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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">May Christ Be Born In You</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Sue
Monk Kidd, in one of her books, recalls her youth and how she would
prepare for Christmas. In early December, she would sit by the wooden
nativity set clustered under their Christmas tree and think over the
last year of her life. She would think deeply about Christmas and the
coming of Jesus.<br>
<br>
She remembers, one time, visiting a monastery. It was a couple of weeks
before Christmas. As she passed a monk walking outside, she greeted him
with, "Merry Christmas." The monk's response caught her off guard a bit.
"May Christ be born in you," he replied.<br>
<br>
His words seemed strange and peculiar at the time. What did he mean,
"May Christ be born in you?" At the time she was unsure of what he
meant, but now all these years later, sitting beside the Christmas tree,
she felt the impact of his words. She discovered that Advent is a time
of spiritual preparation. It is also a time of transformation. It is
"discovering our soul and letting Christ be born from the waiting
heart." </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">King Duncan, Collected Sermons, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt"><a target="_blank" __removedlink__1682515399__href="http://mail.churchmail.com/lists/lt.php?id=Kk8FAgEFCwBaDUkCAQVKDAtXUVw%3D"><span style="font-size: small"><span style="color: purple">www.Sermons.com</span></span></a></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">_______________________________________________________</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Break Free From the Scrooge Syndrome</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Each
year, in the weeks leading up to Christmas, a great number of people
find delight in the marvelous story written by Charles Dickens: A
Christmas Carol. There is something in the story that lures us back to
it year after year; we never seem to grow tired of hearing its message.
The main character in the story is a surly old man named Scrooge, who
lives a miserly existence. He sees no benefit in being generous with the
poor, or even providing a living wage to dedicated workers. He clutches
onto his money and despises the thought of parting with any of it. But
it is not only his money that Scrooge withholds from others, it is his
entire being. He withholds love and kindness, he withholds warmth and
friendship. Then, one night, Scrooge undergoes a profound crisis. He
sees himself through the eyes of others. He has a vivid vision of his
past; and then his present. But what is most frightful t
o him -
what shakes him to the core of his being - is when he is granted the
opportunity of a lifetime. He is allowed to witness his future. But his
future proves to be so dark and frightening, that it prompts within him a
dramatic change. He undergoes a radical transformation and becomes an
entirely new person. Rather than being cold and indifferent to people,
he becomes generous and compassionate.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">It
is a heart-warming story. But more than that, it is a hopeful story. It
provides us with the hope that we too can make needed changes in our
lives. We can break free from the ruts we have burrowed, and the
negative behaviors we have cultivated. We can become kind and
compassionate, humble and hospitable, joyful and generous.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">I
have never read anything which suggests this, but I wonder if the story
of John the Baptist influenced Dickens and served as an impetus in his
creation of A Christmas Carol? </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Gregory Knox Jones, An Alternative Future </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">___________________</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">True repentance is to cease from sin.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Ambrose of Milan</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">___________________</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Repentance</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">When
a man undertakes to repent toward his fellowmen, it is repenting
straight up a precipice; when he repents toward law, it is repenting
into the crocodile's jaws; when he repents toward public sentiment, it
is throwing himself into a thicket of brambles and thorns; but when he
repents toward God, he repents toward all love and delicacy. God
receives the soul as the sea the bather, to return it again, purer and
whiter than he took it.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Henry Ward Beecher</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">______________________</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Repentance</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">True
repentance hates the sin, and not merely the penalty; and it hates the
sin most of all because it has discovered and felt God's love.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">W.M. Taylor</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">______________________</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Recognizing our Need to Repent</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">One
critic said he had gone to many churches and heard the preacher say,
"Don't try to impress God with your works" or "Don't attempt to please
God with your merits" or "Don't try to keep the rules and regulations
and thus win your way." He looked around at nearly slumbering
collections of utterly casual Christians and wondered, "Who's trying?"</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Martin Marty</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">________________________</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Recognizing our Need to Repent</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">There
is so much noise in the world today. There are so many voices competing
for our attention. If you want to be heard, you almost have to shout.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">I
have read that during a typical lunch hour at the University of
California at Berkeley, spokesmen for a dozen different causes can be
found on the plaza, trying to <font size="2">outsho</font><font size="2"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">u</font>t</font> one another. One day a lone
figure sat down defiantly in the middle of the crowd and held up a sign
which said, "SILENT PROTEST." Someone tapped him on the shoulder and
asked, "What are you protesting?" The defiant figure held up another
sign which said simply, "NOISE."</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">That
experience reminds me of the Salvation Army lassie who was informed by a
policeman that a local ordinance would prevent her from ringing her
bells to invite contributions. But such a crude law could not stop such
an inventive woman. The next day she did a brisker business than ever as
she waved one sign and then another in the air. The signs said…</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: small"><span style="color: black">The conclusion to this illustration and many additional illustrations and sermons for Advent and Christmas can be accessed at <a __removedlink__1682515399__href="http://www.Sermons.com" target="_blank">www.Sermons.com</a>.<br>
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