DEC 11 2022 | Isaiah: Messiah S1E4

Sea Change Church · DEC 11 2022 | Isaiah’S Messiah | Episode 4
Isaiah 53:6-7
Automated transcript. Not reviewed for accuracy.

Christ the Lord Good morning, La Jolla Christian Fellowship My name is Rondi Pogue And I am one of your missions partners I run the ministry called Unveiling And I want to thank you so much For your years of support This morning I'm going to read to you From Isaiah chapter 53 verse 6 and 7 From the NIV We all like sheep have gone astray And each of us has turned to his own way And the Lord has laid on Him The iniquity of us all He was oppressed and afflicted Yet He did not open His mouth He was led like a lamb to the slaughter And as a sheep before her shears is silent So He did not open His mouth guitar solo guitar solo guitar solo guitar solo Good morning, La Jolla Christian Fellowship.

It's good to see you here this morning. Wonderful. And we've offered applause for a number of times for the gift of music this morning with this beautiful display. I want to offer appreciation to our technical crew. Let's not applaud. Let's just turn around and wave up to the bleachers, all right? Let's do that. Thank you so much for blessing us with that creativity.

It's wonderful, wonderful to see. I'm Dr. Jim Smith, associate pastor here at La Jolla Christian Fellowship. It is a privilege to be here and to be invited by Pastor Adam to share the word this morning out of our continuing series in Isaiah chapter 53, one of the great, great passages of Scripture in which there is a prophecy centuries before Jesus came of the fact that he was coming.

And with that, we look with great anticipation at what the Lord will teach us. Now, I want to put one little note in at the very beginning, if I may. Appreciate so much Clem and Barbara doing the Advent reading this morning. Last week, it was my wife Linda and I. And shamelessly, I'm going to invite you to wave back to me. Thank you. And with that, we did the reading.

But it was very touching for us because after the reading, we both commented to each other how moving it was to look out at the sea of faces. We are blessed here at La Jolla Christian Fellowship in many different ways. Among them, we can stand out in front of the sanctuary, look down and see the Pacific Ocean. Everybody notice that? It's just beautiful, absolutely beautiful.

But there's also something beautiful about looking out and seeing a sea of faces of people that are made in the image of God. Exactly. There's one now. An infant amen. I love it. I love it. We are made in the image of God. We are meant to walk in his footsteps. We are meant to be cleansed, forgiven, strengthened. And the joy of the Lord often is our strength.

That's what Linda mentioned to me this morning. Keep in mind, the joy of the Lord is our strength. He lifts us up. And so with that, we saw the faces. And I just want to say what an absolute delight that is. In part because when we first came here about nine and a half years ago as interim pastor, there were about 50 people or so here. And I'm looking out.

I'm seeing Bill. Great to see you this morning, brother. You don't have to wave. You can just wink at me and kick me in the shins later on. But in any case, we were about 50 or so. And we prayed that as we built new foundations, discovered the Lord's leading, and then would bring a pastor in who'd be a long-term pastor. That's Pastor Adam. That there would be a blessing.

And it was an honor to be invited to stay. And the Lord has truly blessed in so many ways. And that's not just about numbers. People sometimes are led to go elsewhere. We honor that. God is the sovereign one. What we do, however, is cherish the fellowship that we have together. So I'm grateful. And so just needed to say that from the both of us. Keep those faces coming.

And a few new ones have shown up. I've met already this morning. What a delight. Now, among the activities, down in the lower right-hand corner of your worship folder, as you open it up, and you see the sermon notes, the teaching notes for the morning, you'll see an illustration of our adventurer's Christmas party. And that's people 55 and older had a wonderful time together.

And I am celebrating that by wearing my first gift of the Christmas season. It is a pair of socks that I won at the Christmas tradeoff. The Christmas swap. So, fun. I'm standing in that position. So, this morning, wonderful to invite. We are focused this morning, the centerpiece of what we're talking about here. And this time is the passage, of course, in Isaiah chapter 53 and verses 6 and 7.

And you can see in the very top, the three points are enumerated there. Please take a look at your sermon notes, if you would. And you'll find that Isaiah 53 here, in our passage, cites a needy, a sheepish humanity. You can take that word in several different ways. But a sheepish humanity and the divine Lamb of God who is sacrificed for us all.

