Christmas Eve Candle Light Service 4:30 Service

December 25, 2025

Scripture referenced 12 passages

The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.

John 8:12 Jesus declares He is the light of the world, quoted at the advent candle lighting and again near the close

12 Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”

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Isaiah 7:14

prophecy of the virgin bearing a son called Emmanuel, read as part of the prophetic prelude

14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

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Isaiah 9:6-7

child born to us, wonderful counselor, prince of peace, throne of David, read as part of the prophetic prelude

6 For to us a child is born. To us a son is given; and the government will be on his shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, on David’s throne, and on his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from that time on, even forever. The zeal of Yahweh of Armies will perform this.

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Micah 5:2

Bethlehem Ephrathah, ruler to come forth from it, read as part of the prophetic prelude and again in the Magi account

2 But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, being small among the clans of Judah, out of you one will come out to me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings out are from of old, from ancient times.

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Matthew 1:18-25

Joseph's dream, angel's announcement, Mary found with child by the Holy Spirit

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was like this: After his mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, before they came together, she was found pregnant by the Holy Spirit.

19 Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, intended to put her away secretly.

20 But when he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take to yourself Mary, your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

21 She shall give birth to a son. You shall call his name Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins.”

22 Now all this has happened, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying,

23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall give birth to a son. They shall call his name Immanuel”; which is, being interpreted, “God with us.”

24 Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took his wife to himself;

25 and didn’t know her sexually until she had given birth to her firstborn son. He named him Jesus.

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Luke 2:1-20

census decree, birth in Bethlehem, shepherds in the field, angels' announcement, shepherds finding the child

1 Now in those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled.

2 This was the first enrollment made when Quirinius was governor of Syria.

3 All went to enroll themselves, everyone to his own city.

4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to David’s city, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David;

5 to enroll himself with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him as wife, being pregnant.

6 While they were there, the day had come for her to give birth.

7 She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a feeding trough, because there was no room for them in the inn.

8 There were shepherds in the same country staying in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock.

9 Behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

10 The angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all the people.

11 For there is born to you today, in David’s city, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

12 This is the sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a feeding trough.”

13 Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army praising God, and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men.”

15 When the angels went away from them into the sky, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem, now, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

16 They came with haste, and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby was lying in the feeding trough.

17 When they saw it, they publicized widely the saying which was spoken to them about this child.

18 All who heard it wondered at the things which were spoken to them by the shepherds.

19 But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart.

20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, just as it was told them.

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Matthew 2:1-11

Magi from the East arriving, Herod's inquiry, star leading them to the child, gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh

1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying,

2 “Where is he who is born King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east, and have come to worship him.”

3 When King Herod heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

4 Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he asked them where the Christ would be born.

5 They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is written through the prophet,

6 ‘You Bethlehem, land of Judah, are in no way least among the princes of Judah: for out of you shall come a governor, who shall shepherd my people, Israel.’”

7 Then Herod secretly called the wise men, and learned from them exactly what time the star appeared.

8 He sent them to Bethlehem, and said, “Go and search diligently for the young child. When you have found him, bring me word, so that I also may come and worship him.”

9 They, having heard the king, went their way; and behold, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, until it came and stood over where the young child was.

10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.

11 They came into the house and saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Opening their treasures, they offered to him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

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John 1:1-14

the Word was with God and was God, Word became flesh and dwelt among us, meta narrative of Christmas

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 The same was in the beginning with God.

3 All things were made through him. Without him was not anything made that has been made.

4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn’t overcome it.

6 There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John.

7 The same came as a witness, that he might testify about the light, that all might believe through him.

8 He was not the light, but was sent that he might testify about the light.

9 The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world.

10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world didn’t recognize him.

11 He came to his own, and those who were his own didn’t receive him.

12 But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God’s children, to those who believe in his name:

13 who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.

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Philippians 2:5-8

Christ did not grasp equality with God but emptied and humbled himself, taking the form of a bond servant

5 Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus,

6 who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped,

7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men.

