(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You Alright brethren, welcome to the Welcome to Christmas, Merry Christmas to you all. Welcome to the Christmas service this morning. Just a reminder that we don't have an afternoon service today. So it's just a morning service, so it's good to see you all this morning. If you've got your hymnals, please turn to hymn number 424. Let's sing all the Christmas songs. Let's start with 424 O come all ye faithful 424, O come all ye faithful and when you have found it can you please stand. 424 O come all ye faithful and when you have found it O come all ye faithful and when you have found it O come all ye faithful and when you have found it O come all ye faithful and when you have found it O come all ye faithful and when you have found it O come all ye faithful and when you have found it O come all ye faithful and when you have found it O come all ye faithful and when you have found it O come all ye faithful and when you have found it O come all ye faithful and when you have found it O come all ye faithful and when you have found it O come all ye faithful and when you have found it O come all ye faithful and when you have found it O come all ye faithful and when you have found it O come all ye faithful and when you have found it O come all ye faithful and when you have found it O come all ye faithful and when you have found it O come all ye faithful and when you have found it O come all ye faithful and when you have found it O come all ye faithful and when you have found it O come all ye faithful and when you have found it O come all ye faithful and when you have found it O come all ye faithful and when you have found it O come all ye faithful and when you have found it O come all ye faithful and when you have found it O come all ye faithful and when you have found it O come all ye faithful and when you have found it O come all ye faithful and when you have found it O come all ye faithful to your house this morning, Lord to uh Lord as we're saying to adore to adore our Lord Jesus Christ. I thank you so much Father for sending your son the Lord Jesus Christ to die in our place. Lord that he was born to die. Lord that you gave him this mission to die for um ask Lord to die for sinners and to offer us that free gift of salvation and Lord as we remember to give gifts on this Christmas day, Lord I do hope that you'd remind each one of us Lord in our hearts and our minds the true gift the free gift Lord offered salvation by Jesus Christ alone and Lord so we just um come before you tonight uh this morning Lord. I pray you bless us. May the Holy Spirit teach us from your word and we pray these things in Jesus name. Amen. You may be seated. All right keep that good singing happening. Let's turn to 433. Away in a manger. 433. Away in a manger. Away in a manger. The stars in the sky. The cattle of the wind. The sky. Jesus. To stay. I all right 428 now 428 428 it came upon the midnight clear 428. Singing really well. Keep it going. To touch to see and and the man and rest is is is is all right one more song before the Bible reading let's go to hymn number 431 431 silent night holy night 431 silent night holy nights and after we do the four stanzas we do the fifth stanza with john 316 okay 431 silent night holy night silent night holy night holy sun holy light wrapped on virgin mother and child holy infant so tender and kind sleep in heavenly peace sleep in heavenly peace silent night holy night shepherds wake at the sight glory stream from never how far heavenly voice in how ever now Christ the savior is born Christ the savior is born silent night holy night sun of god cast you light radiant from my holy face at the dawn of jesus lord at my word silent night holy night what will stop when the angels let us send to our king Christ the savior is born Christ the savior is born silent night holy night the lord that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life excellent singing please take your Bibles now and turn to the book of Luke Luke chapter 1 Luke chapter 1 and after the Bible reading we'll have the special item from the youth group Luke chapter 1 please quite a long chapter so I'm getting Nicholas come up here and speed read for us Luke chapter 1, thank you Nicholas Luke chapter 1 Luke chapter 1 Luke chapter 1 Luke chapter 1 Luke chapter 1 For as much as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us even as they delivered them unto us which from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the world it seemed good to me also having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first that thou mightest see in order most excellent Theopolis thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed that it was in the days of Herod the king of Judea a certain priest named Zacharias of the course of Abia and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron and her name was Elizabeth and they were both righteous before God walking all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless and they had no child because that Elizabeth was barren and it came to pass that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course according to the custom of the priest's office his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord and the whole multitude of the people were praying at the time of incense and there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right hand of the altar of the incense and when Zacharias saw him he was troubled and fear fell upon him but the angel said unto him fear not Zacharias and the angel said and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son and thou shalt call his name John and thou shalt have joy and gladness and many shall rejoice at his birth for he shall be great in the sight of the Lord and shall neither drink wine nor strong drink and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother's womb and many of the children of Israel shall return to the Lord their God and he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children for the wisdom of the just to make ready a people prepared for the Lord and Zacharias said unto the angel whereby shall I know this for I am an old man and my wife wealth stricken in years and the angel answering said unto him I am Gabriel that stand in the presence of God and am sent to speak unto thee and to show thee these glad tidings and behold thou shalt be dumb and not be able to speak until the day that these things shall be performed because I believe it's not my words to be fulfilled in their season and the people waited for Zacharias and marveled that he tarried so long in the temple and when he came out he could not speak unto them and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple for he beckoned unto them and remained speechless and it came to pass that as soon as the days of his administration were accomplished he departed to his own house and after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived and hid herself five months saying Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me to take away my reproach among men and in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin his spouse to a man whose name was Joseph to the house of David and the virgin's name was Mary and the angel came in unto her and said Hail, thou that