["Pomp and Circumstance"]
All right, well, thanks for coming tonight, everybody,
for our panel-like service.
We're glad you're all here.
Merry Christmas to all of you,
and again, appreciate you being here.
Let's go ahead and open up with a quick word of prayer.
Dear Lord, again, thank you for this time of year
when we come to celebrate your birth,
and Lord, remember the greatest gift
that's been given to us through salvation,
through not only the birth, but also the death
and burial of your son.
I pray you help us to remember that tonight
and honor you in the coming year.
We ask these things in Christ's name, Amen.
So I'll just briefly go over a few things
before we get started.
It's not going to be a long service tonight,
and first of all, just a reminder,
if you would please silence your cell phones at this time.
We don't want to have any of those go off.
We know how embarrassing that is,
so just a reminder, go ahead and shut those off.
Turn them on silent.
And then basically, we're just going to have
Brother Gabriel and Brother Andrew
take turns reading and singing some songs.
So all the songs are going to be out of the hymnal
in front of you tonight.
So Brother Andrew, when he comes up,
we'll announce the song,
and then Brother Gabriel will be doing all the reading,
just a few passages tonight going over the Christmas story.
And at the very end, of course,
we'll have the lighting of candles.
We'll shut the lights off.
But it'll still get very dark in here,
so by the time you get through,
it came upon a midnight clear,
you're probably going to want to be in your seat
if you have to get up
because you might be stumbling in the darkness,
or you wouldn't want that.
So we're going to have the lighting of candles at the end,
and then just another singing silent night,
and that'll be it.
So again, I appreciate everybody coming here
and helping us celebrate Christmas.
Hopefully, it's a good one for you,
and you're blessed for having been here tonight.
With that, we'll go ahead and begin
with the reading of Isaiah, chapter number nine.
Isaiah 9-6.
For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is born,
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsel,
Almighty God, the Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace,
and the increase of the government of peace
shall be no end, upon the throne of David,
and upon his kingdom, to order,
and to establish, to judge, and to justice,
from henceforth, even forever,
the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
Start ahead with the song number 424.
Song number 424,
O Come All Ye Faithful.
O come all ye faithful,
joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to faith.
Come and be forgiven,
born the King of me.
O come, let us adorn him,
in Christ the Lord.
Sing, O come, angels,
sing in exultation,
O speak, O be kind,
O stand there and adore.
Glory to God,
glory in the highest,
O come, let us adorn him,
in Christ the Lord.
Hey, glory be to Thee,
Lord, this happy morning,
Jesus, truly be the glory there.
Word of the Father,
thou with flesh of fear,
O come, let us adorn him,
in Christ the Lord.
Micah 5, verse 2,
But thou, Bethlehem, Ephrathah,
though thou be little among the thousands of Judah,
yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me,
that is, to be ruler in Israel,
whose goings forth have been from of old,
from everlasting.
Therefore will he give them up
until the time that she which travaileth
hath brought forth.
Then the remnant of his brethren
shall return unto the children of Israel,
and he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord,
God his Father,
and they shall abide,
for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.
Let's turn our hymnals to song number 423.
Song number 423, Joy to the World.
Joy to the world, the Lord is come,
let earth receive her King.
Let every heart prepare him food,
let heaven and nature sing,
let heaven and heaven, let heaven and nature sing.
Joy to the world, the Savior bring,
let heaven and nature sing,
let fields and floods,
rocks, hills, and plains,
give him the sounding joy,
give him the evening,
give him the sounding joy.
Long were the saints
their sorrows grew,
the Lord did best to dwell.
He comes to be great
with blessings full,
for as the curse is found,
He knows the world
best together,
and makes the nations prove,
the glories of his righteousness,
and wonders of his love,
and wonders of his love.
Luke 2 verse 4,
And Joseph also went up from Galilee
out of the city of Nazareth into Judea,
unto the city of David,
which is called Bethlehem,
because he was of the house and lineage of David,
to be taxed with Mary as his spouse's wife,
being great with child.
