DISCLAIMER: This text is not a verbatim transcript. Communication Access Real Time Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication credibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings. >> Thank you for joining us today. We want to let you know about a few items of interest. First, go to our website, firstcolonychurch.org, and go there often. You'll find links to our worship services; Bible study options; online giving; and our podcast, Anchor Point. You can also download our church app. Just search for "First Colony Church of Christ" in the App Store or on Google Play. The app is a great resource where you can stay connected to First Colony Church. Thank you for joining us today. We're glad you're here. ♫ >> Thank you for joining us today. We want to let you know about a few items of interest. First, go to our website, firstcolonychurch.org, and go there often. You'll find links to our worship services; Bible study options; online giving; and our podcast, Anchor Point. You can also download our church app. Just search for "First Colony Church of Christ" in the App Store or on Google Play. The app is a great resource where you can stay connected to First Colony Church. Thank you for joining us today. We're glad you're here. >> Shane: Well, good morning! Welcome to First Colony Church of Christ! Welcome, everybody! Welcome to everyone watching online! It's so good to be together and sing praises to God. The words shape us, orient us to be around Christ and be with Him. Let's celebrate the King of Kings today so let's sing and stand together as we begin our worship service! ("What a Glorious Night" playing) >> Richard: Amen! What a glorious night, amen? The Savior of the world was born. He did grow up. He did not stay a baby. ("He Shall Reign Forevermore" playing) >> Richard: Thank you, church, for worshiping this morning. You may be seated. >> Good morning, church. I'm gonna read the Christmas Advent reading Peace. We open it today. We relight the candle of hope, reminding us of the Great Hope we have in Jesus Christ. As we light the second candle of Peace, let us remind us to prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ and give our cares and concerns to Him. >> John: I'll be reading from Isaiah 9, verses 6-7. (reading) >> Shane: Hello? Yeah. As I spoke at the beginning of service, this is an opportunity for us to be shaped and formed and reorient our hearts and lives around Jesus. As we come into this communion time now, those of you at home and everyone in the building, gather your supplies. We will be led again by John and Maria Ricks, and they are going to lead us to look back to Jesus and the foundation of our faith in all He has done for us. So you guys, go ahead and lead us in communion. >> John: Good morning, church. My name is John Ricks, and this is my wife, Ana Maria Ricks. We have the privilege of leading you in communion this morning. If you will, we will pray for the bread and the cup, which represents Christ's broken body on the cross; and the bloodshed for each of our sins. Let us pray. Father, thank You so much for the sacrifice of Your Son; for giving us the most Precious Thing in heaven Elisha, to wash away our sins, and also to teach us how to live. Please help each one of us at this time to contemplate the sacrifice made for us and help us to live accordingly. It's in His Name that we pray. Amen. >> Ana Maria: I will continue the Scripture. Today I will read from coColossians 3:15-17. (reading) ("O Holy Night" playing) >> Richard: Let's all stand together, church. >> Richard: Thank you, church. You may be seated. >> Shane: Amen! You can just about picture yourself being there, can't you, when you're singing that? Just beautiful, guys. So as we pray over our offering, I just want to say that we believe God has called all of us to be givers, to give generously as we have been given; to bless others as we have been blessed; to give our time, ability, and monies to further the kingdom of God. So thank you for giving today. Also, I would like to ask you guys to please consider a year-end gift as an offering. You know, there are several things, many good things, that fuel ministries in a church. One is that volunteer spirit, that thing where we get all together to let's get this done; let's do this; let's have that volunteer spirit. But our prayers fuel our ministry and tithe and offerings fuel ministry. We thank you for your generosity and ask you to consider a year-end gift for the end of 2021. You can give online. It's secure, safe, and simple to set up. You can text to give in the building or give in the boxes in the back of the room there. Let's pray together now over today's offering, if you would join me. Our Father in heaven, we ask that You would take these offerings and would You use them, God. Give us an increased spirit of generosity. Give us an increased spirit of sacrificial love for one another and for others in our community, God; and help us to remember that every good gift, God, comes from You. We