♪ O little one sweet, O little one mild, ♪ ♪ Thy father's palace thou hast fulfilled. ♪ ♪ Thou cam'st from hem to both again, ♪ ♪ Be good to me ♪ ♪ With love for man ♪ ♪ O little one sweet ♪ ♪ O little one mild ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ so so So, ¶ ¶ Thank you. Good evening, and welcome to Grace and our Christmas Eve service on this beautiful night. Tonight, our Old Testament reading comes from the book of Isaiah, chapter 49. We're going to read verses 1 through 13. Chapter 49 of Isaiah, verses 1 through 13. Listen to me, O islands. And pay attention, you peoples from afar. The Lord called me from the womb. From the body of my mother he named me. He made his mouth like a sharp sword. In the shadow of his hand he concealed me. And he was also made me a select arrow. He has hidden me in his quiver. He said to me, you are my servant, Israel, in whom I will show my glory. But I said, I have toiled in vain. I have spent my strength for nothing in vanity. Yet surely the justice due me is with the Lord, and my reward is with God. And now says the Lord, who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, so that Israel might be gathered to him. For I am honored in the sight of the Lord, and my God is my strength. He says, it is too small a thing that you should be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel. I will make you a light of the nations so that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, its Holy One, to the despised one, to the one abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers. Kings will see and arise, princes will also bow down because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has been chosen, you. Thus says the Lord, in a favorable time I have answered you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you, and I will keep you and give you. you for a covenant of the people, to restore the land, to make them inherit desolate heritage. Saying to those who are bound, go forth. To those who are in darkness, show yourselves. Along the road, they will feed. And their pasture will be on all bare heights. And they will not hunger nor thirst, nor will the scorching heat or the sun strike them down. For he who has compassion on them will lead them and guide them to the springs of water. I will make my mountains a road, and my highways will be raised up. Behold, these will come from afar, and lo, these will come from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Sinai. Shout for joy, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth. Break forth into joyful shouting, O mountains, for the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted. That's the word of God this Christmas Eve night as we prepare for worshiping the newborn Savior. So please now stand as we enter into our call to worship. Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means God is with us. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, the glory as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, On this joyous occasion, we gather in your name to celebrate the birth of your son, Jesus Christ. We humbly ask your presence in our midst this evening. Fill our hearts with the true spirit of Christmas, a spirit of love, hope, and peace. Amen. ♪ O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant ♪ ♪ O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem ♪ ♪ O come, let us adore him ♪ ♪ O come, let us adore him ♪ ♪ O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ♪ ♪ O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ♪ ♪ Glory in the highest ♪ ♪ In heaven and on earth ♪ ♪ Glory in the highest ♪ As we'll now read together, the Christmas story comes tonight from the books of Matthew, chapter one and Luke chapter two. So follow with me now as we read how the birth of Jesus, of the Messiah, came about. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, since he was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. But when he had thought this over, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you shall name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. Now all this took place so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled. Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they shall name him Emmanuel, which translated means God with us. And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took Mary as his wife but kept her a virgin. Now in those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all the people were on the way to register for the census, each to his own city. Now Joseph also went up from Galilee. from the city of Nazareth to Judea to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was a house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was betrothed to him and was pregnant. While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son. And she wrapped him in cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. And Joseph named him Jesus. Oh, do not be worried, my dear, for with mercy you will be saved. Christ, our God to earth we send thee, our hope always to keep thee. In a manger poor and weary, As a mother weeps and moans, He will bless you. He will guard you evermore. He will lift you up from the grave. He's your Savior. Oh As the darkness fades away. