Dec. 22, 2024

Christmas: 5 Killed 200 Injured

Christmas: 5 Killed 200 Injured

Germans mourn the 5 killed and 200 injured in the apparent attack on a Christmas market

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Germans mourn the 5 killed and 200 injured in the apparent attack on a Christmas market

WEBVTT

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

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the Theology Central podcast, making Theology Central. Chestnuts roasting on

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an open fire, Jack frost nipping at your nose, you'le tied,

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carols being sung by a choir, and folks dressed up

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like eskimos. Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe help

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to make the season bright. Tiny totts with their eyes

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aglow will find it hard to sleep tonight. They know

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that Santa's on his way. He's loaded lots of toys

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and goodies on his sleigh, and every mother's child is

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gonna spy to see if reindeer really know how to fly.

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And so I'm offering this simple phrase to kids from

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one to ninety two, although it's been said many times

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and in many ways, Merry Christmas to you. And so

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I'm offering this simple phrase to kids from one to

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ninety two, although it's been said many times in many ways,

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Merry Christmas to you. Now that's a very very popular song,

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and it really captures that feeling that people want to

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feel during the Christmas season. Right, something magical, something different,

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something warm, something joyful, something happy, something just something great

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that's what we all want. Some of us have. Some

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people have very good memories of wonderful Christmases in the past, right,

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Merry Christmas, and they loved it, and they remember others

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maybe not such good memories. But we all long for that, right,

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We all want that. We all want that, that feeling.

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We desire it. We maybe maybe we have very high expectations.

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But you can have those expectations, you can have that desire,

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you can want that. But sometimes instead of chestnuts roasting

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on an open fire and jack frost nipping at your

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nose and you'll toide carols being sung by a choir,

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sometimes instead of tiny tots with their eyes all aglow

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sometimes other sometimes rather than just turkey and mistletoe making

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everything wonder fall and bright, sometimes instead of those things,

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well you get this.

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Albania is to shut down TikTok for at least a year.

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This is the Global news podcast from the BBC World Service.

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I'm Bernadetchio and in the early hours of Sunday, the

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twenty second of December, these are our main stories. The

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German city of Magdeburg is in morning after a car

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was driven into a crowd at a Christmas market, killing five.

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We hear about the possible motives the suspected attacker may

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have had. Albania.

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Did you hear that? Did you hear that? Let me

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play that one more time in case you haven't been

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paying attention to the news. This is the most recent

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broadcast from BBC News. Listen again carefully.

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This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service.

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I'm Bernadette Kio and in the early hours of Sunday,

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the twenty second of December, these are our main stories.

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The German city of Magdeburg is in morning after a

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car was driven into a crowd at a Christmas market,

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killing five. We hear about the possible motives the suspected

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attacker may have had.

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There were people gathered at a Christmas market and tragedy struck.

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No chestnuts roasting on an open fire, no Yule Tide

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choir singing, no young kids with their eyes all wide

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open ready for their presence, no missiletoe, no wonderful time.

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Tragedy struck. And I want to talk briefly about the tragedy,

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but just talk about Christmas in German and hopefully, hopefully

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offer some thoughts that will give us something really serious

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to contemplate and think about during this time of year.

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But before we do that, let me just go ahead

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and welcome everyone. It is Saturday, December the twenty first,

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twenty twenty four. It is currently eight fifteen pm Central Time,

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and I'm coming to you live from the Theology Central

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Studio located right here in Abilene, Texas. Now, the broadcast

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you were just listening to is Sunday, obviously where the

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BBC is located, but here in Texas. It is eight

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fifteen pm on Saturday, December the twenty first for the BBC.

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It's now Sunday, and they are broadcasting about this tragedy

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that struck. We had a tragedy at a Christmas market

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where a vehicle a vehicle attack resulted in the loss

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of five lives and injured according to some reports, up

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to two hundred, if not more, individuals. And this is

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obviously cast a shadow over a season that we all

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long for, we all hope for would be filled with

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joy and with hope and with laughter. That's what we

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hope for, That's what we long for. That's what we want.

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We want that Christmas song, right, that's what we want.

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But it doesn't always work that way. Because in your

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past you may not have had a literal car, but

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you may have had something justice tragic drive right through

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the middle of your life, leaving devastation, pain, suffering, maybe

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even death. Maybe it was in your past, maybe it's

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in your present, maybe right now in twenty twenty four.

