B (5:18)

That was always the main theme of Christmas in our house was that Jesus will show up and there's no limits to who he will show up for. And he will show up in every single person's life. And so our Christmas sermons, David's sermons, you thought that they were for no reason, but they did inspire. And what happened is every single Christmas Eve we would have this tradition. And what happened is everyone got a little candle, like a little white candle. That's like kind of key because it like really kept you entertained because you had like the. You got told fire. So that was like really exciting. And everyone had a little candle and we would hold it. And when you're little candle got lit with fire, it was your turn. And everyone would go around and say the name of Jesus that showed up in their life that year and why. And everyone, it was like, honestly, like a little bit of like our family's yearly testimony meeting. And we would turn all the lights out and everyone knew it was coming, and everyone would get their candle. And it is some of my favorite Christmas memories that I have and I will treasure for the very rest of my life is sitting in a circle with my family and at the kitchen table or on the couches and holding our little candles and watching the melt, the wax melt off and all of us listening to each other preach about our year and say who Jesus had been for us that year. And it is a simple tradition. It does not take a lot. You don't even need candles, truly. Just sit around in a circle. But I think that it reminds us every single year what Christmas is all about. And that Christmas isn't just a day of the year. That story and that theme that God is with us is not one moment in the year. It is every day. It's the year building on each other. It's Jesus showing up every single day in our story.

A (7:05)

Yeah. Yeah. Because we need it. And that's, that's a lesson of Christmas. Right? The. The Christmas story, when you read Luke 2, actually starts with taxation and a burden on the people. The situation is a really hard, impossible, difficult situation. And Jesus comes into that one because we need his help. And that's like you said, how he'll always be. So you might wanna start with this great Christmas verse, which is in Matthew chapter 1, where Jesus is given a name. It's a prophecy from the Old Testament. Shout out to the Old Testament next week. And it's Matthew 1, verse 23. Behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel. And which is interpreted. That's a Hebrew word that means is what he's saying God with us. And then you might have everybody think about in what ways has God been with you this year? In what ways has he shown up. And if you have that Christmas Advent from Good News Brand, there's all those names in there, and everyone can kind of flip through it and find a name. You also might want to take the Living Christ document, and there's 25 names, actually of Christ in that document. So people can look through that and find a name, or maybe they will just think of and know a name that they want to talk about, that this is the way that God has been with us. This is the way he has showed up in my story. This is how he's come into my messy manger situation. So Grace and I both picked one for us this particular year, and we'll share those, and then we'll say Merry Christmas.

B (8:48)

Okay, Should I go first?

A (8:49)

Yeah, sure. Okay.

B (8:51)

The name I chose is from Hebrews 9, 11. And it is but Christ being come, a high priest of good things to come. And the reason I chose it is because I feel like last year, 2024, was, like, the craziest year of my family's life. And it just felt like difficult thing after difficult thing just kept piling on. And by the end of the year, I was just so ready for the year to end. And my dad had gotten cancer, and there was just seemingly bad news, and everything was, like, kind of working out, but mostly nothing really was working out. And by. I remember, like, on New Year's Eve, I, like, was writing in my journal, and I was like, I am just so glad to say goodbye to this year and just restart. And the very last line of my journal was, I hope next year is better. And then I did. It couldn't be that hard to beat this one because it was just terrible. Like, I was like, that is not going to work. And I truly feel like this year, starting on day one of 2025, was Jesus saying, like, don't worry. I am the high priest of good things to come. Good things will come this year. And I watched it with my dad, and I watched it with my family, and I watched it in my personal life and with my classes. And I just feel like over and over and over again, I was reminded that Jesus brings good things. And there was this moment one night that I was in the Dominican Republic and I was on a humanitarian trip, and I was surrounded by all of these kids. And we were all, like, kind of going around and we were all saying miracles that we saw that day. And I just remember sitting there thinking, like, oh, I could have never imagined a year ago at this time how happy I would be today. I could have never dreamt that that would be possible, but it was because of Jesus. Jesus knew what was coming. He knew that was on the way. He knew that in the depths of my darkest days in 2024, that 2025 would come and there would be so many good things that showed up. And this year wasn't necessarily always perfect to me. There was a lot of really sad things that happened and devastating things and things didn't always work out. But I think the good things that did happen reminded me that when bad things did happen this year, I can still look forward to a high priest of good things to come. Not good now, but good things that are on the way.