dedicate it back to You as we give this offering and we pray in Jesus' Name. Amen. >> Amen! Well, good morning, everyone. My name is Joel Smith, and this is the kids' spot where we take something from our message and make it visual. As you know, we have been talking about peace as we head into the Christmas season, and one of the things that the verse that I chose today comes to us from Philippians 4:7. This is what it says: And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Now, I like the "Surpasses all understanding" because it doesn't make sense so I wanted to have an object lesson that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. In they are I it will work. In theory are it will work. (chugging) The chuckling is because first hour it didn't work; but you know what? I think we fixed those problems. So I have a -- just so you know, I have a Christmas platter. Ta-da! It says "Joy." I have napkins, nothing too special, but they are napkins. I have water. Putting some water on here like so. I have a candle, and I have, we'll say, a little fish bowl. And it's interesting because the challenge that I'm going to try to accomplish is I'm going to try to pick up this platter -- excuse me -- without actually touching the platter. Now, I have lit a candle because, as you knowing we're talking about Advent and anticipation of Christ and the fact Jesus is the Light of the World. But the question is, what do you do with Jesus? Well, if you leave Him on the outside of your life and you're like, "Hey, man, it's Christmas! Let's talk about Jesus!" Okay. Back to normal. "No big deal." This is what happens. Do you pick up if platter? Do you have peace? No, but this verse that we had talked about "Will guard your hearts and minds for Christ Jesus." We have to internalize Jesus. We have to put Him on the inside of our life. We have to meditate on Scripture, learn about Him; and as an instant thing, do things instantly change? Do you automatically have peace in your life when that happens? No, it takes a few moments; and in theory, huh, it works! (gasps and applause) Now, if you check it out on YouTube, they were brave enough to have four more glasses full of water. I was not that brave, but you can try it at home with your mom and dad's supervision. Thank you very much. (Applause) >> Shane: Very wise. Thank you, Joel. Shepherds were among the first to welcome King Jesus, our Emmanuel, the God was, into this world. He's also our Good Shepherd so with that in mind, let's watch this next video. >> God sent angels to appear to shepherds in the field and announce to them the birth of the Messiah. Of all the people He could have appeared to, why did He appear to shepherds? Oftentimes we think of shepherds as lowly individuals doing some sort of menial occupation; but the truth of the matter is there's something so much more. But think about it Scripturally, how significant shepherds were and how much the Bible talks about shepherds. King David was a shepherd, and Moses was a shepherd of sheep. In fact, God appears to Moses in the burning bush while he's tending Jethro's sheep out in the wilderness. Being a shepherd was a perfect life for contemplation and communion with God out there in the solitude of nature, and there's something even further which is that the shepherd represented the type of leadership that God was looking for, an individual who would love and care and tend for the sheep individually. So God sends angels to appear to shepherds -- why? Because to show Jesus is the Son of David and just like David was a shepherd, the shepherds needed to recognize the One who is going to be the True Shepherd of Israel. Moses was a shepherd, and Messiah is the promised, greater than Moses who would shepherd the people. There's one more interesting thing to realize: Think about it for a moment. As we've shared, these are not ordinary shepherds. They were raising the lambs that would be offered in the temple. The word "Corban" for sacrifice means "To draw near." Sin separates, but is a sacrifice draws us near to the Lord. This is what the shepherd wanted in this pilot episode. He want with to be close to the Lord and God has drawn us close to Him through the Ultimate Shepherd and kingdom lamb's sacrifice for us, the shoe of the messiah. You me today upon the Christmas story -- you meditate on the Christmas story. Think about the hope of the Shepherd. I hope you're blessed by this deeper understanding. >> Shane: Amen. Well, we're so glad, again, everyone is here today. If you're a little bit new here or if you have any kind of need to connect here in prayer or want to find a group or ministry, I want to ask you to fill out one of our digital Connection cards using that QR code in front of you, okay? You can scan that in. We would love to visit and connect with you however we can, okay? Kids, grades 1 through 5, it's your chance to go to Main Street Live! If you will walk across the lobby and go to the chapel, you will have your Main Street Live worship there. Parents, it just takes