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There's some of you right now, and you are already

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filled with grief and you're broken because of what's happening

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in your present. Others see in the future. You already

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see the car come, I mean metaphorically speaking, and you

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know the pain and suffering it's going to cause. Sometimes

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our expectations for this time of season, well, there is

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just we're left crushed and devastated and we feel like

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what happened, this is not the way Christmas is supposed

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to be, and it can be very difficult for us

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to try to understand it. And then we read, well,

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we read maybe a scripture like this, and there were

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there were This is from Luke chapter two, and there

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were in the same country, shepherds abiding in the field,

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keeping watch over their flock by night. That's Luke chapter two,

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verse eight. Now you know the scene, you've seen it,

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You've you've probably be seen people even acted out. Maybe

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some Christmas play drama at your church. You've seen it,

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you know, dramatized, but just just try to imagine it

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in your own I forget everything all the pictures you've seen.

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Here are these shepherds. It's late at night, and they're

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keeping watch over their flock. We don't wanna, we don't

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want to embellish this. We don't wanna, we don't want

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to dramatize this. We wanted just a real These are

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shepherds outside at night, keeping watch over their flock. And lo,

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the Angel of the Lord came upon them, and the

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glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they

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were sore afraid, and the Angel said, unto them, fear not,

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for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,

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which shall be to all people. Good tidings of great joy.

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Do you ever struggle with that this time of year?

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Do you struggle with that? Well? Wait, because everyone talks

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about good tidings of great joy. That's what Christmas is about. Well,

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I don't know. You may want to go to Germany

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right now and talk to the people who I don't know,

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who just lost loved ones because a car attack. Someone

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took a car drove it into a Christmas market, killing people.

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If you've never worked in the medical world, if you've

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never worked in the medical world, well you know, find

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a way to go. Sit outside of a hospital on

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Christmas night. Christmas, Yeah, Christmas night, You'll see people walking

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out in tears because their loved one just died. You'll

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see people rushing to the emergency room because someone was injured,

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or someone had a heart attack, or someone something horrible happened.

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I'll never forget one Christmas I was working at the

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hospital in Nebraska, and you know, some people come running

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into the emergency room. They were yelling and screaming because

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the father of the family had collapsed, and so they

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brought him in that they put him in the cars,

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calling an ambulance. They drove him right there. We brought

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him in, did everything we could, and he died. He

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died of a heart attack. Wasn't even that old. I

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think maybe in his thirties, maybe maybe forty if that,

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and his whole family was with him. It was Christmas

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night and he died on Christmas night. Now, well we're

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back there. They're doing everything we can to resuscitate and

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try to save and try to bring back. Guess what

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I had to go and tell the family ultimately what

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had occurred. I had to go help fill out the

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death certificate. There will never forget that. Entire family will

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never forget. Christmas will never be the same for them,

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just like those people at that Christmas market. They'll never

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forget it. So what do you what do you tell people? Hey,

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Good tidings of great joy. Good tidings of great joy. See,

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we put that on our Christmas cards that we send

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out right this time of year. This is what we

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tell everyone, Good tidings of great joy. When everyone goes

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to the candle light service on Christmas Eve, good tidings

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of great joy. And you'll light your candles, you sing

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some songs, and you go home. Now, some of you

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will go home. You'll have your family, you'll have presence,

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you'll have the missiletoe, you'll be kissing your loved one

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and it'll be wonderful. And maybe snow will be falling

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and it'll be you'll have a fireplace and it'll be wonderful.

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And by no means should you feel guilty for having

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all of that. You should embrace it, and you should

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love it, and you should be grateful for it, and

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don't miss out one second of it. But don't think

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for a second that you telling everyone good tidings of

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great joy, see how wonderful it is. Don't think that

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there's other people who are going to be in a

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far different situation. Do we take these, this message of

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good tidings and great joy and say that that's for

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you or for me? For unto you is born this

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day in the City of David, a savior which is

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Christ's the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you.

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You shall find the Babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying

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in a manger. And suddenly there was with the Angel

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multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying glory

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to God in the highest and on earth, peace goodwill

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toward men. Oh, we want that peace. We want that

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good will, We want that good tidings. We want that joy,

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we want that we long for that. How do we

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understand this in times of sorrow, in times of tragedy

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and times of pain, in times of loneliness and times

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of depression and despair? Is the Christmas message? Is it relevant?

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Does it even does it even work? Does it mean anything? Now,

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maybe it does, but maybe we've so twisted it, maybe

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we've so taken what was actually meant, and we try

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to promise people something that was never promised in the

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Christmas story. Now, some may take this story of the

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shepherds and they may say, well, you see these shepherds

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and Luke's gospel, they were enveloped in darkness, both literally

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and metaphorically. That's what some people would say. Now we

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know literally they were in darkness literally because it says

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they were watching their flock by night, So they were

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literally in the dark. Literally. I mean they didn't have

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like flashlights or anything like that at the time. They

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would have really literally been in the dark. Okay, right,

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so there's a little Can we understand any metaphorical darkness?