are highly favored the Lord is with thee blessed art thou my women and when she saw him she was troubled at his saying it cast in her mind what manner of salutation there should be and the angel said unto her fear not Mary for thou hast found favor with God and behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus he shall be great and shall be called the son of the highest and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there shall be no end then said Mary unto the angel how shall this be seeing I know not man and the angel answered and said unto her the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee the power of the highest shall overshadow thee therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the son of God and behold thy cousin Elizabeth she hath also conceived a son in her old age and this is the sixth month with her who was also who was called baron for with God nothing shall be impossible and Mary said behold the handmaid of the Lord be it unto me according to thy word and the angel departed from her and Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste into a city of Judah and entered into the house of Zacharias and saluted Elizabeth it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary the babe leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost and she spake out with a loud voice and said blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb and whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord shall come upon me for lo as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounds into my ears the babe bleeped in my womb for joy and blessed is she that believed for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord and Mary said my soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit regardeth the low state of his handmaid for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed for he that is mighty hath done to me great things and holy is his name and his mercies are then that fear him from generation to generation he hath showed strength with his arm he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts he hath put down the mighty from their seats and exalted them of low degree he hath filled the hungry with good things and the rich hath he sent away empty he hath hope in his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy as he spake to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever and Mary abode with her about three months and returned to her own house now Elizabeth's time came that she should be delivered and she brought forth a son and her neighbours and her cousins heard that how the Lord had showed her great mercy upon her and they rejoiced with her it came to pass that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child and they called him Zacharias after the name was his father and his mother answered and said not so, but he shall be called John and they said unto her, there is none of thy kindred that is called by that name and they made signs to his father how he would have him called and he asked for a writing table and wrote, saying, his name is John the name Malphidor and his mouth was opened immediately and his tongue loosed and he spake and praised God and fear came on all of them that dwelt round about them and all these things were noise abroad throughout all the hill country of Judea and all that heard them laid upon their hearts, saying what manner of child shall this be and the hand of the Lord was with them and his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost and prophesied, saying blessed be the Lord God of Israel for he hath visited and redeemed his people and was raised up in horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David and he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets which have been since the world began that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all that hate us to perform his mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant the earth which he sware to our father Abraham that he would grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life the child shall be called the prophet of the highest for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins through the tender mercy of our God whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us to give light to them that sin in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace and the child grew and waxed strong in the spirit and was in the desert till the devil is showing unto Israel let's pray thank you that we could come here to church today and that we could sing to you and I pray that we can learn something from the sermon Jesus and I pray, amen you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you So let's fucking go. Let's do this thing, right? Pull together this time, all right? ["Who Is He In Anderson"] ["Who Is He In After School"] ["Who Is He In After School"] ["Who Is He In After School"] ["Who Is He In After School"] ["Who Is He In After School"] ["Who Is He In After School"] ["Who Is He In After School"] ["Who Is He In After School"] ["Who Is He In After School"] Thank you guys. Well done. Well done. Okay. Once again, Merry Christmas. Welcome to the Christmas server. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. Okay. Merry Christmas. Welcome to the Christmas server. My goal is not to preach for too long. That's my main goal. Just to celebrate Christmas, sing a little bit more songs than we usually sing. That was the main point of the service this morning. But if you look at Luke chapter 1 where we had the reading, Luke chapter 1, and where's my water? There it is. Luke chapter 1 and verse number 44. Luke chapter 1, verse number 44. It says, for lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. The babe leaped in my womb for joy. The poet of the sermon this morning is, leap for joy. Leap for joy this Christmas. If you want to put it that way, but leap for joy. This is the story where, you know, obviously Mary who had fallen pregnant by the power of the Holy Ghost and she was going to deliver Jesus Christ, she went to visit her cousin Elizabeth. And you may recall that Elizabeth was struggling to fall pregnant. She fell pregnant in her older age and of course she would bring forth the man that we would know as John the Baptist. And when Mary heard the great news that God had chosen her to be the mother of this child, to deliver this child, Jesus Christ, she went to see her cousin Elizabeth. And Elizabeth says, as soon as you came into the door, again verse number 44, and lo, as soon as thy voice of thy meditation sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And so you see John the Baptist in the mother's womb, as soon as he hears the voice of the mother of Jesus Christ, the one that would bring him into this world, he leaps for joy, he's excited. Alright, what is he excited about? I hope this morning you're excited, I hope you're excited to be in church, I hope you're excited for Christmas. Christmas always carries this sort of nice feeling, just, they call it the spirit of Christmas. I don't know what kind of spirit that is, but anyway, there's a good feeling around the place usually speaking, right? I needed some help with my vehicle just yesterday and a guy came to just help me out with the van and he was very