The following message is by pastor John Piper. More information from desiring God is available at

W. W.

D. D. D.O.G.

O.R.G. Near the end of the Second World War,

behind the enemy lines in Nazi Germany,

there were prison camps, and American soldiers were kept.

And in this one camp, they were not well fed and they were starving, thin, discouraged, wondering if they would

ever go home again, see another Christmas, and the Nazi guards watch them behind the fences and their downcast faces and they're slumped over shoulders scarcely speaking to each other.

And suddenly one morning,

everything had changed, it seemed.

They were still behind the fences. They were still not well fed. They were still very sick.

And the guards noticed that they were happy.

They were smiling, they were talking, they were gathering a little huddles every now and then you could hear a hoot from somewhere, and the guards had no idea what was going on.

And what had happened was that a little transistor radio had been smuggled in and they heard the news that the Allied forces had landed.

They had triumphed. They were moving steadfastly inland, and it could be just days, because liberation was happening.

The point of that little story is the power of news.

Nothing had changed except news.

News awakening hope.

Behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all the people.

For unto you this day in the city of David is born a Savior who is Christ

the Lord. And we are very much like those prisoners because as you look around the world like if you live in

Burnsville for example and had your apartment building burned down or you lost

...