Heavenly Father,
We thank you this morning for the birth of King Jesus.
In a world of darkness, we thank you that we have “seen a great light.”
In a world of sorrow, we thank you for a Kingdom in which you have “increased its joy.”
In a world of international turmoil, we thank you for a King who “shall judge between the nations.”
In a world where injustice is commonplace, we thank you for a King who “shall decide disputes for many people.”
In a world where conflict seems to reign, we thank you for a King whose reign allows people to “beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.”
In a world where war rages, we thank you for a King whose reign will mean that “nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore,” for “every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.”
In a world where governments shut down, we thank you for a King upon whose shoulder is the government, and that “of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.”
In a world where leaders are wealthy and yet the economy declines, we thank you for the grace of a King who, “though he was rich, yet for our sake he became poor, so that we by his poverty might become rich.”
In a world under a curse, we thank you for a King who “redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.”
In a world destroyed by sin and unrighteousness, we thank you for a King who “knew no sin” but “for our sake was made to be sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
In a world of weeping, we thank you for a King who will “wipe away every tear from our eyes.”
In a world of death, we thank you for a King in whose Kingdom “death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
We thank you for Jesus—the King of Kings and Lord of Lords—who died for sins and was raised from the dead, who ascended to your right hand, poured out the promised Holy Spirit, and who comes again to judge the living and the dead.
Cause us to trust in Him.
Cause our hearts to rejoice in His reign, both now and forever.
Amen.
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