nice, Merry Christmas, all of that, big smile on his face and we had a neighbour come and deliver us some chocolates to our door, people that you don't usually come across, right? You go to the stores and you might even just go to the local Woolworths and people just have a grin on their face, they're kind of just happier and you know, I was walking through the yard, there was a guy just dancing to the Christmas tunes there, I'm not sure if those tunes were great to listen to, but anyway, there's a nice feeling generally speaking when it comes to Christmas and it's been that way pretty much I recall since being a child and you know, we're coming into a time and in fact, this has been happening for the last ten years, that people are trying to remove Christmas, like from the celebrations, instead of saying Merry Christmas, they want to say Happy Holidays or anything else, they don't want to say Christ, they don't want to say those words, they don't want to think about a father sending his son to die in our place, they don't want to think of that, but listen when John the Baptist, and by the way, we're a Baptist church, we're New Life Baptist Church so if John the Baptist can get excited, you know, about the story of Jesus, that he would come into this world, then it's something for us to get excited about as well and you know, I like Christmas, I think it's you know, people say well, what about the pagan roots and I'll cover that in a sermon one day alright, but we're not here worshipping some pagan god, this is the house of the Lord, this is, you know, this is Sunday, we come on a Sunday to come and worship and praise our Lord God, even if today was Halloween, I don't care, I don't care what pagan background there might exist or what influences, listen, at the end of the day we come to worship Jesus even if Halloween fell on a Sunday, I don't care, I'm going to be in the house of the Lord worshipping Jesus Christ, it doesn't matter, because every day is created by God every day is an opportunity to worship and praise our Lord God and so we see John the Baptist get excited, I'm saying leap for joy, be happy this Christmas, be excited this Christmas, let's start a little let's backtrack a little bit in that story, verse number 39, Luke chapter 1 verse number 39, and Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste into a city of Judah, of course she heard the great news that she would fall pregnant verse number 40, and entered in the house of Zacharias and saluted Elizabeth, and it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost, and so you can definitely see that Elizabeth, she saved, of course she is, Mary she saved alright, Zacharias, these all saved people, it's a saved family, and they're filled with the Holy Ghost look what Elizabeth says by the power of the Holy Ghost, verse number 42 and she spake out with a loud voice and said, blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb now it's quite interesting, look at verse number 43 why is she blessing Mary, why is she blessing the fruit of the womb verse number 43 she says these words, and whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me, she says Mary you're the mother Mary you're the mother of my Lord the babe that is in your womb is the Lord Jesus Christ he's the creator of all things, you know, he did not just come into existence when he was conceived or at birth, no, she says this is my Lord this is my God, you've got the mother, you're the mother of my Lord, and so she says you're blessed Mary, and the fruit of your womb is blessed, we have to think about you know, a babe being born in Bethlehem's manger, you see these decorations and these nativity sets set up with a babe in the manger, you often see that okay, and it's depicting that our Lord, our God our creator came into this world so humbly, not with all the power and authority that he would receive coming directly from heaven, but that he took on a body a body that would be sacrificed for you and I, coming to just a little child, a little babe, a babe that needed nurture that needed to be taken care of, that needed to be fed, a babe that was not ready to take care of itself, with such humility came Jesus Christ and I love how John the Baptist sleeps in the womb, yes the babe in the womb, you know I've heard recently just this week someone called me and said I don't believe in Jesus, because I was saved at four years old, I believed on Christ, I was not a babe in the womb, I was four years old when I believed in Jesus Christ I was four years old when I trusted him as my saviour, and I told someone on the phone this week that I trusted Christ when I was four years old, and the person on the other line said I don't believe a four year old can be saved, what, a four year old but you've got a babe leaping in the womb, excited for Jesus in fact Jesus Christ said that unless you become, you be converted and become like little children you shall not see the kingdom of heaven, you know when we talk about placing our faith on Jesus Christ, we're saying look just be converted, become like a little child once again, just like a little child gets excited about Christmas or a little child gets excited about hearing about a free gift we gave our kids some gifts last night, you know, they open one gift on Christmas eve and then they open the rest on Christmas day, but they're excited aren't they little children mostly, I think the older kids kind of get a bit tired of it after a little while but little kids, they get excited for the free gift when we talk about the free gift of Jesus Christ, the free gift of salvation as adults we find it hard to receive, so come on, can't be free surely there's something I've got to do, surely there's some good work that I need to do surely I need to be in church, surely I need to do some religious practice in order to receive my salvation that's a free gift, leap for joy, it's been free and see John the Baptist, even in the mother's womb, gets excited, yes you know, I'm assuming, we know that John the Baptist was the Holy Ghost from the very beginning, so of course it's a new man, you know the Holy Ghost within John the Baptist that's causing him to leap to be excited but you know, little children, they in fact please don't take this view that little children can't be saved, or they can't understand the gospel, little children, they don't understand free gifts really, because my kids understood free gifts very well last night and some of them are younger than I was when I was four years old when I saved Jesus Christ as Savior you know, don't delay the gospel, don't delay our children from hearing the gospel make sure they're ready to ask the questions, like don't force your kids to just say some prayer, and then they're trusting some prayer for salvation no, we want them trusting the one they're praying to, the one they're asking salvation to you know, my practice in my family, look we've got eleven kids and how many of you are saved now? I think there's only three, so that's eight eight out of eleven kids, is that right? Yeah, eight out of eleven kids are saved, have called upon Christ have trusted Christ, but every time they have come up to us individually and say, mum or dad, I want to be sure of going to heaven what do I have to do, you know, what does