Lord, we're so grateful to be able to be here today. Pray that you direct our time in the word now and in the next session as well. And Lord, just ready our hearts that we might receive all that you have for us, Lord, that we'd be good students of your word. In Christ's name, amen. The message and the meaning of Christmas, from the standpoint of biblical history and historical truth, it never changes. It's always the same. You know, we realize over as we watch On the landscape of life, that message seems to change in the world, but really, from the sense of real, true biblical truth, it's always the same. I liken it as if the sinking, if I was writing a story of the sinking of the Titanic, and I wrote that it sunk off of Pacific City, you know, and I could write a really good tale about that. I think I actually could do that. it still would be false, right? It wouldn't be true. And so we want to grab that truth. And the message has been built sometimes of Christmas by fabricated fiction. And so I'm really not upset with the world for messing up Christmas. In fact, I think it's weird for us to expect the world to grab a hold on truths that the church seems to be struggling with a little bit, and so I think we kind of go the wrong direction sometimes. I like when the Apostle Paul, was in prison in 2 Timothy when he knows he's going to be executed. God's Spirit has revealed that to him. It's interesting because he writes to Timothy and he doesn't write about all those big bad people that are going to take his life, but instead he says to Timothy, the Lord's bonds of it must not be quarrelsome, but kind to all, able to teach, patient when wrong, with gentleness correcting those who were in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, that they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive to do his will." So interesting, his aspect and how he wrote that. With gentleness correcting those who were in opposition, there seems to be little gentleness anymore. I'm more interested in the church getting Christmas right. And I'm not trying to imply that you don't or that you don't have it right. But we all need those type of reminders. And so I wanted to do that today. And I just say as a church, let's advertise the truth. You know, let's tell people about the truth. And maybe when we stop whining at the world, we can start winning the world with the good news of the gospel. Wouldn't that be so much better than that? And so I think, really, there is a sense of correction for us as believers. We're whining quite a bit. when we could be winning, when we could be grasping onto that truth. And so that kind of led me to this. And the truth of that very first Christmas is a truth for all people, all places, all time. It's something that never changes. It's absolutely consistent. And so I've come up with my 25 Biblical wishes for Christmas. And these wishes are based on several passages of scripture. You can find in your Bibles Isaiah chapter 9. We'll be over in Isaiah 7, Luke chapter 1 and 2, and Matthew. And I'll be pressing quickly through those, but those would be some markers that you can put down. The first wish for Christmas, biblical wish, is see the signs. A look at and a reminder of prophecy is something that we really grasp onto. A lot of our Christmas carols that we sing in church are actually about fulfilled prophecy that we celebrate. God always had Christmas, and that's what we call it, Christmas, right? He didn't, we did, but he always had this on his mind. Even from the very first recorded words, even before the very first recorded words, and by the way, the first recorded words ever spoken were let there be light. God said, let there be light. Those are the first recorded words. And so, and in Genesis 1-3, it's amazing for us to consider that when those words were first spoken, it represented so well what would be a description, really, of what we celebrate Christmas for. And it goes into Isaiah's prophecy in Isaiah chapter nine. So Isaiah nine, A lot of what I'll be going through is taken from this loaded passage of scripture. Isaiah chapter nine, verse two says, the people who walk in darkness will see a great light. Those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them. And then skip down there to verse six. For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, and the government will rest on his shoulders. And his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of his government or of peace on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of the hosts will accomplish this. There's never been a time when the sending of God's only son, his one and only eternal son, there's never been a time when it wasn't on the mind of almighty God to do. It was always on his mind, which means if you're here this morning, And you've placed your faith and trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. You notice how Pastor Linton always kind of goes into the details. You embrace his death, his burial, his resurrection. You know he died in your place. When you do that, you have to understand if you've embraced that, you've always been on the mind of God. Always, and