2023 Christmas Eve Service

Ascension Presbyterian Church Longwood iconAscension Presbyterian Church Longwood

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Well, good evening, everyone, and welcome to our Christmas Eve Lessons and Carols.
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Before we get started here, I wanted to make a few announcements. After Lesson 7, the carol has been changed from 223 to 215,
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While by the Sheep We Watched at Night. So, after Lesson 7, we'll be singing
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Hymn 215. When we arrive at the end of the service, after the message, we will have a candlelight singing of Silent Night.
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I'd like to have a few volunteers, Elijah and Ryan, to turn the lights off on each side there.
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And after we finish singing Silent Night, we'll sing
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Joy to the World. And as we sing, I would like to have all of us progress out the back of the church and gather in front of the steps so that we will finish that hymn singing outside.
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So we want to bring this message of great joy from inside out to the lost and hurting world that is outside there.
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So that's what we will do. We tried it last year. I think it worked fairly well. This year it's about 70 degrees warmer, it seems.
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So it should be even better. So let us take a moment to prepare our hearts for worship.
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Let's pray together. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we rejoice and we have great anticipation as we rehearse and relive the incarnation of our
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Lord Jesus Christ and look toward the second advent.
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Oh Lord, I pray that our hearts would be turned to you, that our worship would be earnest and sincere, that our singing would be heartfelt and zealous, that we'd be attentive to the ministry of the word.
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And Lord, we ask for your presence with us. We ask that you would accept our worship through the perfection of our
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Lord Jesus Christ. It's in his name that we pray, amen. Please turn to 225.
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Please stand. It's been a royal day in this city, stood the
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Lord in the...
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Lesson 1, Genesis 3, 1 -15. Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the
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Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, has God indeed said, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
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And the woman said to the serpent, we may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden,
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God has said, you shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.
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Then the serpent said to the woman, you will not surely die, for God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.
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So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.
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She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked.
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And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. And they heard the sound of the
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Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the
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Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, where are you?
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So he said, I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself.
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And he said, who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which
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I commanded you that you should not eat? Then the man said, the woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.
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And the Lord God said to the woman, what is this that you have done? The woman said, the serpent deceived me, and I ate.
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So the Lord God said to the serpent, because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle and more than every beast of the field.
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On your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.
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And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed.
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He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. This is the word of the
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Lord. Lesson 2,
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Isaiah 7, 10 through 14, chapter 9, verse 2, 6, and 7.
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Isaiah 7. Moreover, the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, ask a sign for yourself from the
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Lord your God. Ask it either in the depth or in the height above. But Ahaz said,
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I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord. Then he said, hear now, O house of David.
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Is it a small thing for you to weary men? But will you weary my God also?
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Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name
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Emmanuel. 9, verse 2. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.
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Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined. Verse 6 and 7.
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For unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. And the government will be upon his shoulder.
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And his name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
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Of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end. Upon the throne of David and over his kingdom.
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To order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever.
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The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
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We will be singing hymn number 194, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.
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And he will say, and hear me.
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Lesson number 3, Micah chapter 5, verses 2 through 5. But you,
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Bethlehem, Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to me the one to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are of old, from everlasting.
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Therefore, he shall give them up until the time that she who is in labor has given birth, then the remnants of his brethren shall return to the children of Israel.
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And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the
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Lord his God. And they shall abide, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth.
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And this, one shall be peace. When a Syrian comes into our land, and when he treats in our palaces, then he will raise against him seven shepherds and eight princely men.
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If you're good, we're going to turn to, let's see here, number 201 in the hymnal for O Little Town of Bethlehem.
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Silent, silent in the dark she shineth, the everlasting love sings.
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The sweetest angel, the great glad -tidings tell.
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The fourth lesson is taken from Luke chapter 1, verses 26 through 38.
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Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named
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Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David.
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The virgin's name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, rejoice, highly favored one.
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The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women. But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying and considered what manner of greeting this was.
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Then the angel said to her, do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your room and bring forth a son and shall call his name
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Jesus. He will be great and will be called the son of the highest. And the
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Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever.
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And of his kingdom, there will be no end. Then Mary said to the angel, how can this be since I do not know a man?
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The angel answered and said to her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the highest will overshadow you.
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Therefore, also, that holy one who is to be born will be called the son of God. Now, indeed,
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Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age. And this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.
