As beautiful as the Christmas story is, we sometimes struggle to see the connection between a story set hundreds of years ago and our realities today. However, the facts surrounding the birth of Jesus, as found in the Biblical gospels, are anything but typical, and some of the details are simply shocking. Matthew's gospel starts with Jesus's family genealogy, which includes flawed men and women including adulterers and prostitutes. The Son of God comes from a broken earthly family; He understands our brokenness.

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Maintaining a deep connection with God is crucial for navigating life's challenges. In this sermon, guest preacher Andy Arnold from Oceanside Church in Nanaimo helps us understand God's instructions when we face significant life obstacles. For the followers of Jesus, it all starts with remembering who we are because of him.

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In Matthew 9, we read about Jesus healing two blind men who, despite their blindness, could 'see' who Jesus was much more clearly than the crowds and the religious leaders of the day. Do we see Jesus for who he is, as declared by all scripture, or do we see Jesus as a 'cosmic butler' who we ask to do the things we want?

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Learning to make wise decisions is better than just being told what to do. In Acts 1, we can see how prayer, submission to God's word and remembering God's more excellent story can help us make wise decisions about our own. We also read that 'Peter stood up' among the early church, an incredible statement of grace considering that he had tragically denied Jesus only days earlier.

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There is a lot in our culture that tries to sell us empowerment. Did you know the Bible speaks about you being empowered by God? However, this is a very different type of empowerment with a different intention; it is not built around you. Being empowered by God often requires us to wait on God, and it is good for us to learn to wait well in all things.

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Sometimes, Jesus doesn't answer the way we want when we ask, 'When?' This is precisely what the disciples experienced towards the beginning of Acts 1, but that doesn't mean that Jesus withholds good from them. Jesus sometimes may not answer our questions the way we want, but he still offers us infinitely more than we originally asked.

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Of all the words used to describe church today, 'exciting' would not be at the top of most people's minds. Yet the book of Acts, with tongues of fire, healings, angels breaking people out of prison, and even shipwrecks, shows a very different type of church life. It's exciting and even terrifying at times. But it also shows us a church on the move, empowered by the Holy Spirit of God. More than the acts of the apostles, the book of Acts is about the work of the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit who is with the church today that we desire to be moving among our church as well.

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Read the following statement - "The church is holy." What goes through your mind? Many would immediately think of wrongs committed by the church or pains or disappointments they've experienced as part of a church. There's no doubt the church, like the world, is home to many unholy actions. Still, in a remarkable act of grace, God speaks of his people as a holy people, and his people today are the church.

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