But Wait, There's More! | Scotty Gibbons

Acts 3:1-10 NLT Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer service.   2  As they approached the Temple, a man lame from birth was being carried in. Each day he was put beside the Temple gate, the one called the Beautiful Gate, so he could beg from the people going into the Temple.   3  When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money. 4  Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, “Look at us!”  5  The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting some money.   6  But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!” 7  Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man’s feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened.  8  He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them. 9  All the people saw him walking and heard him praising God.  10  When they realized he was the lame beggar they had seen so often at the Beautiful Gate, they were absolutely astounded! 1. Christmas reminds us our hope is in Jesus. 1 Peter 1:6-8 NLT So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while.  7  These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. Colossians 1:3-5 NLT 3  We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  4  For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people,  5  which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News. 2. Christmas reminds us we can trust His plan. Isaiah 7:14 NIV 14  Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. Jeremiah 23:5-6 NIV “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,     “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely     and do what is just and right in the land. 6  In his days Judah will be saved     and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called:     The Lord Our Righteous Savior. Zechariah 9:9 NIV Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!     Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you,     righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey,     on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Matthew 13:54-57 NIV 54  Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked.  55  “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?  56  Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”  57  And they took offense at him. Matthew 6:25-33 NIV 25  “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  26  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  27  Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? 28  “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.  29  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  30  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?  31  So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  32  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  33  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 3. Christmas reminds us that God wants us to share his hope. Luke 2:15-18 NIV – 15  When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 16  So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.  17  When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,  18  and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.