want to welcome you if you're visiting<\/p>\n
for the first time this evening we're<\/p>\n
glad that you're here I got to meet with<\/p>\n
some before uh the service who are<\/p>\n
visiting so we're glad that you're here<\/p>\n
we look forward to getting to know you<\/p>\n
getting to speak with you after our time<\/p>\n
of worship today<\/p>\n
so today is the first Sunday of<\/p>\n
Advent the beginning of Advent the word<\/p>\n
Advent means<\/p>\n
coming and this is the time when the<\/p>\n
Christian Church the world over<\/p>\n
celebrates that Jesus Christ has come<\/p>\n
and we look forward to when he will come<\/p>\n
again<\/p>\n
so this season uh we're going to allow<\/p>\n
our hearts to be<\/p>\n
refocused on the coming King as we look<\/p>\n
ahead towards Christmas<\/p>\n
Day and on Christmas day of course we<\/p>\n
remember that God took on flesh that God<\/p>\n
stepped into this<\/p>\n
world the Bible calls Jesus Emmanuel<\/p>\n
which means god with us God has stepped<\/p>\n
down into this world that he has<\/p>\n
created so so over the weeks of Advent<\/p>\n
we'll be looking at the narrative Arc of<\/p>\n
the Bible the whole story of the<\/p>\n
Bible and we'll be looking at the<\/p>\n
history of the world through the the<\/p>\n
lens of Creation The<\/p>\n
Fall<\/p>\n
Redemption and the restoration that is<\/p>\n
to come or consummation that is to<\/p>\n
come so today's sermon will really uh<\/p>\n
focus our hearts and our minds on the<\/p>\n
Advent of all things the coming of all<\/p>\n
things and it will be just the beginning<\/p>\n
okay just the beginning of a sermon that<\/p>\n
really will run over the next few<\/p>\n
weeks very much like you know watching a<\/p>\n
series on a streaming<\/p>\n
platform I'm sure you've noticed when<\/p>\n
you watch those at the end of the<\/p>\n
episode they leave you hanging just a<\/p>\n
bit right leave you hanging so you want<\/p>\n
to watch the next one<\/p>\n
so at the end of this sermon today<\/p>\n
you're going to feel like there there<\/p>\n
must be more to the story there must be<\/p>\n
more to<\/p>\n
this and we'll feel this way because<\/p>\n
there is more to this story there is<\/p>\n
more so today we begin with God's<\/p>\n
creation of all things<\/p>\n
and our main text is from Genesis<\/p>\n
chapters 1 and<\/p>\n
two I'll read a portion of it so most of<\/p>\n
chapter one all of chapter one some of<\/p>\n
chapter<\/p>\n
twoa Tha on the screen as well there's<\/p>\n
uh Tai on the screen so I'll be reading<\/p>\n
in English all of chapter one most of<\/p>\n
chapter 2 but for your homework you can<\/p>\n
go and read through again okay you can<\/p>\n
go and read through again let me pray<\/p>\n
for us before we<\/p>\n
read God we thank you for this day this<\/p>\n
day that you have made you've brought us<\/p>\n
together as a church to worship<\/p>\n
you<\/p>\n
Lord lead us in understanding your word<\/p>\n
today lead us we ask and pray in your<\/p>\n
holy<\/p>\n
name<\/p>\n
amen this is the word of God Genesis<\/p>\n
chapter 1 in the beginning God created<\/p>\n
the heavens and the Earth the Earth was<\/p>\n
without form and void and darkness was<\/p>\n
over the face of the deep and the spirit<\/p>\n
of God was hover ing over the face of<\/p>\n
the waters and God said let there be<\/p>\n
light and there was light and God saw<\/p>\n
that the light was good and God<\/p>\n
separated the light from the darkness<\/p>\n
God called the light day and the<\/p>\n
Darkness he called night and there was<\/p>\n
evening and there was morning the first<\/p>\n
day and God said let there be an expanse<\/p>\n
