Sheila Walsh: The Gifts of Christmas | Praise

November 3, 2025 | 57:7

Matt and Laurie Crouch talk with Sheila Walsh about her Christmas book, “The Gifts of Christmas”.

#Author #Christmas #Brokenness #PersonalStory #Hope #Encouragement #Savior #ChurchHistory #SeekGod #Transformation #Healing #Restoration #Redemption

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| Sheila Walsh: The Gifts of Christmas | Praise | November 3, 2025

>> coming up tonight on praise.
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>> every christmas eve we would go to our christmas eve service.
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We decided that before the service started, we would just
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Walk through the town and see if we could invite anyone to
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Come. there was a gentleman lying on the side of the road.
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You could tell he'd been drinking. he turned his face
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And i recognized him immediately. he was a man that
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Used to be in our church. and i said, look, why don't you come
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With me? honestly, it was one of my favorite christmas
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Memories. because i sat beside this beautiful man who felt so
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Broken and so lost. and i think it's one of the greatest
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Messages of christmas, that there's always going to be a
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Light left on for you.
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>> it just seemed like we were saying, welcome to 2025. and
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Then all of a sudden this time of year comes by. every year we
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Say it every year. what in the world has time sped up? how
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Could we possibly be approaching the holiday seasons,
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The thanksgiving and christmas and sheila.
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>> good thing about it is that it keeps jesus in our minds.
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That's true in our hearts and why we're here. and that he was
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Born. that's the.
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>> it is upon us again, and it just comes at us so quickly
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Every year. it's it's like time is sped up for us old people
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That we we don't capture as many memories anymore. okay.
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The gift of christmas.
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>> is sheila.
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>> is sheila walsh. you're going to tell us stories. and
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We thought it was appropriate because of your scottish accent.
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We just thought the stories would be more interesting.
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>> tell a story like sheila can. when she starts to tell a story,
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It's like everybody just. yes.
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>> oh, that's so sweet.
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>> and so i love i love this book. i love you telling your
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Story. i always sit i'm especially. i'm better together
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Going. why can't i think of one story in sheila has a million
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Stories.
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>> to tell because i've lived for a long time. i've got a
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Better memory.
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>> i remember the tradition of sitting on christmas eve and my
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Dad kind of doing the whole christmas story. so this is
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Kind of a version of that. let's just do that, okay. the
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The gift of christmas is sheila's book, and it's full of
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Amazing stories. and some of them we're going to get right
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Here, right now. the gift of christmas is available right
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Now. sheila, your introduction starts with one of your stories.
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So let's get right into the sheila walsh story time.
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>> okay, so i'm seven years old and i'm living in a little
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Fishing town in scotland with my family, and all i want for
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Christmas is this one baby doll. we have one toy store in the
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Town, and every single time we pass the window, there would be
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This baby doll in the window. and that's all i wanted. and i
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Dropped as many hints as i possibly could. i didn't want
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Any other gifts, just the baby doll. and then comes christmas
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Morning and my mom would always go downstairs first of all, and
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She'd start a fire, and she would let us know if santa had
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Been. and then we were allowed to come downstairs. so my
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Brother and my sister and i ran downstairs and my presents were
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On one chair, my sisters were on another, and my brothers
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Were on the table. and i looked at my chair and there was lots
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Of presents, and there was no baby doll. and but i didn't
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Want to be disappointed. i didn't want my mom to see that
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I was disappointed. and so she said, aren't you going to open
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Some of your presents? and i'm like, yay! you know, ripping
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Paper off these puzzles and some hat that my aunt up north
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Knitted for me every year. my brother would get like a table
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Tennis set or a badminton racket. i got a knitted hat
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Every year, ugly knitted hat. so anyway, i found my hat and
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My mom said, are you not going to open your other gift? and i
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Said, what other gift? she said, sheila, the one at your feet.
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And i looked down and there was the baby doll slightly under
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The chair. and there's something about that that just
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Makes me think at christmas time, don't miss the real gift,
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Because i think we can get so caught up in all the rest of
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The stuff, and looking at what's happening, and the
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Busyness and the craziness and the families coming over. and
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Now aunt martha's a vegan and doesn't want to eat the turkey
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And all.
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>> this stuff.
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>> but don't miss the gift that was laid right at our feet
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Because nobody was expecting him. he didn't come the way
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They thought he would, but but his coming split history in two.
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>> lots of stories in the gifts of christmas. the christmas
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Trees you get into kind of martin luther and in a really
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Unique way.
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>> well, it's so interesting. there's a woman who's written a
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Book about martin luther, and it's specifically about not his
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Theology, not about the reformation of the 16th century.
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It's about martin luther and his children. and i'd never
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Read anything about his family before. but she tells the story
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Of he was coming home one night from church, and it was
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December and the snow had fallen and the trees were
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Sparkly. they had like little. it looked like fairy lights on
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Them, and there was something so beautiful about it that he
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Went home and got something to chop the tree down, and he took
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The tree into the house. and as far as we know, it's the first
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Time that someone had a christmas tree in their home.
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But his message to his children was simple evergreens don't
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Lose their color. they don't lose their leaves in the winter.
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And when you and i are connected to christ all year,
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We don't lose our leaves and we don't lose our color, and we
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Don't lose our purpose. and i just, i thought that was such a
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Lovely thing, because for some reason, if you're the
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Reformation of the 16th century, i just don't think of you as
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Much of a party animal. but the fact that he would cut down a
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Tree and take it home for his children, to let them know this
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Is who we are in jesus. i love.
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>> that beautiful.
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>> let's let's kind of reset the, you know, in whatever
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Denominational cloth i was woven in from the very
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Beginning. the, the practice of advent, which is kind of the,
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You know, the the point of the gifts of christmas, kind of a,
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A story that you tell and a theme that you create.
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Devotional. the leading up to christmas. i don't know how i
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Missed it, but the advent wasn't a class we took at the
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Church that i grew up in in santa ana, california. so for
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For those of us that don't know exactly the point or the or the
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Practice of advent, tell me a little more about that.
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>> i'll try to. i was not brought up in that tradition
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Either. baptist church. we just didn't do advent. it was only
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When i went to seminary in london and i started going to
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This beautiful anglican church that the four sundays leading
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Up to christmas, they would there would be a special candle
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They would light. and the first one was like the the angel
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Candle and the peace candle and the two other candles that i
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Can't remember. they've obviously left quite an
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Impression on.
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>> me.
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>> but it was just it was a way of pausing early, because
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Sometimes we get so caught up in all the other stuff. but
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There was something about the four sundays before christmas
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Of just stopping and thinking, okay, what's about to happen?
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What's about to change everything? and so we would
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Light an advent candle, and then by christmas eve, all the
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Candles are lit. but it was more like your heart was lit.
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It was more like you were prepared, like you remembered.
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And there'd be particular passages of scripture that you
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Would read during advent. you know, whether it was elizabeth
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Getting pregnant or mary going to see elizabeth and the baby
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Jumping for joy inside of her, that just it was the whole
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Story rather than just a moment.
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>> yeah.
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>> which i loved.
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>> we just did better together on on all of this and it was
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Just beautiful because it's preparing our hearts, preparing
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Our hearts for the most important thing you were
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Talking about. i remember os talking about taking the
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Picture of what christmas is to us. it's all this stuff and
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It's all the presents and it's all the trees. and then the
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Closer you get, you kind of squeeze in and there's the
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Manger and you kind of squeeze in. there's mary and joseph and
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The baby, and by christmas it's focused on the baby and
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Everything else goes away. and so i think, i think in this
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Book, this devotional, i'll be telling my, my little baby, my
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Little grandbaby, all, all of auntie, she.
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>> was going to remember him. yet next christmas.
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>> you know. so auntie sheila woke up.
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>> he's a smart boy. he'll get it.
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>> so.
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>> but these are just beautiful stories to read to your family
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And just get your heart prepared.
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>> yeah. so the think of advent and wind the clock back. you
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Know, decades, centuries, and then zoom forward, back to
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Present day 2025 christmas season. and the speed in which
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Everything goes. social media is going. you know, there's no
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News cycles anymore. all of a sudden, you know, just news is
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Instantaneous. whatever happens, you know it immediately. and
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You know, you can know a thousand different perspectives
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On it immediately. and if there's ever a time when you
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Get our age and you you sound like a bunch of old people. but
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If we could.
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>> put that on.
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>> me, if we could, if we could go back and tell our 30 year
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Old selves, take a chill pill on this. thing and stop trying
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To get the cabbage patch doll or this or that, or, you know,
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The the elmo that you ended up throwing in the toilet or
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Somebody did. and and so this is our version of slowing down,
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Kind of doing a little devotional. let's move on to
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The star. you told a story about a trip to angola.
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>> i had an incredible experience one year in angola,
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In africa, and i really feel like i saw what abraham saw the
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Night when god said in genesis 15 five, the lord took abraham
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Outside and said to him, look up at the sky and count the
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Stars if you can. that's how many descendants you'll have.
