Sunday, December 26 AM

Our scripture reading this morning is from the book of Isaiah.

We'll be looking at the first 10 verses of Isaiah 11.

There shall come forth a rod from the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall

grow out of his roots.

The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the

Lord.

His delight is in the fear of the Lord, and he shall not judge by the sight of his eyes, nor

decide by the hearing of his ears.

But with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek

of the earth.

He shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he

shall slay the wicked.

Righteousness shall be the belt of his loins, and faithfulness the belt of his

waist.

The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,

the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.

The cow and the bear shall graze, their young ones shall lie down together,

and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

The nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole, and the weaned child shall put

his hand in the viper's den.

They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the

earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.

And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, who shall stand as a

banner to the people, for the Gentiles shall seek him, and his

resting place shall be glorious.

Would you pray with me?

Heavenly Father, blessed are the ones who hear this prophecy

and tremble at your word.

Joyful are the ones who hear the witness of your spirit in the proclamation of

good news and believe.

Safe are the ones who take refuge in you through the Lord Jesus

and find you mighty and strong, faithful and true,

and radiant are the ones who, after a life

full of love and prayer and faithful service, fall asleep,

only to awake in your presence, to enjoy your smile

forevermore, and to join in making a joyful noise with

myriads and multitudes of saints that have gone on before.

Thank you for the gift of the incarnate word, the lamb

standing as though he had been slain, this branch who is

also the root, our resurrected Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Father, we praise your name today as your indwelling

spirit moves us to rejoice in your Son together, and it's

for the sake of his holy name we pray.

Amen.

You may be seated.

Last Sunday evening was a wonderful time of worshiping the Lord together with the wonderful

children, with all the costumes and

celebrating the birth of the Lord Jesus, the nativity scene, the singing, all of it was very wonderful.

And so it's also continued joy to get to sing more Christmas songs this morning.

So if you would, turn to page 167 in your regular hymnals.

We'll sing, O Sing a Song of Bethlehem, and then page 162,.

The

Birthday

of

a

King.

To

celebrate

Christmas,

and

every

year

is.

A little different.

There seems to be a different emphasis, or

a new song, or a scripture that

speaks to you in a joyous

way.

This year, two words came to my mind.

He came.

He came.

First of all, it focuses me on the whole reason

for the celebration, because it's so easy to get sidetracked.

I mean, the worldly celebration of Christmas

misses the whole point, misses the whole point.

But he came.

That's the reason we celebrate.

He came.

And so that keeps me focused.

He, that is Jesus, our Savior, he came.

And it also brought to my mind

the word of the angels to the women

at the tomb.

He's not here.

He is risen.

As he said.

As he said.

And he came.

Okay?

He came as he said.

You see, he came is the second part of my message.

The first part is, he is coming.

He is coming.

And that brings us to the Old Testament.

To the Old Testament, and throughout the Old Testament, the whole Old

Testament, from the beginning to the end, if you will, whispered,

shouted in types, in word pictures,

in prophecies and promises, he

is coming.

The Old Testament says he is coming.

And from the very beginning, I

want to share just a few places in the Old Testament

that speak he is coming.

In Genesis chapter 3, beginning at verse 14, the Lord God said to the serpent,

because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and

above all beasts of the field.

On your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your

offspring and her offspring.

He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.

But from the very beginning, at the fall, Almighty God

initiates the plan of redemption.

He is coming.

And then in Genesis 14, we are introduced to a most unusual person, a priest

in Jerusalem.

His name is Melchizedek.

And in Psalm 110, the one who is coming will be a priest after

the order of Melchizedek.

And then in Deuteronomy 18, God says,

after Moses, I will raise up for you from your own brothers another

prophet after the order of Moses.

And so that one who is coming will come as a prophet after the order of Moses.

And then in 2 Samuel chapter 7, he speaks to David

the king and says, there is one who is coming

who will sit on your throne, who will be king forever.

King forever.

And so he will come as a king after the order of David.

And indeed, he has come.

He has come as a prophet, a priest, and a king.

And then, more familiarly,

at this time of year, prophecies

from Isaiah.

Chapter 7, Behold, a virgin shall give birth

to a son, and you shall call his name Emmanuel, God with us.

And again in Isaiah chapter 9, unto us a child is

born, unto us a son is given, and the government

shall be on his shoulders, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Almighty

God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

And in Isaiah 53, we're introduced to the suffering servant,

the one on whom the Lord would lay the iniquity of us all.

He is coming as prophet, priest, king, and suffering servant.

And lastly, in Micah chapter 5 verse 2,

Where will he come?

But you, O Bethlehem Ephratah, who are too little to be among

the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler

in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.

That is, he would be born in Bethlehem.

And we sing that he would be born in Bethlehem, and we celebrate that he

was born in Bethlehem.

And it's most curious that this one who came, this

Jesus, one day speaking to a crowd,

he said, I am the true bread that came down from

heaven, and whoever eats this bread shall live forever.

