Christmas Eve 2024

For [Music] ch e [Music] what m what e [Music] spe like I got [Music] m e well good evening everyone good evening and welcome to First Baptist Church and I'm so glad that you are here at our Christmas Eve service it's one of my favorite Services of the entire year it's always a lot of fun lighting the candles and singing the songs and I'm glad that you are here as well if you would just bow your heads with me as we go to our Lord in prayer father God we do thank you so much for this great day that you've given to us we thank you for the Advent season where we celebrate the arrival of the Savior Jesus Christ we just thank you that you have sent you have sent him to us to be born in our hearts and I pray above everything else that tonight people would understand even myself Lord that it would fall fresh and new on our hearts the arrival of the Lord Jesus Christ we thank you so much that you before creation chose to sacrif I your son on our behalf to pay the sin debt that we owe that we would be able to walk in Freedom in love in peace God we just pray that every person here would know that peace which only comes from knowing you thank you for your grace and your mercy we just look forward to the service that we get to have tonight in Jesus name amen hey let's stand together and let's sing some Christmas carols

[Music] Angel glory to the new kingace and mercy M God and S [Music] Joy Nations Jo the trium of with Christ is born in bethle theal Angel sing glory to the newborn king Christ my highest and adore Christ the Everlasting Lord L in time Behold Him come offing up the merchant in fles Godhead se incarn de to dwell Jesus [Music] U the heral angel sing glory to the newborn king ha the heav Prince of Peace hail the son of rightous light and light to all he BR with healing in his mild he lays his glory by Bor to ra the sons of Earth Bor to the her angel sing Glory To The newn King that's right amen Joy to the World the Lord is come let Earth receive K let every heart prepare him and heaven and nature seeing and heaven and nature sing and heaven and heaven and nature sing Joy to the Earth the Savior Reign let men their s [Music] while fields and Hills andeat the sounding joye the sounding Joy repat the sounding Joy No More let and Sorrows grow

Nor the ground he comes to make His blessings flow far as the curses far as the far as CSE is found he rules the world with truth and Grace and Mak the nation true the glor of his rightousness and wonders of his wonders his wonders of [Music] Anders [Applause] [Music] love you may be seated for the last few weeks we've been remembering why Christ came the first week we let the candle that we remembered the hope that Christ gives to the world in his first coming then we recall the love that God demonstrated by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh for us we remembered that Jesus gives us the next one that Jesus gives to us and we remembered the peace that is offered to us when we come to God today we light the white candle representing Christ it reminds us that God the word became flesh and dwelt among us bringing grace and truth to all who believe I'm going to be reading from two different passages the first one Isaiah 9 veres 2-7 Isaiah 9 verse 2 the people who walk in darkness will see a great light those who live in a dark land the light will shine on them you shall multiply the nation you shall increase their gladness they will be glad in your presence as with the gladness of harvest as men rejoice when they de divide the spoil for you shall break the Yoke of their burden and the staff of their on their shoulders the rod of their oppressor as at the Battle of Midian for

Every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult and cloak rolled in blood will be burning fuel for the fire for a child will be born to us a son will be given to us and the government will be rest on his shoulders and his name will be called wonderful counselor Mighty God Eternal Father Prince of Peace there will be no end to the increase of his government or of peace peace on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with Justice and righteousness from then on and forever more the Zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this and then Luke or sorry John chapter 1 verses 1-4 and it says in the beginning was the word and the Word was with God and the Word was God he was in the beginning with God all things came into being through him and apart from him nothing came into being that has come into being in him was life and the life was the light of men the light shines in the darkness and the Darkness did not comprehend it there came a man sent from God whose name was John he came as a witness to testify about the light so that all might believe through him he was not the light but he came to testify about the light there was the True Light which coming into the world enlightens every man he was in the world and the world was made through him and the world did not know him he came to his own and those who were his own did not receive him but as many as received him to them he gave the right to become children of God even to those who believe in his name who were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God and the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we saw his glory glory is that of the only begotten from the father full of grace and truth let me

