Joy for Today

CHILDREN’S CHRISTMAS SUNDAY

Children come in from back following the star to the stage

Ring, Ring, Ring the bells

*Twinkle, twinkle Christmas star

*Baby Jesus, we love you

Happy Birthday Jesus

Blessing & Instructions

What a wonderful job! Now, I’d like to pray a blessing over all of you, can we show the grownups how we like to pray? (hands together, heads bowed, eyes closed)

Bless the Children & Dismiss to Parents

We are so happy to have our Cross Creek Day School students and their families here this morning joining us for a very special Children’s Christmas Sunday. We’d like everyone to stay in the service today, but if your little one gets restless or needs some distraction, you are welcome to take them back to the Day School where our Sunday Children’s Ministry Workers are standing by should they be needed.

All of our Children’s workers are trained, vetted and background checked, so when you join us on Sunday mornings you can be confident to leave them with us. We also have security staff who makes sure that no one but parents and screened workers are permitted into the Children’s area - just ask someone with a Cross Creek lanyard if you need to go back there.

Stand for Worship

Worship Team Leads congregational Christmas Carol

Introduce Youth and Young Adults Groups for Advent Reading

Advent Reading by Youth & Young Adults Groups

(YOUTH 1) A reading from the book of John, chapter 15 verses 10-12 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in His love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. (John 15:10-12) The Word of God for the people of God (Thanks be to God)

(YOUTH 2) The third Sunday of Advent is traditionally called “Gaudete Sunday” which is the Latin word for rejoice. Today we rejoice that we have a Savior who has given us one command: to love one another. Joy is not dependent on what’s happening around us, but true joy is found safe in the love of Jesus. Advent joy is a deep, steady gladness that comes from knowing that we’ve been given the gift of His amazing grace. Today we light the first purple candle again, revisiting our HOPE in Him. (LIGHT THE FIRST PURPLE CANDLE)

We also light the second candle again, recognizing the PEACE we have in Him. (LIGHT THE SECOND PURPLE CANDLE)

(YOUTH 1) In these days leading up to Christmas, we rejoice in the arrival of our Savior. So today, on the third Sunday of Advent we light a third, pink candle as a symbol of the JOY we have because of the freedom we’ve found in Jesus. (LIGHT THE PINK CANDLE)

This special candle, sometimes called the Shepherd’s candle reminds us that Jesus came for everyone, the rich and the poor, the meek and the mighty, the young and the old. We rejoice because God came to be with us and to set us free from sin. As we pray, please participate in the call and response you see on the screen:

SLIDE: Call: “His joy is in us” Response: “Our joy is complete”

(YOUTH 2) God of joy, open our eyes to see Your blessings in the everyday moments. Let our gratitude overflow into joy that strengthens us and encourages others. His joy is in us; (Our joy is complete), Amen.

Welcome

Good morning! My name is Amanda Stiles, and I’m blessed to be serving here as the Lead Elder and Pastor of Cross Creek Community Church. We are so glad you’ve joined us here this morning, and we’d like to say... “Welcome Home.”

In the chair pocket in front of you is a guest card, we invite you to fill that out today if you’d like to connect with the church. There’s also a prayer card, if at any time you feel you’d like to request prayer for anything at all, just fill that out or write it on the back of the guest card. You can drop those cards in the offering basket later.

To those of you just joining us online, we are glad you’ve found us on Facebook this morning @crosscreekfl, if you’re planning to watch this later, please follow our YouTube channel, @crosscreekflorida for all of the past Sunday messages.

We have many visitors here today for our annual Children’s Christmas Sunday, and many of our Cross Creek Day School students are here with their families this morning, and for that I promise to make this a short message. But, what an absolute JOY to hear them singing this morning!

I know of another group of little ones who sang for joy on that very first Christmas morning. Today’s Advent candle is otherwise known as the “Shepherd’s candle” so today’s message will shine a light on those unassuming characters in the Christmas story.

It’s believed that most of the Shepherds that night were children, some only a little older than the little ones who sit with us today. They were the first to receive the good news and to rejoice in the birth of our Savior.