A (11:05)

No, it's awesome. All right. And the name I picked is, I don't really know if it's a name that people give to Jesus generally, but it comes from Matthew 9 and you could have people pick scriptures or you could just come up with, with a name. You just found scripture. So. And it's at the end of this day and it talks about Jesus going into all the different villages and, and the synagogues and, and it says healing every sickness and every disease among the people. And there's this verse, it says, verse 36, Matthew 9. It says, but when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them because they fainted and were scattered abroad as a sheep having no shepherd. And if you click or look in the footnotes of that word fainted, it means that they were harassed. And I just think that that is. Oh, I've always thought that's such a great description of what life is like sometimes where you just feel like, I feel like I'm just being harassed, like I am being bullied by mortality. And you faint because of it and you feel scattered and you just don't know, you know what to do. And I love that this verse teaches us that when he saw all of those situations, he was moved with compassion. And compassion is that word that's just on a soul deep level where he just says, I just have the, the, the root, the Hebrew, Greek of compassion is actually womb love. The way a mother looks at a newborn baby is the imagery of that word that when he sees our situations, he looks at them with those kind of eyes and with that kind of heart and with that kind of intention to help that his first emotion, his knee jerk emotion is compassion. And then it says he comes in and heals. It's interesting for it to say heals every sickness and every disease among the people, which is a prophecy of what he'll someday do and is doing sometimes, when there isn't healing and when there isn't a solution yet and when there isn't an answer yet. I have found a God of compassion, one who just almost seemed to just wrap me up and say, I know how you feel and I know how things are and I love you and we'll get through this together. That's how that word comes out. And where I've seen him most this year as someone with compassion on the situations and the things that were happening. So this is just the beautiful thing is Jesus is all of these things. He's every good thing. And the angels were right when they said, we have good news unto you. Whoever reads that. It's a singular word unto you in your particular situation, in your particular story is born a savior, a healer, a compassionate one, a high priest of good things to come, an advocate, a teacher, a gift, whatever it is the word that you choose. But the angels were telling the truth to the shepherds and to all of us that Jesus is born. He came into our stories, and as we look back on this past year, it's good to remember the way he's been in our stories, the way he has been. Emmanuel God with us. So I hope that's a really sweet experience that you get to take the time by yourself or together with a small group and just kind of go step back into the manger for a minute. Right? Just step back into the simplicity of the story of Jesus. That's. That's how Christmas began. It began with just that little family and Jesus in the center and everything sprung from that, which is fantastic, and we love everything that sprung from it. But it's so great to step into the manger at least one time this Christmas season and just focus on that little approachable baby who is God with us. So we hope you have a fantastic Christmas. We'll see you next week. Remember, grab all your resources for the Old Testament year. Get them now. So you just have them so that when January starts, you're just ready to go. You can get them pick them up at Deseret Book if you want to pick them up local. Or you can get them online at Ezra book or@goodnewsbrandco.com and snag all those and just be ready to go and check your newsletter if you want to print out your timeline. But we'll go over all those things next week. So until then, have a merry, merry Christmas.

B (16:10)

Oh, Merry Christmas.

A (16:12)

If you want to follow along in everything we're doing, you can find us on Instagram at Don't miss this study, at this Week's Grace and at MrDave Butler.

B (16:20)

And if you want to support, subscribe to the app or get our weekly newsletter, all of the information can be found@don'tmissthisstudy.com See you next week.