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Some would say because they were shepherds, that their lives

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would be marked by maybe hardships, especially of the occupation

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which they had that was not an easy job. And

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maybe because of them being shepherds and because of their status,

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there would have been some oppression at that time, especially

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for the Jews under the control of Rome. There may

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have been some oppression that they were dealing. In other words,

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things may not have been so wonderful and great. That

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may not be too much of a stretch, but it

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was into that darkness. It was into that situation that

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the angel says, hey, do not be afraid. I bring

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you good news that will cause great joy for all people.

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Depending on how you're the translation you're reading, I'm bringing

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you good news of great joy. WHI shall be to

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all people that this is good news of great joy.

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This news is good. It should bring great joy, and

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it should bring it to all people. Now, is this

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good news? If you're outside at night watching sheep and

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you're living under maybe oppression, and your job is difficult

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and hard, and maybe they're going through difficult things in

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their life, is the good news? Hey, everything's gonna get better. Everything,

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the oppression is gonna be gone, Your job's gonna get better,

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your family's gonna get better, your loneliness is gonna go away.

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Everything's good. Well, we have to know that's that's not

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what it's saying. We have to know that, right. But

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this message of good news, it was proclaimed well in

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the literal darkness. They were literally at night and were

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they're literally in the darkness where it was proclaimed. It

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was literally in that darkness where they were told to

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not be afraid. I bring you good news that will

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cause great joy for all people. This announcement did not

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come to the powerful. It did not come to the privileged.

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It did not come to people in a maybe in

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a much more like picturesque situation. Right. It didn't come

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to people sitting in their house with their family, you know,

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watching Christmas movies and everything is wonderful, and there's presence

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under the tree, and there's a fire in the fire,

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and everything's wonderful, and the husband's hugging the wife and

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everything's beautiful. It didn't come. The message didn't come to

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to that situation. It came to shepherds outside at night

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watching their flock. Maybe there's something to that. Maybe I

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want there to be something to that. But it is

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true that the message came to humbled, humble shepherds. I

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think maybe there's something to that. So, as I don't

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know about you, as you try to process the story

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of what happened in Magdeburgh there in Germany, in that

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city where five were killed, over two hundred wounded or

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at least close to two hundred injured, I should say,

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can we find any solace? Can we find any comfort.

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Can we find any anything positive in this horrible tragedy

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and light of the story about this tidings of great joy?

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Is there anything we can find in it? I don't

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know if we can. Is it possible?

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I think we can say this. This news, this good

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news that was being proclaimed to them, was about a

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baby that was going to be wrapped in swaddling clothes,

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lying in a manger.

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The good news is a baby has been born, or

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as they would say, this is the good news unto you,

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is born this day in the city of David, a savior,

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which is Christ, the Lord. Which is the Christ, the Lord,

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It is the Christ. The good news is this baby,

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a baby has been born. But obviously it's not just

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any baby. It's the Christ, It's the Lord. See. The

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good news is that baby is Emmanuel, God with us.

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That baby is God in the flesh. And he has

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now entered into a broken world. He has entered into

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the darkness literally metaphorically. And you know what's great about

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this baby who was born into it. He is light

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and the darkness cannot overcome it.

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And John chapter one and John chapter one we read.

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In the beginning was the Word, and the word was

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with God, and the Word was God. The same was

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in the beginning with God. All things were made by him,

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and without him was not anything made. That was made

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in him was life, and the life was the light

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of men, and the light shine it then darkness, and

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the darkness comprehended it. Not other translations have, and the

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darkness has not overcome it. So depending on which way

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you want to go, But the light entered into the darkness,

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that darkness cannot get rid of that light, no matter

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what it may do, whether it understands it, ignores it,

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or tries to overcome it, it cannot. So, in a

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roundabout way, the light of Christ remains steadfast, even in

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the midst of tragedy. It's still there. He was still born.

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He was born, he lived, he died, he was buried,

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he was resurrected, and he ascended to the right hand

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of the Father. For Wincey will come to judge the

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living and the dead. The reality of Christ entering into

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this broken world, it's still there, and it's still They're

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still supposed to be. Something about that fact that is

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good news. Good tidings should bring great joy. Now, is

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it the fact that he came to make all of

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our problems better? Is did he come to fix everything?

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I think that's where the things get convoluted and we

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get messed up because we want to almost preach this. Hey, look,

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you're going through difficult times. You're lonely, You're you're filled

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with despair and discouragement. Will believe in Jesus and your

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darkness will will be cast aside, the light will shine

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upon you. You'll be filled with joy. Everything's going to

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be better, Everything's going to be wonderful in your life.

