A thrill of hope

I love Christmas and Christmas Eve (Share stories of Christmas eve services)

When I think about tonight, my heart gets excited because HOPE has come!

Recap Advent and the Christmas Story. (Give details on Jesus birth)

When we gather tonight, we remember that hope is here. See the beauty of this season, is that God is moving toward humanity. In a beautiful embrace, He gives us son for all the earth.

I want to look at 3 ways we can embrace this hope tonight.

1.) God is with you.

-Isaiah 41:10 “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

-Tonight, can I encourage you God is with you.

-Matthew 1:23 ““The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).”

2.) God is for you.

-Romans 8:31 “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

-If your here tonight and feel like maybe God is not with you or for you, can I encourage you, He is for you and He is with you.

-John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

3.) God is in you.

-John 14:16-17 “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”

-Because Jesus came in the form of a human and died on the cross, He gave us access to have a close personal relationship with Him.

-We can now live a life empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Close:

As we close, lets stand to our feet.

I want to end on this poem from E.M. Welcher

O come Let us adore Him,

Lord at His birth.

Let the weary and bedraggled

Come in from the wastelands

And say:

Won’t He do it?

Is He Not faithful?

We still believe.

Yes, Even now

The king is arriving

Will He not finish all of this?

He is still with us.

Lord Jesus,

Crucified carpenter king,

You’re home.

Let’s Pray

Tonight if you are here, and you feel hopeless or discouraged. God is here to meet you, it doesn't matter what your past or present look like, He loves you.

The Bible says, today is the day of salvation. If your here and want to meet Jesus, it’s simple. The Bible says when we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart, we will be saved.

As a family, lets pray this prayer today together. “Lord Jesus, thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you for giving me new life. We welcome you into our life now. In Jesus name, Amen.”