The Gift of Prayer
-
Giving the Gift of Prayer this Christmas
John 6:35 NIV
“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”Matthew 1:21 NIV
“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.”John 3:16-17 NKJV
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.Prayer for Our World:
Heavenly Father,
On this sacred night, as we celebrate the birth of Your Son, the Prince of Peace, we turn our hearts to the cries of a world in turmoil.
We are reminded of the angel’s proclamation, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.” Yet, across the earth, there are places where peace seems distant and goodwill feels absent. Lord, we lift up to You the nearly 30 conflicts gripping the hearts and lives of millions:
Lord Jesus, You came to bring peace to all who would receive it. We pray for Your peace to reign in these places and in our hearts. May this silent night usher in the holy night when war and violence are no more.
In Jesus Name, we pray, Amen.
Proverbs 14:34 NIV
Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people.
Prayer for Our Nation:
As we gather to celebrate the birth of Your Son, the Light of the World, we lift our nation before You during this season of change. Just as the shepherds looked to the skies in hope, we turn our eyes to You, seeking Your guidance and peace as the United States prepares for a presidential transition in the new year.
In this time of transition, we ask for a spirit of cooperation and goodwill among our leaders at every level. May partisan divides be bridged, and may there be a shared commitment to the common good.
We pray for the people of this nation, that we would find healing where there is division, hope where there is despair, and compassion where there is strife. May the birth of Christ remind us of the sacred worth of every individual and the call to love our neighbor as ourselves.
Lord, we acknowledge that true peace and lasting unity come only from You. On this Christmas Eve, we place our trust in Your sovereign plan and Your unchanging promises. May Your light shine brightly across our nation, and may the coming year be one of reconciliation, renewal, and revival.
In the name of Jesus, our Savior and King, we pray, Amen.
Prayer for Our Families:
We thank You for the gift of family, for the bonds of love that connect us, and for the joy we share in one another. Bless each member of our family, near or far, and fill our homes with Your peace and presence this Christmas.
For those who are celebrating together, may our time be marked by laughter, love, and kindness. Teach us to cherish these moments and to nurture the relationships You’ve entrusted to us.
For those who are apart, due to distance, conflict, or loss, we ask for Your comfort and reassurance. Draw us closer in spirit, and remind us that Your love transcends all separation.
For those who are grieving this Christmas, we ask for Your gentle peace to cover their hearts. May they feel Your nearness and find hope in the promise of eternal life.
Lord, we also pray for families that are struggling tonight—those facing financial hardship, illness, or broken relationships. Be their strength, their provider, and their healer. Let this holy night be a turning point where grace and restoration begin.
As we celebrate the birth of Jesus, help us to model His love within our families. Teach us to forgive one another as You forgive us, to serve one another as He served, and to grow together in faith and unity.
May the light of Christ fill our homes this Christmas Eve, and may our families be a reflection of Your love and glory to the world.
In Jesus’ precious name, we pray, Amen.
Isaiah 9:6-7 NLT
For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.7 His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!
