1 00:00:01,040 --> 00:00:03,480 Every week in corporate worship, we have the opportunity to 2 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:06,560 praise our Lord, to acknowledge what He has done, and to rejoice 3 00:00:06,560 --> 00:00:09,080 together as a body. We often do that through 4 00:00:09,080 --> 00:00:11,320 Scripture. We do that through witness to 5 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:14,440 His work as Maria has just done. We do that through the 6 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:17,320 expectations that we all bring to the table when we come 7 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:19,360 together. We do that through our prayers, 8 00:00:19,360 --> 00:00:22,760 and we do that through song. What we're going to do now is 9 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:25,560 we're going to recount the Christmas story through 10 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:27,800 scripture and through prayer and through song. 11 00:00:28,040 --> 00:00:31,080 So we encourage you to join us. Listen carefully as we weave 12 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:34,760 together very familiar scriptures, very familiar songs. 13 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:38,080 But note carefully that sometimes the familiarity of it 14 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:41,000 all causes us to be blind to what we're actually singing. 15 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:43,240 We're about to sing. We're about to hear some 16 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:46,320 powerful things. I encourage you to allow the 17 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:50,360 Lord to gather up your heart and draw him, draw you to himself at 18 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:53,360 this time, through the things that we say, through the words 19 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:54,840 in which we sing. Let's pray together. 20 00:00:55,960 --> 00:00:59,720 Lord in heaven, do take this time of worship, Honor yourself 21 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:01,920 with it, be glorified. And all we do, we pray. 22 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:04,080 Through Christ our Lord we ask, Amen. 23 00:01:11,130 --> 00:01:14,770 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden 24 00:01:14,770 --> 00:01:17,920 in the cool of the day. And the man and his wife hid 25 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:20,760 themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of 26 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:23,520 the garden. But the Lord God called to the 27 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:25,760 man and said to him, Where are you? 28 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:29,920 And he said, I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was 29 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:33,440 afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself. 30 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:37,760 He said, Who told you that you were naked? 31 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:40,760 Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to 32 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:43,760 eat? The man said the woman whom you 33 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:48,520 gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree and I ate. 34 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:52,400 Then the Lord God said to the woman, What is this that you 35 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:55,800 have done? The woman said, The serpent 36 00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:59,000 deceived me and I ate. The Lord God said to the 37 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:02,400 serpent, Because you have done this, cursed are you above all 38 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:06,360 livestock and above all beasts of the field and your belly you 39 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:09,840 shall go and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 40 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:14,080 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your 41 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:17,520 offspring and her offspring. He shall bruise your head, and 42 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:19,960 you shall bruise his heel. To the woman. 43 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:24,960 He said, I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing, in 44 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:26,720 pain you shall bring forth children. 45 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:30,400 Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule 46 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:33,680 over you. And to Adam, he said, Because 47 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:36,560 you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of 48 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:40,000 the tree of which I commanded you, you shall not eat of it. 49 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:44,320 Cursed is the ground because of you in pain, she you shall eat 50 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:47,800 of it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles you shall 51 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:51,400 bring forth for you, and you shall eat the plants of the 52 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:55,440 field by the sweat of your face. You shall eat bread till you 53 00:02:55,440 --> 00:02:59,400 return to the ground, for out of it you were taken, for you are 54 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:02,280 dust, and to dust you will return. 55 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:07,880 Christian traditions vary. I'm well aware of that. 56 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:09,880 Not everybody does it the way that I do. 57 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:13,120 There are those who open, those of us who open our Christmas 58 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:15,000 present Sunday, Christmas morning. 59 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:18,560 There are those who do it wrong. There are those who wear their 60 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:21,640 pajamas all day long. There are those who do it wrong. 61 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:24,760 I understand that. So we want to give variance for 62 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:28,800 the fact that the Scripture allows for a way of celebrating 63 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:31,600 the Lord that not not necessarily follows in the same 64 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:34,280 pattern. Having said that, I believe that 65 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:38,600 we all come to Christmas with a certain longing, with a certain 66 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:40,920 common theme that runs all the way through it. 67 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:42,960 And I'm not talking here just about believers. 