Christmas Eve Service 2024 - 4:30pm Service
First B Jackson
2024-12-25

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

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Good evening, and Merry Christmas, everybody. Merry Christmas. How are you? Great. Okay.

Alright. That's good. I'm... I am so glad to be here with you, and Merry Christmas. Glad you're here.

And and, also, I was thinking all day, I hope you feel at home, that when you walk into the doors at first b, that it feels like home to you. That is our hope. That's our hope. A couple of announcements before we get started. There is overflow down the hall.

So if we if we have run out of seats in here, but also if you're just feeling crowded and you're going, I gotta get out of here. I'm on. I can't breathe. The service is livestreamed down the hall, and we also have a nursery downstairs. So if you have little ones that are feeling restless, the nursery is available if needed, and the service is livestreamed down there too.

So that's all I got for announcements. This is meant to be a fun and reflective and worshipful night. We're here to celebrate the Christ in Christmas, and we'll do that by reading the nativity story. We'll sing Christmas songs. That includes you.

The best way to spread Christmas cheer, singing loud for all to hear. Yes. You know it. And then we'll close in the traditional candle lighting, so I hope you got a candle as you came in. But to begin, I'd like to invite up Laurie, Laurie Boss, and friend, friends, friend, also friend, Diane.

And and she's going to light the last candle on the advent wreath, the much anticipated Christ candle at the end of the service, not quite yet. We're gonna use that Christ candle to light ours and spread that light to one another. And thank you, Laurie, for the Advent reading tonight.

Thank you. Merry Christmas, everybody. Merry Christmas. Today 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.

As we light the Christmas candle, may we devote our lives to reflecting his 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 will have the light of life.

Would you stand? And while you're standing, I would love to to pray. Thank you. Thank you for the gift of Jesus. That is why we're here.

The reason for this season, light of the world. As we gather here tonight to hear the story, to sing the songs, may we open our hearts to you and just get a glimpse of how much you truly love and care for us. In Jesus' name. Amen. Alright.

Singing loud. I love it. You sing like you mean it. Shall we keep singing? Let every heart prepare him room are the the the the lyrics of this song.

And God, would we would we prepare room, leave room in our heart for you to hear the story, hear the message of your good, your goodness to us, your love and forgiveness. Amen. Right. Amen. You can have a seat here for a moment.

And as you do, Ray is gonna share the Christmas story as it's presented in scripture.

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. That is from seven hundred years BC. Seven hundred years before Christ, Isaiah. Right?

So 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 or over his kingdom to establish it and uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this. And then from Micah. But as for you Bethlehem Ephesians, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you one will go forth for me to be ruler in Israel.

His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity. 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 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 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. Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took Mary as his wife. In those days, the decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth.

For this was the first census taken while Quirinius was 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 family of David. Now, in order to register along with Mary who was engaged to him and was with child. Now, 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 swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. Thank you, Maria.

In the same region, there were some shepherds and they were staying out in the fields and they were keeping watch over their flocks 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. But the angel said to them, don't be afraid for behold I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all of 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.

Right? For the shepherds. This will be a sign for you. You'll find a baby wrapped in claws and lying in a manger. That's not a normal place for a baby by the way.

Okay? It's odd. It stands out, and it's a way that they can tell who it is, and can you imagine after they heard this angelic message, these shepherds going, and the confirmation that that is for Mary, oh, the confirmation that is for Joseph, The confirmation is all over the place in this story, the affirmation and the goodness. This will be a sign for you shepherds. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger, and suddenly there appeared with the 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 his he is pleased.

You may have heard it. Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill towards men. When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, let's go straight to Bethlehem then. Let's see this thing that's happened which the Lord has made known to us. So they came in a hurry and they found their way to Mary and Joseph and the baby as he lay in the manger.

And when they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this child, like the the confirmation I was speaking of right there. They told Mary, they told Joseph, they told told each other, I'm sure for the rest of their lives. Wasn't that amazing? And all of the folks who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds, but Mary, Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart and the shepherds went back, back to work, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and all that they had seen just as it had been told them.

