Hi friends. This is Erin Michele. Welcome to steps to trusting it is my goal here to meet you where you are in your faith journey and encourage you to continue to take steps to trusting the Lord more fully.  

[00:00:21] Hi and Merry Christmas. I wanted to welcome you guys to the very first Christmas show here at steps to trusting. 

[00:00:29] The goal of this Christmas show is to praise the Lord and to encourage one another to praise. Along with the show, we’re going to be using the hashtag steps to praise 2020.

[00:00:43] I’ve invited some friends to join us  and to share with us verses that, call them to praise that caused them to look at who God is and what we have to praise him for.

[00:00:55]I wanted to start us off  with Psalm 105 verses one through four.  “Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell him all his wonderful acts. Glory in his name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.

[00:01:23] Dear God.  May these moments be set aside where we are reminded to praise you. Lord God, help us to praise you for who you are. Help us to praise you for what you have done. Thank you, Lord Jesus.  Let us praise the Lord

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[00:01:44] Linda: My name is Linda Kim and the verse that I would like to share that has been encouraging to me is from Hebrews 13:8.  It says  “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

[00:01:59] For me, it’s been encouraging because this year has been challenging, to say the least. We just celebrated a year and a new home in a new state and it was supposed to be the year of freedom, glorious freedom with two kids in school full-time.  But instead it’s been a year of unexpected challenges and blessings. But, it’s just funny because my husband didn’t want to work from home and yet he’s been home working.  My two children were supposed to be in school full-time and they’re home, remote schooling by choice.  And our littlest one is two and enjoying having everybody home, but still very challenging.   So in a year that has been, funny and upending and a lot of our expectations, challenging and all the voices and opinions. This verse reminds me that no matter my circumstances, no matter  what I may or may not have, God is still worthy of praise  and it reminds me that God is the same, God is steadfast and true. He’s the same God who  reached up and opened my eyes to have a relationship with him. And he’s the same God who has provided. So faithfully is the same God who can quiet my soul. And can give me peace in the midst of all the cacophony that’s out there, being thrust on us all the time. And he is the same God who will be with us in the middle and the end of all our troubles. 

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[00:03:26] Jaime: Hi, my name is Jamie, and I’m going to be reading from 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verses 9 – 10, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ 

[00:03:41] Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

[00:03:59] These verses moved me to praise God because they speak not only to his grace, which is more than sufficient. It’s also abundant, but also his mercy and sovereignty.

[00:04:10] These verses became the most meaningful to me when we learned that our youngest child will be born with down syndrome. At the time I was nearly crippled with fear and doubt. I questioned whether I could manage the challenge. And if I’m honest, whether I would be able to love her as well as I did my older two children.

[00:04:28] God brought to the surface a lot of weaknesses I wasn’t even aware I had. But our God is good. He is a comforter and our source of strength.    His all sufficient grace, his abundant grace has filled in the gaps. When I had fallen short. In his great mercy, he has sustained me when we’ve encountered new hardships. Our daughter is now two years old and a source of constant joy. She is a beautiful reflection of God’s unconditional love and creativity. So they look at her and see how sufficiently God has equipped me for this challenge. How gracious he’s been when I’ve stumbled. How can I not praise him? When I do forget am quickly reminded my little girl’s name, Isla grace.

[00:05:17]Hilary: Hi, my name is Hillary McLaughlin, Psalm 46 verses one through three. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters, roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.” And the  reframe that’s repeated in verses seven and eleven. “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.”

[00:05:47] I praise God for the protection that he gives to us and that he is somewhere that we can go when we are in trouble. And whether it’s something big and monumental, like the global pandemic or natural disasters; but also in just the small moments in everyday life, whether it’s the challenges we face, being a wife, being a mom, being a friend, dealing with family, whatever the case may be. We know that when we are struggling, we can turn to God and he will be our refuge and strength. And I just continue to praise him for this.

[00:06:29]Sashaine: Hi, my name’s Sashaine Clark.   

[00:06:32] Psalms 19, ” The heavens proclaim the glory of God; the skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word. Their voice is never heard. Yet, their message has gone throughout the earth and their words to all the world.

[00:06:57] God has made a home in the heavens for the sun, it burst forth like a radiant bride groom after his wedding, it rejoices like a great athlete eager to run the race. The sun rises at one end of the heavens and follows its course to the other end. Nothing can hide from its heat.” 

[00:07:17] and then the end verses right. “May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing to you. Oh Lord, my rock and Redeemer.” 

[00:07:24] This is about God’s grace. This is about God’s glory. This is about God’s magnificent.

[00:07:30] This is about who he is. He ought to be praised he is the creator. He is magnificent. everything that was created was created to glorify God and to praise him.

[00:07:41]When I thought about why I praise God every day?  Why I seek to praise God every day? Why seek him every day.

[00:07:49]I just thought of his grace. And who he is, right. He is the alpha and Omega. He is the King of Kings. He is the Lord of Lords. He ought to be praised. We were created to glorify him. 

