{"id":7122,"date":"2012-12-17T17:19:20","date_gmt":"2012-12-17T17:19:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/?p=7122"},"modified":"2012-12-17T17:19:20","modified_gmt":"2012-12-17T17:19:20","slug":"the-shape-of-my-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/?p=7122","title":{"rendered":"The shape of my heart…….."},"content":{"rendered":"

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This morning my pastor preached a wonderful sermon about some of the Christmas story in Luke 2: 8-20. \u00a0 I’m going to share the sermon and I hope it will bless you just as it did me. \u00a0Since every entry features a photograph, or several, I thought I might stay with the theme of the shape of my heart, after the sermon and share some of my favorite images that are nothing more than shapes!!!!<\/p>\n

Now back to the sermon;<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Luke 2:8-20<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

New Living Translation (NLT)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The Shepherds and Angels<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

8\u00a0<\/sup>That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9\u00a0<\/sup>Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord\u2019s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10\u00a0<\/sup>but the angel reassured them. \u201cDon\u2019t be afraid!\u201d he said. \u201cI bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11\u00a0<\/sup>The Savior\u2014yes, the Messiah, the Lord\u2014has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12\u00a0<\/sup>And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

13\u00a0<\/sup>Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others\u2014the armies of heaven\u2014praising God and saying,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

14\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cGlory to God in highest heaven,<\/strong><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

15\u00a0<\/sup>When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, \u201cLet\u2019s go to Bethlehem! Let\u2019s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

16\u00a0<\/sup>They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17\u00a0<\/sup>After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18\u00a0<\/sup>All who heard the shepherds\u2019 story were astonished, 19\u00a0<\/sup>but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20\u00a0<\/sup>The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 Find out what God is doing in your neighborhood!<\/span><\/strong> \u00a0The Shepherds were right in the fields when the star appeared and the angels came down from Heaven to announce this wonderful thing! \u00a0They discovered what was happening right where they were!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 Opportunity comes to those who are fulfilling their responsibility.<\/strong><\/span> \u00a0The Shepherds were tending their flocks, doing what they were supposed to do, and that opened the door for this revelation to be shared with them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3.\u00a0 Opportunities are many times fearful in the very beginning<\/span><\/strong>. \u00a0Their first reaction was to be afraid. \u00a0But the Angels told them not to be afraid for they had wonderful news for them, the Savior was born that night in Bethlehem!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4.\u00a0 God will make clear His guidance.<\/strong><\/span> \u00a0God gave them specific directions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A.\u00a0 The greater the change, the greater the sign.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

B.\u00a0 The greater the calling, the more the affirmation.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

C.\u00a0 If God leads, He precedes.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

D.\u00a0 Those who obey, will find the right way.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5.\u00a0 Once you know, you better go. \u00a0<\/span><\/strong>They went straight to the manger and saw and experienced the Christ Child, our Savior.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

6.\u00a0 Once you go, you will know.<\/strong><\/span> \u00a0They knew that this child was in fact the Messiah!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

7.\u00a0 Once you know you will want to tell others.<\/span><\/strong> \u00a0They went out to tell everyone the wonderful thing they had seen!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

8.\u00a0 Once you hear, you will want to think about it. \u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Just as Mary pondered in her heart these wondrous things o did the Shepherds and all those that saw this miracle.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

9.\u00a0 Once you meet Jesus, your life will be changed.<\/span><\/strong> \u00a0None of those that were there were ever the same again, we won’t be either!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As you read this wonderful story and contemplate how the world was changed that night, 2,000 years ago, we have reason for hope and it shapes our hearts and our lives forever.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Blessings,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

the pilgrim<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This morning my pastor preached a wonderful sermon about some of the Christmas story in Luke 2: 8-20. \u00a0 I’m going to share the sermon and I hope it will bless you just as it did me. \u00a0Since every entry features a photograph, or several, I thought I might stay with the theme of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronicles"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7122"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7132,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7122\/revisions\/7132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}