So if you're not 100% sure that you're saved,
that means know that you're going to heaven.
We'd like to talk to you about that if you are not sure
and you would like to know.
We'd be happy to speak with you about that.
We also have some ushers here.
They're the guys with the pins that say usher
on their jacket.
They can talk to you about that or about getting baptized.
We also have baptism right there.
Anybody that wants to get baptized
is more than welcome to do so.
We just require, the only thing that the Bible requires
is that you trust in Christ with all your heart.
So, and the various different social media platforms
that we stream on or below there,
and there's a little scan code right there
if you're just wanting to check out
what salvation is on your own,
and you just want to know what we believe.
You can scan that code to your phone,
and it just has an 11-minute presentation on the gospel.
Our service times are 10.30 a.m.
for our Sunday morning service,
Sunday evening service, 3.30 p.m.
Thursday Bible study, 6.30 p.m.
We just started the book of 2 Timothy
and we're gonna be in chapter number two
this coming Thursday, or no, we're not actually.
We're gonna be in, we're doing Wednesday service,
so don't let me confuse you.
I'm confusing myself.
Next two Wednesdays we're gonna have church,
so there will be no Thursday service
for the next two weeks, so sorry about that.
Or next two services on our Bible study week.
So anyway, I'll get to that in a minute.
But our sowing times are listed below.
We'll have sowing today,
but it'll probably be a little bit later than normal
because we have food in case you can't smell it back there.
So I'll try to hurry up my preaching today.
But those were famous last words for me.
But anyway, we also have the praise report.
You can see the salvation so far.
Baptisms and attendance, attendance is, yeah, okay.
And then our events.
Today we have the children singing in the choir.
Today we're gonna have a children's choir today.
We were gonna do it right after the offering,
but we had some church members break down
and some church members, their children,
we're gonna be in the choir with those people
that were helping out, the people whose cars broke down.
So they're just gonna be a little bit.
That's just gonna be the last thing we do
before the preaching.
So whoever's reading the Bible, brother CJ,
we'll just have the children's choir come up.
We'll change everything out.
And then after while we're changing everything,
then the Bible radio will be, then I'll be preaching, okay?
So just a little bit of a change there.
So we'll do the offering like normal,
and then we'll sing a song,
and then we'll have the children's choir,
and then I'll preach, okay?
Or the Bible reading, then preaching, so.
And let's see, we have the potluck right after the service.
It smells good, I'm excited about that.
And so we'll have that all set up.
Don't just go tear into everything.
When everything is ready,
then the ladies, whoever's in charge, probably my wife,
is gonna let me know, and then I'll let you know.
So let's see.
Then this coming Wednesday
is gonna be a candlelight service here, Christmas Eve,
6.30 p.m., our regular service times,
which would be on Thursday, will be Wednesday, 6.30 p.m.
Candlelight service, it won't be a long service,
but we will sing some songs, and it'll be,
I'll just preach a sermon, and then we'll be out of here.
So no church Thursday.
Then same thing with next Wednesday, after this Wednesday,
New Year's Eve service will be Wednesday night, 6.30 p.m.,
but you can get here early and play games,
and bring your favorite board game or whatever.
And we'll have some snacks and food,
and you can bring whatever snacks you want,
and you can play games and all that kind of stuff.
We'll just have a good time.
There'll be still a regular service
in between all that stuff.
We'll pray in the New Year,
and have a good time bringing in the New Year
in a safe way there.
So, and all the other stuff there is listed below there.
You can check that out.
And what family-integrated means is that
we just don't separate the children from the parents.
We have a mom/baby room back there,
so you can still see all the stuff that's going on
in the service, and the sound is pumped in there.
Back there's a dad/baby room.
You can't see through the wall there,
but you can still watch on the monitor
if you need to take your baby back there or your child.
So, and yeah, so we have those.
And then all the other stuff that's, you know,
all the little rules and regulations are listed below.
Ties and offerings that come in so far
at the end of the, for the month is at the bottom of the page.
Sean Harrington's birthday is the 21st
and then Carlos is the 26th.
So, I don't see, yeah, they're not here.
So we're going to skip the birthday singing
and then we're going to move on with the next song.
And then after that, we'll take up the offering.
Let's go ahead and sing another song about a bill.
All right, just turn a couple of pages over 274 in the blue.
It came upon a midnight clear.