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For with God, nothing will be impossible. Then Mary said, behold, the maidservant of the
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Lord, let it be to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her. The fifth lesson is taken also from Luke chapter 1, verses 46 through 56.
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And Mary said, my soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my
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Savior. For he has regarded the lowly state of his maidservant.
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For behold, henceforth, all generations will call me blessed. For he who is mighty has done great things for me.
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And holy is his name. And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation.
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He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
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He has put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things.
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And the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his sea forever.
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And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her house. This is the word of the
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Lord. Thanks be to God. The next hymn that we'll be singing is number 227 in the hymnal,
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On Christmas Night All Christians Sing. On Christmas night all
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Christians sing To hear the news the angels bring
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News of great joy, news of great birth
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News of our
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Redeemer nation Then on earth he sat
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Since our Redeemer made us glad Glory to God and peace to men
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Okay, lesson six, Matthew 1, 18 through 25. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows.
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After his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph before they came together, she was found with child of the
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Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.
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But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying,
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Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the
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Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
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So all this was done that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying,
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Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall call his name
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Emmanuel, which is translated God with us. Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the
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Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn son, and he called his name
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Jesus. Luke 2, 1 through 7. And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.
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This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.
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Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, to the city of David, which is called
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Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.
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So it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in a swaddling cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
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Please turn to hymn number 213, What Child is This? We will be reading from Luke chapter 2, verses 8 through 16.
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Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
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And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.
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Then the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people.
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For there is born to you this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the
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Lord. And this will be a sign to you. You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.
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And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts, praising
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God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.
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So it was, when the angel had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another,
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Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the
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Lord has made known to us. And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger.
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Please turn to hymn number 215. Lesson 8 will be taken from Matthew 2 verses 1 through 11.
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Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men came from the east came to Jerusalem, saying,
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Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him.
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When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and the scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the
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Christ was to be born. So they said to him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet,
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But you, Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah. For out of you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people
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Israel. Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared.
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And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, Go and search carefully for the young child. And when you have found him, bring word to me that I may come and worship him also.
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When they had heard the king, they departed. And behold, the star which they had seen in the east went before them until it came and stood over where the young child was.
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When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they came into the house, they saw the young child and Mary, his mother, and fell down and worshipped him.
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And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to him, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. We'll be singing hymn number 208,
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O Come, All Ye Faithful. Lesson 9 will be taken from John 1, 1 through 14.
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In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
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He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.
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In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it.
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There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to bear witness about the light that all might believe through him.
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He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
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He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
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He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
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And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glorious of the only
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Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. This is the word of the
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Lord. Thanks be to God. Please turn to number 217,
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All My Heart This Night Rejoices. Well, if you'll open your
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Bibles with me to the Gospel of Luke chapter 19. We'll be taking at Luke's Gospel chapter 19.
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We'll be taking a look at the first 10 verses. Please stand for the reading of God's Word. Luke 19.
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These are the words of God. Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.
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Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.
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And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature.
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So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was going to pass that way.
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And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and saw him and said to him,
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Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.
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So he made haste and came down and received him joyfully. But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, he has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.
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Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor.
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And if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.
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And Jesus said to him, today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham.
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For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.
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Let us pray. Almighty God, enter our hearts and so fill us with your love, that forsaking all evil desires, we may embrace you, our only good.
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Show unto us, for your mercy's sakes, O Lord our God, what you are unto us.
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Say unto our souls, I am your salvation. So speak that we may hear.
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Our hearts are before you. Open our ears. Let us hasten after your voice and take hold of you.
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Amen. Please be seated. Well, our text here tonight from Luke 19, the
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Zacchaeus account, may see an odd text to consider at Christmastime and especially on Christmas Eve.
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The text, though important and glorious, may seem a bit out of place among angels and shepherds,
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Herod and the wise men, Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus. But I hope to make clear what the relevance of this text is at this time of year.
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We have just retold the story of Advent and Christmas. We have reviewed some of the prophecies of the coming of the
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Messiah. We have reviewed some of the events that accompanied his birth, starting with the first gospel message in Genesis 3, what the theologians call the proto evangelion, the first good news given right after the fall, the statement by God the
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Father that he would raise up a savior from the seed of a woman, one that would crush the head of the serpent.
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He would free us from the bondage to sin and death.
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And continuing through our narrative to Isaiah, when we learn that this coming seed, this coming
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Messiah, is to be God, that his name would be
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Emmanuel, which means God with us. And to clarify the point,
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Isaiah went further and said his name would also be wonderful, counselor, mighty
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God, everlasting Father, prince of peace, that his arrival would be miraculous, that the virgin would conceive and bear a son, and also that his kingdom would have no end.