68 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:44,560 I'm not talking about folks in this room. 69 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:46,720 I'm talking about humanity as a whole. 70 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:51,200 Humanity as a whole shares a common experience that Christmas 71 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:53,840 tackles. That common experience was 72 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:55,480 highlighted by what Jerry just read. 73 00:03:55,480 --> 00:04:00,800 For us, the fall has produced a longing, a desire, a yearning 74 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:03,800 within us that we need to scratch, that we need to 75 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:06,200 experience, that we need to see satisfied. 76 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:10,600 That longing, that yearning, is captured well in the song we're 77 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:14,480 about to sing together. Come thou long expected Jesus in 78 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:17,320 the midst of this song and you'll hear it in the tone of 79 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:20,040 the song, etcetera. It's expressing this yearning, A 80 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:24,160 longing that we all gathered together to see Christ come to 81 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:29,000 this earth and in doing so, he satisfies that deep yearning 82 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:31,840 that I think is inherent in every individual. 83 00:04:31,840 --> 00:04:35,320 Every person along the second line of this pet of this song 84 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:39,480 that we will sing talks about from our fears and from our 85 00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:41,160 sins. Release us. 86 00:04:42,280 --> 00:04:46,160 Let us find our rest in thee. And I think that line captures 87 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:49,400 what everybody experiences, if they acknowledge it or not, that 88 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:53,360 we have a yearning to be free from our sin and from our fears 89 00:04:53,720 --> 00:04:57,240 and we have a yearning to be at rest with the Lord. 90 00:04:57,400 --> 00:05:00,640 Let's stand together as we sing Come thou long expected Jesus. 91 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:09,680 Now the Lord said to Abram, Go from your country and your 92 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:12,960 kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show 93 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:17,080 you, and I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless 94 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:20,760 you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 95 00:05:21,280 --> 00:05:25,400 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I 96 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:28,320 will curse. And in you all the families of 97 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:32,000 the earth shall be blessed. And the Angel of the Lord called 98 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:35,920 to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said by myself, I 99 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:39,800 have sworn, declares the Lord, Because you have done this, and 100 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:43,600 have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless 101 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:47,320 you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of 102 00:05:47,320 --> 00:05:50,360 heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. 103 00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:54,280 And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies. 104 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:57,600 And in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be 105 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:00,800 blessed, because you have obeyed my voice. 106 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:08,480 I really enjoy teaching history. I know that that's not something 107 00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:11,200 that a lot of people get into. From a lot of people, it's just 108 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:13,800 a bunch of dates about old people that are dead and gone. 109 00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:17,720 I enjoy teaching history because I enjoy when people connect 110 00:06:17,920 --> 00:06:20,600 something that's happened long time ago, you know, 20 years 111 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:23,080 ago, 200 years ago, 2000 years ago. 112 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:26,920 And when I'm able to say, look, the reason why we do this today 113 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:28,960 is because of what happened back then. 114 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:32,360 And for some people, the light comes on and they enjoy it. 115 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:34,640 For most people, they still sit there and think that it's a date 116 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:36,560 they have to memorize. So, OK, there you go. 117 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:39,240 But I enjoy teaching history because of the way in which it 118 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:42,520 connects. Along those lines, what happens 119 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:44,920 in the past affects us in the present. 120 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:46,760 That is, of course, absolutely true. 121 00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:49,680 When we come to Christmas, Christmas details for us a 122 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:53,400 historical event, something that happened 2000 years ago. 123 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:56,840 It happened 2000 years ago and yet we're all gathered together 124 00:06:56,840 --> 00:07:00,560 here today precisely because it happened 2000 years ago. 125 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:05,120 There's a historical reality and that reality continues to impact 126 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:09,680 and influence us even today. That is certainly the case when 127 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:11,880 it comes to singing a little town of Bethlehem. 