Let's just come forward, brother.
I've got an extra song, trying to get the Herringtons in the door and do the kids chorus
sooner rather than later.
So if you turn to 134 in the blue, Christ liveth in me.
Just about out of Christmas songs first, you're going to have a children's chorus.
Open your Bibles to Luke chapter two.
Luke chapter number two, if you don't have a Bible, there should be one in the seat underneath
the seat in front of you, will be in Luke two.
Luke chapter two of the Bible reads, "And it came to pass in those days that there went
out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
And this taxing was first made with Cyreneus when Cyreneus was governor of Syria.
And all went to be taxed, every one, into his own city.
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, his espouse'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.
And there 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 sore 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 this shall be a sign unto you.
You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger."
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts, praising God insane, glory
to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
When it came to pass as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds
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 known abroad the same which was told them concerning
this child.
And all day that heard it wandered 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.
And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was
called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they
brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.
As it is written in the law of the Lord, every male that openeth the womb shall be called
holy to the Lord, and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law
of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons.
And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and the same man was
just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had
seen the Lord's Christ.
And he came by the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child
Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law.
Then took he him up in his arms and blessed God and said, "Lord, now let us thou thy servant
depart in peace according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou
hast prepared before the face of all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory
of thy people Israel."
And Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him.
And Simeon blessed them and said unto Mary his mother, "Behold, this child is set for
the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and a sign which shall be spoken against.
Yea, sword shall pierce through thy own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may
be revealed."
And there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Faneuil, of the tribe of Asher.
She was of a great age, and had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity.
And she was a widow of about four score and four years, which departed not from the temple,
but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
And she, coming in, that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him
to all that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.
And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into
Galilee to their own city Nazareth.
And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was
upon him.
Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover.
And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.
And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in
Jerusalem.
And Joseph and his mother knew not of it.
But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey, and they sought
him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance.
And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him.
And it came to pass that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in
the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions.
And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.
And when they saw him, they were amazed.
And his mother said unto him, "Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us?
Behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing."
And he said unto them, "How is it that ye sought me?
Wisst ye not that I must be about my father's business?"
And they understood not the same which he spake unto them.
And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them.
And his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.
And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.
Brother Eli, will you pray for us?
The title of the sermon this morning is "What Christmas is All About."
What Christmas is all about.
And I actually kind of get, it's kind of dumb, but I get the title of the sermon from
the Charlie Brown Christmas special.
I was thinking about it every year, I kind of think about it because it's actually one
of the Christmas specials that I actually like, and I watched it as a young child.
Who's ever watched that special?
Like most of the people here.
And you're like, if you don't know what I'm talking about, then you need to watch it.
But it's actually, Charlie Brown in the special is, he's trying to figure out what is Christmas
all about.
He doesn't know what Christmas means, doesn't know what it's all about.
And there comes a point in the special where he says, "Doesn't anybody know what Christmas
is all about?"
And then Linus, one of the characters, walks up and says, "I can tell you what Christmas
is all about."
And so that's kind of the premise of why I decided to preach this.
But I mean, Linus comes up and he says, "Lights, please," and he's on a stage at their school
or whatever.
And then he begins to recite this passage in Luke chapter 2, and he reads, I believe,
verses 8 through 14, and just straight, just reads that passage, and that's the passage
I want to focus on.
I'm going to get my points out of this morning.
But unfortunately, today, a lot of people observe the Christmas holiday but don't know
or don't care what Christmas is all about.
And unfortunately, even Christians can lose track for the reason that we actually celebrate
Christmas and we can get lost in just thinking about what we're going to get for Christmas
or what we have to do for Christmas to get ready for Christmas and for people to come
over and all the cooking and everything.
We can get lost in the actual reason why we're celebrating Christmas.
I love having special days at our church where we can actually just focus on Christ and make
Him the center of our reality.
And that's why we do special days like this where the kids get up and sing because that,
to me, is precious.
The children getting up and singing with all their heart and as goofy as some of them can
be sometimes, it's a highlight of my year.
I love hearing them sing and watching all the different performances.
You can zero in on some of them and some of them look like they're ready to join a rock
band and some of them are hiding behind the stuff and it's always fun.
But we ought not to lose track of the reason why the season exists and why we're actually
celebrating Christmas.