in the midst of the waters and let it<\/p>\n
separate the waters from the waters and<\/p>\n
God made the expanse and separated the<\/p>\n
waters that were under the expanse from<\/p>\n
the waters that were above the expanse<\/p>\n
and it was so and God called the expanse<\/p>\n
heaven and there was an evening and<\/p>\n
there was morning the second day and God<\/p>\n
said let the waters under the heavens be<\/p>\n
gathered together into one place and let<\/p>\n
the dry land appear and it was so God<\/p>\n
called the dry land Earth and the Waters<\/p>\n
that were gathered together he called<\/p>\n
seas and God saw that it was<\/p>\n
good and God said let the Earth Sprout<\/p>\n
vegetation plants yielding seed and<\/p>\n
fruit trees bearing fruit in which is<\/p>\n
their seed each according to its kind on<\/p>\n
the earth and it was so the Earth<\/p>\n
brought forth vegetation plants yielding<\/p>\n
seed according to their own kinds and<\/p>\n
trees bearing fruit in which is is their<\/p>\n
seed each according to its<\/p>\n
kind each according to its kind and God<\/p>\n
saw that it was good and there was<\/p>\n
evening and there was morning the third<\/p>\n
day and God said let there be lights in<\/p>\n
the expanse of the Heavens to separate<\/p>\n
the day from the night and let them be<\/p>\n
for signs and for seasons and for days<\/p>\n
and years and let them be lights in the<\/p>\n
expanse of the Heavens to give light<\/p>\n
upon the Earth and it was<\/p>\n
so and God made the two great lights the<\/p>\n
greater light to Rule the Day and the<\/p>\n
Lesser light to rule the night and the<\/p>\n
stars and God set them in the expanse of<\/p>\n
the Heavens to give light on the earth<\/p>\n
to rule over the day and over the night<\/p>\n
and to separate the light from the<\/p>\n
darkness and God saw that it was good<\/p>\n
and there was evening and there was<\/p>\n
morning the fourth day and God said let<\/p>\n
the waters swarm with swarms of living<\/p>\n
creatures and let birds fly above the<\/p>\n
Earth across the expanse of the heavens<\/p>\n
so God created the great sea creatures<\/p>\n
and every living creature that moves<\/p>\n
with which the waters swarm according to<\/p>\n
their kinds and every Winged Bird<\/p>\n
according to its kind and God saw that<\/p>\n
it was<\/p>\n
good and God blessed them saying be<\/p>\n
fruitful and multiply and fill the<\/p>\n
waters in the seas and let Birds<\/p>\n
multiply on the earth and there was<\/p>\n
evening and there was morning the fifth<\/p>\n
day<\/p>\n
and God said let the Earth bring forth<\/p>\n
living creatures according to their<\/p>\n
kinds livestock and creeping things and<\/p>\n
beasts of the Earth according to their<\/p>\n
kinds and it was so and God made the<\/p>\n
kinds and the livestock according to<\/p>\n
their kinds and everything that creeps<\/p>\n
on the ground according to its kind and<\/p>\n
God saw that it was good and God said<\/p>\n
let us make man in our image after our<\/p>\n
likeness and let them have dominion over<\/p>\n
the fish of the sea and over the birds<\/p>\n
of the heavens and over the livestock<\/p>\n
and over all the Earth and over every<\/p>\n
creeping thing that creeps on the earth<\/p>\n
so God created man in his own image in<\/p>\n
the image of God he created him male and<\/p>\n
female he created them and God blessed<\/p>\n
them and God said to them be fruitful<\/p>\n
and multiply and fill the Earth and<\/p>\n
subdue it and have dominion over over<\/p>\n
of the heavens and over every living<\/p>\n
thing that moves on the earth and God<\/p>\n
said behold I have given you every plant<\/p>\n
