Sort of welcome Stephen and Heather Cuthbert and the kids there with New Tribes Mission College over in England. Welcome. Great to have you with us. Also, please remember the New Year's Eve get-together, fellowship, whatever you want when you call it. We need, not necessarily names, but numbers. So if you are coming, please put your name in the book. Stevie, is it at the back? The name there, please put your name and how many are coming so we have a rough idea for provisions that are going to be made. And in case you're wondering when that is, it's on New Year's Eve. but more to come, and on Sunday, we have Darren Dewey coming. He's taking both services for us, so that's for the incoming week, and I'm sure you'll remember all those. I'm sure they'll be burnt in your memory. Right, let us start by singing our first carol together, shall we? I'm sure you're in good singing voices. O come, all ye faithful. O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? Lord, we want to thank you that we've come to adore you, the one who is the reason for this season, the one, Lord, who the whole Scripture is about. And so we want to thank you that we're here together, friends and family alike. Lord, whether this is the first time here or regular, Lord, we wanna thank you for each person. And most of all, we wanna thank you that we're here to worship you. Amen. I don't know about you, but again, we're gonna have a, I've got a couple of true stories here around Christmas. I don't know about you, but can anybody remember writing a letter to Santa Claus? Anybody remember? Anybody do it? And some are going, I still do it. I wonder if it's a, you know, you're trying to plead your case, why you should be on the good list and not the nutty list, I don't know. But there's a true story that a young girl goes to see Santa Claus. And as she's there, she's waiting in line with her mom, and as she gets to Santa Claus, and Santa Claus bends down and goes, what would you like for Christmas? The young girl looked up at him, shocked with horror. Sadness hit her face and she looked and said, didn't you get my email? Santa just isn't up with times, I'm shocked. Right, let's do what is one of the wonderful things to do, and that is the presents. Let go for presents. Now, I know some people are coming up, and before the kids or adults come, as you're coming, I got a present. Obviously, I'm always on the good list. And as people know, I like hats. I'm always wearing hats. In fact, this is what I've been wearing when I go shopping these days, because Jesus, the reason for this season. And it's great when you're in the queue and everybody's going. But as you're coming, I got a hat. It's a great hat. Yeah. Obviously, I got a bit lightheaded when I seen this. And as I said, well, thank you very much for that. They said, that's to give you some bright ideas. That's it over and done with, I'm telling you. Right, let's have some gifts, some presents. Kids or adults, if you've got them, bring them forward. Let's come and see. Excellent job. Ooh. Wow, some great. Great prezzies coming, ooh, loving this, loving this. Wow. Now, I'm gonna get out of everybody's way. I'm stood in everybody's way. Oh, there we go. There we are. Excellent, now. I'm not gonna try and guess any of these. One time in one of my previous churches, has anybody ever seen the film Cars? You know, the animated film. Well, this kid had all the figures from the film Cars on it, and I looked at the kid and I went, wow, is that from Cars? And I went, no, it's from Santa. So, right, so what do we have? What did you get? You don't know. What do we have there? We got a few, we got a piggy. Oh, I don't know what, I'm a bit out of touch with these things. I don't know where they're from. Where are they from? To do a program or just something you like? My mum bought it. Your mum bought it. Wow, that's very kind. I like this. And then we have, what do we have there? Perfume. Sorry? Perfume. Perfume. Oh, very nice, very nice. And what do we have? What do we have there? A me-meow. A what? A me-meow. A me-meow. And what does that do? Anything? No, it's just a teddy. Just a teddy. Well, I think it looks very, very nice. And what do we have here? A Night Fury. A Night Fury. Oh, that's from How to Train a Dragon. I know that one. Oh, the Night Fury's getting away. And do you like the Night Fury? Yes. Oh, cool. I'm sure you're going to have a lot of fun with that one. Aw. I've never ever seen anyone get a gift of Brussels sprouts for Christmas. I mean, that's good. So, what's that? It's a Brussels sprout stall. Brussels sprouts, ah, wonderful. And they're real too. Listen, if you need some hints, you know, brussel sprout soup, brussel sprouts with, I can give you all ideas to do a brussel sprout soup. I'm flabbergasted, I've never seen that before. And what's this? An iPad. An iPad. So is that to look up recipes for your brussel sprouts? No. And? I got a phone. A phone! No, I'm not even