128 00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:14,720 Many of you are going to know that hymn are going to be used 129 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:19,200 to that song, but note, the song actually carries with it not 130 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:21,840 just the historical realities. We're going to be talking about 131 00:07:21,840 --> 00:07:25,400 what happened 2000 years ago, but particularly when we come to 132 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:28,080 the fourth verse. We're going to talk about Christ 133 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:31,680 being born in US today. We are going to take what 134 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:34,880 happened 2000 years ago and recognize that it has an 135 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:38,160 influence, an impact in our lives even today. 136 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:40,720 A little town of Bethlehem. Let's stand and sing that 137 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:44,760 together. You may be seated. 138 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:56,360 The people walked in darkness have seen a great light, those 139 00:07:56,360 --> 00:07:58,480 who dwelt in a land of deep darkness. 140 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:02,760 On them the light shone. You have multiplied the 141 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:04,720 nation's, you have increased its joy. 142 00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:09,840 They rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are 143 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:14,320 glad when they divide the spoil for the yoke of his burden and 144 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:17,760 the staff for his shoulder. The rod of the oppressor you 145 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:19,720 have broken as on the day of Midian. 146 00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:23,640 For every Buddha, the tramping warrior in battle, tumult, and 147 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:26,960 every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the 148 00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:30,880 fire. For to us a child is born, to us 149 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:34,159 the son is given, and the government shall be upon his 150 00:08:34,159 --> 00:08:36,520 shoulder, and his name shall be called. 151 00:08:36,520 --> 00:08:41,679 Wonderful Counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of 152 00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:45,520 Peace, of the increase of His government and of peace, there 153 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:50,000 will be no end on the throne of David and over His Kingdom to 154 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:53,560 establish it and to uphold it with justice and with 155 00:08:53,560 --> 00:08:57,240 righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. 156 00:08:57,480 --> 00:09:00,360 The zeal of the Lord of Host will do this. 157 00:09:05,540 --> 00:09:10,520 To comma or not to comma, This is an esoteric biblical 158 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:13,760 question, but I think it's worth commenting here in verse 6, if 159 00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:15,960 you have the scriptures available, can we get verse 6 160 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:18,240 up? If you have verse 6 on the 161 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:21,720 Scriptures in this passage that Jerry just read for us, you will 162 00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:24,480 know that we have this idea that the sun is coming. 163 00:09:24,680 --> 00:09:27,960 This is Isaiah's anticipation of the coming of the Lord Jesus 164 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:30,600 Christ. And he says a son will be born 165 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:34,480 and we will call his name wonderful counselor, mighty God, 166 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:36,400 everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 167 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:39,000 Now some of you will know that in the original language, 168 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:40,800 Hebrew, Hebrew doesn't use commas. 169 00:09:41,040 --> 00:09:43,880 And so we kind of have to put them where we think that they 170 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:46,280 belong, etcetera. And there's a long standing 171 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:51,480 biblical question that about if there are four things, four 172 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:55,840 titles in Isaiah's mind or five. Is it wonderful counselor, 173 00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:59,160 mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, That's four. 174 00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:03,920 Or is it wonderful comma, counselor, comma, mighty God, 175 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:06,160 everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, five of them. 176 00:10:06,400 --> 00:10:09,120 In other words, when Isaiah has this picture of the newborn 177 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:12,800 Jesus, when he sees Jesus coming with the excitement of that 178 00:10:12,800 --> 00:10:16,160 Christmas morning that is working in Isaiah's heart 700 179 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:20,520 years before Christ was born, when Isaiah looks out and sees 180 00:10:20,520 --> 00:10:24,720 Jesus, He wants us to join with him and see what a wonderful 181 00:10:24,880 --> 00:10:27,960 counselor, Almighty God and everlasting Father, Prince of 182 00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:30,760 Peace. He wants us to see the Lord that 183 00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:33,240 way now. Does he want us to see Him? 184 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:37,160 Wonderful or as wonderful counselor, does he want us to 185 00:10:37,160 --> 00:10:40,600 look at the Lord Jesus and say, wow, look, here is a here is a 186 00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:44,080 counselor, a wise counselor that is wonderful and all that he 187 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:48,160 does Or does he want us to say, look at Jesus, he's wonderful, 188 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:51,640 look at Jesus, he's a counselor, look at Jesus. 189 00:10:51,640 --> 00:10:54,520 Now does it matter? I don't know if it matters or 190 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:57,800 not, but it certainly helps, I hope redirect our thoughts and 191 00:10:57,800 --> 00:11:01,160 our prayers. When we look at Jesus Christ, we 192 00:11:01,160 --> 00:11:05,160 are looking at someone who is wonderful, somebody who's a 193 00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:07,760 counselor, somebody who's Mighty God, Prince of Peace, 194 00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:10,600 Everlasting Father. Structurally, just so that you 195 00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:13,680 know, there's a little hint within the Hebrew itself that I 196 00:11:13,680 --> 00:11:17,120 think if you have, if you think of it in terms of five different 197 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:21,800 titles, the center title, Mighty God jumps off this page at you. 198 00:11:21,800 --> 00:11:25,920 That's a typical Hebrew trick and writing Hebrew scripture. 