Christmas Eve 2023 - 6pm Service - John 8:12
First B Jackson
2023-12-25

Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record.

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Welcome, everybody, and Merry Christmas. How are you?

Merry Christmas. You're you're a more enthusiastic crowd than the first. Can I just say that? Yes. Well, we're glad you're here to worship with us.

This is one of our our our favorite worship gatherings of the year, and we're just... We're glad you're a part of it. A couple of things before we get started. It doesn't look like we've used all the seats here, but if for ever... Whatever reason, you need to step out for a minute, there is overflow down the hall.

It's broadcasted down the hall. Also, we have a nursery downstairs. So if you do have little ones and and they're feeling restless, the nursery is available if needed. That's all I have for announcements. The main thing, tonight is meant to be a fun, reflective, and worshipful night.

We're here to celebrate Jesus Christ in Christmas. And we'll do that by reading the nativity story, singing Christmas songs. We'll close in a traditional candle lighting. So to begin, I'd like to invite up the Owings family. Now the Owings family, here they come.

We've got Glenn, Liz, Caleb, Logan, Sealy, and Timber. That's a big family. And they're gonna, light the two remaining candles on the advent, wreath the candle of love and the much anticipated Christ candle. At the end of the service, not quite yet, we'll use that Christ candle in

the middle to light ours and spread that light to one another. This evening, we light the two remaining candles on our Advent wreath, the candle of love and the Christ candle. As we light the candle of love, may it remind us of God's greatest gift to us, his son, Jesus. John three sixteen says, God so loved the world, he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. We also light the Christ candle, representing Jesus as the light of the world.

As the candle is lit, may Jesus' words in John eight twelve resonate in our hearts and be reflected in our lives. Whoever follows him will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of

life. Amen. Thank you, Owens, for the advent reading. And would you stand? I'd love to pray, and then we'll sing some joyful songs together.

Lord, we thank you for the the gift of Jesus. This is why we are here. You are the reason for the season, the light of the world. I pray that that truth would resonate deep in our hearts this evening as we hear the story, as we sing the songs. May we open our hearts to you in Jesus' name.

Amen. Joy to the world. And and here's my favorite, verse of of the line. It's let every heart prepare him room. God, may our hearts prepare room for you this evening to hear the story, maybe like we've never heard before.

Amen. Amen. You can have a seat here for a moment. And Ray is gonna share the Christmas story as it's presented in scripture. We're gonna go scripture and psalm, scripture and psalm.

From Isaiah and Micah. Isaiah seven says, therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call his name Emmanuel. For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, and the government will rest on his shoulders, and his name will be called wonderful, counselor, mighty God, eternal father, prince of peace, and there will be no end to the increase of his government or of peace on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this. From Isaiah nine, from Micah five.

But as for you, Bethlehem, Ephesians, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from out of you, one, with a capital o, one, Messiah. It's pointing forward. One will go forth for me, almighty God, to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.

And you can stay seated, but the songs are gonna be on the screen. And please, would you join us as you see those lyrics?

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to see her away, send her away secretly. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit, and she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.

Yeshua is what he would have said, and Yeshua means salvation. And you shall call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins. Now, all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which translated means God with us. And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took Mary as his wife. Now, in those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census be taken of all of the inhabited earth.

And this was the first census that was taken while Quirinius was the governor of Syria. And everyone was on his way to register for the census each to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee from the city of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and the family of King David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged him and was with child. And while they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth, And she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him in cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. Now, in the same region where they were, there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.

And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were terribly frightened. Pretty much every time you see angels, there's terribly frightening situation going on. But the angel said to them, do not be afraid for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the peoples. For today in the city of David, there has been born for you a savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you, shepherds.

You will find this baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. And suddenly, there appeared with that angel a multitude of the heavenly host, and they were praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace among men with whom he is pleased. And when the angel had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us. I want you to hear something here. Did you see what they did when they got a message from the Lord?

