LBC LIVE! Christmas Eve Service

LaRue Baptist Church, OH iconLaRue Baptist Church, OH

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Christmas Eve Service

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["Star
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Spangled Banner"] ♫
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Of the story ♫
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How they crossed the desert wild ♫ Journeyed a mountain ♫
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Till they found the holy child ♫ How they hold their treasure ♫
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Kneeling to that infant king ♫ Gave the golden incense ♫
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Gave the morning star ♫
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He who came to light the gentiles ♫
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And the darkened isles afore ♫ And we too ♫
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We seek his cradle ♫ There our hearts' best treasures bring ♫
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Love and faith ♫ And true devotion ♫
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For our Savior, God and King I wanna welcome you here tonight, wherever you are to our
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Christmas Eve service here at LaRue Baptist Church. It's a little different this year, but we want to all join together and praise
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God on this evening. And so as we do, let's just open with a word of prayer. Father in heaven, how we thank you for this night, this night where we anticipate the coming of the
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Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you, Father, for all the truth that you have given us in your word that points to this
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Savior, that points to the one who is our hope, who is our light, and who is our peace.
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Father, we pray that he would become more real to us as we look into your word, as we sing together.
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Help us tonight, we pray. We anticipate, Lord, great rejoicing because of the birth of the
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Lord Jesus, not just today, not just tomorrow, but every day, as we live in light of his
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Lordship. Thank you, in Jesus' name, amen. ♪ On Christmas Day, there old familiar carols play ♪ ♪
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And wild and sweet the words repeat ♪ ♪
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Of peace on earth, goodwill to men ♪ ♪
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But as now the day had come ♪ ♪ The bell -freaks of all
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Christendom had rung so long ♪ ♪
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The unbroken song of peace on earth, goodwill to men ♪ ♪
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And in despair I bowed my head ♪ ♪
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There is no peace on earth, I said ♪ ♪
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For hate is strong and walks the song of peace on earth ♪ ♪
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Goodwill to men ♪ ♪ Then peal the bells more loud and deep ♪ ♪
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As we sleep, the wrong shall fail, the right prevail ♪ ♪
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With peace on earth, goodwill to men ♪
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Look, the Lord's hand is not too weak to deliver you. His ear is not too deaf to hear you.
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But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God. Your sins have caused Him to reject you and not listen to your prayers.
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For your hands are stained with blood and your fingers with sin. Your lips speak lies.
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Your tongues utter malicious words. No one is concerned about justice.
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No one sets forth his case truthfully. They depend on false words and tell lies.
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They conceive of oppression and give birth to sin. They hatch the eggs of a poisonous snake and spin a spider's web.
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Whoever eats their eggs will die. A poisonous snake is hatched. Their webs cannot be used for clothing.
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They cannot cover themselves with what they make. Their deeds are sinful. They commit violent crimes.
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They are eager to do evil, quick to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are sinful. They crush and destroy.
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They are unfamiliar with peace. Their deeds are unjust. They use deceitful methods and whoever deals with them is unfamiliar with peace.
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For this reason, deliverance is far from us and salvation does not reach us.
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We wait for light but see only darkness. We wait for a bright light but live in deep darkness.
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We grope along the wall like the blind. We grope like those who cannot see.
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We stumble at noontime as if it were evening. Though others are strong, we are like dead men.
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We all growl like bears. We coo mournfully like doves. We wait for deliverance but there is none for salvation but it is far from us.
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♪ Winter frosty wind made moan ♪ ♪
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Stood hard as iron cast stone ♪ ♪
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Snow had fallen snow on snow ♪ ♪
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Snow on snow ♪ ♪
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Thick midwinter cold him ♪ ♪
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Nor earth sustain ♪ ♪
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Heaven and earth shall flee away ♪ ♪
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When he comes to reign ♪ ♪
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In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed ♪ ♪
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The scrunches and darkens may have gathered there ♪ ♪
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But only his mother in a shipped navvy ♪ ♪
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What can I give him if I were a shepherd ♪ ♪
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If I were a horseman I would do my... ♪
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They will say to you, seek oracles at the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits from the magicians who chirp and mutter incantations.
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Should people not seek oracles from their gods by asking the dead about the destiny of the living?
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Then you must recall the Lord's instructions and the prophetic testimony of what would happen.
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Certainly they say such things because their minds are spiritually darkened. They will pass through the land destitute and starving.
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Their hunger will make them angry and they will curse their king and their
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God as they look upward. When one looks out over the land, he sees distress and darkness, gloom and anxiety, darkness and people forced from the land.
