Emmanuel: Why ‘God With Us’ Changes Everything

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Good evening.
[00:00:02] Merry Christmas to you.
[00:00:03] It's good to see you all.
[00:00:07] And we're glad that you came tonight on Christmas Eve.
[00:00:12] And why don't we open with prayer.
[00:00:15] Father, Lord, we do praise You for being our God, for sending Your Son.
[00:00:22] Lord, that He might take our sin and pay the penalty.
[00:00:27] Lord, that we might have forgiveness of sin and eternal life.
[00:00:33] Lord, thank You for filling us with Your Holy Spirit as we profess faith in the Lord Jesus.
[00:00:43] And Lord, thank you for filling us with your joy.
[00:00:45] We are here to worship you.
[00:00:47] We are here to lift up the Lord Jesus and to proclaim his salvation and his coming to deliver us.
[00:00:55] And Lord, we ask that you will be with us now.
[00:00:57] And we ask all of these things in the name of Jesus our Savior.
[00:01:02] Amen.
[00:01:04] We do want to give welcome to visitors and also just to be sure that everyone has a bulletin and a candle.
[00:01:12] If not, they're available at the back.
[00:01:15] Before our first hymn, if we could stand and sing this together, it's God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.
[00:01:21] The words will be on the screen.
[00:01:25] And let's stand.

[00:01:39] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
God rest ye merry gentlemen Let nothing you dismay Remember Christ our Savior Was born on Christmas Day To save us all from Satan's power When we were gone astray O tidings of comfort and joy Comfort and joy O tidings of comfort and joy
[00:02:09] Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy,
[00:02:43] The blessed angel came and unto certain shepherds brought tidings of the same.

[00:03:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Now that in Bethlehem was born the Son of God my name, O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy, O tidings of comfort and joy.

[00:03:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
You may be seated.
[00:03:12] I believe Matthew Knight is going to have our first scripture reading.
[00:03:18] If you'll come up here to the podium.

[00:03:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
So our first scripture of the night is going to be Isaiah 7, verses 10-14.
[00:03:39] Moreover, the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying, Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God.
[00:03:45] Ask in either the depth or in the height above.
[00:03:48] But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.
[00:03:52] And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David.
[00:03:55] Is it a small thing for you to weary men?
[00:03:58] But will ye weary my God also?
[00:04:04] A virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel.

[00:04:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Amen.

[00:04:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Thank you.
[00:04:14] Amen.
[00:04:16] Amen.
[00:04:17] Thank you, Matthew, Pastor Andy.
[00:04:20] Our next song is appropriately, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, number 169 in the hymnal, on the screen.
[00:04:26] Let's stand and sing.

[00:04:42] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
O come, O come, Emmanuel And ransom captive Israel That mourns in lonely exile here Until the Son of God appear Rejoice!
[00:05:05] Rejoice!
[00:05:06] Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel
[00:05:16] O come, thou Dayspring, come and cheer Our spirits by thine advent here Disperse the gloomy clouds of night And death's dark shadows put to flight Rejoice!
[00:05:39] Rejoice!
[00:05:39] Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
[00:05:48] O come, Thou Wisdom from on high And water all things far and nigh To us the path of knowledge show And cause us in her ways to go Rejoice!
[00:06:11] Rejoice!
[00:06:14] Emmanuel!
[00:06:15] Shal come to thee, O Israel O come, desire of nations bind In one the hearts of all mankind Bid thou our sad division cease
[00:06:37] and Be Thyself our King of Peace.
[00:06:42] Rejoice!
[00:06:44] Rejoice!
[00:06:46] Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

[00:06:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Amen.
[00:06:55] You may be seated.
[00:06:59] We continue in the book of Isaiah with the reading by Josiah, another Old Testament character.
[00:07:05] Josiah Oligary, if you'd come forward.
[00:07:08] He's going to be reading for us Isaiah chapter 9, verse 6 and 7.
[00:07:16] And it's there, or you can use your own Bible.

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
For unto us a child is born unto us a son is given and the government will be upon his shoulder and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor Mighty God Everlasting Father Prince of Peace of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end upon the throne of David and over his kingdom to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward even forever
[00:07:54] The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

[00:07:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Amen.
[00:08:00] Good reading.
[00:08:01] Thank you.
[00:08:03] Thank you so much.
[00:08:07] Now the handbell choir is going to bless us.

[00:08:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

[00:09:05] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Amen.

[00:09:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

[00:09:35] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Amen.

[00:09:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Amen.

[00:10:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Good job.
[00:10:08] That was good.
[00:10:14] Thank you, Handbell Choir.
[00:10:15] And now Jason Richard is going to do a reading for us.
[00:10:19] Luke chapter 2, verses 1 through 7.
[00:10:22] Would you like to use a real Bible or are you going to use one?
[00:10:31] Luke 2, 1 through 7.
[00:10:35] Thank you.