They said, let's go from here and do it exactly like they just said. If you go back and you heard Joseph's message from the angel, don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife. And when he awoke, he was not afraid and he took Mary as his wife. If you go back further, when Mary was announced that she was gonna bear this son by the angel, she said, May it be to me just as you have said. And though it sounds a little more passive, she was with child from the Holy Spirit.

This is a pattern we've seen in the Christmas story as an angel Angel, by the way, means messenger. That's all it means. Heavenly messengers, earthly messengers. One who carries a message is an angel. And these angels had a message, when the people received the message, they acted on it.

That's all I wanted to say. We're carrying a message tonight, are we not? When they had seen this, they made known a statement. Oh, so they came in a hurry and they found their way to Mary and Joseph and to the baby as he lay in the manger, just like the angel had said. And when they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this child.

And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. And then it says, and the shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and all that they had seen. They heard from the angel, they acted on it, and they were able to see the Christ child, just as it had been told to them from Luke two. You wanna have them stand again, Carl?

Sing a few more.

Indeed. Yeah. Speaking of glorifying and praising God, we say we do that and stand together. We'll sing. Angels we've heard on high and the first Come to Bethlehem.

The first Noel Noel, the announcement of the good news that Jesus was born. I love how Isaiah describes him as the wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, and prince of peace.

After Jesus was born... Y'all can have a seat. Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, after that, in the days of Herod the king, Magi. You can read it out as wise men, astrologers. Most people wouldn't read it as kings, but magi.

Smart guys who knew about stars in the heavens. Magi from the East arrived in Jerusalem saying, where is he who has been born the king of the Jews? Now, who they were talking to was Herod the king of the Jews. How's that question gonna go over? Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?

For we saw his star in the East, and we've come to worship him. And when Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Well, was a megalomaniac. History has shown that. Completely obsessed with his own power and his impact.

And when he heard of this threat, Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all of Jerusalem was troubled with him because when the king ain't hope... Happy, ain't nobody happy. Gathering together all of the chief priests and all of the scribes of the people, other smart guys who did know the Old Testament, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. And they said to him, well, in Bethlehem of Judea, for this is what has been written by the prophet. And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means the least among the leaders of Judah, for out of you shall come forth a ruler who will shepherd my people, Israel.

So then Herod secretly called the Magi to him and determined from them the exact time the star appeared. They had been paying attention. They saw something that was different and unusual. They saw a light that was provided by God, and they saw the difference and they knew exactly when it happened. Herod was trying to establish a time signature.

How long ago was it that this kid was born? And he sent them to Bethlehem, and he said, you go and you search carefully for this child. And when you have found him, you report back to me so that I too may come to worship him. Not so much. And after hearing the king, they went their way and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the child was.

And when they saw that star, they rejoiced exceedingly and with great joy. They were following after the light that God had shown them, and they were able to come into the house and see the child and marry his mother, and they fell to the ground and they worshipped him. They were drawn by a light to meet the light of the world. And then opening their treasures, they presented to him gifts of gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. I'll come back to myrrh in a few minutes.

And we're going to pause there for just a moment in the spirit of giving with joy and generosity like the Magi in the story. We too have an opportunity to give this evening. So I invite the ushers and Rachel to come on up. And while they're coming forward, I I I really want you to know that that you are not obligated to to give at all. That's that's not why we we hold this service.

But if you feel compelled to give, I want you to know what you're giving to. First Be, we support missionaries all over the world, here in The US and South America, Africa, Asia, Europe. You'll see a picture on the screen in just just a minute of of... Just a few of them, a few of our many. And this year, our our staff and our elders and our mission team agreed with enthusiasm that that we wanna bless our missionaries even more.

They are really doing a good work, and they're wholeheartedly sharing the good news of God's love and forgiveness in word and need and bringing the light of Christ in some of the most spiritually dark places in the world. And so if that sounds like something you'd like to give to, wonderful. And if not, that's okay. We'll pause for a moment to reflect and give thanks. And, Ray, may I ask you to pray?

Sure. God, thank you for the opportunity this evening to be together, to sing your praises, and also hear the story. Again, Lord, it's not a story that most of us don't know. It's a story we've heard and heard thousands of times. God, I pray that for those who have not heard it or have have not been able to pay attention for whatever reason, Lord, that they would hear it fresh and new Here among us tonight, but also to the very ends of the earth.