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And I think that's where we mess up. That baby

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was born, nobody's life got immediately better. Things did not

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get wonderful for anybody involved, right, I mean, look at

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the things that occur after his birth. Aren't some other

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babies killed? I mean, do things get better? Does Israel

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immediately get released from their bondage from Rome? I mean,

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I mean no, they don't. Do people stop dying. No. Now,

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he's going to come and do some wonderful things, but

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that's only temporary. We know that, and he doesn't do

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it for all people because we know, like he raises

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Lazarus from the debt, not John the Baptist, and we

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can go through all the complications of all of it.

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But we know He doesn't do everything for everyone. You see,

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the Christmas message is ultimately about hope and peace through

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salvation and the promise of eternal life. It is not

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a guarantee of relief from pain. It's not a guarantee

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of a relief from suffering. It's not a guarantee of

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a relief or a protection from tragedy. And this is

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a key distinction that has to shape the way we

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interpret and communicate the message of Christ's birth good news, peace, hope, joy.

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But you got to understand what that is referencing. That

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is referencing hope, peace with God. We're no longer an

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enmity with God, salvation, our sins have been forgiven. We

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have eternal life. Nothing can separate me from the love

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of God. But there is no guarantee at all that

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anything in your life is going to get better. In fact,

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it could get worse. In fact, the car that's coming

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to drive through your life to bring pain, death, suffering,

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it could be just around the corner. It could be

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headed your way and may not get here in twenty

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twenty four, but it could be in twenty twenty five.

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It could be in twenty twenty six. Well, let me know.

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I'm gonna let you know. Okay, I already know, but

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I'm gonna let you know. It's on its way, just

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like it's on its way into my life, and that

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car has driven through my life multiple times. You see

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the Angel's announcement to the shepherds in Luke two fourteen.

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Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth,

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Peace to those whom this his favor rest. Points to

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a deep spiritual peace, a reconcile, reconciliation between humanity and

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God through the coming Savior. This peace is not the

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absence of external conflict or suffering, but it is the

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assurance of God's presence, his redemption, and the hope of

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a future kingdom where sins, suffering, and death will no

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longer exist. And you can read about that in Revelation

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chapter twenty one. We have to see the promise as

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something spiritual, something it's salvafiic right. It's not about the material,

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physical world being all made right. It's about the reality

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that a savior has come to save us from our sins.

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And why is this the correct way to understand this

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Christmas narrative? Well, just in light of what just occurred

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in Germany, where five people were run over and killed

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by someone attacks sucking people with a car at a

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Christmas market, over two hundred injured. Well, just the reality

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of suffering in this life. Jesus explicitly told his disciples

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in this world, you will have trouble, but take heart.

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I have overcome the world. This acknowledges the inevitability of

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suffering while pointing to the ultimate victory found to him.

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He has overcome the world. But that's for glorification. In

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the meantime, we know he's overcome. We trust. Think of

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it this way. You receive this message in the dark,

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all around you screams no joy, no good news, no peace,

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no hope. Look at your life, look at your circumstances.

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Be filled with despair. Just be despondent, just give up,

359
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Just lay down and give up. But that's what the

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news comes to us in that environment. But that does

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mean that the news is not real. It's just it's

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pointing to something that we have to believe by faith.

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We can't see the fulfillment. We can't see eternity, where

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there's no more pain and no more suffering. In death.

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We can only see it by faith, but because but we're

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the message is delivered to us in darkness. The apostle

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Paul reminds us that we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing

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that our suffering produce endurance, and endurance produces character, and

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character produces hope. Suffering is a part of the Christian journey.

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We just have to accept it. It's a part of it.

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It may have a purpose. Now, sometimes that is disturbing, right,

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and that raises other questions, but it's there. A lot

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of times during the Christmas season, someone will reference Isaiah

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chapter nine, verses six through seven speaks of the coming Messiah,

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most would argue, and it speaks of him as being

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the Prince of peace, whose government and peace will have

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no end. This looks forward to an eternal kingdom rather

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than an immediate temporal relief. And just remember, this is

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what caused the Jews so many problems. See, even when

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the Jews kind of realized, wait a minute, this could

381
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be Christ, this could be the Messiah, this could be

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Christ the Lord. Yeah, okay, okay, get rid of the Romans,

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fix our get rid of our oppression, free us do it.

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And well, that wasn't Jesus' mission at that time who

385
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was coming to die, And they did not understand it,

386
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and they were upset with it. They were not happy

387
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with it. They were confused. Now they were right to

388
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believe in a coming kingdom. They wanted that kingdom now.

