his kingdom. And the government has been put on his shoulders as he rules over an everlasting kingdom. This is because Jesus, our Savior, the Messiah, the Lord God himself, has come to us to rescue people, to save us, and to bring us back to himself. So this is our Savior. This is who we look to. So don't look to a political party to save you. Because what did we even unpack in the context with some of this in Luke two? That Caesar won't save you. That Caesar is not the Savior. No matter what the cultural climate is, no matter what Rome may think of Caesar Augustus, he's not the Savior. So don't look to the Caesar to save you. A politics won't save you. Governments won't save you. Presidents won't save you. Senators won't save you. Congress won't save you. But Jesus, who is the Messiah, the Lord? Yes, he does. And yes he will, forevermore, because this is the Savior we have. This is the Savior we have. He is Christ, he is the Messiah, he is the Lord. But also, I wanna tell us this, that our Savior has been born to us for our salvation. You see, our Savior has been born to us for our salvation. As we continue to just unpack this here in Luke chapter two, "Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you." This is the incredible hope of Christmas. Salvation is here for all people. This is for all, no matter race, no matter background, no matter what you've done. This announcement, this Savior Jesus. he is available for all who would put their trust in him. A Savior is here, the hope of Christmas is here, salvation has come. And this Savior would deliver people from their sins. Because even just think about what the gospel writer Matthew talked about regarding this Savior. He wrote, "She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus." Why? "Because he will save his people from their sins. You see, Jesus, Yeshua, the Lord saves, is his name. And what does he save us from? From the wreckage and damage and bondage of our sin. You see, sin has separated us from a holy God. We can never earn our way to God. It has left us broken, it has left us without hope, it has left us isolated from God, the God who has created us and the God who loves us. And into this, into this, what we have to realize is that our sin has led us only to bondage, that our sin has led us only to death. This is how destructive our sin is. There is no such thing, ladies and gentlemen, as a small sin because it only leads us down a path of darkness. It only separates us from the God who loves us. But into a dark, dark, seemingly hopeless, an ordinary, hopeless night maybe, for these shepherds, light appeared, hope appeared. The Savior has come. And thinking about the kindness and the mercy of Jesus, listen to what the apostle Paul wrote to Titus here. "At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God, our Savior appeared, he saved us not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy." You see, the news is so good because the news was so bad. The news was so bad. But thanks be to God that he saved us from our sin. We were drowning in the middle of our sin. But he put out a life raft to us and has carried us safely to shore. And we thank the Lord that he has saved us from the bondage and the death of our sin and has brought us, listen to this, we were saved from death, saved from our sin, saved to Jesus. Saved from death to life. Saved from our own selves being God to Jesus Christ, the only true living God. You see, we have to recognize that because we have been saved for a purpose, we are continuing to be saved by the life of what Jesus and who he is to us, by the power of His spirit. But as we are a people who are continuing to be saved in the likeness of Christ, being saved from our death, being saved from sin, and being saved to Jesus, do you know what we do now? We eagerly await our Savior's return. Listen to it. "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." We have been saved from death and saved to life. We have been saved from ourselves and saved to Jesus. We are, church, a people that has been saved by the kindness and mercy of our Savior. And one day our Savior will appear. And when we see him, the scripture says, we will be like him. What a Savior. What a deliverer. And maybe I could ask us, what should our response look like to this kind of Savior that we have? He's rescued us. He's coming again for us. He's the Savior of the world. He is our true Savior. There is no one like him. What does our response look like? The same as the shepherds. The same as the shepherds. Verse 15. "When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about. So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby who was lying in the manger. And when they had seen him," here it is, first response, "They spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child. And then all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. And these shepherds returned," second response, "Glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told." You see our response to this good news that causes great joy? We don't have to be afraid any longer. Savior has been born to us, the Messiah, the Lord. Spread the Word. Spread the Word of this glorious announcement. Maybe to your school, to your family, to your friends, to your neighbors, to your coworkers, to all people. And then also, we glorify, we praise God for who he is, for all that He will continue to do. Because He's worthy of our adoration. He's worthy of our worship. He's worthy of our praise. And meeting the Savior, it'll change your life. It changed these shepherds. It'll change you and cause our heart to worship when we meet him again and again and again, the Savior of the world, Jesus, who we can know by the power of His spirit. And as we continue to encounter him, it causes our hearts to worship. And may it cause us to engage in the work that he has called us to do and spreading the Word, this announcement to all people. You see, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all people. Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you. He is the Messiah, the Lord." And I pray that we would never get used to this birth announcement, or that this birth announcement would never lose its impact and excitement in our hearts. Let's bow together for a word of prayer. Your head bowed, your eyes closed, I would just encourage you in this moment to just spend some time with the Lord. What did God say to you today? And what does our response need to look like as a result? God is faithful to speak to us. God is faithful to speak to his people through His Word. Just how do we need to respond to that? If you're here, if you've never before given your life to Jesus, where you've turned from your sin, where you're done being the Savior of your own life, and you say, Jesus, I follow you. You are the true Savior. You are my hope. You are the one I give my life to. To repent. You were once heading one way, one direction, but you're gonna repent and you're gonna say, Jesus, I'm following you. I put my trust and my faith, my hope in you. You see, this is great news for you. Maybe you need to experience that and have your life changed today. Because Jesus, he lived a sinless life. He came to this world, taught about the kingdom of God. But ultimately, he came to his own, but his own did not receive him. And he was led to a cross. And he took upon himself, the wrath of my sin and your sin. And paying that penalty, he died a death that we deserved, but he didn't stay dead. He got up from the grave conquering sin, death, and hell. And today we eagerly await and long for his return. But if your need is to step into a relationship with him, to know him personally as your Lord and Savior, we would love to walk you through that. We would love to have a conversation with you. We'll have prayer partners up front here. And I would just encourage you to stop on by, come and say, I need Jesus. I need to give my life to Jesus today. We'd be glad to talk with you. We'd be glad to pray with you about that. If you need prayer, if you're walking through something that maybe you just need some people to pray with you, pray for you, come on front as well. We have folks that would be glad to pray with you and for you. But Father, I thank you for your Word and for how you speak to us and how you speak to our hearts. And Jesus, I pray that we wouldn't look to anyone else but you. Because you are the true Savior of the world. Caesar's not, you are. And when we realize that when we encounter you, you change us. You leave us with stories to tell, to spread the word, to worship, to glorify you. I pray that our hearts would never lose the impact Of this glorious birth announcement that the angel told the shepherds years ago. But how this is still transformational for our hearts and our lives, we just say thank you. Thank you for coming to us. Thank you for saving us. Thank you that you are the light that gives life to all mankind. You are the hope of Christmas. And God, we long for your return one day as we await our Savior's return. So Jesus, I pray that you would move in power in your people today, and God, that we would walk out of your change because we've met with you, we've encountered you, and we give you all the glory and all the praise, and all the honor that you are so worthy of. And we pray all these things in the matchless, powerful, and glorious name of our Savior, Jesus Christ. And all of God's people said, amen and amen.