And that's the center point this morning. Leading up to that, what I'd like to encourage us to do is take a few minutes and look at Isaiah himself. Because Isaiah, point number one, the Isaiah of the Old Testament, 8th century B.C., grew. In grasping the depth of Messiah's gift, meeting human need. He grew. And part of the invitation we'd like to offer this morning is that, as my grandma would say, we set our caps toward growing in this holy season.

There is this passage that says, Grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Those two to go together. Sometimes grace and knowledge are a little bit of a tug-of-war. But always, that's a creative tension when it's entrusted to the Lord. And we find that we are able to grow. So whether it's in our deeper knowledge in this season, going back to the Word, because I would guess a few of us may not be that regular in reading the Scriptures.

What a wonderful time to go to Matthew or Luke's Gospel, for example, or Gospel of John, and read the early part of the accounts and remember in color the sense of what it meant for Jesus to come and for Mary to say, First of all, as I preached one year ago, Mary as first responder, Behold, this appearance comes, and I've chosen you, Mary, to be the one who would bear the Messiah.

And she says, First of all, what? How can this be? I am the Virgin Mary. You know, what in the name of biology and reputation are you talking about? Right? Then she moves to, Let it be to me according to your word. God didn't do anything to Mary. He did it through Mary. Hmm? And then finally, My soul magnifies the Lord. My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.

What a wonderful progression in her life. She grows in her experience of God's purposes for her. She says yes to the Lord. What an opportunity for us to grow. And then in point three, if you will, In point number three, we're going to hear the voice of Jesus himself. And that means we're going to go to the Gospels, and at the bottom of your worship notes, you find a Christmas package.

And I want to thank Christina, wherever she may be this morning, for doing a little artistry there. We've got the angel doing the annunciation of Christ's coming, up in the upper right-hand area of our notes. And then down at the bottom, we've got that Christmas gift that invites unwrapping. And I want to encourage you to unwrap the Gospel gift, hearing Jesus' own voice saying why he came.

A lot of times we don't hear the whole array of things. And Jesus said, here's why I came. It's this reason. But in the Gospels, it's rich in his voice expressing the teacher. He wants us to know, wants us to be aware of who he is and what his mission is and his uniqueness. And so with that, we're going to unwrap the gift. So three steps this morning, if we may.

Let's go to step number one. This is called, essentially, Isaiah, the prophet, the Old Testament prophet, grew. And so with that, looking at the texts themselves, let's walk through a sequence of the prophecies that are there in the book of Isaiah. 53 is not the first, but Isaiah chapter 7 and verse 14. Do you notice? This will be familiar to many of us.

The Lord will give you a sign. The virgin shall be with child and give birth to a son, and he will be called Emmanuel, in Hebrew meaning God with us. The beginning of Isaiah's prophecy of the coming Messiah is what we might simply say miracle. That God is big enough to do miracles. There's an old song, I believe in miracles. I've seen a soul set free.

Our God is big enough. Our God is greater. One of my friends in ministry, a former student of mine, I teach seminary, teach church history. I welcome conversations about that, if you have any curiosity in that area. But one of his statements was, a lot of times life says to us, this isn't going to work. This is stuff. And his comment was, always look for God's deeper yes.

Look for the deeper yes in the situation. Look for God to be active in the midst of the circumstances. And when we open the door to that awakening, that attentiveness, then we can see the Lord active in stepping into our lives. It may be in the face of illness. It may be in the face of economic challenges. It may be in relational situations. God's deeper yes.

God's power. And so behold, the virgin will conceive and bear a child. And you'll call his name Emmanuel. God is with us. And there's a couple of us I'm looking at right now, his marvelous faces, where your lives reflect what I know is a miracle of God. In the first service, there was someone who came, one of our neighbors, whose life was spared against all medical odds, a massive heart attack.

There was no way. Ne quam qua, as they would say in Latin. Sorry. There was no way in which this guy was going to survive. But this has awakened him as people gathered for prayer to the glory of God being revealed. They were there this morning. What a delight. Our God is greater. Look for the deeper yes. And so the miracle is there. Then Isaiah continues, chapter 9, verse 6.

Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. And the government, the kingdom, will be on his shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. This is our mighty God. Now, let me make a suggestion, if I may, as we're growing, and maybe even growing in relationships with each other. Having been a pastor for quite a few years, numbers of times, I've invited people to do something like this.