So for 2024, Americans spent a record amounts in some estimates showing total holiday spending
of over $980 billion per person spending around $902 to over $1,700 with figures varying by
source but generally increasing from 2023 due to factors like higher prices and strong
consumer intent though many went into debt to fund it.
So that's a lot of money and kids aren't spending anything to my knowledge.
So if you think about every man, woman and child and a lot of those people aren't spending
that because they don't have that.
So some people that have a lot, they're the ones that are actually the averages are probably
a lot higher than that when you boil it down to demographically speaking.
So people that actually have the credit to do it and so on and so forth.
But Linus in that Charlie Brown special says, "Sure Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas
is all about."
And then like I said, he walks up and reads these verses.
So I'm going to read the verses that he actually read in the special.
It says in Luke chapter two, verse number eight, the Bible says, "And there were in
the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night."
And let's see, "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping
watch over..."
Oh, sorry, I just read that.
"And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round
about them, and they were sore afraid."
Put my points and other scriptures in between these, so I should have probably just grouped
it all together.
"And the angel of the Lord 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 this shall be a sign unto you.
You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.'"
I'm going to pray real quick before I get into the main part of the message.
Lord, we thank you for the ability to gather here today and for those that have showed
up to put you first in their life at the beginning of the week, and pray for those visitors that
are here and anybody that might not be saved today.
We pray that they would possibly hear the Word of God and make you a priority in their
life and get saved today, Lord, that maybe they would hear what the Bible says about
salvation and trust in you today for their salvation and that they would know that heaven
is their home someday, and I pray that you fill me with your spirit and bless the service,
bless the food to follow.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
All right, so point number one in my sermon this morning is the first thing that Christmas
is all about, and I'm going to use my text to teach this, is that Jesus came to reach
the common people.
Jesus didn't come to Herod.
Jesus came to the common people, and obviously He was born in a manger.
But He is God, that's the thing, so God's messenger was Jesus, He came in the last days,
and He was born in a manger, so obviously He wasn't speaking to anybody in the manger,
but He was speaking to people, because the angels of the Lord came and pronounced His
birth so that people would know that He was here.
And He became a man, He became a human being so that He could die for us, so that He could
redeem mankind, and He was the Son of God.
And if He's the Son of God, then He is God, isn't He?
Because everything brings forth after His kind.
And Jesus is also born of the Virgin Mary, so He's human and He's God.
So He's the God-man, Christ Jesus, and He did not have a sin nature because the sin
nature is passed down from man to their children.
The Bible says sin in Romans 5-12, I'll just actually turn there real quickly, if you guys
want to turn it really quickly with me, Romans 5-12, because a lot of people don't understand
why Jesus was born without sin, but it is kind of an important thing to understand because
people are like, "Well, He's a man and I'm a man, so how could He die for me?"
Well, the thing that's different about Jesus is that He's not just a regular man, He's
a sinless man.
So it says, "Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so
death passed upon all men for that all have sinned."
So the sin nature passes from man to their children.
So God did not hold Eve responsible, I mean, He held Eve responsible for her own actions,
but Adam knew better, and so God put the responsibility upon Adam, and so death passes upon all.
Because it says, "By one man sin entered in."
It doesn't say by one woman sin entered in, because Adam knew what he was doing.
Eve was beguiled by the devil, Adam saw the creation, Adam named each animal as they came
as God brought them before him, and Eve was made second, Adam was the one who was responsible.
So that's just what the Bible says, so you just saw it there with your own eyes.
But Jesus came to reach the common people, and it says in Luke 2 verse number 8, it says,
"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their
flock by night."
He didn't come to Herod, the wise men came by to visit Herod thinking that he'd be excited
about the birth of Christ, but he wasn't excited.
He pretended to be excited.
He said, "Well, show me where he's at so that I can come and worship him, too."
But what he wanted to do is he wanted to murder him, because he didn't want anybody asserting
his throne, and he was an agent of Satan, obviously.
But he wasn't born in Jerusalem.
He was born in Bethlehem, like the Bible says he was supposed to be born in Bethlehem.
So there was in the same country shepherds abiding in the field.
So are shepherds generally these moguls and billionaires and things like that?
No, that's field work.
That's kind of like being a cowboy or somebody that works a ranch.
I mean, they can be rich.
I'm not saying that they can't be, but it's generally kind of a blue collar type of a
job.
