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You have your Bibles. 
If you don't, that's OK, but if 

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you have them, turn to Isaiah 
Chapter 9. 

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As we think about lighting the 
prophecy or the hope candle, it 

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made sense to me that we look to
the Old Testament. 

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Then we go back to the book of 
Isaiah. 

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And so there is a thrilling 
passage in Isaiah Chapter 9 that

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is often read around Christmas 
time, and I know that it will 

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help us better understand our 
theme of hope or prophecy. 

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In the midst of Isaiah 9, the 
Kingdom of Judah is in dark 

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days. 
The Kingdom of Israel has just 

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been captured by the Assyrians, 
takes place in 722 BC, and 

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Isaiah is ministering to King 
Ahaz and the people of Judah who

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are wondering, what are we going
to do? 

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Because the Assyrian threat 
still exists. 

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They're still concerned about 
what's going to happen. 

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And it's in the midst of this 
that in Chapter 7, God gives the

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nation of Judah a sign, says a 
virgin will conceive and bear a 

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son, and you will call his name 
Emmanuel, that eventually a 

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child is going to be born who is
going to provide hope and 

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salvation for God's people. 
And that's what they have to 

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look forward to. 
And in the midst of this chaos, 

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this sorrow, this gloom, we also
have these comforting words, 

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this beautiful prophecy in 
Isaiah Chapter 9 verses one 

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through 7. 
Let me read it for us, says, But

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there will be no gloom for her 
who was in anguish in the former

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time. 
He brought into contempt the 

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land of Zebulun and the land of 
NAFTA lie, but in the latter 

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time He has made glorious the 
way of the sea, the land beyond 

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the Jordan, Galilee of the 
nations. 

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The people who walked in 
darkness have seen a great 

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light. 
Those who dwelt in a land of 

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deep darkness, On them has light
shone. 

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You have multiplied the nation, 
you have increased its joy. 

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They rejoice before you as with 
joy at the harvest as they are 

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glad when they divide the spoil 
For the yoke of his burden, and 

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the staff for his shoulder, the 
rod of his oppressor you have 

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broken as on the day of Midian. 
For every boot of the tramping 

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warrior in battle tumult, and 
every garment rolled in blood 

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will be burned as fuel for the 
fire. 

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For to us a child is born, to us
a son is given, and the 

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government shall be upon his 
shoulder, and his name shall be 

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called. 
Wonderful counsellor, mighty 

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God, everlasting Father, Prince 
of Peace, of the increase of his

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government and of peace. 
There will be no end on the 

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throne of David and over his 
Kingdom to establish it and to 

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uphold it with justice and with 
righteousness. 

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From this time forth and 
forevermore, the zeal of the 

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Lord of hosts will do this. 
This evening, very briefly, 

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we're going to talk about two 
items that are raised here, 2 

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important truths. 
First, this passage talks about 

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our King, that our King is 
someone we can hope in. 

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And in the midst of this 
description of King Jesus, 

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you'll notice his humanity and 
deity on full display. 

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We see this right in the opening
line. 

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We see his humanity in this 
child being born, this son of a 

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virgin, Emmanuel, God with us. 
But we also see his deity as the

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Son is given. 
The Father sends the Son to be 

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the savior of the world. 
And so we see both humanity and 

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deity here. 
And then we have these four 

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beautiful names, right? 
We have wonderful counselor that

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this individual is coming into 
the world is going to be the 

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greatest teacher, full of the 
greatest wisdom, far beyond 

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anything else that the world has
ever seen or known. 

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This counselor, this teacher is 
going to tell us that there is 

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strength and weakness, that the 
greatest of all is the servant, 

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that there's no greater love 
than someone lay down his life 

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for his friends. 
He reveals to us this totally 

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upside down Kingdom that is 
foreign to the wisdom of this 

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world. 
He's our wonderful counselor. 

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We also see that He is our 
mighty God, that He is the 

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fullness of God in bodily form, 
that He is the Word that became 

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flesh and dwelt among us, that 
He is God the Son, fullness of 

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God, and helpless babe, as the 
modern hymn puts it, in Christ 

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alone. 
What a beautiful line. 

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We also see this third name, 
which is perhaps the most 

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shocking because often we don't 
associate this title with Jesus.

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He is everlasting father. 
Isn't that interesting? 

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So isn't God the Father, this 
talking about God the Son as our

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everlasting father, that there's
something paternal about our 

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relationship with Jesus as our 
king, as our forever king, 

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right? 
He's everlasting. 

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It's personal. 
There's intimacy. 

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Jesus relates to us as His dear 
children. 

