Christmas Eve 12.24.2022

“O Holy Night”

Lyrics - O Holy Night

Verse 1

O holy night the stars are brightly shining It is the night of our dear Saviour's birth Long lay the world in sin and error pining 'Til He appeared and the soul felt its worth A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn

Chorus 1

Fall on your knees O hear the angel voices O night divine O night when Christ was born

Verse 2

Truly He taught us to love one another His law is love and His gospel is peace Chains He shall break For the slave is our brother And in His Name all oppression shall cease Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we Let all within us praise His holy Name

Chorus 2

Christ is the Lord O praise His Name forever His power and glory Evermore evermore proclaim His power and glory Evermore evermore proclaim

Ending

O night divine O night O night divine

Good Evening - Introduction

— Good evening and welcome to Sunnyside FBC, my name is Jeff Pagel, i am the Pastor here.

— If you need, we have two sets of restrooms. One is located as you came in the door of the church and the other is downstairs in our Sunday School area. You are free to choose.

— We are here to celebrate Christmas through the Christmas carol’s that we all have grown up with.

— We are going to have it all tonight.

— We will sing together some very familiar carols, our kiddos will do a short little Christmas video and I’ll have just a short message.

— Each of the kiddos here will be able to get a goodie bag as you leave tonight. Don’t leave without one!!

Candle etiquette

— At the end of our service tonight we will sing, “Silent Night.”

— During that singing we will turn the lights off and our building will be gradually lit by the candles that you received coming in the door. — Please raise your hand if you didn’t get a candle and want one.

— These are live real candles, with hot wax. As the candle light comes around tip the unburned candle into the flame of the lit candle and of course hold it upright.

— Parents please help your kiddos not to spill hot wax on their skin or on the floor.

— Without further adou let’s get started… Worship team...

The Christ Candle

God, our loving Father, you sent your Son,

Jesus Christ, into this world to counter

all the forces of evil: sin, suffering and death,

and to overcome evil with the force of good;

hatred with the power of love,

your great love for us in Jesus.

Help us never to curse the darkness,

but to join with you in bringing

Your light into this world,

the light that is your Son,

born of the Virgin Mary, in Bethlehem.

Help us to be instruments of your light

and love by doing one special act of kindness

or by being your special instrument

of reconciliation this New Year.

May the Christ Candle we light symbolize

our desire to bring light into a world of darkness

and hope into a world of despair.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

“O Come all Ye Faithful”

Lyrics - O Come All Ye Faithful

Verse 1

O come all ye faithful Joyful and triumphant O come ye O come ye to Bethlehem Come and behold Him Born the King of angels

Chorus

O come let us adore Him O come let us adore Him O come let us adore Him Christ the Lord

Verse 2

Sing choirs of angels Sing in exultation O sing all ye bright Hosts of heav'n above Glory to God all Glory in the highest

Verse 3

Yea Lord we greet Thee Born this happy morning Jesus to Thee be all glory giv'n Word of the Father Now in flesh appearing

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— I want to focus tonight on the words of that 3rd verse.

— Happy Birthday Jesus! We don’t really know the exact date, day or time of year of your birth so we choose tomorrow December 25th to celebrate your birth!!

— And the last phrase… “Word of the Father.” Don’t be confused by that group of words. Jesus is the Logos, Jesus is the Word, Jesus is God’s mouthpiece here on earth.

— And Jesus is appearing TONIGHT as he did over 2000 years ago.

— The scripture will be on the screen. I promise this will be short!! Then back to singing and Praising GOD!!!

John 1:1–5 ESV

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

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— The celebration tonight is the celebration of Jesus, the very Son of God.

— That term can be confusing. We say that Jesus is a member of God’s Holy Trinity.

— God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit.. They are one, They are of God.

— Each of those members has a specific job description.

— God had the heavy lifting throughout the Old and New Testament.

— Challenging the People of God to live and act like a chosen people… They didn’t get it either.

— I hope that we do.. I hope we can hear the call of God in our lives.

— Worship Team...

“Angels We Have Heard On High”

Lyrics - Angels We Have Heard On High.

Verse 1

Angels we have heard on high Sweetly singing o'er the plains And the mountains in reply Echoing their joyous strains

Chorus

Gloria in excelsis Deo

Verse 2

Come to Bethlehem and see Him whose birth the angels sing Come adore on bended knee Christ the Lord the newborn King

Bridge

We will raise our voices Deo oh Join the angel's song on high Deo oh We behold Your beautiful light Shining glory through the night Deo oh

Ending

Deo oh Deo oh (REPEAT) ------------------- John 1.4-10

John 1:4–10 (ESV)

4 In him [in Jesus] was life, and the life was the light of men.

5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John, [John, The Baptist]

7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.