Look at a text of Scripture, and for example, John 14, 6, where Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And if you have a friend, especially a friend in the faith, you might want to say, you know, what aspect of Jesus' ministry do you most need? Do you most need him to be the way? And often I'll lead with this. I'll say, you know, John 14, 6, the way, the truth, and the life.

You know what I'm feeling right now, dear friend? I'm feeling like I need Jesus to be the way. I need Jesus to show me a path. As Dr. King used to say, God makes a way where there is no way. He will open doors, open opportunities. If we're paying attention, so much of this is just paying attention to life and to the Lord's gift. And so I might say, I feel a need to find the way.

What do you feel? How can we pray for each other? What do you need? Or maybe you need the truth because somebody's giving you a, I almost said a word, somebody's giving you a ship load of lies, right? Sorry, not quite a technical foul. But somebody's feeding you lies about yourself. You're not worthy. You ain't worth much. You're not going to measure up.

You live under guilt, live under shame, live under fear. That's your sentence this life based on earlier experience and early stuff. And the answer is no way. Is that the case? Maybe you need to hear the truth of God. I don't make junk. I make children in my image, both male and female. It says in Genesis 1, he created them. And so we've got incredible gifting and potential in the Lord.

So with that, there is this sense, maybe we need wonderful counselor. Maybe you need that today. We have a counseling ministry. Some of you are aware. And if you're interested, check in at the church office if you'd like. But wonderful counselor, mighty God, we need someone with power. Everlasting Father, we need an embrace. With all due respect to her musical gift, we don't need Bette Midler singing, from a distance.

We don't need that. Right? Because God isn't just watching us from a distance. He is the everlasting Father. He longs for ways to give us an embrace with His love, to help us find a home, a home for our hearts. And so with that, we have this blessing, a loving, everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace. Can I make a statement this morning? Peace is not the absence of hassles.

Because you're never going to get that on this earth. Isn't that true? We're never going to get absent, like zero hassles, no hassles, no problems. You know, Gilda Radner on Saturday Night Live used to say, it's always something. Right? So with that, we're not looking for the absence of hassles. We are looking for the presence of our Lord right at the center of our lives.

The Lord is my screensaver. Right? The Lord is the hub of the wheel that I run life through. The Lord is the center. And so with that, there is this sense of Prince of Peace when the Lord is at the center, when the Lord is the hub of the wheel of my life. Then there is whatever's going on, that kind of assurance, that kind of strength. So to a child is born, a son is given, wonderful counselor, and on it goes.

Isaiah is growing in his understanding. Then he gets to chapter 41. Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight. I will put my spirit upon him. He will bring justice to the peoples. He will not falter or be discouraged. I, the Lord, have called him in righteousness. And then it goes on, so sing to the Lord a new song. The Lord may use the carols of Christmas to strengthen and renew your faith and mine during this season.

Sing to the Lord. But this is about his mission. He will bring righteousness. He will bring justice. I celebrate every act of kindness and goodness and truth around me. Don't you? Because we need to recognize that there are beautiful things that are happening around us. There was a church some years ago that I was invited to preach at, and it was kind of going down.

The people there said, this isn't working, and I was invited, we're going to try a new pastor. Come and preach for us, because we've heard you before. And one of the lines, I said, Lord, what should we say? And one of the things that the Lord led me to say is, you know, when you look around, when we look around in life, sometimes it looks like dirt, but God wants to make it soil.

We look at it, and it's dirt. It's just stuff. But God wants to make it soil. The Lord wants, by his grace, to make it fruitful and good things to grow out of this. And so with that, we have a mission. We are called as the Lord was. To righteousness. And Isaiah keeps growing in his understanding, but there's a cost to this. For us to be brought back into right relationship with God, there is a cost, and someone pays the price.

And so we get to 53, and it says, all we like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to our own way. And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity, in the Hebrew word there, avon, had the guilt, the shame of us all. He was led, the Messiah, like a lamb, to the slaughter. And yet he opened not his mouth. This, in a sense, echoes the Jewish historic practice rooted in Leviticus and numbers of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, in which symbolically, because the people, nobody was innocent.

You know the Old Testament, Israel, nor are they today, except for Jesus himself. But there would be, symbolically, this sin laid upon this lamb, these goats, the rituals are varied, but Yom Kippur is powerful, but imperfect. And ultimately, it would take a perfect sacrifice. It would take Jesus himself in that role. Look, if you will, at that little box below the scriptures.

