For All People | Peace On Earth | Jen DeWeerdt

Welcome everybody. If you will join me in welcoming all of our City First locations, Janesville, Cape Coral, God Behind Bars crew, we love you. City First Anywhere, love everybody who's joined us from all of our locations. Well, Merry Christmas everybody. Let me hear you say Merry Christmas back. Merry Christmas. Can you believe Christmas is just four sleeps away? How many else? Any other families do sleeps instead of days? Four sleeps away. Some of you that just like kind of like made your heart stop because you're like, oh my gosh, there's still so much to do. But guess what? That also means that Christmas Eve services are just three sleeps away, so yay. We sure hope that you and your family will join us for one of our Christmas Eve services and it's gonna be a special time just full of making meaningful moments. And so bring your family and friends, send out some invites and say, hey, wouldn't you wanna join me? And we will see you guys all back here on Wednesday. Well, today is our last message in our Christmas series that we've called For All People.

And see, when the angel announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds on a hillside that were tending their flocks, he said this in Luke chapter two, verse 10. He said, do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people, for all the people. I love how the Living Translation actually states it. It says this, I bring you the most joyful news ever announced and it is for who? Everyone, it's for everyone. The best news ever was for everyone. And we see this in the Christmas story itself, right? The message of Christmas was for the lowly poor shepherds on the hillside, but also to the wise men who traveled with an entourage and brought expensive gifts to Jesus. And it was also the news was for the lowly town in Bethlehem, the small town of Bethlehem, but then also for the bustling city of Jerusalem that was stirred when the magi showed up on the scene. See, even the story of Christmas shows us that the good news of great joy was for everyone, everywhere, for all of time. All of time, no matter where we find ourselves from, no matter what we're walking through, no matter what we're experiencing, the good news of Jesus and the good news of Christmas is for us. And guess what? All people includes you.

It includes you. You know, after the angel announced this good news for everyone, scripture tells us that all of a sudden the heavens were filled, the skies were filled with a multitude of angels and together they proclaimed this in Luke chapter two, verse 14. It says, praise God in heaven, peace on earth to everyone who pleases God. Peace on earth to everyone, for all people, available to all people. See, peace is a part of the Christmas story. It's part of the message of Christmas and peace is what I wanna talk to us about today. Now, I don't know if anyone like me here, is like me here, but when I read this word, that phrase, right, peace on earth, and then I look around and I see the state of the world, I have a question. Where is this peace, right? Not where is the beef, like from the 80s, Wendy's commercial, but where is this peace that is talked about? If Jesus came to bring peace, then why does peace feel so hard to find? See, when I look around, I find not a lot of peace, but I find a lot of chaos and stress and struggle and pressure and evil and conflict, not a lot of peace on earth. You know, I've gotten a lot of Christmas cards this year,

like probably many of your families and there's pictures of families that are all dolled up. They've even got their dog in a Christmas sweater, right? And then in the beautiful script on the card, there will be like this, you know, words like peace on earth. And I know from experience, all right, that there was not peace on earth during that photo shoot. I know it, this happened to me. There was a lot of crying, there was a lot of bribing, there was a lot of threatening, right? Not a lot of peace. I know this, in between the smiles, mama was giving the look, right? The best thing to do when you're doing good is to have a couple people with you like you, pull it together. Let's go, let's do this. See, the words peace on earth and I want you to hear this really loud and clear today. actually had a message from the Lord. They don't just make up a nice phrase that the angel thought would sound cool. And the promise of peace on earth was included The angel said peace on earth in response to my suffering in that pronouncement of our Savior coming. Think about it. The angels, the Lord could have said to the angels, announce anything, but one of the things that he said was peace on earth.

So where is the peace? Well, I think we need to start by answering the question, what is peace? What is peace? Well, first, let me tell you what peace is not. Peace is not the absence of problems. It's not having the perfect circumstances. It's not having the Packers lose. I had to. You know it was gonna come up sometime today. And I'm not wearing my Bears gear, but I am wearing blue. Representing, sorry. I actually did not watch the game last night because I had to protect my peace. I was like, I cannot watch it because I gotta get up and preach in the morning. I'm not gonna sleep. Whether they win or lose, I'm gonna get myself all riled up. So anyway, but anyway. So peace is not that. Peace is not a place, all right? It's not Hawaii. It's not found in a destination. I know right now, especially in Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin, we're like, oh, dear Lord, yes, Hawaii would sound nice right about now. But peace actually isn't a place. And it's not having everything perfect. See, if peace required these things,