But the Bible is not just a story book… as we say in chapel with the children each week, what is the Bible, kids? (God’s Holy Word!) That’s right. The Bible is God’s Holy Word, and it’s true for us today... as true as it was back then. The shepherds, the Angels, Mary and Joseph were real, just as Jesus, God and Holy Spirit are real.

The joy of those shepherds in that field long ago should be just as real to us today as it was in the voices of the children we just heard singing. Jesus brings Joy for Today.

Let’s Pray

Think about the last time you experienced true joy. You know, that deep inner confidence that brims over with the feeling that “it’s all good,” everything’s ok, and life is as it should be. There are other words for joy like happiness, delight, good cheer and so on. But joy is not just about being in a good mood!

The Bible talks about many good and beautiful things as sources of joy - weddings for one, or being around children. There’s even a Proverb comparing the joy you feel when you smell a good perfume to the joy of making a new friend.

However, we know that human history and humanity in general is not always a good time - we live in a world that’s full of trouble… God’s good creation has been corrupted by selfish ambition and what the Bible calls “sin.” Sin, by the way, is simply defined as “missing the mark” of God’s intended will for our lives… and boy, some have gone way off that mark. How can we possibly do as it says in 1 Thessalonians 5:16 and “Rejoice always?”

This is where the Christian faith, and the Christmas story puts a unique perspective on joy.

Joy is like the other themes we hear about during the Advent season. Like hope, peace, and love, joy is an attitude and an attribute of Jesus that we choose to reflect. Like the light of the candles on the Advent wreath, our faith in Jesus ignites a deep-seated joy within us. Joy that’s not based on our circumstances, but because of God’s love and promises.

This joy is what the people of Israel were looking forward to all those years ago. The day promised in Isaiah 51:11 when “Those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.” And while they waited for that day, they chose joy, hope, peace, and love. In spite of their circumstances they believed they would be rescued.

When that day finally arrives in the Bible narrative, it doesn’t come in the way they expected. What we now celebrate it as “Christ-mass” was not a day of conquering kings or the fall of Rome. But the day two young newlyweds, Joseph and Mary, were expecting a baby conceived by God.

Let’s look at Luke chapter 2 and pick up in that little town of Bethlehem where they had traveled for the census. Luke 2:6–7 tells us that “While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.”

The little baby Jesus was born and placed in a humble feeding trough, a symbol of the humble hearts who would receive him in a world which had no room for God. The person who contained all of God’s love for us, stepped down from heaven, and entered the world as a vulnerable baby lying in a manger.

He came to save mankind from our own self destruction, and to keep us from being separated from God forever. He was our only hope for redemption, the newborn Prince of Peace, and the joy of all creation. But here he was, just like that song, How Many Kings portrays him; “lonely and small, the weakest of all, unlikeliest hero, wrapped in his mother’s shawl. Just a child. Is this who we’ve waited for?”

The humblest beginning for the newborn King of the World. His birth was not announced at the palace, the angels didn’t appear to the high priests at the temple, so let’s read on to see who was the first to hear about the birth of baby Jesus:

Luke 2:8–12 “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.””

The least assuming of all the people, shepherds were usually quite poor, lowly, and uneducated people in those times. Many of them were the youngest children of their families, tasked with the least desirable job that the older siblings didn’t want. These little ones were the first human beings to hear the good news of Jesus’ birth. They were the least and the last who received the message first.

Let’s continue reading from Luke 2 and pick up at verse 13 to see what happens next.

Luke 2:13–15 “Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

When these little ones heard the good news, they did not hesitate. The shepherds immediately responded by saying “Let’s go to Bethlehem right now and see what’s happened!” They became the first witnesses, hurrying off to find Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in the manger; and the first evangelists, spreading the word concerning what the angel had told them about this child, and “all who heard were amazed,” it says in verse 16-18.

It had been a very, very long time since anyone on earth had heard anything from heaven. You see, it’s only one page in our bibles between Malachi and Matthew, but to the people of Israel that thin piece of paper in our bibles represents 400 years of long, distant, cold silence from God. 5 generations of nothing... no connection, no messengers, prophets or angels.

How many of us sitting here today know what that feels like? When the world seems dark, and the things we once thought would save us are all but forgotten. When God seems far off, and only for others more worthy than we are. I know I’ve been there. I didn’t think I would ever hear from God… I was too far gone, too messed up, for a good God to bother with.