-
[Music] hey my name is Taylor Ramsey and I serve here as the online pastor at Real Life Church at RLC our vision is to engage real life Embrace real people and encounter the real God and I just want to take a moment before we jump into this message and say thank you first of all we want to thank you for engaging with this message we believe that this message is going to lift you up in your faith and lead you to encounter God through his word if you haven't already we want you to take a moment and just subscribe to our page that way you can
stay up to-date and engage with the latest messages that we have again we thank you so much for joining us from Sacramento and Beyond and we trust that you'll be blessed by this message today well as we jump into the message today I just want to encourage you you can go to the uver app and go to uh events uh go to Real Life Church Sacramento uh there are some notes in there but there are also some prayers um we have designed this uh service to be reflective interactive so I'm going to be looking to you to help me pray during
the Serv and transformative we want you to experience the power and presence of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit today amen amen other than the biblical Christmas narrative that we focus on Luke 1 uh Luke chap 2 my all-time favorite Christmas Story second all-time favorite Christmas story is the story that you just seen it is a true story and it's called the truce or the Christmas Truce of 1914 you can look it up it's been on History Channel you can go Google there's all kinds of different stories and perspectives on this event
by December 1914 the Great War had raged for almost 5 months and nearly claimed 1 million lives but something miraculous happened the night of Christmas Eve 1914 it was at the beginning of World War I and there was a fierce battle going on in Belgium the battle you just saw the French and the English on one side and the Germans on the other side the French uh spontaneously the Germans began to sing one of their country's most beloved Christmas carols Silent Night and after singing it through several times something
incredible began to happen how many know when you release praise come on when you release worship when you release the song of the Lord something Supernatural something incredible can happen like nothing else can the French and British started joining in on the familiar tune which led to a ceasefire that lasted until New Year's Day it was a holy night it was a night set apart like none other in history neither side could have seen a week of peace being born out of the singing a cute little Christmas Carol
about the birth of a baby in bethleem who would bring peace on Earth but that night Jesus brought peace to a war torn Battlefield and for a handful of hours Jesus turned enemies into friends how many you know Jesus is still turning enemies into friends in 2024 the story fills my heart with faith every time I see it it's why I show it every other year or so because every time I watch it my heart is filled with faith for our world my heart is filled with faith for our nation my heart is filled with faith for your families for
our community for our city God can do if he did it back then I me know he can do it again I think it's the story is reflective of the power of the good news every time we share it every time we sing it and every time we preach it you see it's a story of how praise cuz how many know it's more than a song it's a story of how praise invites the Prince of Peace to steal the chaos to stale the conflict that we experience on Earth it's the possible situation becoming possible when God is acknowledged and adored and
Heaven invades Earth as I reflected again upon this story I thought of the tensions that exist in our world today many of these conflicts I would assume that we don't even know about or If we're honest don't even care to know about because we're so disconnected from them living in the United States and a lot of these conflicts are in foreign lands and distant lands and so I looked up this was on my heart the last few days as I Was preparing and so I looked up on Google just Global conflicts and sure enough I
didn't know this but there is a tool called the global conflict tracker the global conflict tracker is an interactive guide to ongoing conflicts around the world that should be a concern of the church let me say that again that should be a concern of the church and should be concerned to those living in the United States and so you can go and there's a global map there and there's all these little red dots talking about their hot spots of conflict in our world and the map displays nearly 30 conflicts which
some of them I knew nothing about with back information and resources on each and every conflict and it it showed the regions for example the Americas the criminal violence in Mexico was one of those dots the instability in the northern triangle Guatemala Honduras and El Salvador the instability in Haiti the crisis in vuela when you move to the region of Asia we encounter the instability in Afghanistan territorial disputes in the South China Sea the North Korean crisis instability in Pakistan conflict between India and
Pakistan confrontation over Taiwan Civil War in Myanmar Europe in Asia the Ukraine war Middle East and North Africa conflict in Syria instability in Iraq conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon conflict between turkey and armed Kurdish groups Israeli and Palestinian conflict civil conflict in Libya conflict in Yen and the Red Sea Civil War in Sudan violent extremism in the Sahel and confrontation with Iran Church The World Is In conflict and the world is in need of Jesus Christ The Prince of Peace and as I thought about these conf