Jesus wouldn't have promised it. The word peace is found in scripture 790 times. And these 790 scriptures can be placed in three different categories, if you will, okay? The spiritual peace, emotional peace, and relational peace. A different way of saying this would be this, is that there's the peace with God, which is spiritual. There's the peace of God, which is emotional. And then there's peace with others, which is relational. So we're gonna break these down. All right, first of all, peace with God. The path to peace begins here. The path to true peace, the peace on earth we want, it begins right here with peace with God. This is the first domino per se. The other two elements of peace depend on this one. Romans 5.1, the apostle Paul is writing here, and this is the amplified version. It says this, therefore, since we have been justified, that is acquitted of sin, declared blameless before God by faith, let us grasp the fact that we have, what are those words? Peace with God, and the joy of reconciliation with him through our Lord Jesus Christ. What is that verse saying? It's saying this, when we decide to follow Jesus, making him the leader and the forgiver of our life, we have peace with God. Our sins no longer counted against us, amen?

We've been acquitted, we're not guilty, we're declared blameless before God, amen? And then we have the peace with God. There's reconciliation, Paul says, which means this, peace with God means the distance is gone and the relationship has been restored with God. That's peace with God. You know, I've heard this moment explained many times like this. Somebody finally comes to that moment when they're gonna make Jesus the leader and the forgiver of their life, and they, in a sense, bow their head and bow their lives and say, God, I receive the free gift of Jesus, and I turn from my sins, I confess my sins, I repent of my sins, I admit my sins, and I say, Jesus, help me. I'm done with leading my own life. But for many, when that moment happens, not all, but for many, even in that moment, there was a literal feeling of weight being lifted off of them. Heard it many times. That is the peace with God. They were able to breathe deep. There was this sense of relief, of peace with God. And the apostle Paul says this, right? In that scripture, he said, let us grasp this fact. Let us hold tight to it, even when you don't feel it. Okay, guess what?

We have peace with God. And guess what? That changes everything for you. It changes everything. I believe that this peace, this peace with God, is actually the peace that is longed for by everyone. You know, there's actually a pagan writer in the first century, it's like 2,000 years ago. around the time that the Apostle Paul was around and he was a pagan, okay? So was not a follower of Jesus. And he wrote this, his name was Epictetus. And he said this, while the emperor may give peace from war on land and sea, the emperor, meaning like, you know, one of the Caesars, the leader of the known world of Rome. While he may give peace from war on land and sea, he is unable to give peace from passion, grief, and envy. He cannot give peace of heart for which man yearns for more than even outward peace. What he's saying, this is somebody who is a person not of faith. He's saying, when I look out, I see people that they need peace, peace from their passions, peace from their grief, peace from the heaviness of this world. Everyone is searching for peace. And what I'm here to tell you today and what scripture reveals to us is that it starts with God.

It starts with God. So peace with God is the first category. The second type of peace is this peace of God. The peace of God. Now, this is intentional, emotional peace, okay? This, it's internal. The peace that, it's the peace that reassures the heart. It's the peace that settles our souls. It's the peace that steadies us in anxious moments. It's the peace that transcends all understanding that the apostle talks about in Philippians 4, six and seven, all right? And we're gonna read it. The young people had to help me with that after first service. They were like, six, seven. I'm like, got you. But he talks about this peace, okay? Let's go ahead and read about it. It says this, do not be anxious or worried about anything. And can we pause there? I've actually heard Pastor Rick Warren refer to this. He goes, of all the commandments in the word of God, he goes, I think this is the hardest one to obey. Do not be anxious or worried. He's like, the 10 commandments, okay. That seems easier than this sometimes, right? Do not be anxious or worried about anything. But in every circumstance and situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,

continue to make your request, your specific requests known to God. And the, what is that? Peace of God, that peace which reassures the heart, that peace which transcends all understanding, that peace which stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus is yours. Is yours. This peace of God is yours. It's yours. You know, I don't know what your 2025 has been like. For some of you, it's been a great year. Winning, right? Others of you, you're coming to the end of this year and you feel like you're at the end of your rope. You're hanging on by a thread. Maybe it's been a financial situation or relational struggle or there's a spiritual struggle that's happening for you. Maybe you are grieving the loss of someone or something. Maybe you have regrets. Maybe there's things you're like, I made a big mistake this year. Or maybe there's something that you're like, you wish you would have done that you didn't do, right? Whatever it be, a regret that you have. I don't know what it is, but you need the peace of God. You need that peace of God in your life. And I'm gonna expound on this in just a few moments. And then we're gonna pray at the end that we just, even before I came out here, I was like,

