WEBVTT 00:00:05.320 --> 00:00:08.859 So we are in the fourth Sunday in Advent. We've 00:00:08.859 --> 00:00:11.679 mentioned that of our sermon series, El Peace, 00:00:11.919 --> 00:00:16.980 the Greek word for hope. Hope from small beginnings. 00:00:18.270 --> 00:00:20.250 The one thing, and we're actually going to jump 00:00:20.250 --> 00:00:22.570 into it after, so we have the pauper service, 00:00:22.750 --> 00:00:25.309 the last service of the year, next Sunday, which 00:00:25.309 --> 00:00:28.070 is where we have a lot of meaningful kind of 00:00:28.070 --> 00:00:31.230 reflections on the year, and it's an extra special 00:00:31.230 --> 00:00:34.350 service, not to make him more nervous, and I'm 00:00:34.350 --> 00:00:37.149 sure he is, but this will be Evan Concher's debut 00:00:37.149 --> 00:00:40.130 sermon here at Munster Church as he walks through 00:00:40.130 --> 00:00:43.170 all of that, so that will be exciting for all 00:00:43.170 --> 00:00:46.049 of us. But one of the things we're going to do 00:00:46.049 --> 00:00:48.090 the following week is we're going to... Kind 00:00:48.090 --> 00:00:50.630 of do an overview of the minor prophets. We're 00:00:50.630 --> 00:00:53.630 going to look at a word, chesed. So we're going 00:00:53.630 --> 00:00:55.990 from Greek now to Hebrew. We're going to go into 00:00:55.990 --> 00:00:59.750 the steadfast love of God. And it's found very 00:00:59.750 --> 00:01:03.229 specifically in these minor prophets, which I 00:01:03.229 --> 00:01:06.250 always find fascinating that we kind of lean 00:01:06.250 --> 00:01:08.790 into those in Advent. And I wanted to kind of 00:01:08.790 --> 00:01:10.810 continue that in the beginning of the new year 00:01:10.810 --> 00:01:13.870 before we get to our epic Lent sermon series. 00:01:13.969 --> 00:01:17.959 And we'll get to that later. But God always seems 00:01:17.959 --> 00:01:20.560 to work in the scriptures in ways we wouldn't 00:01:20.560 --> 00:01:22.459 really do it ourselves. And I think that that's 00:01:22.459 --> 00:01:24.620 important to just state in the beginning, God 00:01:24.620 --> 00:01:26.879 does things we wouldn't. I think that's kind 00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:29.939 of a no -duh statement, because we're wrought 00:01:29.939 --> 00:01:32.920 with sin, and so we struggle to do things for 00:01:32.920 --> 00:01:34.799 our own vanity, our own name, our own praise. 00:01:34.859 --> 00:01:38.159 God doesn't do that in that same way. God is 00:01:38.159 --> 00:01:41.060 big, we are small, and we walked through kind 00:01:41.060 --> 00:01:43.799 of this advent journey seeing how God does things 00:01:43.799 --> 00:01:46.180 a little differently and how God brings hope. 00:01:46.519 --> 00:01:51.200 Jeremiah was hope through waiting. You had Malachi, 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:54.420 hope through refinement. Last week was Zephaniah, 00:01:54.560 --> 00:01:57.519 hope through restoration. But today, through 00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:01.019 Micah, we meet another stunning truth about hope. 00:02:01.480 --> 00:02:05.099 That God loves to bring his greatest works in 00:02:05.099 --> 00:02:09.819 the smallest of... Which is, I think, should 00:02:09.819 --> 00:02:12.659 be a very comforting thing because he works through 00:02:12.659 --> 00:02:15.699 us. And my hope and my prayer is that we don't 00:02:15.699 --> 00:02:18.860 think ourselves so big that we think God should 00:02:18.860 --> 00:02:22.039 use us because we're so awesome. But because 00:02:22.039 --> 00:02:25.340 we are small and God is big, he works through 00:02:25.340 --> 00:02:28.620 us, through the church. But you see, Micah is 00:02:28.620 --> 00:02:32.620 speaking into a world of political instability, 00:02:33.099 --> 00:02:38.159 spiritual decline, and widespread... fear. Now 00:02:38.159 --> 00:02:41.080 for some of us, I just defined where we live 00:02:41.080 --> 00:02:44.139 today, but that's not who Micah was talking about. 