Christmas Eve Candlelight Services (3) First B Jackson 2017-12-24 Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record. ---- Alright. Let's sing again. Georgia. Joy to the world the savior reigns. It meant their Alright. That's good. It sounds kind of country. Y'all can be seated and we're going to start to hear the story. So, all of the scripture readings we're doing tonight will be from the New Living Translation of the Bible. It's a modern translation, easy to read, easy to understand but we are not going to go beyond what is written. Just listen to the story. Alright then, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the virgin will conceive a child. She will give birth to a son. We'll call him Emmanuel which means God is with us. Isaiah seven fourteen. For a child is born to us, a son is given to us, and the government will rest on his shoulders and he will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace, and 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 Ephesians, 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. I invite you just to stay seated, but, the words are on the screen, and would you please join us in song? Joy. Tidings of comfort and joy. Now to the Lord, now to the Lord, sing praises on you 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 he did not want to disgrace her publicly so he decided to break the engagement quietly and 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 Emmanuel 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. Emmanuel shall come to thee your Israel. Oh, come thou the sprinkled and cheer, our spirits by thy middling and drive away the shades of the night, Make safe the way that leads on high. That we know more after host due silence. Sing it again. Rejoice. Rejoice. Rejoice. Now at that time, the Roman emperor Augustus decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. This was the first census that was taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria. All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census, and 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. Alright. Would you sing with us? Tidings of our gospel truth, thus rejoicing, free from sorrow, praise his voice, sing, greet Christ the babe was born for you That night, there were shepherds staying in fields nearby guarding their flocks of sheep and suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them. They were terrified but 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 the Bethlehem, the city of David and you will recognize him by this sign. You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth and 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. Amen. When the angel had 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 and they hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph and there was the baby lying in the manger and after seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about the child. Imagine that. Just a second. I'm gonna do a quick aside here. Imagine you're a shepherd minding your own business literally, and all of a sudden, a great light and a simple message says you're gonna find a baby, and he's gonna be lying in a manger. That's an odd place for a baby. A place I mean, it's unusual. He goes into this very detailed story. Christ, the Messiah is born, and you're gonna go and you're gonna find him, and he's gonna be in a manger. Now, I'm asking you, I took that aside for this. If you're Mary and you had received a vision from God and you're Joseph and you had received a vision from God and then, the Christ child is born and you out of necessity place him in a manger. Wouldn't it be incredibly encouraging to have a whole bunch of people show up and say, yep, there he is. You know what I'm saying? That's a wonderful thing. It's a weird detail, but it's true. I'll go back now. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. And 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 as they went for all that they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them. How about this? Would, would you stand up with us? We're gonna sing two more songs together, but let's stand them while we're on our feet. Woah. Did you hear that? Okay. We're gonna do it a little different than that. You ready? Alright. Here we go. Angels we have heard. Angels we have Jesus. Amen. Oh, yeah. We've got another one. I was waiting for him to read. Excuse me. Actually, you're gonna start this one for me and we're gonna sing, the first Noel together. Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea during the reign of King Herod. Y'all can have a seat. About that time, some wise men from Eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem asking, where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it 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 priest 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 least among the ruling cities of Judah, or 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. And then he told them, go to Bethlehem. Search carefully for this child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him too. Really, Herod? Who's threatened by the power of the newborn king of the Jews? Herod was the king of the Jews at the time. That was unintentional, I think. He said, come back and tell me so I can go and worship him too. And after this interview, the wise men went their way and the star they had seen in the East guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was and 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. And then they opened their treasure chest and they gave him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. Amen. So just as the the wise men joyfully gave gifts to the Lord, we too have an opportunity to to give and I'd like to invite the ushers to come up front as well as the Humphreys. They're gonna share a little music here with us. And while they're coming forward, I I I want you to know that truly, and I mean this, you're not obligated to to give. If you do feel compelled to give, I want you know what you're giving