God, would you stand with us? I'd love to sing together again. Angels we've heard on high and the first Noel.

Amen. Y'all can have a seat. Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, Magi from the East arrived in Jerusalem. Magi. You know Magi, it's where we...

That's the same root as the word magic. Does that sound weird to y'all? It is weird. It's weird. God is making himself known to people who were afar off.

He loves them and he's doing something for them that they don't even yet understand. Magi from the East arrived in Jerusalem and saying, 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 because when the king ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. Right?

He was troubled and all Jerusalem was troubled with him. He was a tyrant. He was a pretty bad dude. He had killed lots of people, not just enemies, lots of his own family to keep them off of what he saw as his throne. When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled in all Jerusalem with him and gathering together all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born and they said to him in Bethlehem of Judea for this is what has been written by the prophet 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.

Then Herod secretly called the Magi and determined from them the exact time that the star had appeared and he sent them to Bethlehem and said, go, search carefully for the child and when you have found him, report it back to me so that I too may come and worship him. That's sorry, Joker. He didn't really want to worship him. He wanted to make sure he never took over his throne. After hearing the king, they went on their way and the star which they had seen in 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 when they saw it stop, they receded exceedingly great joy because they've been following it for some time in the desert. When they saw that star come to a stop, they rejoice with exceeding great joy and after coming into the house, they saw the child, capital c, the Christ child, with Mary his mother and they fell to the ground and they worshiped him and then opening their treasures, they presented to him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.

There just for a moment in spirit of giving with joy and generosity like those Magi in the story. We too have an opportunity to give this evening. So I'll invite the the ushers to come on forward, and and Rachel's gonna share some music with us. And and while they're coming forward, I want you to know that you are not obligated to give at all. Please hear that.

That's not why we hold this service. But if you feel compelled to give, I want you to know what you're giving too. At first b, we should support missionaries all over the world here in The US, South America, Africa, Asia, Europe. And our staff and our elders, our mission team all agreed that we would love to bless our our missionaries even more. These are folks who are bringing the light of Christ in some of the the darkest and most spiritually dark...

Darkest places in in the world. And so if that sounds like something that you'd like to give to, wonderful. If not, that's okay. And we'll pause for a moment, reflect, give thanks. And Ray, may I ask you to to pray?

Thank you for this evening to come together and just to listen to the story again. It's amazing, Lord. It's amazing in a different way every year for me. I'm overwhelmed this year by the fact that you are reaching out to the very uttermost parts, even from Christ's birth, his great commission to go and to make disciples of all the nations. He was drawing people in from the far off places from his very birth and you were doing that.

Lord, you are letting yourself be known. Creation itself is speaking forth volumes about you every day and every night, all of the time, and there's no language where that can't be understood. Thank you, Lord, for revealing yourself to us who were afar off. In Jesus name, we ask your blessing on this offering that would do... It would do whatever your will is, Lord.

We wanna be doing your will and your way. Would you Lord bless it? In Jesus name, amen. I have... In the in the notes here, it says sermonette.

Sermonette. You know, it's not gonna take very long, I promise. I have five slides, I think. And here they are. And if you hear something, you recognize this one, so I don't have to beat it to death.

Right? This is beautiful. This is the why for Christmas. We get a lot of details about exactly how and most of those details fulfill prophecy from seven hundred years before or a thousand years before. And this sums it up in a sentence, when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman.

We know that woman was married because we've got the rest of the story in the gospels. This son was born under the law in order to redeem those who were under the law. And then it gives a reason why. And I love it as a pastor when God gives us a reason why he did something because God does a lot of stuff that I don't understand. But when he says, I did this so that.

This is great. When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth the son, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those who are under the law so that we, all of us, so that we might receive adoption as sons and as I said, Sunday, sons is a greater at the time. It was a greater adoption than if you were adopted as a daughter. It had more benefits. So this is a part of the family of God in the in the most real way.

