so so you you Come and worship, come and worship, worship Christ the Lord. ♪ Sing and heaven and nature sing ♪ ♪ And heaven and heaven and nature sing ♪ ♪ He rules the world with truth and peace ♪ ♪ And makes the nations prove ♪ ♪ The glories of his righteousness ♪ ♪ The wonders of his love ♪ O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord. O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? Well, it's so good to have each one of you here with us tonight. And we are so glad to assemble on this Christmas Eve. We're excited about a program that we'll have before you. It will not take a long time. When you came in, if you did not get one of these candles, they are available in the foyer. And maybe some ushers can grab a handful of them and make sure that everyone has one. We'll need this toward the end of the service. I'm so glad that you're able to take time away from your busy schedule and come on this Christmas Eve and think about the reason for the season, the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And we hope to present that in song and with a very brief message. At this time, John Hoxie is going to come and lead us in a word of prayer as we begin our program. Good to see you this evening. Let's bow for prayer. Father, we love you. And we're so thankful, Lord, we can meet here in your house. And God, we're so thankful that we can lift up Lord Jesus coming down. And we're just excited about this time we get to share together. And Lord, I pray that your blessings would be upon us. Pray, God, that you'll speak through the singing to our hearts and just give us a wonderful time together. Lord, we love you. Thank you for all that you've done for us. We'll praise you for it all in Jesus name. Amen. Christmas, the celebration of the coming of the Christ child. A big part of our celebration of Christmas each year are the songs that we sing. Silent night, joy to the world, oh come all ye faithful. And then there's this one. Come thou long expected Jesus, born to set thy people free, born thy people to deliver, born a child and yet a king. Let us remember that these are more than just the words of a Christmas hymn that we sing once a year. This was the prayer prayed for centuries by God's people who were longing for a Savior. And now we rejoice their prayers were answered. Christ, our Redeemer, has come. And the story of how and why he came is the story we tell today. God of all creation, ♪ Come to me, my star, you angel ♪ ♪ Emmanuel ♪ ♪ I am a world here to stay ♪ ♪ Adore ♪ ♪ Come let us ♪ the Lord. Let all that is within us adore the Lord. Rise and bring the treasure ♪ And peace on earth ♪ ♪ God hath a right to offer ♪ ♪ Till heaven's need ♪ ♪ I will bring my life, my life, my life ♪ Oh come let us adore him, adore him. Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh This Christmas, we lift our voices in worship and adoration of Christ. We are reminded why he came. He came that the world may know that in Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. He came that the world may know that God loves us so much that He gave His only Son so that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. He came to teach us to love one another. He came so that the chains of sin can be broken and in His name oppression cease. He knows our need. To our weakness, He is no stranger. And because he came, we sing sweet hymns of joy, raised in praise to his holy name. We sing so that the world may know. God had a plan in place before all time began Before the dawn of Eden, before the fall of man He whispered it to David, it's in the songs he'd sing Words about the Son of God, the long-awaited King He spoke to Isaiah, a prophecy so wild No one could imagine a virgin with a child And He revealed to Micah, a wonder for all men The ruler and messiah who would come from Bethlehem And the world may know The heart of heaven, a son to show God longs to seek and save us And from age to age untold The story still unfolds How the Father loves us so That the world may know As the time drew near for Emmanuel From His throne on high God sent Gabriel to Mary and to a carpenter to tell them of the baby that would soon be born to her. of heaven, a son to show. God wants to seek and save us, and from age to age on tall, the story still unfolds, how the Father loves us so. That the world may know Finally one midnight near the fields of Bethlehem Shepherds vowed the glory of the Lord surrounding them And with angels bringing good news of great joy for all men God wants to show, God wants to seek and save us. And from age to age untold, the story still unfolds, how the Father loves us so. That the world may know, that the world may know, And the world may know, may know. so so O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie! Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by. Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light. The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight. Once in royal David's city Stood a lowly cattle shed Where a mother laid In a manger for His bed Mary was that milder mild Jesus Christ, her little child For Christ is born of Mary and gathered all above, While mortals sleep, the angels keep their watch of wondering love. O morning stars together proclaim the holy birth, And praises sing to God the King, and peace to men on earth. so One small child in a land of a thousand One small dream of a Savior tonight One small hand reaching out to the starlight One small city of love One king bringing his gold and riches One king ruling an army of might One king milling with incense and candlelight One king bringing us life See him lying, a cradle beneath him. See him smiling in the storm. See his mother praising his father. See his tiny eyelids fall. One small light from the flame of a candle One small light from a city of might One small light from the stars in the endless night One small light from His face See the shepherds still See the kings on bended knee. See the mother praising the father. See the blessed infants sleep. One small child in a land of a thousand, One small dream in a people of might, One small hand reaching out to the starlight, One small Savior of light. One small Savior of mine. A little town of Bethlehem. Bethlehem is such a small and insignificant little city, it probably doesn't mean much to most anybody in the world except believers, those of us who placed our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Bethlehem has a very special place in our heart because we know that to be the birthplace of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. We read about Bethlehem, first of all, in the book of Genesis. We find that Jacob is taking his beloved wife, and Rachel is great with child. But she gives birth to the last of his sons, Benjamin. But in doing so, it's a difficult birth, and it takes her life. Jacob has been passing through the land of Cana And he buries her under a tree in a place called Bethlehem. Ephrata. Ephrata is a place just outside of Bethlehem. It's about a thousand steps outside the city. And that's where he laid his beloved wife. Later, we hear about Bethlehem again when Ruth comes to a city and then is introduced to Boaz, who as her kinsman-redeemer will take her as his wife. It's a picture of Jesus Christ being our redeemer, being our kinsman, and saving our soul as Boaz did to Ruth that day. Later, we'll find it's also the city where a little boy named David is born, the youngest of his brothers. It is there that he will watch the sheep. He will watch them outside the city in a place called Migdal Eder. It's a place called the Tower of the Flock. No doubt many a night he stayed there watching over in an elevated area to guard the sheep his family loved and he loved so much from the wolves, the lions, the bears. And certainly we know that as a young boy he fought those to protect them. It is also in Bethlehem where he will be anointed as a king, the first king that come from the tribe of Judah. And we know that our savior is the lion of the tribe of Judah. It is there in the same city that later Jesus will be born. in the incarnation God taking on human flesh to dwell among us. The Bible tells us so many wonderful things about Bethlehem. It's still just a very little city. I've been to it. I've seen the ancient places where the shepherds would watch their sheep by night. On a hillside, you look over a big valley. While we looked over that valley, here comes a shepherd with his sheep behind him, reminding us of how it might have been that very night that Jesus made his entrance into the world. The book of Micah, one of the minor prophets, will tell us more about Bethlehem. In chapter 5 and verse 2, it's going to tell us that Jesus is born in Bethlehem Ephrathah, the very place that was mentioned that Jacob pitched his tent after he buried his wife in a place that later would be called Bethlehem. Probably about a thousand steps away from where she was laid to rest. the Tower of the Flock. We're also going to find that in Micah chapter 4, it's going to tell us the specific location of where the Messiah, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Everlasting One will be born. And it's going to mention the Tower of the Flock. That's known as Migdal Eder, the Tower of the Flock. It is there that theologians surmise to be the very place that Jesus was laid in a manger. These were no ordinary shepherds by anyone's imagination. These were shepherds that were trained under priesthood. They were priestly shepherds. They had a specific duty. Their job was to raise the Passover lambs. Every year, they say that as many as 250,000 lambs would be used for just the Passover alone in Israel. But to qualify as a Passover lamb, it had to be a very special one, without spot and blemish, It was a newborn lamb. It was a lamb that was taken special care of. I was reading in a book called The Life and Times of Jesus Christ the Messiah. It's written by a Jewish theologian, Albert Edersheim, in the 1800s. And Albert Edersheim will say that in this Migdal Eder, this tower of the flock that still stands to this day, its first floor had mangers around the edges of it, this round tower. They said the baby lambs would be born. And unknowns to me, I was just reading that they would wrap those lambs in swaddling cloth and wrap them up. Never heard of that before. But they said they'd do that and then they would carry them by cart all the way to Jerusalem because they didn't want any way for them to be damaged. and not be able to be a Passover lamb because then they were not worth much if there was any blemish or bruise upon them. And they said that Jesus Christ was announced to the shepherds that they would find the child wrapped in swaddling clothes. Keep in mind the shepherds knew nothing about the significance of the star But they do know where they wrap their lambs. And so they went to the Tower of the Flock. And many Bible scholars believe that that is the place 1,000 feet outside of Bethlehem where Joseph and Mary stopped because there was no room for them in the inn. But there were mangers there that were used for the Passover lambs. And borrowing one of those, they wrapped their firstborn child in swaddling clothes and laid him in a very manger that was used for the