God, let this be a day where there is a supernatural sense of your peace. A supernatural sense of your peace, that lifting of the burden. You know, you can have peace with God and still need to learn how to live in the peace of God. Peace with God is instant. Do you understand that? Peace with God is instant. But the peace of God is intentional. It's something that there is his part and our part. And this peace of God is formed as we continually, like the Apostle Paul said there in Philippians, if we continually choose trust, prayer, and surrender. We have to determine as followers of Christ to choose peace because guess what? There are thieves that want to steal our peace. Amen. There's thieves. And I think today, I want us to be aware that there are things that want to steal your peace and they're different for each and every one of us. But let me just name a few, okay? First of all, something that'll steal your peace. Binging. and world events. If you want peace, that is not gonna bring you peace. Some of you need to stop the scroll, right? Another thing that can steal our peace is overextending ourselves.

Time-wise, financially, we're overextending ourselves. We're given what we don't have. Comparison will steal your peace. Look at what other people have and what you don't have, or what you have and what other people don't have. It'll steal your peace. Hurry will steal your peace. Go, go, go, go, go. So much to do. Another thing that'll steal your peace is fear of the future. Fear of the future, looking ahead. And another thing that'll steal your peace is focusing on the hurt or the struggle that you have with other people. Some of us are walking into Christmas dinner and you're not looking forward to it, because there's a hurt, there's a struggle there, which then brings me to my third kind of peace, which is this, peace with others. Peace with others. And honestly, I almost didn't put this point in there, but I wanted to hit on it really quick, because this doesn't connect with my full main idea, so I'm not gonna camp here long, but I do want to point out that true peace with others will be an overflow of peace with God and peace of God. You can't skip the first two and expect the last one. You can't. Healthy relationships don't create peace.

Peace creates healthier relationships. See, it all starts inward and flows outward. And I just want to challenge us with that today. So I said I was gonna come back to kind of more of a practical how to experience the peace of God. So how do we experience this peace of Christmas? Well, you know, Jesus is speaking in Matthew 11, verses 28 through 30. And I wanna read this scripture. I'm gonna read it slow, okay? And I want you to just kind of sit in this. And I want you to really pay attention to the words. They're gonna be up on the screen. And I want you to just soak this verse in. Some of you, you even maybe take a picture or maybe even write down Matthew 11, 28 through 30 and come back to it throughout this week. And just rest and just like kind of plant yourself in this scripture. Because this is powerful and it gives us, because here's the deal, you know, we're like, we need peace. It's not something, it is, it's supernatural, but there's also things that we have to do to learn how to live in that peace. And Jesus speaks to that here. Matthew 11, verses 28 through 30, Jesus speaking. He says this, come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me

for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Jesus wants you to find peace. He wants you to find rest. You know that word right there, rest, in verse 29 that I had highlighted means this, okay? Blessed tranquility of soul. How many of you want a blessed tranquility of soul? Isn't this a profound word picture of peace? Some of you today, you just need to realize Jesus doesn't offer relief, he provides peace. And peace is different than relief. You know, this rest, this tranquility is for all people who are weary and burdened. Are you weary today? Is there something that's burdening you? Is your soul tired? Well, no matter how you've gotten to the point you're at, Jesus gives us simple instructions in this passage on how to find the rest that we want. And here's the deal, I know this, in this room and in every location and watching in the living rooms through City First, anywhere, we're all at different levels on this. Some of you, you're like, you need a little peace right now. Some of you, your soul is weary and you literally are. Like, I've got to have something lifted off of me. Jesus gives us instructions here.