199 00:11:26,200 --> 00:11:29,800 And so I kind of lean towards the five titles, but if you hold 200 00:11:29,800 --> 00:11:32,720 the four, that's fine. The point is, how do we look at 201 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:36,520 Jesus that he is born? Well, Scripture also provides us 202 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:41,480 a summary name, something that encapsulates this idea of 203 00:11:41,680 --> 00:11:45,160 everlasting Father, mighty God, Prince of Peace, wonderful 204 00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:48,280 counselor. And that overarching name is 205 00:11:48,280 --> 00:11:51,320 Emmanuel. Emmanuel, God with us. 206 00:11:51,480 --> 00:11:55,120 Oh come, oh come, Emmanuel, let's sing together. 207 00:11:55,560 --> 00:12:02,960 You may be seated. There shall come forth a shoot 208 00:12:02,960 --> 00:12:06,600 from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear 209 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:10,720 fruit, and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the 210 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:13,800 spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of 211 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:17,880 counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the 212 00:12:17,880 --> 00:12:20,240 Lord. And his delight shall be in the 213 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:22,920 fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his 214 00:12:22,920 --> 00:12:27,000 eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with 215 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:31,200 righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for 216 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:33,960 the meek of the earth. And he shall strike the earth 217 00:12:33,960 --> 00:12:37,440 with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he 218 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:40,640 shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt 219 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:43,920 of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins. 220 00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:46,840 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie 221 00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:50,040 down with the young goat and the calf, and the lion and the 222 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:53,960 fatted calf together, and a little child shall lead them. 223 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:57,400 The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie 224 00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:00,920 down together, and the lion shall lead straw like the ox. 225 00:13:01,280 --> 00:13:04,680 The nursing child shall play over the whole of the cobra, and 226 00:13:04,680 --> 00:13:07,640 the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. 227 00:13:08,160 --> 00:13:12,320 They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for the 228 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:14,880 earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the 229 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:23,400 waters cover the earth, the sea. Isaiah looks 700 years in the 230 00:13:23,400 --> 00:13:27,880 future and he sees that first birth, that first Noel. 231 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:29,920 We're about to sing the first Noel together. 232 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:33,160 And if some of you will recognize, Noel comes from the 233 00:13:33,440 --> 00:13:37,040 old, old French term for Noel, which means nativity, which 234 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:39,600 means the first birth, the first coming. 235 00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:42,680 And so when we sing the first Noel, what we're talking about 236 00:13:42,680 --> 00:13:46,000 is we're directing everybody's attention back to the coming of 237 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:48,440 our Lord Jesus Christ, that first coming of the Lord Jesus 238 00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:49,920 Christ. Now, if you know the hymn, 239 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:52,160 you'll know that when we get to the chorus, we're going to sing 240 00:13:52,240 --> 00:13:54,440 Noel a bunch of different times. No, Well, no. 241 00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:55,200 Well, no. Well, no. 242 00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:56,480 OK. And it's kind of like we're 243 00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:57,720 going to sing it over and over again. 244 00:13:58,040 --> 00:14:00,000 And you got to kind of think, well, now why are we doing that? 245 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:02,320 Poetically, I guess maybe it makes sense musically. 246 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:05,160 Maybe it makes sense not not knowing either of those things. 247 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:08,040 I'm not really sure. But we sing that line over and 248 00:14:08,040 --> 00:14:10,320 over again. When you realize that what that 249 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:13,600 line means, Noel, Noel, it means he is born. 250 00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:17,040 He is born. And so you can imagine a bunch 251 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:19,720 of people running around together looking each other in 252 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:22,280 the eye going he is born, he is born, he is born. 253 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:25,200 That's what we're doing when we sing Noel, Noel, Noel over and 254 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:27,880 over again. And Old French, we're saying he 255 00:14:27,880 --> 00:14:29,040 is born. He is born. 256 00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:31,640 Now the verses kind of step through the traditional 257 00:14:31,640 --> 00:14:34,200 Christmas story. We talk about the angels coming, 258 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:36,680 we talk about the shepherds coming, we talk about the wise 259 00:14:36,680 --> 00:14:38,920 men coming. And the point of each one of 260 00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:43,040 those is Noel. They're all saying he is born. 261 00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:45,760 He is born there with the excitement and enthusiasm. 