[00:08:02] And then I thought of Psalms 104 so at the beginning of this passage, the first verse. “Let all that I am praise the Lord. Oh Lord my God how great you are; you are robed with honor and majesty. Skip all the way to verse 30. “When you give them your breath, life is created, you renew the face of the earth. May the glory of the Lord continue forever; the Lord takes pleasure in all He has made. The earth trembles at his glance, the mountain smoke at his touch. I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will praise my God to my last breath. May all my thoughts be pleasing to him for I rejoice in the Lord. Let all that I am praise the Lord. Let all the sinners vanish from the face of the earth, let the wicked disappear forever. Let all that. I am praise the Lord.”

[00:08:54] Again. It’s talking about God’s majesty, God’s graciousness God’s ability to create ability to breathe breath into my lungs, that the mountains glorify him, that the sun glorifies him, that the plains glorify him. That we were created to glorify him and so that’s why I praise because I’m creative too.

[00:09:15] And I love the verses that remind me of exactly what I was put here on earth to do with my purpose. My purpose here is to glorify God. 

[00:09:25]I pray that this can be a blessing to you and that you hear these words and that you feel encouraged to worship, to praise to seek God, to see him not only for what he has done, but for who he is. And you see that he’s worthy to be praised. God bless you. 

[00:09:50] Erin: Friends. I echo that invitation. I echo that God’s majesty as displayed in his creation, would encourage you to praise the Lord. We are called to praise the Lord.   And in fact, Christmas itself calls us to praise. The Lord.  I have one more friend to share with you. As you listen in, listen for the faithfulness of our God that we have to praise him for this Christmas season.  Listen as Robin recounts God’s faithfulness- the promise of a savior and a savior who has come. Let us praise him for his faithfulness of sending us Jesus to be our savior.

[00:10:40] Robyn: Hi, this is Robyn Jameson and I’d like to share a passage in Isaiah. This is Isaiah chapter nine, and it is one of the prophetic passages of Isaiah pointing to the coming Messiah. It says “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned… For to us a child is born, to us a son is given… And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

[00:11:15]  I’ve been thinking a lot about this prophetic passage and how it relates to the Christmas story. The star of Bethlehem, the shepherd, seeing the light in the field. But what God brought me to was actually not the verses of  what we think of as the Christmas story.

[00:11:34]What he’s brought me to is John one ” In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. And the word was God.”

[00:11:43] This is talking about Jesus as the word of God. He was in the beginning. He is now and he is coming.  This passage continues. It says “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness ,and the darkness has not overcome it.”

[00:12:05] The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.  And then this profound verse it’s John one 14. that says, “The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only Son who came from the father full of grace and truth.”

[00:12:32] Jesus is the fulfillment of this prophetic passage. The people walking in deep darkness have seen a great light. He is the true light that has come into the world. He came over 2000 years ago and he is coming still.

[00:12:52]Erin: Oh Lord. We praise you. We praise you for who you are. Lord Jesus. We praise you for your goodness and your mercy to us. We praise you for what Christmas means.    Christmas means Jesus came to live among this world.    God came into this world to live with us- to be Emmanuel.

[00:13:16]We praise you that you came to give your life for us.  

[00:13:21] We praise you that the story  does not end on Christmas morning or at your death. We praise you that you rose again and that you continue to live. And yes, Lord, we praise you that you are coming back again.

[00:13:38] Dear friends, 

[00:13:39]the starry skies, praise the Lord, the mountains, praise the Lord. And you two are invited  to praise the Lord. Praise him for his mighty deeds. Praise him for who he is. Praise him for what Christmas morning means.

[00:13:58]Thank you for praising with us.  If you enjoyed the show, please like subscribe and share with a friend. Share the encouragement that there are many reasons to praise the Lord. 

[00:14:11] I would love to hear how you are praising the Lord this Christmas season. You can find me at steps to trusting on Instagram and Facebook. 

[00:14:20]  You can join us in this conversation as well. By using that # stepstopraise2020.

[00:14:27]The Christmas season is an invitation to praise. And sometimes it’s actually an invitation for a lot of questions too. People revisit hard times in lives and questions.  There may be a lot of hard things that come up. And so for those of you, that may be feeling that I’m praying for you.

[00:14:47] I have something else I want to encourage you guys to. There’s a class called Alpha and alpha is designed to be a place to ask questions, about who God is to ask questions about faith and about life.    If you’re wanting someone to talk to, someone to listen, then Alpha course is really for you.

[00:15:10] I’m putting a link in the show notes. It is being offered online right now. So no matter where you are, you don’t have to drive far. 

[00:15:18] But I think that if you go, if you try it out, if meet the people, if you feel the atmosphere, I think you’ll want to keep going back. And so friends I invite you to check it out. If you’re sitting there and thinking I do have a lot of questions, but I don’t think she’s talking about me. I’m talking about any of you who want to know more?

[00:15:43]This is the perfect place to explore. It is specifically created to be a safe place to ask questions and share opinions.

[00:15:53]I want you to go and click in my show notes and the link for Alpha and read the description there. Read what it’s about. If you’re wondering it’s for you. Then yes, the answer is it is for you go and check it out.

[00:16:10]I hope to see you there.

[00:16:11] Merry Christmas, everyone. I wanted to leave you with this reminder from Ephesians two 10 for we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which he prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. I am praying for you as you keep on stepping.

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