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And so many times when we hear the Christmas story,

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we we almost sell it to people. Come to Jesus

391
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and everything's gonna be wonderful. It's gonna be chestnuts roasting

392
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by the open fire. It's gonna be yule tied, you know,

393
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choir singing, choirs singing, and it's gonna be all you know,

394
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all the presence and the mistletoe, and the and and

395
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the family and the and it's gonna be all these.

396
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I'm sorry, there's no pride. You can come to Jesus

397
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and be just as alone as you have ever been. Physically,

398
00:29:36.720 --> 00:29:41.559
you may be isolated alone. The disease is not going

399
00:29:41.599 --> 00:29:45.440
to go away. Things may not get any better, the

400
00:29:45.680 --> 00:29:48.240
job may not get any better. You still may not

401
00:29:48.279 --> 00:29:58.160
have any hopes of a new job. But when it

402
00:29:58.200 --> 00:30:01.039
talks about the Prince of Peace, it's promising the eternal kingdom.

403
00:30:01.160 --> 00:30:04.119
An eternal kingdom is coming, but we want it now.

404
00:30:04.240 --> 00:30:15.759
But it's not for now, it's for then. Jesus himself,

405
00:30:15.799 --> 00:30:18.839
that little baby born entered into a world of pain

406
00:30:18.920 --> 00:30:22.480
and tragedy. His life, his death, and his resurrection demonstrated

407
00:30:22.519 --> 00:30:26.000
that suffering is not avoided, but it is transformed into

408
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a means by which salvation is achieved. For Christ, he

409
00:30:29.319 --> 00:30:34.759
suffered to accomplish our salvation. We suffer in the midst

410
00:30:34.839 --> 00:30:40.119
of our salvation until we reach the true ultimate salvation,

411
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which is glorification. See when tragedies like occurred at Magdeburgh

412
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in the Christmas Mark five dead, two hundred injured. The

413
00:31:07.880 --> 00:31:13.400
Christmas Message reminds us that all this is very important.

414
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It will remind us not that all will be made

415
00:31:16.720 --> 00:31:21.920
right in this life, because it will not, but that

416
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God has provided a way to make all things new

417
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and eternity. In the face of suffering, we cling to

418
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the hope of eternity. We cling to the salvation which

419
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that baby provided through up to us through his death

420
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barrel resurrection. We hold on to the assurance that evil

421
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and death do not have the final word. Now. If

422
00:32:04.279 --> 00:32:07.920
we hold on to that perspective, this prevents the misuse

423
00:32:08.000 --> 00:32:11.559
of scripture to offer false promises of immediate relief and

424
00:32:11.559 --> 00:32:15.480
instead directs our focus to an eternal, unshakeable hope found

425
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in Christ.

426
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But just.

427
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In a roundabout way, I'm going to go back to

428
00:32:22.200 --> 00:32:32.079
Luke too. I don't know where you're going to be.

429
00:32:33.359 --> 00:32:35.000
I don't know where you are tonight. I don't know

430
00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:37.400
where you're going to be Tomorrow night, leading all the

431
00:32:37.400 --> 00:32:39.359
way up to Christmas night. I don't know where you're

432
00:32:39.400 --> 00:32:46.240
going to be. But you may be in an empty room,

433
00:32:46.920 --> 00:32:53.799
in the dark alone. You may be filled with despair, discouragement.

434
00:32:56.039 --> 00:32:58.400
I mean, I say this all the time, but I

435
00:32:58.440 --> 00:33:00.799
only say this because I because I want you to

436
00:33:00.920 --> 00:33:04.640
understand that I have. The reason I talk so much

437
00:33:04.680 --> 00:33:06.759
about these types of things this time of year is

438
00:33:06.799 --> 00:33:11.960
because it all I have some experience with it. Where

439
00:33:12.039 --> 00:33:18.039
I am broadcasting from, I'm literally what maybe ten minutes away,

440
00:33:18.119 --> 00:33:20.599
not even probably five minutes away. I probably could be

441
00:33:20.599 --> 00:33:23.160
there in five to six minutes away. I am about

442
00:33:23.200 --> 00:33:32.039
five to six minutes away from the mental hospital that

443
00:33:32.200 --> 00:33:42.160
I was admitted to when I was a teenager after

444
00:33:42.240 --> 00:33:45.519
I tried to kill myself. I'm just not far. And

445
00:33:45.559 --> 00:33:52.920
guess when I was in that mental hospital. Guess when

446
00:33:52.960 --> 00:33:58.279
I was there. I was there over Thanksgiving, and I

447
00:33:58.359 --> 00:34:05.319
was there over Christmas. I spent Christmas in a mental

448
00:34:05.599 --> 00:34:24.280
hospital alone, and I was a Christian fear not for Behold,

449
00:34:24.320 --> 00:34:27.400
I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall

450
00:34:27.440 --> 00:34:32.239
be to all people. If someone gave me a card,

451
00:34:32.960 --> 00:34:38.000
unless I understood what they meant, I could have nobody

452
00:34:38.039 --> 00:34:39.719
sent me a card. Nobody came to see. I mean,

453
00:34:39.800 --> 00:34:41.639
you know, I don't want to get into all the

454
00:34:41.679 --> 00:34:43.719
horrible things that happened in my life at that time,

455
00:34:44.480 --> 00:34:51.719
but I can tell you this good tidings of great joy.