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The gloom will be dispelled for those who are anxious. In earlier times, he humiliated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali.
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But now he brings honor to the way of the sea, the region beyond the Jordan and Galilee of the nations.
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The people walking in darkness see a bright light. Light shines on those who live in a land of deep darkness.
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Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee.
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And leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali so that what was spoken by the prophet
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Isaiah might be fulfilled. The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea beyond the
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Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light.
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As for those dwelling in the region in shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.
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From that time, Jesus began to preach saying, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
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We all love this time of year, this Christmas. It's the season of lights, lights on trees, trees that are inside the house, trees that are outside the house, lights on houses, lights on whole city blocks, lights everywhere, candles burning in places you never imagined.
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And yet we still must admit we are surrounded by darkness. All the glittering lights of the season disguise the darkness of a world in rebellion against God.
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The prophecies of this wonderful season were given against the backdrop of a rebellious nation.
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As we heard, the prophet Isaiah speaks of the darkness of a nation, a darkness that characterizes the darkness of our world.
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And that darkness takes many forms. As we saw earlier in the prophet Isaiah, he talks about hands stained with blood and guilt, lips no longer interested in truth and justice, deeds that are violent and evil, thoughts that are wicked, a way of life that is anything but peaceful and all of it producing a darkness.
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Well, into this dark world, Jesus came, the light. Matthew tells us that it's
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Jesus who fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, that Jesus comes with the dawning,
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Jesus comes as the dawning of the light. And that dawning occurs in the land of Naphtali and Zebulon and Galilee of the
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Gentiles, the darkest corner of the land. Jesus comes as the light to those who are blind and lost in the darkness.
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He comes with the message of the kingdom, repent, and God will bring you under his rule.
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Repent and find the gracious rule of a God who saves you. Jesus is still the light that pierces the darkness of this age, offering the gracious salvation of God.
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Please join from your homes as we sing a little town of Bethlehem. ♪
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How still we see thee lie ♪ ♪
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As sleep the silent stars go by ♪ ♪
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Yet in thee we try, Beth, the everlasting light ♪ ♪
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The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee ♪ ♪
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Till all is born of heav 'n, all sleep the angels play ♪ ♪
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Kneeling stars together, all sing to God the
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King ♪ ♪ At least to men of silent need the wondrous gift is given ♪ ♪
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So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his world ♪ ♪
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His call is full of sin, their meek souls will receive him still ♪ ♪
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The clear Christ enters in, all who seek him will find him ♪ ♪
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Then to us we pray, cast out our sin and enter in us today ♪ ♪
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We hear the Christmas angels, the rings tell ♪ ♪
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O come to us, abide with us,
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O Lord, amen ♪ Therefore, remember that formerly you who are
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Gentiles by birth and called uncircumcised by those who call themselves the circumcision, that done in the body by the hands of men, remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.
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But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.
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Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant
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David, as he said through his holy prophets of long ago, salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant.
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The oath he swore to our father Abraham, to rescue us from the hand of our enemies and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
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And you my child will be called a prophet of the most high, for you will go on before the
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Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our
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God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven, to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.
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Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the command of God, our savior and of Christ Jesus, our hope.
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Christmas is the season of hope. People get real hopeful this time of year.
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They're hoping that next year, it'll be different. And Christmas seems to excite in them this kind of hope.
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But the sad reality is that hopeless and despair characterize most people today.
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God tells us that the natural state of man, apart from God, is a state of hopelessness, for we are without God and without hope in the world.
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There's no access to God and no hope in the promises of God. People are without hope and without God in this dark and rebellious world.
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Any hope one might entertain is like the steam from a tea kettle. It appears for a moment and then it's gone, disappears.
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Those around us hate the desperation of their meaningless existence.
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Without God, you have no hope, but we can rejoice in hope.
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I wonder if you heard just that little sentence from the first epistle of Timothy, where the apostle
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Paul described hope. He described hope as Jesus, Jesus is hope.
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He said, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the command of God, our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, our hope.
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God sends hope in a person, not in a card. Our hope is anchored firmly in the concrete reality of a tangible person by the name of Jesus.
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God has worked in the person of his son, so our hope is not baseless, wishful thinking.
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We can see what God has done. We can hear what God has done in the person of his son.
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And so we have hope because Jesus is God with us. Because in his death, he reconciled us to God and gave us access to all the promises of God.
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He is the ultimate victor because he conquered sin and because he conquered sin, he conquered death.