What's the first thing he says in this scripture? He says this, come to me, come to Jesus. Now I'm telling you what, some of you are like, okay, what's she gonna say? What's she gonna talk about? How to get this peace? Today, what I'm gonna talk about is super simple. But how many of you know, we ignore and don't do the simple things in life, right? You know, you just need to eat healthy. You know, you just need to get to the gym. You know, you just need to stop scrolling. You know these things, but do we do them? No, right? It's the simple things sometimes. We want like this big, we want like peace of God to doink us on the head and Jesus is like, I'm gonna do my part, you gotta do your part. And he's saying one of those things is come to me. Peace begins with proximity. It doesn't start with your performance or your perfection, but his presence. Notice here that Jesus doesn't give stipulations on come to me. He just says, are you weary? Maybe you're weary because of something you did. Are you burdened? Maybe you're burdened because of something somebody did to you. It doesn't matter.

Jesus doesn't give stipulations. He just says, come to me. The source of peace isn't a pill. It's not a program. It's not a philosophy. It's a person. And it's the person of Jesus, the son of God. This is what I think is profound and I don't have this in my notes, but here's the deal. You know, yes, we think peace of God, you know, and we think, oh, sweet baby Jesus. He gives me that peace of God, but do you know something happened in the heavenlies when baby Jesus showed up on the scene? It wasn't just a sweet little like silent night, holy night. It wasn't quiet all the way in the heavenlies because guess what? When Jesus showed up incarnate, guess what? Things started to happen in the heavenlies. Guess what? The baby Jesus that brings you peace is also the king of kings and the Lord of lords. He's the one that brings it. You know, I followed Jesus for over 30 years and I still need to be reminded of this. And even as I was studying for this message and started looking at this passage of scripture, I was kind of convicted with this question. I asked myself, where do I go first to find peace?

Where do I go first? See, we live in a world where everything we need, we just look it up, we Google it, or now we ask chat, right? Well, have you asked chat? See, it's not wrong to do the investigation. It's not wrong to do the work. It's not wrong to go talk with someone, but where do you go first to find peace? It's amazing how different, and I'm talking about myself here. It's amazing how different my peace is when I've purposely sat down in a quiet place, in the presence, the proximity to Jesus, to pray and to cast my cares upon him. My problems hit different when I brought them to Jesus. It just does. I don't understand it. It's the peace that transcends all understanding. And you know, I've heard the world mock this idea of like, what, just go to Jesus? Well, this is what I figure. We're all going to someone or something or somewhere to find peace, but why not go to the Prince of Peace? That's one of Jesus' Christmas names, by the way, is the Prince of Peace. So go to him. Jesus is going, come to me. Quit going to everything else.

Come to me first. Come to Jesus. The second thing is this, connect with him. Connect with him. Take my yoke upon you. Now, this is not an egg yoke, okay? It's not egg on your face here. That's not what he's saying. All right, a yoke, Y-O-K-E. It is an ancient term. Jesus is writing this 2,000 years ago. And a yoke, I actually have a picture of it that they're going to put up. A yoke is a wooden frame, that wooden frame that's over the two animals. It's a wooden frame you put over two farm animals. And the purpose of a yoke is to lighten the load. See, if this one cow was not yoked up to the other cow, the work that the first cow is having to do is twice as much. The full load of it is on the one cow. But when two animals are yoked together, guess what? The weight is halved. The weight is halved. Jesus is giving us a metaphor for our lives here. He's saying, the reason you've. feel so burdened is because you're doing it all yourself. You're like a lone cow out doing your own thing. And Jesus is going, you're not meant to carry it. You're carrying the weight of it all

and Jesus never meant for it to be that way. And I want you to notice something. The fact that there is a yoke denotes that there is work to be done. Jesus isn't saying, go ahead, go ahead bull, go ahead cow and just go sit on your blessed assurance and do nothing. No, he's like, there's stuff to do. There is a field to be plowed. There's a carriage to be drawn. There is a load to be pulled, but guess what? Rest doesn't come by not doing the work. It comes by not doing it alone. You're not doing it alone. See, the yoke is a symbol of partnership. Jesus wants to partner with you in this life. And can I tell you, as someone who has walked with Jesus for a long time, I need to be reminded of this. There are things I, you know, I just, I'm like, I'm handling, I'm doing myself. And Jesus, this week was like, you, you need to put my yoke on. Put on my yoke, come to me, connect with me. But the problem is, is that we think sometimes the answer isn't yoking up with Jesus, connecting with him. We think the answer is escape or numbing out. Maybe numbing out will give me my peace. Maybe distancing myself from other people or even Jesus will bring me peace. No, no, no, no, no, he's all like, come close.

