PRAYER
Dear Heavenly Father,
As we come together today to reflect on Your Word,
we humbly ask for Your presence to fill our hearts.
May the message of Your son Jesus Christ,
the Living Word incarnate, resonate within us.
Guide us so that we may find comfort in the truth
that You choose to be near those You love,
especially during times of struggle and grief.
Amen.
SERMON
John 1:14 NRSV - And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.
POINT: We have all lived with the
“Oftentimes, when I encounter someone who makes me feel afraid, I instantly put up barriers. I put them up with my big words and opinions. I construct them to protect myself. Barriers make me feel right, and that makes me feel safe.” —Bob Goff, Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People
POINT: We have all built
Psalm 23:1-4 NRSV
The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil,
for you are with me.
POINT: In a world where we often feel abandoned in our pain, overlooked in our struggle, and misunderstood in our grief, the incarnation is the epitome of hope. The God of all creation is not distant.
- Be present.
- Listen.
- Serve.
- Love.
Ephesians 3:18-19 NRSV
I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.