You know, I don't really, I mean, there are cattle people in Texas and things like that
or, you know, that own ranches and things like that, that are really rich, but usually
the people that are keeping the sheep aren't the ones that are, are making all the money.
So, so I would say that shepherds are common people.
Now turn to Mark chapter 12, Mark chapter 12 verse 35, Mark chapter 12 verse 35, what
does it mean common?
What do I mean by common people?
He came to speak to the common people, I mean like everyday normal people.
It talks about it right here, Mark chapter 12 verse 35, it says, "And Jesus answered
and said, 'While he taught in the temple, how say the scribes that Christ is the son
of David?
For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, 'The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit thou on my
right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.'
David therefore himself calleth him Lord, and whence is he then his son?"
So the Pharisees were always trying to stump Jesus and trip him up with questions and stuff
like that, and then they couldn't answer this question.
And because how is he his son?
Because he's saying that David called him Lord by the Spirit of God, and so if he's
David's actual son, then why would he call him Lord when he's actually his son?
So and then what does it say there?
The next part it says, "And the common people heard him gladly."
So what does that mean?
Everyday normal people just heard his message.
Why?
His plainness of speech.
He wasn't there trying to wax eloquent and use all these hard words and being Dr. Professor
Fat Bottom and just trying to wax eloquent with everything and he just was a plain speaking
straight to the heart of the matter type of person and the people wanted to hear him because
they liked his message.
They liked his plain speech and we're not supposed to, as preachers, just get up and
just wax eloquent and be these great, you know, the Bible says that very few people
that are these great orators are even called to preach the word of God.
So look at verse 37, I mean, excuse me, go ahead and turn it back to Luke chapter two,
verse number eight, the Bible actually says to condescend to men of low estate.
That means, you know, we're not supposed to just only seek to get rich people into our
churches so they can pay tithing.
We're not just supposed to go out and seek and save the rich people, because really the
people in the rich neighborhoods don't want to talk to us.
And I'm not saying that rich people don't get saved, they do, but the Bible also says
that it's easier for a camel to go to the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man
to go to heaven.
So that's just saying, it's just, he's basically just saying that rich people don't get saved
very often.
So because they already have everything they need, they don't need, why would they need
God someone to depend on when they already have everything they need?
And so when people have everything they need, they don't seek after God very much.
And that's why the common people hear him loudly, because the common people are poor
in spirit.
They're poor in life, and they're poor in spirit, and so generally they're more receptive
to the gospel.
So it makes sense that he would go to people that are more common and not these rich kings
and things like that.
So the second thing that Christmas is all about is that Jesus was the true light coming
into the world to shine upon man.
Now the kids sang that song, "The light of the world is Jesus," and that's a truth in
the Bible from Genesis.
God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.
And that was before the sun was even made.
The sun was made on day four, but the first day, God said, "Let there be light."
So what is that light?
Well, I mean, Jesus is the Word of God, God said, "Let there be light."
And so you see the trinity in the first three verses of the book of Genesis.
Now look at verse number two, or chapter two, verse number eight.
It says, "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch
over their flock by night."
So it was dark out, and it says, "And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and
the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid."
So I mean, why would he choose this time to appear to them?
I mean, it is kind of dramatic fashion, isn't it, that he would just appear at night?
Why didn't he just appear to them during the day?
Well, because I think that sometimes God wants to impress upon people the glory of the Lord.
If he comes shining during the day, it's not going to have as much of an effect on them
as if all of a sudden they're at night, they're chilling, the sheep are all asleep, and then
all of a sudden this bright light just shines onto them, and then, you know, that's going
to get your attention.
It's going to get your attention pretty quickly, especially since there are probably no electric
street lights and things like that out there.
So if you've ever been out into the camping in the woods and there's no lights out and
then all you can see is the stars on a clear night, then all of a sudden this bright light
shines out, you're going to get freaked out.
And that's why they were so afraid, and then they saw an angel, which always makes people
so afraid, and they saw this great light.
Now turn to John chapter 1, John chapter 1, but always just keep your finger back in place
in Luke chapter 2, John chapter 1, the Bible says in John chapter 1, it refers us back
to Genesis chapter 1, which we don't have to go back to Genesis chapter 1, but John
chapter number 1, you know, people say, well, sometimes they'll ask people, "Do you believe
that Jesus was God?"
And they'll say, "No, he's the son of God."
Well, he is the son of God, that's true, but the Bible does say that he's God.