Two phrases, if I may, that are from music. One of them is, he paid a debt he did not owe, I owed a debt I could not pay. Doesn't that say it? He paid the debt he did not owe, and I owed a debt I could not pay. Being, may I confess it this morning, in our small group, I am a recovering sinner. My name is Jim, and I'm a recovering sinner. And I'm saying that honestly.

And so with that, he paid a debt he did not owe, because I owed a debt I could not pay. One foul, and I was beneath the righteousness of God. Nothing I could do would measure up. I needed someone who was fully righteous. And that's why the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. That's why Jesus said, as the old Hallmark phrase says, I care enough to send the very best.

And I'm going to send my very presence to you, the word made flesh. And Jesus himself, as it says in Hebrews 4, tested and tried in every way like we are. He knows it, yet without sin. Did you ever think of the fact that God could have made this maybe a transaction? It could have been very, very much businesslike. God sends his son. Jesus is here for 20 minutes.

He takes care of it. There we go. But that wouldn't have been love. And that wouldn't have been fully identifying with us and fully satisfying what it meant for him to be tried in every way like we are. So Jesus doesn't begin his public ministry until he's what? About 30 years of age, the gospel says. Earlier on, he's busy being the oldest son in a family whose father had died.

He's busy doing that. He's busy being a carpenter. He's being tested in various ways. How grateful we are that he stepped in, experienced that span of life, and in his perfection could be the perfect sacrifice for our sin. Isaiah grew. How long did it take for Isaiah to write the book? Hmm? You ever thought of that? Anybody know how many chapters are in the book of Isaiah?

66. Isaiah wasn't watching TV. Well, we know he wasn't watching TV. He wasn't watching TV on a Thursday night and felt an inspiration of the Spirit. He says, I think I'm going to write a prophetic book. And so, he starts writing a prophetic book. It takes him 20 minutes to write down the prophet. He's out of there. 66. You know how many words there are in the book of Isaiah?

37,000. That's the Hebrew word count. 37,000 words. In the book of Isaiah. We don't know if this took him weeks, months, even across years, as increasingly the perfection of God's gift was revealed. Some have said, you know, chapters 1 through 39 have one kind of style and Hebrew, and then 40 and following has a different style of Hebrew. And so, it could even be, wouldn't defeat God's purposes, if Isaiah wore out, passed the spiritual baton, that person was inspired by the Holy Spirit and continued to write in their own Hebrew.

That's just fine because it's one book. The point is, Isaiah grew the invitation this season. Ask the Lord, would you? Lord, what will it take for me to grow? To grow in grace by showing grace and love to others and to grow in the knowledge that you've put before me from your word and by reflection in that area. So, with that, Isaiah grew. The second phrase down there is, we are loved because the one who knows us best loves us most.

Number two, Isaiah 53. When he arrives at that passage, he cites the one doctrine that we do not need to prove. Sin. Isn't that right? I know in explaining sometimes to people, what's the good news of Jesus? What's this whole Christian message that you're proclaiming, you're talking about here? And there may be one doctrine or other that I need to, whether as a historian or simply as a follower of Jesus, need to talk about and give a defense or an explanation.

It's good for us to study up in those areas, but the one doctrine I don't need to prove is sin. Can you guess why? Because everybody steps in something. Everybody messes up. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We don't need that only as Romans 3.23. We just experience that, don't we? Aren't you a recovering sinner? So, with that, we can identify with the issues that others face as well.

We don't need to prove the doctrine. It's there. And if we ever needed to find faults in human race, all we have to do is look at media, correct? So, all we have to do is tune in for a moment. We all, like sheep, wander astray. And I put down ego paths fixated into thorns, like sheep wander into their thorns and thickets, over cliffs, becoming, in our own particular way, prey to others.

We all want our own way. Ecclesiastes 7 says, I have found this. God made humanity upright. We are created, we were created back in the original days, pure, righteous, but we have sought out many, Hebrew word for you, chishashbon. We seek out many devices, schemes, angles, tricks. That's the Hebrew meaning. God made us to be upright, but too often it turns into a game, and we want to be the rulers of that, created in God's image too often.

