Faith is hard. Believing and trusting God consistently challenges us all. Those in faith may still have times of doubt. Those with no faith can't see a reason to believe. In today's message, Dr. John uses the example of King Ahaz and the sign promised by God as demonstration of God's grace to help our faith. "The virgin will conceive and bear a Son, and He shall be called Emmanuel." While King Ahaz refused the sign, Christmas proclaims to all today that our Saviour has come. Christmas From the Beginning of Time: We can't understand Christmas by beginning with Mary and Joseph and the appearance of an angel. Christmas is a part of the grand program of God working itself out in history. To understand Christmas rightly, we must see it as God's redemption promise beginning in Genesis and woven throughout the Old Testament. Christmas is more than angels, shepherds and Magi. Christmas is a promise kept; a promise meant for you and I today.