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia. You seated? Holy and gracious Lord, your son became flesh with heart and hands to bear our sins to the cross, that our hearts might be pure and our hands clean before you. As we give thanks for your son's incarnation, strengthen our faith with the remembrance that he is born to save us by his life, death, and resurrection. Heavenly Father, by the gift of your Holy Spirit, we testify that your Son is the Savior of the world. Pour out your Spirit continually upon your people. Bless our pastor and all pastors as they proclaim Jesus, who became flesh to save us by dying and rising again, and open our mouth to praise the name of the one born in Bethlehem. God of comfort, you sent an angel to reveal to Joseph that the child in Mary's womb was your own, preserving their marriage and family. Preserve our homes also by your holy word. Fill them with your grace that husbands and wives, parents and children may live in peace and love with one another. Almighty God, the one born in Bethlehem is the Son of David and the Lord of David, to whom every knee shall bow. Look upon all those you have placed in authority and grant that they might govern in the wisdom, justice, and mercy of the Christ who came to save. Lord God, you love us and sent your son to be the propitiation for our sins. Strengthen us to love one another as you have mercy upon all who are poor and troubled. So perfect your love in us that you would gladly be in your instruments of help in time of need. We give thanks to you, O Lord, for the saints who received your blessing of righteousness in Christ and now stand in the most holy place before your throne in heaven. Preserve us by your grace and the holiness of Christ so that we too might dwell in your light and life for eternity. Almighty Father, you've given us your son, born of Mary, to be the savior of the world. Send your spirit and abide with us that we might confess that Jesus is the savior of the world and abide in your love until he comes again in glory. For he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever, amen. Lord of all, the Lord is come. Let earth receive her King. Lord of all, the Lord is come. Let earth receive her King. Let earth receive her King. ♪ O'er the hills and the plains ♪ ♪ O'er the hills and the plains ♪ ♪ O'er the hills and the plains ♪ ♪ O'er the hills and the plains ♪ ♪ O'er the hills and the plains ♪ ♪ Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave ♪ ♪ O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ♪ ♪ Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight ♪ ♪ O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ♪ May the Lord's love be to you, and may His peace prevail through you. O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? Good evening. The joy it is to be with you all and thank you all for coming out this evening to celebrate our God and King in the face of Jesus Christ. This evening I want to briefly just walk through that night, that fateful night when our Savior came and found himself in a manger and shepherds were the first to be announced the good news that Christ was here. So if you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn to Luke chapter two. We'll be reading verses eight through 14. Luke chapter two, verses eight through 14. If you found your way there, let me invite you to stand as we read together God's word. This is right after Jesus was born. In the same region, there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terribly frightened. And the angel said to them, do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all people. For today in the city of David, there has been born for you a savior who is Christ the Lord, and this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased. That's God's word, let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this special evening. We thank you for the marvelous good news that Christ the Lord has come. Lord, in that same message that the shepherds heard in a field some 2,000 years ago, Lord, we now stand as recipients of that same message, that Christ has come. And not only that, he will come again. Lord, we do ask that even as we sit here this evening, that you will hasten the day when you come again, Lord Jesus, to make all things right. but we pray earnestly to see you face to face. We ask this in your mighty and matchless name. Amen. Please be seated. Well, it's this time of year, holiday season, when it becomes obvious that everyone, big and the small, the poor and the rich, whoever it might be, everyone is desperate for good news. desperate for something right to happen. Whether irreligious or religious, whatever it may be, people want good news. They want a gospel, something good to happen to them. I'm reminded as I haven't, I actually had never listened to this version, but my wife has had the Jack Johnson version playing all Christmas season, the song Someday at Christmas, written by the one and only Stevie Wonder, And if you've heard it, you know it's sort of a happy, clappy, almost a banal, prosaic hope that one day things will be right. In fact, in my opinion, one of the worst lines, don't