it mean that Jesus Christ was Savior and sometimes, you know, you'd have to tell your children a few times, and it goes over their head a little bit, but as they mature and grow, they hear it a little bit more, they have time to to digest it, you know, they've been able to receive easily, you know the free gift of salvation, usually when they're about six years old, is, you know, the usual time when they receive it, but you know, don't delay, you know, speak to your children and the great thing about having many siblings is that sometimes the older siblings are the ones that are putting the thoughts into the younger siblings' minds, you know, look I know where I'm going to go I know where I'm going when I die, I know I'm going to heaven, where are you going to go, are you going to be with us? They put those kind of thoughts in the minds of the children, which is great, alright you know, in many ways my older children have been soul winners you know, for seeing the younger siblings get saved let's keep going there in verse number 44, so we saw that Elizabeth does understand that Mary is carrying the Lord Jesus Christ verse number 44, for lo, as soon as the voice, I've read that one, verse number 45 sorry, and blessed is she that believed for there is a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord and Mary said, now we have Mary's response, and Mary said my soul doth magnify the Lord isn't that interesting, like, she's carrying the Lord in her womb she says, my soul doth magnify the Lord she's already praising and worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ and she's like the mum, right, but she's exalting the Lord Jesus Christ, and then she says in verse number 47, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour she says, I've already put my trust in God my Saviour, the Saviour was Jesus Christ in her womb, she goes, I rejoice in my Saviour as I said to you, the title for the sermon was Leap for Joy we see Elizabeth joyful, we see John the Baptist joyful we see Mary joyful, okay, what are they joyful about? They're rejoicing in the gift of salvation, they're rejoicing in the gift of salvation, that's point number one for the, you know, I guess if you can if you're taking down points, that's point number one, if you want to leap for joy this Christmas then you need to rejoice in the gift of salvation now the gift is free and we hear about it quite often at church and, you know, there's someone from church every week out there trying to give the gift of salvation to somebody, you know, I think we had two salvations last week, praise God, from the door to the soul wedding efforts, praise God for that, you know, but we're to rejoice in the gift of salvation you know, have you lost your joy? You know, because the thing is, okay, we got saved, it's a one-time thing, it's an immediate thing as soon as we trust Christ, we're saved but, you know, tomorrow still comes and the problems that you had yesterday are still there right, the trials, the difficulties, the burdens right, the stresses of life, whether they're relationships, whether they're financial, whether they're physical or, you know, sicknesses in your body, you know, the stresses are still there in life and they don't go away the moment you believe in Christ, they don't go away the moment you open the free gift, and so we go through the stresses of life and, you know, you might be excited about salvation the first time you've trusted Christ you heard about the free gift, you heard about the good news and you're like, yes, I get it now it makes perfect sense now, man, it's so easy, this whole time all these religions have made it so hard, but it's so easy to put your faith in Christ and Christ alone, but then as I said, we go through the difficulties, the struggles in life, and then we lose sight, we, instead of thinking of eternity, instead of thinking about our own soul, we start thinking about just the carnal the earthly problems that come into life, and, you know, I don't blame you because we all do, we all have to deal, we can't just ignore struggles we can't ignore problems, we've got to go through them, okay, but when you go through them, then you start to lose sight of salvation, you forget about the great joy that you once had when you received Christ the Saviour but, let me remind you, and you already know this, but let me remind you the greatest difficulty that anybody could go through is to suffer in hell for all eternity, that's the greatest difficulty and you've already overcome that, you've already overcome the most difficult thing that anybody could go through in life, to be rejected by God for rejecting his son, and to be cast into hell for all eternity you've already been delivered from that, you don't have to worry about that if you've trusted Christ if you're not sure about your eternal destination, please speak to me after the service, or speak to somebody that you know from this church okay, but truly, salvation, knowing that you're going to heaven is as easy as receiving a Christmas gift, and saying yes, I want that gift thank you, that's as easy as it is, Jesus Christ died in your place, rose again from the dead, he paid for your sins he paid for your way to heaven, it's a free gift you don't have to step a foot in this church to receive the free gift it's free, do you want it? it's paid for, it's not based on how good or bad you are it's all been paid for by the shed blood of Jesus Christ it's a gift, and if you want to receive that gift, again, talk to me after the service if you don't know that already, okay, we'll talk to someone that's invited you to church this morning but you see that John the Baptist Mary, Elizabeth, they're all rejoicing in this gift of salvation can you please turn with me to Psalm 51 Psalm 51, you can keep a finger in Luke if you want but you can go to Psalm 51, Psalm 51 and verse number 12 Psalm 51 and verse number 12 Psalm 51 is a very famous Psalm, you know, after King David committed adultery with Bathsheba and killed her husband quite a wicked thing to do, I mean, if salvation was based on how good you are, David would not pass but King David is known as a man after God's own heart God says those words about David, this is a man after my own heart okay, because salvation is not based on how good or bad you are this is a man that's committed adultery and killed the woman's husband okay, please understand that, and look, I doubt that some of you guys would even go that far okay, please don't, please, if David can receive the free gift of salvation, nothing's stopping you from receiving that free gift either okay, but when he's done such horrible sins he feels far from the Lord, he realises the Lord is not happy with him, he's been challenged by a prophet and he realises, man, I've really messed up life, I've really stuffed up here but what does it say in verse number 12, Psalm 51 verse 12 he says to the Lord, restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free spirit, he says to God, God, can you restore unto me, not salvation, he doesn't say Lord give me back salvation, I lost no, he says can you restore unto me the joy of my salvation or joy of thy salvation, you see King David lost the joy, he was in such bad sins okay, going for such difficulties right, and brethren you