[00:10:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
And it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree
[00:10:44] From Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.
[00:10:48] And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.
[00:10:52] And all went out to be taxed, everyone into his own city.
[00:10:56] And Joseph also went out from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house of the lineage of David, to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
[00:11:10] And so it was that while they were there, the days were accomplished that she would be delivered.
[00:11:16] And she brought forth her first son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.

[00:11:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Thank you brother.
[00:11:34] Well, you just heard the tune of Away in a Manger.
[00:11:36] Why don't we stand and sing the hymn, Away in a Manger, number 185, in our hymnal and on the screen.

[00:11:50] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,
[00:11:59] The little Lord Jesus lay down his sweet hay The stars in the sky looked down where he lay The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes
[00:12:29] The little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes Our lovely Lord Jesus, look down from the sky And stay by my cradle till morning is nigh
[00:12:51] Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay Close by me forever and love me, I pray Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care And take us to heaven to live with Thee there

[00:13:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Amen.
[00:13:22] You may be seated.
[00:13:23] Now we ask Elder Barry, Barry Brown, to come forward for a reading in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 2, verses 8 through 20.

[00:13:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Luke 2, 8 through 20.
[00:13:50] And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
[00:13:57] And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid.
[00:14:05] And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
[00:14:14] For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
[00:14:21] And this shall be a sign unto you.
[00:14:24] Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
[00:14:29] And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
[00:14:41] And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away,
[00:14:44] The shepherds said to one another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known to us.
[00:14:58] And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
[00:15:04] And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.
[00:15:10] And all they that heard it wondered at those things,
[00:15:14] And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told unto them.

[00:15:42] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Now we're going to sing O Come All Ye Faithful on the screen number 193 in the hymn book.
[00:15:47] Let's stand and sing.

[00:16:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant, O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.
[00:16:16] Come and behold Him Born the King of Angels O come, let us adore Him O come, let us adore Him O come, let us adore Him Christ the Lord
[00:16:41] Sing choirs of angels, sing in exultation, O sing all ye citizens of heaven above.
[00:16:57] All glory to God, all glory in the highest, O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.
[00:17:20] Yea, Lord, we greet thee, born this happy morning, O Jesus, to thee be all glory given.
[00:17:36] Word of the Father, Word of the Son,
[00:17:39] Now in flesh appearing O come let us adore Him O come let us adore Him O come let us adore Him Christ the Lord Amen.

[00:18:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
You may be seated.
[00:18:04] And before Pastor Andy comes to bring us a meditation, a message this evening, I'd like to pray for the message.
[00:18:10] Let's pray.
[00:18:11] Dear Heavenly Father, we come before you this Christmas Eve night rejoicing in the birth of your Son, Christ Jesus.
[00:18:18] And so, Lord, we ask now that you would help Pastor Andy as he brings to us beautiful words, wonderful words of life.
[00:18:25] May we have ears to hear.
[00:18:26] May our hearts be soft and ready to receive your love.
[00:18:30] Through the Word, the Word the Bible preached, and through the Word, your Son, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray and thank you.
[00:18:40] Amen.
[00:18:41] Pastor Dan.

