They say that every man goes through three stages in their life. First, they believe in Santa Claus. Then, they grow up and do not believe in Santa. Then, finally, they realize that they are Santa Claus. Let us contrast Santa with our Savior…

Jesus is the reason for the season. It is so important for us to slow down to celebrate Jesus. After all, Christmas is Jesus’ birthday party. Billions of people have been celebrating the birth of Jesus for two thousand years all over the world. We celebrate for an entire month, and that includes Christians as well as non-Christians. We decorate, buy gifts, sing, watch Christmas movies, and travel long distances to be with family and friends. Make sure you are slowing down long enough to celebrate Jesus. 

Fear of past failures may tempt us to shrink back, but we must believe in what we cannot see because faith is on the other side of our obedience.

Jesus tells us himself that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Yet, it is our natural inclination to enjoy receiving more than giving. Often when we give, we expect to be blessed for it, but sometimes the blessing doesn’t look how we think it should look. 

We are here today as a direct result of faithful believers, like those in this scripture, that came before us. They held onto the ropes, standing in their faith to pave the way for us today. It was risky to stand in faith, but they did it anyway because they believed God for miracles. Our hope is in the Lord. We hold on to the rope by obeying his word.

God is about to do a miracle in our church, and we need to be ready. That means different things for different people. For some of us, that means to prioritize our prayer life. For others, it means to remember to get in God's Word. Still for others, it means to step up and be ready for God to use your gifts, talents and abilities. 

Here at City Church, God is calling us to expand our church. We are believing God for miracles to move the hearts of people around the city. Every single person here has talents and gifts and abilities to offer God! Everyone has something that God is going to ask them to do.

When God gives us a task, he also tests our hearts. When we find ourselves offended or in pain at his request, it’s a good sign that we need his healing. Just like a doctor who prods for pain and symptoms of a problem, God probes our hearts for hurts that need healing.