456
00:34:51.880 --> 00:34:58.599
At that time, I wouldn't have understod I would have been,

457
00:34:58.639 --> 00:35:02.400
in a sense, in the field in the dark. Now

458
00:35:02.639 --> 00:35:05.920
doesn't mean there wasn't a good news. There was good news,

459
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because the good news was Christ had died for me,

460
00:35:09.000 --> 00:35:12.920
My sins have been forgiven. The good news was there,

461
00:35:13.159 --> 00:35:15.840
my sins have been forgiven, and I have been saved

462
00:35:15.840 --> 00:35:18.679
by an imputed righteousness. So that is good news. That

463
00:35:18.840 --> 00:35:22.119
is good tidings. There is a message of peace and hope.

464
00:35:22.199 --> 00:35:25.920
But it was not for that broken teenager and a

465
00:35:26.000 --> 00:35:29.760
mental hospital. No, as far as everything in my life

466
00:35:29.880 --> 00:35:31.840
was going to get better, because guess what, when I

467
00:35:31.880 --> 00:35:38.760
got out of the mental hospital. My mom still was dead. Oh,

468
00:35:38.800 --> 00:35:41.480
and then things went from bad to worse as far

469
00:35:41.519 --> 00:35:45.360
as my because I went back home to be because

470
00:35:45.400 --> 00:35:47.039
I wasn't living at home when my mother died. And

471
00:35:47.039 --> 00:35:49.360
then things just got worse to I won't get into everything.

472
00:35:49.599 --> 00:35:53.599
Things did not get better, ladies and gentlemen. Things got much, much,

473
00:35:53.719 --> 00:36:08.480
much worse in many ways. But guess what, that good

474
00:36:08.559 --> 00:36:10.679
news was still good news. So what I want you

475
00:36:10.760 --> 00:36:13.039
to know is wherever you are going to be this Christmas,

476
00:36:13.119 --> 00:36:15.320
I don't know. I don't know what kind of darkness

477
00:36:15.320 --> 00:36:17.920
you're going to be in right, I don't know, but

478
00:36:17.960 --> 00:36:20.800
the good news is still for you. Cling to it now.

479
00:36:20.840 --> 00:36:22.679
I know what you want, and I know what I

480
00:36:22.760 --> 00:36:25.800
do the same time, sometimes I'm like, Okay, great good news.

481
00:36:25.960 --> 00:36:28.039
You died for me. My sins are forgiven, But what

482
00:36:28.239 --> 00:36:31.920
about my life right now? Could you fix it? Could

483
00:36:32.000 --> 00:36:34.599
you do something? But you know what you can't. It

484
00:36:34.880 --> 00:36:37.000
doesn't work that way. Oh I wish it did. I

485
00:36:37.039 --> 00:36:41.599
wish it did, but it doesn't. And I've been saying

486
00:36:41.639 --> 00:36:43.360
this in every podcast. You know what you can do.

487
00:36:43.360 --> 00:36:46.400
Don't worry about anybody else. Those people who have it good,

488
00:36:46.800 --> 00:36:49.239
be grateful, just be happy. For them as best as

489
00:36:49.239 --> 00:36:51.920
you can. And if that doesn't work for you, just

490
00:36:51.960 --> 00:36:54.360
don't even think about it. Let them go live their lives.

491
00:36:54.400 --> 00:36:57.599
Be happy. They're like Christmas, Christmas, Christmas, and they're singing

492
00:36:57.639 --> 00:37:01.199
the songs and everything's wonderful, happy, happy, and they are great.

493
00:37:02.199 --> 00:37:04.639
Just don't worry about it. You just look at your situation.

494
00:37:04.280 --> 00:37:15.119
And you just say, Okay, good news, good news, great joy, because.

495
00:37:14.840 --> 00:37:20.840
Unto you, you and me, is born this day in

496
00:37:20.880 --> 00:37:23.400
the City of David as Savior, which is Christ the Lord.

497
00:37:23.440 --> 00:37:26.440
Now I know in that context that is referencing the shepherds.