[00:18:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
You'll turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 1.
[00:18:53] We're looking at verses 8 through 25 tonight.
[00:19:11] Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise, or in this way.
[00:19:17] When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
[00:19:26] Then Joseph, her husband being a just man and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away
[00:19:39] But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
[00:19:57] And he shall bring forth a son, or she shall bring forth a son, and thou shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.
[00:20:09] Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us.
[00:20:29] Then Joseph, being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife,
[00:20:37] And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son, and he called his name Jesus.
[00:20:48] So as Matthew is writing this, when he says in verse 18, he says, Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows.
[00:20:59] The word for birth there is not the normal word that you would use in the Greek for a baby being born.
[00:21:07] It is actually the word that would be translated origin and when you look it up in the Greek it is the word Genesis.
[00:21:15] So it is the beginning or the origin of Christ as he was born on earth.
[00:21:25] But according as we see in John by some of the other gospel writers and other New Testament writers,
[00:21:34] Jesus was not only, that's not when he got his start, right?
[00:21:41] Because Jesus is God himself.
[00:21:43] He is eternal.
[00:21:45] He entered into human history as a baby to become like us so that he could take the curse of the law that we are not able to pay on our own, that we're not able to fulfill.
[00:22:01] Because there's no way that we can keep the law perfectly, no way we can keep it totally.
[00:22:10] And according to places in the Bible, according to Jesus himself as he is saying and the Apostle James, all you have to do is sin one time and be condemned to hell in the sense of disobeying God.
[00:22:29] God does not grade on a curve, which is why only Jesus as God could come and take our sins and pay the penalty and take God's wrath upon Himself in dying in our place the death that we deserved.
[00:22:52] Now, this is the gospel pure and simple.
[00:22:56] It doesn't get any more simplistic than this by the fact that this is why Christ came.
[00:23:04] He came to pay for our sins so that we might be saved from our sins.
[00:23:11] So that we would have forgiveness before God and so that we would have eternal life.
[00:23:20] Now before we kind of get more into some of those aspects, I wanted to bring out some of the things in the passage here in Matthew 1.
[00:23:29] So as Matthew lays out, says that when Jesus' earthly mother Mary, that she was espoused to Joseph.
[00:23:42] So she was...
[00:23:45] she was engaged to Joseph which is much stronger than the engagement of the understanding of that word that we had today it was as binding as if they were already married but they weren't living together they weren't sharing the same bed and so but that is even more reason because of how they were bound together in this betrothal
[00:24:11] Of why when Mary was pregnant, Joseph is only naturally going to think of one conclusion, that she has been unfaithful, that she has not saved herself for him, and so he is going to divorce her quietly.
[00:24:29] He could have, in a sense, brought her sin out, and according to Jewish law, if it were not for the Romans then, of course,
[00:24:40] Even in Jesus' time, the Pharisees and Jewish leaders were trying to stone a woman in adultery so she could have been stoned to death for the sin of committing adultery.
[00:24:55] But Joseph, in showing compassion on her, was going to just do it quietly and separate himself from her
[00:25:05] Which is why the Lord sent an angel to talk to him.
[00:25:09] To let him know that what was going on here was not that Mary had been unfaithful, but that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit.
[00:25:23] that the Holy Spirit had caused the embryo that Christ had filled to be within Mary and to grow into a baby so that God Himself in the second person of the Trinity would become human.
[00:25:43] Nothing like this had ever
[00:25:46] Even been thought of.
[00:25:48] There are clues that are in the Old Testament that if we had time we could chase those things down.
[00:25:56] But the Jews missed all that.
[00:25:59] They knew that the Messiah was coming.
[00:26:01] They knew that Messiah was going to be a son of David.
[00:26:04] But they just didn't quite know how.
[00:26:06] And they knew it was going to happen in Bethlehem.
[00:26:09] But in the sense of God becoming human, being born as a baby, humbling Himself.
[00:26:18] and leaving the glory of Him being the King of kings and the Lord of lords in heaven, the master of everything and of Him becoming a lowly baby in the womb for nine months and then being born, growing as a child, going through everything that we would face, being tempted, but doing everything perfectly.
[00:26:43] This is why Christ came.
[00:26:45] So that He could live perfectly in our place and so by being perfect, by being sinless, then He would be able to take our sins upon Himself and pay the penalty of the full wrath of God against sin.
[00:27:08] It is amazingly described in Romans chapter 3
[00:27:15] In describing how, let me flip here, how Jesus in taking our sin says, Romans 3, 26, To declare, I say at this time, His righteousness,
