Stories of Advent, Christmas and Beyond

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Welcome to A Word in Season with Doug Stringer and friends.

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We share good news and godly wisdom to empower you to be salt in light in every season of life.

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With so many going through difficulties this holiday season,

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it is important that we, the Church, be a light that gives hope

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and lets our light so shine in such a way that it draws others close to the Lord.

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Doug shares how we can be an example to those around us that they may find faith, hope,

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peace and joy in the midst of whatever challenges or difficulties they face.

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After the episode, consider leaving a review and follow us on your favorite streaming service.

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If you've cleaned anything from this podcast,

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consider paying it forward with a gift at somebodycares.org.

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Now let's join our host, Doug Stringer.

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With so many going through difficulties during this holiday season,

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it's so important that we, as the Church, be a light because the Word dwells amongst us.

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We have a joy and a strength beyond human comprehension.

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We have a peace that surpasses all understanding.

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It's important for us as the Church to give that hope,

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to let our light so shine in such a way that it draws others close to the Lord.

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We can be an example to those around us as they can find their faith,

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hope, peace and joy in the midst of their own difficulties.

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Yes, we really do need light in the world today, but we know the Word dwells amongst us.

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Jesus is the Word that dwells amongst us, and he is the light of the world.

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And right now, we need a whole lot of light in the darkness around us.

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Throughout today's podcast, I'm going to share just a few stories, especially personal ones that

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have really moved me and touched me deeply. Some of my own personal experiences that I

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brought into the context of today and the hope that I have for the future.

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Here's one of those stories that involved one of our Christmas outreaches that I was a part of

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personally. It was on Friday evening, December the 8th, that we had a special time as we partnered

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with Interchamber Church and Thousand Hills Homeless Ministry to share a time of worship

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and the Word, food and fellowship, and gave distribution of Christmas gifts and resources

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to many that were homeless. As I was sitting amongst those we were serving, so many personal

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memories and thoughts flooded my mind from the time decades ago where I found myself in need,

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and for a very short period of time I was homeless, traveling on freight trains and hitchhiking up and

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down the west coast of America. There were also times walking or hitchhiking to college and work

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and think of how great it would be to have a car, any car. It didn't need to be a special brand or

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with bells and whistles, but just a suitable and safe ride. As I was sitting amongst many of those

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who were in need and homeless, I remember the Lord also reminded me of all that he had done throughout

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my life and why he had been faithful, why he's called me and allowed me to be a part of and in

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ministry today. I remember in the early 80s when he spoke in my heart to always have a grateful heart

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and to never forget where I came from. Yep, it really is a privilege to be part of what the

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Lord is doing in the lives of people. It really blesses me and reminds me of why I do what I do,

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that we can be a light in the midst of a world of darkness in very tangible ways.

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Our Somebody Cares Houston and Somebody Cares America and international chapters and affiliates

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and ministries have all been serving to make an impact in their communities throughout the holidays.

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Just in Houston, we have assisted and partnered with over 20 churches and ministries, providing

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resources and finances to help them leverage their capacity to reach exponentially more during

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this season. From foster care, homeless, seniors, Holocaust survivors, law enforcement families,

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single parent families, refugees and many other needs are being met because of prayers and the

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support of friends that have come along or Somebody Cares Houston office and all of our affiliates.

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Somebody Cares America and all of our chapters as well. For example, our chapter in St. Augustine,

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Florida has just completed their annual coat drive and distributed winter gear to homeless

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students to route the St. Johns County School District. Somebody Cares San Antonio, Blood and

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Fire San Antonio delivered 500 pairs of pompa socks to the Haven for homeless shelter and others

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are providing groceries and meals and in Houston, Lisa Stringer, my wife, has been coordinating

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donations of toys, Somebody Cares bears clothing, household goods, gift cards and more to over 20

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churches and ministries for their outreaches. I am so grateful for all of our network of ministries

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and churches and all those individuals who have supported us with prayer and finances over the

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years. At Christmas especially, hearts are open to receive the message of Christ as we are able to

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work together to meet practical needs. One of our Somebody Cares America and international ministry

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partners drove all the way, eight hours, from Roma, Texas on the Texas-Mexico border to pick up

