You need forgiveness, it is essential to life. Without forgiveness the past becomes your master, bitterness will devour your life, lastly outrage and revenge become your default.

The Christian is to live a holy life as a witness, to show others the life they are really meant for and who they really are before God.

The Christian, really everyone, should take seriously the business of holiness, it is our eternal vocation.

As we encounter what the Bible has to say about the holiness of God we should grow in our response to God, our awareness of our sin and our hunger for God.

I want to challenge you to think of holy in three dimensions this year: 1. Encountering a holy God. 2. Becoming holy. 3. Help others see the holy.

In the Christmas story, all kinds of people meet the baby Jesus.  Each has a different background, a different reaction, a different approach to meeting Jesus.   

Quickly I want to mention 5 groups of people that meet Jesus after he is born.  Each group has a different reaction to Jesus.  Their encounters with Jesus should cause us to ask, “How do we respond to meeting Jesus?” Hopefully you can see a little of yourself in each of them.

The Christmas story tells us that Jesus came to earth to make room for you and me in God’s kingdom, and the Christmas story invites you and me to make room for Jesus in our lives.

Love is triumphant overpowering the past, overcoming the present and opening the future to victory.

Joy is not about simply smiling and feeling good, it's about knowing and receiving the promises of God.  Knowing and receiving Jesus, Joy himself.

Hope is a person. Hope is Jesus.