[00:27:36] That he might be of God's righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
[00:27:46] So that as we believe in Jesus that our sins would be pardoned.
[00:27:50] Why?
[00:27:50] Because God satisfied his own justice against sin by pouring all of his wrath out on his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:28:04] This is why Jesus was born.
[00:28:06] To take the curse of the law on himself.
[00:28:12] And what is more, in verse 20 of Matthew chapter 1, But while this is before, or this is getting into where Joseph is going to have the dream,
[00:28:29] And the angels speak to him.
[00:28:31] But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David.
[00:28:38] The angel is reminding Joseph that he is the son of David.
[00:28:46] And by him adopting Jesus as his own son, that he is fulfilling the promise that the Messiah would be a son of David.
[00:28:57] But it also, Jesus was not just the son of David through Joseph, but he was through Mary.
[00:29:05] Because Mary was a descendant of David as well.
[00:29:08] And so in the first part of Matthew chapter 1, it shows how Jesus is the son of David through Joseph and through his line.
[00:29:20] And then in Luke chapter 3, it shows how Jesus is the son of David through Mary.
[00:29:28] What is more, in Luke chapter 1,
[00:29:37] When the angel Gabriel appears to Mary.
[00:29:50] We might as well start at verse 26.
[00:29:55] And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary.
[00:30:10] The angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women.
[00:30:20] And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
[00:30:27] I mean, you would probably be thinking the same thing if an angel just showed up and said, Hey, blessed are you!
[00:30:33] And you'd be like, is it time?
[00:30:36] Is it my time to die here?
[00:30:39] And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God.
[00:30:48] And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.
[00:30:56] He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest.
[00:30:59] And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever.
[00:31:08] and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
[00:31:11] That is another point in showing how Jesus can only be God.
[00:31:18] because his kingdom will be forever.
[00:31:24] Verse 34, Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
[00:31:31] And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee.
[00:31:40] Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."
[00:31:47] and behold thy cousin Elizabeth she hath also conceived a son in her old age and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren now Elizabeth was the mother of John the Baptist and so that was another miracle birth there for with God nothing shall be impossible and Mary said behold the handmaid of the Lord be it unto me according to thy word and the angel departed from her
[00:32:16] And so in Mary being a virgin, this was prophesied, as Matthew says in Matthew chapter 1, by Isaiah 700 years before Jesus came, that a virgin would be with child.
[00:32:32] Now as Isaiah goes out and he meets King Ahaz, or Ahaz, H-A-H-A-Z,
[00:32:45] Isaiah tells him says that kind of gives says
[00:32:50] This is how this of a virgin conceiving and bearing a son, that it is going to partially apply in that time period with the enemies of Judah that Ahaz was facing, but the greater fulfillment of this prophecy was going to be for an actual virgin to bear a son, that that was to come.
[00:33:20] of the Greater King and of the King and Kings and Lord of Lords, the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:33:32] And so, also wanted to bring out in Luke chapter 1 when Gabriel is appearing to Mary that he says to her in verse 35, he says, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee.
[00:33:52] And so one, in Mary being a virgin and not having an earthly father, it broke the cycle of original sin that was from Adam.
[00:34:02] But also two, in the Holy Spirit overshadowing Mary, it was like the Holy Ghost was protecting Jesus from Mary's sin.
[00:34:11] So this child was not being born in the normal way.
[00:34:20] It kind of goes back to why Matthew used a different word for birth other than just a baby being born.
[00:34:29] It was the Genesis of the Lord Jesus as a human.
[00:34:39] And so, as we see back in Matthew 1,
[00:34:47] The prophecy of a virgin bearing a son from the Isaiah prophecy in Isaiah 7.14 says that they will call His name Emmanuel, which means God with us.
[00:35:04] So not only was Jesus to be named Jesus, which means the Lord is salvation, but His name was also Emmanuel.
[00:35:16] Because He was God with us.
[00:35:22] Now I want you to just stop and think about that and let that soak in.
[00:35:31] By the fact that we can truly know from the Scriptures, from it being attested in history, from Christ's death and His resurrection, and knowing the fact that He was born,
[00:35:47] If He is God with us, and as He told us when He left, when He was going to ascend into heaven, He said, I'm going to send the Holy Spirit, and as you believe in Me, the Holy Spirit is going to fill you.
[00:36:05] If Jesus is God with us, and He fills us with the Holy Spirit that shows us all the things of Christ,
[00:36:15] In the sense that He gives us a new heart, that He opens our eyes, that He helps us to understand the Scriptures, that He changes us and makes us a new creation.
[00:36:25] Shouldn't we view the world differently?
[00:36:32] Shouldn't we begin to see it through God's eyes in who Christ is and in living for Him rather than living for ourselves?