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donations for outreach in their community. Although it was after hours and the offices were already

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closed, my wife and I didn't hesitate to meet up with them for a late night rendezvous at the

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warehouse and load their truck with bikes and desks and shelves and decor and household items,

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all of which were donated to churches and pastors and families in need. We give many to pastors to

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give to needy people in their congregations, explained Pastor Luis Silva from Bethlehem Mission

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Outreach in Roma, which has now received and distributed over 150 bicycles that we've been

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able to direct their way. Some have gone to children to ride to school, but also to parents

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and adults who need transportation to get to work. One young boy who received a bike immediately put

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a plastic milk crate on the front of the bicycle. He's using it to go to the market to get goods

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for the house and to go to and from school. A mom expressed her gratitude that she too is able to

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help her family more by having a bike to ride to the market. Pastor Luis Silva also explained to me

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that we were able to empower pastors with Bibles and bicycles in Mexico and rural areas. He said

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gas is expensive in Mexico and pastors don't have much income. See, by giving them a dependable bike

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they can go beyond their own neighborhood and do whatever they need to do to reach the uttermost.

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One pastor, he said, who does not own a vehicle, said he's now able to reach families in small

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secluded communities. Another pastor received bikes as a missionary in Cuba and he'll be taking some

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of the bikes with him when he returns this month. Another bike went to a brother in the Lord who

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ministers through song all throughout the border region. A load of bikes and 10,000 Bibles were

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sent to Chiapas and Veracruz. See, some of the bicycles are electric bicycles so it's been a big

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blessing to many of these people that have been receiving them. We're so grateful for all of our

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supporters and partners. Working together we have made it easier for these pastors and many others

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to deliver resources and Bibles and materials into various communities around them. Recently,

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another Christmas outreach in Richmond Rosenberg, Texas, which is just outside of the Houston area,

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we partnered with Gideon and Sarah Stanley of I Pray and also Grace Church. It was beautiful to

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see the worship, the Christmas carols, the songs, the hip hop, and the hundreds of people and

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children and families that were able to receive food and clothing and toys, a special outreach in

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the midst of their own needs. It was a beautiful evening seeing how Gideon and Sarah and their

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ministries, partnering with us and other ministries, were able to minister in the midst of the needs of

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all these people. I was so touched when I saw this post by Gideon. He said, thanks Doug and Lisa for

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always helping us, counseling us, taking time and being there for us. We're blessed to have y'all in

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our lives. He goes on to say, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. And then he

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said, Lord send the laborers in 2024. And then he said, Merry Christmas. There are so many

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heartwarming stories that we've already received from the various families we've been able to help,

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the different ministries we've been able to leverage with resources and finances. It's been

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great to see volunteers working together, serving together, laboring together, and it's not been

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easy unloading boxes and boxes and pallets and pallets of resources and putting in and sorting

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them and helping to get them out to the right place. It really is a net that works. With one fishing

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pole we catch a fish, but as a mended net working together, being cast by the Lord together, we can

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do a whole lot more together. And to see the smiles on families, to see the smiles on children,

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to see people who really are grateful for receiving a little help, they will always be the ungrateful.

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But there's so much joy in seeing the gratitude of those who genuinely are receiving a help up

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or a hand up in the time of their own difficult situations. Oh, to see the smiles and the gratitude,

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it really is the reason for the season. Because the greatest gift of all that was provided for us

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2,000 years ago on the work of the cross and the power of the resurrection, the high cost of love,

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the greatest gift of all that was displayed to us by the very one who was born to die, Jesus who

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was born to give himself for us that we might have life and life more abundantly. And because of him

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the light has come. I reminded that the four weeks leading up to Christmas are known as Advent,

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and during the season many people personally and intentionally prepare to celebrate the birth of

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Jesus, the fulfillment of the promise of his manifest presence and the expectation of his

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second coming. Now I know that December 25th is not necessarily the actual day of Jesus's birth,

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but we do know that Jesus was born, that he did live and he did die, that we might have life and

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life more abundantly. The point is we celebrate his birth because in his birth we also have

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expectation of our life because of his willingness to be the high cost of love, to go to the cross

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for us that we might have life and life eternal. So Advent means simply this, the arrival of a

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notable person, thing, or an event. So Advent to us is a personal and intentional preparation

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for the birth of Jesus. It's also a time to remind us not only of his birth, but also the promise of

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his manifest presence and of the expectation of his second coming. For many Christian communities

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the Advent season begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas. So Advent 2023 began on Sunday,

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December the 3rd, and concludes on December 24th, and of course Monday December 25th is what we see

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where the world looks at as Christmas. The four themes of Advent according to an article by

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Jackson Greer in the Focus on the Family newsletter are hope, faith, joy, and peace.

