Big Picture: The foundation is critical, storms are for sure, testings will happen, winds will blow, and temptations are certain. So how firm is your foundation as you face 2017?

Big Picture: Glory is too big to understand; so many times we just assume an understanding of it and don't task our minds in trying to understand it. Glory, though, is what Christmas is all about and without it, Jesus is just another legend in history and not the Son of God and the Savior of the world.

Big Picture: What a proclamation that the angels said to the Shepherds; Glory to God and peace on earth. God’s glory and God’s peace are closely connected; you cannot have one without the other. Peace Glorifies God and God’s Glory gives peace.

Big Picture: The “Christmas Spirit” is not about songs, gifts, food, friends and family. It is that Jesus was the Son of God - incomprehensible! It forces us to be in awe of the Glory of God who worked out His redemption through Jesus.

Big Picture: “Glory” is at the heart of Christmas; so what is glory? How does the glory of God affect us and where should the glory of God be most evident?

Big Picture: Confidence seems to be an elusive thing, it comes and it goes. But Gods has some certainties He wants us to know confidently with a confidence that never can change and never will change. This confidence does not leave us arrogant, but humbled and eternally thankful.

Big Picture: Knowing I am saved is not based on mere subjective experience, but on objective testimonies of truth, thus giving every Christian reason to be joyful, live courageously and experience abundant life.

Big Picture: Faith is a gift from God and has been given to everyone who has been born again. That same faith is what makes every believer a winner in the battle of life. That same faith gives assurance and love.

Big Idea: God is Love. We think love is God, but it is not. God is love. God’s love is to the Christian everything he needs; it is an expression of God’s goodness reaching our greatest need and satisfying it with His own Son Jesus Christ. Those who are in God’s love can’t help but to love one another.

Big Picture: We are called to make judgments. We are called to discriminate between good and evil. We are called to discern truth from error. We are called to test the spirits to see whether or not they are from God. If we aren’t engaged in that we are open to the influence of any demonic, untruthful, harmful, anti-christ spirit.