The Shepherds knew what that felt like too. Because they worked with animals, any “good Jew” they came across would call them “unclean.” They were dirty, spending their days trapsing across the Judean countryside, waist—deep in muck, chasing after the wandering flock and getting their hands bloody in battles with bears, lions, and wolves.

They weren’t even allowed to enter the temple courts without a lengthy ceremonial washing. All they had were the songs they would sing out in the fields at night, their daily prayers, and the stories of a God who promised to save them too, passed down from the days of their fore-father, David.

I believe that God chose the shepherds because they were humble and unassuming. Had the angel appeared to the priests in the temple, they might have spent weeks deliberating over what they had witnessed. Had he been announced in the palace, well we know the king would have just killed Jesus right away. No, this message was not for the high and mighty - this message was for the meek and lowly.

Those shepherds probably thought they weren’t important enough to be the first to hear from God after 400 years. But God chose them for His most important announcement.… the glad tidings that causes great joy for all the people, and they believed it like little children.

In Mark 10:15 Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” If you’re like I was and believe you can’t be saved because it’s just too hard to do all the right things that God wants you to do. If you feel there simply aren’t enough good deeds or religious rites to ever earn your way back into His good graces... Then you haven’t heard the good news, my friends.

The good news is not about what you should do for God, the good news is all about what God has already done for you. Can I just speak plainly to you, as a woman who has tried, as a mom who has raised three kids and two bonus kids - nobody’s perfect (nobody but Jesus). Can I just release you from that today please?

It’s not up to us to clean ourselves up and get right with God. I hear that all the time, “Oh, I’ll go to church once I’ve cleaned up my life.” Haven’t you heard what He did on that first Christmas night? He reached down from heaven to the most outcast, and lowest of all, and bridged that long, distant, dark and silent gap of separation between us and Him. He sent us His son into the world to live the sinless life we can never achieve, and to pay the price could never pay.

Stop trying to earn your way into heaven.

One of our day school students asked me this week, “How does God get into our hearts?” And the answer is simple, just believe. Jesus came for you - yes you, and your faith in that fact is all that’s required of you. You don’t need to do anything before coming to Jesus, only humble yourself and admit you can’t do enough to earn His love. He paid it all so He can make you brand new, and change you from the inside out. (pause)

See, when we humble ourselves and realize what God really did for us on that cross, we can’t help but respond with joy! Joy like a little child - that’s how we receive the good news! So, Rejoice! I will say it again, Rejoice!

Do you know that as you rejoice in what God has done, that God rejoices over you? From the beginning, all He has ever wanted was for us to have the wholeness of peace, the expectation of hope, the law of love, and the fullness of joy. From the day He created us, He said it was “very good.” When our relationship with Him is restored, He rejoices over us!

Luke 15:7–10 “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

The moment we realize that God was right there with us all along, in the dark, in the cold - That He never gives up on us, when we surrender our own pride and will over to His perfect plan for our lives and ask Jesus to come into our hearts as Lord - we find fullness of joy. Joy that doesn’t depend on our circumstance, joy that remains, a joy that’s complete.

As I close, I’m reminded of the one command from our Advent reading today. Let’s read John 15:10-12 again, but this time let’s put verse 12 at the beginning: John 15:12 “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” John 15:10–11 “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”

Our one command is to love one another. (How would you like to have one rule, kids?) Yeah, Jesus said to love God and love others and on this command all the other laws find their fulfillment. When we do this, Christ’s joy is in us, our joy is complete, we remain in the Father’s love - He never gives up on us, and that is very good news!

Let’s Pray

Before you go, please remember to drop the guest cards and prayer cards into the basket. You may also consider sowing into the good soil here at Cross Creek Community Church. Tithes and offerings can be placed in the basket, in the lock box in the lobby, or you can use the QR code on the screen to give digitally. Our Day School is the primary ministry of our church, and we can’t do it without the generosity of you parents and the members of this church.

Bless the Tithes and Offerings

Please join us for Hot-cocoa and treats outside, you’re all invited back next Sunday at 10:00 for our contemporary worship service - and may you find complete joy in the One who completes us.