00:02:44.280 --> 00:02:47.000 He was talking about a nation that was raging 00:02:47.000 --> 00:02:50.860 inside and out, the people trembling, Jerusalem 00:02:50.860 --> 00:02:55.060 being vulnerable, hope seeming distant. Micah, 00:02:55.060 --> 00:03:00.240 this prophet, is speaking into that. And as much 00:03:00.240 --> 00:03:02.560 as we've talked about it, a lot of us would have 00:03:02.560 --> 00:03:06.400 said, no, come as a king conquering Rome, you 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:09.479 know, establishing yourself. We want the revelation 00:03:09.479 --> 00:03:12.960 Jesus because we know what that is. We've read 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:19.000 that. That's not how he comes. God speaks not 00:03:19.000 --> 00:03:21.680 of a mighty city or a powerful king or a strong 00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:24.740 army, but he speaks of Bethlehem, this little 00:03:24.740 --> 00:03:29.400 nothing town in the book of Micah. God's rescue 00:03:29.400 --> 00:03:33.300 for you and me begins where nobody would expect 00:03:33.300 --> 00:03:37.819 it. Nobody had that on their Messiah bingo card, 00:03:37.939 --> 00:03:41.139 if you will, because small beginnings often reveal 00:03:41.139 --> 00:03:44.879 an even bigger God. So let's look, as we have 00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:46.740 done the last three weeks, hope from the past, 00:03:46.919 --> 00:03:50.229 Bethlehem and God's pattern. Of choosing the 00:03:50.229 --> 00:03:52.629 small. So we're going to be in some of that weird 00:03:52.629 --> 00:03:55.009 as we read. We're going to be in the A and B 00:03:55.009 --> 00:03:57.849 part of a verse. So if you're in like an A and 00:03:57.849 --> 00:03:59.789 a B part of verse. It has to do with clauses 00:03:59.789 --> 00:04:02.189 in a verse. Let me nerd out just a little bit. 00:04:02.310 --> 00:04:04.370 So if a verse is a little bit longer. And there's 00:04:04.370 --> 00:04:06.830 different clauses in it. Sometimes you put in 00:04:06.830 --> 00:04:10.069 A. And you only read that. And then B. Forget 00:04:10.069 --> 00:04:11.610 I said it. Doesn't matter. I'll just read it. 00:04:12.030 --> 00:04:17.250 Okay, so 5 to A. But you, O Bethlehem, Epaphra, 00:04:17.370 --> 00:04:21.970 who are you too little to be among the clans 00:04:21.970 --> 00:04:26.110 of Judah? Micah draws immediately to Bethlehem. 00:04:26.750 --> 00:04:32.529 And Bethlehem's insignificance. Bethlehem wasn't 00:04:32.529 --> 00:04:35.839 anything special. It was not a special town. 00:04:35.899 --> 00:04:38.300 I was thinking, what town could I kind of liken 00:04:38.300 --> 00:04:40.980 it to as you go down I -65, but I don't want 00:04:40.980 --> 00:04:44.139 to offend anybody, so I'm not going to mention 00:04:44.139 --> 00:04:48.579 one, Rensselaer. It's really insignificant. No 00:04:48.579 --> 00:04:51.339 one really talks about it. It's not a major city, 00:04:51.420 --> 00:04:54.279 not a political capital, not even large enough 00:04:54.279 --> 00:04:57.759 to be counted for a military census. No one really 00:04:57.759 --> 00:05:02.480 cared. Yet Bethlehem carried deep covenant meaning 00:05:02.480 --> 00:05:06.639 because of one name. For a cup of coffee in a 00:05:06.639 --> 00:05:09.819 conversation with Pastor Jim, what name brought 00:05:09.819 --> 00:05:15.430 Bethlehem significance? Who said that? Nikki, 00:05:15.569 --> 00:05:18.589 man, you still don't call those in. We can almost 00:05:18.589 --> 00:05:20.610 like buy a Starbucks with how many you've gotten 00:05:20.610 --> 00:05:24.129 right. Okay, David. Maybe that wasn't that hard. 00:05:24.790 --> 00:05:27.850 Bethlehem, David, Messiah. That is probably where 00:05:27.850 --> 00:05:30.529 I should have put coffee on. The smallest place 00:05:30.529 --> 00:05:34.569 comes the birthplace of the greatest king, God's 00:05:34.569 --> 00:05:37.149 greatest king. And is that not God's pattern? 