8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross.

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Galatians 4:4-5

fullness of time, God sent His Son born of a woman, so that we might receive adoption as sons

4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son, born to a woman, born under the law,

5 that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of children.

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2 Corinthians 8:9

though Christ was rich He became poor so that through His poverty we might be enriched

9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich.

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John 3:16

God loved the world and gave His Son so that whoever trusts in Him might not perish but have everlasting life

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

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Recap

The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.

The Christmas Eve service at First Baptist Jackson centered on the question of why God sent Jesus, not just the what and when of the nativity. The preacher moved from the familiar birth narratives in Matthew and Luke into the deeper meta-narrative of John's gospel and Paul's letters, pressing toward a single point: God acted with purpose, and that purpose was directed at you. The invitation of the evening was to align your will with His.

What was said

The service opened by reading through the nativity in sequence, from the prophetic words of Isaiah and Micah, through Matthew's account of Joseph and the angel, through Luke's account of the shepherds, and into Matthew's story of the Magi. The preacher noted along the way that the shepherds received a specific sign - a baby in a manger, in a feeding trough, wrapped in rags - and that God was gracious enough to lead even outsiders like the Magi to that place, possibly because of a witness planted generations earlier through Daniel in Babylon.

The preacher then stepped back from the narrative and turned to John's gospel, which he described as giving more of a meta-narrative than a play-by-play. Where Matthew and Luke report what happened on the night, John goes back before Genesis 1:1, to the Word that was with God and was God - the content, the full communication of everything God wanted the world to know of Him - and says that Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

Philippians 2 was brought in alongside John. The preacher read it as showing what the incarnation cost: Christ, who already existed as God, did not grasp at equality with God, but emptied Himself, took the form of a servant, and was born in the likeness of men. That humbling, the preacher said, is worth celebration on its own. "Who would do that?"

The center of the sermonette was a brief grammar lesson on the Greek word "hina" - a purpose clause meaning "so that." The preacher argued that the New Testament is filled with these constructions, and they are the answer to the question "why?" He drew on Galatians, 2 Corinthians, and John to show the pattern: God acted, he gave, so that we might receive adoption, so that we might be enriched, so that we might not perish but have everlasting life.

The preacher then addressed the word "might" in those constructions directly. He said the "might" is not iffy on God's part - God acted, past tense, no doubt. The subjunctive mood appears because a second will is involved. God will not force Himself on anyone. The invitation is whether your will aligns with His, and he drew a brief connection to the language of Step 3 of the 12 steps - making a decision to turn our will over - to illustrate that God is not asking for perfect understanding, only a decision.

The evening closed with C.S. Lewis: "The Son of God became a son of man in order that the sons of men might become the sons of God." The preacher laid that out plainly as the reason for the whole celebration, and then moved into the candle lighting, with the lit candles representing Christ as the light of the world and the invitation - drawn from John 8 - to follow that light rather than walk in darkness.

Doing a Bible study?

Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.

The preacher described the Magi as outsiders who had received a message from God and came to worship without being raised in the faith. Have you ever felt like an outsider when it comes to God, and what does it mean to you that God led people like that to Jesus?
John's Gospel steps back from the night-by-night account and places Jesus in eternity past as the Word who became flesh. How does that bigger picture change the way you think about what Christmas is actually celebrating?

and 3 more questions in the guide

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Well, howdy all, y'all. Welcome and Merry Christmas. We're really glad you're here, and we hope that everyone feels at home. A couple of announcements before we start. There is overflow down the hall.

I don't know that I really need to make that announcement because I think we're kind of packed out right now. So we're glad you're here. It is being livestreamed down there. Some is coming late. And we do have a nursery downstairs.

So if you have little ones that are feeling restless, we got a place for them and the service is livestreamed down there as well. So that's all I have for announcements, but I do wanna say this is a night for fun, for reflection, and for worship. We're here to celebrate the Christ in Christmas, and we'll do that by reading the nativity story. And we'll also sing Christmas songs, and that includes You All. The whole big idea is that we can all hear one another, the great cloud of witnesses singing praises to Christ.

