Hey, it's David Platt. As you listen to God's Word today,

let it soak in that over 3 billion people have little to know knowledge

of the truth about Jesus.

At Radical, we're working to change that by fueling 140 gospel projects in 42 countries next year. Lord willing, these are projects that awaken

believers to God's global mission through biblical content and projects that equip local gospel leaders

to make Jesus known in places where he's least known. And right now through December 31st,

every gift is doubled, up to $750,000 to take the gospel further than it's ever gone. Would you pray about being a part of that?

You can learn more and give at radical.net slash everywhere.

You are listening to David Platt Messages,

a weekly podcast with sermons and messages

from pastor, author, and teacher David Platt.

If you have a Bible, and I hope you,

or somebody around you does you can look on with,

let me invite you to open with me to Isaiah chapter 9.

Can we just all acknowledge from the start today that this world is hard?

And obviously not all of our stories are the same.

But part of why we titled this whole series, Christmas in Chaos, is because we live in a world that, as the

Christmas Carol puts it, is wearying in many ways. And all of us know, to some extent, what it's

like to hurt and to grieve or to be anxious or worried or afraid or confused or frustrated or discouraged or

disillusioned. And I don't mean to be depressing, but I do mean to be true. And I want to

acknowledge this because I think there's sometimes a sense

that a pastor or preacher doesn't really get it, that people like me just kind of live above

...