00:05:37.839 --> 00:05:41.319 God works this way. This is not an isolated moment 00:05:41.319 --> 00:05:44.139 of the way God works. This isn't a blip on God's 00:05:44.139 --> 00:05:48.040 radar. He chooses Abraham, right, an elderly 00:05:48.040 --> 00:05:52.439 wanderer. He chooses Moses, a stuttering exile. 00:05:53.199 --> 00:05:57.180 He chooses Gideon, the weakest of his clan. He 00:05:57.180 --> 00:06:00.600 chooses David, the forgotten youngest son, hanging 00:06:00.600 --> 00:06:04.519 out with the sheep. He chooses Israel, the smallest 00:06:04.519 --> 00:06:08.420 nation. The theology that we hold to calls this 00:06:08.420 --> 00:06:12.040 the condensation of God. And we don't look at 00:06:12.040 --> 00:06:15.319 condensation here as a negative. The way he stoops 00:06:15.319 --> 00:06:19.439 low to accomplish his saving purposes. We can 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:23.120 draw this from question answer 26 of the Heidelberg 00:06:23.120 --> 00:06:27.139 Catechism. Why confess that our Father will turn 00:06:27.139 --> 00:06:31.899 to my good whatever adversity he sends me? Why? 00:06:32.509 --> 00:06:36.470 Because his power is made perfect in your weakness 00:06:36.470 --> 00:06:40.529 and in my weakness. Small beginnings do not deny 00:06:40.529 --> 00:06:45.209 God's power. They display them. Hope from the 00:06:45.209 --> 00:06:47.970 past tells us God's greatness is revealed in 00:06:47.970 --> 00:06:51.649 smallness. So looking back, that's what we see. 00:06:51.769 --> 00:06:53.829 That's how we engage it. But let's go to the 00:06:53.829 --> 00:06:56.980 present. Where's our hope for the present? Well, 00:06:57.000 --> 00:06:59.920 a shepherd king who stands and strengthens. Now 00:06:59.920 --> 00:07:02.540 we're going to go to the be part of verse 2. 00:07:02.660 --> 00:07:06.459 Micah 5, verse 2, be. From you shall come forth 00:07:06.459 --> 00:07:10.800 for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose 00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:14.959 coming forth is from old, from ancient days. 00:07:17.860 --> 00:07:21.680 Micah points us to a ruler who was both human 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:27.009 and eternal. Born in Bethlehem, yet from ancient 00:07:27.009 --> 00:07:31.230 days. This ruler is not only going to be sovereign, 00:07:31.370 --> 00:07:34.170 who not only is sovereign, he's going to be a 00:07:34.170 --> 00:07:38.110 shepherd king. And he will stand and shepherd 00:07:38.110 --> 00:07:40.910 his flock in the strength of the Lord. What does 00:07:40.910 --> 00:07:45.370 this mean for us? What does this shepherd king 00:07:45.370 --> 00:07:49.110 mean for you and me where you find yourself today? 00:07:49.689 --> 00:07:54.019 December 21st, 2025. What does the shepherd king 00:07:54.019 --> 00:07:57.720 mean for you? First and foremost, the shepherd 00:07:57.720 --> 00:08:03.100 king stands. He does not flee. He does not fail. 00:08:03.339 --> 00:08:07.639 He does not forget his people. And as we learned 00:08:07.639 --> 00:08:10.459 a year ago from the book of Revelation, he stands 00:08:10.459 --> 00:08:16.079 with his church. With his disciples. With the 00:08:16.079 --> 00:08:21.959 broken. And with the weak. With the scared. And 00:08:21.959 --> 00:08:28.579 the anxious. He stands when we fall. Second, 00:08:28.699 --> 00:08:32.659 he shepherds. He guides. He protects. He feeds. 