I thank you, Lord, that you've called these folks from far away, into places where they are the weird ones, Lord. But they are, in a sense, angels. They're carrying a message with them, a message of not just the birth of Christ, but the actual life of Christ lived perfectly in submission to the spirit with no lack. No sin. Tempted in every way just as we're tempted but without sin, Who laid down his life in a sacrificial offering to pay for the sins of everyone who would trust in him.

In Jesus' name, we pray, Lord, that you would continue to spread your good gospel from this place forward to the very outermost parts. We ask your blessing on this offering that we would be doing your will, Lord, and your way. Amen. Amen. I've got a little a little something.

There's another song actually, from the from the hymnal. We're not singing it tonight, but, a lot of times, we skip a couple of verses, you know, in songs. I mean, Baptists have been accused of singing first, second, last of all of the songs that we ever sing. But we think We Three Kings stands out to me as one we mentioned them. We mentioned the gifts that they were given and the the song, I kinda like it because it's deep for a deep voice.

I like that. But we usually skip a verse. The beginning when we all know, we three kings of Orient are. We know that bearing gifts, we traverse so far. Field and fountain, moor and mountain, following yonder star.

Straight from scripture. You know, star of wonder, star of night star with royal beauty bright westward leading, still proceeding, guide us to their perfect light. Now the next one is talking about the gift of gold. Born a king on Bethlehem's plain. Gold I bring to crown him again.

He is saying... This first king, by tradition, is saying, king forever, ceasing never, over us all to reign. That first gift of gold is a gift that you would give a king. The third verse is about the frankincense. Frankincense to offer have I, incense owns a deity nigh.

It's about his divinity or his deity, and it's a recognition of that. Prayer and praising all men raising incense, frankincense, is usually burned in a censer, and it's an aroma that lifts up to heaven. It is worship him, God on high. We... If we sing four verses, we'll sing those three.

You know? We're gonna skip the next one for sure and go on to the last big verse. You know? But the one I wanna talk about tonight, I said I'd come back to myrrh. Myrrh is what this next verse is about.

Now how many of you know what myrrh even is? Anybody? Some of you who have seen it used in making pieces of decorative items these days, we have a bowl at home that's made out of the resin of myrrh. It smells great if you mess with it at all, you can smell this. But at the time, it was primarily used for one thing, sometimes two things.

What it was used for is embalming fluid. Yeah, exactly. And a narcotic. It has mild narcotic properties. And so that's what it was used for.

Now, gold for a king. Yeah. That's Solomon. People brought Solomon gold and folks brought that to David. And gifts of gold is kind of normal for a king.

And incense and most temple worship was used as a sign of divinity or lifting up divinity to God, worshiping him. But myrrh was usually just used as an embalming fluid mixed together with other things, aloes or whatnot. This verse says this, myrrh is mine. By tradition, Baltasar, wise man, magic. Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume breathes a life of gathering gloom, sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying, sealed in the stone cold tomb.

You see why we skip it? That's a hard one, isn't it? We came here joy to the world and hear all of these sort of things. That's tough. That's a really hard verse, but it is a foreshadowing of what would happen at the other end of his earthly life.

Embalment fluid is not something you usually bring to a baby shower. Right? This myrrh is mine. Wow. Gathering gloom sealed in the stone cold tomb.

Now, I like when I study, when I'm looking to a sermon and I'm studying, and there's a limited scope because I tend to study exhaustively, and it takes a lot of time. But myrrh is only used three times in the New Testament. One of the times is it was one of the gifts that the Magi brought to Jesus and laid it down for him. And if you look at it from a very pragmatic and practical standpoint, those gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh, were costly, all of them. And it would have helped a poor family if they needed to, I don't know, get up and go to Egypt all of the sudden to keep Herod from killing them.

And that probably is what they were used for. But there was still some foreshadowing there. If you look at the next time that it's used, Jesus is being lifted up on the cross. He's already lived a perfect life. Prophesied birth and perfect life.

