[0:00] Merry Christmas! I'm sure you've already said it to one another, but just say hello, Merry Christmas to somebody just next to you or behind you they haven't spoken to, and we're already settling down.
[0:18] Good, well done. Can you believe it? Can you believe it's Christmas Day? And what a beautiful day it is, what a fantastic day it is. And of course for us, the words of the angels to the shepherds are particularly pertinent. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you. He is the Messiah, the Lord. Now we know that Christmas Day is just a day we mark to remember the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, but it is a special day and a joyful day. So let's sing our first carol this morning. Christians awake! Salute the happy morn on which the Saviour of the world was born. 201, stand as we sing.
[1:16] Christians awake! Salute the happy morn on which the Saviour of the world was born. Christ to adore the Lord, the Lord is the Savior of the world was born. Christians awake!
[1:29] Christians awake! Salute the happy morn on which the Saviour of the world was born. Christ to adore the mystery of God. Christ to adore the joy of God. Greatest hosts of angels shouting from above. May them be joined in the 120 foreigners throughout. The glory of the prayed and words of the Lord.
[1:44] Lord Jesus, God willing to know for the honor of the Hから, in Thrilla of the Lord, the God willing to mention for the left of a heart. Now a service to Ch saved, that made Speaking of God. O Lord Phil answers theери of the 차, Son into growing manage for주고. S 나오는 grace was born. God willing to go ahead and p.M.
[1:57] Son into sustenance was born. Do not have a great morn on which the Saviour of the Arm. CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS
[3:06] CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS
[4:07] CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS This way Say by his love Incessant we shall sing
[5:10] Eternal praise to heaven Almighty Please do sit down Let's pray together Let us pray On this day O Lord our God We come to you With grateful thanks And with exceeding joy For we know O Lord That this day is to us A celebration day A jubilant day A joyful day A wonderful day Lord it is the day That we rejoice in And remember That your son The Lord Jesus Christ Came to us He became God with us Thank you that we Are assured By this day That you are the living God The true God The God who interacts In this world The God who is involved In our lives The God who cares
[6:12] For us Though we give you No time And care for you At any other time Lord we thank you That this day Stops us in our tracks From the busyness Of life And causes us To think And to remember That you are the God Who sent your son To be the saviour Of the world But more importantly Our saviour My saviour To rescue us And to restore us To yourself To bring us Into all the blessings Of heaven To bring us Into all the joy Of fellowship With God We pray that this day As we enjoy Many good things Good company And good food And good drink Perhaps even good TV Lord we pray That we may not forget The good gift Of Jesus And enjoy you For all that you are And all that you've done For us Bless our time This morning we pray Help us as we sing These carols And as we rejoice In your gifts Help us as we think again Upon the wonder Of your love
[7:12] Given to us in Jesus Help us to be people Who know Lord The joy of Christ This Christmas we ask For we ask it all In his name Amen That we're going to read From our Bibles So please turn with me If you would To Isaiah And chapter 9 Isaiah And chapter 9 And if you have A church Bible Then that's page 694 Page 694 We're going to read From verse 1 Through to verse 7 Of Isaiah chapter 9 Nevertheless There will be no more gloom For those who were In distress In the past He humbled The land of Zebulun The land of Naphtali But in the future He will honor Galilee of the nations
[8:13] By the way of the sea Beyond the Jordan The people walking In darkness Have seen a great light On those living In the land Of deep darkness A light has dawned You have enlarged The nation And increased their joy They rejoice Before you As people rejoice At the harvest As warriors rejoice In dividing The plunder For as in the day Of Midian's defeat You've shattered The yoke That burdens them The bar across Their shoulders The rod of their oppressor Every warrior's boot Used in battle And every garment Rolled in blood Will be destined For burning Will be fuel For the fire For to us A child is born To us A son is given And the government Will be on his shoulders He will be called Wonderful counselor Mighty God Everlasting father Prince of peace Of the increase Of his government
[9:13] And peace There will be no end He will reign On David's throne And over his kingdom Establishing And upholding it With justice And righteousness From that time on And forever The zeal Of the Lord almighty Will accomplish This Well let's sing together Our next chorus It's going to be In the purple book The smaller book Love came down At Christmas And we'll take up Our offering As we sing This song together One Two hundred and fifty We have so very little Let's pray
[10:14] Let's give thanks For what we've received Let's remember those Who have so little Too in prayer Oh Lord our God We're so grateful For friends and family We're so grateful For gifts We're so grateful For being able to share And Lord we thank you For all these Very real blessings That we so often Take for granted But they're Tokens of your love And care for us And we realise That we are so blessed And we want to be So thankful And we want to be So thankful But Lord we want to remember Again those who have So very little At this time of year We think of those Who in our own country Are homeless And we thank you For those who are Extending love And care to them Through Salvation Army And many other charities too Where there will be meals And presents And gifts We think of those people Particularly in Indonesia Lord Those many many hundreds Lord Who are still missing And those who have Lost loved ones And homes And families People who already
[11:14] Had so little Now have less than little And we do again Pray that those Who are caring for And helping And supporting them May be given Your help too And we do praise you And thank you For those Christians And churches In Indonesia Who no doubt Even this Christmas Will be showing love And care We pray Lord Again that you Would make us So thankful And grateful And that Lord You would especially Give us hearts Of thankfulness For the gift Of your Son The Lord Jesus We ask your blessing Upon this Christmas day In Jesus name Amen Amen Let's sing another Carol together It's number 200 In our ordinary books 200 Child in the manger Infant of Mary Outcast and stranger Lord of all Let's stand and sing hungry What's part of us We love this Faith That Christmas Of presents Connect
[12:16] Inside Whether March It's Qurt USA 것도 Wow It is Dear Oh That Christmas We are You mulher fleet 숨 And 하는 Angels behold it on his throne Will be our Savior of all that praises
[13:20] Happy forever on his throne Please sit down.
