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Juliette Grace Bell

7lbs 6oz, 21"

Born 12/7 at 11:50pm

Parents Jordan and Jenny Bell.

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Do I enjoy Christmas as much or more than I did when I was a child? Has my appreciation of Christmas diminished over time or grown exponentially as I have grown older?

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“…it’s always WINTER and never CHRISTMAS…”

  • CS LEWIS. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, pg 19.

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Romans 2:17-24

17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God 18 and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; 19 and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—21 you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. 24 For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

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Isaiah 52:1-10

1 Awake, awake,  put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city;

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BIG IDEA: Christmas invites us to awaken from the spiritual sleepiness of our lives; even in the challenges and the ordinary!

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  • Call to awake this season.

  • Causes of spiritual sleepiness.

  • Awakening from Spiritual sleepiness.

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  • Call to awake this season.

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Isaiah 52:1-6

Awake, awake,  put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake yourself from the dust and arise; be seated, O Jerusalem; loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion. For thus says the Lord: “You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.” 

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  • Call to awake this season.

    • Waking up means putting on God’s strength.

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Isaiah 52:1-6

Awake, awake,  put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake yourself from the dust and arise; be seated, O Jerusalem; loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion. For thus says the Lord: “You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.” 

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Living in exile under the reign of Babylon.

    • Jerusalem has lost:

      • Political authority and independence.

      • Spiritual confidence.

      • A sense of place and future.

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  • Call to awake this season.

    • Waking up means putting on God’s strength.

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  • Call to awake this season.

    • Waking up means putting on God’s strength.

    • Waking up means shaking off what keeps us drowsy.

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Isaiah 52:1-6

Awake, awake,  put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake yourself from the dust and arise; be seated, O Jerusalem; loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion. For thus says the Lord: “You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.” 

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Christianity is how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us to take part in a great campaign of sabotage.

- CS Lewis. Mere Christianity. Pg 46.

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  • Call to awake this season.

  • Causes of spiritual sleepiness.

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  • Causes of spiritual sleepiness.

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Isaiah 52:1-6

Awake, awake,  put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake yourself from the dust and arise; be seated, O Jerusalem; loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion. For thus says the Lord: “You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.” 

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  • Causes of spiritual sleepiness.

    • Israel’s Causes of spiritual sleepiness:
      • Misunderstanding their current circumstances.

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Isaiah 52:1-6

Awake, awake,  put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake yourself from the dust and arise; be seated, O Jerusalem; loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion. For thus says the Lord: “You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.” 

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  • Causes of spiritual sleepiness.

    • Israel’s Causes of spiritual sleepiness:
      • Misunderstanding their current circumstances.

      • Misunderstanding their former circumstances.

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Isaiah 52:1-6

For thus says the Lord God: “My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing. Now therefore what have I here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail,” declares the Lord, “and continually all the day my name is despised. Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.”

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Isaiah 52:1-6

For thus says the Lord God: “My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing. Now therefore what have I here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail,” declares the Lord, “and continually all the day my name is despised. Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.”

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  • Causes of spiritual sleepiness.
    • Israel’s Causes of spiritual sleepiness:
      • Misunderstanding their current circumstances.

      • Misunderstanding their former circumstances.

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  • Causes of spiritual sleepiness.
    • Israel’s Causes of spiritual sleepiness:
    • Our Causes of spiritual sleepiness:

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  • Causes of spiritual sleepiness.
    • Israel’s Causes of spiritual sleepiness:
    • Our Causes of spiritual sleepiness:
      • We misunderstand our current and former circumstances.

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  • Causes of spiritual sleepiness.
    • Israel’s Causes of spiritual sleepiness:
    • Our Causes of spiritual sleepiness:
      • We misunderstand our current and former circumstances.
      • We’ve grown familiar with the Christmas story.

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  • Causes of spiritual sleepiness.
    • Israel’s Causes of spiritual sleepiness:
    • Our Causes of spiritual sleepiness:
      • We misunderstand our current and former circumstances.
      • We’ve grown familiar with the Christmas story.
      • We’re distracted with “busyness” of the season.

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  • Causes of spiritual sleepiness.
    • Israel’s Causes of spiritual sleepiness:
    • Our Causes of spiritual sleepiness:
      • We misunderstand our current and former circumstances.
      • We’ve grown familiar with the Christmas story.
      • We’re distracted with “busyness” of the season.
      • We’re surprised when following Jesus costs us something.

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  • Call to awake this season.

  • Causes of spiritual sleepiness.