Pray join me in prayer oh Lord we worship you in this miracle of the Incarnation that the Eternal Word of God became flesh and dwelt Among Us in Christ you have shown us your glory full of grace and truth as we celebrate his birth May our hearts overflow with gratitude for the Salvation that you have provided help us to live as faithful witnesses to the Light of Christ in this world rejoicing in the hope of eternal life glory be to you oh God for the gift of your son Jesus amen Oh Come Ye Faithful joyful and tri Oh Come Me Oh Come to Bethlehem come and Behold Him born the king ofel oh come let us adore him oh come adore oh come let us adore he Christ Lord sing of angel sing in exal sing All Ye bright host of Heaven above glory to God glory in the highest come let us adore him come let us adore him oh come let us adore Christ Lord we GRE thee born this happy morning us to the all glory word of the father now in flesh of hearing oh come let us adore him oh come let us adore him come let us adore Christ [Music] Lord y'all can go ahead and be seated in those days the decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered this was the first registration when cinius was governor of Syria and all went to be registered each to his own town and Joseph also went up From Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea to the city of David which is

Which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house and lineage of David to be registered with Mary his betrothed who was with Christ who is with child and while they were there the time came for her to give birth and she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a Manger because there was no place for them in the end and in the same region there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night and an angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord Shone around them and they were filled with great fear and the angel said to them fear not for behold I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people for unto you is Born This Day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord this will be a sign for you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the Heavenly Host praising God and saying glor glory to God in the highest and on Earth peace among those with whom he is pleased when the angels went away from them into heaven the Shepherds said to one another let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us and they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger and when they saw it they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child and all who heard it wondered at what the Shepherds told them but Mary treasured up all these things pondering them in her heart and the Shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen as it had been told them I want to focus on verse 11 just for this evening because we learn a couple of different things actually three titles for the name of Jesus that he himself has verse 11 it says For unto

You is Born This Day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord the first title that we I want to talk about is Savior we have a good and a mighty and a magnificent Savior we did not deserve a Savior but we sure needed one that word Savior it's the word soter which is where we get our word in theology soteriology it's the doctrine of how we're saved you know Jesus his name literally means the Lord saves that's what the name of Jesus means he came to be the Savior as Luke writes in Acts 13:23 it says that God has brought to Israel a Savior Jesus as he promised what kind of Savior do we have well I think that is important for us to identify a couple of things here firstly is that you might be here and you might feel really lost like you're here you're going through the motions it's Christmas Eve you go to church it's just what you do you've done it all your life right but you're going through the motions you're feeling kind of lost you're confused I mean our world is just crazy right now ain't it and yet and yet we have a Savior that gives us a sure Foundation we have a Savior that goes and he seeks and he saves the Lost he leaves the 99 to go for the one that's the kind of Savior that we have if you feel trapped or maybe you're struggling with addictions guess what it says in the book of Galatians that it's for Freedom that Christ has set us free we have a Savior that sets us free from our sins if you're hungry and needy and our needs abound every single day guess what he was born in Bethlehem Bethlehem literally means the house of bread and Jesus he took on that name to teach us a lesson he teaches us that he is the bread of life that satisfies every single one of our needs to the utmost Psalm 107 says for he talking

About God satisfies The Thirst Y and fills the Hungry with good things Our Savior doesn't give us serpents to eat he doesn't give us bad milk to drink he gives us good things to fill us because he is a good Savior in Christ he saves us completely he's not a halfway Savior he doesn't get us halfway there and say you got to do the rest he doesn't even take us 99% of the way there he gets us all the way there and he saves us completely as he says no one can take them out of the father's hand and no one can take them out of my hand once the Lord has you he has you forever because he is a good and strong and merciful and righteous Savior the second title is that he is Christ Christ means the anointed one that's what Christ means we sometimes call him Messiah because that's the hebraic kind of term of saying Christ in Hebrew Messiah but what does it mean that he's the anointed one well you have to understand it in the Old Testament there were anointings for different offices of prophet and priest king and Jesus he holds those three-fold offices of being the prophet of being the priest and of being the king as a prophet he came and he taught and he taught as one who had true Authority not like the scribes or the Pharisees who just preached tradition but he taught as one who knew the truth who knew the way who knew the path because he himself is the way and the truth and life and he taught with authority and he preached the word and as a priest he came and he made sacrifice that was the role of a priest in the Old Testament was not just to do the hands and the feet kind of ministry although he definitely did that through his healings and things like that but his primary reason of coming to this Earth was to make sacrifice for our sins in 1 Timothy 1 ver5 it says that Christ came into the