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We flew into the main airport in angola, but then we drove
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For hours just to nothing. no villages, no towns, no nothing,
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Until we came to this one little village where we were
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Going to set up a feeding program so that kids would come
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To school. and we talked to the village chief and asked for
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Permission to camp there. and when he knew why we were there
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And we were there to help his children, he was like, of
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Course. and so we had we built a fire and we had little one
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Man tents around the fire, and we were each given a headband
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With a light on it. i felt like a miner. i mean, it was, and
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Almost asleep. and my friend said, sheila, come outside. so
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I dragged my sleeping bag outside of the tent and she
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Said, lay down and look up. and i looked up. i'd never seen
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Anything like it in my life because there was no competing
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Light, and it was a clear night. you could see the milky way
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Looked like a shepherd's crook, and the stars were just. and i
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Saw not only did god did abraham see that, but god says
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That he knows. he put every star in place and knows their
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Name. so how much more does he know us? but then i read
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Something really fascinating. you will love this. there's a
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Book called the star of bethlehem by a guy called mark
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Kidger, and in it he talks about the wise men. because so
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Often on our christmas cards, we think, you know, the
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Shepherds arrived and then the wise men came to which is not
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True. jesus was probably two when the wise men came, but
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They started their journey in five bc. but here's the thing
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That this astronomer pointed out. the planets jupiter and
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Saturn passed each other three times that year, and in israeli
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People, jupiter is considered a sign of royalty, and saturn is
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Considered a sign of protection. and so for for people who saw
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It, then, it was seen as a sign of god's protection. a royal
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Baby is on the way. and and then the star came together
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Five years before five bc, which is when they think christ
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Was born and shone so brightly that that would be the star
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That the wise men were following. and why were they
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Following it? because they weren't priests, but they knew
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Daniel. they knew daniel's story, and daniel had told them
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Of what was going to come. and so there's something about if
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It's a clear night, go outside and just look up at the stars
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For just a minute and think, the god who put every single
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One of them in place sees me. i love that at christmas time.
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Don't miss the real gift, because i think we can get so
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Caught up in all the rest of the stuff, but don't miss the
00:13:24.010 --> 00:13:28.081
Gift that was laid right at our feet because nobody was
00:13:28.081 --> 00:13:30.183
Expecting him. he didn't come the way they thought he would,
00:13:30.183 --> 00:13:32.952
But his coming split history in two.
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>> here at tbn.tv, we want to help you celebrate the true
00:13:36.155 --> 00:13:40.226
Reason for the season. jesus. so for your gift of $25 or more,
00:13:40.226 --> 00:13:46.099
We're excited to send you sheila walsh's devotional, the
00:13:46.099 --> 00:13:48.301
Gifts of christmas. and for your gift of $100 or more,
00:13:48.301 --> 00:13:53.773
We'll also send you this decorative wooden nativity for
00:13:53.773 --> 00:13:57.877
Your gift of $1,000, or your new monthly gift of $100 or
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More. you'll also receive this simple but elegant star of
00:14:03.049 --> 00:14:07.353
Bethlehem sculpture. friend. your generosity helps tbn.tv
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Point hearts to jesus and a christ centered christmas.
00:14:11.958 --> 00:14:16.129
Thank you and god bless you!
00:14:16.129 --> 00:14:19.565
>> stories in the christmas season. told and kind of just
00:14:19.565 --> 00:14:25.838
Chatting out like this is almost the opposite of what our
00:14:25.838 --> 00:14:30.276
Daily life really is. this is we. our attempt is to slow down
00:14:30.276 --> 00:14:34.180
Here, tell stories and be focusing on that pathway from
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Commercialism all the way in, zooming in to where there's
00:14:42.188 --> 00:14:47.527
Nothing left but jesus. and what a what a what a great time
00:14:47.527 --> 00:14:53.199
To sit here. and, and the stories are just more
00:14:53.199 --> 00:14:56.002
Interesting in your in your accent. i just think that
00:14:56.002 --> 00:14:58.838
They're just way more interesting because of that.
00:14:58.838 --> 00:15:01.908
Okay. the story day six. and you talk a little bit about
00:15:01.908 --> 00:15:08.848
Somebody we're familiar with, paul harvey.
00:15:08.848 --> 00:15:10.350
>> yeah. remember paul harvey on the radio. and he would say
00:15:10.350 --> 00:15:14.354
That's the rest of the story. well he told the story every
00:15:14.354 --> 00:15:17.590
Christmas eve. and he says he doesn't know who the story
00:15:17.590 --> 00:15:20.193
Originated with. but i loved it. he talked about a man and he
00:15:20.193 --> 00:15:24.030
Said he was a good man, but he didn't want to go to church
00:15:24.030 --> 00:15:27.033
With his wife. he said, i respect your belief, but
00:15:27.033 --> 00:15:29.702
Honestly, the thought that god would come as a baby onto earth,
00:15:29.702 --> 00:15:33.906
It just doesn't make any sense to me. so you go off and enjoy
00:15:33.906 --> 00:15:38.211
The service and and i'll be here at home. so his wife went
00:15:38.211 --> 00:15:42.115
Off and he sat by the fireplace with reading his newspaper, and
00:15:42.115 --> 00:15:46.085
Suddenly he heard this thump, and he got up to see what it
00:15:46.085 --> 00:15:51.024
Was. and it was a bird had hit the window because it was cold
00:15:51.024 --> 00:15:54.027
And snowing outside. and i think the birds were attracted
00:15:54.027 --> 00:15:56.829
To to the warmth inside because the drapes were not drawn. and
00:15:56.829 --> 00:16:01.167
Suddenly like 3 or 4. so he went outside and there were
00:16:01.167 --> 00:16:05.705
These poor birds in the snow, looking so kind of dazed and
00:16:05.705 --> 00:16:09.742
Confused. so he thought, well, i know what i'll do. i'll, i'll
00:16:09.742 --> 00:16:14.013
Put the light on in the barn where his daughter kept a horse,
00:16:14.013 --> 00:16:17.183
And i'll show the birds in there. so he tries to do that,
00:16:17.183 --> 00:16:21.120
He tries to shoo the birds and they won't move. they're scared
00:16:21.120 --> 00:16:23.990
Of him. so he thinks, okay, i'll get breadcrumbs. so he
00:16:23.990 --> 00:16:27.126
Gets breadcrumbs, but he comes to a place where he realizes i
00:16:27.126 --> 00:16:30.363
Can't communicate with him because a i don't look like
00:16:30.363 --> 00:16:32.965
Them, and b i don't speak like them. for me to be able to
00:16:32.965 --> 00:16:37.804
Communicate to the birds that i'm a safe place, taking them
00:16:37.804 --> 00:16:41.507
To a safe place, i'd have to be like them. and at that moment
00:16:41.507 --> 00:16:45.144
The church bells began to play a odessey fidelis o come, all
00:16:45.144 --> 00:16:49.782
Ye faithful. and as the story goes, this man fell on his
00:16:49.782 --> 00:16:53.119
Knees in the snow and says, i get it. that's what it's all
00:16:53.119 --> 00:16:56.989
About. you know, if we were going to understand what god is
00:16:56.989 --> 00:16:59.926
Like, you had to look like us, and we had to be able to hear
00:16:59.926 --> 00:17:04.063
What you had to say. i think that's just a i love the way
00:17:04.063 --> 00:17:08.534
That god has so many creative ways of breaking through the
00:17:08.534 --> 00:17:11.971
Commercialism and all the stuff to simply say, look, do you see
00:17:11.971 --> 00:17:16.109
That little bird in the snow looking confused? if you were a
00:17:16.109 --> 00:17:20.513
Bird, the bird would follow you. okay, that's why jesus.
00:17:20.513 --> 00:17:23.516
>> came.
00:17:23.516 --> 00:17:24.650
>> 2025 is kind of more important for an evening like
00:17:24.650 --> 00:17:29.388
This, because even though our grandbaby will only be about
00:17:29.388 --> 00:17:34.694
Nine months old and won't really be understanding, you're
00:17:34.694 --> 00:17:38.297
Going to read the stories too.
00:17:38.297 --> 00:17:40.233
>> i'm going to read him every day. every day of advent.
00:17:40.233 --> 00:17:44.203
Christmas.
00:17:44.203 --> 00:17:44.804
>> can you imagine?
00:17:44.804 --> 00:17:46.105
>> no, audrey. audrey's read to him since he was before he was
00:17:46.105 --> 00:17:51.077
Born. she was reading to him. yeah.
00:17:51.077 --> 00:17:53.579
>> well, grandma will probably wear him out with these little
00:17:53.579 --> 00:17:59.051
Stories. the gifts of christmas making its way to a beautiful,
00:17:59.051 --> 00:18:06.659
Focused center of attention. which, of course, is the manger
00:18:06.659 --> 00:18:10.630
In jesus. okay, the candy cane. you have a sweet tooth.
00:18:10.630 --> 00:18:14.000
Apparently.
00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:14.567
>> i brought you one.
00:18:14.567 --> 00:18:15.735
>> okay. thank you.
00:18:15.735 --> 00:18:18.504
>> all right. yeah. thank you.
00:18:18.504 --> 00:18:20.840
>> one of the things with stories is i love to find the
00:18:20.840 --> 00:18:23.976
Origin. like, i love to go as far back as i can and find out.
00:18:23.976 --> 00:18:28.414
Well, how on earth did this, did this start? and it started
00:18:28.414 --> 00:18:30.917
In the 1800s in cologne and germany. a choirmaster was
00:18:30.917 --> 00:18:34.887
Trying to put on a pageant with all the kids for christmas, and
00:18:34.887 --> 00:18:39.258
At the rehearsals he couldn't get them to behave. they just
00:18:39.258 --> 00:18:42.161
Talked. and he was like, this is terrible, what can i do? and
00:18:42.161 --> 00:18:45.031
So he went to the local sweet maker in the village and said,
00:18:45.031 --> 00:18:49.035
Could you maybe make just like peppermint cane, just or not
00:18:49.035 --> 00:18:52.872
Even a cane, just a stick for the children? and the guy said,
00:18:52.872 --> 00:18:55.908
Sure, i could. and then he thought, but that doesn't look
00:18:55.908 --> 00:18:59.145
Very reverent. so what he did was he said, could you bend the
00:18:59.145 --> 00:19:02.014
Top over and make it look like a shepherd's crook? and and so
00:19:02.014 --> 00:19:05.885
That's what they did, and that's what the children had
00:19:05.885 --> 00:19:08.221
That night. but the whole thing was to remember, not only did
00:19:08.221 --> 00:19:10.990
He come as a baby, as a tiny baby, but but he came as
00:19:10.990 --> 00:19:15.294
Shepherd of our souls. and so that night in 1814, in germany,
00:19:15.294 --> 00:19:21.500
At the christmas eve service, they read psalm 23, the
00:19:21.500 --> 00:19:25.338
Shepherd psalm, to say that he came as a tiny, fragile baby.