262 00:14:46,120 --> 00:14:48,760 And then you get to the last verse, which is now we're 263 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:52,040 supposed to join in that chorus and sing as well. 264 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:53,600 He is born. He is born. 265 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:55,320 So we're supposed to look at each other all the time. 266 00:14:55,480 --> 00:14:57,240 And I don't want you to do this because that'd be weird. 267 00:14:57,360 --> 00:14:59,360 But while we're singing this song, we're supposed to be 268 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:01,400 running around going he is born, He's born. 269 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:04,240 That kind of enthusiasm, that kind of excitement is supposed 270 00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:07,600 to pour forth from us so that we can't really say anything else. 271 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:09,440 We're all just saying he is born. 272 00:15:09,680 --> 00:15:14,120 Noel, Noel, let's stay seated and sing the first note. 273 00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:18,560 In the sixth month the Angel Gabriel was sent from God to a 274 00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:22,600 city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin be tried to a man 275 00:15:22,600 --> 00:15:26,240 whose name was Joseph of the House of David, and the virgin's 276 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:29,480 name was Mary. And he came to her and said, 277 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:33,080 Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you. 278 00:15:33,680 --> 00:15:36,520 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern 279 00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:38,840 what sort of greeting this might be. 280 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:43,880 And the Angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you 281 00:15:43,880 --> 00:15:47,400 have found favor with God, and behold, you will conceive in 282 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:51,400 your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 283 00:15:51,920 --> 00:15:55,080 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High. 284 00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:58,080 And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father 285 00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:02,120 David, and he will reign over the House of Jacob Forever, and 286 00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:04,000 of his Kingdom there will be no end. 287 00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:08,360 And Mary said to the Angel, How will this be, since I am a 288 00:16:08,360 --> 00:16:11,120 virgin? And the Angel answered her, The 289 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:14,520 Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High 290 00:16:14,520 --> 00:16:17,640 will over shadow you. Therefore the child to be born 291 00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:20,120 will be called holy, the Son of God. 292 00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:24,080 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has 293 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:28,240 also conceived a son, and this is the 6th month with her who 294 00:16:28,240 --> 00:16:32,240 has, who was called barren? For nothing will be impossible 295 00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:36,720 with God. And Mary said, Behold, I am the 296 00:16:36,720 --> 00:16:40,560 servant of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word. 297 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:48,560 And the Angel departed from her. Do you know how preachers always 298 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:52,560 use rhetorical questions? That was funny. 299 00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:54,440 That was supposed to be funny. You know how preachers always 300 00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:57,520 use rhetorical questions? There you go. 301 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:01,680 Preachers always use rhetorical questions for the simple reason 302 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:04,599 that rhetorical questions evoke a kind of emotion. 303 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:07,480 They evoke something that words have a hard time describing. 304 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:11,280 Words can't articulate. Sometimes the things that you 305 00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:14,560 use a rhetorical question in it and it kind of leads the leads 306 00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:17,480 the congregation, the audience to go ahead and formulate their 307 00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:20,280 own thoughts, the only ideas of these kind of things. 308 00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:26,839 William Dix lived in the 1850s, was an insurance salesman and 309 00:17:26,839 --> 00:17:31,080 was moderately successful at it. But he was having some very 310 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:34,200 strong difficulties in his life when he ran into a preacher of 311 00:17:34,200 --> 00:17:38,000 the gospel who communicated the gospel message to him and late 312 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:41,040 in life turned his life around and he gave his life over to the 313 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:44,040 Lord. In response to that, Dix wrote 314 00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:47,680 numerous poems and hymns, and one of them is one that we're 315 00:17:47,680 --> 00:17:51,760 going to capture together here when we sing What Child Is this? 316 00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:55,080 Now, what Dicks is saying is he's not asking a question. 317 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:57,400 He doesn't. He's not sure what childhood is. 318 00:17:57,600 --> 00:18:01,440 What he's trying to do is capture the overwhelming awe, 319 00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:06,360 the overwhelming excitement, the thrill of seeing Jesus Christ 320 00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:10,720 born to this world, to see Christ come to this earth as God 321 00:18:10,720 --> 00:18:13,920 himself. And so here we have the Dicks 322 00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:16,240 saying, what child is this? And he asks a series of 323 00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:18,080 questions. We're going to ask a series of 324 00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:20,880 questions when we sing this hymn together, but all of the 325 00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:24,520 questions are rhetorical, as we know the answer to them there is 326 00:18:24,520 --> 00:18:28,760 intended to evoke that awe, wonder, amazement that captured 327 