And he does admit that he is the son of God, and the Muslims will say, "Well, he never
admits that he's God," but he does.
But anyway, John 1-1, it says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God."
And you're like, "Well, that doesn't say Jesus," well, just hang on for a second.
But it says, just notice this, it says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God."
So when was the beginning?
In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth, Genesis chapter 1, verse number
1.
"All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.
In Him was life, and the 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," so this is talking about John the Baptist,
"the same came for a witness to bear witness of the light, and all men, that all men through
him might believe."
He was not that light, so John wasn't the light, but was sent to bear witness of that
light.
That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
So Jesus is called that true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
So he's that light that it's talking about in Genesis chapter number one when it says
"let there be light," he's that light.
He's the light that it's talking about in Genesis chapter one.
It says "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."
So what he came to, he was born of the house of Israel.
He was born of the tribe of Judah and his own people did not receive him.
The Jews rejected him and they did not want to receive him as their Messiah.
It says, "But as many as received him," so received him as what?
Their Savior, their Messiah.
It says, "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name."
So this is a quick clue right here.
What do you have to do to be saved?
Well it says, "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God."
So he gives us the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.
So what is the Bible saying here that you have to do to be saved?
I mean it's helping us right here.
You have to believe on his name.
You have to believe in Jesus, which were born not of blood, nor of the will of flesh, nor
of the will of man, but of God.
So when people say, "I'm a born again Christian," this is kind of what it's referring to.
Jesus said, "You must be born again."
Unless you're born again, you're not going to heaven.
It says, "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory
as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
Who's that talking about right there?
If this is not talking about Jesus, who's it talking about?
The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.
I mean, what is flesh?
Just look at yourself.
Look at your skin.
That's flesh.
Okay?
So the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.
And so this is talking about Jesus.
So Jesus was the Word.
The Word was with God.
The Word was God.
So Jesus is God.
This is a foundational truth of Christian doctrine.
And you can't just believe that He's only the Son of God and that He's not God.
You have to believe He's the Son of God and that He is God.
And so let's go back to Luke chapter 2, but I want to have you go to verse 29.
So all the verses were read in context and there was a lot in that passage, a long chapter.
But I want to point you to the part where Simeon is speaking to Mary and Joseph here
in verse 29.
It says, "Now let us now thy servant depart in peace," so he saw Christ.
The Holy Ghost told him that he would not die, because he's an old man, that he would
not die until he saw the Lord's Christ.
And Christ is just being interpreted as Messiah.
Messiah and Christ mean the same thing, or the anointed one.
He's the one that was promised from the beginning of the Bible to Adam and Eve, to Eve, that
a woman would bring forth a seed.
And that is true.
Mary was the woman that brought forth that seed.
So anyway, it says, "For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before
the face of all people."
How many people?
All people.
"A light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people, Israel."
So his purpose is not just for the Jews.
Some people will say, "Well, we're just plan B because the Jews rejected Christ."
No, the plan has always been to lighten the Gentiles.
There's verses in Isaiah, there's verses in the Old Testament that talk about this.
And just because there's a lot of people that just worship Israel or something and don't
want the Gentiles to be saved or whatever, or they just want to think that we're second
class citizens, that's not what the Bible says.
So it says a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel.
So he did appear, these angels appeared at night and they shone this light onto them
and they were sore afraid.
And they did it at night for dramatic fashion so that they would be fully aware that this
light is shining.
And it says, "And Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him.
And Simeon blessed him and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for
the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken against.
Yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts
shall be revealed."
And this is true.
This is a dividing thing in our world.
And there's only two types of people really in this world.
It's people, those that believe and those that believe not.
If you believe, you're going to heaven.
If you don't believe, you're going to hell.
So that's really all it boils down to, I mean.
And obviously there's a lot more to life than just that, but in reality, I mean, having
eternal life, not having eternal life.
I mean, there's nothing more important.
I mean, there's nothing more important in this world than knowing you have eternal life.
That's why He came.
That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.
I mean, that's what Christmas is all about.
Jesus came in this world to save sinners, and that was the purpose.
And He was born in Bethlehem, and a big deal was made about it.
I mean, the angels come down.
They shine lights.
I mean, wise men are coming from a far country.
They're coming from the east, and they're bringing presents to Him.
They're traveling a long distance.