yielding seed that is on the face of all<\/p>\n
the Earth and every tree with its seed<\/p>\n
and its fruit you shall have them for<\/p>\n
food and to every beast of the earth and<\/p>\n
to every bird of the heavens and to<\/p>\n
everything that creeps on the earth<\/p>\n
everything that has the breath of life I<\/p>\n
have given every green plant for food<\/p>\n
and it was so and God saw everything<\/p>\n
that he had made and behold it was very<\/p>\n
good and there was evening and there was<\/p>\n
morning the sixth<\/p>\n
day Genesis chapter<\/p>\n
2 you go to the next slide please neron<\/p>\n
can you go to the next slide for me it's<\/p>\n
not moving<\/p>\n
ahead Genesis chapter<\/p>\n
two there we go thus the heavens and<\/p>\n
earth were finished all the host of them<\/p>\n
and on the seventh day God finished his<\/p>\n
work that he had done and he rested on<\/p>\n
the seventh day from all his work that<\/p>\n
he had done so God blessed the seventh<\/p>\n
day and made it<\/p>\n
holy because on it God rested from all<\/p>\n
his work that he had done in<\/p>\n
creation moving on<\/p>\n
to uh<\/p>\n
verse 8 and the Lord God planted a<\/p>\n
garden in Eden in the East and there he<\/p>\n
put man whom he had formed and out of<\/p>\n
the ground the Lord made to spring up<\/p>\n
every tree that is Pleasant to the sight<\/p>\n
and good for food the tree of life was<\/p>\n
in the midst of the garden and the tree<\/p>\n
of knowledge of Good and<\/p>\n
Evil picking up again in verse<\/p>\n
15 the Lord God took the man and put him<\/p>\n
in the garden to work it and to keep it<\/p>\n
and the Lord God commanded the man<\/p>\n
saying you may surely eat of every tree<\/p>\n
in the garden but of the tree of the<\/p>\n
knowledge of Good and Evil you shall not<\/p>\n
eat it for in the day that you eat of it<\/p>\n
you shall surely<\/p>\n
die then the Lord God said it is not<\/p>\n
good that the man should be alone<\/p>\n
forever I will make him fit a helper fit<\/p>\n
for him now out of the ground the Lord<\/p>\n
God had formed every beast of the field<\/p>\n
and every bird of the heavens and<\/p>\n
brought them to the man to see what he<\/p>\n
would call them and whatever the man<\/p>\n
called every living creature that was<\/p>\n
its name the man gave names to all<\/p>\n
livestock and to the birds of the<\/p>\n
heavens and to every beast of the field<\/p>\n
but for Adam there was not found a<\/p>\n
suitable helper or a helper fit for him<\/p>\n
so the Lord caused a deep sleep to fall<\/p>\n
upon the man and while he slept he took<\/p>\n
one of his ribs and closed up the place<\/p>\n
with<\/p>\n
flesh and the rib that the Lord God had<\/p>\n
taken from the man he made into a woman<\/p>\n
and brought her to the man and the man<\/p>\n
said this at last is bone of my bones<\/p>\n
and Flesh of My Flesh she shall be<\/p>\n
called woman because she was taken out<\/p>\n
of man therefore a man shall leave his<\/p>\n
father and his mother and hold fast to<\/p>\n
his wife and they shall become one flesh<\/p>\n
and the man and his wife were both naked<\/p>\n
and were not<\/p>\n
ashamed this is the word of<\/p>\n
God<\/p>\n
Theologian and<\/p>\n
Pastor AR Kint Hughes has shared this<\/p>\n
sometimes I begin my personal time of<\/p>\n
prayer and<\/p>\n
devotion by reflecting on the<\/p>\n
mindboggling size of the universe that<\/p>\n
our own little galaxy has 100,000<\/p>\n
million stars that there are 100,000<\/p>\n
million more galaxies each with 100,000<\/p>\n
million stars that our galaxy in each of<\/p>\n
those galaxies is 100 light years across<\/p>\n