And and then we'll close in in the traditional candle lighting here. So I'd like to invite the ION family to come up and light the advent candle. I probably said that wrong. Yawn?

There

you go. Awesome. Do you need this... You need this, don't you? I I think my wife has one.

I don't know....

Paper sheet. No. How's kit?

Yeah. No. The the kits. The kits.

Today me? Marks the end of our advent journey. We've prepared our hearts, our minds, and our spirits for the celebration of Christ's entrance into the world. Amen. As we light the Christ candle, we may devote our lives to reflect in the light.

He is the light of the world. In John eight twelve, Jesus said, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but have the light of life.

Okay.

Thanks for being here, guys. If you would stand, and we'll... We're gonna pray, and we're gonna sing some songs. God, we thank you for the gift of Jesus, the reason for this season, and the light of the world. And as we gather here tonight to hear hear the story and sing the songs, help us to open our hearts to you and know how much you truly love us.

And in your name we pray, amen. Amen. Would you join us in singing, Oh Come All Ye Faithful? Man, you sound great. Good job.

We're gonna sing, Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee. You can have a seat.

So from the prophets Isaiah and Micah. 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 governance or of peace On the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it, to uphold it with justice and righteousness, from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish all of this. That's Isaiah and from Micah. But as for you Bethlehem Ephesians, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you, one with a capital o. That's one.

Jesus, Messiah. One will go forth for me to be ruler in Israel and his goings forth are from long ago from the very days of eternity. Alright.

We're gonna sing a song. It's called Hope for Everyone. It talks about hear the angels sing, there's hope for everyone. To announce our king, there's hope for everyone. We are waiting on the promise for the one who lights the darkness.

Welcome to Saint Paul.

The angels sing

Amen. Now, the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows from Matthew. 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, plan to 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, don't 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, 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 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. Amen.

Now, in those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census be taken. This is from Luke two. Of all of the inhabited earth, this was the first census that was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria and everyone was on his way to register for the census each to his own city. Joseph went up from Galilee from the city of Natharus to Judea to the city of David which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house and of the family of David. In order to register along with Mary who was also engaged to him and was with child, while they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth.

And she gave birth to her firstborn son, she wrapped him in cloth, swaddling cloth, and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.

And his gospel is peace.

His

Chains shall he break for the slave is when Christ was born.

Now, Amen. In the same region, there were some shepherds that were staying out in the fields and they were keeping watch over their flock by night. Imagine this, put yourself in that field. Alright? I know it's hard to do.

Put yourself there though. Your shepherd hanging out in the field watching the sheep, taking care of what you've been in charge of. And an angel of the Lord, a messenger from God, suddenly stands before them and the glory of the Lord shown all around them and they were what? Terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, don't be afraid for behold, I am bringing you good news of great joy that will be for all of the people for today, in the city of David, there's been born for you a savior who's Christ the Lord.

And this will be a sign for you. Y'all are going to find this baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. That's not how everybody finds Jesus. Alright? That night, that's where he was.

That was going to be the sign to them. But this is how you're going to find him. Humbly laying in an animal's food trough wrapped up in rags. And suddenly, there appeared with that angel, a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased or you may prefer the translation, glory to God in the highest and peace on earth goodwill towards men. Both of those are great.

When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, let's get up and go from here, straightway to Bethlehem then and let's see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us. And so they came in a hurry and they found their way to Mary and Joseph and the baby was there lying in the manger just like they said, and when they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this child. What a beautiful thing that is for Mary and Joseph to receive that news that angels had announced his birth. And they showed up and it was just like God had said. There was purpose with what the angels had to say.

And everybody who heard it were in amazement and wonder at the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary treasured all of these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds left from there, went back, and they were glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and all that they had seen just as it had been told to them.

So speaking of glorifying and play it praise to God, would you stand with us and sing... We'll sing another couple of songs that I think you'll know. We're gonna start with angels we have heard it on high.