00:19:25.338 --> 00:19:28.007
But this is to remind us that his rod and his staff will
00:19:28.007 --> 00:19:32.745
Comfort us.
00:19:32.745 --> 00:19:34.247
>> the gifts of christmas 25. joy filled devotions for advent.
00:19:34.247 --> 00:19:40.686
And we are right in the middle of it. we hope that if you
00:19:40.686 --> 00:19:45.791
Don't have somebody to tell you christmas stories, that you're
00:19:45.791 --> 00:19:49.295
Tuned in and that you are enjoying the scottish brogue of
00:19:49.295 --> 00:19:55.234
Sheila walsh. and by the way, sheila, you know, we've we've
00:19:55.234 --> 00:19:58.271
Known each other forever. there was a we came across this
00:19:58.271 --> 00:20:02.975
Social media page the other day that was posting a bunch of old
00:20:02.975 --> 00:20:10.483
Music videos and, and some old worship songs, and, you know,
00:20:10.483 --> 00:20:14.954
Back in the day, you know, talking big hair, 80s and, and
00:20:14.954 --> 00:20:20.092
Lori and i were just kind of reminiscing to all that time
00:20:20.092 --> 00:20:23.763
And we would have met.
00:20:23.763 --> 00:20:25.798
>> well.
00:20:25.798 --> 00:20:26.866
>> because some of them were would.
00:20:26.866 --> 00:20:28.734
>> it have been were some of the videos he shot? yeah, i was
00:20:28.734 --> 00:20:31.871
Looking for you.
00:20:31.871 --> 00:20:33.072
>> but we were, we were, we were probably. what was that.
00:20:33.072 --> 00:20:38.077
Maybe mid 80s. yeah.
00:20:38.077 --> 00:20:40.846
>> some years ago.
00:20:40.846 --> 00:20:42.114
>> we're talking 40 some years ago. wow. sheila walsh and lori
00:20:42.114 --> 00:20:47.053
And matt got to know each other. you were a contemporary
00:20:47.053 --> 00:20:51.090
Christian artist. we were shooting music videos with you.
00:20:51.090 --> 00:20:56.329
I remember it vividly. it was the first music video i ever
00:20:56.329 --> 00:20:58.931
Shot on film. yeah, beautiful. and it was called big boy now,
00:20:58.931 --> 00:21:05.304
And you've been a performer, singer, storyteller, tv host,
00:21:05.304 --> 00:21:11.844
You know, all these years, and you're kind of good at it now.
00:21:11.844 --> 00:21:17.049
You know.
00:21:17.049 --> 00:21:18.250
>> i love the fact that god chooses the least, likely the
00:21:18.250 --> 00:21:22.188
People who never think. i mean, when i think back to my
00:21:22.188 --> 00:21:25.858
Childhood, i walked in my sleep almost till i was about 18
00:21:25.858 --> 00:21:29.295
Years old and was i found it very hard to rest at night, and
00:21:29.295 --> 00:21:35.935
My mom would find me in the morning. i would have gone into
00:21:35.935 --> 00:21:38.838
The toy closet and taken all the soft toys out, and got in
00:21:38.838 --> 00:21:42.141
And pulled them all in on top of me. because, i mean, i've
00:21:42.141 --> 00:21:46.512
Shared before on on our program, but but my father had a severe
00:21:46.512 --> 00:21:50.950
Brain injury, and then my father died by suicide, but i
00:21:50.950 --> 00:21:55.020
Wasn't allowed to go to the funeral, and i wasn't 100% sure
00:21:55.020 --> 00:21:58.891
That he had died. and so i would hide during the night so
00:21:58.891 --> 00:22:02.995
That if he did come back, he wouldn't find me. and i think
00:22:02.995 --> 00:22:06.832
That's one of the reasons that that christmas and not just
00:22:06.832 --> 00:22:11.504
Christmas, but leading up to it the whole month leading up to
00:22:11.504 --> 00:22:14.907
It, it's understanding the whole message of peace on earth.
00:22:14.907 --> 00:22:22.047
Because look at our world right now. it's not very peaceful. i
00:22:22.047 --> 00:22:25.918
Mean, things are just kind of in chaos. and yet that's why
00:22:25.918 --> 00:22:29.855
Jesus came. he came to speak peace into things where there
00:22:29.855 --> 00:22:32.858
Were no peace. and when i think back to my childhood, in fact,
00:22:32.858 --> 00:22:37.263
One of my very. can i tell you a story that that's not in the
00:22:37.263 --> 00:22:41.100
Book?
00:22:41.100 --> 00:22:41.434
>> yeah.
00:22:41.434 --> 00:22:42.601
>> but i just i love this it was every christmas eve. i mean,
00:22:42.701 --> 00:22:44.870
You got together and your dad would read the christmas story
00:22:44.870 --> 00:22:48.107
And all that. we would go to our christmas eve service, and
00:22:48.107 --> 00:22:51.110
My best friend and i, andrew and i, we decided that before
00:22:51.110 --> 00:22:54.613
The service started, we would just walk through the town and
00:22:54.613 --> 00:22:57.516
See if we could invite anyone to come. and it was cold. it
00:22:57.516 --> 00:22:59.985
Was snowy that night because the service started at 11 and
00:22:59.985 --> 00:23:03.088
We found a couple of people and invited them. and then we
00:23:03.088 --> 00:23:06.158
Walked down to what it was called the fisherman's mission,
00:23:06.158 --> 00:23:08.928
Because we were a harbor town, and there was a gentleman lying
00:23:08.928 --> 00:23:12.298
On the side of the road, and you could tell he'd been
00:23:12.298 --> 00:23:16.735
Drinking. and so i went up to him, and i just said, because
00:23:16.735 --> 00:23:20.172
We had coffee, i said, sir, would you like a cup of coffee?
00:23:20.172 --> 00:23:24.143
And he turned his face, and i recognized him immediately. he
00:23:24.143 --> 00:23:27.079
Was a man that used to be in our church. his family had been
00:23:27.079 --> 00:23:31.183
In our church for generations, but he was just struggling with
00:23:31.183 --> 00:23:34.019
Life. he was struggling with alcoholism, and i loved him
00:23:34.019 --> 00:23:38.090
Because he had a beautiful singing voice, too. and i said
00:23:38.090 --> 00:23:42.294
To him, hey, it's me. and he looked embarrassed. and i said,
00:23:42.294 --> 00:23:45.931
Look, why don't you come with me? and he said, i can't, i
00:23:45.931 --> 00:23:48.901
Can't go in like this. and i said, okay, here's the deal.
00:23:48.901 --> 00:23:52.238
We'll wait till the service starts and then you and i will
00:23:52.238 --> 00:23:55.007
Go in and we'll just sit at the back and we'll just be part of
00:23:55.007 --> 00:23:59.178
It. and before it finishes, you and i will creep out. nobody
00:23:59.178 --> 00:24:02.548
Needs to know you were there. and honestly, it's one of my
00:24:02.548 --> 00:24:05.017
Favorite christmas memories because i sat beside this
00:24:05.017 --> 00:24:06.919
Beautiful man who felt so broken and so lost, and i could
00:24:06.919 --> 00:24:11.857
Kind of keep seeing, you know, tears pouring down his face,
00:24:11.857 --> 00:24:15.160
Listening to all the christmas carols. and and that night we
00:24:15.160 --> 00:24:19.231
Slipped out and he said goodbye and went off. i went off to
00:24:19.231 --> 00:24:23.135
Seminary the next year when i came back for christmas, there
00:24:23.135 --> 00:24:26.071
He was singing the solo in the christmas eve service because
00:24:26.071 --> 00:24:29.909
He'd found his way home. and i think it's one of the greatest
00:24:29.909 --> 00:24:33.746
Messages of christmas that it's not too late to come home. yeah,
00:24:33.746 --> 00:24:37.383
You know that there's always going to be a light left on for
00:24:37.383 --> 00:24:39.919
You. and to see the way that then, i mean, he's home with
00:24:39.919 --> 00:24:43.756
Jesus now, but god totally restored his life. but i
00:24:43.756 --> 00:24:46.959
Thought, isn't the church the one place where you shouldn't
00:24:46.959 --> 00:24:49.328
Be ashamed?
00:24:49.328 --> 00:24:49.862
>> yeah.
00:24:49.862 --> 00:24:51.063
>> it's the one place where you should be able to show up like
00:24:51.163 --> 00:24:53.933
You are and be loved back to life. and to see god do that in
00:24:53.933 --> 00:24:58.370
Somebody was just beautiful.
00:24:58.370 --> 00:24:59.605
>> an important point i think you're making is look at this
00:24:59.605 --> 00:25:03.909
Beautiful set. look at what we do to commemorate christmas.