so it's so interesting to think about. God's word is quite interesting, especially because prophecy that runs through his word, prophecies regarding Jesus Christ, and even though, as I pointed out, the first words spoken, recorded words spoken, were God said, let there be light, we're probably not considering those as words of prophecy, But when we look at our passage in Isaiah 9, and when Jesus comes on the earth, Jesus says in, you don't need to turn there, but in John 8, 12, I am the light of the world. And whoever walks with me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of light. It's pretty hard not to see the comparison of that. 67 verses after God says, let there be light, right after Adam and Eve have sinned against God in the Garden of Eden, and just before they're moved out to the Garden of Weden, God says in Genesis 3.15, I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed. He will bruise you on the head and you shall bruise him on the heel. This is prophecy. This is talking about what we're celebrating Christmas, that Jesus is coming. The Hebrew terminology in this passage of scripture makes it, it's actually an impossibility. The seed of a woman? Really, what are you talking about? It's impossible without there being the virgin birth. That's Isaiah chapter seven, right? Isaiah 7, 14. Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin will conceive and bear a son, and you shall call his name Immanuel. Then look at Matthew chapter one. Matthew chapter 1 and we're going to look at verses 18 through 23 Matthew chapter 1 verse 18 now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows when his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph before they came together she was found to be with a child by the Holy Spirit And Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit, and she will bear a son. and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord to the prophet. Behold, the virgin shall be with the child, and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, what translated means God with us. So please see the signs. Look at the signs. Don't miss the fact that the birth of Jesus was the most announced birth in the history of mankind. Hundreds of prophecies made over 2,000 years before Christ was born. God always plans ahead, right? And then he always keeps his word if he says he's going to do something. My second Christmas wish for you is remain focused. lose focus of the real reason that Jesus came. It's one of the reasons I want us to kind of think about that today. Think about that. There's so many distractions this time of year and honestly many of them have little to do with why we celebrate the birth of Jesus. Too often the story of the baby born in Bethlehem is thrown in with so much fabricated fiction that people lose focus and can't really tell the difference between truth and fiction. Honestly, sometimes it drives me crazy. This is why I start with this challenge by see the signs, look at the signs. Look at what prophecy said, because it clearly directs our thinking to the reason Jesus came. So we saw from our Isaiah passage that people were walking in darkness, and they were going to see a great light. It's something that was revealed in those that live in dark land. Then in John, and this is just in, when Jesus was talking with Nicodemus, remember he came at night, in John chapter three, Jesus said this, verses 19 and 20, this is judgment, that light has come into the world, and man loved darkness rather than light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come into the light for fear that his deeds should be exposed. And then Romans 6, 23, for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. It's interesting when you think about it, because you think about this, men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. The darker the world becomes, even in the daylight, People are comfortable with doing what is evil. But we're to shine the light. Don't lose focus of the reality or the reason that Jesus came. Jesus was born in the manger of Bethlehem so that one day he might die on the cross to redeem us from our sins by taking upon himself the wages of that sin. And dying in our place and facing the very wrath of God for us, that we might be saved and that God might be glorified. No wonder the angels said to the shepherds, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace among men with whom he is well pleased, or more properly translated, peace among men with whom God is willing to place his good pleasure. When Jesus was born in the manger, God placed his good pleasure on mankind. Christmas wish number three, check the facts, check the facts. Let me remind you that when the shepherds are told by the angel, these angels, and this angel first, and the angels come later, the other ones come later, who dramatically appear, and when they appear, the glory of God shines about them. They're told, this is Luke chapter two, it's an amazing statement. The angels say to them, do not be afraid, But then he tells them why. For behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which shall be for all people. For