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We have hope because we have Jesus. Please join again as we sing,
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What Child is This? ♪ As you're laid to rest on Mary's lap is sleeping ♪ ♪
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Whom angels greet with anthems sweet ♪ ♪
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While shepherds watch are keeping ♪ ♪
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This, this is Christ the King ♪ ♪
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Whom shepherds watch have seen ♪ ♪
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This day is to bring him a son ♪ ♪
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See in such meekness faith ♪ ♪
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Where rocks and ashes are feeding ♪ ♪
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Good Christian hear for sinners here ♪ ♪
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The silent word is pleading ♪ ♪
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This spirit shall pierce him through ♪ ♪
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The cross he borne for me is a son of God ♪ ♪
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Celebrate him incense gold and myrrh ♪ ♪
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Come make salvation praise the
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Son of God ♪ ♪ The virgin sings her love ♪ ♪
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Christ is born the
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Son of God ♪
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Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops, siege is laid against us.
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With a rod they strike the judge of Israel on the cheek. But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, 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 coming forth is from old, from ancient days.
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Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth.
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Then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel.
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And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the
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Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. They shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth, and he shall be their peace.
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And there were shepherds living out in the fields and nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.
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An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, do not be afraid.
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I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today, in the town of David, a
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Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you.
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You will find a baby wrapped in cloths, lying in a manger. Suddenly, a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising
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God and saying, glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.
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When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the
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Lord has told us about. So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby who was lying in the manger.
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When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
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But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising
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God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
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You know, we live in a world of war, deteriorating relationships, personal hatred, political manipulation.
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In short, we live in a world that's characterized that it's nothing but conflict. Yet people sense that something is out of joint.
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They have a deep seated longing for peace. Now the biblical word for peace is shalom.
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And shalom doesn't just mean the absence of conflict. The word shalom has the idea of everything working in sync, that is, all the pieces fitting just right, all relationships harmonious, all of creation working as it was intended.
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And God promises peace. We heard from the prophet Micah, a message from God.
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The people of his day also longed for peace, for their nation was under attack.
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Here is God's message. Someone would come from the insignificant town of Bethlehem and the one coming is identified as peace.
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In fact, Micah says, and he shall be, he shall be their peace.
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God's anointed who would come would be our peace. Although this one, through this one,
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God would intervene in history and accomplish his will. Now God fulfills that promise in his son.
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The angels proclaim to the shepherds, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace to men on whom his favor rests.
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God should be glorified because he was sending his son into the world where he would be despised, rejected, crucified for the salvation of a lost and fallen race.
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This was the most glorious demonstration of God's grace. Jesus by his life in the world and his death on the cross would glorify
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God's justice, his holiness, his mercy and his wisdom as they had never been glorified before.
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And in that glory, God would achieve the long for peace. Now Christ was not just for God's glory, but for humanity's good.
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And so the angels proclaimed peace on earth. But the angels made this declaration at a time of universal peace.
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It was a time that was called the Pax Romana, that is the peace of Rome.
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And the Romans often praised Caesar Augustus for bringing peace on earth.
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But that peace came at a dreadful cost. Nations were conquered and plundered.
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Peoples were enslaved. The poor were oppressed and there was peace because if anyone would dare try to shake that peace up, they would find the power of Rome coming against them.
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This was no harmonious working of all creation, not by any means. But God accomplished that peace by reconciling all things to himself at the cross.
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There is conflict on every level today. There is conflict on every level because of sin.
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But Jesus died to remove that universal curse of sin and thus purchasing peace for us by his redemption.
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Peace between us and God and peace between all peoples. But that peace belongs only to those upon whom
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God's favor rests. And someday all who have been favored by God in Christ will experience the full benefits of that redemption.
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Praise to God who has given us peace in the person of his son, Jesus Christ. Please join us one last time singing
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Silent Night. ♪
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Silent night, holy night ♪ ♪
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The sun is going down ♪ ♪
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Sleep in heaven ♪ ♪
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Silent night, birds quake at the sight ♪ ♪
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Peace stream from heaven, sing all ye nations ♪ ♪
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The Savior is born, Christ the
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Savior is born ♪ ♪
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Silent night, holy night ♪ ♪
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Son of God, love's pure light ♪ ♪
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Jesus, Lord at thy birth ♪ Father, now dismiss us with the light and the hope and the peace that only
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Jesus can bring. Father, we pray that as your people, we would exalt those things and we would represent our
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Savior who gives us those things. Tonight, we wanna thank you for your son, our only hope, the only light, our only chance for peace.
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Help us to honor and glorify him, not just tomorrow, but every day that we live before you and before men.
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Thank you for our Savior. In his name we pray, amen.