judge me too hard, says, someday at Christmas, man will not fail. Hate will be gone and love will prevail. Someday a new world that we can start with hope in every heart. That's the good news that we want to hear, that one day love will prevail. But did you hear what they said? Someday a world which we can start. A world which we can start. And yet after every Christmas season, right, you emerge from your timeless vortex where you've eaten nothing but cheese and cookies for a week, right? You don't know what day it is. You're not really sure when you showered last. And you come crashing back down into reality. And suddenly realize all that good news you heard, all that thought about love prevailing, just have hope in your heart, it doesn't really add up to much, does it? See, pain comes back after the presents are opened. Cancer suddenly rears its ugly head. A myriad of things happened to us in this life to remind us that there's gotta be something better. That we need a real gospel. We need real good news. Not some sentimental thought that one day love will prevail. We need real, solid, firm good news. And we see in our passage this morning that 2,000 years ago, a host of angels announced to shepherds just this good news. This good news that the world needs to hear. And so tonight, we're gonna briefly, as we walk through this passage, we're gonna look at just three things, right? We're gonna look at first, the setting. How is the setting good news? Second, we're gonna see what this news actually is. What is this gospel that they are bringing? And lastly, we're going to end briefly by looking at their proclamation, that glorious benediction that the angels give to God on high. Let's start with looking at first the setting. Notice that verse 8, that it's in the same region where verses 1 through 7 has been taking place. It's in Bethlehem. It's in this little kind of podunk area, right? And if you were in first century Ancient Near East at this time, Bethlehem was the backwoods of the boondocks. It was nowhere. Nothing came from it. No good came out of it. It was nothing, nowhere, and whoever came out of it was of no concern. And yet, not only was this the place that the Lord decided to touch down, but it was the place where this glorious good news was first announced. And notice who this good news is coming to, right? Shepherds. Shepherds in a field watching their sheep. And it's so significant because shepherds in this day and age were actually just like shepherds nowadays, probably the dirtiest, you know, hardest-working, lowest-class people that you can imagine. You can think of the Egyptians in Exodus, right, that they didn't even want to eat at the same table, be in the same room with shepherds. They were repulsive. Shepherds lived outside. They stank. They lived with sheep, right? You've got to wonder if they weren't a little bit on the spectrum, didn't really know how to talk to people. They just knew how to talk to sheep. Men in deep poverty, caring for sheep, and this is the audience that God decides to come and bring his good news to, right? And this is so contrary to our expectations because when the king comes, when rulers make their proclamation, they don't come to the lowest of the low. They come to think about all the presidential tours, right, who they go to. They look for the men with the deepest pockets, the biggest houses, the biggest parties that can be thrown. And yet Jesus announces his good news to men poorer than we could ever imagine, doing the dirtiest, hardest work that we could fathom. That's good news because that shows that this gospel that's announced is actually for everyone. If it's good news for the poor, it's good news for us. If it's good news for the shepherd, it's good news for the king. But not only that, let's look and see what this news they're bringing is. Notice there in verse 10, it says, the angel said to them, do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy, which shall be for all the people. For today in the city of David, there has been born for you a savior who is Christ the Lord. Notice, and really, during this time, if you plopped yourself into the middle of anywhere in the Roman Empire, the turn of the millennia at this time, you would have heard a much different gospel being proclaimed than the one we heard just now. See, in 44 BC, there was a guy named Julius Caesar. He was assassinated by his Roman Senate. You may remember from history class, Et tu, Brute? Last one to stab the knife. And this gospel began the year after Julius Caesar's assassination. See, in 43 BC, the Roman poet Virgil wrote these words. From heaven descends a noble progeny. He will accept his life as of the gods, with whom the heroes mingle. Seen by them, the whole world will he rule. Virgil is writing this good news about this person descending from the gods, ruling over the whole world. And there's a lot of questions about who exactly he wrote about. But the most likely answer, as Virgil was a very good politician, he knew exactly what strings to pull and how to write to impress the important people in his day and age, is he's writing about a young man named Gaius, Octavius, Gaius Octavius. He was about 20 years old at this