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In Micah, we learned that he would be born in Bethlehem, and this would mark him, the coming one, out a being of the house and lineage of David.
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And this was not simply of genealogical relationship to David, but also the one that would wear the mantle of the office of David, the king of Israel, fulfilling the promise of God that he would have a ruler over Israel forever to everlasting.
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In Luke 1, 26 through 38, the seed of the woman, the one to be born of the virgin, is announced, what we call the
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Annunciation. The angel Gabriel informs Mary that she is the one.
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This announcement, expected from Eve to Mary, had finally come.
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And we should not be fooled by what we read in that account, where Mary was astonished by the greeting.
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All expected that one day this announcement would be made. Yes, Mary was startled that it was her, but they all knew that it was coming.
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Again, from Eve to Mary, they all expected it. We may remember back in Genesis 4, when
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Eve had conceived and bore Cain, she thought that that child would be the coming one, for she said, behold,
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I have a man from the Lord. But now the time had finally come, and Mary rejoices in what we call the
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Magnificat in Luke 1, 46 through 56. She rejoices that the
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Savior, her Savior, had finally come. Key to this is what we read in verse 54.
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She says, he has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy.
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God the Father has remembered the promises, not that he had forgotten, but they were finally unfolding.
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Many times in the Bible, when we hear the Lord remembering, it may mean more like an unfolding.
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And this promise had been unfolding for over 4 ,000 years, since the time that Adam and Eve sinned in the fall to Christ.
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The promises were unfolding, and now the time was here. We have this confirmed in the account in Luke 2, where the birth of Christ is described.
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The angels announced to the shepherds, and they came and witnessed the newborn king.
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Sometime later, the Magi, the wise men, those sages of foreign nations came to visit the child, bringing their treasures to him.
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This was the first trickle of the promise of the Gentiles coming in, the beginning of the nations to worship the
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Lord and serve him. So what does all this have to do with Zacchaeus?
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Well, let's take a look at our text. The Zacchaeus account is well known to us, especially if you grew up in the church.
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You may have even had a Sunday school class where you learned a little song about him, that Zacchaeus was a wee little man.
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This account is short and fairly straightforward. It starts with Jesus passing through Jericho.
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This was the Jericho that was rebuilt. The original Jericho was destroyed by the Israelites after the miraculous bringing down of the walls during the conquest of Canaan.
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Our Lord had not passed through Jericho during his earthly ministry until now.
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He had an appointment with Zacchaeus. We read in verse 2 that Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector.
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Tax collectors were Jews who had compromised with the Romans. They were seen by their countrymen as traitors.
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They were given a task by the Romans to collect a certain amount of tax. Anything above and beyond that they may keep.
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Many of them became very wealthy, stealing from their fellow
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Jews and others. And our text tells us that Zacchaeus was a rich man.
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It also said that he was the chief tax collector. This may mean that he was the leader of the tax collectors, or that he was a prominent tax collector, or that he was prolific in his tax collecting.
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Either way, he was well known in the community and he was a sinner.
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Not because of his wealth, but because he had broken the law of God. He had broken the eighth commandment and this was notorious.
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We read in verse 7, but they saw it. They all complained, saying, he has gone to be the guest with a man who is a sinner.
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Sometimes we are tempted when we hear, we don't know who the they are in this particular case, but we could assume that it might be the
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Pharisees or the religious elite, but it could just be the local citizens. And sometimes we hear these people calling others sinners that we tend to think that they may be blowing it out of proportion in some way.
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But we have to remember that those to whom Jesus was often found in the company with were indeed sinners, harlots, prostitutes, tax collectors, sinners.
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And his sin was well known. In verse 3, we see that Zacchaeus wanted to see
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Jesus. Jesus by this time was famous.
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The news of his miracles, his healings, his miraculous feedings had become famous throughout all the land.
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It was curiosity that motivated Zacchaeus and motivated him enough to do something that was very undignified.
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It motivated him to run and to climb a tree. We read this so often that we didn't even register on us.
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But a man of his stature would never run. This is one of the things that was so infamous in the account of the prodigal son, that the father would run to meet him.
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In that culture, it was not dignified for men to run, let alone climb a tree.
