Jesus exchanged His place with us so that we can have life through His death. Then wherever you may be in life, just like the leper, throw yourself at the mercy of Jesus – and hear His gracious words to you: “I am willing. Be clean.”

Prayer was foundational to Jesus – a rhythm of His life. Jesus intentionally sought out a quiet, unhurried time with God in the busyness of His life knowing that it was a sure way of tuning His heart to the heart of God. May His zeal for prayer cause us to be zealous for prayer.

The wait is over – Jesus Christ is born on this day. He is all that we need – and He will satisfy our souls completely. Then let us lay our worries, troubles, sorrows, and anger at His feet as we surrender the throne of our life to Him – the Savior King.

The Christmas message tells us that Jesus came to bring peace to our world – and this will turn our fear into great joy. May we ponder and declare this message as we fix our eyes on the Savior of the world, the Prince of peace.

The first Christmas was God’s salvation story unfolding in our history in an unexpected way – the Savior King coming as a baby to be placed in a manger – to show us that our salvation will be achieved in an unexpected way – the Savior King dying as a criminal in our place. He is the reason we celebrate and rejoice.

Jesus’ ministry brings freedom to our lives because He has authority over all things. He ministers with love and compassion, which is why it ultimately led Him to give His life as a ransom for sinners like you and me. He is inviting us to rest in His authority today – He is worthy of our trust.

Jesus is calling us to repent, believe, and follow Him. It’s true that He calls us to radically abandon our lives but in return, we will receive Him – the Author and Perfecter of life. Jesus is worth losing everything for.

The King’s path was unexpected. He came from a place of nowhere, He humbled Himself to be baptized, and He faithfully endured the wilderness for God’s glory and our salvation. But as always, God’s ways are good. 

The gospel is not good advice; it’s the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. This good news begins with a messenger calling us to repent and pointing us to the Savior King, the only One who can cleanse, forgive, and transform us. 

The church is commissioned to make disciples as we go, baptize, and teach people to observe the gospel truths. Jesus’ authority is the reason for our confidence and His presence, our comfort.

Jesus loves us to the end. We know this because “for the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame” (Heb. 12:2) in order to wash our sins away. Then as recipients of His service, we’re called to serve one another with the heart of Christ for the joy of this community and the glory of God. 

The Word of God must spread. For this reason, we must be faithful to the call that God has given us as we help each other to do the same, so that the church will be sanctified, the lost will be found, and God will be glorified.

A church is the people who are devoted to God and to one another, but it also acts as an embassy to affirm, empower, and equip Christians to live as Christ’s ambassadors in this world. This is the kind of church Lighthouse strives to be.

We are commanded to give thanks to the LORD for He is good, and His love endures forever. In all circumstances, we can cultivate a heart of gratitude by looking at the works of God and our lowliness, which are constantly affirming His love for us.

We are the people of God – loved and treasured by God, set apart to be more like Him as we aim to live for His glory in this foreign land we live in.

We are the people of God – the dwelling place of God’s glory, called to interlock our lives as we mediate the nations to God through prayer and acts of service. We must build our lives, our church, upon Christ our Cornerstone who alone makes this possible.

We are all uniquely created in the image of God, yet we are united through Jesus Christ. Then through the gospel, we don’t have to feel inferior (because we’ve all been adopted as children of God), and we can never feel superior (because we’re all recipients of grace). We embrace diversity, not uniformity.

Jesus will build His church through the people who, by God’s grace, believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God.

Christians are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. We are called to preserve the social decay by actively working against injustice and evil in this world but also to illuminate the truth of the gospel wherever we go for God’s glory.