sacrificial lambs. The Bible tells us in the book of John, chapter 1, that John the Baptist points to the Savior, and twice in that one chapter, says, behold the Lamb of God. And the first time he says, behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. What a beautiful picture of Jesus as our sacrificial Lamb. The Lamb slain, the Bible says, before the foundation of the world. In the book of Revelation, we find that all the titles of the Lord Jesus Christ, and there's so many of them. He's the Alpha and Omega. He's the Beginning and the End. He's the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is the one that will rule forever. But the number one title in the book of Revelation, mentioned 27 times, is the title of a lamb, a lamb. And that's the picture of our Savior who came to earth, was born in Bethlehem at the Tower of the Flock. He laid in a manger. The symbolism is just amazing. No wonder the invited guests were not kings. They would know nothing of a lamb. But the angels invited the very shepherds that were there, watching over the fields of the sacrificial lambs. And they themselves would know us a lamb without spot or blemish. And so they came and on bended knee worshiped this babe of Bethlehem who came to save us all from our sin. Any way you look at Christ's birth, it's wonderful. It involves priests. Zacharias, it involves the shepherds as the guests who came, it involves the lowly like Joseph and Mary, it involves the lovely like Simeon and Anna in the temple, and then it involves the kingly as because as Jesus is raised as a young child, there'll be wise men that will travel 1,500 miles by trade routes from the East to worship this young babe as they're already in a house in Bethlehem. You know, forever, you and I are going to be able to see the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. And we'll ever thank him and praise his holy name for what he did for us. We have deity, clothed in humanity. And not the best humanity has to offer. He came in the most humble form you could imagine. Because God was saying to humanity, I didn't come for the best of you. I came for all of you. I didn't come for the wealthy. I came for the lowly and everyone in between. I hope that you yourself have opened your heart to this babe of Bethlehem because that's what Christmas is all about. Knowing Jesus Christ is your Savior and knowing that God sent his son to be that perfect sacrifice for us, that we one day would stand before God Himself with the righteousness of Jesus Christ, because we've trusted Him as our Savior. And so we challenge all of you to know that Jesus is your personal Savior, for though He's the Savior of the world, It only does us good if He's our personal Savior. The Bible tells us that Jesus is the light of the world. It also says that as He is, so are we in the world. We too are a reflection of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're a little bit like the moon is to the sun. it reflects the light of the sun. But it's a little bit different for a believer because the sun is within us, Christ in us, the hope of glory. And it's the Lord Jesus Christ that radiates through us that is the light of the world. In just a moment, we're going to take those candles and ushers are going to be lighting those, and then we'll ask those near an aisle to be able to light the candle of your neighbor, and then Brother Vestal is going to come and sing for us, O Holy Night, and we'll be dismissed. But thank you for being here tonight, and may even during this time, we be reminded that Jesus is indeed the light of the world. Oh, holy night, the stars are brightly shining. It is the night of the dear Savior's birth. Long lay the world in sin A thrill of hope The weary world rejoices For yonder breaks A new and glorious morn O hear the angel voices! O night divine! O night when Christ was born! Divine All night, all night divine Truly He taught us to love one another His law is love, and His gospel is peace. chains shall he break for the slave is our brother and in his name all oppression shall cease sweet hymns of joy ♪ In grateful chorus raise we ♪ Let all within us raise his holy name ♪ Christ is the Lord ♪ O praise his name forever Evermore proclaim His power and glory Evermore proclaim Christ is the Lord His name forever His power and glory evermore proclaim His power and glory Proclaim! Amen, we have a wonderful Savior, don't we? We're going to close in a word of prayer tonight. We want to thank you so much for attending our Christmas Eve service here, our candlelight service. Hope that you have some family and friends to join, possibly even tonight or tomorrow. We're going to close in a word of prayer and let you go and hope you have a wonderful Christmas. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for the opportunity we have to take some time on this Christmas Eve to acknowledge the true and real reason for who we celebrate, our Savior Jesus Christ. No doubt, Lord, as family and friends, we'll have some time together, we'll be fellowshipping, and we'll be opening presents and having a wonderful time. But Lord, it's all in symbolism to you and the great gift that you gave to us. Thank you for our salvation. Lord, I pray you'd help us never forget that day that we trusted Jesus as our Savior. And I pray that your blessings would be upon each and every one here tonight. Lord, I ask that you bless each individual, each family as we go our different ways in this evening and tomorrow. And may all that we do bring glory and honor to you. We'll thank you for it in Jesus' name. Amen. Merry Christmas. You are dismissed. Thank you so much. you