Our souls glorify the Lord. Our spirits rejoice in God our Savior. The Mighty One has done great things for us. Holy is God's name. Let us worship God. For God is our maker and our redeemer. From generation to generation, God gives mercy. The Lord be with you. Grace, mercy, and peace are yours from God the Father Almighty, from the Lord Jesus, and from the Holy Spirit. Amen. Congregation, you may be seated. The people of Israel have been waiting a long time for the Messiah to come. Day after day, year after year, century after century, they watched and waited, hoped and prayed. The prophet Isaiah had told the people of Israel that even though they had sinned many times and disobeyed God, God would not forget them. Comfort, O comfort, my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. Isaiah also said, every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low. The uneven ground shall become level, and the rough plains a plain. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all the people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. The Israelites couldn't wait to see God's glory. Shining, magnificent. Amazing, glorious. ♪ And all glory, all glory of God in heaven above ♪ ♪ And all flesh shall see it together ♪ ♪ And all flesh shall see it together ♪ ♪ Has spoken it ♪ ♪ In the highest ♪ Glory to God in the highest heaven ♪ Glory to God in the highest ♪ And peace to all the good will ♪ Glory to God in the highest ♪ Glory to God in the highest heaven ♪ Glory to God in the highest ♪ Peace to all the world ♪ The prophet Isaiah also said, the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who lived in a land of deep darkness, on them light has shined. For a child has been born for us, a son given to us. Authority rests upon his shoulders, and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. The people of Israel couldn't wait to see the glory of God, but not many people were expecting a baby. A baby? A baby? A baby? Right, a baby. The glory of God came to earth as a baby. A baby named Jesus. Born in Bethlehem. And laid in a manger. ♪ For unto us a child is born ♪ Unto us a son is given ♪ Unto us a son is given For unto us a child is born Unto us a son is given Unto us a son is given And the government shall be upon his shoulder And the government shall be upon his shoulder ♪ His name shall be called wonderful Counselor ♪ ♪ Almighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace ♪ ♪ The everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace ♪ ♪ Little witty baby, little witty baby ♪ ♪ Sleeping on the hay, sleeping on the hay ♪ ♪ Jesus is now with us, Jesus is now with us ♪ ♪ Born on Christmas day ♪ ♪ Sleeping on the hay ♪ ♪ Precious Savior, born on Christmas day ♪ ♪ Little windy baby, little windy baby ♪ ♪ Sleeping on the hay, sleeping on the hay ♪ ♪ Jesus is now with us, Jesus is now with us ♪ ♪ Born on Christmas day ♪ Born on Christmas Day! When this glorious baby was born, did anybody know how special he was? Well, there was his mother, Mary, and his father, Joseph. But I mean, did anyone else know about him? Well, there were animals in the barn. But what about kings, princes, and rich, powerful people? Well, there were shepherds, and there were angels who appeared to them, saying, Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors. ♪ Angels sing, glory to the newborn King ♪ ♪ Peace on earth and mercy mild ♪ ♪ God and sinners reconciled ♪ ♪ Joyful all ye nations rise ♪ ♪ Join the triumph of the skies ♪ ♪ Hear the angels proclaim ♪ ♪ Christ is born in Bethlehem ♪ ♪ Hark the herald angels sing ♪ ♪ Glory to the newborn King ♪ ♪ Played in time behold him come ♪ Offspring of the virgin's womb ♪ Held in flesh the Godhead's King ♪ Held in heart a deity ♪ Pleased with Mary thus to dwell ♪ Jesus our Emmanuel ♪ Angels sing glory to the newborn king ♪ ♪ Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia ♪ His glory night. Lord, let me know for a time The beauty of your song, And the new music in you. Hark! The herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King! Glory to God for the baby Jesus who was sent to be our Savior. Glory be to God for the man the baby became. Glory be to God for the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross. Glory be to God that Christ rose again from the dead and will reign forever and ever. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! ♪ And he shall reign forever and ever ♪ ♪ King of kings ♪ ♪ Forever and ever ♪ ♪ King of kings ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Lord of lords ♪ ♪ Forever and ever ♪ ♪ Lord of lords ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ King of kings ♪ ♪ King of kings and Lord of lords ♪ ♪ King of kings and Lord of lords ♪ ♪ And he shall reign forever and ever ♪ ♪ And ever and ever and ever and ever ♪ ♪ And ever and ever and ever and ever ♪ ♪ And ever and ever and ever and ever ♪ ♪ And ever and ever and ever and ever and ever ♪ ♪ And ever and ever and ever and ever and ever ♪ Our scripture reading this evening is actually going to be slightly different from what is printed in the Order of Service and what's up on the screen. We are going to hear actually Luke chapter 2 verse 14, and then we're going to switch over and hear John chapter 1 verse 14. So we're going to start on page 71 of the New Testament section of the few Bibles. And I encourage you and invite you to take out your own Bible or a few Bible and turn there. But before we hear God's Word, I would invite you to pause a moment. And then we'll pray together as we prepare to hear God's Word. Let's pray. Emmanuel, our God who has come down to be with us and for us. As we wait for Christmas, and as we wait for you to come again, help us to see your glory and your love in all of your good gifts to us, and help us to see your glory and your love given to us now through the reading of your word. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen. Again, Luke Chapter 2 verse 14, The angels singing, we already heard about this, glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth, peace among those whom He favors. And then I invite you to turn over to John chapter one, verse 14. If you're looking at a pew Bible, it's on page 111. And here is John 114. And the word became flesh. and lived among us, and we have seen His glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth." This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Glory to God in the highest heaven, the angel sang. And our young people in response said, glory be to God. for the baby Jesus, who was sent to be our savior. Glory be to God for the man the baby became. Glory be to God for the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross. Glory be to God that Christ rose again from the dead and will reign forever and ever. Hallelujah. ♪ Glory, glory, glory to God in the highest. ♪ Hallelujah. The children's program drove almost inevitably to that rousing conclusion. Glory, glory, glory, glory, hallelujah. And it's actually as if the last few weeks and even months worth of scripture passages that we've heard here at first have driven almost inevitably not to that conclusion, but kind of to this interlude, shall we say, of praise. Glory, glory, hallelujah. I'd remind you, actually, that the hallelujah chorus comes not at the end of Handel's Messiah, but it comes, oh, what, maybe two-thirds into it? It ends on a big amen. But maybe, actually, it would be better to say, rather than, you know, kind of interluding here, concluding here, that things have settled out. Things have settled at the glory of God. The word glory showed up in our scripture reading from Haggai this morning, though the Pew Bible actually translated it as splendor. I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former glory. The Hebrew word there in Haggai is kavod. In John 1.14, the Greek word is doxa. And at its most basic, it means weighty. It points to something that's heavy. The Lord of hosts shakes the heavens and the earth, the dry land and the sea. And what is it that kind of settles out from all that shaking? Glory. Yes. I heard in Haggai this morning, the treasure of the nations, silver, the gold, the platinum, all the rest, but for what? Why does that settle out? What's it for? It is for the glorification of the glory of the Lord. Gold is weighty, like in the physical sense on a scale, but the weight of gold is nothing. compared to the unchanging and unending glory of God. Glory. Glory. Hallelujah. And what might we most readily think of when we think of the glory of God? Perhaps the temple, maybe even the Holy of Holies, which certainly could not contain God's glory, but from which the glory of God and the presence of God radiated out through the cosmos. Maybe that's what we would think of if we were thinking immediately of Haggai. Or perhaps we might actually think of something earlier in Israel's history. We might think back to the days of their sojourn in the wilderness, following God's great rescue of his people in the Exodus. And so maybe we would think, when we think of the glory of God, think of the tabernacle, the tent. that housed the ark of God's presence and was filled with God's glory. But on a winter night about 2,000 years ago, with neither tabernacle nor temple within human sight, a host of angels indeed filled the sky outside of the little town of Bethlehem and they sang glory. Glory to God in the highest heaven. Why? Why did the skies break open, shake open, maybe we should say, and that angelic host fill them and sing? Why did they sing glory to God from a night sky with an audience of, like they said, not princes, not important people, but shepherds, sheep near Bethlehem, neither tabernacle nor temple in sight? Because the glory of God and the very presence of God that is the source of that glory. had taken up residence in Bethlehem. In fact, if we were to translate John's words more literally, we would say, and the word became flesh, and those of you who are camping fanatics, tented among us. Or if we were to translate that Greek with the Greek translation of the Old Testament in mind, we would say, and the word became flesh, and tabernacled among us. But God had indeed not set up a tent or a tabernacle in the little town of Bethlehem or anywhere on the hillside surrounding it. He had not instructed the residents of Bethlehem to pitch a tent for him to go tent camping in. Instead, a young virgin lady who was not even a resident of Bethlehem but was only there to be counted in the Roman Empire census gave birth to what? A baby? A baby? a baby. There was no tent pitching, certainly as we think of it, you know, the frustrations of driving the peg into a ground and there's stone underneath and the tent peg gets all, you know, none of that going on. There was a birth, and presumably it was a birth pretty much like any of the other billions of births that have ever happened in the history of the world, but John tells us at the same time this birth was nothing. like any of the other births in the history of the world because here in this birth, the word who was in the beginning with God and was God in the beginning became flesh. Flesh. Not the canvas or the kind of newfangled lightweight material used in a tent. Not the stones of a temple. Not the decorative linen cloth or skins of the old tabernacle, flesh, the flesh of a little baby boy. The word who was in the beginning with God and was God, the word through whom all things were made, the word whose eternal glory filled and overflowed the tabernacle and temple, pitched his tent, tabernacled, real flesh of a baby boy. And John tells us that in this, in this tenting, in the flesh of a baby, that is where we have seen His glory. Glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. Not in an opulent palace, not in a magnificent temple, not in an ornate tabernacle. The glory of God is revealed in this baby boy named Jesus. The Lord of hosts shook the whole cosmos, and in that shaking, the weighty, the heavy, the kavod, the doxa, the glory of God settled out. settled out and was revealed to have taken up residence in Jesus the Christ in that little town of Bethlehem. And so it is here, as they said, in this baby Jesus who was sent to be our Savior, in this man the baby became, in this sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross. In this man's resurrection from the dead, in his heavenly reign forever and ever, it is here. In the incarnation of the Word became flesh. In, as we will sing in a moment, the infant light that we see the glory of God blazing forth in a way God's glory never shone forth from tabernacle or temple. Glory to God in the highest heaven. Glory, glory.