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If you were able, would you 
please stand for the reading of 

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God's Word this Christmas Eve? 
We'll be reading from the Gospel

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of Luke, chapter 2, beginning 
with verse 8. 

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And in the same region there 
were shepherds out in the field,

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keeping watch over their flock 
by night. 

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And the Angel of the Lord 
appeared to them, and the glory 

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of the Lord shown around them, 
and they were filled with great 

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fear. 
The Angel said to them, fear 

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not, for behold, I bring you 
good news of great joy that will

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be for all the people. 
For unto you is born this day in

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the city of David, a Savior who 
is Christ the Lord. 

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And this will be a sign for you.
You'll find a baby wrapped in 

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swaddling clothes and lying in a
Manger. 

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And suddenly there was with the 
Angel a multitude of the 

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heavenly host, praising God, and
saying, Glory to God in the 

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highest and on earth, peace 
among those with whom he is 

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pleased. 
When the angels went away from 

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them into heaven, the shepherd 
said to one another, Let us go 

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over to Bethlehem and see this 
thing that has happened, which 

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the Lord has made known to us. 
And they went with haste, and 

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found Mary and Joseph and the 
baby lying in a Manger. 

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And when they saw it, they made 
known the saying they've been 

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told to them concerning this 
child. 

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And all who heard it wondered at
what the shepherd's told them. 

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But Mary treasured up all these 
things, pondering them in her 

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heart. 
The Shepherd's returned, 

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glorifying and praising God for 
all they had heard and seen as 

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it had been told them. 
This is the word of the Lord. 

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You may be seated. 
The Gospel of Luke begins with 

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this opening declaration. 
Luke writes in as much as many 

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have undertaken, to compile a 
narrative of the things that 

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have been accomplished among us,
and just as those who are from 

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the beginning were eyewitnesses 
and ministers of the Word, and 

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have delivered them to us. 
It seemed good to me also, 

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having followed all things 
closely from some time past, to 

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write an orderly account that 
you may have certainty 

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concerning the things you have 
been taught. 

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As Luke begins his gospel, he 
tells us that everything he is 

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recorded for us, written down in
the Holy Scriptures, in the 

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Gospel of Luke, has come from 
eyewitness testimony. 

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It's an orderly account that 
Luke has recorded that 

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generations of people just like 
you and just like me would hear 

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these words and read these words
and have certainty that every 

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single thing that we hear and 
every single thing that we read 

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and these pages is true. 
What that means for us on this 

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Christmas Eve, that as we gather
together and we hear and 

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rehearse the Christmas story, 
once again, we are coming 

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together not to hear a fable or 
a fairy tale. 

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It's not an allegory or some 
kind of metaphor for joy or 

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peace. 
Of the Christmas story is the 

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eyewitness account, the birth of
Jesus Christ, the Son of God and

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the Savior of the world. 
This is history. 

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In fact, it's the turning point 
of all of history. 

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And there were witnesses. 
In fact, what we hear in the 

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Gospel of Luke is that there 
were two witnesses, 2 witnesses 

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that represent a cosmic display,
the entire universe that God has

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made bearing witness that Christ
is born. 

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Those two witnesses are heaven 
and earth. 

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And on that night, 2000 years 
ago, heaven and earth met in a 

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small village in the middle of 
nowhere in the Middle East 

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called Bethlehem. 
And there heaven and earth met 

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and declared that Christ is 
born. 

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And so we gather tonight, not 
for the sake of tradition or 

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ritual, because this is what we 
do in our culture, but we gather

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tonight to hear once again the 
eyewitness testimony that Christ

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is born, the witness of heaven 
and earth, that your Savior is 

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here. 
The first witness that we see in

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the Gospel of Luke is the 
witness of heaven. 