[13:33] So, it's Christmas Day. It's arrived. At last, after all these weeks, months even, anticipation and preparation, expectation and speculation and spending money, Christmas Day is here.
[14:00] At last, the presents can be opened. Perhaps some of us have already opened our presents. Some may have presents yet to be opened. Food can be consumed that we've bought and stored away and frozen.
[14:13] TV can be watched. Friendships can be renewed. Today, it's a culmination. The coming together. The climax of all those weeks, those months of preparation.
[14:25] And so it was at the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose entrance into the world we especially celebrate today. The baby who was born to Mary in that stable was the high point of human history.
[14:41] On that day, the everlasting God stepped into time and space as the child Jesus Christ.
[14:53] God's greatest love gift took his first breath of this world's air. But why a baby?
[15:04] Why a child? This event in history. This amazing occurrence. This testimony to God's love. Why a baby?
[15:16] There's three simple reasons I want to think about very briefly this morning that come from the reading we had in Isaiah in chapter 9 about what Christmas morning is all about and why God's greatest gift to this world is the child we know as Jesus.
[15:35] Well, first of all, a child or a baby is an expectation fulfilled, isn't it? When a lady is pregnant, and there's one here today at least, to maybe more, I don't know, but I hope they know.
[15:51] We say that they're expecting. Mum is expecting. There's those months, those long months, some of them, especially, no doubt, near the end, he says, speaking from experience, those long months of carrying the child before the child is seen, before the child is heard, before the child is enjoyed.
[16:13] They are days of promise, looking forward and expectation. And when the baby is born, of course, the expectation is fulfilled. Expecting, looking forward to.
[16:26] Looking forward to and preparing, of course, as well, isn't it? Nursery has to be painted, doesn't it, David? Yeah. The jumpers have to be knitted, don't they, Joyce?
[16:36] And the cot has to be put together. That's the fun bit. Before the day arrives. And so with the Lord Jesus Christ, that child was the culmination of expectation, the fulfillment of God's promises.
[16:54] Even here we have them in Isaiah in chapter 9. For to us a child is given. Hundreds of years before the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, he was promised.
[17:05] And the people of God, for thousands of years, were expecting him and looking forward to him. And everything that God was doing was preparing for that day. The whole of the Old Testament is about God preparing his people, preparing the world for the day when he, the Son of God, would step onto the stage of history, when he would break in to our world.
[17:32] Promise. The promise of God is in Jesus. In fact, all the promises of God are in Jesus. Paul, when he writes to the Christians in his letter, he says, For no matter how many promises God has made, they are yes in Christ.
[17:50] Dear friends, if we are celebrating Christmas because it is God who's come amongst us in the Lord Jesus Christ, then we are celebrating the fact that we have a God who keeps his promises.
[18:00] A God who is faithful and dependable and reliable. And in fact, all the promises of God's word in the Bible are ours. To receive and to act upon and to look to God.
[18:13] To keep promises. A child is an expectation fulfilled. Promise kept. Do you doubt God?
[18:24] Do you think that he will let you down? Do you think that he won't keep his promises? Well, Christmas says otherwise. God fulfills promises. Do you trust him?
[18:35] Put your faith in him. Then you know that this is true. But also, of course, when a baby is born, it means there's an entrance of new life into the world.
[18:47] And the entrance of life into the world, to us, a son is given. What is the birth of a child? It's another life added into the world.