and that there are three million light<\/p>\n
years between each of those galaxies<\/p>\n
absolutely phenomenal and<\/p>\n
[Music]<\/p>\n
amazing<\/p>\n
let that sink in for a moment right it's<\/p>\n
difficult for our minds to conceptualize<\/p>\n
the sheer reality of the<\/p>\n
universe<\/p>\n
numbers this large I mean they they kind<\/p>\n
of move into the theoretical realm they<\/p>\n
extend well beyond our<\/p>\n
imagination the vastness of the universe<\/p>\n
it exceeds our<\/p>\n
comprehension but what arant Hughes is<\/p>\n
acknowledging is that when we consider<\/p>\n
creation when we thoughtfully engage all<\/p>\n
all that God has made all that God<\/p>\n
sustains it's truly<\/p>\n
amazing and when we consider our own<\/p>\n
existence our own place in history in<\/p>\n
time and space awe and wonder is a<\/p>\n
fitting<\/p>\n
response<\/p>\n
in Psalm 33 we read this by the word of<\/p>\n
the Lord the heavens were made and by<\/p>\n
the breath of his mouth all their host<\/p>\n
he gathers the Waters of the sea as a<\/p>\n
heap he puts the deeps in stor houses<\/p>\n
let all the Earth fear the lord let all<\/p>\n
inhabitants of the world stand in awe of<\/p>\n
him for he spoke and it came to be he<\/p>\n
commanded and it stood<\/p>\n
firm<\/p>\n
the old hymn reads<\/p>\n
this oh Lord my God when I in awesome<\/p>\n
Wonder consider all the worlds thy hands<\/p>\n
have made I see the Stars I hear The<\/p>\n
Rolling<\/p>\n
Thunder thy power throughout the<\/p>\n
Universe displayed then sings my soul my<\/p>\n
savior God to thee How Great Thou Art<\/p>\n
How Great Thou<\/p>\n
Art<\/p>\n
Psalm 33 in this hymn they underscore<\/p>\n
the rightful human response to all that<\/p>\n
God has<\/p>\n
made when we reflect on all that God has<\/p>\n
created when we take it all in we are in<\/p>\n
awe of<\/p>\n
and our soul it sings out right it sings<\/p>\n
out along with the writer of this hymn<\/p>\n
how great are you God how great you<\/p>\n
are so the first two chapters of the<\/p>\n
Bible Genesis they recount the unfolding<\/p>\n
of all that is of all of<\/p>\n
this we read of God saying let there be<\/p>\n
light and there was<\/p>\n
light and God saw the light and it was<\/p>\n
good and here's another example of this<\/p>\n
created order the Earth brought forth<\/p>\n
vegetation plants yielding seed<\/p>\n
according to their own kinds trees<\/p>\n
bearing fruit and which is their seed<\/p>\n
each according to its kind and God saw<\/p>\n
that it was<\/p>\n
good so we saw this repetitive pattern<\/p>\n
right of God speaking God creating and<\/p>\n
then God saying this is<\/p>\n
good bringing light to fill the darkness<\/p>\n
filling the void with all that is and<\/p>\n
God pronouncing in look atting<\/p>\n
pronouncing this is good creation is<\/p>\n
good at the end of chapter 1 verse 31 we<\/p>\n
read it was very good right it was very<\/p>\n
good not just good it was very<\/p>\n
good as God pronounces all that he has<\/p>\n
made as he looks over it and pronounces<\/p>\n
it as good very good even what we may<\/p>\n
understand is that it is perfect it is<\/p>\n
just it is Holy it is right it is<\/p>\n
true so this is the way these are the<\/p>\n
qualities of the world and God's<\/p>\n
original tent for in for<\/p>\n
creation<\/p>\n
so we have an image we're given an image<\/p>\n
of the world that was brought into being<\/p>\n
through God's work and<\/p>\n
power we see things the way God desired<\/p>\n
them to<\/p>\n
be God creating everything through his<\/p>\n
powerful word pronouncing it<\/p>\n
good and then designing and<\/p>\n