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But Zacchaeus was very motivated. He wanted to see Jesus. And because of his stature, he had to get up above the crowd.
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Perhaps he was a lot like Herod. You remember later in Luke's gospel, during the so -called trial of our
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Lord, after Pilate had examined him, he sent Jesus to Herod. And Herod was excited because he had, as the
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King James says, desire to see Jesus for a long season, hoping to see some miracle worked by him.
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We don't know what motivated Zacchaeus, whether it was to hope to see a miracle or not.
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But he was about to get more than he hoped for. In verse 5, we read that when
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Jesus came by the place where Zacchaeus was, that he looked up and saw him and said,
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Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay in your home.
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He noticed Zacchaeus, and then he invites himself over to Zacchaeus's home, perhaps for a meal, perhaps to lodge there.
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And what was Zacchaeus's response? Rejoicing. He did make haste.
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He did come down and received him joyfully. We have recorded here for us
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Zacchaeus's conversion moment. It has been captured for us by Luke the evangelist, and we have had it in our possession for over 2 ,000 years.
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And what was Zacchaeus's response to the grace shown him in his conversion moment?
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It was great joy. Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, he says here in verse 8, look
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Lord, I give half my goods to the poor. This was extravagant giving, but he had received extravagantly.
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His sins were forgiven. But he goes on.
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He says, if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, by stealing it,
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I will restore it fourfold. This was far more than the law required.
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But out of his great zeal and love and thanksgiving for what he had received, he was going to go far and above beyond what was required.
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This was nothing short of an outburst of gratitude, thanksgiving, and joy for his salvation.
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And our Lord confirms this, for he says here in verse 9, today salvation has come to this house, that Zacchaeus is now a true son of Abraham.
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Not just a genealogical son of Abraham, but a son of Abraham by faith.
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For those who have the faith of Abraham in the God of Abraham are the true sons and daughters of Abraham.
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But notice our last verse, verse 10. Jesus continues, he says, for the
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Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost.
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And this is where our text comes back to the incarnation. We are sometimes caught up in this time of celebration, when we may remember
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Christ's first advent, where we focus upon the birth of Christ, rejoicing in the incarnation.
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And that's good and right so for us to do, that sometimes we forget the reason.
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There was a saying some years ago, and it may still be a saying today, that Jesus is the reason for this season.
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I kind of hope that it falls out of favor, because it's rather cheesy, although very true.
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But it would perhaps be more true and more accurate to say, that sin is the reason for this season.
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That sin which we read in our first lesson, that entered into the disobedience of Adam and Eve, that sin brought death into the world.
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It plunged the world into darkness and misery. Remember what we read in the sixth lesson from Matthew's gospel.
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The Lord said to Joseph in his dream, and you shall call his name
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Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
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In our reading we've heard several names for this coming one. Emmanuel, mighty
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God, everlasting Father. But we also have Jesus. Jesus is the
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Greek rendering of Yeshua. Yeshua means
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Yah, that is Yahweh, saves. And this was more than his name.
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It was the reason for his coming. We were all lost.
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We all had sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We were in a way all
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Zacchaeuses. But thanks be to God, the
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Son of Man came to seek and to save that which is lost.
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As we celebrate later this evening and tomorrow the birth of our Savior, let us remember his name,
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Jesus, Yeshua, and remember why he came, to seek and to save those who were lost, what he was to do then and what he is still doing now.
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And as we prepare in a few moments to sing joy to the world, may we sing it with a renewed sense of rejoicing.
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For like Zacchaeus, we have an awful lot to be thankful for, awful lot to be grateful for, because the
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Son of Man came to seek and to save those who were lost, and that was us.
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Let us pray. God our Father, in this night you have made known to us again the coming of our
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Lord Jesus Christ. Confirm our faith and fix our eyes on him until the day dawns, in Christ the morning star rises in our hearts.
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To him be glory both now and forever. Amen. Please open your hymnals to hymn 210,
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Silent Night, and after following singing that, we will sing 195, joy to the world.
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We will light the candles. Sheila, you have one lighter, who has the other?
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Ryan? And then we can pass along the flame there, and as the candles are lit,
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DJ, will you open us in the hymn at that time, when they're all, all the candles are lit, and I'll get the lights.
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Elijah, would you get the lights in the back, of course, brother? And just remember, as the candles are being lit, that when we sing joy to the world, as we start singing, starting in the back, we'll exit the building and stand below the front steps, and then we'll finish singing out there.