They're like, "Where is this child born, the King of Israel?"
I mean, it was a big deal, and it's preached about every year at this time in churches
all over the nation, all over the world.
Turn to John 3.16, the last song the kids sing.
They're singing this song, that high decibel in some parts of the song.
But I like their emphasis.
I think the part where they emphasize is, "Have eternal, have everlasting life."
Yeah, because "have" means that you have it.
It's not you're earning it, or you might have it later, or you had it and now you lost it.
No, you have everlasting life.
Once you believe in Him, you have everlasting life.
Look at what it says in John 3.16, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, or believes in Him, should not perish
but have everlasting life."
So "have" means present tense.
So you have it now.
It's not something that you're earning on some reward system on earth or something.
You have it the moment that, what's it say there?
Whosoever believes in Him, believeth in Him.
Whosoever, last time I checked, still means everyone or anyone.
Verse 17, "For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world
through Him might be saved."
You're like, "Well, you just said that people are going to hell if they don't believe in
Him."
Yeah, but that's not why He came into the world to condemn the world.
He came to the world to save everyone.
God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
So He wants people to be saved.
That's why He came.
So, but if people choose not to be saved, that's their decision.
You know, you're like, "Well, everybody should just be saved then."
No, because you still have to believe Him.
That's the prerequisite.
That's faith.
That's not works.
So it says, "He that believeth on Him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned
already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
So that's why I said that there's two different types of people in this world.
Those that believe and those that believe not.
And so if you believe, you're not condemned.
But if you believe you're not condemned, if you don't believe, you're condemned already.
You're on a death sentence.
You're just waiting to die basically.
And this is the condemnation that light is coming to the world and men love darkness
rather than light because their deeds are evil.
See, some people just will never get saved because they love the darkness too much.
They love sin too much.
They're like, "Well, I got to give up doing all this stuff."
Well, I'm not going to do that.
I love gambling.
I love drinking.
I love doing drugs.
I love pornography.
I love, you know, communion and adultery.
I love fornication.
I love all these things.
I love being wicked.
I love rock and roll.
Put another dime in the jukebox, baby.
You know, I love doing all this stuff.
It's just, you know, they want...
That's what Jesus said, right?
And this is the condemnation.
Light has come into the world.
Jesus is the light of the world, but men love darkness rather than light because their deeds
are evil.
For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds
should be reproved.
People don't like being reproved.
People don't like being told that they're sinning.
People don't like being told that they're wrong.
And so this is why a lot of people don't get saved.
How dare you judge me?
Only God can judge me.
Yeah, but he will.
That's the thing.
He that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may manifest that they are wrought
in God.
See, God is the one that wrought the work for you to be saved.
We can't save ourselves.
He has to do it.
He did do it.
I mean, you didn't come into the world and born of a virgin, live a perfect life, get
beaten and whipped and hung on a cross, crucified.
He did that.
He wrought the work.
And so we have to kind of, I mean, for some people, they're just too proud to admit that
they can't do it themselves or they don't have some part in their own salvation.
And so they won't get saved because of that reason too.
So people have to put aside their pride and put aside and be a little bit humble and just
admit that they can't do it themselves and get saved and believe in Jesus because believing
in something isn't really that hard unless you're a hard hearted person.
You know, kids, they get it real easy because they believe real easy.
They believe everything you tell them pretty much.
I mean, after a while they stop believing dumb things that aren't true, but for a while
you can convince them of a lot of things that aren't true, which is unfortunate with some
people.
Some people lie to children and that's not right.
So Jesus is the light, that's one of the reasons why the thing that Christmas is all about
is that Jesus is the light that came into the world.
But the third thing is that Christmas is all about the good news that the Savior has come,
which I've kind of already delved into here, but back in Luke chapter 2, verse number 10,
the Bible says, "And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings
of great joy, which shall be to all people.'"
And so the angel spoke to them, these shepherds that are abiding in the field and said, "Fear
not."
So they're afraid.
I mean, anybody would be afraid.
You're just chilling, hanging out, trying to get some sleep, it's dark, you're with
the sheep, all of a sudden bright lights, angels, you're going to get freaked out.
Anybody would.
And so, but they said, "Fear not, for behold I bring you good tidings."
What does that mean?
That's good news, right?
That's why people say, "Have you heard the good news?
Jesus Christ came and died for us," and people mock that.