commissioning all of his creation to<\/p>\n
flourish under his loving Rule and<\/p>\n
Reign John Calvin said this wrote this<\/p>\n
God has given us throughout the whole<\/p>\n
framework of this world clear evidences<\/p>\n
of his eternal wisdom goodness and power<\/p>\n
and though he is in himself invisible he<\/p>\n
in a manner becomes<\/p>\n
visible to us in his<\/p>\n
Works God's power God's goodness and<\/p>\n
love on display in and through all that<\/p>\n
he has<\/p>\n
created<\/p>\n
Genesis recounts God's creation of<\/p>\n
humans of us what an astounding<\/p>\n
statement and truth that we are it says<\/p>\n
created in the image of<\/p>\n
God that every human that has ever lived<\/p>\n
ever existed and will ever exist Bears<\/p>\n
the image of<\/p>\n
PE home point and I have a a view of all<\/p>\n
of you take a moment and look around the<\/p>\n
room okay created in the image of<\/p>\n
God here's some interesting homework for<\/p>\n
you okay<\/p>\n
M when you're walking down the street<\/p>\n
this week okay okay going to work going<\/p>\n
to<\/p>\n
school just in your head as you walk by<\/p>\n
all these people repeat over and over<\/p>\n
again made in the image of God made in<\/p>\n
the image of God made in the image of<\/p>\n
God try that okay try that<\/p>\n
week what does it mean what does it mean<\/p>\n
what does it mean to be created that God<\/p>\n
created us in His<\/p>\n
image John Piper has a helpful<\/p>\n
example he ask this why do people make<\/p>\n
images why do we make statues right why<\/p>\n
do we make an image of something he says<\/p>\n
this people make images to image they<\/p>\n
want to image forth something if you<\/p>\n
make a statue of Napoleon right our<\/p>\n
French uh friends know Napoleon if we<\/p>\n
make a statue ofp naon what do we want<\/p>\n
to see we want to see something specific<\/p>\n
about the character of Napoleon or<\/p>\n
Napoleon so God makes us in His image we<\/p>\n
could argue about whether it is our<\/p>\n
rationality our morality or our Rel that<\/p>\n
makes us in His image the point is this<\/p>\n
he makes humans in His image to image<\/p>\n
something namely himself so our<\/p>\n
existence is about showing God's<\/p>\n
existence or specifically it's about<\/p>\n
showing God's glory<\/p>\n
GL<\/p>\n
God created us he created us to image to<\/p>\n
reflect God's<\/p>\n
goodness our existence is about showing<\/p>\n
God's glory<\/p>\n
have you ever had this experience you<\/p>\n
may have some friends or you know<\/p>\n
someone and then you see their children<\/p>\n
and you're like oh yeah I okay I know<\/p>\n
your dad is I know your mother<\/p>\n
is you just know right because they they<\/p>\n
look like their<\/p>\n
parents<\/p>\n
in the same way humans Humanity bear<\/p>\n
some likeness of<\/p>\n
God some characteristics of God as it<\/p>\n
were god making us in His image God<\/p>\n
creating us to reflect to show his<\/p>\n
glory so God creates the world he sets<\/p>\n
up the world in<\/p>\n
perfection<\/p>\n
and it's punctuated with blessing and<\/p>\n
flourishing God creates time and Order<\/p>\n
and embeds everything with the capacity<\/p>\n
for<\/p>\n
flourishing the Sun and the Moon in<\/p>\n
their courses<\/p>\n
seed bearing<\/p>\n
fruit cyclical life<\/p>\n
right and Adam and Eve were given the<\/p>\n
blessing of creatively caring for all<\/p>\n
that God had<\/p>\n
made they were given the blessing of<\/p>\n
enjoying what God had made<\/p>\n
they were given the garden to care for<\/p>\n
and to cultivate to work it to keep it<\/p>\n
verse 15 reads<\/p>\n
yeah so God's blessing was for them it<\/p>\n