a minute to check them in hat the kiosking so you can do that as well. Everybody else, I want to ask you stand and greet one another. Tell someone what's your favorite Christmas movie. ("Great Things" playing) >> Richard: Thank you, church, for worshiping with us today! You may be seated! >> Ronnie: Richard and team, thank you so very, very much. Good morning, everybody, glad to see you; and to those of you in the room, we welcome you here today to First Colony Church of Christ. Am I on? Can you hear me? Okay. Good. All right. So to those of you in the room, so glad to have you here; and also to those of you worshiping with us online, we welcome you as well. You know, every Sunday we have between 600 and 700 people actually engaged, worshiping with us online. If that's you, we are glad to have you with us. A couple of things upcoming -- of course next Sunday is our annual Care and Share toy and food drive. You can find information on our website. There's some printed Orders of Worship in the lobby today if you don't have one that will give you details in there on the Care and Share drive. That's next Sunday. You know, we've often -- you know, for nearly 20 years we have done it where we bring stuff and put it on stage. We're not doing that this year, but you can go to our website. If you actually just want to order it through our Amazon Connection, you can have it delivered. We have receptacles by the main entrance if you want to bring it here. This goes to help some underresourced individuals and families as we partner with Second Mile Mission, all right? Now, also -- you know, right around the holidays, we'll have a little different schedule and do our best. We'll communicate that. That's in print today and will be on our website. You know, next Sunday, our normal schedule; but certainly coming up Christmas Eve we'll have two Christmas Eve services at 3:00 and 5:00. You'll notice that we've got some little signs here and also out by our Christmas tree. What I'd like you to do, if you wouldn't mind doing this, is help us sort of get the word out. Take one of those signs; get somebody to take your photo -- you, your family, whatever you want to do -- right there by the tree. Then share that with the sign on your social media posts and help to encourage folks to come join us for worship on Christmas Eve, okay? Fair enough? The weeks leading up to Christmas are typically referred to as Advent, and as believers, obviously we look to the First Advent, coming of Christ to the earth. We look back with reflex, awe, and worship -- reflection, awe, and worship. We look forward to the Second Advent with great hope and anticipation. Today, I want us to think about this Greatest Story ever. C.S. Lewis said in "Mere Christianity" "Human history is the long, terrible story of mankind trying to find something other than God to make them h happy." " Thanks be to God, there IS a Grand Story, and our lives can get lost in it; and actually, when we lose ourselves in this story, we find our lives. I have four observations I want to make this morning. The first one is the story of Jesus is believable. It is believable. Rebekah McLaughlin, who was a fantastic young writer -- I hope the Lord gives her many year -- a Ph. D. from exam bridge University, advanced degree in theology, a WONDERFUL writer. She says, "Rather than it being naive to believe that Jesus walked the earth 2,000 years ago, it's actually naive not to." Somebody said, "Can I really be sure that Jesus was even here?" Even unbelievers, even people who are strong atheists, would say obviously Jesus was here. I may not believe His claims, but He's here. Now, what is interesting, though, is that the claims of Jesus, I believe, are very, very believable. You ask, "Can rational, educated 21st century people be expected to believe in supernatural stories like the Resurrection or the Virgin Birth?" Well, the Bible's very first outrageous claim is that there is One God who created the entire universe out of nothing. If you can believe THAT outrageous claim, certainly you can believe that He can raise the dead and Jesus could be born of Virgin Mary. It's like saying to a weight lifter, within I know you can bench press 500-pound. You have proven that, but can you bench press 45?" If you can create the universe out of nothing, everything is possible from then on. You know, 40 years ago, sociologists believed that the sands were running out on religion. They said as the world becomes more and more modern, more educated, more into science, they expected religious beliefs to decline; but that prophesy has failed. Now, it is true that among Western whites that religious participation has declined; but the proportion of people across the globe who say they believe in the Creator God and the Story of Jesus is actually increasing. Today Christianity is the most widespread and most racially and culturally diverse belief system in the world. 