We turn toward idols. That's brokenness. That's brokenness. Now, someone may say, okay, that's Old Testament, little bit of Ecclesiastes, how about New Testament? Let me offer a couple verses. What is sin? If we need a definition in the New Testament, what is sin? Well, one definition would be that sin, 1 John 4, 3, that sin is a violation of God's law. Many of us in this room are familiar with the Ten Commandments.

We're familiar with the Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, they shall be filled. Many of us are familiar. So, sin, 1 John 4, 3, if you're taking notes, is simply a violation of God's law. Now, we see violations all around us, right? One of my favorites, I shared this in the first service and people got it totally, is coming over to church this morning.

We live out by Lake Murray. And so, I come across on the 8, come up the 805, come across, and then the 805 has a ramp to the 52. Ever notice how there are two lanes when you go to the ramp there's only one lane that emerges? And I'm used to seeing people in my rear view mirror trying desperately to get there ahead of me. Anybody know what I'm talking about? Yeah.

You know the, you know the worst place is the west end of I-8. Down in the beach where it goes from, anybody know? It goes from four lanes to one. Right? Talk about freeway roulette. You know? And so, we're out there and I, that's my biggest predictable temptation. It's when I see somebody with trucks bigger than God makes them, you know, flying up on my left-hand side, you know, lights on, several duels, and trying desperately to get to the ramp that single lane before I do.

We don't have to prove the doctrine of sin or of selfishness or of egotism. We don't have to go there, but there is this, there's this real sense where there it is. What is God going to do? Is God going to stamp loser on all of us? He could have. But instead, God so loves the world that He gave His Son. And so, in 53.7, God's loving provision offers forgiveness, freedom from guilt.

The Word was made flesh. Taking on the servant, He became a human likeness. Philippians 2, downward mobility, if you will. Jesus identified with us as the Lamb. I don't know how many of you come into the sanctuary and ever look at that absolutely beautiful portrait up there of Jesus with the Lamb. Right? You notice it? I just think that's uplifting. And especially on a morning like this, if we take a fresh look, we see that Jesus is cradling Lamb, and He could put Jim around that.

You could put other names on the Lamb, if you will. Any name, pick yourself. Put yourself cradled in the arms of a marvelous shepherd. Little Psalm 23, little John chapter 10. But also, Jesus knows what it's like to be a Lamb. And there on the cross, cry out for the mercies of His Heavenly Father. He knows. He understands that. And so, He was then led as a Lamb to a slaughter.

He became the sacrifice for our sins. So, we celebrate the manger, and we celebrate the cross, and we celebrate the empty tomb, and the resurrection joys on days like this. So, with that, so grateful that we can come together. May I encourage us, then, point three is a close, may we continue to grow in this season. Ask the Lord, would you today, how can I grow in my knowledge, my experience of You, my celebration of You, my grace extended to others in Your name?

How may I grow like Isaiah did, like Mary did? And Lord, thank You, a fresh thank You, for identifying with us as the Lamb that was slain, and gave Your life as a spotless sacrifice for me. Thank You. But finally, can we hear Jesus' own voice? We put down here, and again, thanks to Christina for making this a gift-wrapped piece this morning. What does Jesus say He came?

Why does Jesus say He came? This is a whole study in itself, and this might be fruitful for you if you look at this in the days ahead to grow in the knowledge of Him. Let me read those, if I may. Jesus said, I came because the Father sent me, you see the references, in mission, to fulfill the Old Testament law and the promise, to be the light of the world, character, to call sinners and to seek the lost, love, to serve as a ransom for many, sacrifice, to give life in all its fullness, supply, to destroy the work of the devil, victory, to bring a sword which is also surgical, doing surgery on our lives to get the cancers out of my life.

Or as one of the dear people in our Wednesday night study that Linda and I leave, resuming late January, shameless promotion. But in any case, as we talk about that, one of our attendees is an ophthalmologist, and he has said, you know, what God has done, came to Christ in the last two years, first time, to faith in Jesus, and he said, what God has done is remove the cataracts from my spiritual eyes.

He has, by the sharpness of his word, done surgery and removed the cataracts. And I can see. And it's not dim anymore, and it's not tunnel vision anymore, and it's not blocked anymore. But I can see. Praise God. Isn't that wonderful? So with that, here's why Jesus came, and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. And that reaches into the year 2023 as we're here together.