was for<\/p>\n
them it was good and it was for their<\/p>\n
good and within the garden God also gave<\/p>\n
good limits for their<\/p>\n
protection in verses 16 and 17 we had we<\/p>\n
read that God essentially said look all<\/p>\n
the gardian is for you except this one<\/p>\n
tree this one<\/p>\n
tree<\/p>\n
do not eat of this one tree for if you<\/p>\n
do you will<\/p>\n
perish God was truthful God was clear<\/p>\n
God gave good boundaries to protect Adam<\/p>\n
and Eve from suffering and from<\/p>\n
Death so God brings his creation of man<\/p>\n
Adam into a collaborative Act of naming<\/p>\n
the creatures that God had<\/p>\n
made God also creates Eve and we witness<\/p>\n
God bringing community and relationship<\/p>\n
to this<\/p>\n
world community and relationship ship<\/p>\n
being realities Imaging the Triune<\/p>\n
God and this you the Eternal<\/p>\n
relationship of the<\/p>\n
Trinity and so we see Humanity coming<\/p>\n
into<\/p>\n
communion with our creator and in<\/p>\n
relationship and Community with one<\/p>\n
another<\/p>\n
so the overall picture is is one of<\/p>\n
Union and<\/p>\n
communion no<\/p>\n
Strife no<\/p>\n
Discord no<\/p>\n
animosity No Pain No<\/p>\n
Death a world marked by goodness and<\/p>\n
flourishing growth and<\/p>\n
abundance cultivation and<\/p>\n
Care cyclical growth and fullness of<\/p>\n
life in the second chapter of Genesis it<\/p>\n
ends with underscoring that all that God<\/p>\n
has<\/p>\n
done<\/p>\n
Adam and Eve being united as<\/p>\n
one in verse 25 says they were not<\/p>\n
ashamed there was an openness of Freedom<\/p>\n
a beautiful<\/p>\n
vulnerability no<\/p>\n
fear no no<\/p>\n
confusion no<\/p>\n
guardedness just a full openness with<\/p>\n
God and with one<\/p>\n
another true and unfettered<\/p>\n
intimacy between God and Mankind between<\/p>\n
Adam and<\/p>\n
Eve nothing still between<\/p>\n
them the text says they were naked they<\/p>\n
were<\/p>\n
unclothed uncovered bodies yes but much<\/p>\n
more a full unity and openness of mind<\/p>\n
and<\/p>\n
soul one flesh before<\/p>\n
God this is the picture<\/p>\n
that we have in the first two chapters<\/p>\n
of Genesis this is the picture we have<\/p>\n
of the Advent the coming of all<\/p>\n
things if we were to summarize these two<\/p>\n
chapters we would say God created all<\/p>\n
things God spoke all things into<\/p>\n
existence<\/p>\n
humans created in the image of God to<\/p>\n
know our<\/p>\n
creator and to exist with our fellow<\/p>\n
humans in peace Harmony<\/p>\n
Unity this is an existence void of fear<\/p>\n
of Discord Strife disease and<\/p>\n
death<\/p>\n
as we enter this season of<\/p>\n
Advent allow the word of God and the<\/p>\n
Holy Spirit to open our hearts to what<\/p>\n
God has done and what God is<\/p>\n
doing and remember this is the beginning<\/p>\n
the message that we'll be hearing over<\/p>\n
the next few<\/p>\n
weeks so I want us<\/p>\n
to I want us to take this text today<\/p>\n
let's and allow it to do two things for<\/p>\n
us<\/p>\n
okay one is that I want us to take time<\/p>\n
to reflect on the goodness of<\/p>\n
creation there's so so much of what God<\/p>\n
has created that is good right and<\/p>\n
true it points to and it's<\/p>\n
characteristic of the god that brought<\/p>\n
it into all into<\/p>\n
being so we would do well to spend time<\/p>\n
pondering and being thankful for what<\/p>\n
God has created in these days<\/p>\n
ahead<\/p>\n
to give him praise for his good<\/p>\n
intentions behind all of<\/p>\n
creation for the intricate details for<\/p>\n
color and sound and<\/p>\n
taste for the ways that this world<\/p>\n