going to go there. There's a lot of things in there. Wow. And what do you need a phone for? I don't know. Do we say what we need a phone for? Let me guess. PS5. A PS5. So that's him going until he's about 25. We'll never see him ever again. Excellent. What game do you like on the PS5? Fortnite. Fortnite? Does it take you a Fortnite to play it? No. No? Oh, you have to tell me about Fortnite. Ah, PS5, aye. One of the joys of the world. Listen, I'm not old, I can remember the very first PlayStation. Hello. Hello. Did you get anything? I got some nice PJs and shoes. Nice PJs and shoes. Anybody else get PJs and shoes? That's very, very, very nice. I like the style. I got ice skates. Ice skates! Next year she's hoping for ice, but she's got ice skates. Very, very nice. Do you do ice skating? Yes. I do hope so because you get ice skates for Christmas. Very nice, very nice. Chess and checkers set. Chess and... Wow, someone's going for upper class games. Chess, wow. Have you played chess before? This is your first time for everything? Yeah. I bet you're good at it. I bet you're very, very good. Oh, here we go. Hello. And what did we get here? It's a broader toothbrush. Toothbrush. This is for when you eat too many brussels. You need toothbrush. That's what it is. Excellent! You like your toothbrush better. Oh, it's very good. Lovely jubbly. And then we over here... What did we get? Did you get a baby dolly for Christmas? A baby dolly! Does the baby dolly have a name? Not just yet. That's that's Boxing Day's job isn't it? Excellent! Oh! Wow! Helicopter! Helicopter! Spiderman! Spiderman! And I like this. Oh you get a fireman outfit as well don't you? A bow! So now we've got it all covered. We've got the fireman and fireman in case anything happens with the Brussels sprouts when they're playing the PS5. Well, thank you very much. Did you get something? What did you get? I've seen you with a ball. Did you get a ball? It's behind you. A football. Cool. Wow. I like that. Why, excellent. Now, I see what you're going to do all day. Yeah. Excellent job. Well, thank you very much. There's another one. There's another one from where? Oh, over here. Excuse me. I don't mean to be rude, but I'm going to sit down. So Darren, I got some new head bows and a little spinny toy. We got a nice head bow and spinny toys. If you want to see it, you're going to have to queue up later. But I'm telling you, it's very nice. Wonderful. Any more than I'm missing, it seems to be going in circles. Excellent, Joby. Well, thank you very much. You can all have a seat. That is absolutely brilliant. Right. Good job. Let's sing again. Shall we? You're in good singing voice. Let's sing Hark the Herald Angels Sing. ♪ Holy nation strong ♪ We are the champions. Wonderful, please be seated. Now, I'm sure you can remember the kids and all the stuff the kids did last week. Absolute brilliant service. A little bit of nativity, but a true story again. Anybody been to see their kids' nativity at school? Yeah. Well, it goes, a true story, and I do stress, it says this. The nativity play was going as planned. And Joseph and Mary were going from house to house, knocking on the doors and asking if there are any room for them. As they continued to get no room answers, a little voice from the back called, you should have booked bringing the house down. It's always an interesting thing when you get to an activity and you mix kids in there. It's always fun. Right, there's no expense spared for this morning. We've flown in a very famous singer. He's gonna sing one of my favorite songs. We sang it at a choir when we were in Cornwall. James is gonna come and sing Adore. That's what we want to do. We want to adore Christ. Well, happy Christmas, everyone. It's nice to see so many here this morning. Now, I'm not so good at singing in the morning time, and my voice isn't really warmed up. So I think I've said about three sentences this morning. So we'll see what we can do anyway. ♪ You stepped down from heaven ♪ ♪ Humbly you came ♪ ♪ God of all creation here with us ♪ ♪ In a starlit manger, Emmanuel ♪ of the world, hear the same. adore. Wise men bring their treasure. Shepherds bow low. Angel voices sing of peace on earth. What have I to offer to Heaven's King? I will bring my life, my love, my all. Nice. Angels sing, praises ring to the newborn King Peace on earth, here with us, joy awakening At your feet we fall Angels sing, praises ring to the newborn King Peace on earth, here with us, joy awakening Come let us die. Praise the Lord. Wonderful. It is one of the great things to know that we are here to adore the one who this is all about, and that is Christ. That song just thrills my heart every time I hear it. We're nearly done, but I just want to read a passage, if I may, before we get on to the PowerPoint. And it's from Luke chapter 2, just two verses. Luke chapter 2, verses 10 to 12. And it says this, then the angel said to them, do not be afraid. Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you. You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. It's an interesting passage this, but to help us sort of unpack this, it's a bit hard to adore. I know you mothers and women, it's a manic time of year, Christmas, church seems to be very busy. So as we just begin to focus our minds on how can we adore, what do we adore Christ about, I feel I need a public service announcement. I want to help you. OK, so if we can have up the PowerPoint, please. Because one of the stressful times, I don't know about you, is Christmas trees. Christmas trees can be quite stressful. You can get all different types. You have the nice ones outside. You've got this one sort of in the house. But I feel, for mothers who may be finding, you know, stressful, hard, you know, the washing's building up, everything's getting on board, don't worry, a hint for next year could be this one. Just putting it out there, a few ideas, okay? As well, we have Those who love cars, and I don't know about you, if you're going along, you see a hubcap, you feel the urge to pick it up, but I don't know, if you feel like you may have a bit too many hubcaps, I'm here to give you ideas. As I say, trying to help you for next year, take the stress out. And I know there are at least one surfer in the congregation. I know there's about two, but an idea for you. Ruben for next year. I'm here to help you. Let me see what else we have. Who likes reading books? Anybody like reading books? Excellent, excellent. If you're anything like me, you probably have a bit too many books. Bad idea. Now, if you think, no, I couldn't quite go there, well, what about this one? You know what I mean? I'm full of ideas, I'm here to help you. Take away the stress so we can really focus on what we're here about. Now, you may say, but no, I'm a bit of a, I'm more down the minimalist route. Again, I've give this some real thought, and again, I wanna help you for next year, and perhaps we could do this one. Aye, you don't get pine needles from that one. Real minimalist, I believe in going to give a bit of help here. See, you come to church, you get advice all the time. And of course, for those who just seem to be overwhelmed, last bit of advice. You just feel like time is running out, don't worry, I've got your back covered. Yeah, we got a bit of minimalist, or you can even go for, again, the DIY person in your life. Or the person who's just run out of time? You know what I mean? You see, you come to church, you get some great ideas. That's what it's really about. But as I said, if we move away from that, most people, then the next thing they get stressed over, which takes away the joy of adoring Christ at this time of year, is the decorations. Decorations can be so frustrating. I don't know about you. Me, I don't get involved so much because my decorations aren't quite as good as the women in my family. But if you're a book lover, again, we can always go, come on, where are we? No, oh, I forgot about this one. Always be careful about your Christmas tree. You don't want to take it over the house. But for those who like reading books, you have decorations. You can put up your favorite books. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, you can put it up there. Fantastic book, again. It's Always Winter, But Never Christmas is the great line from that book. Or you can even go for a decoration like that, OK? Little bubble. Now, I don't know about, again, I I'm gonna go into a bit of a territory here, which is dangerous, because everybody has their point of view about what makes a good Christmas film. Okay, what makes good movies. For some, and I come across this every year, they like to think that Die Hard is a Christmas film. It may be a decoration, but Christmas film, don't know. Now, I am a sci-fi buff. Anybody like sci-fi? Come on, confess your sins. Actually, I am a sci-fi fan, I will confess. But there are those who like Star Wars. Now, I can't bring myself to put up this type of decoration in the house, because that would up the stress in our house. All right, but I am more of a Star Trek fan. I am a Trekkie. Captain Kirk, Spock, way to go, the original, hey, you can't beat it. There's always Klingons in there on the starboard bow. I can't, I'm here to help you for next year. But the interesting thing I love about this, and I see some people getting worried, there is one bit in the Rath of Cannes, Star Trek II, where it's coming up to the end. The Enterprise is in danger. It's about to be, it's about to be, blown up, it's in peril, and Spock rushes down to the engine room, and in one heroic action saves the ship. Captain Kirk rushes down, sees his friend in the engine compartment, and he goes over. And that little image is of the bit where Spock says to Captain Kirk, do not grieve the needs of the many. outweigh the needs of the few of the one. So in essence, his sacrifice was worth it, was meaningful. Now I think, I