31% of humanity identifies as Christian, and the church in China is growing so fast that there will be more Christians in China than in the United States by the year 2030. Some experts say that China could be majority Christian by the year 2060. Meanwhile, the percentage of people who say "I'm a none" or "I'm a done," 16% now and it's dropping. The sand are not running out on Christian belief. They're running in. Now, that doesn't mean that, you know, just because somebody believes something or a big group of people, just because they believe it, that makings it true. That's not what I'm saying. What I am saying is you just cannot dismiss belief in the Jesus story. Some people have said, as the story goes, "Well, believing in science is the opposite of believing in God." That's simply not true. Princeton Professor Hans Halvorson said the first modern scientist did not exclude supernatural causes from their experiments because -- listen to this -- they believed everything is supernaturally caused. Their question was not, "Is God at work here?" But "HOW is God at work in this specific situation?" And today there are Christians at the forefront of every scientific field. For example, Cambridge University, Professor of Experimental Physics, Russell Calburn. Help did not grow up going to church. As a Cambridge student, he went to London one weekend and didn't have anything to do. He went to church. Somebody invited him to a Bible study he said it was reading the Bible for the first time that changed everything. He went on to study physics at Cambridge and he's now a leading expert in nanotech nothing. "Some people view faith and science as competing. I think they're parallel explanations." Somebody says, "How do you account for miracles or the Virgin Birth or Resurrection?" "Science" and I quote, "Science is the description of how God chooses to work most of the time. But God is Sovereign and can choose to work any way He wills. There are special times and places where He will behave differently, the most important one being the Resurrection of Jesus." We know dead bodies don't come back to life, according to science; and yet Christianity is built on the observation that Jesus came back to life. And I'm very happy to say, he says, at that special moment, God was acting differently. As the Apostle Paul would say one time in defending his faith, he said, the Jesus s us is story didn't happen in some corner somewhere. Investigate it. It's VERY, very believable. Be like the wise men and go on a diligent search. That leads to the second point: The story of Jesus is royal. Royal. Jesus was prophesied the Messiah is prophesied as a coming King, and that's who Jesus claims to be. Matthew 2, after Jesus was born in Beth let home in Judea, during the time of King Herod -- some of you have been to Israel, and you have seen a lot of the construction work done by Herod the Great. This is that Herod. He was a pathetic excuse for a human being, but he was a great builder and architect. He was paranoid. He just knew everybody was out to get him. So after Jesus was born in Beth Lee hem in Judea during the time of King Herod, Maji from the east came to Jerusalem, wise men. A lot of people think there were three of them. Well, they thought three gifts. I think it was a sizable entourage. These were kingmakers. By the way, they came from the region of Persia and Babylon, and I believe one of the reasons they came from that region -- remember, Daniel, shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were taken into captivity? I believe they basically started churches and began to teach people about what is coming. That's my thoughts. The wise men are acting the legit man question: Who is the Rightful King? We saw His star when it rose and we have come to worship Him. When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. Why was King Herod disturbed? There's a new King in town. What does its mean -- not for Jesus just to be King but for Jesus to be King in your life or mine? Back in 1922, one person wrote it like this: For Jesus to be king, that means He reigns over the minds of individuals with His teaching. He reigns in your heart by His love, and He reigns in your life as you live according to His law and as you imitate His example. That makes sense. He reigns in my mind through teaching, heart through love, reigns in my life as I imitate His example and live by His commands. Somebody say, "Well, you know, if Jesus is here as King, His kingdom is not getting a passing grade. If He's King, why are things -- why is the world still so messed up?" Well, as theologians like to say -- this is true -- the kingdom of God is here but is not fully here. It's all ready but not yet. No one can deny that SO much good is being done and has been done in the Name of Jesus. A lot of faith, a lot of hope, a LOT of love. The kingdom of God is HERE; it's been -- listen -- it's been inaugurated but it's not yet been consummated. It's already here, but it's not yet here in its fullness. We're longing for that Second Advent. I want you to listen to this quote. "One of the reasons why there are so many