Christmas Eve message below:
Part I:
Let’s read Luke 2:1-7:
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
- Jesus, our hope is born.
- “Mommy, Daddy, tell me a story.” Have you heard that recently? What about, “Grandma, grandpa, tell me a story,” have you heard that recently? Can you think of someone who is a great storyteller, a friend who can make a trip to the shoe store sound like a real adventure? So many of us really enjoy listening to stories about our parents or grandparents growing up; things they did, times they got in trouble.
- I love stories. I am drawn to stories. My children love stories. I have some of their books up here. Mercedes will come to me and say, “Can you read Little House on the Prairie to me?” Abbigail will come to me and hand me a book and ask me to read it. They love stories too.
- At preschool Mercedes is learning all about books and so she likes to play teacher. I heard her at home telling Abigail all about books, “This is the cover and this is the back. This is the spine; the spine holds the book together. Who draws the pictures? The illustrator.” Later we heard Abigail says the same things. It was great.
- The Bible is full of stories and we can read that Jesus told many stories. In fact, the Bible is mostly stories. The Bible is many short stories with one grand story. We have the grand story of God’s love for us and His plan to save us from our sins. That is the grand story. There are short stories. The short stories tell:
- How God created us good;
- How humans sinned against God;
- How God sent Jesus to be born of a virgin and die on the cross for our sins.
- How some day God will make all things right.
- How is Jesus our hope?
- What is the difference between faith and hope? John Piper explained that faith is a larger idea than hope. It includes hope, but is more than hope. Hope is that part of faith that focuses on the future or when faith is directed at the future you call it hope. I like that, but with Christmas I would say, we put our faith and trust in Jesus as He is our only hope.
- Let’s go back to the subject of stories. This is a true story; unlike the fantasies we like to read and I love fantasy stories.
- This is the story of the birth of the Anointed One, that is what Messiah means, Anointed One.
- Jesus, born of the virgin Mary will save us from our sins, the wrong things we do.
- Jesus is our hope in that He will save us.
- Jesus is our hope in that He will eventually bring peace in the future.
- Jesus is our hope in that He will restore all creation and He will be the perfect King.
- Jesus is our hope in that He is called Immanuel and that means God with us.
- Jesus is our forever
I hope with Christmas we take comfort and great joy in celebrating Jesus, our Lord’s birth. The Hope of the world was born. All through the Old Testament the Bible is filled with stories and all these stories are about people looking for the Messiah and now He has been born. Jesus born in a stable which, was a barn, and laid in a manger, which was a feeding trough, this is the story of how the Hope of the world entered the world. He is Jesus Christ our Lord. This is the story of how shepherds came to worship Him and the angels worshipped Him too. This is God becoming a man.
I am going to have Prayer and then we’ll sing O Little Town of Bethlehem and Away in a Manger. These are two hymns celebrating the story of Jesus’ birth. Let’s celebrate as we worship in song. Jesus, our Forever hope is born!
Prayer and prayer for the offering.
Part II:
We just sang a powerful hymn, O Holy Night…
O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour’s birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born;
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!
Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
O’er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,
Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friends.
He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
Now, that is worshipping through recounting the significance of Christ’s birth.
Read with me Luke 2:8-15:
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
- The Hope of the world was born in Bethlehem and we celebrate that at Christmas time.
- Our hope has come and He is Jesus. Trusting in Jesus as our hope is not natural. We have to fight and struggle to keep Jesus as our hope.
- I don’t know about you but many times I can focus my hope on things, but Jesus is my forever I just need to keep telling myself that.
- I don’t know about you but I can easily focus my hope on politicians, but Jesus is our forever hope, again, I need to remind myself of this.
- I don’t know about you, but I can put my hope in money. This is only temporary hope and Jesus takes care of my eternal, my forever, needs. He is my forever
- I don’t know about you, but I can put my hope in people, but there is only One person, Jesus who will never let me down. Jesus is our forever
- These are all good things and there is nothing wrong with money, things, politics, people, but they do not take care of our
- Placing our hope in things can overwhelm us. What I mean is thinking of people and things as our hope will fail me because only Jesus is our forever
- I was recently talking with a Christian athlete who was always trying to please the coach. It helped her when she realized that she only needs to please God. It helped her when she realized she plays for an audience of One.
- Jesus is our Lord, not money, things, people, or even our boss. Jesus is our forever
- He came to save us. He came to live with us. He came to set us free. He will come again and bring peace and make things right. He is the Savior. This is the story of His birth.
In a nutshell Christmas is all about Jesus’ birth. God became a human being so that He could die for our salvation.
One of the most exciting things that you can do while celebrating Jesus’ birthday is to make it your spiritual birthday as well. You can accept Jesus’ free gift of salvation right now.
God’s presence is the gift it here and you just have to unwrap the gift.
The Bible says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). The Bible says that the penalty for sin is death (Romans 6:23). The Bible says that Jesus is the way the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except by Him. (John 14:6). The Bible teaches that sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2). The Bible says that God will not let the guilty go unpunished (2Thess 1:8-9). Yet, the Bible teaches that God loves the people of the world (John 3:16). That is a dilemma. God can’t tell a lie or He wouldn’t be God (Numbers 23:19). God doesn’t change His mind (1Sam 15:29). That is why God sent Jesus. The guilty must go punished. Jesus took our punishment on the cross. The penalty of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus, who is the way, the truth and the life.
God created us to be with Him
Our sins separate us from God
Sins cannot be removed by good works
Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again
Everyone who trusts in Him alone has eternal life
Life that’s eternal means we will be with Jesus forever
pray
Silent Night Hymn 147
Joy to the World
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