498
00:37:26.480 --> 00:37:29.239
You could say it's very Israel specific at the same time,

499
00:37:29.559 --> 00:37:32.599
but we know it also refers to us because he

500
00:37:32.679 --> 00:37:40.280
died for us. Peace, good will towards all men. In Christ.

501
00:37:40.360 --> 00:37:45.760
There's peace in Christ, there's goodwill because there's salvation because

502
00:37:45.760 --> 00:38:04.679
of His imputed righteousness. So maybe in our darkness we

503
00:38:04.840 --> 00:38:12.280
remember the light that shone in the darkness to the

504
00:38:12.320 --> 00:38:16.000
shepherd's and that Christ is the light that entered into

505
00:38:16.039 --> 00:38:20.920
that darkness literally, and the darkness they can't comprehend it,

506
00:38:20.920 --> 00:38:25.239
they can't overcome it. That light remains, no matter how

507
00:38:25.360 --> 00:38:28.239
dark it may be, that light still remains for us.

508
00:38:32.079 --> 00:38:36.119
Oh and right now, Yeah, there's people in Germany. Their

509
00:38:36.159 --> 00:38:39.599
loved ones went to a Christmas market. Can you imagine

510
00:38:39.599 --> 00:38:42.679
what they may have been excited? There would have been laughter,

511
00:38:43.239 --> 00:38:45.519
there would have been joy. They're going to a Christmas

512
00:38:45.559 --> 00:38:48.000
market and all of a sudden they hear this horrible

513
00:38:48.119 --> 00:38:51.280
sound and a car comes driving into the market, running

514
00:38:51.360 --> 00:38:55.559
people down. I can't even wrap my mind around that.

515
00:39:03.840 --> 00:39:06.800
I don't understand it. God, Why can you get into

516
00:39:06.840 --> 00:39:09.000
all my questions? Where was God? Where was God? I

517
00:39:09.079 --> 00:39:11.880
will never understand. But I know this. God made no

518
00:39:12.119 --> 00:39:15.880
promises at all to fix the things in our lifetime.

519
00:39:16.119 --> 00:39:18.519
And there's no promise. There's nothing in the Bible that

520
00:39:18.559 --> 00:39:21.960
would even indicate that. In the Bible, people suffer. There's death,

521
00:39:22.119 --> 00:39:25.559
there's destruction, there's sin, there's failure. I know we like

522
00:39:25.639 --> 00:39:30.679
to preach come to Jesus and everything is wonderful and great,

523
00:39:33.880 --> 00:39:36.440
but there's nothing promising that it's going to be that way.

524
00:39:37.559 --> 00:39:38.920
It just makes me mad that that's the way it

525
00:39:39.039 --> 00:39:49.199
sometimes put forth. There'll be people, some people, maybe Christmas Eve,

526
00:39:49.400 --> 00:39:53.159
Christmas night, there'll be some people who will wander into

527
00:39:53.159 --> 00:39:58.039
a church. Maybe they'll light a candle, maybe they'll just watch.

528
00:40:00.440 --> 00:40:05.400
Maybe they'll sing the songs, maybe they're trying to get

529
00:40:05.400 --> 00:40:10.079
a little bit of the feeling. And then the service

530
00:40:10.119 --> 00:40:15.320
will end, the candles will be extinguished, darkness will be there,

531
00:40:15.920 --> 00:40:20.800
and then they'll watch everyone walk out. The family is

532
00:40:20.840 --> 00:40:27.199
all together walking out, the kids laughing, everyone laughing and cheerful,

533
00:40:28.000 --> 00:40:30.679
knowing all those people are going to go home, go

534
00:40:30.760 --> 00:40:36.159
back to their homes where they have love and companionship

535
00:40:36.320 --> 00:40:40.559
and all of these wonderful things. But that individual will

536
00:40:40.559 --> 00:40:47.920
go back to some place alone and darkness. Now is

537
00:40:47.920 --> 00:40:52.840
there any message for them or is the message just

538
00:40:52.840 --> 00:40:56.800
for all the people who have everything so perfect? Well,

539
00:40:56.840 --> 00:41:00.719
the message here came to shepherds. I don't know if

540
00:41:00.760 --> 00:41:06.239
there's any significance to it. You could talk about shepherds

541
00:41:06.239 --> 00:41:09.679
who were given the message about the great shepherd that

542
00:41:09.760 --> 00:41:14.159
were watching the flock, and Jesus would be the sacrifice,

543
00:41:14.159 --> 00:41:19.199
sacrificial lamb. Maybe there is some you know, symbolism in

544
00:41:19.280 --> 00:41:25.639
all of this. But there's got to be a message. Now,

545
00:41:25.639 --> 00:41:32.039
there is a message of good news. But the good news,