can be in the same place, you can be so far from the Lord, so busy with earthly matters, or so deep in sin that you say Lord I've lost the joy of salvation, I'm not excited about it anymore Lord I mean you know you should be, but you're not you know, and you start to find joy in other places in life you try to find joy in earthly things, in carnal things maybe you start to try to find joy in being wealthy or gaining possessions or maybe you try to find joy on social media you know, if enough people just like my posts I feel better about myself people start to look for joy in other places, you know this is why social media is so addictive because you get a kick with all these likes for a period of time and then everyone stops liking you because I mean it's down, you know it's down the list, and then you've got to post something else, it's like likes, likes, likes I feel good, and then that's gone, oh man I don't feel good about myself, let's post another one like yeah I feel better about myself, but we start to look for joy in other places, I'm not saying there's something wrong with social media, if you want to use it I'm just saying make sure that you're looking for your joy in your salvation because you can lose it, David lost it, a man after God's own heart can you truly say that about your own heart, that you're a person after God's own heart I don't know, my heart's desperately wicked, who can know what the Bible says, it's not always right it's not always good, okay, and I can honestly say there's been times that I've lost the joy of my salvation, I've just not been excited I've just been so busy with the things of the earth so busy with difficulties and problems and you lose that joy I want you to leap for joy this Christmas, number one, leap for joy by the gift of salvation, I'm going to quickly read to you from Habakkuk chapter 3 verse 17, Habakkuk chapter 3 verse 17 this is about Israel, shortly before they would be taken over by the Babylonians not Israel, it's about Judah, the southern kingdom of Israel, right, before they were taken into captivity by the Babylonians, Habakkuk preaches this to them he says, although the fig tree shall not blossom neither shall fruit be in the vines, the labour of the olives shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat the flock shall be cut off from the fold and there shall be no herd in the stalls even if the whole nation can't produce fruits anymore, even if there's nothing coming there's no produce, there's nothing good coming out of our nation anymore even if that happens, in verse 18, it says yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation even if everything fails, even if I'm not successful in life even if I just, we can't produce anything right, we just fail in all the accomplishments I have in my life he says, yet will I rejoice in the Lord I will joy in the God of my salvation there's only one thing that will cause you to late for joy this Christmas, and keep it sustained okay, it's if you can rejoice in your God of your salvation if you can rejoice in salvation, then it says in verse number 19 the Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds feet and he will make me to walk upon my high places hinds feet, like deer feet, you know how deer can run and leap and, you know, he goes like, I'm going to be excited about life I'm going to be excited about salvation, even if life fails I can be excited, I can be walking on high, I can be in a great mood, as long as I rejoice in the God of my salvation so point number 1 brethren, is rejoice in the gift of salvation this Christmas, come with me to the book of Acts Acts chapter 20 verse number 33, Acts chapter 20 and verse number 33 now when it comes to church ministries you know, one thing that ministries require is support, like it requires finance it requires giving, you know, of the church and, you know, I say this just to make sure that we're all on the same page here, right I mean, I give to the church as well, I want you to understand that, you know and, you know, all ministries need some level of support, right, even just to lease out this building even if it's just to print out tracts, even if it's just to have enough bibles on hand, you know, there are finances that are needed in a ministry and of course we look at the apostle Paul, and Paul was often on missionary journeys, starting churches, right and he needed support, like he needed people to get behind him but there were times that he just did not have enough, so Paul himself would have to get out there and just work a job, okay, and it says here in Acts chapter 20 in verse number 33, he says, I have coveted no man's silver or gold or apparel you see, when someone is doing the work of God, well, if they've got the right intentions like Paul does, they're not doing it to be rich, they're not doing it to say, hey, you know, bring in the finances, because I just want your gold and silver right, no, he's working in ministry, that's not his desire his desire is to serve Jesus Christ, his desire is to win souls, then he says in verse number 34 ye yourselves know that these hands the hands of Paul have ministered unto my necessities and to them that were with me, he goes, look, there are times that I just could not be provided enough by the church, so I've had to go and work you know, I've had to go and labour by his own hands, provided for myself and also those that are in the ministry with me, then he says this in verse number 35 which has a very famous passage here, it says, I have showed you all things, how that so labouring you ought to support the weak and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive it is more blessed to give than to receive, that's a very famous verse in the Bible, Paul is saying, look, I'm not whining or complaining about the fact that I've got to go to work, okay, because I'm happy that I've given you an example of what it is to give he's laboured, he's taking care of his needs, but he's taking care of the needs of others he says, man, you know, one thing that he found is, it's just more blessed it's better to give than to receive the little kids, they don't get this right now, they're excited about the free gift, they're excited yeah, I get a gift, eventually as they mature and get older and they're able to have their own finances, their own ability to take care of other people or give other people gifts, they'll actually understand just how good it feels to do something nice for others, like it felt good to receive those chocolates from my neighbour yesterday, but I'm sure my neighbour was extremely happy to have done such a nice gesture, it's more blessed to give than to receive, so not only should we rejoice in the gift of salvation, we should rejoice in giving we should rejoice in giving, and one good thing about having a church is that we know that within a church we often open up to one another we know what we struggle with, right, we know each other's faults we know where we might be able to step in and help one another it could be financially, but it could just be in prayers it could be support as a friend, it could be in support of carrying out a service that you can do, you put in some efforts that you can give of yourself, the bible says you're more blessed to give than to receive