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Once you look with me at verse 
8, Luke tells us in verse 8 that

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the same region there were 
shepherds out in the field and 

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they were keeping watch over the
flock by night, and an Angel of 

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the Lord appeared to them. 
Now children, I want you to 

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imagine what it would be like 
for you to keeping watch over a 

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bunch of sheep and you're 
straining your eyes in the 

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middle of the dark trying to 
make sure that you have all of 

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the sheep that have been 
entrusted to you. 

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Maybe you're counting all of 
them and as you're straining 

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your eyes to make sure 12345 all
of a sudden in the darkness a 

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light appears that illuminates 
the night sky. 

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In verse 9 it says an Angel of 
the Lord appeared to them and 

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the glory of the Lord shone 
around them and they were filled

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with great fear. 
Now anytime you see the word 

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glory in the Bible, it's often 
associated with light, 

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brightness and shining it. 
The glory of the Lord is His 

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very presence. 
And the word glory literally 

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means weight, heaviness. 
It's that when you are in the 

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presence of God, you can feel 
it. 

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And for these shepherds outside 
of Bethlehem, they could see it,

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light illuminating the darkness,
and it we we're told by Luke 

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that they were filled with fear.
Now, that might seem like a 

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strange response to you, but if 
you're really putting yourself 

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in these shepherd's shoes, you 
would be afraid to where did the

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light come from? 
And then as you trace the light,

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you see that it came from the 
glory of God accompanying the 

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presence of an Angel. 
And suddenly in verse 10, this 

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Angel begins to speak. 
The Angel says, fear not, for 

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behold, I bring you good news of
great joy that will be with all 

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the people. 
For unto you is born this day in

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the city of David, a Savior who 
is Christ the Lord. 

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This Angel is declaring that not
only Christ is born, but it's 

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the fulfillment of prophecy. 
Now what you need to know about 

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the word Christ. 
When we say Jesus Christ, we're 

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not saying Jesus is his first 
name and Christ is his last 

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name. 
But the word Christ is a title. 

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It's the Greek word, original 
language of the New Testament 

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for Messiah. 
And the Messiah was the 

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long-awaited Savior king who was
going to come to save God's 

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people from their sins. 
So in other words, this Angel is

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telling a bunch of shepherds 
that the Savior King has finally

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come and he's long been 
foretold. 

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And the prophet Micah, Micah 52 
Micah the prophet says that the 

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Savior, this Savior king would 
be born in Bethlehem. 

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And then in verse 12, the Angel 
goes on and says, there will be 

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a sign for you, and you will 
find a baby wrapped in swaddling

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claws and lying in a Manger. 
This sign was foretold years 

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before by the prophet Isaiah. 
This Isaiah 7 verse 14. 

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Therefore, the Lord Himself will
give you a sign. 

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Behold, the Virgin will conceive
and bear a son, so call his name

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Emmanuel. 
What's the point? 

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All of the scriptures have been 
leading up to this moment. 

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All of the prophets waiting for 
the birth of the Savior, King, 

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the Messiah, the Christ. 
All of heaven has been waiting 

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for this moment when Christ the 
Savior would be born. 

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The prophets foretold it would 
be in Bethlehem. 

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The prophets were told that he 
would be born of a virgin. 

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The prophets foretold that He 
would be the King of kings and 

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the Lord of Lords, that the 
government would be on his 

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shoulders, that He would being 
priests and salvation to all who

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trust in His name. 
And here's this Angel declaring 

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that all of this has finally 
come to pass. 

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Heaven is bearing witness that 
Christ is born, and it's not 

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just one Angel. 
But then in verse 13, we're told

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suddenly it was a multitude of 
angels, the night sky filled 

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with a multitude of a heavenly 
host praising God and giving him

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glory. 
You see, when you are in the 

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presence of the glory of God, 
and you truly see God for who He

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is, you cannot help but glorify 
Him. 

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God's glory is his presence. 
Our response and worship is to 

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glorify Him. 
And that's exactly what the 

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angels do on this night outside 
of a little village named 

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Bethlehem. 
These angels praise God and they

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give him glory. 
Why? 