And y'all can have a seat. Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, in the days of Herod, the king, Magi from the East arrived in Jerusalem and they were saying, where is he who has been born the king of the Jews? It makes sense that they would go to Jerusalem not Bethlehem because that's where, you know, you would think the king would be born. 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. Why?

Because Herod was the king and normally it's good to be king. When you hear the king has been born, that's gonna take your place, that's upsetting. So he gathers together all the chief priests and the scribes of the people. He inquired of them where Messiah was to be born. If you put yourself back in this time, it had been four hundred years since an authoritative word from God.

But they did have the prophets from a thousand years before, from seven hundred years before, from four hundred years before, and they were all in agreement. A couple of different places it said. They said to him in Bethlehem of Judea, that's what's been written by the prophet Micah, and you Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the leaders of Judah. For out of you shall come forth a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel. So Herod secretly called those magi, magicians, astrologers, outsiders.

Right? Smart guys though, determined. He called the magi and determined from them the exact time that the star had appeared. Where did you see this vision? What happened exactly?

And he sent them to Bethlehem and he said, go and search carefully for that child. When you have found him, report it to me so that I too may come and worship him. No. 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 the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.

I imagine they were happy that it stopped. It's been a long journey. But after coming into the house, they saw the child, Mary, his mother, and they fell to the ground and they worshiped him. And then opening up their treasures, they presented to him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. So normally, this is where I'd hand off to somebody else, but this says, narrator's job is finished.

I'm the narrator. Then it says, Ray begins. Sounds like a good place for an offering, doesn't it? I think that's what it is. So in the spirit of giving and with joy and generosity, like the Magi in the story, I I think that it's cool that the Magi were called and that God was so gracious.

He's gracious towards us. His peace and goodwill is coming towards us, even outsiders. Okay? For you all who've been raised in church your whole life, you might not see it this way. I hope you do.

God's will is coming towards us good, his goodwill towards men and it's to all of us and he led those people. You know, it might have been Daniel's witness from years and years and years before that he taught all the people in the Babylonian exile that there was going to come this king. And they listened to it and they had it and then that star led them there and they didn't go empty handed. They went in in the spirit of giving with joy and generosity. Freely, they had received a message from God and freely, they were giving back.

So would you pray with me? The ushers have already come forward. I want you to know that you're not obligated at all to give. We... That's not why we do this.

But if you feel compelled to give, I want you to know that your giving goes to the missionaries at First Beast supports all over the world from locally within just a couple of blocks of here with the local ministries of Good Samaritan and this offering, the gift and the giver. Would you do your kingdom's work with it, Lord. Whatever it is that you want to be done, may none of us stand in the way of that, but put it towards the advance of the good gospel. May we be singing Christ praises so that all may know and make him known in Jesus name. Amen.

Thank you, Brian. I was gonna say, y'all go sit down, but I don't think there's a way for you to go. I've got a little bit of a sermonette. I've been thinking about this because it's Christmas. We're reading the Christmas story mostly from Matthew and Luke tonight.

Matthew tells one immediate version of the night, know, and then Luke tells a little later story, kind of summons around it. Both of them are given a play by play. Right? It's a play by play of what's actually happening. And we celebrate that and most of our songs that we sing this season kinda correspond with the story of the night, know, and when you've seen a bunch of Christmas pageants where we acted out and we parade all the little elements out.

But the gospel of John gives more of a meta narrative to what's going on, and rather than it being just the story of, okay, this is the night, this is the season, this is whatever. It's kind of gives you more than that. It goes back to before Genesis one one. It goes back to eternity past and it connects the word which in Greek philosophy and in the time would have been known to be the content, the whole communication. And so God, it says right here in the beginning was the word, the content, the all knowing conscious, the word.

And the word was with God and the word was God. That's Jesus. That's what it's pointing to. And he was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, so this is the creator, the agent of creation is Jesus.