today in the city of David there has been born to you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you. You will find the baby wrapped in clothes and lying in a manger. And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest, on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased. Notice that their response is not, that is so cool, dude. Can you see what those wildly glowing messengers in the sky said? Let's build a fire and sit around it and have hot chocolate and make s'mores and talk about it. They didn't do that, right? They went. It says, instead, the shepherds go, verse 15, and when the angels went away into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, let's go a straight way. Let's go, let's say, right now, right here, we're leaving the sheep, and we're gonna go check. Besides, they're gonna be put out of a job anyway, in 33 years, because the Lamb of God is gonna die for the sins of the world. They check it out. The wise men, too, they checked it out, right? You think about the wise men. I mean, consider the fact that these men traveled for two years. That's a long trip. They traveled for two years, and it seems strange. They are seeking the Warren-born King of the Jews, and it's amazing to think about why would they do that unless Somebody gave them some information, and most believe it probably was Daniel. That Daniel had taught nothing that was in scripture, but had taught about this, and so they come, and they even know to go to Jerusalem. So they're following, they see a star, it says, but they go to Jerusalem for their final directions, right? King of the Jews, Jerusalem, they're just thinking, putting two, two, two. It should blow you away when you consider Then when they show up on the scene and they ask where to find him who was born King of the Jews, Herod knew they didn't mean him. Now it irritated him, but he knew they weren't talking about him. So he gathers the religious leaders of Israel and he says to them, hey, by the way, where's this supposed to take place? And here's what troubles me, and this is kind of the last point we're gonna get to a long time from now. Not one of them, even though they quote chapter and verse, not one of them goes to check it out. That should bother you. They hear the truth. They tell Herod he's supposed to be born in Bethlehem of Judea. Here's the prophecy, nobody goes. Not even Herod goes. Check the facts. Get to know the facts. As several did in the Christmas story, the shepherd and the wise men are an example of this. But Herod and the religious leaders in Jerusalem absolutely refuse. Get the facts. Get into the word of God. My fourth Christmas wish is rejoice in the good news. Rejoice in the good news. Listen, this should be a happy time of year for you. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and we know, you know, I like to talk, years ago I did this in Fred Meyer, the week after Christmas, you know, because everything's on sale, right? To say, have you heard about the after Christmas special? They're going, well, yeah, we do have specials. I go, no, I'm talking about the after Christmas special is that Jesus Christ was born in a manger so he could die on the cross for our sins and we could be forgiven for our sins. That's like the after Christmas special, right? Much to rejoice about, much to rejoice about. We are told to rejoice over and over in scripture at the news of the Savior being born, not just at his birth. We rejoice at his death, at his burial, at his resurrection. When we sing the song, joy to the world, the Lord is coming, which is a second coming song, by the way, we should be rejoicing at that good news. Jesus came, but he's coming again. Number five, number five, grab truth instead of tradition. Grab truth instead of tradition. Well, I like to say, keep the wise men out of the manger. Drives my mother nuts if I visit her at Christmas time. She's got a little manger scene set up. She's got the shepherd. She's got the wise men. Literally, several times after we visited her, she's called and said, now, what do you do with my wise men? I hide them, I put them on a shelf somewhere. You know, they weren't in the manger, so... I know, people are like, you're just ruining Christmas for us. Keep it up, okay? Grab truth instead of tradition. Grab truth as opposed to being distracted by tradition. Honestly, many traditions that are held surrounding the Christmas story are traditions, and I know that they're harmless, okay? I get that. But be careful that you do not lose the truth in the tradition. Like, just remember. There was no little drummer boy there, OK? I'm sure it's a cute story. I've watched it. And we don't know if Mary and Joseph rode on a donkey. But it looks really nice on a Christmas card, right? But they were poor, and they probably did not. And we don't know how many wise men there were. We don't know the names of these wise men. I did a characters years ago, and somebody came up and asked me which one of the wise men I was, and I'm going, What do you mean? They knew the names. I still don't know the names of them. Probably you guys do. You're smarter than me. But we know they brought