And God so arranged historical

circumstances and brought about

Caesar Augustus to declare that the whole world should be

taxed, and everybody should go to their

hometown to be registered.

And so Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem

to register, and that's where Jesus was born.

The house, that's what Bethlehem means,

house of bread.

And even more curious, when he was brought forth,

he was laid in a manger, a feed trough.

It's almost as if, you know, the Lord God says, take and eat.

Now that is most interesting, because throughout the whole Bible, you know, our

relationship with God is described in these, you know, physical senses.

Psalm 36, taste and see, the Lord is good.

Taste and see, the Lord is good.

David says in Psalm 27 verse 4, there is one thing

I ask of the Lord, and that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the

Lord all the days of my life, gazing upon the beauty of the Lord,

and inquiring or meditating in his temple, gazing upon the beauty of the Lord.

And even more astonishing, the apostle Paul says this, he says, we,

we Christians are the aroma of Christ,

to one another the aroma of life, and to those outside the aroma of death.

Now that is just most curious, you know, that our relationship with him, you know, is described as, you know,

through these physical senses, and yet, you know, we don't

taste, but we do nourish, be nourished,

and grow, and we don't see, but we come to

understand the surpassing worth

of knowing Christ Jesus, our Lord, and

we don't smell, but there is just a way

about us that is different.

Now that brings me to

part three.

Part one, he's coming.

Part two, he came, and part three, he is here.

He is here.

I

want to read you something written

by a Christian a thousand years ago.

His name was Bernard.

He lived in France, and this is what he says,

Now bear with my foolishness a little.

I want to tell you of my own experience, as I promised, not that it is of any

importance.

I admit that the word has also come to me and has come

many times, but although he has come to me, I have never been conscious of the

moment of his coming.

I perceived his presence.

I remembered afterwards that he had been with me,

and sometimes I had a feeling that he would come, but I was never conscious of his coming

or his going, and where he comes from, when he

visits my soul, and where he goes, and by what means he enters and goes out,

I admit that I do not know even now.

The coming of the word was not perceptible to my eyes, for he is not color,

nor to the ears, for there was no sound, nor yet to my nostrils,

for he mingles with the mind, not the air.

He has not acted upon the air, but created it.

His coming was not tasted by the mouth, for there was not eating or drinking, nor could he

be known by the sense of touch, for he is not tangible.

You ask then how I knew he was present.

When his ways can in no way be traced, he is life and power,

and as soon as he enters in, he awakens my slumbering soul.

He stirs and soothes and pierces my heart, for before it was hard as

stone and diseased.

So he has begun to pluck out and destroy, to build up and to plant,

to water dry places and illuminate dark ones, to open what was closed

and to warm what was cold, to make the crooked straight and the rough places

smooth, so that my soul may bless the Lord, and all that is within me

may praise his holy name.

He is here.

You don't see him.

You didn't hear him enter, and there is no aroma,

but he is here.

He is with us.

He is in us, in our fellowship, in our praying, in our

singing, in our reading of the scripture, in our preaching and teaching,

and he is blessed by our worship.

Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me.

Bless his holy name.

Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all his

benefits.

He is here as he promised, for where two or three are gathered together in my

name, I am among them.

He is coming.

He came, and he is here,

and he is blessed by our worship.

Let's pray.

Father, I thank you and I praise you for your great love and mercy,

and that out of that great love you sent your only son

to be our savior,

and I thank you that you are here this morning with us to help us to worship you, and to give

you praise and glory and honor, for you are worthy,

for you are worthy.

Help us now as we continue in our worship, in song, and then

as we partake of the Lord's Supper.

In

Jesus'

name,

amen.

First

Corinthians

chapter 11, the.

Apostle Paul speaks these words, for I received from the

Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on

the night when he was betrayed, he took bread, and when he had given thanks,

he broke it and said,

this is my body which is for you.

Do this in remembrance of me.

In the same way, he also took the cup after supper, and he said,

this cup is the new covenant in my blood.

Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me,

for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup,

you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

He said he was coming, he came, he is here, and he is coming again.

Praise his holy name.

Let us partake.

Restored

fellowship

through

Jesus'

sacrifice.

We're so thankful just to be here this morning to worship you.

Thank you.

Let us partake.

White

as snow, with yearning to the day we may be

in your presence.

But until then, we thank you that you sent your son to die on the cross

and spill his blood to redeem.

We ask this in Christ's name.

He

promised that he would come, and he fulfilled that promise.

He kept his promise, and he came, and he promised to be with us always.

I will never leave you, never forsake you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

And where two or three of you are gathered together in my name, there I am with

you by his promise.

And he has promised to come again, and he's coming again,

he's coming again.

So let us leave rejoicing that he has come,

and he is coming again.

He is faithful to keep his word.

Let's pray.

Father, dismiss us as servants and witnesses of

you, of your Son, the Lord Jesus, and what you've done for us.

In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

You are dismissed.