Contemporary Christmas Eve Candlelight Service (3)
First B Jackson
2014-12-24

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

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Sure to the world. The Lord has come. Let more than

Y'all can have a seat.

Reading from the prophets Isaiah and Micah. Alright then. 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, 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.

You can stay seated, but the words will be on the screen. I just invite you to sing with us. Okay?

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 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. At that time, the Roman emperor Augustus decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. This was the first census when Quinerius was governor of Syria. All returned to their 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 is 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.

Again, you can stay seated, but just invite you to sing with. Right? We're familiar with a lot of these songs. Let's sing.

It came upon the midnight clear, that glorious song of old, from angels banding near the earth to touch their hearts of gold. Peace on the earth, goodwill to man from halves, all gracious king. The world in solemn stillness lay to hear the angels sing. Still through the woven skies they come with peaceful wings unfurled, and still their heavy music floats o'er all the weary world. Above its sad and lowly plains, they band on hovering wing.

Look now for glad and golden hours comes withly on the wing. Oh, rest beside the weary road when with the ever circling years shall come the time foretold, when peace shall over all the

That night, there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the radiance of God'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 Bethlehem, the city of David. And you will recognize him by this sign. You'll 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 whom with whom God is pleased. 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. 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 an as the angel had told them.

Let me say we stand out. We're gonna sing some more. Amen. That means glory in the highest. I think he's deserving of that,

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 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 priests and teachers of the religious law and asked, where is the Messiah supposed to be born?

In Bethlehem and 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, 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. And 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. They 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.

Just as the the wise men joyfully gave gifts to the Lord tonight, we too have an opportunity to be joyful givers, and, I'd like to invite the ushers to come forward. While they're coming forward, I want you to know that you are not obligated to give, especially if you're a first time visitor. We're just we're glad that you're here, and if you're checking us out, great. But if anyone does feel compelled to give, I want you to know what you're giving to. At first b, we have a a discretionary fund.

And so when people come in and they have a need, whatever it is, gas, food, whatever, when it when we're able to say, yeah, we can help you, it is such a blessing. Just this morning, I had an opportunity to do that. Someone was passing through town. They need to get from this point to another. They just need a little help, and I was able to say, yes.

Yes. We can help you with that. And so that's that's what you would be giving to. If that sounds something like that you would like to do, please feel free. Know that we encourage giving because God has generously given to us.

We're we're following his lead. That's really what we're doing. John three sixteen says that, God so loved the world that he gave his only son. And, that whoever believes in him won't perish but will have eternal life. Can we pray together?

Lord, I I do thank you tonight for for loving us and, loving us so much that you would give your only son, Emmanuel, to be with us. That whoever, and that means really, whoever believes in him will not die but have eternal life. We thank you for that. Amen. As, Jesus grew and he became a man in John eight twelve, listen to what he said.

He said, I'm the light of the world. And if you follow me, you won't walk in darkness because you'll have the light that leads to life. He's talking about eternal life. He's talking about spiritual darkness and spiritual light. We don't have to walk in spiritual darkness anymore because of Jesus.

We can walk in the light, in spiritual light, and have eternal life. This is good news, friends. And tonight, I want you to hear that very real invitation to you. To put your faith and trust in the one that God has sent, and to have the light that leads to eternal life. So in response to this invitation, we're gonna close in a candle lighting.

And so I want you to, invite you to stand up, when, in fact, can stand up right now. I'll ask a couple of elders. They're gonna light their candle from the the Christ candle there. That one in the middle. That's the one we've been anticipating all this month.

Building up to, the Christ candle. And they light their candle from that Christ candle, and then they're gonna pass that light to each one of you, and we pass that light to each other. You seeing what this means? Having Jesus and then passing that, passing Jesus to one another. That's what this represents, and this is what this is about.

So when your candles lit, would you be sure to hold it straight up? Okay. A lot of folks have been burned by candles and they have a bad experience. So when your candle is lit, you be the one to hold it straight up and the unlit candle, they tip theirs toward you. Does that make sense?

So that wax doesn't spill on anybody. And then once these candles are all lit, we're gonna sing a very familiar song called Silent Night. How's that sound? Let's sing this together, shall Yeah. That is indeed true.

You're Lord from the time you were born always, and you will be forever. And, God, I thank you for that very real invitation to come to you, to know you. Thank you God for grace. Boy, how we need it. We recognize it.

We fall short, but I thank you for the righteousness of Jesus, perfect life that he lived, perfect death that he died, and resurrection that he rose. And, God, I do pray that if if you're you're knocking on the the door of our heart here tonight, that we would answer and believe on you because you truly are good and get to know you, the creator of the universe and the maker of us. Amen. You can, you can blow out your candles now. I think it's getting a little hot in here.

But here's here's what I want you to know tonight, that there is nothing that can extinguish the true light of Christ that lives in those who put their faith and trust in him. There's nothing that can extinguish that at all. First John or John one five, it says, the light shines in the darkness and the darkness can never extinguish that. Never. So be encouraged by that that the darkness of this world and there is darkness in this world.

Yes? It cannot extinguish the light of Christ. Therefore, you and I have the privilege of letting that light of Jesus shine through us. Do we not? We do.

Matthew five fourteen through 16. Check out this verse. It'll be on the screen. You are the light of the world. Remember Jesus said, he was the light of the world, then he's passing that to us.

A town about built on a hill can't be hidden, neither do people put a light or light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand and it gives light to everybody in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your father in heaven. That's the goal here, isn't it friends? That's what we're after, to make Jesus known.

Really, he's a good good God. Should we sing of it? Go tell it on the mountain. This is gonna be our closer. I want you to sing out and sing loud.

Amen. Amen. Literally. Go tell it on the mountain. Tell it in this neighborhood.

Tell it everywhere you go. As you go, be making disciples. Praise God and glad you're here and if you would like, there's another service that's happening at six. It's gonna be very different from this one But it'll be a choir presentation, and y'all are invited to that if you would like. But praise God wherever you go this week.

Amen.