Paul says, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus when did the Lord Jesus say these words? Well come back with me to Luke chapter 14, come back with me to the book of Luke Luke chapter 14 please, Luke chapter 14, because Jesus Christ did teach this in Luke chapter 14 Luke chapter 14 and verse number 12 Luke chapter 14 and verse number 12 then said he also to him that bade him, so these are the words of Christ, he says, when thou makest a dinner or a supper call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbors, you got rich neighbors? Oh have them come all right, lest they also bid thee again and a recompense be made be made thee. All right so I just learnt a lesson Kristina's right now preparing lunch, I did invite my friends and my church family you guys aren't invited anymore, I'm sorry because here's the thing, I'm just joking, of course you're welcome, okay, but this is the teaching, the teaching is look, if you just go out and just hang around and just do nice things to the people that you know, they can recompense you, they can pay you back one day, right? Like if I invite you over for lunch and you guys will be like you know let's have the supporters over next time for lunch and that can be paid back in that sense and there's nothing wrong with that in of itself okay, but when Christ walked this earth he lifted the standard even higher, okay, like truly you cannot save yourself is the point right, even if you could just keep all the commandments of the law which you can't because you've already broken them all, even if you're told a single lie you've already broken all the commandments, okay even if you could, when Jesus Christ came and he walked this earth, he lifted the bar even greater, like for example remember in the commandments it says that I shall not commit adultery, alright so yeah I've never committed adultery but you say well Jesus Christ said that if any man looks upon a woman in lust, he has committed adultery with her already in his heart see Christ lifts the standard higher and higher and higher and of course the only one that was perfect was Jesus Christ he's the only one that could actually save us and pay for our way to heaven is by his own perfection, by his own righteousness and then it continues in Luke 14 look at verse number 13, who shall we invite instead, but when they'll make us a feast, call the poor, the maimed the lame, the blind have you ever done that, have you ever put on a feast in your house, got out the best plates, got out the best food and said let's just get everyone that's downtrodden right now, instead of inviting church family, instead of inviting pastor over, instead of inviting our friends and family over let's just get everybody that's struggling in life right now to come and feast with us, this is what Christ is teaching us to do it's a high standard, alright, because we naturally, we wouldn't want to do this you know if we're going to put on a feast, we're going to want to invite our friends generally, you know, you're putting that much work in, right, you kind of want to get your friends around you, but then it says in verse number 14 and thou shall be blessed, if you do this, you'll be blessed, there's a special blessing for those that actually do nice things for people that you don't even know people that you don't naturally care about, okay, but thou shall be blessed, for they cannot recompense thee, they can't pay you back, they're too poor, or too disabled, or they're suffering so much in life, they can't pay you back, so you're blessed then it says this, for thou, look at this, for thou shall be recompensed at the resurrection of the just whoa, they can't recompense you but God says if you do this, Jesus Christ says if you do this, you're going to be rewarded when I come back again, you're going to be rewarded at the rapture, at the resurrection of the just, see when Christ comes back, he's going to reward us for what we've done on this earth, right, you know, salvation's not a reward, salvation's a free gift, but what we do for Christ will be rewarded okay, if we do good things, if we labour, if we live after these ways, if we preach the gospel, if we see souls saved, if we put on a lunch or a dinner, and we invite people that we don't even know, people that we don't naturally care about, people that we know, hey look, they're just going to leave a mess, they're not going to appreciate even what we've given them, they've got no chance of repaying what we've done for them there's something great like that, Christ says but hey, you'll be recompensed when he comes back, at the resurrection, at the rapture wow, that's a high standard, so he says you'll be blessed, so it's blessed it's more blessed to give than to receive and I want you to remember this because, you know I've worked in corporations, in big businesses and generally speaking, again there's nothing wrong with this in of itself but generally, and look, I've done the same practice, I'm the same generally speaking, you do nice things for your work colleagues if you can get something nice in return, you know, you'll implement a change in the business if there's a win-win scenario, yes you win but I win, or I'll do you this favour, I'll scratch your back if you scratch my back when the time comes, that's how the world operates and again there's nothing inherently wrong with that in of itself it's not saying that's sinful or anything else, but there's no reward from Christ in that regard, but if you step out and do something good and you know this person has no chance to repay it then Christ says he's going to reward you at the resurrection it's more blessed to give than to receive so rejoice in giving, you know, as I said people are extra nice at Christmas generally speaking, right, you know, it's actually a really good time to give the gospel, because people are generally a little bit more receptive to hearing the good news of salvation, that's something that people can never repay by the way if you go out and give them the gospel to the maimed to the poor, to the lame, to the blind, they'll never pay you back, they don't have to pay you back, because that doesn't cost you anything anyway, except your time and your effort but the gift itself is free isn't it, the gift of salvation is one of the greatest ways to be blessed, you're given something, those people can never pay you back, because you're already saved, like they can't give you the gospel in return and save you you're already saved, it's done, truly the greatest blessing you can do is in giving, yes being kind to your fellow man doing that which is good, but most importantly giving people the gospel giving people the good news, come with me to Luke chapter 6 Luke chapter 6 and verse number 31, Luke chapter 6 and verse number 31 and this verse is known as the golden rule, people often quote it as do unto others, but that phrase is not in your Bible but people think it's in the Bible, like do unto others, but it comes from this it comes from Luke 6 31, and as you would that men should do to you, do you also to them likewise this is the teaching of Christ, right, the way you want to be treated is the way you ought to treat others I want you to really think about that, right, like I love our church, I love our church family, I