00:25:03.909 --> 00:25:11.083
This is what we do. we go through the trouble of getting
00:25:11.083 --> 00:25:15.120
All this beautiful stuff and lots of lights and and, you
00:25:15.120 --> 00:25:19.258
Know, it's the season now where lori wants me to drive her. so
00:25:19.258 --> 00:25:23.762
As it gets dark, we drive around the town, you know, just
00:25:23.762 --> 00:25:27.032
Our local area and look at the christmas lights and see who
00:25:27.032 --> 00:25:29.902
Has, you know, we make a big deal. that means that when
00:25:29.902 --> 00:25:34.206
Something tragic happens during that big deal time, it often
00:25:34.206 --> 00:25:39.878
Amplifies the tragedy. so oftentimes many people don't
00:25:39.878 --> 00:25:42.715
Look forward to the holiday season of thanksgiving and, and
00:25:42.715 --> 00:25:48.220
And christmas and new years. and and because there's some
00:25:48.220 --> 00:25:52.391
Trauma where there's a missing relative or there's this or
00:25:52.391 --> 00:25:56.495
That or something other horrible happened. and but i
00:25:56.495 --> 00:26:00.799
Think you're making the point. and even the lamp and the
00:26:00.799 --> 00:26:04.703
Window and, you know, is, is a is a perfect example. your day
00:26:04.703 --> 00:26:10.843
11 of advent. and we're getting a lot of these stories out of
00:26:10.843 --> 00:26:16.248
The gift of christmas.
00:26:16.248 --> 00:26:17.483
>> you know what i love, though, about your last story is, is
00:26:17.483 --> 00:26:21.020
Where is it in the bible where it talks, it says to compel
00:26:21.020 --> 00:26:24.123
Them to come in.
00:26:24.123 --> 00:26:25.624
>> yeah.
00:26:25.624 --> 00:26:26.859
>> compel people. you know, i think right now in the culture
00:26:26.859 --> 00:26:29.094
And stuff, it's not going to take much to compel people to
00:26:29.094 --> 00:26:32.031
Come to church with you this year, you know, to to find
00:26:32.031 --> 00:26:36.602
Safety somewhere, to find, to find god to, to come back home
00:26:36.602 --> 00:26:42.141
To, to compel them to come in. jesus is looking for his lost
00:26:42.141 --> 00:26:48.013
Sheep.
00:26:48.013 --> 00:26:48.347
>> yeah.
00:26:48.347 --> 00:26:49.448
>> you know, and people are moaning and groaning on the
00:26:49.548 --> 00:26:51.984
Inside of them to find him. and i think this is a beautiful, a
00:26:51.984 --> 00:26:58.290
Beautiful christmas to try a little harder to compel people
00:26:58.290 --> 00:27:01.927
To come in.
00:27:01.927 --> 00:27:03.162
>> i think that's really true, because i think we think that
00:27:03.162 --> 00:27:05.898
People won't want to. i discovered something recently
00:27:05.898 --> 00:27:08.267
Where i thought, i wonder how it would be if the holy spirit,
00:27:08.267 --> 00:27:11.236
I mean, i don't want to be a pest, but if the holy spirit
00:27:11.236 --> 00:27:15.007
Prompted me to pray for somebody, how would that be?
00:27:15.007 --> 00:27:17.276
And so just i was walking through the airport just a
00:27:17.276 --> 00:27:20.345
Couple of days ago, and, and i see a woman who's sitting by
00:27:20.345 --> 00:27:24.183
Herself and, and she had her arm was in a sling. she looked
00:27:24.183 --> 00:27:27.853
Like she had broken something. and i felt the holy spirit say,
00:27:27.853 --> 00:27:31.023
Why didn't you pray? so i actually went over and i said,
00:27:31.023 --> 00:27:34.159
Hi, ma'am, do you mind if i pray for you? and she said, i
00:27:34.159 --> 00:27:37.896
Would be so grateful. we just don't know what people are
00:27:37.896 --> 00:27:40.766
Going through. i mean, people are going through stuff. i
00:27:40.766 --> 00:27:43.135
Think this year, maybe more than any people are so aware of
00:27:43.135 --> 00:27:46.038
What's not good and what's broken. but i think you're
00:27:46.038 --> 00:27:48.774
Right, lori, to say to people, come with me, because that was
00:27:48.774 --> 00:27:52.177
The thing that night. i mean, he didn't want to come because
00:27:52.177 --> 00:27:55.013
He felt unworthy.
00:27:55.013 --> 00:27:56.048
>> yeah.
00:27:56.048 --> 00:27:56.915
>> and my thing was that's the whole point.
00:27:57.015 --> 00:27:58.417
>> go.
00:27:58.417 --> 00:27:59.485
>> that's the whole point. that's the number one. place
00:27:59.585 --> 00:28:01.286
You go when you feel unworthy is to the to this baby who came
00:28:01.286 --> 00:28:06.158
And was willing to be god in a shoe size lord of mercy and to
00:28:06.158 --> 00:28:10.796
Let us know.
00:28:10.796 --> 00:28:12.498
>> it's okay.
00:28:12.498 --> 00:28:13.031
>> yeah. beautiful.
00:28:13.031 --> 00:28:14.566
>> okay. the window, the lamp and the window.
00:28:14.566 --> 00:28:17.302
>> lamp in the window.
00:28:17.302 --> 00:28:18.537
>> i love this. now, one of my favorite things ever happened
00:28:18.537 --> 00:28:22.107
To me was sometimes when mr. billy graham would be off in a
00:28:22.107 --> 00:28:24.877
Crusade, his wife, ruth, became like a really sweet friend of
00:28:24.877 --> 00:28:28.781
Mine. she was kind of like a big sister, like a mother
00:28:28.781 --> 00:28:31.950
Figure. and he was off doing something in china, i think.
00:28:31.950 --> 00:28:33.986
And she said, why don't you come to the house for three
00:28:33.986 --> 00:28:37.222
Days? so i went to the house and on the very first night we
00:28:37.222 --> 00:28:41.026
Sat by the fire and talked for a while, and then she showed me
00:28:41.026 --> 00:28:44.129
To my bedroom and she said, let me bring you through a cup of
00:28:44.129 --> 00:28:47.833
Tea, which was a very british thing to do. i said, that would
00:28:47.833 --> 00:28:51.170
Be lovely. and then ruth graham sits at the edge of my bed and
00:28:51.170 --> 00:28:54.840
Said, do you mind if i read you a story?
00:28:54.840 --> 00:28:57.342
>> hello?
00:28:57.342 --> 00:28:57.910
>> no, i.
00:28:57.910 --> 00:28:59.111
>> mean, it was just it was so lovely. and she read me from
00:28:59.111 --> 00:29:02.915
This old book. it was called beside the bonnie brier bush,
00:29:02.915 --> 00:29:05.851
And it was a story about somebody called lachlan
00:29:05.851 --> 00:29:08.754
Campbell, a highlander whose wife had died, and they had one
00:29:08.754 --> 00:29:12.925
Daughter, and he was very religious. he didn't have much
00:29:12.925 --> 00:29:16.829
Of the joy of the lord. he was just very religious. and she
00:29:16.829 --> 00:29:20.866
Wanted to go to london. and he said, if you go to london, i
00:29:20.866 --> 00:29:24.269
Will completely disown you. and one night she did, and she went
00:29:24.269 --> 00:29:27.506
To london. and the father was so angry with her back then. i
00:29:27.506 --> 00:29:31.143
Don't know if you ever did this, but back then we used to have a
00:29:31.143 --> 00:29:35.080
Family bible, and when a new person would added to the
00:29:35.080 --> 00:29:37.883
Family, your name would go in the family bible. well, that
00:29:37.883 --> 00:29:41.420
Night, lachlan scored his daughter's name out of the
00:29:41.420 --> 00:29:43.956
Family bible, as if you no longer belong here. and so the
00:29:43.956 --> 00:29:48.227
Story switches to london. she's in london and she's miserable.
00:29:48.227 --> 00:29:50.729
And she comes across this realization because it's cold
00:29:50.729 --> 00:29:54.533
And snowy. if i die tonight, nobody will know. i don't know
00:29:54.533 --> 00:29:58.871
Anybody here. nobody will care. my dad doesn't care about me
00:29:58.871 --> 00:30:03.141
Anymore, but in the way that only god can. because i'm
00:30:03.141 --> 00:30:06.111
Thinking of some of you right now who are praying for your
00:30:06.111 --> 00:30:08.947
Relatives. and you're thinking you understand? no, but god's
00:30:08.947 --> 00:30:12.017
Working while you're working, and while you're doing
00:30:12.017 --> 00:30:13.919
Everything you know god is working because at home. here's
00:30:13.919 --> 00:30:17.289
What was happening. one of the ladies in the church came to
00:30:17.289 --> 00:30:20.058
Lachlan and said, one night, i cannot believe that a man who
00:30:20.058 --> 00:30:24.129
Talks about the love of god could show so little love to to
00:30:24.129 --> 00:30:28.300
His own daughter and basically just shared the gospel with
00:30:28.300 --> 00:30:33.105
This man and said, luckily, you've missed the whole point.
00:30:33.105 --> 00:30:36.975
And so he decided that night to put a lamp in the window. he
00:30:36.975 --> 00:30:41.079
Lit the lamp and he put it in the window, which was always a
00:30:41.079 --> 00:30:45.150
Sign of i'm waiting up for you. so she's in london. she's
00:30:45.150 --> 00:30:48.487
Miserable. she hears christmas music from a church and wanders
00:30:48.487 --> 00:30:51.089
Into the back. and it's the story that night of the
00:30:51.089 --> 00:30:54.893
Prodigal son, and she thinks, but there's no way she knew her
00:30:54.893 --> 00:30:59.998
Dad. and her dad was a harsh, hard man, and her thinks
00:30:59.998 --> 00:31:03.035
There's no way. but somehow she felt the holy spirit say, go
00:31:03.035 --> 00:31:07.906
Home, flora, go home. the light will be on. so she gets on a
00:31:07.906 --> 00:31:12.978
Train and she goes all the way home to the north of scotland.