8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

9 The true light, [Jesus] which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

10 He [Jesus] was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.

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— Jesus came to the earth to be the “True Light.”

— As a culture, as a people as people living in the United States, in Sunnyside we have NOT seen the fullness of His Light.

— We are so compromised, I wonder, If the light came, the real light of the world came Jesus, would we recognize him?

— We have tasted the sweetness of Grace, we bring our sin and our failures to God, who chooses to remember them “No more.”

— Sometimes that means we can just keep sinning because i know I have forgiveness

— That is the definition of “Cheap Grace.”

— Grace was given to us on the stripes that Jesus bore on his back…

— We do not give Glory to God or His Jesus by returning to our pattern of sin.

— We are hiding in the dark if we think we can live and breathe and move with our sin nature in full display, we cannot!!!

A single light penetrates the darkest space.

— I’m forever going in our pitch black bedroom at 3 in the morning and stepping or tripping on something.

— The dog yelps, I stub my toe, I step on my slippers. Jill wakes up… “What is going on here.”

— There is chaos in our bedroom at 3 in the morning

There is chaos in our world

— We all see it

— We are mostly afraid of calling our current circumstances what they are...

— We experience chaos in our world every time we turn on TV.

— Open twitter or facebook. Still what we see and hear, does not push us to call our world what it is...

A Dark and corrupted world awaits those without THE LIGHT.

— That “darkness” is seen all around us.

— It is seen in the newspaper, on television and on our electronic devices.

— It is our responsibility, it’s our command, it’s share our light...

— That difficulty in sharing our “Light” is not unique to Sunnyside, or our world.

— Our heads and our hearts and our minds are stuck on the present, of the near term, or our lifetimes here on earth.

— Where we belong is not where we are at. We are CALLED to share our light.

— NO, I need to make that stronger.

— WE ARE COMMANDED TO SHARE OUR LIGHT WITH A SICK AND DYING WORLD

“Go Tell It On The Mountain”

Chorus

Go tell it on the mountain Over the hills and ev'rywhere Go tell it on the mountain That Jesus Christ is born

Verse 1

While shepherds kept their watching O'er silent flocks by night Behold throughout the heavens There shone a holy light

Verse 2

The shepherds feared and trembled When lo above the earth Rang out the angel chorus That hailed the Savior's birth

Verse 3

Down in a lowly manger The humble Christ was born And God sent us salvation That blessed Christmas morn

As a Baby and He brought the Light!

— it is inescapable to see the example that God made for us in the birth, life, death, and the resurrection of Jesus.

— This “Light” penetrates the deepest, darkest place and brings to “light” all of the ugliness in our lives.

— At the same time we see the ugly parts of ourselves. God see’s a forgiven, redeemed, valuable, child of God...

— Why???

— Because it’s all about GRACE!! We are receivers of that GRACE by FAITH IN CHRIST ALONE.

Tonight set aside the “darkness” and live in His Light!

— The all time best example of living in the dark but recognizing the light around is celebrated once a year, honoring the birth of Christ.

— No we probably don’t have the date, time or season “correct” to celebrate. But we choose to honor, celebrate on December 25th.

The best example that we have of transformation from Darkness to Light is found with children...

Here is a video of a short little play that our kiddos have done over the last couple of weeks.

Video (3:34)

— A great big thank you to Cis and our kiddos for taking their class time to reflect on the Tree as a symbol of Christ’s birth.

Closing - So What?

— I do not want to leave this night without a challenge

— Tonite is for celebration, tomorrow is for feasting and football

— But what about the next day, the next week, month and year.

Live differently, Love completely, and Pass-it-on… Frequently!

— Our Jesus, the Christ-child, has come to bring the light, to extinguish the dark.

— BRING LIGHT!!!

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It would not be Christmas if we don’t sing this final song...

— Ushers please come to light it up!

Silent Night

Lyrics —

Silent Night

Verse 1

Silent night holy night All is calm I’m singin’ all is bright ‘Round yon virgin mother and Child Holy Infant so tender and mild Sleep in heavenly peace Oh sleep in heavenly peace

Verse 2

Silent night holy night Shepherds quake oh at the sight Glories stream from heaven afar Heavenly hosts sing alleluia Christ the Savior is born Christ the Savior is born

Verse 3

Silent night holy night Son of God oh love's pure light Radiant beams from Thy holy face With the dawn of redeeming grace Jesus Lord at Thy birth Jesus Lord at Thy birth

Closing

— Please join us in The Well, at the back of the church, for some fellowship and goodies

— He provides assurance of our commitment to Him. He provides comfort, He provides challenge, He protects and encourages us.

— Merry Christmas from me, Jill, and our family that is with us for the holiday.