So we give the Lord thanks, and as I conclude, just before we invite someone else to offer the blessing, very special, sister in the Lord. I want to hold this sheet up, if I may. Christ has set us free. He has forgiven us. You know what forgiveness means? It's from the old Latin word, forgiveo. To give means to pass along, and forgiveo means to send away.

When there is sin, either we send away the person or we send away the offense. Isn't that right? When we forgive somebody, we either choose, when we're offended, to send away the person or to send away the offense. It's called forgiveness. Forgiveo. God sends away the offense. He wants us to come and be His flock, His people, His church. Obstacles we experience.

This has been so helpful to me. Came out three, came out five years ago now. It's called The 3D Gospel by an international missionary, Jason Georges. And he talks about how to communicate to ourselves and to others the way in which the gospel frees us from guilt, as we're forgiven, from shame, as we're drawn together into a family, and from fear, as God is greater than any strange spirit that's in the world.

Guilt, shame, and fear. I made some extras of this. We cleaned out after the first service. There's more of them out there on the Next Steps table. If you'd like to talk more about your own faith, growth, and so forth, I'm glad to chat afterwards. But out there, there'll be some of these. Take a look and see how rich the good news is of what our Lord does, freeing us from guilt, and shame, and fear.

And as we draw up just before the noon hour, I want to ask someone else to extend the greeting. Virginia, would you come? And I'm inviting Virginia to come because she has a gift and a grace to extend to us all, offer a couple of reflections, and then a prayer of blessing for us all. Thank you. Wonderful to see you. And Fellowship After is welcome. God bless you.

Good morning, church. And thank you, Pastor Jim, for your message. What an encouragement. Can you hear me in the back? I understood the last service. They couldn't hear me in the back of the church. And I'd like to know that you're not having to struggle. When Pastor Jim asked me if I would like to share this morning, I was very grateful. This is a beautiful sanctuary, and we have wonderful people here that give so much of themselves.

And this year that's gone by has been a precious year. And so I wanted to just thank everyone this morning for all the volunteers and encouragement and prayer and our staff, just everyone. It's a beautiful place. In John, chapter 11, verse 25, Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. the one who believes in me will live, even though they die. And whoever lives by believing in me will never die.

In Psalm 23, the 23rd Psalm of the Old Testament, the Lord God tells us what we may look forward to once we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and as our Savior. As we approach Christmas, I want to encourage each one of you, each one of us, to be a candle of light and this, in this dark world that we are experiencing, faith and encouragement does not go unnoticed.

A smile and a helping hand are still understood by folks who are searching for friendship. and we've all been there. The gift I like sharing besides the salvation message is any work that's been created that encourages me in my faith. And so, at Christmas time, I look forward to sharing something that will be a motivation and be an encouragement as well as someone knowing that they were remembered.

we devote ourselves, it says in Colossians 4.2, to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ. And I mentioned the gifts that I like to share at Christmas that are meaningful in regard to the faith because this one book that I have read many times and been able to share, the shepherd's version of the 23rd Psalm, is life-changing.

It has been written by a man who has spent his life doing many wonderful things, but one of the most important things he said he'd ever done was as a shepherd working with the sheep. And so, Philip Keller's book will be life-changing and it will be a gift that people will remember who gave it to them because the first time I read it, I had to reread it. There were things in there that were pure gems that I had never come to understand before.

So, in closing this morning, I want to thank Pastor Jim for asking me to share what a joy that is. And I think that this book will be a gift to you and also an encouragement to share our faith. Not all of us are comfortable with sharing our faith. I had to work at it and I must tell you that the more you work at it, the better you get. But sometimes we get impatient with the time that that takes.

But for me, I'm still working on my testimony. But I've finally got it together so it doesn't take forever to share. People can get uneasy if we take too long. And I find that sometimes it's just better to be as brief and as pointed as we dare to be. So, this morning, I encourage you to have a beautiful Christmas, to find a way to invite someone maybe to your home or to have a lunch or to have a little time together that perhaps doesn't have that in their life.

And I find what a blessing that is. And I can remember when I had no place to go and I was invited in Philadelphia to a home where I could enjoy Christmas with a Jewish family. And that was the beginning of my beginning to learn to love the Jewish people. So I want to mention that this morning. And let me say Merry Christmas and may your new year be blessed.

I hope you could hear this.