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Because Christ the Savior was 
born. 

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They sing glory to God in the 
highest on earth. 

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Peace among those with whom He 
is pleased. 

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Christ, the long-awaited Savior,
King offering peace, not just 

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the absence of fear, but the 
kind of peace that we need 

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between US and God. 
You see, because this Savior had

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come to be born in a Manger in 
order to die on a cross. 

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This is the second witness we 
see here in the gospel of Luke. 

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Not just the witness of heaven. 
We also see the witness of 

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earth, the shepherds. 
Verse 15, the angels went away 

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from them, from heaven, and the 
shepherd said to one another, 

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Let us go over to Bethlehem and 
see this thing that has 

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happened, which the Lord has 
made known to us. 

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Now I want you to pretend that 
you know a king is coming, a 

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king that everybody's been 
waiting for, and you know that 

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this king is going to be born. 
If you were writing this story, 

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how would you announce that 
king? 

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Would you bring a band and 
trumpets? 

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Would you bring an army? 
Who would you tell first? 

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Would you go and gather all of 
the kings and kingdoms of the 

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earth and make sure that they're
the first to hear that the 

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long-awaited King of Kings is 
born? 

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That's not what God did. 
God sent his angels to a bunch 

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of lowly and humble shepherds, 
keeping watch of their sheep by 

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night. 
These shepherds were the first 

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to hear that Christ the Messiah 
is born. 

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And as they heard this, they 
went in verse 16 and they went 

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with haste and found Mary and 
Joseph and a baby lying in a 

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Manger. 
If you were writing this story, 

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the birth of the King of Kings 
and Lord of Lords, the 

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long-awaited Savior King, the 
Conqueror who's finally come to 

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set us free, where would that 
baby be Born In a palace, 

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amongst jewels and treasures. 
That's not what God did. 

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No, God sent the King, his son, 
to be born in humility, in a 

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Manger. 
And so here's the scene. 

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The long-awaited Savior King in 
the form of a weak and helpless 

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baby, born in a barn, lying in a
Manger, surrounded by sheep and 

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shepherds. 
Why did God do it this way? 

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So that you and I could be 
witnesses to you. 

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See, God sent his Son Jesus, the
King of Kings and Lord of Lords,

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not with a sword in his first 
and not with an army, but he 

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sent them into humility to take 
on the sin of our flesh. 

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Jesus Christ was born in a 
Manger in order to die on a 

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cross. 
So that this Christmas Eve, just

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like the many Christmas Eves 
that have gone before this one, 

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we would gather together once 
again and tell the true story 

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that our Savior is here. 
And so the question for all of 

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us tonight is this. 
Are you a witness to see just as

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Christ came to us 2000 years 
ago, The story is not over yet, 

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and one day Christ will come 
again in his second advent. 

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Until that day comes, He comes 
to us now. 

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He comes to you. 
He comes to you through the 

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scriptures. 
He comes to you through prayer. 

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And He comes to you tonight as 
we gather together and sing 

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these carols. 
He comes to you and as we gather

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after this with family and 
friends, we give gifts, we're 

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bearing witness, we're joining 
with the shepherds and all the 

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host of heaven, and together we 
are declaring Christ the Savior 

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is born. 
Let's pray, Father in Heaven, 

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help us now to receive this 
gift, the gift of your Son who 

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died in our place on the cross 
for our sins. 

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We pray as we tell this story, 
as we hear it again, as we sing 

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it to one another. 
We pray that it wouldn't just be

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words on a page. 
We pray that you, Jesus Christ, 

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the very word of God would 
penetrate our hearts, that we 

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would receive you as our Savior 
and that and gathering tonight 

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and worshipping you as your as 
as our Savior, that we as your 

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people would join with all of 
heaven and all of the earth to 

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give you glory and to worship 
for you have come down to be 

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with us. 
We ask this in Jesus name, Amen.