conflicts the verse that we know all so well just became so much more meaningful to me it's John 3:16 we know it by heart for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life verse 17 goes on to say for God did not send his son in the world into the world to condemn the world world but that the world through him might be saved and I began to think about these conflicts and all the turmoil that's happening in the world and I just began to wonder if today as a
congregation we could all give our world the gift of prayer that for just a moment as we move in to Christmas Eve and Christmas we could set aside ourself we could set aside our wants and turn our focus on him and stand in the gap for Nations that desperately need Jesus Christ and so this morning I want to pray for the Nations I want to spend time praying for our nation and I want to spend time praying for our families there's a great teacher and a Bible teacher and preacher his name was Derek Prince and he said said this about
the church he said God has vested with us his believing people on Earth how many believers do I have in the house his believing people on Earth with authority by which we may determine the Destinies of Nations and governments you see today I realize that God can't answer the prayers we never dare to pray so I thought what a gift it would be from Real Life Church to our world to join our hearts in prayer and ask God to Incline his ear to our Collective Christ how you know God still hears us today what if this Christmas this
Christmas in response to our prayers God released unforeseen peace in these regions of the world because we dared to believe God that December 1914 wasn't a onetime event yes that's right Hallelujah so today I'm going to ask you to join me in unison and pray these powerful prayers together again all these prayers I've had several people ask me hey can I get those prayers all these prayers are available in the U version app but we're going to join our hearts together we're going to join our
faith together how many know our prayers shape history and so we're going to pray together and we're going to leave a mark on the world after we leave this place today is that all right amen so let's pray today pray with me heavenly father on this sacred night as we celebrate the birth of your son the Prince of Peace we turn our hearts to the cries of a world in turmoil we are reminded of the Angel's Proclamation glory to God in the highest and on Earth peace Good Will toward men yet across the Earth there
are places where peace seems distant and Good Will feels absent Lord we lift up to you the nearly 30 conflicts gripping the hearts and lives of millions Lord Jesus you came to BR priest to all who would receive it we pray for your peace to rain in these places and in our hearts may this Silent Night usher in the Holy Night when war and violence are no more in Jes Jesus name we pray if you believe it can you give God praise [Applause] Hallelujah I want to now shift our prayers towards the Nations our country may not be involved
in an allout physical War like some nations are but we are definitely in constant conflict and find ourselves in a cultural War where ideologies and philosophies keep us entrenched in fear and in doubt questioning God's Authority and our creator who made us these fears Hold Us hostage and keep us in hiding as Believers in the trenches of hopelessness and powerlessness and helplessness and distress and dissension and despair and depression how many you experienced all the Deeds before and defeat and they keep us divided and at
odds with one another and the people who Jesus came to save let me say that again they keep us divided and at odds with one another and the people who Jesus came to save this Christmas church can we humble ourselves and lift up the Light of Christ through Prayer by turning our heart to his and stand standing in the gap for our nation so the prayer is up on the screen will you pray with me as We Gather to celebrate the birth of your son the light of the world we lift our nation before you during the season of change
just as the Shepherds look to the skies in hope we turn our eyes to you seeking your guidance and peace as the United States prepares for a presidential transition in the New Year in this time of transition we ask for a spirit of cooperation and Good Will among our leaders at every level May partisan divides be bridged and may there be a shared commitment to the common good we pray for the people of this nation that we would find Healing where there's division hope where there's Despair and compassion where there is Strife May the
birth of Christ remind us of the sacred worth of every individual and the call to love our neighbors as ourselves Lord we acknowledge that true peace and Lasting Unity come only from you on this Christmas Eve service we place our trust in your Sovereign plan and your unchanging promises may your light shine brightly across our nation and may the coming year be one of reconciliation renewal and Revival in the name of Jesus our savior and King we pray amen and amen can we give God praise now I know that the holidays are