00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:31,880 Dix's heart and I trust captures yours as well. 328 00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:34,200 Let's remain seated together as we sing. 329 00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:39,840 What child is it? In those days the decree went 330 00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:42,840 out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be 331 00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:45,800 registered. This was the first registration 332 00:18:45,800 --> 00:18:49,280 when Kyrenius was governor of Syria and all went to be 333 00:18:49,280 --> 00:18:51,760 registered, each to his own town. 334 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:55,000 And Joseph also went up from Galilee from the town of 335 00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:58,680 Nazareth to Judea to the city of David, which is called 336 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:03,040 Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David to be 337 00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:06,120 registered with Mary his betrothed, who was with child. 338 00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:10,240 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth, 339 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:13,960 and she gave birth to her first born son and wrapped him in 340 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:17,640 swabbing claws and laid him in a Manger because there was no 341 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:24,800 place for them in the inn. So first you have Christmas 342 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:28,240 gifts, then you have Christmas food, then you have Christmas 343 00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:31,960 trauma when you try to make everything that you bought fit. 344 00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:36,280 It's always a trauma for me because getting things to fit is 345 00:19:36,280 --> 00:19:38,280 not what I necessarily enjoy doing. 346 00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:41,280 Kelly buys me clothing and then we go through the afternoon of 347 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:43,960 saying, how do we make this fit on my body? 348 00:19:44,840 --> 00:19:47,600 So the trauma is, of course, that I want something that looks 349 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:50,920 good, I want something that feels good, I want something 350 00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:54,200 that is good quality, et cetera. That's kind of what I'm looking 351 00:19:54,200 --> 00:19:58,480 for across the board. Nothing fits as well to the text 352 00:19:58,480 --> 00:20:01,080 in which we've been reading than the song we're about to sing. 353 00:20:01,080 --> 00:20:03,840 Angels we have heard on high. It fits. 354 00:20:04,240 --> 00:20:07,800 Wonderfully, there's a wonderful pattern of what the song in 355 00:20:07,800 --> 00:20:10,080 which we're about to sing which captures all the stories in 356 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:12,280 which we've been talking about. Now, most of them you're going 357 00:20:12,280 --> 00:20:15,360 to be familiar with. Most of these steps that we're 358 00:20:15,360 --> 00:20:17,640 going to take are things that you're going to be common 359 00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:20,720 knowledge for you. But as I sit and I look at it, 360 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:23,280 it reminds me of some of the things in which we're saying 361 00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:27,680 Gloria in Excelsis Deo. Now, many of you have sung those 362 00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:29,920 words over and over again, and you've probably wondered what 363 00:20:29,920 --> 00:20:31,520 they are, as maybe you've known them. 364 00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:35,480 Glory to God in the highest and once again we step through that 365 00:20:35,480 --> 00:20:38,760 the angels sing this, then the shepherds sing this, then the 366 00:20:38,920 --> 00:20:42,520 wise men sing this and then we sing this all together. 367 00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:47,200 Gloria in Excelsior's Deo glory to God in the highest and the 368 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:50,720 imagery is the line that the begins with angels we have heard 369 00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:52,800 on high. By the way, the on high there 370 00:20:52,960 --> 00:20:56,240 angels we have heard in heaven, angels we've ever heard in 371 00:20:56,240 --> 00:20:58,000 heaven. And then you go to the shepherds 372 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:00,960 in the fields. Then you go to the wise men on 373 00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:03,280 on distant lands. Then you come straight home to 374 00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:06,920 us and say, just like all of those groups are saying glory to 375 00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:10,520 God in the highest, so should we sing glory to God in the 376 00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:12,520 highest. Let's stand and sing glory to 377 00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:16,240 God. You may be seated, and in the 378 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:19,160 same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch 379 00:21:19,160 --> 00:21:22,640 over their flock by night, and an Angel of the Lord appeared to 380 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:25,800 them, and the glory of the Lord shown around them, and they were 381 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:30,160 filled with great fear. And the Angel said to them, Fear 382 00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:34,400 not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will 383 00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:37,760 be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in 384 00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:41,560 the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord, and this 385 00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:44,560 will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in 386 00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:46,680 swathing claws and lying in a Manger. 387 00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:50,280 And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the 388 00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:54,560 heavenly host, praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the 389 00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:57,920 highest, and an earth peace among those with whom he is 390 00:21:57,920 --> 00:22:00,360 pleased. When the angels went away from 391 00:22:00,360 --> 00:22:04,240 them into heaven, the shepherd said to one another, Let us go 392 00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:07,400 over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which 393 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:11,120 the Lord has made known to us. And they went with haste, and 394 00:22:11,120 --> 00:22:14,800 found Mary and Joseph and the Babe lying in a Manger. 