546
00:41:33.000 --> 00:41:37.159
the joy, is that you have been saved from your

547
00:41:37.480 --> 00:41:43.280
sins because of Christ's death, shed blood and his obedience

548
00:41:43.320 --> 00:41:46.719
being imputed to your account by faith alone. That is

549
00:41:46.760 --> 00:41:49.159
good news that gives you great You can hold on

550
00:41:49.239 --> 00:41:52.360
to that, but it doesn't mean anything else is going

551
00:41:52.400 --> 00:41:55.159
to go right. It's going to be perfect, it's going

552
00:41:55.239 --> 00:41:58.920
to be wonderful. Doesn't mean any anything is coming to

553
00:41:58.920 --> 00:42:16.360
help solve your pro problems. Thanks for listening. I don't

554
00:42:16.360 --> 00:42:19.039
know what the next couple of days has in store

555
00:42:19.079 --> 00:42:22.079
for you. I don't know. I hope it's good. I

556
00:42:22.119 --> 00:42:26.679
really do hope it's good. But I'm always so painfully

557
00:42:26.760 --> 00:42:31.400
aware that it's not going to be good for everyone,

558
00:42:31.559 --> 00:42:35.840
and that always just really maybe I should be able

559
00:42:35.880 --> 00:42:37.960
to celebrate with all the people who have it so good,

560
00:42:38.000 --> 00:42:40.840
but I'm always broken for the people who it's not.

561
00:42:41.119 --> 00:42:46.719
I I so know what that's like to just be like,

562
00:42:46.800 --> 00:42:48.639
what is going on in my life? How did I

563
00:42:48.719 --> 00:42:51.280
end up in a mental hospital after I tried to

564
00:42:51.360 --> 00:42:53.440
kill myself? How did I end up as a young

565
00:42:53.480 --> 00:42:56.639
person with a dead mother? How did I end up with,

566
00:42:57.159 --> 00:42:59.440
you know, being raised in a home with abuse? How

567
00:42:59.480 --> 00:43:01.599
did how how did all of these things occur? I

568
00:43:01.639 --> 00:43:08.079
don't know, And you can look at your current situation.

569
00:43:08.199 --> 00:43:09.719
You may be thinking, how did I end up here?

570
00:43:09.760 --> 00:43:12.360
I have no there's no answer to it, and there's

571
00:43:12.440 --> 00:43:14.800
no hope that that's going to go away, But there

572
00:43:14.880 --> 00:43:21.239
is hope in eternity. I don't know how we reconcile that,

573
00:43:22.920 --> 00:43:24.320
but all we can do is hold on to that

574
00:43:24.440 --> 00:43:28.599
light in the midst of the darkness, because that's kind

575
00:43:28.599 --> 00:43:37.880
of what it's all about. We constantly are giving truths

576
00:43:39.000 --> 00:43:45.119
from God in scripture, in the midst of circumstances and

577
00:43:45.239 --> 00:43:49.760
situations that scream to us there is no God. God

578
00:43:50.199 --> 00:43:53.719
is gone, God is not involved, God does not care.

579
00:43:54.039 --> 00:43:56.519
But we have to not allow all of those circumstances

580
00:43:56.639 --> 00:44:00.199
to cause us to give away, to let go oh

581
00:44:00.280 --> 00:44:02.519
of those truths we have been holding on to. We

582
00:44:02.599 --> 00:44:04.960
just have to understand those truths are pointing to something

583
00:44:04.960 --> 00:44:07.960
which we cannot currently see, and we have to believe

584
00:44:09.480 --> 00:44:12.599
ultimately in the salvation and the glorification and the eternity

585
00:44:13.000 --> 00:44:17.639
that has been promised. How you reconcile that? I don't

586
00:44:17.639 --> 00:44:20.360
have any good answers. Does it always make things better?

587
00:44:20.599 --> 00:44:22.800
It doesn't. Does it always make you be able to

588
00:44:23.280 --> 00:44:25.599
feel better? It doesn't always make it. I can't even

589
00:44:25.599 --> 00:44:29.559
promise you're even gonna feel better, just can promise you.

590
00:44:29.599 --> 00:44:31.239
That's the way we have to look at it. Thanks

591
00:44:31.239 --> 00:44:34.719
for listening. Everyone, have a great night, and I hope

592
00:44:34.760 --> 00:44:39.280
for many, I really really do. I hope for many

593
00:44:39.480 --> 00:44:47.320
it's a Mary, Mary, Marry Christmas, and for everyone else

594
00:44:47.440 --> 00:44:52.440
it may not be Mary, but those spiritual promises are yours,

595
00:44:53.280 --> 00:45:00.320
no matter what your circumstances may say. God bless Yeah.