Tempted in all manner just as we're tempted, yet without sin. And he holding a perfect record voluntarily laid down his life. And as he was being lifted up, the Roman soldiers offered to him wine mixed with myrrh. So it's solvent wine mixed with a narcotic. And he denied it.

He didn't want the myrrh. His folks accepted it at the cradle at the manger. But he wanted to feel the feels of the sins of the world that were on his shoulders at that moment, and he did not take the narcotic or the painkiller there. And the next and the last time that it's used in Scripture is when Nicodemus and John says, Remember the guy who came to him at night, Nicodemus? The one that the famous John three sixteen, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

That guy, Nicodemus, was a believer in Jesus. And it says, and he brought about 75 pounds of aloes mixed with myrrh to protect, to embalm the body. That's what it's normally used for. Turns out Jesus didn't need that. He was only in the grave from Friday to Sunday.

Right? Didn't didn't even have time to stink. Christ came voluntarily, left the glories of heaven, laid down his life in submission to the spirit for the benefit of all who would humbly place their faith in him. What an amazing gift that is for all of us here at Christmas. I think we're gonna sing some more.

Would you stand with us?

As as Jesus grew and he began his public ministry, in John eight twelve, he said, I'm the light of the world. And if you follow me, you don't have to walk in darkness because you'll have the light that leads to life. And tonight, I want you to hear that very, very real invitation to you to trust and follow Jesus, whom God sent as the light of the world to rescue us from the power of sin and darkness and give us light that leads to life, abundant life now and life eternal. In response to this invitation, we're gonna close and the candle lighted. So I'll invite you to to grab your candles while you're standing.

I'll invite, the elders to come forward, and they'll light their their their candles from the Christ candle there at the center. And that candle, again, it represents Jesus as the light of life. And then we'll pass that light to one another, representing our task to let the light of Christ shine through us to the world. So when your candle's lit, please be sure to hold that straight up. Let that person next to you with their unlit candle tip theirs toward yours.

And, while we're lighting these candles, I'll invite you to sing just a couple of songs with us, Away in a Manger and Silent Night. And, may I also ask one of our elders, just to turn off the sanctuary lights too during the candle lighting, please? I almost hate to ask you to blow those candles out, but you may. And as you do, would you hear this that we we blow these candles out, but there is nothing that can extinguish the true light of Christ. From John one five, it says, the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it or overcome it.

And would you be encouraged by that? I mean, truly, truly, the light of Christ cannot be overcome or extinguished by darkness. Jesus is that true light who gives light to everyone. And John goes on to say that all who believe and receive him, he gives the right to become children. Now think of that for a second.

Children of God. That's amazing. What a privilege. That's the good news that we are light bearers and children of God through belief in Jesus. That's why in Matthew five, Jesus says, now you're the light of the world.

First, he says, I'm the light of the world. Then he says, hey. You're the light of the world. I'm passing that light to you now. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.

Neither do people light a lamp or put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on a stand. It's to be seen, and it gives light to everyone in the house. Now in the same way, he says, let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds. They may see you in Christ and glorify your father in heaven.

That's what this last song is about. I encourage you to sing out and sing loud. Go Tell It On The Mountain.

Well, Merry Christmas y'all. Glad that y'all were here.

I've got

one more thank you. Y'all know what the angel tree is back there at the back. So for years, that's been going on. It's going on before Tanya and I got here. That was such a blessing this year to so many people.

And there was a tree here, and there's a tree at Snow King during a ladies' luncheon. There's a tree at other churches, and the administration of that, I'm not usually involved in at all. Not at all. But Tanya was a little sick this year, and I got a glimpse into it. We had folks, corporations, construction companies, all kinds of folks gathering up the gifts and then to be a part of the distribution to see what's happened.

I just wanted to thank y'all, not just as a church, as a community. It's not just this church, as a community for being so generous and going and telling it on the mountain through what you say, but also through what you do. Just... I wanted to say thank you for that. So thank you, and go tell it on the mountain, really, literally around here.

Amen.