00:08:32.720 --> 00:08:36.860 He restores. His leadership is not distant in 00:08:36.860 --> 00:08:41.340 some far away place. In a galaxy far, far away. 00:08:41.460 --> 00:08:45.460 No, he is right here. Intimate. Closer to you 00:08:45.460 --> 00:08:50.629 and me than our two front teeth. He stands. He 00:08:50.629 --> 00:08:55.190 shepherds and he strengthens. Micah says he shepherds 00:08:55.190 --> 00:08:59.570 in the strength of the Lord. It's not human strength, 00:08:59.669 --> 00:09:01.629 my friends. It's not the strength you and I have. 00:09:01.750 --> 00:09:03.809 It's not political strength. It's not military 00:09:03.809 --> 00:09:07.629 strength. This is why Jesus can say and doubles 00:09:07.629 --> 00:09:11.750 down on it when he is here on earth. My sheep 00:09:11.750 --> 00:09:17.730 hear my voice. I know them. Maybe you need to 00:09:17.730 --> 00:09:22.309 hear that today. That Jesus knows you. And maybe 00:09:22.309 --> 00:09:25.269 we have two different reactions to that. We go, 00:09:25.330 --> 00:09:27.909 man, that feels so good that Jesus knows me. 00:09:28.149 --> 00:09:30.570 And I just need that. I need to rest in that 00:09:30.570 --> 00:09:33.909 today. Or maybe you're over here going, oh no. 00:09:34.490 --> 00:09:40.690 He knows me. He sees me. He gets me. And we can 00:09:40.690 --> 00:09:42.669 have a really aversive reaction to that because 00:09:42.669 --> 00:09:48.169 of the things we've done. My sheep hear my voice. 00:09:49.129 --> 00:09:55.950 I know them and they follow me. So let me ask, 00:09:56.009 --> 00:09:58.370 church, family and friends that are here today, 00:09:58.429 --> 00:10:02.549 church online, virtual, are you following the 00:10:02.549 --> 00:10:06.230 shepherd? Are you following a shepherd that stands 00:10:06.230 --> 00:10:10.009 and shepherds and strengthens you when you're 00:10:10.009 --> 00:10:13.809 down here and lifts you up or up here and he 00:10:13.809 --> 00:10:17.950 can bring you down? Are you standing with him? 00:10:18.700 --> 00:10:21.840 Are you accepting his shepherding? Are you living 00:10:21.840 --> 00:10:26.700 and breathing in his strength? Because I don't 00:10:26.700 --> 00:10:29.720 know about you, in a world of instability, I 00:10:29.720 --> 00:10:32.860 thank God that he stands. In a world of fear, 00:10:33.000 --> 00:10:36.279 I thank God that he protects. In a world of just 00:10:36.279 --> 00:10:40.559 pure exhaustion, I thank God that he strengthens. 00:10:42.259 --> 00:10:46.740 Is that not our L piece for the day? Our L piece 00:10:46.740 --> 00:10:49.700 for the present, our hope? Your hope today is 00:10:49.700 --> 00:10:52.100 not based on your own power, your own wisdom, 00:10:52.120 --> 00:10:54.779 or your own resources. Thank God they're based 00:10:54.779 --> 00:11:00.639 on a shepherd king. How are you following the 00:11:00.639 --> 00:11:03.860 shepherd? What does this look like moving forward? 00:11:04.279 --> 00:11:10.320 Hope for the future? He shall be our peace. So 00:11:10.320 --> 00:11:15.379 we're going to go to verse 4 and 5. And he shall 00:11:15.379 --> 00:11:17.980 stand. And shepherd his flock in the strength 00:11:17.980 --> 00:11:20.980 of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the 00:11:20.980 --> 00:11:25.039 Lord his God, and they shall dwell secure. And 00:11:25.039 --> 00:11:27.940 now he shall be great to the ends of the earth, 00:11:28.080 --> 00:11:32.019 and he shall be their peace. When the Assyrians 00:11:32.019 --> 00:11:35.240 come into our land and treads in our palaces, 00:11:35.460 --> 00:11:38.860 then we will rise against him seven shepherds 00:11:38.860 --> 00:11:43.620 and eight princes of men. So, April, leave that 00:11:43.620 --> 00:11:48.649 up there. Take out the word Assyrians. What is 00:11:48.649 --> 00:11:53.490 plaguing you today? Is it the unknown? Is it 00:11:53.490 --> 00:11:56.330 a fear? Is it a sickness? Is it family turmoil? 00:11:56.570 --> 00:11:59.190 Is it a broken relationship? Is it issues in 00:11:59.190 --> 00:12:01.809 your job? Is it just the fear that the kids are 00:12:01.809 --> 00:12:04.429 home for the next 10 days and you have no idea 00:12:04.429 --> 00:12:08.059 how to handle it? What is it? What Assyrians 00:12:08.059 --> 00:12:10.759 are coming your way that you don't have the confidence 00:12:10.759 --> 00:12:14.120 to face knowing you have someone greater than 00:12:14.120 --> 00:12:18.019 you standing with you, standing for you, shepherding 00:12:18.019 --> 00:12:23.019 you, and strengthening you? Micah shifts from 00:12:23.019 --> 00:12:25.320 Bethlehem to the end of the earth, to the end 00:12:25.320 --> 00:12:29.659 of your and my earth. Messiah's rule is not just 00:12:29.659 --> 00:12:33.460 local and temporary. It's universal and eternal. 