00:31:12.978 --> 00:31:15.981
And as she walks up the hill to where her house was, she sees a
00:31:15.981 --> 00:31:19.851
Light in the window and she knows. and that night her
00:31:19.851 --> 00:31:23.989
Father wrote in the family bible, flora lost and a date
00:31:23.989 --> 00:31:28.026
Found in a date. and i just think, i think sundays when
00:31:28.026 --> 00:31:32.264
We've got family members who have walked away or who don't
00:31:32.264 --> 00:31:36.068
Care, we think, well, they know what i believe, you know,
00:31:36.068 --> 00:31:40.038
Wouldn't it be an amazing thing this year to even start now? a
00:31:40.038 --> 00:31:43.842
List of people that we think, god, if you could just move in
00:31:43.842 --> 00:31:47.779
Their. life and we start doing ours, we start praying, we
00:31:47.779 --> 00:31:50.816
Start to do everything we know, and then we trust the holy
00:31:50.816 --> 00:31:53.986
Spirit's going to be doing. because lachlan had no way of
00:31:53.986 --> 00:31:56.788
Knowing that she wandered into a church that night and heard
00:31:56.788 --> 00:31:59.558
The story of the prodigal son. but just as god was working on
00:31:59.558 --> 00:32:02.961
His heart, god was working on her heart. and i bet i would
00:32:02.961 --> 00:32:07.032
Imagine i would put money on it. if i'm a betting woman, which
00:32:07.032 --> 00:32:10.402
I'm not, that it was the best christmas they ever had.
00:32:10.402 --> 00:32:13.372
>> no doubt.
00:32:13.372 --> 00:32:14.573
>> sometimes we think about christmas and it's this yucky
00:32:14.573 --> 00:32:20.612
Commercialization.
00:32:20.612 --> 00:32:21.013
>> yeah.
00:32:21.013 --> 00:32:22.247
>> i was involved in that yucky commercialization when i was in
00:32:22.347 --> 00:32:26.685
Third grade. i would climb up in trees, in the mountains, in
00:32:26.685 --> 00:32:31.656
Up in lake arrowhead here in, in southern california. and i'd
00:32:31.656 --> 00:32:37.496
Get all the way up in the trees and with snips, we would clip
00:32:37.496 --> 00:32:42.801
Out mistletoe.
00:32:42.801 --> 00:32:43.969
>> oh.
00:32:43.969 --> 00:32:44.836
>> and my mother would be involved in the
00:32:44.936 --> 00:32:47.939
Commercialization of christmas by getting baggies. and we
00:32:47.939 --> 00:32:52.044
Would, you know, ziploc baggie, a bit of mistletoe, and then
00:32:52.044 --> 00:32:58.016
We'd go down and i had a card table set up on highway 18. if
00:32:58.016 --> 00:33:02.821
You live in southern california, you know, a.
00:33:02.821 --> 00:33:05.924
>> little ribbon on it or anything.
00:33:05.924 --> 00:33:07.692
>> i think my mom. surely put a little red ribbon, stapled it
00:33:07.692 --> 00:33:11.530
Onto the thing. and so if you go up highway 18 from san
00:33:11.530 --> 00:33:15.167
Bernardino, you're trying to get up into the into the lake
00:33:15.167 --> 00:33:18.703
Arrowhead area. you go on highway 18 and right as you get
00:33:18.703 --> 00:33:22.841
To the top of the hill is a little rim forest. and if you
00:33:22.841 --> 00:33:26.144
Drove by 40 years ago or so, 50 years.
00:33:26.144 --> 00:33:31.950
>> ago.
00:33:31.950 --> 00:33:32.317
>> if you.
00:33:32.317 --> 00:33:33.385
>> went by.
00:33:33.385 --> 00:33:34.486
>> 50 something years ago, you might have seen a kid with
00:33:34.586 --> 00:33:38.890
Scraggly blond hair selling mistletoe on the side of the
00:33:38.890 --> 00:33:44.429
Road. well, that was me. and and, you know, as it got closer
00:33:44.429 --> 00:33:48.834
And closer to christmas eve and people were attending other
00:33:48.834 --> 00:33:52.671
People's houses for christmas party or something, you could
00:33:52.671 --> 00:33:55.640
Mark it up, see. so it'd go from.
00:33:55.640 --> 00:33:57.209
>> like.
00:33:57.209 --> 00:33:57.809
>> an entrepreneur even.
00:33:57.809 --> 00:33:59.144
>> back then, highway.
00:33:59.144 --> 00:34:00.045
>> robbery.
00:34:00.045 --> 00:34:01.213
>> supply and demand, baby. and so it was, you know, it went
00:34:01.313 --> 00:34:03.982
From like a dollar, you know, a couple of weeks before
00:34:03.982 --> 00:34:07.018
Christmas, like five bucks per, you know, and i remember that
00:34:07.018 --> 00:34:12.791
So vividly that this little, you know, wad of cash my, my
00:34:12.791 --> 00:34:17.929
Family we would make and we'd go buy something with it and it
00:34:17.929 --> 00:34:21.900
Was just such a big deal. but you talk about inside of the
00:34:21.900 --> 00:34:25.837
Gifts of christmas, some mistletoe.
00:34:25.837 --> 00:34:28.607
>> yeah.
00:34:28.607 --> 00:34:29.674
>> i was i was not an attractive teenager, so i hated
00:34:29.774 --> 00:34:32.744
Mistletoe. i had greasy hair and i just and i just was not,
00:34:32.744 --> 00:34:37.149
You know.
00:34:37.149 --> 00:34:37.549
>> i think.
00:34:37.549 --> 00:34:38.683
>> you weren't just waiting underneath the mistletoe.
00:34:38.683 --> 00:34:40.118
>> well, i could have waited. i'd been a long wait. it would
00:34:40.118 --> 00:34:42.988
Have been quite a wait. in scotland, we kind of ate for
00:34:42.988 --> 00:34:46.158
Ballast because it was very windy, so i wasn't. i wasn't
00:34:46.158 --> 00:34:50.428
What you'd call the biggest catch for anybody. and so
00:34:50.428 --> 00:34:54.065
Anytime there was mistletoe, i avoided it like the plague. and
00:34:54.065 --> 00:34:58.203
But what i discovered recently about mistletoe is, do you know
00:34:58.203 --> 00:35:02.307
That mistletoe can is called the thief of the forest, its
00:35:02.307 --> 00:35:04.843
Actual name. it's got, like, a greek name, but it's actually
00:35:04.843 --> 00:35:08.613
Called the thief of the forest. because mistletoe cannot
00:35:08.613 --> 00:35:10.782
Survive on its own, it has to attach to another tree. and
00:35:10.782 --> 00:35:14.219
That's why you were able to cut it off and all those things.
00:35:14.219 --> 00:35:17.989
Yeah, snip it out. but it made me think of the profound
00:35:17.989 --> 00:35:21.126
Lessons that god has in nature everywhere that we cannot
00:35:21.126 --> 00:35:23.995
Survive without jesus. and i think of the i don't know,
00:35:23.995 --> 00:35:28.867
Christmas can be hard. people get so tired and exhausted and
00:35:28.867 --> 00:35:32.871
And as you said, they're maybe thinking of somebody who used
00:35:32.871 --> 00:35:36.074
To be here, who's not here anymore. it can be a long
00:35:36.074 --> 00:35:39.010
Season. but for me, the thing is, and i think that's why i
00:35:39.010 --> 00:35:43.315
Wanted to write a whole way through advent, was stay
00:35:43.315 --> 00:35:45.717
Connected to jesus because we can't survive on our own. you
00:35:45.717 --> 00:35:48.119
Know, we're not going to make it on our own. and i know i was
00:35:48.119 --> 00:35:52.257
Talking to some young people recently and they said the
00:35:52.257 --> 00:35:54.693
After covid hit in 2020, they said, we don't actually go to
00:35:54.693 --> 00:35:59.030
Church anymore. we just watch it at home. you know, we make
00:35:59.030 --> 00:36:01.933
Coffee and we just watch it at home. and i said to them, you
00:36:01.933 --> 00:36:05.003
Know what? i have a little experiment for you. i want you
00:36:05.003 --> 00:36:08.240
Just to try next sunday because the kids i know just go just
00:36:08.240 --> 00:36:12.777
For fun, you know, go in your pajamas if you want, but but
00:36:12.777 --> 00:36:16.081
Just go and see if the experience is any different.
00:36:16.081 --> 00:36:20.051
And and i saw them, i don't know, maybe a couple of weeks
00:36:20.051 --> 00:36:23.288
After that. and they said it was totally different. there's
00:36:23.288 --> 00:36:25.423
Something about being in the house of the lord with god's
00:36:25.423 --> 00:36:28.059
People. in fact, it says in the book of revelation as the times
00:36:28.059 --> 00:36:32.097
Drawing on, don't neglect getting together. and so i
00:36:32.097 --> 00:36:35.734
Think that's one of the things that mistletoe reminds me of,
00:36:35.734 --> 00:36:38.203
That we need one another, but we need to be to get all our
00:36:38.203 --> 00:36:42.907
Nourishment from jesus.
00:36:42.907 --> 00:36:45.143
>> this next piece of the advent story, sheila, that you
00:36:45.143 --> 00:36:51.216
Wrote about is called the christmas photo. and there's a
00:36:51.216 --> 00:36:54.853
Lot of funny stuff that you're going to get into, but.
00:36:54.853 --> 00:36:58.123
>> we all have one.
00:36:58.123 --> 00:37:00.258
>> yeah.
