Carol of the Bells (for 12 cellos) – The Piano Guys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9GtPX6c_kg
Mary, Did You Know? – Pentatonix
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifCWN5pJGIE
Carol of the Bells (for 12 cellos) – The Piano Guys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9GtPX6c_kg
Mary, Did You Know? – Pentatonix
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifCWN5pJGIE
The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
John 3:31-36 (NIV)
2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV)
We demolish arguments and every pretention that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
O come, O come, Emmanuel – (Piano/Cello) – The Piano Guys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO7ySn-Swwc
Trans-Siberian Orchestra – Christmas Canon (Official Video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cP26ndrmtg&t=0s&index=2&list=PL5o2Uu3rC4m5ONKvTeJSDlCA8b_JomJ8k
Today’s Passage: Matthew 1:18-25
Message [used with permission from A Sermon for Every Sunday] : God’s Dream for You – The Fourth Sunday of Advent [12/22/19] by Father Michael Renninger, pastor of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Richmond, Virginia.
“What are you dreaming about this Christmas?” asks Father Michael Renninger. In today’s passage, Matthew 1:18-25, we find Mary and Joseph dreaming, perhaps dreaming about their future life together…until Mary tells Joseph that she is with child. Joseph’s dream has turned into a nightmare…until God gives him another dream. God’s dream for Joseph is larger than Joseph could ever imagine. Listen as Renninger explains how Joseph’s dream changed his life and how God’s dream can change our lives as well.
But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
Galatians 4:4-7 (NIV)
We must have a spirit of power towards the enemy, a spirit of love towards men, and a spirit of self-control towards ourselves. – Watchman Nee
So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Galatians 3:26-29 (NIV)
Father, when we wane from the fruit of the spirit in these busy and sometimes frantic days, help us to step back and breathe you in. Help us to remember love, to remember joy, to remember peace, to remember patience, to remember kindness, to remember goodness, to remember faithfulness, to remember self-control which are all gifts from you, our loving Father. Amen.
But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
Jude 17-25 (NIV)