bitter, disenfranchised people who are angry at church is because of bad theology. It's really, really important to separate your theology of the Kingdom from your theology of church. These are two separate autonomous entities. Yes, there's some overlap. Sometimes the lines blur and plead, but there are two different ideas. s. Jesus ultimate goal for the universe is the Kingdom. The kingdom is where you get the renewal of ALL things, where Eden is restored, where all things are made right, where the entire creation is made new. The story of the Bible climaxes and ends with heaven crashing to earth in a new heaven and a new earth. The kingdom is this HUGE, big theology with layers and depth and dimensions. "The problem is that many people erase or ignore the theology of the Kingdom and in doing so, they pin ALL of their hopes and dreams on the church. And these unrealistic expectations are way too much to bear for the frail shoulders of God's bride. She was never designed to bear the weight of being the one responsible for making the world perfect." I hear people say, "Well, the church is God's plan to change the world." No, it's not. Jesus is God's plan to save the world. He's bringing His Kingdom. It's already started in this present age; and yes, the church is part of the plan. We're the body of Christ. We're His arm and legs and play a part and join and partner. But HE is the one bringing the Kingdom. He is the one saving the universe. We really don't -- as Americans, we're not too fond of kings anyway, are we? Since 1776? We sort of like the royal family, and Prince Charles and Duchess Kate -- we like decorator kings, but a real king who says, "Here's the direction you need to go." So I will ask you: Are you inviting the Kingdom of God into your world? Because the story of Jesus is a royal story; and when Jesus is your King, here are some things that will change. Are you ready? Your loyalties, your values, your priorities, and your mission. This is the Greatest Story ever, the story of Jesus. It's a believable story. It's a royal story because Jesus is King and worthy of it. And thirdly, it's a vital story. It's a vital story because of the unique mission of Christ. In Matthew 1:21, the angel said this: "She,," that is Mary, "Will give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus." Why? "Because He will save His people from their sins." No one else can do that. No else can fill that job description. Jesus can save His people, you and me, from our sins. My goodness -- we all need some Mulligans. We all need do-overs. All of us have done wrong. All of us have been wronged, and the answer to all of that is the grace available through Jesus. I'm so thankful that He is a God of the second chances and then some. He's a God of the fresh start, a clean slate, a new chapter; a new day. You will give Him His Name Jesus because He will save His people from sins. Sometimes people will say, "You know, Jesus came for hurting people." I think sometimes when we say that what we mean, some people mean, is "Jesus came to fix your problem." I'm not saying He doesn't care about your problems. I'm not saying that sometimes your problem might get fixed. But if you view Jesus as the problem-fixer in your life, you are going to be incredibly disillusioned. He said you come to Me, those of you weary and heavy-laden. I'll give you rest. We find rest for our souls as our sins are forgiven. Consider the thief on the cross. His sins were forgiven and his soul was saved. Was his problem fixed? No. And the Good News of Jesus Christ is it's a message of salvation for people with problems, for people who don't think they have any problems; but if you want to Harden somebody's heart to the True Gospel, go ahead and just tell them that Jesus will fix all your problems and that's why He came. If you're going to do that, you need to give them a Bible where you've Xed out the story of Stephen being martyred for preaching. Go ahead and put out the part where James was he headed. Cut out the part where Paul and the other apostles were martyred for their faith. Cut the verses talking about fiery trials and much tribulation and the inevitability of persecution and being hated because you claim Jesus Christ. If you tell people Jesus came to fix problems, they will ask Jesus into their heart but won't repent of their sin; and they will get REAL angry when their problems are not fixed. The story of Jesus is VITAL because the great need of your life and mine is eternal salvation; and that is what He came to do. Hebrews said it so well "Because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood. Therefore, He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them." Such a high priest truly meets our need, one who is holy; he's blameless; pure; set apart from sinners; exalted above the heavens." "Unlike the other high priests, He doesn't need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the other people." "He sacrificed for their sins" -- yours and mine -- "Once for all when He offered