[00:36:44] Because brothers and sisters, if we are not living totally and solely for Christ and in everything we do being for Him and to bring Him honor and glory, we are missing it.
[00:37:00] We are not living life as God intended us to.
[00:37:05] Because He is God with us, because He has taken our sins, that only through Christ will we have forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
[00:37:18] Without Christ there is no everlasting life with God.
[00:37:25] It is apart from God.
[00:37:28] It is suffering for all eternity in hell.
[00:37:33] In punishment, in torment, because people have sought to save themselves, to justify themselves, to live for themselves apart from Christ.
[00:37:50] And that is not what the gospel is.
[00:37:52] The gospel is the good news of Jesus that not only knowing He came, not only hearing He came, not only hearing and realizing what the true message of Christmas is, but to embrace it, to bow to Christ.
[00:38:10] Jesus is King, yes, but is Jesus your King?
[00:38:16] Do you submit to Him?
[00:38:18] Do you repent of your sins in His name?
[00:38:21] I mean, He is the one who forgives.
[00:38:25] But He is also the judge.
[00:38:27] Because He's the one who paid the price for sin.
[00:38:31] Only He can forgive.
[00:38:33] And what He does is He calls us to come to Him and to bow before the cross.
[00:38:45] To bow before Christ.
[00:38:47] To know that we only have life and forgiveness in Him and in Him alone.
[00:38:58] We think of John 3.16 and 17.
[00:39:02] Very simple verses.
[00:39:04] Most people at least have heard of John 3.16, although in today's time, you know, if you ask a young person, hey, do you know John 3.16?
[00:39:13] If they have never been in church, they have no idea what you're talking about.
[00:39:19] For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
[00:39:30] For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.
[00:39:40] And in saying that we are only saved through Christ harkens back to what the angel told Joseph
[00:39:49] It says that Mary will bring forth a son, thou shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.
[00:40:04] Let me ask you, do you want to be saved from your sins tonight?
[00:40:11] Do you want to be delivered from your selfishness and me from my selfishness?
[00:40:20] and from us wanting to do what we think will bring us fulfillment instead of yielding ourselves to God.
[00:40:28] Instead of truly following Him and believing Him and devoting our lives to Him.
[00:40:35] Brothers and sisters, do you see this table here?
[00:40:39] This table represents Christ's sacrifice and death for us in Him breaking His body and shedding His blood for our sins.
[00:40:50] And it is the Lord Jesus is full of forgiveness.
[00:40:53] He is full of grace.
[00:40:55] He says, come to me.
[00:40:56] But understand when he says in John 14, 6, he says, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father except through me.
[00:41:08] There is no other way to be saved.
[00:41:12] All of us can walk out of here and say, you know, that sounds good, but I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing.
[00:41:19] I'm going to keep living how I'm doing and just hope that it works out.
[00:41:25] That is not the best course.
[00:41:28] The only course is coming to Christ and giving ourselves to Him completely and surrendering and saying, Lord, You lead me because You are God.
[00:41:44] And if the Lord Jesus loved us enough to come for us as a baby,
[00:41:51] To take our sin upon himself, to do what we were not able to do, then we owe him everything.
[00:41:59] And God is calling us to respond to that love.
[00:42:04] So brothers and sisters, do you want to respond to that?
[00:42:09] Do you want to give yourself totally to Christ who loved you enough to come and die for you?
[00:42:19] That is the question, isn't it?
[00:42:22] And if you have not done that yet and you want to, please talk to me or to Pastor Joseph or Elder Allen after the service.
[00:42:33] Or talk to somebody that you know and you trust about how you can be saved from your sins.
[00:42:42] You can be saved from eternal death and turn to Christ and know His forgiveness and know everlasting life.
[00:42:53] Let's look to the Lord in prayer.
[00:42:59] O Lord Jesus, Lord, we do come.
[00:43:03] We humble ourselves before you.
[00:43:06] We bow before you, O Lord, for you are God and there is no other.
[00:43:13] And you and the Father and the Holy Spirit, that you exist as the one true God in three persons.
[00:43:24] And Lord, we praise you that in your wisdom, that in your fullness, that you did not leave us to our own means to save ourselves because there's no way that we can.
[00:43:35] So essentially, you did not condemn us to eternal damnation.
[00:43:43] But Lord, you came to save us, to pay the penalty for our sins.
[00:43:47] to take the full wrath of God upon yourself so that we might be saved and delivered from sin and from death and from Adam and Eve's disobedience in turning away from you.
[00:44:06] Lord, thank you that you are the Son of David, that you are the one who will reign for all eternity and that is reigning now.
[00:44:15] Lord, help us to come and surrender
[00:44:18] To you and to devote our lives totally to you.
[00:44:24] Move in us, Lord.
[00:44:25] Open our hearts, open our eyes and do a great work within us and help us to not leave here as we were when we came.
[00:44:38] We thank you and we praise you.
[00:44:40] We ask all of these things in your name, Lord Jesus.
[00:44:44] Amen.

