Christmas Eve Service

Ascension Presbyterian Church Longwood iconAscension Presbyterian Church Longwood

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Grace and peace to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, welcome to the worship of our
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God. Please stand with me. Oh, sing to the
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Lord a new song. Sing to the Lord all the earth.
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Sing to the Lord, bless his name, proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day.
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Declare his glory among the nations, his wonders among all the peoples.
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For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised. He is to be feared above all gods, for all the gods of the peoples are idols.
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But the Lord made the heavens. Honor and majesty are before him, strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
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Give to the Lord, oh, families of all the peoples. Give to the Lord glory and strength.
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Give to the Lord the glory, do his name. Bring an offering and come into his courts.
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Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Tremble before him, all the earth.
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Say, among the nations, the Lord reigns. The world also is firmly established, it shall not be moved.
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He shall judge the peoples righteously. Let the heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad.
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Let the sea roar and all its fullness. Let the field be joyful and all that is in it.
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Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord. For he is coming, for he is coming to judge the earth.
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He shall judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with truth.
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Amen. Please pray with me now. Oh, Lord, we come to you with great joy and expectancy and gratitude for the incarnation.
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We thank you for coming to redeem sinners, to reconcile us to God, to reverse the curse, to restore all that has been broken.
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Oh, Lord, I pray that you'd be glorified. And I ask this in the powerful name of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray.
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Amen. Now, unusually, we're going to sit as we sing tonight.
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So please have a seat. I'm going to ask you to turn to number 225.
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Once in Royal David City, number 225.
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Let's begin. Lesson 1,
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Genesis 3, 1 through 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 in the garden?
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And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees in 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. Then the serpent said to the woman,
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You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes shall 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. Now 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 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 I commanded you that you should not eat?
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Then the man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate. And the
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Lord 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. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed.
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He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. Lesson number 2 comes from Isaiah 7 -10.
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Isaiah chapter 7, verse 10 -14. Moreover the
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Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, Ask again a sign for yourself from the
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Lord your God. Ask it either in the depth or 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
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God also? 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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Immanuel. The next section is chapter 9, verses 2, and then 6 -7.
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Isaiah 9, 2, and then 6 -7. 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.
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For unto us a child is born, verse 6. Unto us a son is given.
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And the government will be upon his shoulder. 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 forevermore.
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The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. This is the word of the Lord. The next carol we'll be singing is number 194,
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O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. Number 194.
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Let us begin. Lesson 3 comes from Micah chapter 2, verses 2 -5.
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But you, 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 from 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.
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Then the remnant of his brethren shall return to the children of Israel, and he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the
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Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall abide, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth, and this one shall be peace.
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This is the word of the Lord. Our next carol is number 201,
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O Little Town of Bethlehem. Let us begin.
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Lesson 4 will be in Luke chapter 1, verses 26. In the sixth month the angel
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Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was
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Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said,
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Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.
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And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
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And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the
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Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.
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And Mary said to the angel, How will this be, since I am a virgin? And the angel answered her,
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The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called
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Holy, the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth, in her old age, has also conceived a son.
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This is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.
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And Mary said, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her.
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Lesson 5 will also be from Luke chapter 1, verses 46 through 56.
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And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord, and the Spirit rejoices in God my
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Savior. For he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed.
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For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
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He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud and the thoughts of their hearts.
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He has brought down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of humble estate. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.
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He has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his offspring forever.
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And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home. This is the word of the
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Lord. Our next carol will be number 227,
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On Christmas Night All Christians Sing. Lesson 6,
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Matthew 1, verse 18. 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 the 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 Emmanuel, which is translated,
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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. I'll also be reading from Luke 2, verses 1 through 7.
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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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And 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 is 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 swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
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I'll be singing Hymn 213, which is this. The next lesson is going to come from Luke 2, verses 8 through 16.
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Luke 2, verses 8 through 16. And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
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And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.
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And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
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For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the
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Lord, and this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.
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And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising
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God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.
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When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the
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Lord has made known to us. And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger.
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This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. The next carol is the one we discussed earlier.
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It's going to be number 215. The title was,
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While by the sheep we watched at night. That's right. 215.
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Let us begin. While by the sheep we watched at night.
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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 from the east came to Jerusalem saying,
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Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.
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When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him.
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And assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the
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Christ was to be born. They told him in Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet.
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And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah.
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For from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.
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Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared.
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And he sent them to Bethlehem saying, Go and search diligently for the child.
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And when you have found him, bring me word that I too may come and worship him.
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After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was.
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When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him.
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Then opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
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This is the word of the Lord. We will now be singing hymn number 208.
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O come, all ye faithful. Lesson nine comes from John 1, 1 -14.
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In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.
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All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
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And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God whose name was
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John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the light that all through him might believe.
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He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light which gives light to every man coming into the world.
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He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own did not receive him.