Himself." Hebrews 10: "We have been made holy through the Sacrifice of the body of Jesus once and for all." The reason the story of Jesus, the reason Jesus is vital, is He offered the only POSSIBLE sacrifice for sin -- Himself. Now, when I say Jesus came for sinful people, He loves us and wants to forgive us -- everybody sort of knows that out here. But you would never come to that conclusion if your heart automatically. Here's why you wouldn't come to that conclusion in your heart automatically -- because you know enough in the Bible to know that God is not just holy; He's blazingly holy. There's no darkness in Him. He is holy, righteous, above reproach. So that's Him. So we think, "Well, that's so not me." So here's what happens: We sin and then we hide from God. We sin; then we cover it up and lie about it. We sin and look for somebody else to blame. We sin and stop going to church. We sin and stop praying. Or worse -- we get a good 15 minutes under our belt and start looking down our nose at somebody else. We desperately need to hear, again, that Jesus Christ came for sinners. That means the ransom has been paid; the road blocks have been removed. Yes, I need to come to the Lord in faith and repentance, but here's what I can know: A broken and contrite heart He will never despise. He's open to my contrite heart. He invites it, and no one never, ever need think that a cry for mercy falls on deaf ears. The story of Jesus is the Greatest Story ever. It's believable. It is absolutely believable. It is vital to us. Last of all, the story of Jesus is both personal and communal. Both personal and communal. In other words, it's important that we have a personal relationship with the Lord but not a private one. I want to read a couple passages of Scripture. First of all, John 3. "For God to loved the world" and the reason it says "World" and not everybody's nail is there is no room to spell out everybody's name. I read it like this "For God so loved Ronnie that He gave His One and Only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through Him." "Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the Name of God's One and Only Son." Have you personally welcomed the story of Jesus into your life? Responded to Him in faith and baptized in His Name? Following Him. But the story is also communal. It's mutual. It's relational. Remember one of the names of Jesus is Emmanuel? You remember what Emmanuel means? God with us. Not God with me; God with us. Verse 23 of Hebrews 10: "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful and let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds; not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another -- and all the more as you see the Day approaching." My friends, keep encouraging one another; get together, be together. If you can't do it in person, find ways. Make that telephone and computer holy and encourage one another. Our faith, our motivation, our spirits are sustained through the practice of gathering as we gather. We look one another in the eye and we remind each other of God's faithfulness to His people. The church is the body of Christ, and the body has the Spirit; and the Holy Spirit -- not exclusively -- but the Holy Spirit ministers to you through the ministry of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Now, let me say a little something. You know I love you. You know I care. I would never, ever -- and I'm speaking to those of you on camera, too -- I would never, ever push you to do something that is not safe for you, okay? And I would never, ever push you to do something that you just don't feel good about in your spirit and conscience, okay. I WOULD, however, push you to get beyond your "I'm too comfortable" zone, all right? I realize that housecoat church can be fun and let me encourage you -- again, you got no judgment from me coming here. No explanations are necessary. But if you find yourself in that "You know, I've gotten a little too comfortable" zone, let me give you a little love nudge to be with the family of God in person, all right? Now, you become a Christian; you're a believer. There you go. But I want you to have a vision for yourself that you're not just a believer but will keep growing and maturing and go beyond a believer to be an example; and not just an example but to keep maturing and be an impact player, the kind of person that's a pillar person in a ministry. Believer, yes; but example and impact player. That's the kind of person you want to be. All right, I want to close with a little quote from Louie Giglio. Brother Don, you can come on up to lead us in prayer. (reading) >> Ronnie: It's the Greatest Story ever. It's believable; it's royal and regal; it is vital; it's personal; and it's communal. So believe it. Live in it, rejoice in this Story. Joy to the world, for the Lord has come. He is coming again. Brother Don, would you lead us? >> Don: All right everyone, let's join in prayer, please. Our Father, we're so grateful to You because You Are the God of Love; and