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<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">There Had to Be a Father</span></div>
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<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Pastor
William Carter said that on his Christmas vacation on his first year in
college, he had become an expert on the birds and the bees. Biology was
his major, and after a semester in the freshman class, he was certain
that he knew more biology than most adults did in his hometown ...
including his minister. A few days before Christmas, he stopped in to
see him. He received him warmly and asked how he had fared in his first
semester. "Okay," he replied, avoiding the subject of his mediocre
grades. But then he told his pastor, "I've come home with some
questions."</span></div>
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<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">"Really?" the pastor replied. "Like what?"</span></div>
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<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">"Like
the virgin birth. I've taken a lot of biology, as you know," which
meant one semester in which he received a B-, "and I think this whole
business of a virgin birth doesn't make much sense to me. It doesn't fit
with what I have learned in biology class."</span></div>
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<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">"What's the problem?" he asked.</span></div>
<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> </span></div>
<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">"There had to be a father," he announced. "Either it was Joseph or somebody else."</span></div>
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<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">His pastor looked at him with a coy smile and said, "How can you be so sure?"</span></div>
<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> </span></div>
<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">"Oh, come on," he said. "That's not the way it works. There had to be a father."</span></div>
<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> </span></div>
<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">His pastor didn't back down. Instead he said something that Carter said he'll never forget: "So - why not God?"</span></div>
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<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Why
not, indeed? The more we learn, the harder it is to swallow a lot of
things that once seemed so palatable. Advent is a season of wonder and
mystery. We tell our children stories at this time of year that we would
never dare tell when it is warmer and there is more sunlight. The
really wise child is the kid who knows how to shut his mouth even when
he has a few doubts. But sometimes it is hard to do, especially when you
have a whole four months of college behind you.</span></div>
<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> </span></div>
<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">William G. Carter, Praying for a Whole New World, CSS Publishing Company.</span></div>
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<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Joy to the World</span></div>
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<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Consider
the story of one young man. Sick and puny as a baby, he remained frail
and delicate all his days. Later, as a pastor, his maladies were so
severe that he could not serve his growing congregation. Instead he
wrote them letters filled with hope and good cheer. Even though his body
was frail his spirit soared. He complained once about the harsh and
uncouth hymn texts of his day. Someone challenged him to write a better
one. He did. He wrote over 600 hymns , mostly hymns of praise. When his
health finally broke in 1748 he left one of the most remarkable
collections of hymns that the world has ever known. His name? Isaac
Watts. His contribution to the Christmas season? Probably the most sung
of all the Christmas hymns, "Joy to the World; the Lord is come." <br>
<br>
Could
Isaac Watts have written so, if his life had been easy? I don't know.
It is amazing, though, how often persons who have everything are
spiritual zeroes, whereas those who struggle through life have souls
with both depth and height. <br>
<br>
King Duncan, Collected Sermons, <a shape="rect" target="_blank" __removedlink__1821656026__href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=0012tVoYdwfdlP2mfheOII-arhme2uZkx4FJuQImndTB14-fYFVB7IKFVo-1dMJecGcUV4wUKMrhZMk6EtscOVHb3-qTpjUIenwOKSD2Aiemms8htKZpTeWPA=="><span style="COLOR: #0000ff" color="#0000ff">www.Sermons.com</span></a> </span></div>
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<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Walk or Fly</span></div>
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<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">A
little girl, dressed as an angel, in a Christmas pageant was told to
come down the center aisle. The child asked, "Do you want me to walk or
fly?" You feel as though she almost could have flown. Don't ever lose
the wonder and mystery of Christmas. </span></div>
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<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Every
year I'm reminded of those words of the late Peter Marshall: "When
Christmas doesn't make your heart swell up until it nearly bursts and
fill your eyes with tears and make you all soft and warm inside then you
will know that something inside of you is dead."</span></div>
<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> </span></div>
<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">James T. Garrett, God's Gift, CSS Publishing Company. </span></div>
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<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">_____________________</span></div>
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<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">God Is the Happiest Being in the Universe </span></div>
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<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Perhaps
we need Santa at Christmas to help us be merry and joyous because we
have a flawed understanding of Jesus. From today's gospel text we learn
that the first reaction to Jesus' presence on earth, of
God-in-our-midst, was joy. Joy so tremendous, joy so utterly
overwhelming that it must somehow escape the bounds of earth itself and
jump towards the heavens. <br>
<br>
In John Ortberg's wonderful book The Life You've Always Wanted (Zondervan, 2002), he writes: </span></div>
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We
will not understand God until we understand this about him: "God is the
happiest being in the universe" (G. K. Chesterton). God knows sorrow.