try to be nice and kind and friendly to you guys, but generally speaking, our neighbours are all around us our community, you know, treat people with respect, especially people that work during Christmas and these hours, they're not usually happy to do that I want you to understand that, and they're kind of forced to give a smile and give you a good service because they want some time off and you know, they're working, but you know, it's good to be kind, even though the shops can be busy and you might get frustrated why hasn't, you know, Coles or Woolworths put on that extra checkout person you might get, look, just be kind, be nice treat people with respect, you know, treat them the way you would like to be treated this is not some, you know, new age this is the words of Jesus Christ, this is what he's telling you to do, okay, verse number 32 and if you love them which love you, what thank have ye for sinners also love those that love them so brethren, if I love you, I love you, but I know you love me back, that's good, okay, but what thank have ye, like it's been returned, right, I'm doing nice things for you, you do nice things for me, or each other, vice versa, we care for one another it's great, we should care for one another, don't get me wrong, but what thank have ye what does Jesus Christ mean by this, verse number 33 and if you do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye for sinners also do even the same, like you're not different than anyone else, okay, verse number 34 and if you lend them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye for sinners also lend to sinners to receive as much again so it says look, just lend and have the mindset that that may never come back to me, now it should come back to you if you're lending it, it should come back to you, but have the mindset, look if I'm going to lend this item, it may never come back to me and I'm okay with that so in other words, be careful about what you lend right, like if I lend, I don't know, if there's something that I just can't afford to lend, then I won't lend it, okay but what I can, what I'm happy to lend, I will lend, knowing full well that may never come back to me, whether it's a good, whether it's a service, whether it's even financial, you know, verse number 35 but love ye your enemies, this is what Jesus Christ is getting to, love ye your enemies, don't just love those that love you, don't just be good to your friends, love ye your enemies and do good and lend hoping for nothing again, hoping for nothing I hope I get nothing in return, wow hoping for nothing again and your reward shall be great and ye shall be the children of the highest for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil, God is kind to the unthankful and to the evil, God has given them life, he's given them opportunities in life, he gives them time, he gives them mercy, he gives them grace, he gives them opportunities to hear about the gospel so they can be saved, God is kind even to the sinners Brethren, who are your enemies this morning, have you got enemies? Do something good for them today, maybe maybe that'd be great, today's Christmas, you got someone that hates you hates your guts, maybe send them a nice Christmas message alright, so it's not worth it pastor yes it is, and your reward shall be great but again that reward's gonna come at the resurrection of the just, when Christ comes back to reward you, alright, for the great things that you've done for him, so brethren if you've got some enemies, think about it alright, let's do some good to each other this morning, how about let's do some good for our enemies this is the commandment of Jesus Christ, come back with me to Luke chapter 1, Luke chapter 1 verse number 42 so I'm up to my third point, my first two points was number 1, rejoice in the gift of salvation, point number 2 is rejoice in giving, yes even to your enemies, maybe that's why my neighbour came and gave me some chocolates nah nah, I don't think we're enemies, that's all good alright, point number 3 is rejoice in others rejoice in others, you know when something goes good for someone in our church, you ought to rejoice, you ought to get excited when something good happens to our church family or to someone that you know, many people have the attitude of envy oh that should be me, or he doesn't deserve it, or she doesn't deserve that, no you know what, if something good happens to others rejoice in others, it's going to increase your joy because look, you've got a certain amount of joy, you have a certain amount of things that happen, that good happens for you, and you can rejoice in those good things that happen for you, but look, I can maximize, how many of us are here this morning, maybe 40, I don't know, okay, I can maximize my joy times 40 if I learn how to be joyful for each good thing that happens to each one of you I can increase my joy times 40 if I stop thinking about myself all the time and think of others, rejoice in others we're back to the story there of Elizabeth and Mary let's look at it again, verse number 42, Elizabeth says these words and she spake out with a loud voice and said, blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb look, I guarantee you that there can be two ladies, I'm saying ladies because there's ladies here right, let's say two men so don't offend anyone, alright, two ladies, one lady and one man I don't know, whatever, okay, they both have good things happening for them right now, both have good things happening for them, okay, in this scenario, Elizabeth has John the Baptist, what a great man, a man that God will use to open the doors for Jesus Christ for people to be ready to receive him but Elizabeth could go, oh but Mary you've got the Lord you've got something better, you've actually got Jesus, you've got God in your womb, I've only got a man but no, what does Elizabeth do, she goes, I'm going to rejoice in you Mary blessed are you Mary, I mean she's excited about her own pregnancy and she gets excited about Mary's pregnancy that's how it ought to be, but there can be two people in this church good things going on for them and one says but yours is better frustrated, that should be me, you don't deserve that, that should be me, now we've got to learn how to rejoice in others brother Caleb you recently got a new job, I'm rejoicing in that, praise God, praise God in a new job here in Caloundra so you can go to work on a Wednesday and be right here in church, song lead, I'm rejoicing in that as well, praise God, when good things happen to my church family, I'm rejoicing, I want you to know that it's going to increase your joy, it will cause your joy to leap come with me to John 3, John 3 John 3, verse 25 again we're looking at the difference not just now the mothers of John the Baptist and the mother of Jesus, but now we're looking at John the Baptist and Jesus, you know John the Baptist started his ministry before Jesus you know John the Baptist had thousands of people flocking to him I mean he was a great preacher, he was a great preacher but you know what, he didn't care for top spot as soon as Jesus Christ started his ministry, he said everyone go listen to him, it was all about him to begin with we'll read about the story here in John 3 and verse 25 so I'll just bring