♪♪ Gloria in excelsis Deo Okay, you may be seated. This next one we're going to do is the offering hymn. So if the stewards can be ready to Come round. If you haven't come prepared to give an offering this morning, don't worry about it. Just pass the bag on to the person beside you and they'll put double in for you as well. Okay, while we're collecting the offering, we'll just sing Away In A Manger. Oh And we'll just give thanks. Our Lord and Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord. We thank you for who you are, Lord. We thank you that you are the mighty King of Kings and Lord of Lords. There is no one higher than you, Lord. And yet at this time, you sent your Son for us, Lord. We thank you for all the other gifts that you give to us daily, Lord, that we take for granted most of the time and don't thank you for it. Lord, we just pray now, Lord, that you will continue to bless us and, Lord, that you will take this, what you have given to us initially, Lord, this small portion of it that we've given back to you, Lord. We pray that you will use it, Lord, in the extension of your kingdom. We ask this in your name. Amen. Okay, we're going to have Stepping Stones come forward now and they are going to sing for us. I hope they're going to sing well, are you? Can't hear you? Good, that's great. I'm looking forward to it. Good morning everybody and thank you very much for joining us today and you're all very welcome if you're here in the service or listening online and I hope you're going to enjoy all that the children have prepared for you. I'm afraid I can't take any glory for it because I was away for two weeks so it all goes to team two who were in charge of which is Patricia and Lisa and Stephen and Hilary. So, this is their production. But they've done really well at their practice on Friday night, even though we had a wee bit of a technical issue. But they've done really well and they're going to do fabulous this morning. Aren't you's, boys and girls? Yeah? You just want to give a wee wave to your mummies and your daddies and your grannies and your grandas and whoever else is also here. Did you know? Good. And remember, what are we going to do when we're singing? Smile. Yeah? Good. Okay. No crib for a bed. The little Lord Jesus lay down His sweet head. The stars in the sky looked down where He lay. The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay. A cradle on the wing, the baby awakes A little Lord Jesus lay crying, he makes I love thee Lord Jesus, look down from the sky And stay by my cradle till morning is nigh. It's Christmas, the angels are singing, And I know the reason the Savior is born. It's Christmas, the bells are ringing, And I feel like shouting, Joy to the world! Hear me, Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay Close by me forever, I love Thee, I pray As all the dear children in my tender care And fill us, Lord, heaven to live with Thee there. It's Christmas, the angels are singing, And I know the reason the Savior is born. It's Christmas, the bells are ringing, And I feel like shouting Joy to the world It's Christmas The angels are singing And I know the reason The Savior is born It's Christmas The bells are ringing And I feel like shouting, Joy to the world! Joy to the world! Joy to the world! The Bible says in Micah chapter 5, verse 2, but you have never had a brother. So you are among the thousands of Judah. Yet I, you shall come forth to me, the one to be our rule in Israel, who's going forth from old, from everlasting. The Bible says in Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14, therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel. Out of the pit and the manger, the Son of God arrived, the one who would be called Immanuel. The cross was delivered, and so the Virgin cried, the one who would be called Immanuel. Your name is the highest, Your name is the greatest, Your name stands above them all. Of all clothes and of millions of powers and musicians, Your name ♪ Stands above them all, the angels cry ♪ ♪ Holy, I am raised in Christ ♪ ♪ Holy, you are lifted high ♪ ♪ Holy, holy forevermore ♪ The Son of David, the Son of God today, the One who will be called Emmanuel. The Holy Ghost of Heaven, the Throne of God will reign, the One who will be called Emmanuel. And the angels cry, Hallelujah! All creation cries. We will never see the glory to the King of Kings. Your name is the highest. Your name is the greatest. Your name stands above all. Above all thrones and dominions, all powers and positions. Your name is the highest. Your name is the highest, Your name is the greatest, Your name stands above them all. Above all faults and opinions, all powers and positions, Your name stands above them all. And the angels cry, ♪ Holy, all creation rise ♪ ♪ Holy, you lifted high ♪ ♪ Holy, holy forever ♪ ♪ Hear the angels sing ♪ ♪ Holy, to the King of kings ♪ Holy, you will always be. Holy, holy forever. The Bible says in Luke chapter 2, verse 10 to 11. Then the angel said to them, do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you the tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the sea of David, The Bible says in Luke chapter 2, verses 12 to 14, And this shall be a sign unto you, ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel of a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace God will toward men. The Bible says in Luke chapter 2, verse 8 and 14, Now they were in the same country, separate, living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. The Bible says, in Matthew chapter 2, verse 11, And when they came into the house, they sought the young child, which Mary his mum, and fell down and worshipped him. When I think about Jesus, the King in the heavens, I can't help but wonder, He sent us His best to be born in a manger. Flicking in the hay, my gracious will worship his name. When the joy of the world feels full, bring him peace to us all, when we wake up in the sun. Now the darkest of ages are done, For the Saviour of heaven has come. Upon Jesus, the King of the days, I can't help but respond with an offering of praise. Like the wise men and shepherds, I'll follow your light. Like the angels, I'll lift your name high. Bringing peace to us all Through the gift of your Son Now the darkest of ages are done For the Saviour of Heaven has come ♪ For the joy of the world He was born ♪ ♪ Bringing peace to us all ♪ Through the gift of your love ♪ Now the darkness of ages are done ♪ For the Savior of heaven has come ♪ Now I look back in reverence ♪ To that holy night For the God of the heavens has us on his mind Let us sing of his glory Rejoice in his name O Emmanuel with us always And forever his kingdom will reign The Bible says in Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6, For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Christmas is a time, Christmas is a time, Christmas is a time to love. Christmas is a time, Christmas is a time, Christmas is a time to love. Christmas is a time, Christmas is a time, Christmas is a time to love. Christmas is a time. Christmas is a time. Christmas is a time to love. We often start to worry, and people get upset. Those days don't go away on Christmas Day. ♪ For if you should remember ♪ ♪ In all the push and shove ♪ ♪ It's Christmas is a time to love ♪ ♪ Christmas is a time, Christmas is a time ♪ ♪ Christmas is a time to love ♪ ♪ Christmas is a time, Christmas is a time ♪ ♪ Christmas is a time to love ♪ ♪ Maybe things don't sound right or look the way they should ♪ ♪ And maybe they're not perfectly in tune ♪ ♪ It really doesn't matter but keep our eyes above ♪ ♪ Cause Christmas is a time to love ♪ Christmas is a time, Christmas is a time, Christmas is a time to love. Christmas is a time, Christmas is a time, Christmas is a time to love. Christmas is a time, Christmas is a time, Christmas is a time to love. Christmas is a time, Christmas is a time, Christmas is a time to love. Yeah? Well we'll give them all a big round of applause again. I wanted to give a special thanks to those from YF who came and helped us out to build our volume up. We have Amelia and Hannah there and then we have Lydia and Emily who done a solos for, or duets for us. Wasn't that brilliant? And thank you very much to them. And thank you very much to all the congregation and all who pray for us and hold us up in prayer, because we really need it as we teach the boys and girls the word of God. And I want all the children in the congregation at the end of the service, we have selection boxes here for everybody, not just for the Sunday school, but for all the children that are here today. So don't forget and come up and get one at the end. Okay, just want to make your way down boys and girls. Right, excellent. Wow, I think we should give them another round of applause. They did brilliantly. Now, while I set myself up here, this is very important in all things. Right, I'm so glad that you sang the songs you did, and I love the way you started all your Bible readings with, the Bible says, because what we've been doing over, well, What we always do is look at what the Bible says, and especially as Christmas has approached, we have been going on a journey for four weeks. This is our fourth week looking at what the Bible says about a day that's gonna come very, very soon that we're gonna celebrate. Now, before I touch on something very briefly, let us pray together, shall we? Lord, I wanna thank you for just all, Lord, all the songs that could be sung already. I wanna thank you for all that the children have done. Lord, I just wanna thank you that we're here to worship you. We're here to hear from