[00:45:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
This is the greatest gift that ever was given.
[00:45:05] And as many of you will be opening presents, no doubt, tomorrow.
[00:45:09] I know the children, I know my children, especially my youngest, is all excited about opening presents, wrapped prettily and inside.
[00:45:16] You don't know what it is there, but right now, Pastor Andy and I are going to...
[00:45:40] Conceivable in the mind and heart of man is for God, the infinite and eternal, perfect, holy, sinless, to give his life for you and for me.
[00:45:55] To him be the glory, honor, and praise.
[00:45:57] Amen.
[00:45:58] This is the present.
[00:45:59] This is a wonderful message that Pastor Andrew has preached to us about the gospel.
[00:46:05] Gospel means good news.
[00:46:07] And we think of the Gospel, we think of Easter, we think of the death and resurrection of Christ, but folks, with no Christmas, there could be no Easter.
[00:46:16] There's no Easter unless you have Christmas, because God becomes man, so that he might live in that life, the perfect life, and die on the cross as a man, for you and for me.
[00:46:28] What a wonderful story.
[00:46:30] The greatest gift, as Pastor Andy ended there in John 3.16,
[00:46:35] For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
[00:46:46] Praise the Lord.
[00:46:48] For God so loved the world that he gave the greatest gift ever given.
[00:46:55] To him be the glory.
[00:46:56] By the way, tomorrow is someone's birthday.
[00:46:58] Anyone know who?
[00:46:59] I know it's Justine's your birthday tomorrow, right?
[00:47:02] But there's someone even more important than Justine who has a birthday tomorrow.
[00:47:05] Anyone know who it is?
[00:47:07] Jesus.
[00:47:08] You all be giving gifts to one another.
[00:47:10] What's your gift for Jesus?
[00:47:12] After all, it's his birthday, isn't it?
[00:47:15] What a wonderful Savior.
[00:47:17] He gives you the gift.
[00:47:19] Praise the Lord.
[00:47:21] We find in the Word of God the Apostle Paul, who was not a disciple of Christ when he was on the earth, but became a disciple after
[00:47:30] Christ went to heaven.
[00:47:33] We see that he received of the Lord in verse 23 of 1 Corinthians 11, For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, the night before Easter, he took bread, and when he had given thanks, actually it's the night before the cross, Friday, Easter Sunday,
[00:47:55] Even when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you, this do in remembrance of me.
[00:48:04] After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the New Testament in my blood.
[00:48:11] This do ye, as oft as you drink it, in remembrance of me.
[00:48:15] For as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till he come.
[00:48:22] Wherefore, whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
[00:48:30] But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup.
[00:48:37] You all are invited.
[00:48:40] As you have been already by the preaching of the word to feed on the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:48:46] And that is a spiritual feeding by communion.
[00:48:50] We call this the Lord's Supper.
[00:48:51] We also call it communion.
[00:48:52] Communion, many being made one.
[00:48:55] This idea of Christ and us, God and man becoming one in spirit.
[00:49:02] But in order for that to happen, first of all, God had to come to us because we can't go to him.
[00:49:07] And that's Christmas.
[00:49:09] and that's Christ, the word, eternal word of God, second person of the Trinity becoming flesh.
[00:49:15] And so when we look at the bread, the bread and the fruit of the vine, grape juice, we know that that represents the body of Christ and the blood of Christ and yet we also know that this is bread and this is grape juice because what it's referring to as we partake of that, it's referring to a spiritual
[00:49:38] Wonderful reality.
[00:49:40] Communion.
[00:49:41] Christ in us.
[00:49:44] Eternal life in us.
[00:49:46] Christ in us.
[00:49:47] The hope of glory.
[00:49:49] All of you are invited to partake.
[00:49:52] And yet,
[00:49:53] The Bible tells us and warns us that we should partake only if we have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:50:00] If we are old enough and we have made a profession of faith and we are trusting in Him alone.
[00:50:04] And so, if that describes you, regardless of whether or not you're a member of this church, you're a member of His church, you're welcome to the table this evening.
[00:50:13] Also, if you are a believer and yet there is sin in your life, sin that you have not repented of, that you have not asked God to forgive you of,
[00:50:23] then you should not come to the table but we're going to pray in just a moment and you can repent right now and come with a clear conscience because God has come Christmas that he might live the perfect life we couldn't live die on the cross and receive the punishment that we deserve go to heaven send his spirit to each and every single one of you that he might live in and through you and then bring you to him for all eternity
[00:50:51] and Perfect Love, Peace, Bliss and Communion with God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and all the saints that have gone before us.
[00:50:59] I hope that describes you and if it does, in a moment I'm going to invite you to the table.
[00:51:04] But before I do, why don't we all take a moment and pray?
[00:51:07] Prepare our hearts to receive the greatest gift that was ever given, the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:51:29] Dear Heavenly Father, we come before you this Christmas Eve, Lord, rejoicing that you have arranged our schedules so that we might be in your house on this blessed night.
[00:51:39] No better place to be than in your presence along with your saints.
