As we think of this time of season, and you drive along the road and you see the manger scenes, some of you have them in your home. If you go through Kleona, you can drive through and see that beautiful live nativity that they have. It's so remarkable. And as we think of Christmas, everybody thinks of that little baby and peace on earth. But yet, it is so easily overlooked as to why he came. And that is, of course, because over that manger was a shadow, and it was a shadow of the cross. The cross upon which our Savior, Jesus Christ, that babe, would grow up and be nailed to one day. And He came from heaven to earth, sent by the Father to die willingly there on that cross. Why? He was perfect. He was sinless. He was God, and He took on flesh. But He allowed Himself to be crucified and His blood shed, His pure, sinless blood shed. Why? For you and for me. And that, there upon that cross, that was our redemption. We know according to the Scriptures that there is a heaven and there is a hell. And we are all born into this world with a sinful heart, a sinful nature, which started with Adam and Eve, and just like a disease that was passed on from generation to generation upon all mankind, and here we are today, born with this sinful nature, this sinful heart. And God says, I can't let you into my heaven unless you are cleansed from that sin. and you come into my heaven holy. And that's why God said, I'm gonna send my son, and through him, you can become holy in my sight. And so God the Father sent his son, and he took our sins upon himself, and he bore the punishment that you and I deserved. so that by taking our sin and the punishment upon himself, we would not have to die an eternal death and go to hell. But by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone, I am forgiven. I am cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. And through his righteousness, I am robed, and God the Father then looks on me and looks on you as if we'd never sinned, because I am clothed in the righteousness that God's Son gave to me because of the price he paid on my behalf. That was my cross and yours, and yet he died in our place. The apostle Paul wrote to the church in Galatia He wrote a letter to them, the book of Galatians. But there's one verse that struck me this year as I thought about Christmas and our celebration. That is Galatians 2.20. The apostle Paul said, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live, Paul said, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. You see what Paul is saying to the church? He's saying, when Jesus died, I died. My old sinful Paul died on that cross and was nailed there with Jesus. And therefore, my faith is in Christ alone. And I was crucified with Christ, but yet nevertheless, not I right now, now that I have Jesus living inside of me. He said, I've been crucified with Christ, nevertheless, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. Think of that amazing mystery, that Jesus Christ, the living Christ who rose from the dead the third day and ascended into heaven, by his Holy Spirit, he comes into your heart and mine And we become saved, we become born again spiritually, we become part of the family of God by trusting him alone to save me. And then the living Christ comes to live inside me through his spirit. And he's in you and he's in me if you are a believer tonight. And Paul is proclaiming that. He's saying, now I live my life because Christ lives in me. And then he said, the life which I now live I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. You see, I have faith in Christ to save me, so I come to that cross, not by any works that I have done, not by anything that I can give, that God would be pleased with to let me into his heaven, but I come as a sinner, and I bow at the foot of the cross, and I confess my sins, say, Lord, I'm a sinner, save me. And at that moment, he will forgive me, and he comes into my heart, and then by faith I have received him. But then as I live my life now with Christ living in me, I live a life of faith until he comes to take me home. to live that life of faith, and that means I'm trusting Him all the way. I'm trusting Him, and I know that He's gonna take me there someday. My friends, you may have come tonight because someone invited you, because you thought, well, hey, it's Christmas Eve. Maybe God'll give me some brownie points if I go to church. Maybe I'll sit here and maybe there'll be some nice music. But my friends, if you came here and you do not know this Savior, you cannot leave here without trusting Him and receiving Him by faith. Because if you leave here without Him, you will be lost in eternity. But we invite you tonight to accept Jesus as your personal Savior and trust Him by faith. We invite you now to do that if you've never done it. Would you bow with me in prayer right now? With our heads bowed right now before the Lord. Perhaps the Lord is speaking to your heart right now. It's almost as if you could hear his voice and he's calling your name and he's saying, come unto me right now. and I will give you rest, I will give you forgiveness. I will give you everlasting life as a free gift and robe you in my righteousness that you can spend eternity in heaven one day. But he's saying, trust me now. If you're ready to make that decision, then would you just pray a simple prayer like this? I'm gonna pray this prayer. It's not a prayer that its words are magical and just by saying the words you become a Christian. You must believe in your heart. And this prayer is a prayer of confessing your faith now in Jesus Christ to save you. If you're ready to make that choice, pray along with me quietly in your heart. Pray a prayer like this. Say, dear Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner, and I am sorry for my sin. I believe you died on that cross for me. You took the punishment for my sin. Come into my heart right now and cleanse me from all my sin. I receive you tonight as my very own Savior. Thank you for dying for me and rising from the dead, Lord Jesus." With heads still bowed right now, if you gave your heart to Christ, oh, I would love to pray for you. And so that I can do that with heads still bowed, if you opened your heart to Jesus and you received him by faith right now and you prayed that prayer, would you do one thing? I'd like you to slip your hand up high in the air and then take it down. By lifting your hand, you're saying, Pastor Larry, I prayed that prayer. I did trust Christ to be my Savior tonight. Pray for me. Would you do it right now with heads bowed? Just gonna wait a moment, but if you ask Jesus in your heart, would you slip up your hand right now? Let me see it. Yes, God bless you, my friend. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Anyone else? Just put your hand up and take it down. Anyone else? Praise the Lord for these two. Are there others? You made sure tonight. Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for the work of your Spirit here among us. Father, I thank you for these who have passed from death unto life tonight, that they have put their faith and trust in your Son to save them. And Lord, they have been forgiven. They have been now placed into your family. They have been adopted into your family, and they are now a child of God. And Father, I pray that you'd give them the assurance of their salvation. May they know that because of the decision they made tonight, that they can be certain that when they die, they will be taken home to heaven to be with you forever and ever. Thank you for the free gift of eternal life you've given them and forgiveness of sins. Father, thank you so much for this great gift. And if there are others who still have not yet made that decision, Lord, I pray before this night is over, they could not sleep until they say, Lord Jesus, I need you. And now we ask all this in Jesus' precious name. Amen. Amen.