[18:58] Added into humanity. A new life. It's a new life for a mom and dad. A new life for brothers and sisters. A new life for grand and grandparents.
[19:10] A new life for the community. New life to the whole human race has come at the birth of a child. And things are never going to be the same again. So the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ was the giving of the gift of life to the world.
[19:27] Notice we're told, to us, a son is given. Who's us? Humanity, the world. God has given his son. A gift of life.
[19:39] And it's not just another human life, special and wonderful as it is. We know that this life is the divine life. For he will be called mighty God.
[19:52] God's life injected into the world. God's life given for the world. Yes, in that child. Was the one from whom all life came.
[20:06] He was the creator of all things, we're told. He was the one who upholds us all. Who gives life to us all. Every moment, every breath is a gift from God.
[20:19] What a change that one child's life brought to the world as we know it. Our calendars are set to the year of his birth.
[20:30] Throughout the world. Our world has been totally and radically and completely and permanently transformed by this child's life entering the world.
[20:44] new life. New life. New life. But for those who received him even more so. For those who celebrate Christmas as the coming of the Lord Jesus, their Savior, then there is new life.
[20:59] Here's what John writes. Christmas. To those who received him. To those who believed in his name. He gave the right to become children of God. Christmas is about God giving his son, his son to become a child for us.
[21:17] But it means that we become children of God through his coming into the world. We enter into the wonderful relationship with God and friendship with God. New life.
[21:29] Transforming life. A changed life. That's why when Isaiah speaks about the coming of this child, he speaks about how the whole of the people's attitude will change.
[21:40] Those in darkness will now be in the light. Those who are in distress are now in a place of joy. You've enlarged and increased their joy. They rejoice before you. That's why Christmas is a happy time, a rejoicing time.
[21:55] Because Jesus came to transform. To bring an end to war. To bring peace. To bring life.
[22:06] What about you this Christmas? Have you received the gift of life that is in Jesus Christ? Fullness of life. Child is the entrance of life.
[22:21] And thirdly and finally here, you see child, a child is born, brings hope for an exciting future. Hope for an exciting future. Every baby that's born into the world carries hope for the future.
[22:35] What will they become? Will there be a great scientist who brings a cure for some terrible disease? Will there be a great world leader on the stage? Will there be an inventor?
[22:48] Will they be a professor? Will they be, who knows? Will they be a parent themselves one day? Or a grandparent themselves a day? We know that when a child is born, there's a great effect upon the family for their future.
[23:02] Our lives are immediately changed. Get ready. Miriam and David. Sleepless nights. Unpleasant smells. And a lot of noise.
[23:18] There's a future. And it's changed. And it's changed. But of course, with that child, there comes the possibility of future blessing. Joy is untold for the parent.
[23:30] Joy is untold for the family. Perhaps joy is untold for the world. Each child has an unlimited capacity of hope. In that babe, in that child, in that small bundle, there is a possibility of anything and everything.
[23:49] But so with the Lord Jesus Christ, born into that stable, born as a child, but born with a future hope, an exciting future, of the greatness of his government and peace, there will be no end.
[24:03] He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time forth and forever. This child in the stable was the king of the universe.
[24:17] Was coming to establish a kingdom. A kingdom which was totally different to anything in this world. A kingdom which would have an end to death and warfare. A kingdom that would have an end to darkness and despair.
[24:31] A bright future. Those living in the land of deep darkness are light as dawn. Aren't we sick of the darkness?
[24:42] Of the despair? Of the sadness? Of the sorrow? Of the warfare? Aren't we afraid of the possibility of death? Christ has come, the child, with a future hope, an exciting future, an everlasting kingdom, we're told.
[25:01] What's your future hope for 2019? What's your future hope for the months and years ahead? Christ is the prospect of future excitement and hope.
[25:18] The expectation of life here and beyond. Unending, unceasing. To us, this prophet says, to us a child is born.
[25:31] The question is, is he born for you? He has come to save you. He has come into the world that you may have promises untold and undreamed of.
[25:44] That you might have life transformed and full. That you might have a future which is everlasting and hopeful. To you a child is given.
[25:57] Receive him this Christmas. Receive him as yours. As your king. As your Lord. As your God. That this Christmas may be.
[26:08] All and more than you hope for. Well let's sing our final carol this morning. Oh come all ye faithful.
[26:19] Joyful and triumphant. Come ye. Come ye. To Bethlehem. We'll sing all four verses. And remain standing at the end. 209. Let's stand, let's see.
[26:29] Thank you.
[26:59] Thank you.
[27:29] Thank you. Thank you.
[28:01] Thank you. Thank you.
[29:01] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[29:35] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[29:47] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Amen.
[30:01] The great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.
[30:17] Amen.