time. He had proved himself as a military leader in general, but more importantly, he had been adopted by Julius Caesar as his heir and rule. And in fact, just 16 years later, after Virgil wrote these words in 27 BC, this Gaius Octavius would rename himself Caesar Augustus, Lord in the highest. can tell he was the one, this gospel was the good news that Caesar had come. Caesar Augustus was here. And in fact, we see inscriptions from all throughout the Roman Empire, hailing Augustus not only as one of the gods, but as the savior of the gods. In fact, there's one worth quoting in full, and this is found in modern-day Turkey. Here's what it says. This would have been almost like a bulletin board, right? You can imagine a big civic center, and this is just chiseled right into the side of the wall. It said, since Providence sent him, that is, Caesar Augustus, as a savior, both for us and for our descendants, that he might end war and arrange all things. And since he, Caesar, by his appearance, excelled even our anticipations, surpassing all previous benefactors and not even leaving to posterity any hope of surpassing what he has done. And since the birthday of the God Augustus was the beginning of the, hear this, the gospel. Evangelion for the world that came by reason of him. To the gospel you would have heard if you were in first century Roman Empire is, the gospel is Caesar has come. And yet Luke is doing something very particular in telling us, no, no, no, that's no gospel at all. The only one who has good news told to him when Caesar reigns is Caesar himself. No one else hears good news when Caesar reigns. And in fact, in the passage that Chris just read for us from Luke 2, 1 through 7, we see that Luke merely uses Caesar as a time marker. Caesar, one of the most powerful men to ever rule the world, and Luke merely notices him as, hey, yeah, this happened when Caesar ruled, but he's not really important. Here's the focus of the picture. See, contrary to the gospel of Caesar, Luke is showing us here in 2, 8 through 14, the true pronouncement of a savior, the true gospel that comes into the world. And notice how it starts. In all the ways that a gospel pronunciation could start, the first words out of the mouth of the angel are, do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. Even from the very beginning, The message of the gospel is tinged with grace. It's seeped through, even into the very way we pronounce the good news. Do not be afraid. When Caesar was invading a foreign land, you better believe they were afraid. Caesar was coming. And when Christ comes, it's do not be afraid. Because someone else is totally coming, right? Notice what they call him, a savior. who is Christ the Lord. Savior who is Christ the Lord. And really in these three titles sums up the entire work and person of Jesus. Savior, he was the one who brings salvation to his people. Jesus, the Greek version of the Hebrew name Joshua. Meaning Yahweh saves. Jesus is the one who brings salvation to his people. But not only that, Christ, right? Christ, the anointed one. The anointed one of God. The long hoped for Messiah. The one the prophets talked about. The one that every prophet, priest, and king anticipated. He was finally here. He's finally here. Not only that, there's one more, Savior, Christ, and Lord. Lord, and that's what makes this message so different than any other message that we can find. Because it's not just a really good guy. He's not a really great military leader. He's not a really smart guy. He is God himself. He is the Lord. The word Lord, just like in our modern day usage in New Testament, Greek Lord could use all sorts of things, right? You could call a master Lord, you would call someone older than you Lord, you could call the emperor Lord. And yet Luke, up until this point, he's used the identifier Lord 15 times. And every single time he's talking about one person, God. So when he tells us that Jesus is our Savior, Christ the Lord, he is making very explicit statements. Jesus is God. I see that some of the good news is God is coming. God, our Savior, is here. And notice how he puts it, I bring good news. That's that verbal form of euangelion, right? To bring good news. This is that marvelous good news to all people that God has come to save his people. God in Christ the Lord has come to set all things right. Again, as I said, right, when Caesar takes power, when Caesar comes, it's really only good news for one guy, and that's Caesar. If I suddenly found myself on top of the world, it'd really only be good news for one guy, and that's this guy. If any of you found yourself suddenly on top of the world, the only person that would be good news for is you. No one else hears that as good news. But finally, if that's this gospel that God is coming in Jesus Christ, notice how they close with a great and glorious proclamation. Suddenly it says in verse 13, Notice that suddenly there's one angel And in the blink of an eye, the whole heavenly host stands with him. Right, think Revelation 5 here. This is the myriad of myriads standing with this angel, pronouncing, proclaiming two things, glory and peace. Glory and peace. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace among men. And two things are being noted when they say glory to God in the highest. Not only are they giving an ascription of praise, just like we do glory to God, giving glory to God, but they're actually announcing when Jesus is here, the full glory of God rests with us. The full glory, as John 1, 4 tells us, that the glory is of the only son of the father. Or as Hebrews 1.3 goes on to say that in Jesus was the full effulgence of God's glory. The full brightness of the glory of God resided, dwelt in this child. And that's marvelous news for us. That the glory of God comes and dwells with men. And not only is the glory of God here, but notice that peace is here. And if you know your Old Testament, right, when the glory of God appears, it's not always peace. When the glory of God, when the full Shekinah glory of God descends on a place, peace is often the last word we think of, right? Prophet Micah opens with the coming of God and mountains are melting away. Cedars are being stripped bare. Whole oceans are being licked up by the glory of God. But when this glory comes in Jesus Christ, there's peace. There's peace among all men. And not just peace with each other. That's barely the secondary reason that Christ came. but he came to bring peace between God and man. Because we deserve that glory that comes and licks up the ocean like a flame. We deserve that glory that comes and shatters mountains in its presence. That's what we as sinners deserve, and yet Christ, when he comes, as Colossians 1.20 says, he comes and makes peace by the blood of his cross. He makes peace between us and God, that finally we can actually proclaim there is peace in this world. But lastly, notice this has a little add-on there, glory to God in the highest on earth, peace among men with whom he is pleased. And if you're reading from the KJV, it might, due to a sort of mistranslation, it might read goodwill towards men. And sometimes we read this and think, man, the only way I'm getting peace is if I work my way to please God. If I, you know, he's given me a million more things to do in this book, and I've got to make sure I do every single one of them to please God. And the force of what Luke is saying is not, hey, God is coming, here's the list, check it twice, make sure you've done it all, and then God will be pleased with you. But the force of it is God is coming, he is here bringing peace because he is pleased in his people. He is already full of mercy and grace and favor. That's why he sends his son. Not to show you how to be a good person, but because he is mercy, because he is full of good pleasure and kindness for his people. Seeing Christ, two things are revealed, the glory of God and the way of peace to men. The full glory of God revealed in the face of Jesus Christ and the way of peace found in his blood on the cross. And this evening we celebrate, we remember this great pronouncement that the angels made in this field outside Bethlehem. But not only do we remember that evening, but we look forward to the day when Christ comes again. And when he comes again, he's bringing this same host with him. And guess what he's gonna do? He's gonna make all things right. All those tears that find their way back on your cheek the day after Christmas. All that pain that rushes into your life as soon as you've done day one of your New Year's resolution. And that pesky old death that always rears its head, Christmas Eve, Christmas night. All of those things will be hardly a memory when Christ comes to restore all things. See, the answer to our pain, to our suffering, to our sin and everything that is wrong with us is not Caesar coming. It isn't Caesar coming in and creating a subject of millions. It isn't a new self-help guide which quickly falls stale. It isn't in one of the many other religions out there that tell you that the answer lies within. See, truly good news, a true, real gospel always begins and ends with a God who comes and makes all things right. And the work that he will complete on that final day is the work that he started here some 2,000 years ago in the middle of nowhere being announced to some nobodies whose names we don't even remember. And yet we worship a great and merciful King, don't we? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you again for this evening. We thank you that in your mercy you call us into your house, even this night, Lord, to remember the great birth of your son, Jesus Christ. I pray, Lord, that you would keep these families safe as they go home, Lord, that you would keep them safe in the coming days to celebrate this holiday, Lord. Lord, even as we open presents and go through all the festivities, Lord, we pray our hearts strangely warmed, turned, directed towards this good news of Jesus Christ. and that in him we see the God who loves us and gave himself up for us. We ask this in Christ's mighty and matchless name, amen. Well, if you would now stand for the benediction. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. O come all ye faithful joyful and triumphant O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem ♪ All over me ♪ ♪ O hear the angels' voices ♪ ♪ O night divine ♪ O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?