joyous for many but not easy for everyone in fact yesterday I got a POC a pastor on call that's what we call the POC a pastor on call and I had to go down to the hospital to see a brother in our church and everything is okay and and he's stable and but his Hope was that he would get out of the hospital on Monday he doesn't want to spend his entire time in the hospital say Pastor Dean I just want to go home and be with my family right after that visit I jumped on a phone call with another family that are walking with
their loved one through terminal illness and just was able just to reassure that the grace and the Peace of the Lord was with them in even the most difficult moments it's not easy for everyone and all our family Dynamics are different anybody got some different family Dynamics but no matter what your situation is I know this we can trust God with our families and our friendships how many you know we need God's peace at our family gatherings this Christmas we need God's grace and Mercy as we travel listen if you are
with family today or maybe you came by yourself that's okay listen how you know we're just one big family anyway what I'd like you to do if you came with your family listen reach out and grab somebody's hand if if you came by yourself that's okay maybe look at your neighbor say hey I came by myself can I join you in your prayer whatever it may be I want to pray this prayer over our families it's actually a longer prayer cuz how you know come on our families need prayer so this one's a little extra
long all right but I want us to pray come on how me know we are the family of God you're not alone God sets the lonely in families you're here not by accident but for a Divine Purpose God wants to connect you let's pray this prayer over our families we thank you for the gift of family for the bonds of love that connect us and for the joy we share in one another bless each member of our family near or far and fill our homes with your peace and presence this Christmas Eve for those who are celebrating together May our time be
marked by laughter love and kindness teach us to cherish these moments and to nurture the relationship you've entrusted to us for those who are apart due to distance conflict or loss we ask for for your comfort and reassurance draw us closer in spirit and remind us that your love transcends all separation for those who are grieving this Christmas we ask for your gentle peace to cover their hearts may they F your nearness and find Hope in the promise of eternal life Lord we also pray for families that are struggling tonight and
today those facing financial hardship illness or broken relationships be their strength their Prov fer and their healer let this Holy Night be a turning point where Grace and restoration begin as we celebrate the birth of Jesus help us to model his love within our families teach us to forgive one another as you forgive us to serve one another as he served and to grow together in faith and in unity May the Light of Christ fill our homes this Christmas Eve and may our families be a reflection of Your Love love and
glory to the world in Jesus precious name we pray amen can we give God praise for moving in our family ahead of time listen I want you to leave today with an expectation that God still does Miracles he's still birthing miracles in the world in our nation and in your family I don't want you to live down leave down trotten I don't want you to leave discouraged or depressed I want you to live leave with hope today that listen God can give you that same expectation that Mary had come on that Simeon had that the Shepherds had that
glory to God and the highest a savior is born Isaiah 96 and 7 says for a child is born to us for a child child is born do you hear that expectation yes a son is given to us the government will rest on his shoulders how are you thankful you don't have to carry the worries of this world on your shoulders and he will be called wonderful can you just say wonderful can you say counselor can you say Mighty God Everlasting father Prince of Peace can we just give God praise just for a moment [Applause] he will rule with fairness and Justice
from the Throne of his ancestor David for all eternity I love this part the passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven's armies will make this happen in other words Heaven has your back when you leave this place Christmas Eve night 1914 began with a war torn Soldier who was exhausted from being in the trenches of War tired of fighting with enemies and I'm not sure what inspired him to stick his head up above that trench that night but I believe like maybe you are he was longing for peace peace with God and peace with man
and I believe the Angels there's no other explanation I believe the Angels had Heaven's armies made it happen and can I encourage you this Christmas all of Heaven's armies are going to make it happen for for you come on for our world for our nation and for your family you see Jesus our savior came to quiet our soul in the darkest of nights maybe today you're excited about Christmas or maybe today you're exhausted even thinking about Christmas maybe you're experiencing favor or maybe you're in the middle of
the fight for your life maybe today the most important prayer you pray is a Prayer of Salvation to Jesus to become your personal Lord and Savior you see today he invites you and I to come to a place of rest rest in his Heavenly peace and to rejoice in the celebration and birth of Jesus Christ Our Savior today we are going to inservice with our electric candles and singing Silent Night but before we do can I say this and you can turn those off just for one moment I'm going to instruct you here he Longs for you and I