you. And so, Lord, Lord, I just wanna pray in this brief couple of moments that you would speak to us about you. Lord, have our eyes opened that we may see you afresh. Amen. Now, as many of you will know, we've been going through what I term the advent of advent. That's not because I couldn't think of the title. That was the title, the advent of advent, because an advent is a season or a time, but it's also a thing or a person that arrives or happens. And so we've been looking at this over the four weeks. Now, in case you're wondering, this morning is what's known as the fourth week of Advent, and it's all about a weird word called revelation. Now, to say that word Don't worry, I'm not gonna be speaking on the end times quite yet, this is Christmas after all. But we always think about the last book of the Bible when we hear the word revelation. But don't go there yet, we're gonna look at something else. So there was another aspect of revelation that happened before that. Over the past weeks, we've looked at what I've termed hope in wedding, that was all the prophecies, you heard it said, the Bible says, the Bible says, the Bible says. It's all about the prophecy. So there was a hope in a sense of waiting. Then we looked at the preparation while we wait. Isaiah says to prepare a path. There's a voice of one calling in the wilderness, prepare the way. There's a sense of preparation that we need when we think of coming up to Christmas. Then last week we looked at the joy and peace-filled waiting that I love that the wise men, I love the wise men that were hiding in the back here. Did you see them? They were hiding there. They, when they saw, when they saw the baby Jesus or the child, they were filled with exceedingly great joy. I love that phrase, exceedingly great joy. And that's what we looked at. So we're going to look at Revelation. If I can have up the passage we're going to look at, we're just going to look at briefly. I think it's very important. It's from Hebrews chapter 1, verses 1 and 2. Hebrews chapter one, verses one and two, and it says this. God, who in various times and in various ways spoke in past to our fathers by the prophecies, has in these last days spoken to us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds, or as some would say, Now, here's the thing. I put this over here because it says, in past times, God has spoken through the prophecies. Now, I want you to picture, we could look at Isaiah. We looked at Isaiah before. There were some great readings of Isaiah. That was 700 years before Christ came. Can you picture that phrase, a child will be born? Son will be given 700 years before Christ came. Wow, who finds it hard to wait for Christmas and it's coming this week? Who finds it hard to wait? What if I would say Christmas is coming in 700 years, would we be able to wait then? Some sad faces there. But people had to wait 700 years and we see the whole Old Testament. In fact, if I was to say, the very first prophecy was thousands of years before Christ came, in Genesis. There's a sense of revelation. Now you may say, what does revelation mean? I'm really glad you asked, because revelation means, and I want to put this out, it says this. It is an act of revealing or communicating divine truth, an act of revealing or to view or make known. I have in here, I thought really hard. That's why I was tired this morning. I thought really hard. And I have a picture in here that we're going to reveal that we're going to make known. Now, I'm not going to make it known. I need three volunteers. Can I have three? Oh, there are those hands. Could I have, let me see, let's have the donkey. Come on, yeah, come on, come on, come on. It's a sheep. It's a sheep who wishes he was a donkey, right? Could I have, I know you're an angel. Come on, come on, come on, come on. Excellent, and then we'll have the one on the far right. Yeah, on the rail, yeah, come on, come on, come on. Right, now, you all wanna stand over there. We're going to put this here again, so it's out of touch. If you can just move over this side a bit here, and if you would like to move over this side a bit here, and if you would like to stand there. Excellent. Because we're going to reveal something that only one thing will be able to fulfill everything that's in that envelope over there. Only one thing will be able to make this right, make this revelation right and accurate and really, really good. And you three are going to reveal what's in that envelope. Oh, yes, you are. Not me, you. Now, at the end of this, they're going to give you such a big round of applause because you are going to show everybody what's in that envelope. Okay, and when you do, when they give you, they're gonna burst into spontaneous round of applause. What I want you to do is this. Put one hand here. Come