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There is such a close connection
that we are able to have with 

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our Savior in the midst of His 
great power and might which are 

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on full display. 
We also see this tenderness as 

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our dear Shepherd. 
And then the fourth name we see 

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is our Prince of Peace. 
I want to read for you not to 

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steal Pastor Brighton's Thunder,
but we'll hear from this passage

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next week. 
I don't want to spoil too much, 

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but Micah 5, verses four and 
five, listen to this. 

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And he shall stand and shepherd 
his flock in the strength of the

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Lord, in the majesty of the name
of the Lord his God, and they 

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will dwell secure for now. 
He shall be great to the ends of

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the earth, and He shall be their
peace. 

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Peace is a person. 
We often think of peace as a 

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lack or an absence of war and a 
fighting, but the reality is our

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greatest need for peace is 
reconciliation to God. 

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We need peace with God and 
through faith we are justified. 

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According to Romans 5, we are 
brought back to peace with God 

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and our Lord Jesus Christ, and 
He allows us then to as much as 

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it depends on us to live at 
peace with all people. 

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He's our Prince of peace. 
So we see this beautiful 

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description of our King, but we 
also see these qualities, these 

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characteristics of His Kingdom. 
We don't have time to look at 

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all of them in depth, but did 
you notice this description of 

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this Kingdom? 
Do you notice that it's upon His

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shoulder? 
He's not a lazy king. 

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He's not a king who's in it for 
himself. 

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He is the one who upholds the 
entire Kingdom with the word of 

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his power. 
It all rests on him. 

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He bears the burden. 
Do you notice it's a Kingdom of 

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peace? 
That it is eternal, not just 

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geographically, but in relation 
to time, covers the whole earth,

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and it will last forever. 
And I love this. 

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It's a Kingdom where justice and
righteousness reign, that Jesus 

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is the perfect king. 
He is just and perfect. 

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And so that's the type of 
Kingdom that is already among us

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today. 
But it's also a Kingdom that we 

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can look forward to in the 
future when Jesus comes back at 

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the second Advent. 
You know, Christmas is a time of

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joy. 
You can also be a time of 

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sorrow. 
True, as we mourn sadness, as we

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think about the difficulties and
challenges that this life 

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brings. 
But in the midst of this, my 

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prayer for us tonight. 
So we would look to Jesus that 

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we would recognize his purpose 
in coming. 

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Later on in Isaiah, he's going 
to be described as a man of 

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sorrows. 
He's going to be described as 

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someone who was stricken by God 
and afflicted, described as 

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someone who bore our grief and 
carried our sorrows, that the 

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Lord will lay on him the 
iniquity of us all. 

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And so whether you're coming in 
tonight and into this Advent 

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season with joy, I, I hope 
that's true. 

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Or even if there's sorrow, 
that's OK because Jesus came to 

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experience joy and sorrow for us
so that we can experience an end

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of sorrow when he comes to 
establish his Kingdom forever. 

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There's a final enemy according 
to First Corinthians 15, that 

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Jesus will defeat when he 
returns. 

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And that final enemy is death. 
Praise God, be no more tears, 

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sadness, sorrow, pain, 
suffering. 

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No more death. 
And so as we begin this 

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celebration of Advent, we do so 
as those who have hope, because 

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Christ has already come and made
a payment for our sins, and he 

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is risen against that. 
We too may walk in the newness 

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of life, but we're also able to 
look ahead to the future with 

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great hopeful anticipation that 
when Jesus comes back, he's 

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going to right every wrong. 
He's going to make all things 

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new. 
And so whether you're 

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experiencing joy or sorrow, 
ultimately we can have hope in 

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our king and in his forever 
Kingdom. 

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Let's pray. 
God, we thank you for this 

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beautiful passage as we kick off
Advent. 

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We're so grateful for this 
opportunity to celebrate 

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together. 
God, I pray that as we even 

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decorate the church, as we build
anticipation for Advent, God, 

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that you would be with us. 
May we rejoice with those who 

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rejoice and weep with those who 
weep. 

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God, I pray that as we navigate 
this time of year, in the midst 

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of the busyness and the crazy 
schedules, God, I pray that we 

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would be able to pause and 
reflect on our King. 

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We thank you so much for King 
Jesus. 

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We also pray, God, that as we 
journey through Advent, as we 

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celebrate the first coming of 
Jesus, that we would recognize 

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two things. 
One, that Jesus came ultimately 

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to die for our sins and to rise 
again. 

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You got to pray that we would 
also recognize that the second 

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Advent is coming. 
We don't know when, but we can 

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look forward to it with hopeful 
anticipation that King Jesus 

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will return. 
He will establish the throne of 

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David forever, and we will 
forever be with him face to 

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face, and that death will be 
defeated. 

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We thank you, We pray these 
things in His precious name, 

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Amen.