00:37:00.258 --> 00:37:01.459
>> lori, as soon as we walked into this studio and saw how it
00:37:01.559 --> 00:37:06.064
Was beautifully decorated and there were trees up, first
00:37:06.064 --> 00:37:10.502
Thing, she kind of snaps over to me and goes, we should have
00:37:10.502 --> 00:37:14.306
Taken our christmas photo. yeah, we should have thought about it.
00:37:14.306 --> 00:37:16.875
We should.
00:37:16.875 --> 00:37:17.509
>> because we're so lame.
00:37:17.509 --> 00:37:18.743
>> and and it's there is this pressure to get a lot done at
00:37:18.743 --> 00:37:24.249
This christmas season. there's there's gifts that you think
00:37:24.249 --> 00:37:27.052
You start thinking about it early and you got, well, hers
00:37:27.052 --> 00:37:32.057
Is a christmas photo. and we're always trying to drag our boys
00:37:32.057 --> 00:37:36.761
In and try to get everybody in. and then kody wants to wear
00:37:36.761 --> 00:37:41.066
This and, you know, you then we all have to match. and and then
00:37:41.066 --> 00:37:44.069
I'm just kind of yelling, well, just photoshop it later. just,
00:37:44.069 --> 00:37:47.806
You know, it doesn't matter what you wear. well we can fix
00:37:47.806 --> 00:37:50.875
That later, you know. so the director in me feels like i've
00:37:50.875 --> 00:37:54.913
Got to have a nice thing. and then she just wants this
00:37:54.913 --> 00:37:58.183
Beautiful photo. and then kody is always. and caitlin's always
00:37:58.183 --> 00:38:02.187
Just so nice about it. do whatever. and and audrey, you
00:38:02.187 --> 00:38:05.790
Know, kind of. now we got a baby, and we got to make sure
00:38:05.790 --> 00:38:08.960
The faces around, you know. okay.
00:38:08.960 --> 00:38:10.995
>> so good of him.
00:38:10.995 --> 00:38:12.931
>> as long as it's.
00:38:12.931 --> 00:38:14.466
>> good of.
00:38:14.466 --> 00:38:15.467
>> the baby.
00:38:15.467 --> 00:38:16.701
>> so this idea of some of the pressurization, this one is a
00:38:16.701 --> 00:38:20.839
Good one because you have you have like 20 years. we're going
00:38:20.839 --> 00:38:24.008
To get to tick through here in your story on the christmas
00:38:24.008 --> 00:38:29.514
Photo.
00:38:29.514 --> 00:38:30.615
>> my son and i call it black tuesday. it's the day that
00:38:30.715 --> 00:38:34.119
Barry insists on us having our food, and we've done it since
00:38:34.119 --> 00:38:37.088
Christian was a baby. and it was fine when he was we. i mean,
00:38:37.088 --> 00:38:40.825
When he was a baby, you just put them in an outfit and show
00:38:40.825 --> 00:38:44.195
Up. but as he got older every single year, barry would always
00:38:44.195 --> 00:38:47.165
Want us to be coordinated. you know, we'd have to all be in
00:38:47.165 --> 00:38:50.902
Cream or all be in navy or all, and then he'd start dragging
00:38:50.902 --> 00:38:54.305
Furniture out of the house into the yard so that we had holly
00:38:54.305 --> 00:38:57.108
Bushes behind us. and christian just hit an age where he was
00:38:57.108 --> 00:39:01.045
Like, mom, do we have to do the christmas photo? and i'm like,
00:39:01.045 --> 00:39:04.849
Darling, there's some things in life, you know, it's like some
00:39:04.849 --> 00:39:08.119
People, there's just some things in life you have to walk
00:39:08.119 --> 00:39:11.055
Through. it's not you didn't sign up for it, but you're just.
00:39:11.055 --> 00:39:14.125
And i said the christmas photo for your dad. i can't explain
00:39:14.125 --> 00:39:17.328
It, but it means a lot to him. so we would go. and the thing
00:39:17.328 --> 00:39:21.299
That was awful about it was he would hire a photographer. it
00:39:21.299 --> 00:39:25.069
Wasn't like, we'll just go somewhere and shoot a christmas
00:39:25.069 --> 00:39:27.906
Photo. he would hire a photographer, and then we'd
00:39:27.906 --> 00:39:30.542
Have to go to what i called the viewing. we would have to go
00:39:30.542 --> 00:39:33.144
Look through all these and he would like, okay, i don't like
00:39:33.144 --> 00:39:36.047
Your hair in that one. i don't like christian's foot in that
00:39:36.047 --> 00:39:38.917
One. it was. i mean, it became like the production of the
00:39:38.917 --> 00:39:42.220
Century just to get. and my whole thing was, why are we
00:39:42.220 --> 00:39:45.990
Putting a photo on the card? i thought it was joy to the world.
00:39:45.990 --> 00:39:49.394
The lord has come, not the wall. she's. what's that got to do
00:39:49.394 --> 00:39:53.431
With anything?
00:39:53.431 --> 00:39:53.898
>> and when you.
00:39:53.898 --> 00:39:56.000
>> think of barry, when you know barry, this is even
00:39:56.000 --> 00:39:58.803
Funnier. i know, that's why i'm sitting here giggling.
00:39:58.803 --> 00:40:01.473
>> yes. it's awful. it's absolutely horrible. and it.
00:40:01.473 --> 00:40:04.242
>> turned into a season of joy, into misery. several years,
00:40:04.242 --> 00:40:08.046
Christian ended up in tears. because because he wouldn't do
00:40:08.046 --> 00:40:10.815
The right thing or his hair was going the wrong way. or he
00:40:10.815 --> 00:40:14.219
Didn't have the right shade of cream on.
00:40:14.219 --> 00:40:16.421
>> he was.
00:40:16.421 --> 00:40:17.021
>> like, oh gosh.
00:40:17.021 --> 00:40:18.356
>> oh my goodness.
00:40:18.356 --> 00:40:19.858
>> joy to the world.
00:40:19.858 --> 00:40:21.926
>> black tuesday.
00:40:21.926 --> 00:40:24.762
>> i love that. you know, it just it just feels like isn't
00:40:23.461 --> 00:40:28.867
Isn't the book and what we're trying to do today, the antifa
00:40:28.867 --> 00:40:32.103
Of exactly all of that.
00:40:32.103 --> 00:40:33.905
>> yes.
00:40:33.905 --> 00:40:34.839
>> we're trying to slow down for a minute.
00:40:34.839 --> 00:40:37.108
>> christmas time. don't miss the real gift, because i think
00:40:37.108 --> 00:40:40.111
We can get so caught up in all the rest of the stuff. don't
00:40:40.111 --> 00:40:43.948
Miss the gift that was laid right at our feet is coming.
00:40:43.948 --> 00:40:46.951
Split history in two.
00:40:46.951 --> 00:40:48.920
>> here at tbn, we want to help you celebrate the true reason
00:40:48.920 --> 00:40:52.891
For the season. jesus. so for your gift of $25 or more, we'll
00:40:52.891 --> 00:40:57.762
Send you sheila walsh the gifts of christmas, friend, your
00:40:57.762 --> 00:41:02.133
Generosity helps tbn point hearts to jesus. thank you.
00:41:02.133 --> 00:41:06.804
>> that's what i think. what i'm praying for. all our
00:41:06.804 --> 00:41:09.274
Viewers, for our family, our tbn family that there would be
00:41:09.274 --> 00:41:12.010
So many moments during this season when you would just see
00:41:12.010 --> 00:41:15.914
These little moments every single day. i pray something. i
00:41:15.914 --> 00:41:20.018
Say, lord, give me eyes to see what i would miss without you
00:41:20.018 --> 00:41:23.821
Today because god's speaking to us all the time and give me
00:41:23.821 --> 00:41:27.025
Ears to hear behind what's going on in somebody's life,
00:41:27.025 --> 00:41:30.929
You know, because sometimes the words that come out of their
00:41:30.929 --> 00:41:32.997
Mouths, people get stressed and tired and nutty at christmas.
00:41:32.997 --> 00:41:36.534
But sometimes underneath that is pain and brokenness. and so
00:41:36.534 --> 00:41:40.004
I think that would be my prayer for you this christmas, that we
00:41:40.004 --> 00:41:45.343
Would just have eyes to see what god is doing and ears to
00:41:45.343 --> 00:41:48.446
Hear the good news, even when it's just a carol in a mall,
00:41:48.446 --> 00:41:51.916
You know? but just to pause and acknowledge that this is this
00:41:51.916 --> 00:41:55.920
Isn't a story. this isn't like, you know, some fantasy thing we
00:41:55.920 --> 00:41:59.824
Made up. this is the event that split human history in two and
00:41:59.824 --> 00:42:05.129
Changed everything.
00:42:05.129 --> 00:42:06.497
>> yeah.
00:42:06.497 --> 00:42:07.665
>> well, why does it take the christmas season for us to
00:42:07.665 --> 00:42:11.603
Focus sometimes on the fact that the only difference
00:42:11.603 --> 00:42:16.507
Between us and the world is our belief in this exact event,
00:42:16.507 --> 00:42:23.147
That undoubtedly, you know, a savior was born and upon his
00:42:23.147 --> 00:42:28.987
Shoulders would be the government. it it it literally
00:42:28.987 --> 00:42:32.290
Is the difference between being able to mentally stay stable
00:42:32.290 --> 00:42:38.429
And maybe not being able to mentally stay stable. and jesus
00:42:38.429 --> 00:42:43.134
Is the answer. and he he is celebrated in a deep and
00:42:43.134 --> 00:42:48.206
Beautiful way. and that's what we're doing. and we're trying
00:42:48.206 --> 00:42:52.110
To help you kind of focus off of the social media and into
00:42:52.110 --> 00:42:56.147
Things that really matter, that focus you ultimately on what
00:42:56.147 --> 00:43:00.118
We're talking about.