World to save Sinners aren't you glad that Jesus came I tell you what I am I'm the worst sinner I know he came not just to be the prophet or the priest but he also came as king because he rules and he reigns right now he rules with all authority and there is no higher name there is no stronger name than the name of Jesus Christ Ephesians chapter 1 says that he is seated at the right hand on the Heavenly places in the Heavenly places for above all Rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one in the one to come Jesus rules and Reigns right now and he is Christ the anointed one and that is a necessary profession for us we cannot we cannot know Jesus Christ without believing that he is Christ and we see that as Andrew he came to Peter and he said we have we have found the Messiah it's Jesus we see Peter at cesaria Philippi Jesus asked them who do you say that the son of man is and Peter says you are the Christ the son of the Living God Martha in the most needy time of her life when her brother was dead three days dead he said Do you believe and she said I believe that you are the Christ the son of God so we see that he's he is Savior he is Christ he is also as the passage says Lord that word Lord in the Greek is curios now that could be just a formal title like sir or something like that but not in Luke 2 that's not how it appears anywhere in Luke 2 if you look at it says what an angel of the Lord appeared the Lord Almighty the Sovereign of sovereigns the king of kings the Creator and sustainer of all things and the glory of the Lord shown around them it's not talking about the glory of a baby okay the glory of just a mere man the glory of God shown around and that is what Luke is communicating here that he is

Christ the Lord God Jesus is completely Divine he's not part man and part God he is fully man and fully God he is divine of divines Colossians 2:9 says that for in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily he is divine that means that he is Holy he has all the attributes of God he is perfect he is good he is Almighty he is infinite and the reason why God came is because he's the only one who could save us from our sins God didn't send an angel or some type of created creature to come and make atonement for our sins none of them could do it because they were created they didn't have shoulders strong enough to Bear the weight and the guilt and the shame of my sin and your sin but God did and he is the only one who was able to save and why is it that he did it's because that is who he is he is Jesus Christ the Savior and Lord and so what do we what are we to do with all of that the only right response is to emulate what the what the Shepherds did here in this passage which is rejoicing and glorifying God that's why we sing the songs isn't it and you might be here and you might say you know what Cody that's fine that's fine for everyone else but not for me okay fine for my parents fine for my grandma fine for my siblings fine for my neighbors but not for me let me just tell you that you're wrong in the most christmy way you're wrong okay because the Bible says that it is unto you that is Born This Day in the city of David to savor Bible says that is good news of great joy for all the people I think that you're a person I hope that you're a person as brother PJ said for to us a child is born to us a son is given that means that he came and he suffered and he died for

You it was for you that he was born it's for you that he would bled it's for you that he was buried and it's for you that he rose again all for the glory of the father that he might redeem a people to himself that's why we sing the songs we're going to be transitioning to the portion of our service which is I think everyone's favorite the lighting of the candles and we and we sing these songs and we do that not because of tradition not because they make us feel warm and gooey and all that kind of stuff we do it because the song have Gospel truths in that song Silent Night in the chorus it says Jesus Lord at thy birth in another one it says Christ the Savior is born all those titles are in this song because it's true and that's why we sing it and we're called to join with those Shepherds in glorifying and praising God and as we as we pass these candles and the light from our candles let that be a reminder that as we go and we glorify and we praise God it helps others to see the joy of God in us that we might have an opportunity to introduce them to our Savior that we might be able to show them the goodness of Christ that they might believe on him as the Lord of their their lives so I'm going to ask the instrumentalists and the vocalist to come forward as we all stand together and we sing these next two songs help [Music] night holy God [Music] all is C all is bright round

Onin mother and child holy so tender and sleep in heaven night holy night shers qu at the side glor Str from Heaven of heart Heavenly [Music] Hallelujah Christ Our Savior is Christ the Savior is Bor [Music] Son of God love pure light radiant be from thy holy face with [Music] redeeming gra Jesus [Music] thy Jesus Lord at thy birth night holy wonderous star thy light with the angels let us sing [Music] Hallelujah to our King Christ saor isor Christ the saor isor oh holy life the stars are bright sh is

The of my dear saor long lay the world in ever to we and the [Music] a of we world rej for break new and glorious on your KNE he [Music] the [Music] angel [Applause] [Music] oh mighty [Music] oh night oh Tru he taught us to love one another his love is love and his goel is peace chain shall he break for the is [Applause] our and in his name all the [Music] pre sweet hands of Joy great CH let all Us Praise His holy name Christ is the Lord the his name forever his [Music] power and [Applause] GL more [Applause] Proclaim his [Music] [Applause]

[Music] and well Merry Christmas to each one of you I hope that youall have a safe and wonderful Christmas remember that it is Christ the Savior who is born this day for you go in peace [Music] thanks I watch aoup sections there that's okay it's all good well I don't know what is that sex that like with the changing at the onite Divine instead of the of the holy night again like the timing just was not so that part and then I Hon I wasn't even listening I was too busy in my head like