Jesus is remembered, among other things, as a 'man of sorrows, and
acquainted with grief.' But the sorrow of God, like the anger of God, is
his temporary response to a fallen world. That sorrow will be banished
forever from his heart on the day the world is set right. Joy is God's
basic character. God is the happiest being in the universe. <br>
<br>
Joy
is what makes Christmas. Each of us may look to some annual family
tradition to trigger that joy. But the trees, the carols, the cookies,
the presents, the parties, are only various expressions of a single
experience of the spirit JOY born again into our souls. <br>
<br>
Leonard Sweet, Collected Sermons, <a shape="rect" target="_blank" __removedlink__1821656026__href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=0012tVoYdwfdlP2mfheOII-arhme2uZkx4FJuQImndTB14-fYFVB7IKFVo-1dMJecGcUV4wUKMrhZMk6EtscOVHb3-qTpjUIenwOKSD2Aiemms8htKZpTeWPA=="><span style="COLOR: #0000ff" color="#0000ff">www.Sermons.com</span></a></span></div>
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<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">_____________________________</span></div>
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<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Slow Down and Welcome Christmas<br>
<br>
"The
Christmas spirit comes on me more slowly than it used to," writes Joan
Mills, a mother of three children, in her book Christmas Coming. "But it
comes, it comes. Middle-aged (most of the time) and jaded (some of the
time), I complain of plastic sentiment, days too brief, bones too weary.
Scrooge stands at my elbow muttering, "Bah!" and "Humbug!" as I total
the bills. But when I acknowledge the child I once was (and still am,
somewhere within), the spirit of Christmas irresistibly descends."<br>
<br>
"For
Christmas is truly for children those we have, and those we have been
ourselves. It is the keeping-place for memories of our age in lovely
ritual and simplicities. <br>
<br>
"I'm tired," I say fretfully. "There's just too much to do! Must we make so much of Christmas?" "Yes!" they say flatly. <br>
<br>
"But
bayberry, pine and cinnamon scent the shadowed room. Snow lies in quiet
beauty outside. I hear someone downstairs turning on the tree lights
while another admires. I lie very still in the dark. From the church in
the village on the far side of the woods, carillon notes fall faint and
sweet on winter clear air. <br>
<br>
"Silent night," my heart repeats softly. Holy night. All is calm All is bright. <br>
<br>
"As
I take the stairs lightly going down, no bones weary now, my whole self
is thankful; once again, I am flooded with the certainty (call it
faith) that there's goodness in the world, and love endures." <br>
<br>
Leonard Sweet, adapting Joan Mills, Collected Sermons, <a shape="rect" target="_blank" __removedlink__1821656026__href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=0012tVoYdwfdlOCnSgZtPXLIVbMhtpxCF5DlGRZkq51u9arDNeI8_2ef7Bc2ycFYICwSbiWlD0nX7p0w3o-KxxfTDkXRbXIAG4S546aC3Eu338=">www.Sermons.com</a></span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <br>
<br>
__________________________________________________</span></div>
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<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Pick Up the Baby</span></div>
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<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Sam
Levenson tells a wonderful story about the birth of his first child.
The first night home the baby would not stop crying. His wife
frantically flipped through the pages of Dr. Spock to find out why
babies cry and what to do about it. Since Spock's book is rather long,
the baby cried a long time. Grandma was in the house, but since she had
not read the books on childrearing, she was not consulted. The baby
continued to cry. Finally, Grandma could be silent no longer. "Put down
the book," she told her children, "and pick up the baby." <br>
<br>
Good
advice. Put down the book and pick up the baby. Spend time with your
children. Particularly at Christmastime. We have the mistaken notion
that good parents give their children lots of things. Wrong...</span></div>
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<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span style="COLOR: black">The
rest of this illustration, as well as many additional illustrations and
sermons for this week, Christmas, and New Year's can be accessed at <a shape="rect" target="_blank" __removedlink__1821656026__href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=0012tVoYdwfdlOCnSgZtPXLIVbMhtpxCF5DlGRZkq51u9arDNeI8_2ef7Bc2ycFYICwSbiWlD0nX7p0w3o-KxxfTDkXRbXIAG4S546aC3Eu338=">www.Sermons.com</a></span><span style="COLOR: black">. </span></div>
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