And apart from him, not even one thing that came into being has come into being. In him, Christ was life and the life was the light of mankind. Kinda like service. We're getting to that soon. It's a a bit of a reflection of the light that shown in the darkness.

John one fourteen says, and the word became flesh. Took on flesh, was made flesh, incarnation. The content, everything about God, his consciousness, his communication, everything that he wanted for the world to know of him was put into flesh and dwelt among us, made his dwelling among us. And we, John says, he was first... He was an eyewitness.

We got to see his glory. Glory as the... Of the only son from the father, the heavenly father. Full of grace and full of truth and that is the big picture meta narrative of the Christmas story. So is this, Philippians two.

It's a letter Paul writes to the believers in Philippi and he's talking about what attitude they should have and he says, have this attitude. In yourself which was also in Christ Jesus, these are believers, these are people that Christ had given the Holy Spirit. So he's saying, this attitude which was in Christ Jesus, who as he already existed, as God, he already existed. But he didn't consider equality with God something to be grasped, but he emptied himself. He humbled himself.

He emptied himself by taking the form of a bond servant, he had a job to do, and he was being born in the likeness of men. So he's a 100% God always, and he is coming in the form of man, a 100% man, and being found in appearance as a man says he humbled himself. He humbled himself. He left the glories of heaven to come to earth. That's a...

That's worth celebration right there. Who would do that? Christ. I remember some of these Christmases past where I stood up here and I had just to refrain where you all were supposed to say, because Jesus Christ really is that awesome. Right?

He really is. He humbled himself, but why did he? If you're wondering that tonight, if you're thinking, why is that? I don't understand. I mean, I get Christmas, it's fun, and we got to do something.

But why? Why is this what we celebrate? Well, if you forgive me one quick grammar lesson, here we go. All the grammar nerds in the place, there are four of you. A henna clause in Greek.

Okay? Henna in Greek is so that. And henna clause shows purpose for an action or the intended result. What is the purpose that we want or what is the intended result? I did that so that you would know that I love you, if I gave you a present.

Right? I did that so you would know that I love you. That's that's showing what what I did and what the intent was. And in biblical cases, usually, it's the intended purpose and the result, it's both of those things. So I'm gonna show a couple of other big ones.

The Bible is full of those purpose statements. I've got a scroll up here that's 31 feet long and 11 type. Okay? Of all the different purpose clauses in the New Testament. I didn't even include the Old Testament because it's not Greek.

Quick list from John's gospel, can think of a bunch of them, but I won't do it because we're not gonna do that right now. If you wanna read them, you come up here afterwards. Here are two more. Galatians, big picture meta narrative. When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those who are under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

Adoption of sons is even greater than adoption as daughters in that time period. Hate to say it, but that's the way it was. But it says adoption and not just adoption, adoption says full privileges. John would say, he did this so that as many as believed would be able to be called children of God. Right?

So that's one of the purposes in John. But that henna right there is pretty cool. There you go, nerds. Second person plural subjunctive. So that we might receive.

Second Corinthians eight nine, this is another metaverse. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich, he left the glories of heaven, he was all that he's almighty God. Right? Yet for your sake, he became poor, born born, I mean in a stable, put in a manger, humble, grew up, broke, so that you might through his poverty become rich or maybe a better thing is that you might be enriched. There's a henna right there, the sow that.

This is telling you why God did what he did. This is what telling you why he sent Jesus, so that you might be enriched. More from John is right here. There's a similar structure. Let's go to this.

God acted and he did that so that you might receive. So this is his intent, the specific gift. Now both of those said this, so that you might receive this. Does the might bother you? Now that I say this like everybody's looking at it going, that sounds iffy to me.

No, the iffy, it's not iffy on God's part. He acted in the indicative. Right? He acted. There's no doubt about what he did.

The might is a contingency. When this comes up, is based on will. So God's will, he acted, he loved, and then there's a second will. He's not gonna force himself on anybody. And so the subjunctive mood comes in when more than one will is involved.

And so... Oh, there's a... Sorry. 12 steps show up all over the place. Step three of the 12 steps.