You loved us so much that before You created the world, You knew Your Son Jesus would come. Father, You told that story hundreds of times in what we call the Old Testament, prophesying this event would come so those stories led to the Greatest Story. Father, we thank You for gospel ministers the world over. Thank You for Ronnie here; those who proclaim Jesus and those who take the Name and Story of Jesus to those who have never heard before so they have the same opportunity that we have, Father; and that is to believe in the salvation that we have through Jesus Christ because of His shed blood. For we recognize, Father, that we are not a body with a soul. We're a soul in this current physical body and will later on inherit an eternal body. So here as we have our heart seated in our soul and our conscience is there with our heart, which is our memory; which is seeded in our soul; and as we, Father hear Your Word and feel within our heart the full emotions of Your love and of our guilt; and as Hebrews 10:26 says, the blood of Christ cleanses our conscience, which makings us clean and makes us feel relieved, which is a salvation, Father, we're so grateful to You for. So help us, Father, as we realize our will is also housed in our soul; and as Christ prayed that it wasn't His will but be Your will. We also pray, Father, that our will becomes congruent with Your will; that we can lead and live our lives and as other people see our story, which is not anywhere near the Greatest Story, that they would see Christ in us through Your Holy Spirit. Father, we live in a world that's governed by individuals. Well, I want to lift up a prayer at this time, Father; that You would help us to understand that the conception of Christ, that Spirit already existed. And when that Holy Spirit conceived Jesus in His earthly body and Mary, his mother, that was when that life began. Not the spirit but that physical life. So Father, as we have nine people examining things during this current days who, within the coming weekings with, be issuing what is considered to be a constitutional viewpoint that they will understand that it's the soul, not the cells; because the soul -- we became souls at the time of conception, Father. Please help us to live righteously and holy lives; and help us to lift up everyone in prayer, that we may all walk with You each day and look forward to the time when our new body is resurrected at the Coming of Jesus Christ according to the Story that You have given us. It is that glory that comes with this Story from which we are so grateful. It's in the Holy Name of Jesus the Christ that we pray. Amen. >> Shane: Amen. Well, it's been a wonderful day of worship and fellowship, of being shaped yet again by the Story of Jesus, amen? So good to do that together. I've got a few things to tell you. In case you didn't know, we have Bible classes for all ages at 9:45. You're welcome to go to our Info Center or New Here? Start Here to find the right classes for you or your kids. There's an online adult class at 12:30. Kyle is teaching "The Cast of Christmas" so clerk that online. Check the holiday schedule on the church website, including what is and isn't going on and different time that come up as we go through the holidays, including the Christmas Eve Candlelight service at 3:00 and 5:00 Guess when that is? It's on Christmas Eve. Also know there is no Uplift service or Children's Ministry programs until January 12, the Wednesday night things; so while there's a few Wednesday night things going on, no Uplift or Children's Ministry until January 12. Our Care and Share food and toy drive is next Sunday. As has been said, big boxes are on the porch at the front door near the main entrance. Drop items there. Look on the website to see what to bring or look at our Amazon wish list to donate something that way. We also need people to sign up and volunteer to sort through this stuff. AND we need volunteers with the Santa's Exchange ministry. You can find more to get all the info and volunteer for all that stuff on the same Care and Share page on our website. Just go check that out today. You can see how you can get involved there. Also, remember our Service of Remembrance is coming up, broadcast online this year. You can see on our website there's a service on the home page, a link to the Service of Remembrance to find the link and information there. It's a really beautiful service led by Dr. Virgil Fry and others in our church family. It's a time of reflection, thanksgive, and remembering those we're missing and lost if we're remembering this during this holiday season. I encourage you to check that out for next week. All right. Well, it's been a great day. Jesus is forming us and shaping us and His Story is making us go God's people so let's go out and join Him in His mission. He's the King of King and Lord of Lord. Let's proclaim that this week, right, church? Let's stand up and sing. ("Great Things" playing) >> Richard: Church, thank you for your worship today! You are dismissed!