you up to speed, Jesus Christ already had come to John the Baptist to get baptised, to start his ministry and John says behold the lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world, that's what he says about Jesus this is the lamb of God, this is the saviour and John the Baptist, if you know the story, has a hard time even baptising Jesus he doesn't feel he's worthy to do such a thing and then we come up to here in John 3, people start following Jesus people that were listening to John the Baptist are now listening to Jesus John the Baptist had a huge ministry, but now those people are flocking to Jesus but John the Baptist the whole time was saying hey, it's all about Jesus it's all about him, it's all about the lamb of God and then some people come to John the Baptist about this question, John 3, verse 25 then arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying and they came unto John and said unto him Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan he that was with thee, he's talking about Jesus there, to whom thou barest witness the one that you've been preaching about, behold the same baptiseth and all men come to him he goes John the Baptist, you were baptising now Jesus is baptising and everyone's going to him I bet you there will be some Baptist pastors that will be frustrated that their ministry is not taking off it's not getting the numbers that they think it should be getting, but look at that pastor that pastor over there, he's getting all the numbers, oh man, frustrating you know what, if there's another church right here on the Sunshine Coast that is of saved brethren, preaching the gospel and they're happy and they're rejoicing and they're getting great numbers you know what brethren, I'm not going to become envious I'm going to get excited, I'm going to leap for joy and say praise God, there's another church on the Sunshine Coast serving Jesus Christ but you have some people, John what about that preacher they're all going to him, he's baptising more than you John I mean look, if John's just in the flesh yeah he can get, he can become envious definitely, he can become bitter, definitely if he's in the flesh but how does he answer, verse number 27, John answered and said a man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven, he goes look, I know what Jesus Christ is doing, it's all from heaven, it's all from the Father verse number 28, ye yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but I am sent before him he that hath the bride is the bridegroom but the friend of the bridegroom which standeth in here of him rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice this, look at this, this my joy therefore is fulfilled he must increase, but I must decrease wow, he goes look, I'm not the bridegroom, I'm not the groom alright, I'm not the one that the day's all about that's the groom, I'm just the best man at the wedding I'm just having a great time, I'm just rejoicing that my best friend is getting married and brethren where do you think John the Baptist got this from? Definitely from his mum because his mum could look at her cousin and rejoice in her that she got selected to bring in Jesus and then she was able to teach her own son hey, rejoice in others, and so even though John the Baptist's ministry was taken off, soon it would come to an end and everyone's fucking to Jesus and goes man, I'm just having the time of my life I'm like at a wedding celebration, this is awesome, I'm just a friend of the bridegroom I'm the best man, I'm enjoying the ride, we need to learn how to rejoice in others, alright, one more passage, come with me to Luke chapter 2, Luke chapter 2, in conclusion, Luke chapter 2 so brethren, the three points that I have for you this morning, I want you to leap for joy leap for joy this Christmas, number one, rejoice in the gift of salvation number two, rejoice in giving, number three, rejoice in others rejoice in others, and in conclusion, Luke chapter 2 verse number 8, it says, and there was 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, good tidings of great joy, it's going to be about the birth of Christ look at this, which shall be to all people, look we don't believe in Calvinism we don't believe in, what do they call it, reform theology where they teach that Jesus Christ only came to some in fact, very few, no, this is a joy to all people, I'm happy that in Australia we still celebrate Christmas, I'm happy it's still happening, I know it's commercialised, I know some pagan roots, I get all of that I know they're just trying to drain your pockets of your money the corporations, right, I understand that but just for a brief moment, just a brief moment of the year Jesus Christ, just the word Christmas is in the minds of our fellow Australians, okay, and this is why people generally are in a good mood, I mean this is the joy of all people, that the Father would send his son that the Father would offer a free gift verse number 11, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a saviour, which is Christ the Lord, Jesus Christ is the Lord Jesus Christ is the saviour, and it's a free gift that has been offered to us by the Father, this is the joy of all people if you've not received the joy of salvation, then let me strongly encourage you this morning to get this settled once and for all, become like a little child, become like a five year old, a six year old, that gets excited about their Christmas present, hey get excited about Jesus, he's offered himself for you, it's a free gift, do you want it or do you not okay, I want you to leap for joy, I want you to rejoice in the God of your salvation, alright let's pray Heavenly Father, Lord thank you so much for this day, Lord thank you that we can be in the house of the Lord this Christmas, Lord that we can think about the free gift of salvation and Lord I just pray that if anyone's struggling with joy this morning, they would find joy once again thinking about the great sacrifice of our Saviour, Lord the free gift that you've given us, Lord what a wonderful gift that we can think about every year Lord I just want to thank you once again for church, I pray that you would be blessed in all that we say and do, and that you'll just be helping Christina right now while she's home getting things ready for the lunch, we pray these things in Jesus' name, Amen Alright please take your hymnals Let's turn to hymn number 423 423 I said I wasn't going to try to preach too long, so my apologies but 423, Joy to the World 423, Joy to the World 23 Joy to the World 23 Joy to the World 24 Joy to the World 25 The Lord is come 26 Let every Savior came 27 Let every heart prepare Him room 28 And heaven and nature sing 29 Joy to the World 30 The Savior reigns 31 Let men their songs employ 32 World fills and floods 33 Rocks, hills and plains 34 Repent the sound in joy 35 Repent the sound in joy 36 Repeat the sound in joy 37 No more let sins and sorrows 38 Run from thorns he bares the crowns 39 He comes to make his blessings pour 40 Far as the curse is found 41 Far as the curse is found 42 Far as the curse is found 43 He rules the world with truth and grace 44 And makes the nations prove the glories of his righteousness, and wonders of his love, and wonders of his love, and wonders and wonders of his love.