three gifts, right? And so speaking of the wise men, they weren't in the manger scene. Matthew chapter 2 tells us they came into the house. That's verses 11 and 12. You can read that for yourself. Grab truth instead of tradition. Grab truth, and don't go around spoiling people's tradition, okay? Don't go around ripping people's manger scenes out in front of their houses apart, you know, because their Santa Claus is there, and, you know, and the big elf is there, and the Grinch is there, and, you know, just. Just get it right in your house, okay? Grab truth. Years ago, in my first ministry, we're in Livermore, Colorado, and this is like our first year going into Christmas, and a lady from the church comes up and she goes, I hope you're not gonna ruin Christmas for my children by telling them there's no Santa Claus. There's no kids in here, right? Okay, so. I was shocked that she said that to me. Other than a message like this, I don't really preach about Santa Claus. I told her, I have no intentions of talking about Santa Claus. And it's so interesting because years later, which is now, I was looking through my conversation with her, but I also said to her in a gentle way, I hope you're not gonna ruin Christmas by not telling your children about Jesus. So, keep the wise men out of the manger, and the dumber boy, and Frosty, and Santa. Have fun with your children, but don't forget to tell them this is about Jesus and why he came. Sixth Christmas wish, embrace the child born. Back in Isaiah again, so a lot of this comes from Isaiah chapter nine, verse six. A child will be born to us. This speaks of the humanity of Jesus Christ, which we'll look at a little bit later on. God taking on flesh in order to redeem us. And what an amazing truth this is to consider, that Mary gives birth to the Lord Jesus, and she swaddles him, and she takes the Son of God, and she lays him in a manger. God in a cow trough. That just blows me away. I remember hearing R.C. Sproul say one time, people are so worried about the cattle trough making, defiling the baby Jesus, and that wasn't really what did it, right? It's when he took our sins upon himself. So embrace the child. A friend of mine wrote years ago, how, why, what was God thinking? He became his own creation? It's amazing to think about. There are many words you use to describe his majesty, but we don't usually think about it laying in a cattle trough. My seventh Christmas wish for you is receive the son given or acknowledge him. Unto us a son is given, Isaiah 9. This does speak of the deity of Christ. It takes us to the Christmas message in John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believed in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Receive the son. Do you know him? Have you placed your faith and trust in him? There's no greater decision than you could ever make. Number eight, go to him as the wonderful counselor. Go to him as the wonderful counselor. You know you need him in your life, right? You know you need that wonderful counselor. Maybe you're not like me at all, but there's times in my life when my head is spinning and I'm thinking, what do I do? I need some advice. You know, I need some direction. Will you think about this? He's compassion, he's compassionate, he's love, he's gracious, he's merciful, he's just. How many counselors can you say that's true about out there? And think about how much more wonderful, he's all-sufficient. There's nothing, you can't go to God and say, boy, have I got a surprise for you. You know? You can't surprise God. He holds all the surprises. He's sufficient. What better counselor can we have? Number nine, regard him as the mighty God. Regard him as the mighty God. Isaiah 9 says, his name shall be called, you know, mighty God. The baby in the manger is called by the prophet, mighty God. I love that Hebrew wording. The Hebrew word is El Geber, which is God mighty. It is God mighty, which carries more than with what we can just grab in our English language sometimes. It means powerful God. It means warrior God. It means even hero God. Isaiah prophesies this. This was to be true about a baby that was born. I think it's amazing that our mighty, valiant, powerful hero God is lying in a manger. in his humanity. And it may appear that he is a fragile little baby, and he is, right? But he is also the God of the universe, and he's almighty. And in that manger, our hero was born. My next Christmas wish, don't mess the Trinity, verse 10, don't separate the Trinity. In fact, the truth is, when you read Old Testament prophecy and New Testament, you're going, now wait a minute, the Word of God says Jesus did this, and then it says God the Father did this, and it says the Holy Spirit did this, and I'm just saying, don't try to split up the Trinity. The original hearers of this prophecy, this must have seemed so odd for them to hear that a baby would be born, a son would be given, which means he already existed, that he was given, and that they were also hearing that he was called everlasting, Father. And one day, Jesus will hang on the cross for our sins, and he will do, as a volunteer, he will say, no one can take