[00:51:44] And so, Lord, now as we come to the table, we ask you, Lord, to forgive us of our sins
[00:51:50] Help us to come with a clean conscience, Lord, that we know that you have said in your word, if we are believers, if we confess our sins, you are faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness, that we might come spotless and unblameable in your sight.
[00:52:12] Through the blood of the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world, that Passover Lamb sacrificed for us, even that Lamb and His blood that we partake of now by faith, in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, whose birth we now celebrate and whose death and atonement for us we do remember.
[00:52:40] In His name.
[00:52:41] Amen.
[00:52:42] Amen.
[00:52:44] So in just a moment, you'll be invited to come forward.
[00:52:48] You can come two lines.
[00:52:51] The way that we'll do this is you can come forward in the inner rows, come to the table, get both of the elements and take them back to your seat on the outer rows, and then we'll all partake together.
[00:53:10] There is...
[00:53:13] Just a few pieces of gluten-free bread here.
[00:53:17] Please only take that if you need gluten-free.
[00:53:36] Before you, the greatest Christmas gift of all.
[00:53:41] The gift of Christ himself.
[00:53:44] If you're a believer in Christ, come, come and die.
[00:53:48] Come, come forward.
[00:53:53] The body of Christ broken for you, the blood of Christ shed for you.
[00:54:01] The body of Christ broken for you, the blood of Christ shed for you.
[00:54:10] The body of Christ broken for you.
[00:54:12] The blood of Christ shed for you.
[00:54:16] You see, Christ took on true human flesh in Christmas.
[00:54:20] That's why it says in John chapter 1 verse 1, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
[00:54:30] And then in verse 14 of the same chapter, it says, The Word became flesh.
[00:54:37] The miracle of the Incarnation.
[00:54:40] You see, there's an infinite distance between a holy God and sinful man.
[00:54:45] And no man, no matter how intelligent, no matter how mighty, no matter how wonderful he may think he is, is able to traverse an infinite distance.
[00:54:56] For we are all finite.
[00:54:58] The body of Christ broken for you.
[00:55:00] The blood of Christ shed for you.
[00:55:03] The only one who can traverse an infinite distance is one who is infinite himself.
[00:55:10] And that's why we could not go to God, but God came to us in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ.
[00:55:22] The Bible says, He who knew no sin became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ.
[00:55:32] The Bible says, though he was in the form of God and thought it not robbery to be equal with God,
[00:55:39] He made himself of no reputation, and humbled himself to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
[00:55:53] Wherefore God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, and every tongue confess.
[00:56:06] that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God.
[00:56:15] When Jesus Christ was born as a baby, do you remember where he was laid?
[00:56:21] In a manger.
[00:56:23] What does that word manger mean?
[00:56:24] Anyone here speak French?
[00:56:26] Parlez-vous français?
[00:56:28] Manger?
[00:56:28] Manger?
[00:56:29] Eat.
[00:56:31] To eat.
[00:56:33] He was placed in a manger where the animals would eat.
[00:56:37] foreshadowing the fact that we now spiritually partake.
[00:56:41] Jesus said, this is my body, which is broken for you.
[00:56:44] Take, eat, do this in remembrance of me.
[00:56:59] So many animals were slain in the Old Testament to cover sin in the temple and the tabernacle.
[00:57:06] but there is one offering it says in the book of Hebrews that ended all of that offering of the blood of God Jesus Christ Christ comes and says this is the blood this is the New Testament written in my blood this cup is the cup of the New Testament written in my blood take ye drink ye all of
[00:57:37] For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till he come.
[00:57:47] Brothers, I know it's just bread.
[00:57:49] Sisters, I know it's just grape juice.
[00:57:55] And I know that tomorrow we will feast.
[00:57:59] But as for me, there is no more delicious meal on the face of this earth
[00:58:06] Then what just passed through my lips?
[00:58:09] Jesus Christ, the greatest gift of all.
[00:58:13] Let's pray.
[00:58:14] Dear Heavenly Father, we come before you and thank you for this wondrous gift.
[00:58:19] And so, Lord, tomorrow as we gather with our families, help us, Lord, to remember it is your birthday.
[00:58:26] Help us, Lord, to remember you are indeed the reason for the season.
[00:58:30] And without Christ, there is no Christmas.
[00:58:33] And so, Lord, with each present we unwrap
[00:58:36] May we remember the wrapping of the divinity, the deity, in flesh some 2,000 years ago in a stable, laid in a manger.
[00:58:47] Few knew, but the celestial stars and the angels sang and all of the world spiritually was changed forever with your coming to us.
[00:59:00] Lord, I pray this night, even as we've partaken of the body and blood of your Son,
[00:59:06] Lord, that tomorrow we are filled with your joy as we love one another, share, open presence, give and receive.
[00:59:15] And Lord, you said it's more blessed to give than to receive.
[00:59:18] So Lord, remind us the greatest gift ever given and who gave it.
[00:59:25] You, Lord God, and your Son, Christ Jesus, in whose name we pray and we thank you and love you, Lord.
[00:59:31] Amen and amen.
[00:59:33] And now we come to the candlelight.
[00:59:35] Pastor Andy, do you think we have enough people to go around the entire room, or should we just go around these two sections?
[00:59:46] What thinkest thou?
[00:59:49] I think we probably can do it.
[00:59:50] What do you think?