Connect with me. It's what brings the peace of God. And then there's the third thing that we find from this scripture that Jesus speaks of, is this, commit to the process. So you come to him, you connect with him, and then you commit to the process. Jesus said, learn from me. Now, the problem with that word learn is that we think school. How many of you are glad you're not in school anymore? So you say learn and you're like, oh my gosh, I gotta like learn, what does that mean? Like learn algebra, learn the dates in history, learn how to diagram a sentence, remember that? That was fun, never got the hang of that. So we kind of tend to look, the word learn, we're kind of like, oh, it's heavy. But the meaning of the word learn in this scripture doesn't mean that type of learn. It actually means this, and as I studied, I thought this was profound. That word learn there means this, to increase one's knowledge of the person teaching. Wow. Jesus is like, don't come to me and think you need to learn all the do's and don'ts. He's like, come to me and learn about me. Learn about the teacher. He's saying, I want you to increase

in your knowledge of me, the one you're connected with. See, when you grow, when we grow in our knowledge of him, we'll find our rest. Because what does it say right after learn from me? He says, learn from me, yoke up with me, learn from me. And then he says this, he gives a clue into his character here, learning who he is. He says, I am gentle and humble in heart. Wow. Jesus could have said anything about himself in that moment. Do you understand that? He could have said, I am powerful and almighty. I am the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He said, no, no, come to me, connect with me, learn from me. Why? Because I'm gentle and I'm humble in heart. He's given us a picture of who he is, what his character is like. See, here's the deal, you gotta know this. Jesus isn't annoyed with you when you come to him for the hundredth time about that issue, you just can't figure it out. He's not aggravated with you. He is gentle and patient, that is his character. You know, I am an imperfect mom, okay? When my kids call me, when they show up through my front door, whatever they need, it is my joy that they've showed up. It's my joy that they've showed up. And here's also the deal, guess what?

I have to be invited into, I don't know everything that's going on in their lives if they don't share it with me. And Jesus is saying, come to me, connect with me, let's walk this thing together. And commitment to the process begins with consistency. Learning to know the teacher will take time. And I wanna, I know I just said learning, we're not learning like, you know, like the word learn we learned in school, but I am gonna give you some homework, okay? I wanna challenge us to have consistency in our connection with Jesus. Is anybody here you think you can find 15 minutes a day? Can you find 15 minutes a day? Oh my gosh, only five of you can find 15 minutes a day. It's not good. We need to tell, I am telling you, you can find 15 minutes a day. All right, I think that's like 0.01% of your week or your day or something. It's small. Okay? You can find it. Trust me, it might be like finding a needle in a haystack, but you can find it. Find 15 minutes a day. It's not just going to happen. You're going to have to find it, hunt it down, get up early, stay up 15 minutes late. Find 15 minutes a day and then put the phone in the other room. Turn off the notifications and come to Jesus. Maybe turn on some worship music. Connect with him.

I want you to even have that picture of the yoke. I'm sitting down next to you, Jesus. You're right next to me. I'm going to connect with you. Teach me who you are. Open your Bible. Some of you, it will be dusting off your Bible, but guess what? That's okay, because what did Jesus say? I'm gentle and I'm humble in heart. He's not saying you can only come to me when you've already done it or when you've been perfect. No, he's saying come to me. You know, in closing, as we wrap up, our youngest son, Paxton, many of you know we've talked about him before. He was born with a disability and his name actually means peace. Literally, Paxton means peace. But I'll be honest with you. Most days, our life does not feel very peaceful. Our home is a lot like your home. There's a lot of noise. There's a lot of unpredictability. There's a lot of moments where things don't go according to plan. Amen. But if peace meant quiet or ease or everything working out the way it's supposed to, then I wouldn't know peace at all and you wouldn't know peace at all. But somewhere along the way, God started to show me something. Peace was never promised as a calm environment. As peace wasn't promised as freedom from struggle or all the moons aligning, right? And everything being just right, peace was promised as a steady presence. The presence of Jesus in our lives.