00:43:00.118 --> 00:43:02.053
>> do you know.
00:43:02.053 --> 00:43:03.287
>> one of the things about that i do at the moment that has
00:43:03.287 --> 00:43:06.157
Made a difference because when covid hit and then everything
00:43:06.157 --> 00:43:08.893
Was so nutty and everything closed down, i was quite happy
00:43:08.893 --> 00:43:10.995
At first because i was used to traveling on weekends, and
00:43:10.995 --> 00:43:14.165
Suddenly i was home. i could stay in my pajamas all day and
00:43:14.165 --> 00:43:17.035
Watch the great british baking show. it was lovely. but then
00:43:17.035 --> 00:43:20.238
After a while i found myself kind of spiraling and i felt
00:43:20.238 --> 00:43:24.108
Depression creeping on. so i remember one morning saying to
00:43:24.108 --> 00:43:28.012
The lord, okay, i don't know how to live in these days. i
00:43:28.012 --> 00:43:31.215
Knew how to live before, and i didn't realize how much i was
00:43:31.215 --> 00:43:34.819
Encouraged by being with other women. even it was better
00:43:34.819 --> 00:43:37.588
Together just being together. and i thought, i'm not doing
00:43:37.588 --> 00:43:40.058
Well, lord, so please show me what to do. so doctor david
00:43:40.058 --> 00:43:44.395
Jeremiah, who's a mutual friend of ours, sent me this little
00:43:44.395 --> 00:43:47.999
Book in the mail and it's the psalms. and he said, okay,
00:43:47.999 --> 00:43:51.769
Here's my recipe, because i told him i wasn't doing well.
00:43:51.769 --> 00:43:55.006
He said, i want you to read three psalms out loud every
00:43:55.006 --> 00:43:58.609
Single day. and i was like, okay, so i began, i do it to
00:43:58.609 --> 00:44:01.846
This day. i did it today, this morning, before i came over
00:44:01.846 --> 00:44:05.183
Here tonight to simply read three. and here's the great
00:44:05.183 --> 00:44:08.386
Thing, because we all have our favorite psalms, you know, like
00:44:08.386 --> 00:44:11.456
We go to psalm 91 or psalm 23, or all the ones that we love,
00:44:11.456 --> 00:44:14.926
Psalm 139. if you start at the beginning and you read three
00:44:14.926 --> 00:44:18.696
Psalms every single day, you realize as athanasius, who is
00:44:18.696 --> 00:44:22.834
This amazing man in the fourth century said, whereas most
00:44:22.834 --> 00:44:26.170
Scripture speaks to us, the psalms speak for us. they give
00:44:26.170 --> 00:44:31.042
Us a language of prayer. and that's what i began to find.
00:44:31.042 --> 00:44:34.011
Every emotion you go through, whether you're rejoicing or
00:44:34.011 --> 00:44:36.981
You're grieving or you're questioning, it's all there.
00:44:36.981 --> 00:44:41.486
It's in the psalms. and somehow, having started that
00:44:41.486 --> 00:44:45.089
Prescription from the good old doctor j of reading three sums,
00:44:45.089 --> 00:44:49.160
Because it's good for your ears to hear. beautiful. you know
00:44:49.160 --> 00:44:51.863
What your eyes are reading. and i've discovered it's one of the
00:44:51.863 --> 00:44:55.099
Ways to stay connected to the christ of christmas in february
00:44:55.099 --> 00:44:58.569
And june. and as the year goes on.
00:44:58.569 --> 00:45:01.105
>> yeah, it's beautiful.
00:45:01.105 --> 00:45:03.007
>> zephaniah 317 for the lord your god is living among you.
00:45:03.007 --> 00:45:09.814
He is a mighty savior. he will take delight in you with
00:45:09.814 --> 00:45:15.419
Gladness. with his love he will calm all your fears. he will
00:45:15.419 --> 00:45:20.391
Rejoice over you with joyful songs. christmas music is a
00:45:20.391 --> 00:45:26.130
Part. music is a thing. and as we kind of get ready to finish
00:45:26.130 --> 00:45:32.170
This broadcast, maybe talking about christmas songs is
00:45:32.170 --> 00:45:35.773
Something that might be able to kind of finish out this
00:45:35.773 --> 00:45:39.777
Broadcast.
00:45:39.777 --> 00:45:40.978
>> one of my very favorites is silent night. i've always loved
00:45:41.078 --> 00:45:43.247
It. i love the melody, i love the words. but i began to do a
00:45:43.247 --> 00:45:47.952
Little research. it's like when i read, even when i read the
00:45:47.952 --> 00:45:51.923
Psalms, i have a couple of great, thick volumes of books
00:45:51.923 --> 00:45:56.060
That tell you what was happening in david's life when
00:45:56.060 --> 00:45:58.863
He wrote that psalm. how old was he? probably when he wrote
00:45:58.863 --> 00:46:01.766
That psalm. it's kind of because some of you can sit in
00:46:01.766 --> 00:46:05.002
Somebody's shoes. it's like when he wrote psalm 34, which
00:46:05.002 --> 00:46:07.805
Is, you know, the lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves
00:46:07.805 --> 00:46:10.775
Those who are crushed in spirit. he's in a terrible place. he's
00:46:10.775 --> 00:46:14.011
On the run from king saul. he went to another town and tried
00:46:14.011 --> 00:46:18.015
To persuade the king that he was mad, drooling on his beard,
00:46:18.015 --> 00:46:20.785
Which for a jewish man was the greatest symbol of shame. and
00:46:20.785 --> 00:46:25.022
The king basically says, listen, we've got our own nutcases,
00:46:25.022 --> 00:46:28.125
Doodles. we've. so he's in a cave and he's sitting there and
00:46:28.125 --> 00:46:32.096
He writes psalm 34, and those who look to the to you for help
00:46:32.096 --> 00:46:35.800
Will be radiant with joy. no shadow of shame will touch
00:46:35.800 --> 00:46:39.203
Their faces. the lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves
00:46:39.203 --> 00:46:43.174
Those who are crushed in spirit. so i'd love to find out what's
00:46:43.174 --> 00:46:48.045
Going on. so when i knowing that i love silent night, i
00:46:48.045 --> 00:46:50.915
Thought, i wonder who wrote that and when they wrote it.
00:46:50.915 --> 00:46:53.584
Well, it was written in 1816 by a young austrian believer. he
00:46:53.584 --> 00:46:57.021
He was just a poet. and he wrote the lyrics of silent
00:46:57.021 --> 00:47:00.191
Night. and then he said to one of his friends, who was a
00:47:00.191 --> 00:47:03.828
Musician, a musician. do you think you could put a melody to
00:47:03.828 --> 00:47:06.764
This? so the guy said, yeah, sure. so the very first time,
00:47:06.764 --> 00:47:10.034
1818 was the first time silent night was sung in a little
00:47:10.034 --> 00:47:13.971
Church in austria. and he said it just helped the congregation.
00:47:13.971 --> 00:47:17.842
They had just come out of the napoleonic wars. so many had
00:47:17.842 --> 00:47:21.812
Lost brothers and sons. it was the town felt decimated. but
00:47:21.812 --> 00:47:27.218
Somehow, in the quiet of that silent night, as they gathered
00:47:27.218 --> 00:47:30.955
Around the manger and they were reminded of what christmas is
00:47:30.955 --> 00:47:35.326
All about, it brought hope to them all. so fast forward
00:47:35.326 --> 00:47:38.729
Because you know, when you write something like when you
00:47:38.729 --> 00:47:42.033
Used to produce videos and you write things and you do better
00:47:42.033 --> 00:47:44.969
Together, you don't know how it continues to impact people as
00:47:44.969 --> 00:47:48.906
The years go on. you know, they'll catch something you did
00:47:48.906 --> 00:47:52.443
Years ago. and in fact, i was at a church two weekends ago
00:47:52.443 --> 00:47:58.149
And the pastor said to me, would you tell laurie crouch
00:47:58.149 --> 00:48:00.985
Something for me? and i said, yeah, sure. he said, i never
00:48:00.985 --> 00:48:05.089
Miss better together. or i thought, that was so cool.
00:48:05.089 --> 00:48:09.260
>> thanks.