We made a decision to turn our will. Right? Our will. We know that God wants good for us. We know that he wants good for our lives.

That's all throughout, like I said, the whole scroll here. We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him. He's not asking that we understand him perfectly, he's really not. When he called those Magi, they didn't understand him perfectly. When he called the shepherds, they didn't understand him perfectly.

When he called me, I didn't understand him, still don't. I've studied this a long time, still don't. This is a familiar verse for everybody. I'll translate it myself this time just to make it confusing. Indeed, God loved the world in such a way as this.

God loved, he acted. That he gave, he acted. This is indicative, no doubt about it. He did this at a time in the past. God loved and he gave his one and only son, so God acted so that.

Why? He gave acted so that whoever puts their trust in him might not perish, but might have everlasting life. And the might is not iffy on God's part. The might is only contingent upon your will. Would you align your will with his will?

That's why he did what he did. That's why he made the steps that he did. Whoever puts their trust in him won't perish but will have everlasting life. So it wouldn't be a a gathering without quoting c s Lewis at some point. The son of God became a son of man in order that or so that the sons of men might become the sons of God.

To as many as put their faith, to as many as trusted, to as many as believed, he gave them the right to be called children of God and that's why we celebrate this. So might you believe that today? I'm putting it in your lap. There are wills involved, right? Not just like will this will that will, but wills.

Our wills are involved. Might you believe today to receive the blessing of Christmas that God purposed what he did. Might this be the fullness of time for you. I just wanna lay it out there for you. And I wanna pray and then we'll go into our candle lighting.

Alright. Lord God Almighty, I pray that tonight you would be born anew into a heart in this room, maybe several hearts in this room that for the first time ever someone would wonder why, Lord, and look into your purposes. They are good purposes. You have plans for us, Lord, and they are not to harm, but to love and to prosper, to bring into the truth, to bring into love and light and forgiveness and mercy and grace. So Lord God Almighty, I pray that that's what we would that we would feel a sense of and that it would swell up within us and that we would out of the overflow of the heart speak in praise of you.

The purposeful God who loves and gives. In Jesus name, amen. Amen. Alright. So, as Jesus grew and began in his public ministry in John eight twelve, he said, I am the light of the world.

If you follow me, you won't have to walk in the darkness, but you will have the light that leads to life. And tonight, I want you to hear that very real invitation just like I said, to trust to follow Jesus whom God has sent as the light of the world to rescue us from the power of sin, darkness, and give us light that leads to life, abundant life now. You... The kingdom starts now. You can be a servant of the king now and life eternal.

So in response to this invitation, we're gonna close with a candle lighting. So I'll invite you to stand all of you. You've got your candle there. Carl always reminded us, the one who has the flame, just hold that straight up. The other one dips the candle towards the hand...

The the flame that is straight up and down. So they're lighting this from the candle representing Jesus, the Christ candle as the light of life and we'll pass that on to one another. And while we're lighting the candles, I'll invite you to sing a couple of songs with us. Away in a manger in silent night. I'd ask somebody to say lower the lights up here too.

Sing with us.

Alright. Amen. You can blow out your candles, but as you do consider this, we may blow out these candles, but there's nothing that can extinguish the true light of Christmas. John says that the light shines in the darkness and the darkness can never extinguish it. So, be encouraged by that.

The light of Christ cannot be overcome by darkness. The true light who gives light to everyone. So all who believe and receive this right that has been given to them that they be called the children of God. So Jesus says, I'm the light of world. He also says, you are the light of world and a town built on a hill cannot be hidden.

So let your little light shine. For the last song, I'm gonna urge you to sing out. We're gonna sing Joy to the World. Joy to the World this year for the closer. Here it is.

Bring

it a little... Some lights in the auditorium. Let's sing out.

Amen. Amen and Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas to all of you and good night.

Thanks for coming.

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Finding Faith John 3:16 Explained Light Of The World Meaning Of Incarnation Why Christmas Matters

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