Wk 53

WORSHIP SET 1

Angels (Glory to God)

ADVENT FULFILLED

Candles of Hope, Love, Joy, Peace and the Christ Candle — ALL lit in us today!

May our hearts burn as the disciples on the Road to Emmaus who encountered the resurrected Lord in Luke 24.32

Luke 24:32 NLT

32 They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?”

They so wanted him to explain the Scripture more for them.

May our lives see what Jesus has done, what he has placed in us to burn all year long, to understand the Scripture and tell others of this Good News of God’s Love.

WORSHIP SET 2

We Have A Savior

Make Room

The More I Seek You

GENEROSITY

Proverbs 3:9 NLT

Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce.

UPDATE

CELEBRATION IN OUTREACH

Christmas Toys and Gifts 🎁 received and given

MIDWEEK SERVICE looks different this week with New Years Eve this Wednesday.

8:30p NEW YEAR’S EVE PARTY

Music, Food, Games, Connections, and a New Year!

OUR daily bread — Devotions for the quarter, but also there are the 10 Devos of Christmas.

Pick one up today

Christmas A to Z

WRAP-UP THOUGHTS:

Just a couple of days ago we were saying, “Christmas is Here!”

We may still be thinking Christmas…

T - Tinsel, Tradition, Tree

U - Unity, Unwrap, Usher

V - Vixen, Vigil, Vows

W - Wreath, Wonder, Warmth

X - Xmas, Xylophone (as in Christmas music)

Y - Yule, Yuletide, Yearning

Z - Zeal, Zest, Zany (as in festive fun)

HOW DO WE FOLLOW UP WITH THIS HOLY AND JOYFUL EVENT?

Marcie::Morning & Evening by Charles Spurgeon, Day December 25

Job 1:5 NLT

When these celebrations ended—sometimes after several days—Job would purify his children. He would get up early in the morning and offer a burnt offering for each of them. For Job said to himself, “Perhaps my children have sinned and have cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.

What the patriarch did early the next morning, after the family celebrations, is something believers would do well to practice tonight before going to bed.

In the warmth and joy of family gatherings, it’s easy to let our guard down—to drift into careless behavior and forget who we are called to be as Christians.

It shouldn’t be that way, but often our days of feasting are not truly holy days. Too often they slide from healthy joy into thoughtless or unguarded fun.

Yet, joy itself can be pure and life-giving—just as cleansing as sorrow. Gratitude offered to God can be as sanctifying as repentance. Still, our hearts tell the truth: more often than not, times of mourning shape us better than times of celebration.

So, believer, pause and ask yourself—how have you fallen short today? Have you forgotten your calling? Have your words been careless or your spirit too much like the world around you? If so, confess it plainly and run again to the sacrifice. The sacrifice makes us clean.

The precious blood of the Lamb who was slain removes guilt and washes away the stains left by our thoughtlessness and neglect. This is the best way to end a Christmas Day—to be freshly cleansed at the fountain of grace. And if it is good to come tonight, it is good to come every night.

Living close to the altar is the privilege of God’s royal priesthood. Even when sin feels heavy, it need not lead to despair, because we can always draw near again to the atoning Savior. There, our consciences are cleansed from lifeless works and restored to peace.

Gladly I end this joyful day,

Holding fast to the altar’s grace;

My faults and failures are washed away—

The Lamb has borne my every sin. 

~The End

Living close to the altar

Living close to the altar is the privilege of God’s royal priesthood.

Have you actually seen yourself as a Priest?

The concept of a "kingdom of priests" implies that every member of the nation has a role in representing God to the world, not just the Levitical priesthood.

Exodus 19:6 NLT

And you will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation.’ This is the message you must give to the people of Israel.”

they were not priests, but the day was coming.

This anticipates the New Testament idea found in 1 Peter 2:9, where believers are described as a "royal priesthood." THINK OF IT— A ROYAL PRIEST!!

The priestly role involves intercession, teaching, and maintaining holiness, reflecting God's character to others.

1 Peter 2:9 NLT

But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests,* a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

So, even when sin feels heavy, it does not need to lead to despair…

Why?

Because— You have the VIP PASS!

My brother’s friend and Disney!

“The Blood of Jesus” is our VIP PASS

A pass for forgiveness

A pass to acceptance

A pass to the Love given by your creator — God himself.

Yes, even a washing of your mind— a clear conscience!

Hebrews 9:6–15 NLT

6 When these things were all in place, the priests regularly entered the first room* as they performed their religious duties. 7 But only the high priest ever entered the Most Holy Place, and only once a year. And he always offered blood for his own sins and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. 8 By these regulations the Holy Spirit revealed that the entrance to the Most Holy Place was not freely open as long as the Tabernacle* and the system it represented were still in use. 9 This is an illustration pointing to the present time. For the gifts and sacrifices that the priests offer are not able to cleanse the consciences of the people who bring them. 10 For that old system deals only with food and drink and various cleansing ceremonies—physical regulations that were in effect only until a better system could be established. 11 So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come.* He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. 12 With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever. 13 Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. 14 Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds* so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. 15 That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant.

Thus, Jesus made a Way that we can always draw near again to the atoning Savior.

ATONEMENT vs FORGIVENESS

Atonement is the act of making amends, paying a penalty, or repairing harm (the "work"), while forgiveness is the choice or decision to release resentment and not hold the wrong against someone (the "gift") choice or decision to release resentment and not hold the wrong against someone (the "gift").

(Vs 14)

It is here, that our consciences are cleansed from lifeless works and restored to peace— a relationship restored.

THANK YOU LORD!

So how do we move forward from this Holy Week?

…by having another celebration 🎉 for a New Year?

Living close to the altar is more than a weekly

encounter with God…

Here are 6 thoughts to help make it a daily living encounter of close to the alter:

New Covenant

Hebrews 9:12–14 NLT

12 With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever. 13 Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. 14 Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds* so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.

Propitiation of Sin ( Appeasement)

Romans 3:25 NLT

For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past,

you can’t sweep our sin under the rug.

Justification:

Romans 5:9 NLT

And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation.

Justified is courtroom language. The prosecution and defense each present their case, and the judge or jury makes a declaration: either righteous or condemned. The defendant is either guilty as charged or declared to be in right standing with the law — justified.

Redemption: To Purchase Our True Freedom

Ephesians 1:7 NLT

He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.

Jesus purchases our freedom from justice and from the power of Satan

Colossians 2:15 NLT

In this way, he disarmed* the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.

Forgiveness: To Restore Our Best Relationship

Ephesians 2:13 NLT

But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.

Our sin and rebellion against God has put distance between us and him. In his old-covenant grace, he drew near to his covenant people called Israel. But now, in the new covenant, he draws near not to a particular ethnic people, but to all who receive his Son in faith, no matter who they are or how far they had run.

Pacification: To Make Peace with God Himself

Finally, the God-centered aim of the effects of Jesus’s blood is confirmed in its peace-making between God and his people. In Christ, God reconciles his people “to himself . . .

Colossians 1:19–20 NLT

19 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, 20 and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

Living close to the altar is To guide us through this New Year!

May we turn to Him every day and enjoy a relationship founded on

our VIP PASS — The Blood of Jesus!