Have you heard the good news?
People mock that kind of stuff.
But it actually is good news.
You know what's not good news?
That you have to work your way to heaven.
You know what's not good news?
That you could lose your salvation.
You know what's not good news?
That if you quit believing you'll die and go to hell or whatever.
Good news is that if you believe in Jesus, you'll go to heaven and you'll have an everlasting
life.
Everlasting means that it lasts forever.
Isn't that common sense?
I mean, eternal life, a life that never ends.
That's what it means.
And then people are like, "But yeah, but I still think you could lose it.
I think you could just put it on a shelf, you know?
It's like journey, the journey doctrine.
People have it as long as you don't stop believing, you know, that doctrine.
You've heard that song too many times, apparently, because it's not true.
I mean, if you got it from Journey, then it's definitely not true.
But it says, notice again, "And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring
you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.'"
Not just the Calvinists.
I know that the ones that are saved will be up there thinking that they're the only ones
that are in heaven, but it's to all people.
So all people can be saved.
And there will be people of all stripes that are saved and, you know, maybe not all denominations.
But I'm talking about Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses and Catholics and stuff like that.
But anyway, I mean, there might even be accidental saved people that stumbled into the Catholic
church or that my wife made them go there or something, but other than that, I'm just
saying there's no salvation inside the Catholic church because they're teaching a false salvation.
But anyway, verse 11 says, "For unto is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which
is Christ the Lord."
So that is good news, that a Savior was born unto us, and of course, this is a couple thousand
years ago.
But see, it doesn't matter how long ago it was, he was our Savior for all time.
The sacrifice that he made for us years later was a sacrifice for all time.
And it says, "Which is Christ the Lord in the city of David."
So, Jesus Christ came in this world to be our Savior.
That's good news.
It's also good news that salvation is by faith alone because if it was any other way, we
would surely mess it up.
If we could lose it, we would surely lose it.
If you could lose it every day, if you could lose it every hour, we would guarantee lose
it somehow because we're sinners and we are, you know, just not capable.
God already knew that.
He knew that we weren't capable of doing that.
And he had to make it in such a way that we couldn't screw it up.
I mean, so it's a foolproof plan that he put together.
If there would have been any other way of doing it, he would have done it that way.
If it were by keeping the law, he would have done it that way because the law of the law
is perfect.
The law of the law is perfect, but we can't keep it.
That's the thing.
We cannot keep the law and we're going to break it in some way.
Some people are good at keeping these sections of the law, but they're bad at keeping the
other sections.
What I mean by the law is the commandments of God.
So you might be doing good at these things, that's why we shouldn't look down our nose
at other people for the problems that they have.
You might be doing good at the things you're doing, but you suck at the other things.
So don't be looking down your nose at your brother in Christ because they're struggling
with something.
Because maybe you're struggling with something and you're just not looking at yourself.
And I'm not saying that we shouldn't, obviously we judge certain things, but we shouldn't
be judging another man's servant, is what God said.
The fourth thing is that Christmas is about celebrating the birth of the greatest man
our King and the God the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look at verse 12, it says, "And this shall be a sign unto you, you shall find the babe
wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger."
So why do I say that this is a day that we're supposed to celebrate?
Well, look, if you don't want to celebrate this particular day, that's fine, I understand
we have individual soul liberty.
But notice that this is put in scripture.
The day that Jesus is born is put in the Bible in two different places, Matthew and Luke.
And it's a big deal.
It's revealed as a big deal.
And do I think that he was born on the 25th of December?
Probably not.
But what difference does it make?
If you don't esteem one day above another, then who cares, right?
Just pick a day, you know, just flip through a calendar and point your finger on a day
if you want to celebrate on that day, or not celebrate.
It doesn't really matter.
I don't think Jesus cares.
But, like, I don't think he cares that we do, either.
And the fact that we're celebrating a day that he was born, and taking time, and taking
an extra special day to celebrate—today isn't the 25th, in case you didn't notice,
it's the 21st, right?
And then we're going to celebrate on Wednesday, too.
And you're probably going to celebrate on Thursday, too, aren't you?
I mean, let's just celebrate a week.
I think Donald Trump just said we should have the day before,
the day of, and the day after off.
I think he just declared it as, you know, as a presidential,
what do they call it, executive order or something,
which never go through.
But, I mean, it sounds good to me.
I'm down for it.