There's another verse, big picture verse. For you know the grace, grace is God's unmerited favor. You know the unmerited favor of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich. Some of the songs that we've sung alluded to his divinity and his eternal presence in heaven with God. And in the incarnation, he came down though he was rich in heaven with God was God.

That though he was rich yet for your sake, he became poor and then that same word, so that, henna in Greek, so that you through his poverty might become rich. It's opening the door for you to accept the gift that God has given. I've got another one, same so that. It's exactly the same word in Greek and there are a lot of these. They're all over.

In fact, I have a visual aid. I'm not much on sermon sacks and visual aids, but I have one this time and it's sort of a scroll. You wanna hold the base for me? So this one's a scroll and I just pulled it out. These are in 11 font.

This is all the places where that word for henna up there, so that, the in order that or so that is used in scripture. So

let me figure this out.

This is it. 11 font, one line, single spaced. Okay? This is crazy. I'm just going roll it out there for you.

It's true. I think it's like 16 feet long. That's ridiculous. That's God saying why he did what he did. He did this so that whoever puts their trust in Jesus won't perish but will have everlasting life.

That's John three sixteen, super verse that everybody knows. But there are all these others that say exactly why he did what he did. It's a... Thank you very much. That's why I don't use visual aids because they never work exactly like you think they're going to.

C. S. Lewis put it this way, that the son of God became a son of man in order that the sons of men might become the sons of God. Whoever has put their faith in him, he says he has given the right to be called children of God. Can I just pray for us?

That's the sermonette. God has not destined us for wrath. He's not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation and that through our Lord Jesus Christ, we celebrate Christmas because of this. He died for us so that whether we're awake or asleep, we might live and live to the fullest in him. Lord God Almighty, would you persuade our hearts today?

Would you allow the softness of heart to accept the good gift that you've given? Thank you Lord for gathering this crowd to celebrate Jesus tonight. And I pray that we'd be a blessing to one another and to others as we leave from here. In Jesus name, we are so thankful that you stepped out of the glories of heaven and into this world of time and space and you walked it out in Jesus name and following his example, but because of his sacrificial and atoning death. In Jesus name, we gather.

Amen. Yes, sir. Oh, yeah. Thank you very much. Thanks.

You don't just sneak up. So

as Jesus grew and he began his his public ministry in John eight twelve, he said, I'm 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. And tonight, I I want you to hear that very real invitation to you to trust and to follow Jesus, whom God sent as the light of the world to rescue us from the power of sin and darkness, to give us light that leads to life. And that life is abundant life now and life eternal. In response to this invitation, we're gonna close in a candle lighting.

And so I'll invite you to stand up with your candles if you would. And while you're standing, I'll invite Rachel and Angelina to come forward and our elders. And the elders are gonna light their candle from the Christ candle, that candle representing Jesus as the light of life. And then we pass that light to one another representing our task to let the light of Christ shine through us and to the world. So when your candle is lit, please be sure to hold it straight up and let that person next to you with their unlit candle tip theirs toward yours.

Watch those eyebrows and eyelashes. And then while we're lighting the candles, I'll invite you to sing a couple of songs with us. We're in a manger and silent night. And also thank you for turning the lights down here so we get the full effect, the full experience here of this candle lighting. Here we go.

So pretty, I almost don't wanna ask you to blow them out, but I will. And as you do, would you consider this, that as we blow out these candles, there is nothing that can extinguish the true light of Christ. This comes from first John. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it or overcome it. So would you be encouraged by that?

That the light of Christ cannot be overcome by darkness. Jesus is that true light who gives light to everyone, and John goes on to say, all who believe and receive him, he gives the right to become children of God. That's the good news that we're light bearers, children of God through belief in Jesus. And so in Matthew five, I've got a slide for it. It says, Jesus says, you now are 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. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In that same way, he says, let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your father in heaven. That's what this last song is about, and so I encourage you to sing it out and sing loud.

Yeah.