This morning we take a look back at 2020, and remember all the good things that God has done. Far to often we focus on the troubles that life brings and forget the blessings that God has given us. We fail to give Him praise and honor for how good He is. Like the Nation of Israel in Ex. 19:1-8 we want to grumble and complain even after we have seen Him work countless miracles. We make commitments to Him and then we break them. Let us reflect on how good He truly is, how faithful He has been and give honor where it is due. If we do this our troubles will seem small and our blessings will take their rightful place.

More than anytime I can ever remember we are being overwhelmed with people trying to share their version of reality. The problem with that is with everyone yelling it becomes impossible to know if anyone is telling the truth. Truth is something that is desperate in our world, wisdom is rare and the world is seeking it, but false prophets and profiteers have a mockery of it. So, how do we combat the lack of wisdom in our world, listen to today's podcast to hear what God's word has to say.

There have been many things recently to be discouraged about, and Satan would like to use each of these to his advantage. That is why we need to be reminded that we are more than conquerors through the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. As Romans 8:31-37 tells us if we are a believer in Jesus Christ we have a much to be hopeful about no matter our current conditions. Stand strong, be faithful and keep sharing the hope of Jesus with those you know.

We all go through them; dark, difficult and dreary days, but what this past year has had in common is that we have went through them together. No one could have predicted what was headed for us, well, except for God. He was not surprised, nor did one moment fail to lack His sufficient grace. I was reminded of that this week as God spoke to my heart about Jeremiah 17, and where we put our trust and where our blessings comes from. If in this new season you want to survive those seasons of drought, then there is a way.

For as long as time men have been looking for signs in the heavens for proof of the existence of God. When the wise men seen "his star" in Matthew 2:1-12 they knew that they had found it. This led them to make the journey to Bethlehem to bring their gifts and honor their new King and Messiah. Does that wonder and awe still exist today? Are we still looking for that same Light? In order to do so there are two things we must do; I. We must filter our the artificial. II. We must find the authentic.

How can we as Christians stand between the best of times and the worst of times. The truth is that we live in between two worlds, the physical and the spiritual. We are both living in this world, but we are looking forward to the one to come. Isaiah 61:1-3 reminds us that we can recapture the wonder of Christmas because their is hope in Christmas because our eyes have been opened and we have been set free from the prison that once held us captive through Jesus Christ.

2020 seems to be the year of broken promises. Somewhere along this year everyone of us have either had to break one or we have had one broken toward us. When this happens it makes us unwilling to trust again, hesitant and suspicious, we think that anyone and everything is going to let us down. We can recapture the wonder of Christmas by remembering that on of the greatest promises of Christmas was given in Luke 2:25-35 and that promise was; I. Foreshadowed. (Vs. 25-26), II. Fulfilled. (Vs. 27-32), III. Forthcoming. (Vs. 33-35).

Have we lost the wonder of Christmas? The beginning of recapturing the wonder of Christmas starts with remembering the joy that it brought to the world and our hearts. As the birth of Christ was first proclaimed to the shepherds to bring great joy to all people, it also brings great joy to each of us if we are believers. But were is that joy today, have we lost it? This sermon focuses on how to recapture that joy in the season that we live in. Our scripture for the day comes from Luke 2:8-18.

We have so much to be thankful for as believers here in this world, but yet we sometimes forget to give God the praise. We get overwhelmed with our circumstances or our problems and forget the greatness of our God. This sermon is about bringing our focus back to where it belongs, the praise of God at all times. In Psalms 145:1-9 David proclaims that God is worthy of praise continually and displays an attitude of gratitude.

The Church is often referred to as the bride of Christ, and as we look at what is happening to the Church today it makes you wonder how that make the Groom feel. In Matthew 23:37-39 we see how Jesus heart for the Nation of Israel as they rejected and refused to have a relationship with Him. This gives us a view into the heart of Christ today, and how He must feel as He watches the Church turn from its first love.