engages our<\/p>\n
senses you know when we had attend a<\/p>\n
concert or a sporting event or an art<\/p>\n
exhibition uh and we're moved by what we<\/p>\n
experience what do we do we yeah I'll<\/p>\n
leave you hanging what do we<\/p>\n
do yeah we we applaud we cheer or we<\/p>\n
appreciate right the creativity of the<\/p>\n
artist<\/p>\n
and we often have a hard time containing<\/p>\n
that expression<\/p>\n
right and even we want to share it right<\/p>\n
want to share with<\/p>\n
others in the same way let us take time<\/p>\n
to praise God for The Wonder of his<\/p>\n
let us let us be reminded again and<\/p>\n
again of what God<\/p>\n
intended when he created this world and<\/p>\n
image okay so that's the first thing<\/p>\n
take time take time this week to to<\/p>\n
reflect on that on Good's<\/p>\n
goodness<\/p>\n
and then the second piece is associated<\/p>\n
with with that let us also examine our<\/p>\n
own lives in the state of this world in<\/p>\n
contrast to God's good<\/p>\n
intention you know we see in Genesis<\/p>\n
right the picture of what God brought<\/p>\n
reality but take some time this week to<\/p>\n
think about the state of our world our<\/p>\n
community our city and our own<\/p>\n
hearts and this exercise will help<\/p>\n
prepare our hearts for the continuation<\/p>\n
of the Advent<\/p>\n
series all right so we've got we've got<\/p>\n
homework right me got<\/p>\n
okay so remember when you're walking on<\/p>\n
the street this week just be reminded<\/p>\n
made in the image of God right pronounce<\/p>\n
that over<\/p>\n
people and if you want to say it out<\/p>\n
loud go for<\/p>\n
it yeah and then and then those other<\/p>\n
two things right think about take time<\/p>\n
to reflect on the goodness of of<\/p>\n
creation and then also in light of our<\/p>\n
own hearts and lives and the state of<\/p>\n
the world and those three things will<\/p>\n
help prepare our hearts for Advent and<\/p>\n
we'll feel a longing we'll feel a<\/p>\n
longing that longing of there must be<\/p>\n
more there must be<\/p>\n
more yeah so next Sunday we'll continue<\/p>\n
with this journey through Advent<\/p>\n
let's<\/p>\n
pray holy God we thank you for your<\/p>\n
word God your your word is um beautiful<\/p>\n
Majestic um because you are beautiful<\/p>\n
and Majestic and it speaks of this<\/p>\n
amazing world that you have made<\/p>\n
we thank you for breathing life into our<\/p>\n
very existence that we sit here and<\/p>\n
listen and we see and we have the<\/p>\n
ability to sing and we're breathing<\/p>\n
we're alive because of what you have<\/p>\n
done and we praise<\/p>\n
you as our<\/p>\n
maker and the sustainer of all things<\/p>\n
that everything is held together by your<\/p>\n
goodness even our own<\/p>\n
hearts and however we come here tonight<\/p>\n
and however we leave would you just<\/p>\n
remind us that we are loved by you and<\/p>\n
that you have made<\/p>\n
Lord God we ask that you would guide us<\/p>\n
in this season of<\/p>\n
Advent as we remember that you have<\/p>\n
come come to this world bringing<\/p>\n
hope we ask and pray all of this in your<\/p>\n
holy name<\/p>\n
amen<\/p>","english_search_text":"","":"","original_publish_date":"20231206","video_url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Zj1FXVNFiWY","video_id":"Zj1FXVNFiWY","video_duration":"40:24","channel_name":"Grace City Bangkok"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=505"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":506,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505\/revisions\/506"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}