We grab hold of the hope that God moved into our neighborhood and put on our skin to save us!  First, God saw you and me struggling against the hurricane force winds of life.  He saw us pummeled and pushed backward.  And he decided to do something.  He wrote himself into our story.  We get an assist from Tim Keller, founding pastor of Redeemer Church in NYC. 

 

Then, Shawna’s daughter is going to Africa to share the love of Jesus.  The director of the organization was honest with Shawna’s daughter about the cost and risks of following Jesus there.   And it was deeply unsettling.  But she came to this conclusion: “I’m not going because I’m sure I’ll be ok. I’m going because Jesus is worth it.”  It’s a call for you and me to risk everything for Jesus, who risked it all for us.  Next, in a few words the apostle John proves that God really did come into the world to save us, and that we really do need saving (!) and that the Christmas story is true, all of it!  Tim Keller shares why these words from John prove all this. 

 

And finally we mine some of the beautiful truth from Matthew 1:20-21:  After Joseph had considered this (divorcing Mary), an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

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