The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light

Service Notes

Songs with Bible reading through out.

End with lighting of candles

As Christians we celebrate Christmas differently than most of the world.

40% of Americans profess some type of Christian faith but over 90% celebrate Christmas

Going to ask you turn off your electronic candle and receive a real candle

Shortly we will pass the light from one to another

The cheap imitation will be replaced with the real thing

We want a Christmas that doesn’t just resemble or imitate what it should be

We want a Christmas that puts out heat

Looking at Luke 19 from last week and moving forward

Luke 19:10 “10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Music is an incredible blessing as it reminds us of the truth of God’s Word

Silent Night

The song has undoubtedly withstood the test of time as it was first played on Christmas Eve of 1818 in Austria. A Priest named Joseph Mohr insisted on having a unique musical element for their Christmas Eve service each year. Still, on one particular year, as he made final preparations for the Christmas Eve service, he realized that the organ wasn’t working. Deflated and in a panic, Mohr remembered the words he had penned in a poem several years prior entitled “Stille Nacht,” which translated into English is “Silent Night.”  The words were without music, so he quickly contacted a musician friend named Franz Guber the night before Christmas Eve. In one night, Guber brought instrumentation to the song that has become one of, if not the most popular Christmas song of all time.

All is calm

Silent night, holy night!

All is calm, all is bright.

No baby is born on a silent night, especially not in a stable.

Anyone who has experienced the miracle of childbirth knows there can be a lot of noise involved in welcoming a newborn into the world.

It’s beautiful, even sacred, but it is not quiet.

After 400 years of Silent Nights

Luke 1:11 (KJV 1900)

11 And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

Zechariah means God remembers

Elizabeth means God’s Promises

God comes to a couple “God remembers, God’s promises”

We now know looking back through the lens of history that even though God’s people must have felt like God was silent, He was in fact working the entire time. He was moving through rulers and empires to set the stage for the arrival of the promised Messiah.

Luke 2:15–20 (KJV 1900)

15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Beth-lehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

All is bright

Isaiah 9:2 “2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.”

Idea of darkness and death

Psalm 23 the shadow of death

Holy infant, tender and mild.

Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child.

Holy infant so tender and mild,

Isaiah 7:14 (KJV 1900)

14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, And shall call his name Immanuel.

Isaiah 9:6 (KJV 1900)

6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: And the government shall be upon his shoulder: And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

His life — from its very first breaths — was marked with an unprecedented wisdom, power, majesty, and glory. All held, for a time, in an infant’s body, and all waiting to be exercised in love on our behalf.

It is good to reflect on the splendor of it all.

How did this happen? I do not know but isn’t it awesome!!

Sleep in heavenly peace.

Sleep in heavenly peace,

Sleep in heavenly peace.

Picture a sleeping baby but brings us to a point of recognizing the peace He has brought to us.

Ephesians 2:17 (KJV 1900)

17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.

Jesus brought a peace to our relationship with God and with one another, where there had only been conflict, hostility, and wrath.

The same Jesus who presumably slept like a baby on that ordinary night also preached rest to the weary and rebellious among us. Matthew 11:28-30 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Story of the Peace Child / Sawi converts from Netherlands New Guinea

Shepherds Quake

Silent night, holy night!

Shepherds quake at the sight.

Shepherds would not be those whom you would expect

They would be people who would be able to recognize the perfect lamb

They were not the common reporters of news in the days but this knowledge could not be kept

Glories stream from heaven afar

Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia,

Christ the Saviour is born!

Christ the Saviour is born

Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia

Luke 2:13–14 (KJV 1900)

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, Good will toward men.

We do not know if they were singing. Seems very probable.

Silent night, holy night!

Son of God love’s pure light.

Radiant beams from Thy holy face

Made under the law to find us there.

Galatians 4:4–7 (KJV 1900)

4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Jesus is the pure light of love.

James 1:17 (KJV 1900)

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Without the son we would be at zero degrees in a few days. We would be at -100 in the first year and stay there. We would lose much of our oxygen The son serves as s imple of the light we find in God. In the new heaven and new earth we will not need the son. Nothing will ever die in this light.

Made under the law to find us there.

Galatians 4:4–7 (KJV 1900)

4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Jesus is the pure light of love.

James 1:17 (KJV 1900)

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Without the son we would be at zero degrees in a few days. We would be at -100 in the first year and stay there. We would lose much of our oxygen The son serves as s imple of the light we find in God. In the new heaven and new earth we will not need the son. Nothing will ever die in this light.

With the dawn of redeeming grace

With the dawn of redeeming grace,

Jesus Lord, at Thy birth

Jesus Lord, at Thy birth

One reason we lack passion for Christmas is that we often fail to truly see God as holy, and our sin as serious. Therefore, we do not have as much joy in Christ’s coming as we could.

Matthew 4:16 (KJV 1900)

16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.

Without Christ our hearts will always be as dark as the starless, night sky.

Mark 7:21–23 (KJV 1900)

21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,

22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:

23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

Sin is alarming, because all sin is against a holy God.

The awesome joy of salvation is anchored in the awful seriousness of sin.

Romans 5:8 (KJV 1900)

8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Great song to sing and better truth to tell to others.

Luke 2:16–17 (KJV 1900)

16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

Closing

As the piano begins to play Silent Night

I want you to consider the time in your life when you sat in darkness without hope, light, or the message

As we begin to share this light with one another let us consider all those who still sit in silence and pray for them

Let us sing and rejoice that the words of the Gospel have come to our ears

Isaiah 9:2 “2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.”