00:12:34.200 --> 00:12:40.470 He shall. Be your peace. He doesn't just bring 00:12:40.470 --> 00:12:43.889 peace. He doesn't just promise peace. He doesn't 00:12:43.889 --> 00:12:46.429 model it. He doesn't have it on a felt board 00:12:46.429 --> 00:12:53.129 and go, this is how peace works. Paul echoes 00:12:53.129 --> 00:12:56.710 this truth in Ephesians 2. For he himself is 00:12:56.710 --> 00:13:03.210 our peace. And I don't know about you. All of 00:13:03.210 --> 00:13:06.419 a sudden it's 247. And for the third day in a 00:13:06.419 --> 00:13:09.519 row, you're up. Your mind starts downloading 00:13:09.519 --> 00:13:12.200 your days, your hopes, your fears, your anxieties, 00:13:12.220 --> 00:13:15.059 all the things, and you just can't fall back 00:13:15.059 --> 00:13:18.559 asleep. Right? Jesus doesn't say, well, pray 00:13:18.559 --> 00:13:21.100 these prayers, right, and this will manufacture 00:13:21.100 --> 00:13:25.750 peace in your life. No, he says, I am your peace. 00:13:25.970 --> 00:13:29.370 The reason why he gives us peace is because he 00:13:29.370 --> 00:13:33.070 is our peace. Church, I need you to understand 00:13:33.070 --> 00:13:36.190 that. I need you to get that as we walk through 00:13:36.190 --> 00:13:39.850 this next season of Munster Church, highs and 00:13:39.850 --> 00:13:43.690 lows, anxieties, and all the things, we stand 00:13:43.690 --> 00:13:50.409 on someone who literally is our peace. That unknown, 00:13:50.649 --> 00:13:52.549 that walk that you're going through, that walk 00:13:52.549 --> 00:13:54.450 we're going through, we don't know what it's 00:13:54.450 --> 00:13:56.309 going to look like. We have no idea what it's 00:13:56.309 --> 00:13:57.889 going to look like after all the pledges come 00:13:57.889 --> 00:14:00.649 in. We have no idea what the future for Munster 00:14:00.649 --> 00:14:04.970 Church looks like. But our peace is the person 00:14:04.970 --> 00:14:10.409 we look to. Jesus the Christ. Because I know 00:14:10.409 --> 00:14:13.309 for a fact there are some of you looking into 00:14:13.309 --> 00:14:18.840 crazy unknowns. And you need hope. For some of 00:14:18.840 --> 00:14:21.740 you, even through the rest of this year, you're 00:14:21.740 --> 00:14:25.980 scared. Next year, you're scared. You're excited. 00:14:26.059 --> 00:14:29.139 You're anxious. You're D, all of the above. We 00:14:29.139 --> 00:14:32.940 need peace in all of that. And that is the future 00:14:32.940 --> 00:14:35.899 hope. Remember, he doesn't just bring peace or 00:14:35.899 --> 00:14:39.279 promise peace or model peace. He is our peace. 00:14:39.700 --> 00:14:42.899 We need to recognize that and recognize that 00:14:42.899 --> 00:14:47.340 his reign has come, is still here, and will come. 00:14:47.850 --> 00:14:50.950 Back again. The reign of Christ is unfolding. 00:14:51.429 --> 00:14:54.210 Micah is pointing to us that all nations will 00:14:54.210 --> 00:14:58.529 see his glory. Then it was in the person of Jesus. 00:14:58.730 --> 00:15:05.409 Now, watch out, it comes in you and me. The nations 00:15:05.409 --> 00:15:08.070 will see the glory through the people of God 00:15:08.070 --> 00:15:12.129 and the church. So what is that posture? What 00:15:12.129 --> 00:15:16.590 should we be looking like? Well, every knee bowed. 