395 00:22:18,120 --> 00:22:21,880 The hymn Angels from the Realms of Glory, The realms of Glory is 396 00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:24,480 obviously heaven. You may never have thought about 397 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:26,160 that. It took me to studying the hymn 398 00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:27,840 to realize that's what was happening. 399 00:22:27,840 --> 00:22:31,200 Angels in the realms of Glory, in the realms of glory in 400 00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:33,600 heaven. They are proclaiming this, and 401 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:35,840 then the shepherds are proclaiming this, and the wise 402 00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:37,680 men are proclaiming this. And what are they all 403 00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:39,840 proclaiming? They are all proclaiming what? 404 00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:41,200 We're going to sing here a few minutes. 405 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:43,640 Come and worship. Two things. 406 00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:47,760 Come and worship. Now the idea of come is what? 407 00:22:47,760 --> 00:22:50,680 What that's we're talking to each other, we're looking at 408 00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:52,080 each other. You're looking at your 409 00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:55,560 neighbors, you're looking at your family members, you're 410 00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:57,600 looking at the people that you work with. 411 00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:01,360 You're looking at the folks that you come in contact with all the 412 00:23:01,360 --> 00:23:03,000 time. And you're saying, come, if 413 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:08,160 there's every time where you can say come, it is Christmas time. 414 00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:11,640 It is a time where people associate with church to where 415 00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:13,280 they associate with Jesus Christ. 416 00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:16,200 If you've got somebody in your mind and you need to have 417 00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:19,560 somebody in your mind that you want to be able to say to them, 418 00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:23,880 come, let's worship together, this is the perfect time to do 419 00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:26,160 it. But it's not just come, it's 420 00:23:26,160 --> 00:23:30,320 come and worship. Come and gather together in 421 00:23:30,320 --> 00:23:31,600 worship. That's what we do. 422 00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:34,480 When we gather together and we praise the Lord, we are 423 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:37,120 worshiping him. We also do that through our 424 00:23:37,120 --> 00:23:39,320 prayers. We urge you to be spending time 425 00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:42,760 praying this this break with your family, with your friends, 426 00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:45,920 with those you gather with. We ask that you would read the 427 00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:49,800 scriptures with with together, for this is how we worship the 428 00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:52,000 Lord together. We also worship the Lord by 429 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:54,840 giving of ourselves. There are immense needs out 430 00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:57,440 there for us to meet each and every one of them. 431 00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:01,160 So seek the ways in which you can worship the Lord faithfully. 432 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:04,600 Come and worship angels. We angels from the realms of 433 00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:06,360 glory. Let's stand and worship, and as 434 00:24:06,360 --> 00:24:09,400 we do, the ushers will come through and collect our offer 435 00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:11,920 offerings as well. Let's pray for the offering. 436 00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:15,680 Lord, we do ask for your blessing upon the gifts in which 437 00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:18,240 we give. We ask, Lord, that you use it 438 00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:21,200 for the furthering of your Kingdom, so that collectively we 439 00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:24,280 would join the angels in the realms of glory and all of the 440 00:24:24,280 --> 00:24:28,400 Christmas characters by coming along one side of another and 441 00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:31,040 saying, come, let us worship Him. 442 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:33,640 Come, let us worship Him. Amen. 443 00:24:37,760 --> 00:24:45,880 You may be seated now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of 444 00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:50,120 Judea, in the days of Herod the King, behold, wise men from the 445 00:24:50,120 --> 00:24:53,880 East came to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he who has been born 446 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:56,760 King of the Jews? For we saw his star when it 447 00:24:56,760 --> 00:24:58,560 rose, and have come to worship him. 448 00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:03,240 When Herod heard the King. When Herod the King heard this, 449 00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:06,720 he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him, and 450 00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:09,800 assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he 451 00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:12,240 inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 452 00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:15,160 They told him in Bethlehem of Judea. 453 00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:17,760 For so it is written by the prophet. 454 00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:22,080 And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judea, are by no means least 455 00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:25,520 among the rulers of Judah. For from you shall come a ruler 456 00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:27,760 who will shepherd my people Israel. 457 00:25:28,360 --> 00:25:31,400 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from 458 00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:33,720 them what time the star had appeared. 