to. Here at First B, we have a local benevolence for anyone who comes to First B and they need assistance. And as a staff, we truly love to say yes. We like to just not only pray for people, but help with with physical practical needs that people have. And it really is a blessing for us when we can say yes, you know, and both pray for and give to those who could use a help. So if that sounds like something that you'd like to give to, please feel free. If not, that's alright. But I want you to know that we encourage giving because God has given to us. John three sixteen says, for God so loved the world that he gave his son Jesus that whoever believes in him won't die but have eternal life. So can we pray on that? And Lord, we, again, we we thank you for the gift of your son. The the greatest gift truly we could we could ever have at at Christmas because, you are eternal. You are not temporary or fleeting. You are eternal. And for that, we give you thanks. And for that, we offer you our our worship and our gifts, knowing that these things have eternal value and that we're storing up treasure in heaven. And so I do pray that you bless this, and I do pray for the advance of the gospel too that people would come to know this good news, that you came, you lived, you died, you rose, and you reign. Amen. But still they had their love. For the child they were anticipating, he was born one winter night There was a new star shining in the sky up above. By his light that winter night. They found peace and perfect love if we want to find it. They worried how to feed him. Simple trade was all they knew. It was hard enough to make ends meet when they were only two. But the cold, dark and hunger couldn't take away their joy. They knew that they would find a way for that precious baby boy. There was a new star shining in the sky up above. By his light that winter night they found peace and perfect love. If we want to find it, I know we always will cause that new star is shining for us still. If we want to find it, I know we always will. Because that new star is shining for us still. Thank you, Humphrey. So as Jesus grew and began his public ministry in John eight twelve he said, I'm the light of the world. If you follow me, you won't have to walk in darkness because you'll have the light that leads to life. And tonight, I do want you to hear that that very real invitation to you, to us, to trust and follow Jesus whom God has sent for you and I as the light of the world to rescue us from the darkness of of sin and death. That's why he came, to seek and save lost. That's where we we're began and God can take us from darkness to light. That's that's what he does. And so that by belief in him, then we are promised eternal life. Simply put, one man said, Jesus came to earth so we go to heaven. Let's go eat dinner. Know, like he made it short and simple. But in response to this invitation, we're gonna close in a candle lighting. And so I'll invite you to stand up if you got your candle. Won't you stand up with that? And while you're standing, I'll invite Ray. He's gonna light his candle from that Christ candle right there that we lit earlier and that candle represents Jesus as the light of life and then we're going to 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, would you be sure just to hold it straight up and don't tip it. Let that person with their unlit candle if there's toward yours, so the wax doesn't spill and watch your eyebrows and eyelashes. Let's keep those for Christmas. Alright. And while you're lighting those candles, I'll invite you to sing a couple of songs with us. We're just gonna play quietly here with the the violin. We'll and, we'll sing away in a manger and silent night. Alright. Let's sing away in a manger. Alright. Let's go into to silent silent night. Shall we sing together? You can now, blow out your candles. Here here's what I I want you to know tonight. We may blow out these candles, but there's really nothing that can extinguish the the true light of Christ that lives in those who put their faith and trust in him. It cannot be extinguished. John one five says, the light shines in the darkness and the darkness can never extinguish it. I just want you to hear that promise, rest on that. Be encouraged by the darkness of this world cannot extinguish the light of Christ. And what's more is, God has given you and I the the privilege of letting that light of his shine through us. It's not a light that we've gotta muster up on our own. It is a light that comes from God and then flows through us. So in Matthew five, Jesus says, first he says, I'm the light of the world. Then he he puts that on us. He says, you're the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden, neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. It's not meant to be hidden. Instead, it's put on a stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. So in the same way, here's our charge, Let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your father in heaven. That as we trust, as we yield our will to his, we have what he has. And then we let that light shine to other people. It's a it's it's a beautiful beautiful thing. So with that in mind, this last song, that's what it's about. I encourage you to sing it out, sing it loud. We're gonna sing, go tell it on the mountain. Alright. Let's sing. Go Tell. Tell it on the mountain, over the hills, and everywhere go, tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born while shepherds, while shepherds camp there watching for silent frogs by night. We hold throughout the heavens. Hey, Merry Christmas everybody. Let's not forget the reason for this season. Amen. Enjoy one another's company. Enjoy honestly believing and and receiving Christ and and being in his presence. Amen. Amen. God be merry gentle people long. So is there how often do you make it to drinks? Not often? Not often, but we will probably go at some point next week, actually. Really? Yeah. If you do and you happen to remember, then we can drop that off. Okay. Let's do it. Okay. Let's do it. You'll have it pretty.