to experience the Peace of a silent night come on how many you know you need some sleep at night as well so you could sleep in Heavenly Heavenly peace and not have the worries of the world just on your shoulders and that you could rest in the fact that Jesus Christ our savior is born we're going to dim down the lights and I all the lights to just stay off I'll give you some instruction here the Bible says that he's called us out of Darkness into His Marvelous Light and today I'm wondering if you do
not have a relationship with Jesus Christ maybe you're feeling a lot like this Darkness depression defeated but today all of that can change by putting your trust and hope in Jesus Christ Our Savior this morning we've had 30 people turn on their lights and if you don't have a relationship with Jesus and you'd like for that to change I want to encourage you to light your light with mine if that's you you say Pastor Dean I want to come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ will you just turn your light on
and just lift it up and say Pastor Dean that's me lights all over the room thank you Lord we give you praise we give you glory I see at least 10 15 lights come on that have lit in this place come on he's rescuing you from Darkness he's rescuing you from wickedness he's rescuing you from your sin and today he wants to give you New Hope and New Life listen I'm just one more time if there's anybody that like to pray this Prayer of Salvation for the first time or maybe you're rededicating
your life maybe you've backslid and done things your own way and you say Pastor Dean include me in that prayer listen I want you to turn on your light and let it shine today I want you to repeat after me everybody who's lit their light maybe you're deciding whether to light it or not or listen we're going to pray this as an entire church together can we pray will you repeat after me dear Lord Jesus dear Lord Jesus today I'm making a decision to surrender my life to you thank you for going thank you for
going from the cradle to the cross to the CR I ask you to forgive me of my sin and make me whole again fill me with your Holy Spirit and make all things new I trust you with my life and confess that you are my Lord and Savior Lord amen and amen can we give God praise for those individuals that gave their heart to the Lord listen we believe if you prayed that prayer for the first time or maybe you rededicated your life we believe that you're right with God that you got born again we'd love to place this I
have decided packet in your hand it has a new Believers New Testament in it as well as some instructions of how real life church can come around you and encourage you in your new Faith Journey my friend Jeff is in the back at the high decided Banner when you exit um I encourage you to pick one of these up again we'd love for you to be a part can we give God praise again for those decisions that were made Hallelujah will you stand with me and will you turn on your light now one of the things I love about the Christmas
story are the songs that are connected to it Mary was given a song that silenced her fears Zachariah was given a song that silenced his doubts the angel sang a song that acknowledged God's glorious son Jesus had arrived and the she Shepherds sang praise to the God who makes all things possible you see we're going to sing a song that I believe can silence the voice of fear it can silence the voice of doubt and release peace that will lead you to encounter the Glorious savior this Christmas eve even in the deepest and darkest of nights can
we sing together silent night and if you need the peace of the Lord to sweep over you come on lift that thing high and let's begin to declare worship team will you help us out [Music] today night come on y'all sing say all is Bri we sing it youngin mother the child oh the inant so tending sleep in heav [Music]
SLE Heaven de oh say Silent Night silent night it's a [Music] holyy the sheer [Music] great after glorious Dream from heaven glor glor from Heaven A oh heav host sing Hallelujah Christ Christ the same [Music] CHR
theor is we're going to sing it one more time say silent night andly night oh all is come and all is [Music] right the red child holy so tend and my sleeping sleep in [Music] heav sleep father we thank you for the peace
that passes all understanding God I pray as we leave this Place God that we would carry that peace with us to wherever we go Lord understanding God that we are the light We Are The Hope because the hope of Jesus Christ resides in us it's your light that illuminates illuminates ours to others and I pray as we go God to our family gatherings or wherever we're scheduled to go I pray that we would be a Shining Light Lord that we would be shining finding hope in places that need you the most father I pray God for traveling
mercies over your people God as we go from here to There and Everywhere keep us safe I pray that heaven's armies would surround us God look out for us we thank you today Lord that you have us in the palm of your hand Lord we praise you and we thank you in Jesus name thank you so much for watching this message we pray that it really encourage you today we also want to say thank you to our generous donors through your gifts we are able to make a difference for God's Kingdom right here in our community and
around the world if you like to partner with us in giving you can text give and the amount to 84321 or you can visit our website at rcc.com catch up with us on all of our social media platforms to stay up to date see you next time God bless oh [Music]