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The Advent season reminds us that God sent his son to this world so we might have a relationship

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with him. Yet Jesus also suffers with us and helps us to navigate even through our pain,

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he wrote. What a great message that is for now when so many are suffering.

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Jackson goes on to say this, during Advent Christians celebrate and reflect upon Jesus'

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first coming, while at the same time the church looks forward in eager anticipation to Christ's

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second coming. When Christians and families celebrate Advent they unite in a generational

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tradition of celebration and anticipation of Jesus' second coming. During Advent we celebrate

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the miraculous birth of Jesus, the light of the world. Hope came into the world as the word that

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dwells amongst us. I love what the word says in John chapter 8 verse 12, then Jesus spoke to them

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again saying, I am the light of the world, he who follows me shall not walk in the way of the world.

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I shall walk in darkness, but have the light of life. 1 John 1 5-7 says, This is the message which

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we have heard from him, and declare to you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all.

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If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie and do not

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produce the truth or practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light,

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we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son cleanses us

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from all sin. Today the world desperately needs the light of Christ. He dwells amongst us. In

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the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was in the beginning

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with God, and all things are made through him, and without him nothing was made that was made.

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In him was life, and the life was the light of men, and the light shines in the darkness,

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and the darkness did not comprehend it. John 1 1. As we consider Advent and of course Christmas,

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it is important to understand that in the beginning was the word which was Christ. God gave us his

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only begotten Son, but Advent is about anticipation, not only for the first coming, but also the second

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coming of the Lord. The dictionary defines Advent as the arrival of a notable person, a thing,

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and an event. So for us as Christians, Advent is the expectation of Christ. Because of his birth,

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we live in this constant manifest presence of a holy, holy, holy God. We also have this great

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expectation of the arrival of the second coming of the Lord. This is exciting. It's exciting news

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and a time for us because God is the word, and he loved us so much that he gave himself to us

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that we might live in his word, know his word, share his word, and be a witness of his light to

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a world that desperately needs the Lord. The dark world needs the light of the Lord. In a world of

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difficulty that seems to be covered with darkness, we have a moment to declare the miracle of God,

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Christ with us. Joy to the world, the Lord has come. We have the light of the world living in us.

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He should permeate our lives and radiate from us and through us to those around us. A little light

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in a dark room lights up the whole room. Let your light so shine before men, if they may see your

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good works and glorify your Father in heaven, Matthew 5 16. We can let the light of Christ

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shine in and through us in very practical ways, spiritually, physically, financially, relationally,

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and relationally. Jesus said if we follow him, then we don't have to walk in darkness

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because we have the light of the world that leads us to life and he will guide others out of their

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darkness to life as well. My friends, may we all share our hope, faith, joy, and peace because the

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light has come into the world and the word, which is the light of Christ, dwells amongst us.

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Express to each and every one of you appreciation, gratitude, and thankfulness for all of your love

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and support over the years, for your prayers, your volunteerism, your support, your finances,

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to stand with us not just during the holiday season or Christmas season, but those who've stood with

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us 365 days a year, touching lives all over the world, from Houston, Texas to the four corners of

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the earth. Thank you so much. We couldn't do it without you. It really is a net that works together

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because one fishing pole, we catch a fish, but mended together, cast by the Lord together,

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we can do a whole lot more together. Let's continue to bring hope every day in the lives of people

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in a world that desperately needs hope. We hope you enjoyed this episode of A Word in Season with

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Doug Stringer and Friends and ask you to prayerfully consider supporting the ministry at

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somebodycares.org or by texting your donation amount to 805-422-7348. Please join us again

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for A Word in Season with Doug Stringer and Friends.