459 00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:37,920 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, Go and search diligently 460 00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:42,000 for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word that I 461 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:45,880 too may come and worship him. After listening to the King, 462 00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:48,600 they went on their way, and behold, the star that they had 463 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:52,400 seen when it rose, went before them, until it came to rest over 464 00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:56,080 the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they 465 00:25:56,080 --> 00:25:59,840 rejoiced exceedingly with great joy, And going into the house 466 00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:03,480 they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and 467 00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:06,120 worshipped him. Then opening their treasures, 468 00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:10,360 they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 469 00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:15,040 There's so many characters in the Christmas story that we 470 00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:17,680 could emulate. Of course we should emulate the 471 00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:19,160 angels. I've already mentioned that we 472 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:21,880 need to go around saying Noel, Noel to everybody. 473 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:25,440 We can emulate the shepherds who go and see what is taking place. 474 00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:29,080 But the imagery that often comes to mind is emulating is 475 00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:30,920 following the example of the wise men. 476 00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:34,760 Wise men still seek him is a catch phrase, and I believe it. 477 00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:37,920 Wise men following after the wise men is an appropriate 478 00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:41,040 model, something we should learn, something that we can 479 00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:43,240 pick up when we follow the Christmas story. 480 00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:47,000 But if we focus too much on following the wise men, we will 481 00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:50,560 miss the point. We're about to sing Oh come All 482 00:26:50,560 --> 00:26:53,960 Ye Faithful. And the idea of following those 483 00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:56,120 who are faithful, Oh come All Ye Faithful. 484 00:26:56,360 --> 00:27:00,280 The emphasis is not on what the faithful are doing, but sorry, 485 00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:04,280 not on on who the faithful are, but on what they are doing. 486 00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:08,880 We are going to adore him. That's what all of the biblical 487 00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:11,760 characters were driven to do, to adore him. 488 00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:14,760 That's what we need to be doing as well, to come. 489 00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:18,160 Let us adore him together. Let's sing, O Come all ye faith. 490 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:26,720 May be seated in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was 491 00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:30,480 with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with 492 00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:32,680 God. All things were made through 493 00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:36,120 Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. 494 00:27:36,680 --> 00:27:39,680 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 495 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:43,000 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has 496 00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:46,480 not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, 497 00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:50,040 whose name was John. He came as a witness to bear 498 00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:53,400 witness about the light that all might believe through Him. 499 00:27:53,640 --> 00:27:57,360 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. 500 00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:01,040 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming 501 00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:03,440 into the world. He was in the world, and the 502 00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:07,160 world was made through Him. Yet the world did not know Him. 503 00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:11,920 He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him, but 504 00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:15,800 to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave 505 00:28:15,800 --> 00:28:19,320 the right to become children of God who were born not of blood, 506 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:22,920 not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of 507 00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:25,320 God. And the Word became flesh and 508 00:28:25,320 --> 00:28:29,760 dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only 509 00:28:29,760 --> 00:28:33,160 Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 510 00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:38,160 We end, of course, where we should, with joy to the world. 511 00:28:38,640 --> 00:28:41,160 Joy to the world. And yet, as you go through the 512 00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:43,520 hymn, you'll notice that we're doing two different things. 513 00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:47,280 We are saying joy to the world. God has come to earth and has 514 00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:51,040 brought joy, joy to the world. But we are also capturing the 515 00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:54,520 image that because Christ has come to this world, the world 516 00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:58,520 itself is full of joy. It is the joy of the world. 517 00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:01,360 Let's stand together as we close out our time together singing 518 00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:06,680 Noel. Noel, he is born, Amen. 519 00:29:07,080 --> 00:29:10,840 Let us go from this place so that we can tell others to come. 520 00:29:11,120 --> 00:29:13,680 Let us adore him together. Amen.