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But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, 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 beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
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Father, full of grace and truth. Our next carol is number 217,
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All My Heart This Night Rejoices. Considering scripture,
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I'm going to try to read Luke 2 very quickly.
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We've read a portion of it. I'm going to have a few observations and try to get out of the way of the narrative and allow some of this just to settle in with us.
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This is the word of the Lord again, and it's holy and infallible. 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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The 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 swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the end.
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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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And 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
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Christ the Lord, and this will be the 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 host 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 angels 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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Now when they had seen him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this child.
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And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
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But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned glorifying and praising
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God for all the things which they had heard and seen as it was told them.
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Please pray with me. O Lord, I pray that you would captivate our senses and our sensibility, that we would see some of the glory of Christ as it's revealed here in the scriptures and as we've had the privilege of singing.
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And O Lord, I pray that we would leave tonight with great joy and ask this in Jesus' name.
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Amen. I'm going to make some observations on each of the sections that I have broken out.
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The first one is that I want to point out to you is the providence of God. The Westminster Shorter Catechism says that God's works of providence are his most holy, wise, powerful, preserving and governing all of his creatures and all of their actions.
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Caesar Augustus ordered a census that all the world should be registered.
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Now, why did he do this? This meant that everyone should go to their native city that they could be counted.
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As you can imagine, an emperor, a government official, the primary reason was to ensure proper and accurate tax collection.
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That's why he did it. He's an unrighteous, godless man, an idolater.
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He wanted to exercise greater governmental control to have better management of the population to organize military operations and even track the demographics of the regions under Roman jurisdiction.
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He even did it maybe to flex his power. But the providence of God took a family located in Nazareth and caused them to travel 90 miles south to the city of David so that the prophecies that we've read and sung about would be fulfilled.
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It's a tremendous lesson, a practical lesson for us in this. Whatever wicked things are happening, whatever's going on in the world around us,
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God could very well be using it for his glory. Bad news in the marketplace, bad news in the political sphere may be used of God.
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Unrighteous man doing wicked things causes the plan of God to be executed.
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You remember the story of Joseph. His brothers sell him into slavery, but God meant it for good.
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He becomes the salvation of his people because of all that happens according to his providence.
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So let us never put our hopes and our stakes in the current circumstances, but in the
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God who controls them. Amen? Secondly, I want you to look at verses 8 and 9.
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There is a powerful angelic visitation. Children, sometimes our understanding of angels has been corrupted by medieval art.
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You see a beautiful little cherubim and little things flying around with nice little angels.
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Look around the room, maybe. Some idolatry here. But in reality, these creatures, the angels, are fierce.
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They are soldiers who wage a spiritual warfare. They are intimidating, they're scary, and they're glorious.
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Righteous men fall on their faces to try to worship them when they see them.
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They're powerful, but let's not forget they are ministering spirits, servants of God, to engage in spiritual warfare, to help the people of God.
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And there are shepherds. These are rugged men, strong men, who are courageous.
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They were terrified in their presence. Look at verse 9. And behold, an angel of the
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Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.
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Tough, courageous men in the presence of God's servants fall on their faces. They're greatly afraid.
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But the angels aren't there to terrorize. The angels are there to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.
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And it's been coming up over and over again tonight, glad tidings of great joy.
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Verses 10 and following say this. Then the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold,
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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
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Christ the Lord. I want to focus really quickly on that description of a
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Savior who is Christ the Lord. The word Savior means a deliverer, a preserver.
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The word conveys the idea of rescue from danger or a rescue from destruction, particularly in a spiritual sense.
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It signifies salvation from sin and its consequences.
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For the Jews, the term Savior was deeply rooted in the expectation of the Messiah who would deliver
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Israel. Jesus Christ comes as Savior, fulfilling the divine mission to save humanity from sin and to reconcile them to God.
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So we say Jesus is a Savior. Magnificent things are happening.
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He's come to the world for this very thing. The angels are announcing the promise being realized in Christ.
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Second, I want to consider the word Christ. Of course, this means the anointed one and Messiah again.
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But this anointing aspect must be emphasized very briefly. The act of anointing was a symbolic act of consecration normally to a holy and sacred office, particularly as a king.
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But also for prophets and priests. Hopefully my folks will know where we're going to go with that.
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Jesus is the exemplary prophet, priest, and king.
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When we say Christ, it's not Jesus's last name. It's not a designation. We're talking about anointing and consecration and setting apart to the highest of office.
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So the angels are declaring salvation is coming in Christ. Christ is the anointed one.
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He's the consecrated one. And you guys have had prophets and you've had priests and you've had kings.
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But he is the exemplary prophet, priest, and king.
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Finally, under this little heading, the idea of the Lord Kurios, the one who has the supremacy and authority.
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The little baby in the manger, the little baby in the womb of the
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Virgin Mary, now declared to be the son of God in power. The angels who are fierce, they are under the supremacy and authority of Christ.