want you to keep that in mind, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few of the one. Because when we get to Christmas, the needs of the many, us. We needed Christ to come at Christmas. And without Christmas, there can never be an Easter. That's the real point, and we can adore God in flesh, God with us. As we think about Easter, He is God for us. Christmas is the season, the cross is the reason. I want you to keep that in mind. I want you to think about that, and the reason we come to adore Christ our King Christ, this babe who was born at this time is because he grew up and at the age of 33, he died for us. Come let us adore him. A God who loves you and he loves me. So the needs of the many, us, brought Christ to earth that he could die for us at Easter and rise again, obviously. So I want you to keep that in mind as you go through and you eat your Brussels sprouts The needs of the many. Christ, come let us adore, not just the Christ who was born, but the one who was born to die for us. Excellent. We're gonna have, just before we sing our final carol, I have asked Catherine if she'll come and read one of her devotions for us. A new day dawns for God who said, let light shine out of darkness has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Divinity has come to earth and begins to stir as dawn's first light peeks through the cracks in the door. Stretching his scrawny little neck, furrows wrinkle his brow and the newborn wriggles against the soft cloth that holds back the cold of early morning. He's hungry. And as the light of the world roots for his mother's breast, nervous hands reach into his makeshift crib, ready to satisfy his need. For this new mother, it's a beautiful bonding moment that feels exciting and terrifying all at once. But the more intently she looks into his face, the greater her love, for divinity has come to earth. And as Jesus nestles in her embrace, a new day dawns for Mary. In nearby Jerusalem, an elderly widow is wakened by the dawn patrol, walking the temple forecourts, making ready for the day. The watchman calls to those charged with opening the gates. The day has dawned. But only when the response comes that dawn has extended all the way to Hebron are the gates opened for the waiting faithful. As Anna goes to prayer, she is unaware that the Messiah she prays for is being cradled in a nearby village. She will meet him soon. The years of waiting will be worth it. And the watchman on the gate is oblivious to the fact that his daily call is truer than it has ever been, for the day has indeed dawned. Divinity has come to earth. Little sleep has been had on the hills above Bethlehem for those shepherds visited by the angel and the armies of heaven. They have talked all through the night, smiled, laughed, even cried at the fresh memory of how God announced the birth of the Savior, who is Christ the Lord, to them, and how they got to see Jesus, the first to see Him. They have seen for themselves that divinity has come to earth, and their lives will never be the same. A new day has dawned for the shepherds of Bethlehem's hills. far away as the sun rises higher in the east. Magi rushed to their libraries, pulling down old scrolls of teachers and mentors, excited beyond words. Did you see it, they inquired of each man arriving earlier than the normal hour? Did you see the star last night? Perhaps they don't know that divinity has come to earth, but they know that a new king of the Jews has been born, greater than any of those crowned before him. They also know that they have to meet with him, for they believe that a new day has dawned for more than the Jews. Today, centuries further on from Bethlehem's best ever day, whether you're wakened by morning light creeping under the bedroom curtains or the sound of excited children shaking the sleep from you, remember this, divinity has come to earth. And the reason for his coming involves you. A king has been crowned. A savior has been born. For God, who said, let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. A new day has dawned, one that is worth living because of Jesus. Let's spend it like the shepherds by speaking much of Jesus, glorifying and praising God for all we have heard and seen. Happy Christmas. The needs of the many meant divinity came to earth, that a new day could dawn. I hope you this day adore Christ, our Savior, the one who came because we needed him. Let's close with our final carol, shall we, which is Joy to the World. Let's just pray. Lord, we want to thank you that we're here to celebrate you. You are the one we adore. You are God with us. You came because you are our Savior, the only one that we need. So in this day, we give you thanks for all the gifts we have received, the joy that is here, but may our minds never stray too far from you. Lord, take us to our homes safely and bring us back again to worship your most wonderful name on Sunday. Amen. Gentlemen, a Merry Christmas to you all.