00:15:17.100 --> 00:15:21.220 Every tear wiped away, every name praising the 00:15:21.220 --> 00:15:26.039 Prince of Peace, Jesus the Christ. We'll look 00:15:26.039 --> 00:15:29.399 around and we will see the weird things. We will 00:15:29.399 --> 00:15:32.360 see things that we can only explain by going, 00:15:32.480 --> 00:15:37.279 man, God had a hand in it. The earth will be 00:15:37.279 --> 00:15:39.960 full of the knowledge of the Lord and he will 00:15:39.960 --> 00:15:44.279 use the church. I see it, I feel it, I read it 00:15:44.279 --> 00:15:48.809 in here. That is you and me. Hope for the future 00:15:48.809 --> 00:15:51.629 reminds us that what began in Bethlehem will 00:15:51.629 --> 00:15:55.169 culminate in the new Jerusalem. But to get there, 00:15:55.269 --> 00:15:59.970 we have to go to Golgotha first. We have to go 00:15:59.970 --> 00:16:03.629 to the cross. The great double down. Not you, 00:16:03.730 --> 00:16:09.110 not me. Our blood not shed, but Christ's. The 00:16:09.110 --> 00:16:14.909 cross -shaped advent. Advent points us backwards 00:16:14.909 --> 00:16:19.789 to his birth, forward to his return, but to the 00:16:19.789 --> 00:16:23.129 cross. Eternal redemption. Micah's prophecy of 00:16:23.129 --> 00:16:26.690 Bethlehem leads directly to the manger, the manger 00:16:26.690 --> 00:16:30.730 to the cross. Remember that lyric I used to start 00:16:30.730 --> 00:16:34.179 this? I celebrate the day by relying K. You were 00:16:34.179 --> 00:16:37.279 born to die so one day I could pray to you to 00:16:37.279 --> 00:16:40.659 save my life. It was said of none of us here, 00:16:40.840 --> 00:16:43.740 none of us that Linda Boonder has worked with 00:16:43.740 --> 00:16:46.840 over the last 30 some years, none in the 155 00:16:46.840 --> 00:16:49.500 years of Munster Church has that ever been said 00:16:49.500 --> 00:16:54.240 of. It's been said of Jesus Christ. Micah 5 speaks 00:16:54.240 --> 00:16:58.000 of beginnings. The cross speaks of completion. 00:16:59.720 --> 00:17:03.200 Christ came in smallness so he could give us 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:07.740 his fullness. Bethlehem leads to Golgotha so 00:17:07.740 --> 00:17:11.759 redemption can lead to resurrection. Friends, 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:15.519 that's the hope of Advent. The resurrection of 00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:19.319 the life to come. The one who came in weakness 00:17:19.319 --> 00:17:24.019 is the one who reigns in victory. So where do 00:17:24.019 --> 00:17:26.220 we go from here? Let's land the plane this morning. 00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:31.099 What do we take with us this week? One, do not 00:17:31.099 --> 00:17:35.759 despise small beginnings. If you think you're 00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:38.720 in a small place right now, stay present. God's 00:17:38.720 --> 00:17:41.420 going to choose to use that. God loves to work 00:17:41.420 --> 00:17:44.400 through the small, the overlooked, and the ordinary. 00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:49.240 Two, trust the shepherd king. Why? We've already 00:17:49.240 --> 00:17:52.740 talked about it. He stands, he shepherds, and 00:17:52.740 --> 00:17:58.359 he strengthens. And three, hold fast to the future. 00:17:58.859 --> 00:18:05.279 The one who came will come again. Bethlehem reminds 00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:11.339 us that hope is not loud. It's not flashy. It's 00:18:11.339 --> 00:18:17.240 not dramatic. Hope often starts quietly in a 00:18:17.240 --> 00:18:23.019 manger, in a small town, in small steps of faithfulness. 00:18:23.480 --> 00:18:26.400 Yet we see time and time again in God's word, 00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:31.160 it grows. It grows into something. This Bethlehem 00:18:31.160 --> 00:18:36.359 small town hope turns into the salvation of the 00:18:36.359 --> 00:18:40.619 world. So as we all come together in a couple 00:18:40.619 --> 00:18:45.700 days to celebrate the born salvation, we know 00:18:45.700 --> 00:18:50.700 he is our peace, he is our hope, he is our peace. 00:18:51.740 --> 00:18:52.579 Let's pray.