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The little baby in the manger. He has absolute control and power.
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And in the New Testament, it's used of one who possesses all authority, control, or that power.
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It should signify to us and what's due to him from us and all creatures is respect, reverence, and an acknowledgement of that authority.
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Jesus's divine nature and supremacy make it appropriate to call him Lord. In Scripture, the use of Kurios for Jesus is a profound declaration of his divinity and messiahship and a threat to all religious and societal norms.
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The chief priests are not higher than him. The Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin's not higher than him.
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Quirinius, Herod, Caesar Augustus, none of them rank in comparison to him.
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You remember the early confessional statement of the church. Jesus is Lord. The Book of Acts.
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It contradicted the Roman mantra. Caesar is Lord. And Christians with threat of death declared
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Jesus's supremacy and authority, control, and power and that it far exceeded that of Caesar.
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I'm impressed you'll remember the disciples would say we ought to obey God rather than men because there's a higher king who must be submitted to.
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It's true for us as well. The person who is
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Lord exercises absolute rights of ownership. He is the owner and master and this is what the angels are declaring.
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The pronouncement of good tidings with great joy is that the Savior, the one who rescues us from danger, who saves men from sin and reconciles them to God is the anointed one.
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He's consecrated to be the prophet, priest, and king. He is the master who has all supremacy, authority, control, and power.
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He is the one to whom all respect, reverence, and honor is due. And he has come to exercise his rights of divine ownership over all things as king of kings and lord of lords.
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This is what we're celebrating. The arrival of the
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Savior King. Now we're moving through quickly. Go down to verse 13 of chapter 2.
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Just two more little brief things to say. The fourth thing that happens here is the angels break into doxology.
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It says, and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising
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God and saying glory to God in the highest and on earth peace good will toward men.
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There were moments tonight that I was a bit caught up into what was being sung. Familiar words, true, profound, rich truths about Christ.
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Can you imagine the angels singing? They saw who
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Christ was. They saw what has happened and they burst forth with a heavenly choir and the shepherds are observing this.
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The reality of who Christ is is far greater than our loftiest notions.
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Our hearts should be really tuned to him. We should tonight this great opportunity, we're thinking about these things.
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We have plans, we have family, we have presence in food and all these activities, but tonight on this night of all nights, we should be thinking of the glories of Christ that causes the angels to sing.
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The pronouncement of good tidings causes the angels to break out into doxology.
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We too, we've been working on it a little bit already in the lessons and carols, should burst forth and give glory to God for the great things he has done.
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You've got to remember this when we sing our final hymns outside this evening as we bring the light of the world outside the walls of the church.
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Longwood's a pretty nice place, but it's desperately in need of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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And we're going to symbolically, liturgically, we're going to take the light of Christ. We're going to take it out into the streets out there.
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Just a moment. Let us now rejoice at the arrival of our coming king.
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And then finally, the last section, I want you to think about the wisdom of the shepherds.
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They wanted to behold the marvelous thing the Lord had made known to them.
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So they leave their flocks, it seems, and go looking for Jesus. We, too, must come to Jesus and gaze upon him and wonder.
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This gospel never gets old, never gets stale. It's filled with life and light.
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After they saw Jesus, this is very interesting. This is repeated several times.
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Ben, look into this in your work. When the Samaritan woman encounters
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Jesus, she comes to know Christ and she immediately goes and tells people about him.
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We need a little bit more of that early salvation response in us. After they saw
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Jesus, the shepherds made Christ, the scripture says, widely known.
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What great examples they are for us. I mean, they've just heard it moments before and they're blazing a trail to Christ.
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They see Christ and they immediately begin to make his name widely known. Think about how much information we have.
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We need to broadcast the fame of Christ's name. What great examples there are.
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They seek Jesus according to truth and divine revelation. We do that. We open our
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Bibles, come to church, participate in the life of the body. They participated in worship.
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They magnify the glory of his name. They make him widely known, causing those who heard it to marvel.
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And Mary is left pondering these things in her heart. Can you imagine what we talked about this whole month of Mary's had these great things happen to her.
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We now must follow the example of the shepherds. We too have heard the announcement.
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We have sought and found Jesus Christ. Let us like them go out of this place, glorifying and praising
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God for all the things that we have heard and seen.
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Please pray with me. Oh Lord, we thank you for this time.
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We pray that your name would be hallowed here, that you'd be glorified. And we ask all of this in Jesus name.
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Amen. A couple of quick reminders. Wax on the wet wax on the arm is kind of a rite of passage.
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Happens every couple years to us. So if you have a lit candle, remain upright.
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If your candle needs to be lit, come in horizontally and get lit. Don't do the opposite. We're going to start now.
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Let us begin. Open your hymnals. We're going to start singing
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Silent Night. And once everyone is lit, which will be really quickly, we're going to walk our way outside.