my life, I lay it down freely, and he will die for us as our hero, mighty God. Yet from the human side of things, the religious leaders of the day, they will think they're killing Jesus. They will say, he being a man made himself equal with God. And of course, Jesus had no trouble claiming this because he also said, I and the Father are one. Number seven, number 11. I encourage you to savor the eternal. Savor means to taste or to enjoy, to relish, to appreciate the eternal son. Remember that time cannot tie down the savior. The world can change all the truths they want to, but time cannot tie that down. Isaiah chapter nine, verse six, everlasting father, that phrase, scripture says that God sent forth his son in language using, that he sent forth something that already existed. And you can just write this down. We've used this a lot here at Blaine. Galatians chapter four, verses four and five says, but when the fullness of time came, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons. Savor the eternal son. Number 12, let him be your prince of peace. Let him be your prince of peace. The word prince, that Hebrew word there, means captain or chief or overseer. And peace, the word peace, he's the overseer, he's the prince of peace, he's the overseer of the peace, he's the one that gives you peace and brings you peace. Do you ever need that in your life? that goes with Wonderful Counselor, my next wish for you is behold him as the king. Behold him as the king. Remember the Magi in Matthew 2-2? They say, where is he who is born king of the Jews? By the way, he's not just king of the Jews. He's king of everything. Where is he that's born? Behold him as your king. Consider what that means to your life. Do not treat the king as Herod did. Herod was determined not to have any king interfere with his life. Think about it. Think about over the years when we hear about a mass murder, and it breaks our hearts, right? That might help us understand what happened in Bethlehem, when every male child two years old and younger was massacred. Talk about, can you imagine the mass burial site of all these children killed? And by the way, I understand history. I know that it was, it wasn't like hundreds and hundreds, but it was at least two dozen little boys that lost their life. I wonder how often did we try to execute the king, or at least try to refuse his rule. We played the cane and able, you know. The truth is, Cain couldn't touch God, who he was mad at, and he touched the only thing, the closest thing to God, and that was his brother Abel, who was made in the image of God. See him as king, and be drawn to him in his majesty and long for his coming. Next one goes hand in hand with this 14. See him as the exalted one. See him as the exalted one. You can write down in your notes Philippians chapter two, verses five through 19. It talks about Jesus Christ, who is in the form of God, didn't think that something that needed to be held on, he set that aside and he came and was born as a man. And then verse nine says, but God highly exalted him. Number 15, know him as the only one who can forgive sins. The only one that can forgive sins. There is no other way. There is no other option. There is no other hope for the world. Remember him as the only one that can forgive sins. Peter said in Acts 4, filled with the Holy Spirit, there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among man by which we must be saved. 16, remember his humility. Remember his humility. Philippians 2.8, being found in the appearances of man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient, not to the point of being born in a manger. It says he became obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. 17, bow before his name. Bow before his name. Philippians 2 verses 9 through 10 says, therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth. 18, see his humanity. See his humanity. We sing this in heart, the herald angels sing, Christ by heaven, by highest heaven adored, Christ the everlasting Lord. Late in time behold him come, offspring of the virgin's womb. Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see. Hail the incarnate deity. Please, as man with man to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel. 19. Recall God's delivery of his son, born of a virgin to uncommon people, but according to the promise. Recall. Remember that. Which is 20. Be mesmerized by the message. Emmanuel, God with us. Isaiah 11, one says, there shall come a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from the root shall bear fruit. Matthew says, she shall bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. Be mesmerized by that message. Consider it, reflect upon it, and realize this is amazing truth. Number 21. Let him remove your fears. One message said over and over again when it came to the announcement of the birth of Jesus Christ was, fear not, fear not, fear not. Let him remove your fears. 