  • Awakening from Spiritual sleepiness.

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  • Awakening from Spiritual sleepiness.

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Isaiah 52:1-6

Awake, awake,  put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake yourself from the dust and arise; be seated, O Jerusalem; loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion. For thus says the Lord: “You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.” 

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Isaiah 52:1-6

For thus says the Lord God: “My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing. Now therefore what have I here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail,” declares the Lord, “and continually all the day my name is despised. Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.”

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Isaiah 52:1-6

For thus says the Lord God: “My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing. Now therefore what have I here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail,” declares the Lord, “and continually all the day my name is despised. Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.”

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Isaiah 52:1-6

For thus says the Lord God: “My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing. Now therefore what have I here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail,” declares the Lord, “and continually all the day my name is despised. Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.”

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Isaiah 52:1-6

For thus says the Lord God: “My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing. Now therefore what have I here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail,” declares the Lord, “and continually all the day my name is despised. Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.”

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  • Awakening from Spiritual sleepiness.

    • NOT a revelation of new truth – God’s name is unchangeable – but a NEW revelation of EXISTING truth.

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Isaiah 52:1-6

For thus says the Lord God: “My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing. Now therefore what have I here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail,” declares the Lord, “and continually all the day my name is despised. Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.”

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  • Awakening from Spiritual sleepiness.

    • NOT a revelation of new truth – God’s name is unchangeable – but a NEW revelation of EXISTING truth.

    • A WORD and a PERSON…His name is Jesus.

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We preach not one advent only of Christ, but a second also, far more glorious than the former. For the former gave a view of His patience; but the latter brings with it the crown of a divine kingdom. For all things, for the most part, are twofold in our Lord Jesus Christ: a twofold generation: one of God, before the ages; and one, of a virgin, at the close of the ages; His descents twofold: one, the unobserved, like rain on a fleece; and a second, His open coming, which is to be. In His former advent, He was wrapped in swaddling clothes in the manger…

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…in His second, He covers Himself with light as with a garment. In His first coming, He endured the cross, despising shame; in His second, He comes attended by a host of angels, receiving glory. We rest not upon His first advent only, but look also for His second. And as at His first coming, we said, “Blessed is He that comes in the Name of the Lord,” so will we repeat the same at His second coming; that when with angels we meet our Master, we may worship Him and say, “Blessed is He that come in the Name of the Lord.” MAJESTY!

Cyril (AD 313 – 386)

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MONDAY MATTERS:

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MONDAY MATTERS:

  • Celebrate and enjoy the Hope of Christmas! Jesus’ First Advent!

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MONDAY MATTERS:

  • Celebrate and enjoy the Hope of Christmas! Jesus’ First Advent!
    • A wonderful celebration with presents, time with family and friends.

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MONDAY MATTERS:

  • Celebrate and enjoy the Hope of Christmas! Jesus’ First Advent!
    • A wonderful celebration with presents, time with family and friends.
    • An increasing appreciation and experience as you contemplate Jesus’ birth.

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MONDAY MATTERS:

  • Celebrate and enjoy the Hope of Christmas! Jesus’ First Advent!
    • A wonderful celebration with presents, time with family and friends.
    • An increasing appreciation and experience as you contemplate Jesus’ birth.
    • Thank Jesus for leaving the glory of heaven for us.

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MONDAY MATTERS:

  • Celebrate and enjoy the Hope of Christmas! Jesus’ First Advent!
  • Look forward to the Hope of Jesus’ Second Advent!

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MONDAY MATTERS:

  • Celebrate and enjoy the Hope of Christmas! Jesus’ First Advent!
  • Look forward to the Hope of Jesus’ Second Advent!
    • As you ponder Jesus’ birth, contemplate His Second Advent.

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MONDAY MATTERS:

  • Celebrate and enjoy the Hope of Christmas! Jesus’ First Advent!
  • Look forward to the Hope of Jesus’ Second Advent!
    • As you ponder Jesus’ birth, contemplate His Second Advent.
    • Meditate that Jesus is both the mighty God and the humble and merciful Messiah. Majesty in a manger.

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MONDAY MATTERS:

  • Celebrate and enjoy the Hope of Christmas! Jesus’ First Advent!
  • Look forward to the Hope of Jesus’ Second Advent!
    • As you ponder Jesus’ birth, contemplate His Second Advent.
    • Meditate that Jesus is both the mighty God and the humble and merciful Messiah. Majesty in a manger.
    • Thank Jesus for the hope and confidence that comes from being assured He will bring the full glory of heaven to us.

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