Christmas Eve Candlelight Service (4)
First B Jackson
2014-12-24

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

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But tonight is just meant to be a a fun, reflective, worshipful night. We're gonna celebrate the Christ in Christmas. How does that sound? Amen. That's why we're here.

Yes. Reading of scripture, the the choir, they've been working so hard and and, they have got a a great list here, lined up for us. So... And candle lighting. And everyone should have got a candle as they got in?

Yes? Good. Good. Good. Good.

You're gonna need that. Not right at this moment. Right now, what I'd like to do is invite up Doyle and Diana Vaughn, and they're going to light the much anticipated Christ candle. Here's our advent wreath. We've been working through this through the the last month, and here we are at the Christ candle night.

My favorite one, and so we'll let them introduce that to you.

Today marks the end of our Advent journey. We're... We've prepared our hearts, our minds, and our spirits for the celebration of Christ's entrance into the world. As we light the Christ candle, may we devote our lives to reflecting his light. He is the light of the world.

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

God almighty, we thank you tonight for the gift of your son and lord, as we sing these praises to you, would you join our hearts together, lord, in harmony and just silent reflection about how you do, what you do but until then, lord, would you give us voices to just sing out? Thank you God for all that you have done for us and that one baby born that night. We love you. Jesus name, amen. Now, if y'all would, stand up and greet one another and we'll bring it together with oh come all you faithful.

We'll call you back together with a song.

Shall we keep going? Alright. Y'all can have a seat.

The Lord himself will give you the sign. Look, the virgin will conceive a child. She will give birth to a son and will call him Emmanuel, which means God is with us. For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders, and he will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace.

His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of heaven's armies will make this happen. But you, oh Bethlehem, Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet, a ruler of Israel whose origins are in the distant past will come from you on my behalf.

This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her fiance, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.

Joseph, son of David, the angel said, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord's message through his prophet. Look, the virgin will conceive a child. She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means God is with us. When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife.

At that time, the Roman emperor Augustus decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria. All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. Because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David's ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee.

He took with him Mary, his fiancee, who was now obviously pregnant. And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger because there was no lodging available for them. That night, there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby guarding their flocks of sheep.

Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of God's glory surrounded them. They were terrified. The angel reassured them, don't be afraid, he said. I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The savior, yes, the messiah, the Lord, has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David, and you will recognize him by this sign.

You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth lying in a manger. Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others, the armies of heaven, praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased. When the angels returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, let's go to Bethlehem. Let's see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about. They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph, and there was the baby lying in the manger.

After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherd's story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them. Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea during the reign of King Herod.

About that time, some wise men from Eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem asking, where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his stars that rose, and we have come to worship him. King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this as was everyone in Jerusalem. He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of the religious law and asked, where is the messiah supposed to be born? In Bethlehem, in Judea, they said.

For this is what the prophet wrote. And you, oh, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not leased among the ruling cities of Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people, Israel. Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. Then he told them, go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. When you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him too.

After this interview, the wise men went their way, and the star they had seen in the East guided them to Bethlehem. He went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy. They entered the house and saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chest and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Well, just as the the wise men joyfully gave gifts to the Lord tonight, we too have an opportunity, to be joyful givers as well. I'd like to invite the ushers, to come forward if they would. While they're coming forward, I I do want you to know that you are not under any obligation to give tonight. You really aren't. If you're visiting for the first time, we're just glad that you're here.

Thanks for checking us out. But if anyone does feel compelled to give tonight, do want you to know what you're giving too. Here at First B, we have a discretionary fund. For those who are are are coming through and they need some financial help or assistance, I got to to to say yes to somebody this morning who was coming in and and needed, I just needed some help, and it was a real blessing to be able to do that for our staff. It is nice for us to be able to say yes.

So if that is something that you feel led to give, please do. But John three sixteen says that God so loved the world that he gave his son Jesus. We're we're really taking our cue from from from God tonight as being generous givers. That whoever believes in him would not die but would have eternal life. That's quite a promise, isn't it?

Can we pray together? Lord, we do thank you for being, so loving and so giving, and it is really, God, our pleasure to be able to, take our cue from you and and to be able to do the same. Tonight, God, we do celebrate Jesus, and, we thank you, God, for the the greatest gift that we really could receive, and that is eternal life. So we wanna pause for a moment and give you thanks, that anyone believes in you will have eternal life, and that would be a message that we would take to heart and and and really know that that invitation is for us. Amen.

So as Jesus, grew and became a man in John eight twelve, he said, I am the light of the world, and if you follow me, you won't have to walk in darkness because you'll have the light that leads to life. He's talking about eternal light, eternal life here, spiritual darkness, and light, and and and being drawn out of spiritual darkness and into spiritual light. And tonight, I want you to hear that very real invitation to you because that's where we start out in spiritual darkness, and it's Jesus who draws us to himself. And then as we're drawn to him and we believe on the one whom God has sent, that's where eternal life comes. That's where eternal life comes.

So tonight, want you to hear that invitation. Some of you have heard that a thousand times and and they accepted it, but maybe there are some who have not and are hearing that for the first time. And I want you to know this is what Jesus is offering here. He's offering eternal life. He's offering for us to to walk in spiritual light rather than spiritual darkness.

And so I want you to hear that invitation tonight. I want you to know that you can accept that invitation and have that. And in response we're going to close in the candle lighting. I want to invite a couple of our elders to come forward. They're gonna write a light, their candle from that middle candle right there.

That's the Christ candle, the one we've been looking forward to here for a month now. And they're gonna light from that, and they're gonna pass that light to you. And as they do, would you stand up and... Here's the thing with the candles, let's be careful with them. Many a casualty over Christmas light, over the candle light service.

So if your, candle is lit, make sure you you keep that candle straight up and down, and the one that's unlit, you tip that candle. K? We'll save some wax dribbling on on somebody. But know that Jesus has passed that light to us and then we're passing that others that to others. That's what this represents here.

And you all can stand too. Yeah. Let's... Why don't we do that? Let's let's stand while we while we light these candles and the choir is gonna sing a song and I invite you to stand with your candle lit while they sing this song.

We pray together. God, I thank you that you have come to this world as light so that we no longer have to walk in in spiritual darkness. And thank you, God, for this this very real invitation to us. And I do pray that if you are indeed knocking on the door of our heart that we would respond to you, and know that you truly are the light of the world. You came to give us light, and life and so much more.

And for that, we give you thanks. Amen. You can now blow out your candles. Here's what I want you to know tonight. There is nothing that can extinguish the true light of Christ that lives in those who put their faith and trust in him.

Do you know that? There's nothing that can extinguish the light of Christ that lives in us. Nothing. John one five, the light shines in the darkness but the darkness can never extinguish it. So I want you to be encouraged by that tonight.

I really do. The darkness of this world, which there is darkness in this world, it cannot extinguish the light of Christ. Therefore, you and I have a privilege and that is letting that light of Christ shine through us. Letting it shine through us. Jesus said, he's the light and then look at what he says here in Matthew five fourteen through 16.

You're the light of the world. He's passing that on to us. A town belt built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house.

And in the same way, let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your father in heaven. We're gonna close in this last song, Gold Tail on the Mountain. It's a familiar one, I think, for for many. So would you sing it out and sing it loud? Ray and I are gonna play the guitar and bass.

It's a little louder than the choir. And the choir, would you guys join us too, please? Singing loud. Alright. And we're gonna close with this one.

Okay? Christ is born Amen. You got you got a little closeout, Greg?

Amen. May God bless and this this is the greatest season because we're celebrating that birth but may God bless this week as we shared and do. Go tell him on the mount literally. Amen.