I think the pilgrims took away the 12 days of Christmas or something,
you know, the Puritans.
Too much drinking, too much, you know, carousing or whatever,
which, you know, I mean, 12 days is kind of excessive.
But, I mean, I wouldn't mind having those days off, but...
Yeah, but I think that they, in England, they used to have...
That's where the song "The 12 Days of Christmas" came from.
It's, you know, the 12th day of Christmas.
It's like, "Okay, it's time to go back to work, people."
But, like, I think that they... Did they just...
Did they give them one day off? I don't know.
Maybe they did just give them one day off.
But, I mean, I like President Trump's idea there.
I don't like all of his ideas, but I like that one.
I mean, people have to go to work in the middle of the week.
You know, Italy should just be on a weekend every week.
So you get a three-day weekend.
Anyway, I'm off on the weeds here.
Let's look down at verse number 13.
It says, "And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude
of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace,
good will toward men.'"
So what's going on here?
Well, I mean, they're making a big deal about it.
They're telling these shepherds about it.
They're shining the light on them
so that they understand what's going on,
and then they're saying, "Glory to God in the highest."
And notice it says, what does it say there in verse 13?
Does it say they're singing?
Or does it say they're saying?
It says they're saying, doesn't it?
Every Christmas song we have,
it says the angels are singing,
but I know they're singing in heaven, I get that,
but it's just, I don't know, just something I noticed.
No big deal.
I'm ruining your Christmas songs,
now you're gonna notice it every time.
But it says they were saying, just saying.
But glory to God in the highest and on earth,
peace, goodwill toward men.
So what's the message here?
We should give glory to God.
And there's nothing wrong with giving glory to God
and celebrating Christ's birth.
I mean, it's his birthday
that is being emphasized here, isn't it?
The day of his birth, it's an important day.
It's one of the greatest days in all of human history.
If you know, it's definitely top five, right?
It's probably top two.
I mean, it's definitely top five,
days of greatest days of all time.
It's recorded in the Bible for us.
There's a bit, it's like, it's a big splash.
I mean, it's a big deal.
The angels are appearing.
Multitudes of angels are praising God
and showing them that it's a big deal.
And they're saying, glory to God in the highest.
Hey, worship God.
And it says, on earth, peace and goodwill toward men.
Christ was sent to the earth to give us peace.
And he's showing that what?
He has goodwill towards us.
He's not some demon god that hates his creation or something,
like these other pantheons, these other religions that
had to sacrifice children and all these different things.
These are what the heathen gods do.
And the gods of the pantheons can die.
It's like, that's weird.
How do you die if you're a god?
I mean, Jesus, the only way he could die
is that he became a man, the god man.
But let's remember what Christmas is all about.
That's what's-- I mean, just remember that on the day
that you celebrate, if you are celebrating,
that we keep Christ in Christmas, even at home.
And let's teach our children these things.
It's not just about waking up in stockings and presents.
I think that's cool, too.
I do that.
I have a Christmas tree at home, whatever.
But let's read our children the story.
Let's put Christ in Christmas and put on some real Christmas
music, and not Santa Baby or whatever,
and hurry down the chimney tonight and all that garbage.
And Mariah Carey, please.
I went into Subway the other day,
and Christmas music was playing.
And he's like, I've heard every version of Mariah Carey.
He said that they started playing the Christmas music
in Subway, force-feeding it to him on November 1.
So he'd been-- and this was like last week or something.
I was like, dude, that's torture.
Christmas music from November 1?
I mean, that's two months almost straight.
I'd probably slit my wrist.
But anyway, let's keep Christ at Christmas,
teach our children these things, and make
our Christmas celebrations different than the world's
and actually include Jesus in our Christmas day.
Let's pray.
Lord, we thank you so much for a great day in your house
and all the visitors and guests we have this morning.
We pray that you would just bless them.
And Lord, if there's anybody here that's not saved,
I pray that today they would choose
to put their faith in you.
And Lord, if there's anybody that's not baptized,
I pray that they would follow you in believers baptism.
Lord, I pray that you'd bless the food and our fellowship
to follow and the soul winning and the other service that's
coming up later on.
I pray that you'd bless everybody, their health,
those that couldn't be here for whatever reason.
I pray that you'd bless them too, Lord.
And yes, that you'd dismiss us now in Jesus' name, we pray.
Amen.