on, put one hand here. And one hand here. And then you bow. When they all clap, that's what I want you to do. Now to help us, I think this is very important, because to help us, I'm gonna give them choice, okay? Choice is always good. And I brought here my sketch pad. Now, my Sketchpad is great because it has different pictures. Now, you're going to be impressed because you can have a picture of anything you want. Let's have a quick look here. Let's have a quick... If you were to say stop, just say stop, anything you want. Say stop. Stop. Okay. All right. Let's try... Would you like to say stop? Stop. We could do that one. What about you? Stop. Excellent. Now, you're going to have to say stop a bit. But you could, if you want, come up with something like that. Totally created by our three willing volunteers. Now, we're going to try something very important. Now, we're going to try this, but on the count of three, I want you to say stop so loud that the sound men have to turn the mics down. OK. OK? Really, really loud. Don't be shy like me. Ready? 1, 2, 3. Stop! Excellent! Excellent! Right. Now, here we go. So as I said, you could stop me anywhere and create any picture you want. But we're going to try and reveal what's in that envelope. OK? So on the count of three, you tell me to stop whenever you want. Ready? 1, 2, 3. Stop. Are you sure? Are you sure? Okay. Oh, that's interesting. Oh, I like this already. This is certainly good. And again, you have to be a bit loud. You have to go loud, loud, loud. Ready? Let's get to the very back here. Let's get to the very back so we can get them all. Ready? On the count of three. One, two, three. Stop. They're all going shy again. Did you notice that? Right. Oh, this is looking good. And lastly, but by no means least, Wow. Ladies and gentlemen, be prepared to burst into a spontaneous round of applause. OK, give them a round of applause. Thank you very much. And bow. Excellent. You can go and have a seat now. This is very, very important because they have created this. I didn't tell them, we're stopped, complete random choice, free choice, and I think this is very important. Now, why do I say that? I want you to picture that for 700 years, in fact, for thousands of years, God has been putting out a picture, the truth of what was to come on that first Christmas, a child to be born, A child that would be the savior of the world, that's what we have had read to us. A child who would be called Emmanuel, which means God with us. So only one thing could fulfill the revelation over there. Shall we have a look? Yeah? Right, don't get too excited. As you've seen, that was being put there since I got up here. We haven't touched it since. You could have stopped me anywhere you want, but there's only one thing. If I can, I need to have a picture that looks like this. Your choice. Let's do it. Everybody's going silent. Really? Now, what I want you to think about is that God spoke through the prophecies. Thousands of years before Christ, 700 years before Christ, even up to my, even up to, came near the end of the Old Testament, he kept speaking about this savior who would come. and only one thing that would fulfill all the promises, the birth of Christ. So I want you to remember that when we come to Christmas, it's about the revelation, how God revealed the only answer we will ever need is Christ, because he came to be savior of the world. He came to be God with us. Nothing else would be the right answer because God had given us all the clues we need in order to understand how he was gonna speak to us, and that is through Christ. I want you to think about that. I want you to ask in these coming days, God, reveal yourself to me in Christ. Speak to me through Christ. Let me know more of you through Christ. because that's how God has spoken. Let us just pray, shall we? Lord, we want to thank you for all that you have done, all that you have said, and how you have revealed yourself. As Hebrew says, in these last days, you revealed yourself. You spoke to us through Christ. So Lord, we want to pray that you'll continue to reveal yourself, you'll continue to speak through Christ, the only one, the only way, the only truth, the only We're way to be saved. So we thank you for Christmas. We thank you that he came, was born, and he was born so that he could die for us. Lord, again, would we see your revelation in Christ? Amen. We're gonna sing our final song, our final carol, I believe it is, which is Silent Night. Would you like one? Our dear Lord and Heavenly Father, we thank you. We thank you for this time of year, Lord. We thank you for sending your son. Lord, we just pray now, Lord, that you will take us home, you will keep us safe, Lord, and you will bless us till we meet here again later on. We ask this in thy precious name. Amen. you