[00:59:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
For the whole thing?

[00:59:53] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Yeah.
[00:59:54] I mean, like this way, and then if that's... You want to try that?
[00:59:58] Sure.
[00:59:59] Okay.
[00:59:59] It's over to you.
[01:00:00] You direct us, dear brother.
[01:00:01] Oh, I'll get... You want me to get... Yeah.
[01:00:04] Okay, so everyone has their candle?
[01:00:12] You tell us what to do.
[01:00:14] All right.

[01:00:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
All right.
[01:00:15] So, if it is okay with you, we're not going to have everyone come up to this candle.
[01:00:22] Right.

[01:00:22] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Because it will be... We'll spread the light.

[01:00:24] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Yes.
[01:00:25] So, Pastor Joseph and I are going to light our candles.
[01:00:27] We're going to make a circle, and we're going to kind of be around the piano so our backs are not facing John.
[01:00:36] So, I would say if we could kind of start here and...
[01:00:42] And go around... By the windows and around to here?
[01:00:46] Yeah, so you're saying down this aisle here?
[01:00:48] Yeah, so we're going to go here and then to the back and then around.
[01:00:52] Is that good?
[01:00:53] Yes, that sounds good.
[01:00:55] So if we could just make this somewhat of a circle.
[01:01:00] And then we will pass the light to light each other's candles.
[01:01:03] Please take your bulletin because we will be singing Silent Night once all the candles are lit.

[01:01:11] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Yeah, and it's on your bulletin.
[01:01:15] Go straight back this line and around in the back there and that's our circle.
[01:01:36] Pass the light guys.
[01:01:39] We need to pass the light.
[01:01:45] Yes, please.
[01:01:45] Go ahead, Emilio.
[01:01:54] Who would like to take light back here?
[01:01:56] Who can I pass the light?
[01:01:59] Alright.
[01:02:01] You pass it one way.
[01:02:04] And you can pass it that way.
[01:02:07] Pass it that way.
[01:02:08] Who's next?
[01:02:09] You got a candle?
[01:02:10] No?
[01:02:11] Ah.
[01:02:12] If you'll...
[01:02:14] Hey Jason, do you think we should turn this light off?

[01:02:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Yes.

[01:02:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Oh, Emilio?
[01:02:44] Emilio, the white remote on your counter, turn off those lights.
[01:02:54] The white remote there.
[01:02:56] Got it?

[01:03:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Very good, thank you.
[01:03:06] Alright, we're going to start here.

[01:03:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
Holy Night Holy Night All is calm
[01:03:41] Holy infant so tender and mild Sleep in heavenly peace Sleep in heavenly peace
[01:04:15] Holy night Holy night Shepherds quake
[01:04:28] At the Sun Glories stream from heaven afar Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia
[01:04:50] Christ the Savior is born Christ the Savior is born Silent night Holy night
[01:05:17] Son of God, love's pure light Radiant beams from Thy holy face With the dawn of redeeming grace
[01:05:48] Jesus Lord at thy birth Silent night Holy night Wondrous star Lend thy light
[01:06:18] With the angels let us sing Hallelujah to our King Christ the Savior is born

[01:06:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Amen.
[01:06:52] Pastor Ed?

[01:06:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Let's have a final prayer and then I'll say the benediction.
[01:06:58] O Lord Jesus, Lord, we do thank you that you are the light of the world.
[01:07:03] Lord, we thank you that as we have placed our faith in you as our Savior, that you have shined your light within us.
[01:07:12] That you have made us born again.
[01:07:13] That you have given us forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
[01:07:18] And Lord, we thank you that you are the greatest gift that was ever given or even ever to be had.
[01:07:27] For you have given yourself to us, not only when you came as a baby, not only when you died, but Lord, also that you give yourself to us now that we might know you and be saved and be changed.
[01:07:42] So Lord, help us to keep this in mind in everything that we do in the celebration of Christmas, that it is really and totally about you and about showing your love to others and proclaiming the good news of your salvation, that you are the only one who can deliver from sin.
[01:08:03] We thank you and we praise you and we ask all of these things in your great name, Lord Jesus.
[01:08:09] Amen.

[01:08:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Pastor Andy, before you give the benediction, just a word of instruction.
[01:08:15] In just a moment, Pastor Andy is going to give the benediction, our service will be concluded, but what we're going to do is, after the benediction, we will turn the lights on, Brother Gary maybe, and at the back, straight below the window there for the AV, are some metal pans.
[01:08:34] If you have a real candle, please put your candle in the metal pan and please extinguish your candle before you put it in the metal pan.
[01:08:44] I'm speaking now from experience in the past.
[01:08:46] Pastor Anderson.

[01:08:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Now, if you'll receive the Lord's benediction.
[01:08:52] And now to Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy.
[01:09:00] To the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power, and authority through Jesus Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit both now and forevermore.
[01:09:10] Amen.

[01:09:11] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Amen.

[01:09:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
God bless you.
[01:09:13] Merry Christmas to you all.

[01:09:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Merry Christmas.