And so it was that while they were there,
the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
And she brought forth her firstborn son
and wrapped him in swaddling clothes
and laid him in a manger,
because there was no room for them in the inn.
Let's turn to song number 434.
Song 434, O Little Town of Bethlehem.
piano plays softly
O little town of Bethlehem,
How still we singing find,
O blood-like he gave dreamlessly,
The silent sky so wild,
Yea, thy dark streets shine,
They everlast me by,
The hopes and fears of all the years,
Are making me to come,
For Christ is born of every
And ever on the run,
On board the sleeping angels' skin,
Their hearts are one and one,
O Lord, each loss to heaven,
And the moving earth,
Let praises sing to the blood-cured,
And peace to men on earth,
How silently, how silently,
The wondrous gift is given,
So glad in hearts to heal in heart,
The blessing of his hand,
Though we may hear his calling,
But in this world of sin,
Where each soul will be speaking still,
The dear Christ, live to sing,
O holy child of Bethlehem,
He stands with us who pray,
Lest thou, our sin and victory,
Be born in us today,
We be the precious angels
That bring the time instead,
Hold on to us, O God,
With us, our Lord and anywhere.
Luke 2 verse 8
And they were in the same country,
Shepherds abiding in the field,
Keeping watch over their flock by night.
And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them,
And the glory of the Lord shone round about them,
And they were so afraid.
And the angel said unto them,
Fear not, for behold,
I bring you good tidings of great joy,
Which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David,
A Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
And it shall be a sign unto you,
Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes,
Lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel
A multitude of the heavenly hosts,
Praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men.
Let's turn our hymnals to song number 429.
Song 429, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.
Hark! The herald angels sing.
Glory to the newborn King.
Hark! The herald angels sing.
Glory to the newborn King.
Hark! The herald angels sing.
Glory to the newborn King.
Hail the herald angels sing.
Hail the sign of righteousness.
Hark! The herald angels sing.
Come, desire, with shows of light,
They sing us thy homely home.
Christ, the one whose home we've seen,
Whose deep waters we've sunk, yet to be.
Hallows, white birds, plowing rays,
Set by wind and chill its rays,
Set with arrows from above,
We here sing and sing thy call.
Hark! The herald angels sing.
Luke 2 verse 15
And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven,
The shepherd said one to another,
Let us now go even unto Bethlehem,
And see this thing which has come to pass,
Which the Lord hath made known unto us.
And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe, lying in a manger,
And when they had seen it, they made note abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child,
And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart,
And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God
For all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
Song number 428
It came upon a midnight clear
That glorious song of old
It came upon a midnight clear
That glorious song of old
From angels bending near the earth
To touch their hearts abroad
Peace on the earth, goodwill to men
From every gracious deal
The world is told, and still is made
To hear the angels sing
Still through the perfect skies they come
With these old wings on board
And still their heavy boots take post
For all the weary world
The world is set in the only place
They can on the wind
And ever, for it e'ers out
The blessed angels sing
Thank thee, thee, thee, life's crushing door
Whose swords are blending gold
With people's steps and stone
Look down to heaven and all around
Those filling on the wind
Oh, bless this high, the weary world
And feel the angels sing
For both the days are rich, react
Like love, live hard foretold
We'll live the ever so early years
Come, found the angel Lord
Where peace shall rule over all the earth
Praise the angels, land of fear
And of the world, give back the sun
Which now the angels sing
As the candles are lit, I'll light this one
And then, of course, I didn't bring my candle
But that's all right, I've got one here
Yeah, there we go
Nothing sets the mood like a Bic lighter, folks
I'm telling you
So as that goes around, I'll just read some verses
Regarding light
If I can see these verses, that is
I'll do my best
And of course, as the light goes around
It's representative of the fact that
This is how the gospel works
The light of the gospel is lit in one of our hearts
And then we spread it, hopefully, to our neighbor
And light that light in their heart as well
The Bible says in John 1
In the beginning was the Word
And the Word is with God, and the Word was God
The same was in the beginning with God
All things were made by Him
And without Him was not anything made that was made
In Him was life, and life was the light of men
And the light shineth in the darkness
And the darkness comprehended it not
There was a man sent from God whose name was John