You know, we're going to be giving gifts and receiving gifts this week for Christmas. We're going to sit around a tree or, you know, wherever you exchange gifts, we're going to be receiving gifts. And today, I want us to be reminded of the gift of peace that only Jesus can give. And that gift is available to each and every one of us. See, there's another verse that Jesus is speaking and it's before he ascends to heaven. And I love this. It's not a Christmas verse per se, but I actually think it is, John 14, 27, and says this. This is Jesus speaking. He said, I am leaving you with a gift. I love gifts. Amen. What's the gift? Peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift. The world cannot give it, cannot give it, so don't be troubled or afraid. Jesus says, listen, I'm giving you a gift that you can't get anywhere else. See, the world is going to promise you peace through relationships or striving or whatever we've all tried, right? Promises peace, but Jesus says, uh-uh, I have a gift for you and it's something the world cannot give. I don't know about you, but I am grateful for my peace with God, but I need the peace of God in my life every day. And Jesus points out in this passage that we just read, you know, it is a gift, but then the one before, right? And Matthew says it's a process. It's a process. Come to me, connect with me, commit to the process. So let me go ahead and pray for us today. Every head bowed, every eye closed, please no leaving unless it's an absolute emergency

because we don't want to be a distraction to those around us. I want to pray for us. Heavenly Father, I thank you so much for everybody within the sound of my voice. God, you see what each and every person is carrying. You see, God, if there is weariness, you see the burdens. God, you see the soul exhaustion, the soul weariness, God, of each and every person, big or small or in between. And so, God, I just pray in the name of Jesus. of Jesus, that there truly would be today such a revelation of the peace that is available to each and every person. It's available, we just have to receive the gift of your peace. So God, I just pray, no matter what people are walking with, no matter what they're facing, God, that there would be a sense as they leave today, God, that you are with them, the peace of God is available to them, and I pray that you would help them come to you. May they understand that it's nothing, nothing that should keep them from you, not shame, not guilt, not busyness, not hurriedness. God, and I just pray then that they would connect with you and then learn about you, who you are. You are gentle and humble in heart. So God, we love you and we thank you for the peace of God, the gift of the peace of God today. With every head bowed and every eye closed, if you're here today and you've never made peace with God, it's the start, that reconciliation,

that coming back into relationship with God that I talked about in peace with God. If you've never made that decision to follow Jesus or maybe you have in the past and you've strayed and you know God brought you back to church today and he's going, today's your time, come to me, quit running. Quit running, come to me. If that is you today and you wanna make a decision to follow Jesus, right where you're at, just lift your hand, just lift your hand, say, today's my day, Jen. There's hands, I see hands, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. And what we're gonna do in these next few moments is we're gonna pray a prayer all together as a church so that those who are making that decision, who raised their hands, or maybe you didn't and you're just like, Jen, I know I wanna make that decision you pray this prayer with me, God is listening to you. So let's all pray this prayer together so they don't feel alone in it. Dear Jesus, today I choose peace with God. I want to follow Jesus. I'm tired of living life on my own. I turn from my sins and living life my way and I choose to follow Jesus. I receive the gift of forgiveness and grace and peace with God this Christmas season. In Jesus' name, and everybody said, amen, amen. Let's give those who prayed that prayer. Wow, what a powerful, powerful message on peace

and such a timely message. Hey, if you made that decision to make Jesus the leader and forgiver of your life, we wanna celebrate that decision with you and we've got a couple of next steps for you. One, we want you to tell somebody about the decision that you've made. We're not meant to do life alone, so tell somebody about it. Drop it in the chat, let us know. Also, scan the QR code that's on your screen or let us know you need the New Beginnings resource. That basically answers all the questions of what's next in following after Jesus. We're excited for you and believe that's the best decision you can ever make. That's right, another great resource we have is GrowthTrack and GrowthTrack is designed to help you discover your God-given gifts and talents and really how to grow in them and build God's kingdom but also build your relationship with him. If you wanna do GrowthTrack online, the nice part is you can do it at your own pace, so no matter what your schedule is, you can fit it into it. If you wanna sign up for the next round of GrowthTrack, you can go to cityfirst.church forward slash GrowthTrack or even do it on the City First app. Also again, if you need prayer for anything, drop it in the chat, send us an email,

visit the City First Church app and let us know. You can drop your prayer request in and pray for others. It's a great opportunity for us to agree together in prayer and tell somebody about the service. If it was great and you watched it and you thought it was great, share it with somebody, send them the link and then invite them to come back with you next week and watch online. That's right and really the best thing that you can do is just keep coming back to church, all right? We'd love to personally invite you again to our Christmas Eve services happening this Wednesday across all of our locations and online. If you're near a physical location, we invite you to join us. It's gonna be a great experience. We really hope to see you there. Well, we love you guys. Have a very Merry Christmas. ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