00:48:09.260 --> 00:48:10.461
>> so anyway, fast forward, this christmas song kept being
00:48:10.461 --> 00:48:15.967
Passed from place to place, but it suddenly were at 1914, the
00:48:15.967 --> 00:48:21.105
First world war. first world war was brutal. different kind
00:48:21.105 --> 00:48:26.544
Of warfare, you know, mustard gas trenches, horrible. you can
00:48:26.544 --> 00:48:31.782
Almost see the enemy. you've got these young british
00:48:31.782 --> 00:48:34.885
Soldiers and you've got these young german soldiers and they
00:48:34.885 --> 00:48:37.788
Can almost see each other. and there's just despair because
00:48:37.788 --> 00:48:40.391
It's christmas time and all they want to do is go home, but
00:48:40.391 --> 00:48:43.961
They can't go home. and the governments had tried to agree
00:48:43.961 --> 00:48:47.965
To a ceasefire and they couldn't come to terms. so it's
00:48:47.965 --> 00:48:51.869
Finally it's christmas eve, and they're in these trenches and
00:48:51.869 --> 00:48:56.207
They're freezing and they're young boys. and suddenly on the
00:48:56.207 --> 00:49:00.778
German side, this one gentleman who was a general in the
00:49:00.778 --> 00:49:05.149
General in the german army stood up. he used to be an
00:49:05.149 --> 00:49:08.919
Opera singer with the berlin opera. he started to sing
00:49:08.919 --> 00:49:13.824
Silent night in german. and i've read reports from the
00:49:13.824 --> 00:49:18.963
British soldiers where they said that we just we didn't
00:49:18.963 --> 00:49:21.732
Know the words, but we recognized the tune. and he
00:49:21.732 --> 00:49:25.136
Said it was like this silence fell over the whole place. and
00:49:25.136 --> 00:49:28.072
Then a whole bunch of the german officers began to join
00:49:28.072 --> 00:49:31.876
In, and they sang it once in german, and then they started
00:49:31.876 --> 00:49:34.945
To sing it in english. and when they started to sing it in
00:49:34.945 --> 00:49:38.049
English, these young british boys away from home on
00:49:38.049 --> 00:49:41.852
Christmas eve, stood up in their trenches and began to
00:49:41.852 --> 00:49:45.923
Sing. and suddenly, in this battlefield, in the midst of
00:49:45.923 --> 00:49:49.894
Something which would continue for a while, suddenly there was
00:49:49.894 --> 00:49:53.464
Peace on earth. as they all began to sing together, and it
00:49:53.464 --> 00:49:58.169
Was like the governments couldn't arrange for a
00:49:58.169 --> 00:50:00.738
Ceasefire. all it took was a song. all it took was one
00:50:00.738 --> 00:50:06.010
Gentleman who remembered the words to a song to stand up and
00:50:06.010 --> 00:50:10.414
Sing across the cold night air and invite everybody in. and it
00:50:10.414 --> 00:50:15.152
Made me think, you know, wouldn't it be incredible if
00:50:15.152 --> 00:50:19.056
This year there could be a ceasefire in our own souls? you
00:50:19.056 --> 00:50:23.027
Know, i don't know what kind of year you've had. i don't know
00:50:23.027 --> 00:50:26.931
Whether this has been one of the hardest years or one of
00:50:26.931 --> 00:50:29.767
Your best years, but we've seen so many things happen on the
00:50:29.767 --> 00:50:32.736
World stage that have been hard to describe, hard to put words
00:50:32.736 --> 00:50:36.807
To heartaches, people that we have had to say goodbye to in
00:50:36.807 --> 00:50:41.045
Such a painful, painful way. but sometimes i think the
00:50:41.045 --> 00:50:46.050
Greatest conflict can go on in our own hearts, in our own
00:50:46.050 --> 00:50:49.353
Lives. i spent so many years trying to be good enough for
00:50:49.353 --> 00:50:53.958
God, trying to be perfect enough, trying to be the
00:50:53.958 --> 00:50:56.961
Perfect christian. and i always felt that i failed absolutely
00:50:56.961 --> 00:51:02.299
Miserably until i came to the place. you know, sometimes god
00:51:02.299 --> 00:51:05.936
Will let the worst thing in the world happen to make you
00:51:05.936 --> 00:51:09.273
Realize that in the worst place in the world, there he is.
00:51:09.273 --> 00:51:13.077
Where can i go from your spirit? where can i flee if i make my
00:51:13.077 --> 00:51:16.847
Bed in heaven? you're there. i made my bed in hell. you are
00:51:16.847 --> 00:51:20.050
There. and it was actually on the floor of my room in a
00:51:20.050 --> 00:51:23.787
Psychiatric hospital. with my life having fallen apart, that
00:51:23.787 --> 00:51:27.291
I remembered the truth of the gospel. and that is that when
00:51:27.291 --> 00:51:31.962
Jesus came, that was his way of saying it was like the story of
00:51:31.962 --> 00:51:36.267
The birds. yeah, i'm going to come and look like you and
00:51:36.267 --> 00:51:39.937
Sound like you. and i'm going to tell you, this is what god
00:51:39.937 --> 00:51:43.140
Looks like. you know, you think he's some man up in the sky
00:51:43.140 --> 00:51:47.011
Trying to make you follow all these rules? no, he loves you.
00:51:47.011 --> 00:51:51.882
And there was something about that. that first christmas
00:51:51.882 --> 00:51:55.186
After the hospital where everything had changed for me.
00:51:55.186 --> 00:51:58.022
Because i realized i'd spent so many years trying to be perfect.
00:51:58.022 --> 00:52:02.059
And then i realized the invitation was not for that. it
00:52:02.059 --> 00:52:04.929
Was to follow jesus, who is perfect. so i just want you to
00:52:04.929 --> 00:52:08.832
Know this year you get to come as you are. if you've had one
00:52:08.832 --> 00:52:13.037
Of the worst years in your life and you've blown it, you've
00:52:13.037 --> 00:52:16.307
Fallen. if you've made mistakes, if you've purposely sinned and
00:52:16.307 --> 00:52:19.076
Thought, i don't care anymore, i just want you to know that
00:52:19.076 --> 00:52:23.314
It's not too late to come home. there is a lamp still on in the
00:52:23.314 --> 00:52:28.152
Window, and maybe some of you flip through channels. and you
00:52:28.152 --> 00:52:32.156
Stayed here because you saw christmas trees. yay! we love
00:52:32.156 --> 00:52:35.025
Christmas. but when you think about it, you think, well,
00:52:35.025 --> 00:52:38.229
Christmas for me is all about spending too much money and
00:52:38.229 --> 00:52:41.098
Then working out how i'm going to pay it back the rest of the
00:52:41.098 --> 00:52:43.934
Year. but you miss the whole point. the whole point of
00:52:43.934 --> 00:52:47.137
Christmas is that that god came in human flesh to let you know
00:52:47.137 --> 00:52:51.976
You are seen, you are loved. and if you've never, ever
00:52:51.976 --> 00:52:56.313
Experienced the love of god for yourself, i would love to pray
00:52:56.313 --> 00:53:00.417
For you. this could be the best christmas you have ever had. if
00:53:00.417 --> 00:53:03.988
You begin to understand that god's not up there uninterested
00:53:03.988 --> 00:53:10.261
In me. god came down and was born as a tiny baby to live his
00:53:10.261 --> 00:53:14.698
Life and then ultimately to sacrifice his life. and when he
00:53:14.698 --> 00:53:18.836
Was crucified on that cross, he was saying, father, punish me
00:53:18.836 --> 00:53:24.608
Right now for everything that sheila walsh will ever do, and
00:53:24.608 --> 00:53:28.012
You can put your own name in there so that you and i can
00:53:28.012 --> 00:53:30.948
Have a way to spend not just christmas around a manger, but
00:53:30.948 --> 00:53:35.319
To spend eternity with jesus. so would you just pray with me?
00:53:35.319 --> 00:53:38.856
I'm going to pray the way i pray in the car which is with
00:53:38.856 --> 00:53:41.892
My eyes open, which for all the other motorists are grateful
00:53:41.892 --> 00:53:45.095
For. just pray this simple prayer. lord jesus, thank you
00:53:45.095 --> 00:53:48.365
For coming to this earth. thank you for being born as a baby.
00:53:48.365 --> 00:53:55.506
Thank you for dying on the cross. thank you for paying for
00:53:55.506 --> 00:54:00.244
All my sins. i believe, i believe you're the son of god.
00:54:00.244 --> 00:54:07.318
I believe you died and i believe you rose again. and i
00:54:07.318 --> 00:54:10.854
Just want to say to you, this christmas i'm all in. i want to
00:54:10.854 --> 00:54:14.758
Give you my whole life. and i want to live for you in jesus
00:54:14.758 --> 00:54:18.595
Name. and if you prayed that prayer, just know the scripture
00:54:18.595 --> 00:54:22.333
Says, do you know what the bible says? there is a party
00:54:22.333 --> 00:54:25.469
Going on in heaven and your name's on the balloons. and if
00:54:25.469 --> 00:54:29.006
You've been somebody who's maybe a bit like that prodigal,
00:54:29.006 --> 00:54:31.742
You know, just wandered off and not felt as connected this year,
00:54:31.742 --> 00:54:36.680
There's a huge welcome waiting for you, says romans chapter
00:54:36.680 --> 00:54:42.186
Eight, verse one. there is now, therefore, and whenever it says,
00:54:42.186 --> 00:54:45.789
Therefore, i want to know well what came before it. jesus came
00:54:45.789 --> 00:54:49.259
Before it because of jesus. there's no condemnation to
00:54:49.259 --> 00:54:52.196
Those in christ jesus. be a lovely time to come back to the
00:54:52.196 --> 00:54:55.999
Family.
00:54:55.999 --> 00:54:57.701
>> what a beautiful gift.
00:54:57.701 --> 00:54:59.903
>> amen.
00:54:59.903 --> 00:55:01.205
>> for jesus.
00:55:01.205 --> 00:55:03.107
>> yeah.
00:55:03.107 --> 00:55:03.707
>> to just let him love you.
00:55:03.807 --> 00:55:06.577
>> absolutely.
00:55:06.577 --> 00:55:07.678
>> let him love you, sheila. thank you for helping focus
00:55:07.778 --> 00:55:12.049
Everything. i think what we're really trying to say with the
00:55:12.049 --> 00:55:15.552
Gift of christmas is simply this. i was sitting there
00:55:15.552 --> 00:55:18.856
Thinking, this is kind of what we're what we're talking about.
00:55:18.856 --> 00:55:23.193
>> yes.
00:55:23.193 --> 00:55:24.528
>> right there there's the gift of christmas, right? that's
00:55:24.528 --> 00:55:27.998
What we're talking about. and thank you for writing it. it's
00:55:27.998 --> 00:55:33.003
Available. and wow, we'll see you next time. merry christmas.
00:55:33.003 --> 00:55:40.611
>> merry christmas everybody.
00:55:40.611 --> 00:55:41.578
>> bye bye.
00:55:41.645 --> 00:55:41.845

Sheila Walsh: The Gifts of Christmas | Praise

November 3, 2025 | 57:7

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