22, absorb the angel's message. which was glory, peace, pleased God, glory to God in the highest and peace among earth with those he is well pleased. Good news, great joy, precious gift. 23, be gripped by why he came. The people who walk in darkness. for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Be gripped by why he came. He didn't come so he could be celebrated as, you know, so just at Christmas time we could look at the fact that Christ came and manger scene and we could make plays about him and we could put Frosty and everybody else in there. He came for a purpose. 24, be grateful for the gift. Thank the Lord. And teach that to your kids and grandkids. Thank you, Lord, for coming, that you would do this, that you'd be born in a manger. 2 Corinthians 9, 15 says, thanks be to God for his indescribable gift. But try anyway. You can't describe it, but tell your grandkids. I can't really fully describe it, but I want to tell you about Jesus. And 25, mourn those who miss Christmas. Mourn those who miss Christmas. Instead of always being offended and irritated at those that miss Christmas, mourn them. Mourn them. Remember, the Magi show up on the scene. They ask where to find the King of the Jews. Herod knew it, didn't mean him, but he doesn't go and check it out. That should make us sad. Not happy. They only had to go five or six miles. Five or six miles, and they could have met Jesus. Roaring Camp was supposed to be the meanest, toughest mining town in the entire West. More murders, more thefts. It was a terrible place inhabited by men and one woman who tried to serve them all. Her name was Cherokee Sal. She died while giving birth to a baby. Well, the men took that baby, and they put her in a box with some old rags under her. And they looked at her and decided, that just doesn't look right. You know, this precious little baby in this ugly box. And so they sent somebody 80 miles away to buy a rosewood cradle for this baby. And they brought it back, and they put the baby in the rosewood cradle with the same rags. And they thought, well, that ain't right. These ugly rags with this little baby. And so they sent someone off to buy some silk blankets to wrap the baby on. And everyone was happy until the miners realized that that the floors in the room were filthy. And that's not good. The baby's going to crawl someday. You can't let this baby crawl around this filthy room. And so these old miners get down on their hands and knees, and they scrub the floors clean. And the floors are clean. And all of a sudden, they realize the walls aren't any better, and neither are the ceiling. And there's a broken window, and there's no curtains over the window. And so they started washing things down and getting curtains. And of course, they realized in their brawling and fighting that took place all the time, drunken rebel rousing, that babies don't sleep through that. So they had to change their habits. They couldn't do that, at least not inside the house. They had to go out somewhere to do that, because babies won't sleep. And then the little baby would cry, and they didn't want that happening. So the whole temperament of this rough little mining town began to change. On nice days, they would sit their little baby girl out by the entrance of the mine so men could look at her during the day. But one of them said, boy, it's filth all around here. We've got to do something about that. So they planted some flowers in a nice garden spot for her to sit in. And it looked nice and beautiful. And they would find shiny stones and trinkets to put around her so it looked pretty. And every day, something else seemed to change. because of that little baby that was born, because of that baby that came, she seemed to enter every crevice of these hard-men lives and changed everything, little by little. Two thousand years ago, a baby entered into the world scene in a manger, in a town called Bethlehem. Have you let him touch your life? Have you let him change your eternity? Enter into every crevice and clean it up? He wants to, and he will, and he's the only one that can. Let him, you'll never regret the results. Though it may be a painful process at times. Take another look at that first Christmas. As John MacArthur says, if your heart is not overwhelmed with gratitude and adoration, then you missed the whole point of Christmas. God has given the greatest gift of all time, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Those are my 25 wishes for us at Christmas. Lord, thank you for your word, how precious it is, Help us to grasp in so much, I'm sure I covered more than I should have, Lord, but so much for us to consider what a gracious and mighty God that you are. Give us clarity as we move into this time where we celebrate the birth of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, but for a purpose of coming. And if there's anyone listening to the message that has not put their trust in Christ, let this be the moment when they say, God have mercy on me, a sinner. Please forgive me for my sins, not because of who I am, but I look to the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for dying in my place. I put my faith and my trust in you. And for those of us that know you, Lord, thank you for this great reminder of all that you've done for us. In Christ's name, may this bring glory to your name. In Jesus' name, amen.