Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.

Good Master, grant
that I may not so much seek to be consoled
as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
it is in dying
that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

Stand In Faith

Stand in faith
Even when you can’t

see your way
Stand in faith
Even when you feel like

 you can’t face another day
Stand in faith
Even when the tears want to

 flow from your eyes
Stand in faith
Knowing that our God will

 always provide
Stand in faith
Even when you feel that all

 hope is gone
Stand in faith
Knowing that He is always

there for you to lean on

Stand in faith
Even when you feel like

giving up
Stand in faith
Because He is there ... saying,

 "Just look up"
Stand in faith
Even in those times you feel

so all alone
Stand in faith
Hold on and be strong, for He

 is still on the throne
Stand in faith
Even when it’s hard to believe
Stand in Faith
Knowing that He can change

your situation, suddenly
Stand in faith
Even in those times you feel it’s

 hard to pray
Stand in faith
And believe that He has already

made the way
Faith ... is the substance of things

 hoped for, the evidence of things

 not seen
So stand in faith
Because you already have the

victory!

Evangelist Johnnye V. Chandler

Matthew 1:18-24

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about:
His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but
before they came together, she was found to be with child
through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was
a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public
disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he
had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in
a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to
take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in
her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and
you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save
his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what
the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be
with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him
Immanuel"--which means, "God with us." When Joseph woke
up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him
and took Mary home as his wife.