The same came for a witness to bear witness of the light
That all men through Him might believe
He was not that light
But was sent to bear witness of that light
That was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world
He was in the world, and the world was made by Him
And the world knew Him not
He came unto His own, and His own received Him not
But as many as received Him, to them gave He power
To become the sons of God
Even to them that believe on His name
Which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh
Nor of the will of man, but of God
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt amongst us
We beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father
Full of grace and truth
Jesus said in John 8
I am the light of the world
He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness
But shall have the light of life
Said in John 12
Yet a little while is the light with you
Walk while ye have the light
That the darkness come upon you
For he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth
While ye have light, believe in the light
That ye may be children of the light
The Bible reminds us in James 1
Every good gift and every perfect gift
Is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights
With whom there is no variableness, neither shadow or turning
1 John 1, the Bible says
This then is the message which we have heard of him
And declare unto you that God is light
And in him is no darkness at all
If we say that we have fellowship with him
And walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth
But if we walk in the light
As he is in the light
We have fellowship one with another
And the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin
So of course I hope that everyone in the room tonight
Has that light in their hearts
The light of the truth of salvation
By grace through faith in Christ alone
And if you don't have that light
I hope that maybe you would take one of our church members aside
And ask how you can be saved
The Bible assures us that every single one of us
Can be 100% sure that heaven is going to be our home
When we die that we can walk in that light
And we can know the light of heaven when we get there
And I trust that's most people in the room
And to the rest I would say if you already know that you're saved
You're knowing your way to heaven
I hope that you have the light of fellowship in your life
That you, as it says in 1 John, love your brother
And I think that's important for us to always remember
Of course I was joking earlier today
This evening that around Christmas everyone's really nice
Aren't they?
Everyone's filled with joy
But then the New Year's come around and everyone starts their diet
And everyone starts to get cranky
And of course we're all being extra sweet
And we're all in a good mood
And hopefully we're all enjoying one another's fellowship
And hopefully that's something that we'll carry on into the New Year
And something that we'll experience through our lives
And I promised I wouldn't preach so let me just wrap up with a reminder
Again from 1 John regarding that
He says in chapter 2
Again a new commandment I write unto you
Which thing is true
Which thing is true in him and in you
Because the darkness is past and the true light now shineth
He that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother
Is in darkness even until now
He that loveth his brother abideth in the light
And there's none occasion of stumbling in him
But he that hateth his brother is in darkness
And walketh in darkness
And knoweth not whither he goeth
Because that darkness hath blinded his eyes
It's a sad thing when we have the light of Christ in our hearts
And we don't allow that love to shine out to our brother and sisters in Christ
So hopefully we'll do that in the coming year
I'm going to go ahead and close with a word of prayer
And then we'll sing with the candles still lit Silent Night
And then we'll just simply dismiss
You can blow out your candle
Set it in the seat next to you if you want to take it
Set it on the table on the way out
That's fine
We'll pick them up later
But let's close quickly in a word of prayer
And then we'll sing Silent Night
Dear Lord again, thank you again for these folks that have come out tonight
To honor you in this time of year
And your birth, Lord
And again I pray you'd help us to always be mindful of the great love
Wherewith you have loved us, Lord
And help us to show that love one to another
And to the lost in the coming year
And throughout our lives
We ask these things in Christ's name, Amen
Alright, we'll go ahead and sing Silent Night
Number 431 in our hymnal, Silent Night
Number 431
Holy, holy, holy, holy, holy,
Holy, holy, holy, holy,
Silent night, holy night
Shorebirds waiting at the sight
Waring streams of heaven Katie and Julie
Christ the Savior is born, Christ the Savior is born.
Silent night, holy night.
Son of God, blessed be thy God.
Praise be to thy holy King.
When the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord at thy birth.
Jesus, Lord at her birth.
Silent night, holy night.
Christ the Savior is born, Christ the Savior is born.
Christ the Savior is born.
Thank you for coming, everyone.
We are this way.
Jesus, Lord at her birth.