Christmas Eve Service 2022

Amen. This is the Word of God. Let's pray once again as we ask Him to speak to us this evening. Would you pray with me?

God, we thank You for the miracle of the birth of Christ, and for the ways that You have announced His coming into the world,

and for the joy that it brings us who know You through faith in Him.

And we simply pray now that You would speak to us again in Your Word.

And we ask this in Christ's name. Amen.

Well, Christmas is a time of wonderful announcements.

I remember as a kid growing up, hearing those joyful words, the joy that came when my parents finally announced that Thanksgiving was over,

and it was time to climb into the attic and bring out all the Christmas decorations and begin to decorate the house,

get it festive and set up for Christmas.

Normally, my duty was to put the candles in the windowsills and make sure that they were turned on at night.

Every now and then, I would wrap the garland up the staircase and make sure that the staircase was decorated.

Or, of course, there was the announcement that it was time to finally come to the dinner table

and enjoy the food that my mom had spent all day, probably the day before and the day before that,

preparing homemade breads and rolls, cakes and pies, all sorts of sugary treats that we got to fill up on.

And, of course, the announcement that it was finally time to come and open up the presents under the tree.

All year long, you had been waiting and anticipating that moment, expecting and wondering what might be there,

looking forward to spending the whole day playing.

And we all know that, of course, all of this proclaiming and rejoicing at Christmastime,

all of the announcing and anticipating and delighting is a callback to the announcement that was made over 2,000 years ago in Judea,

in the city of Bethlehem.

I wonder how you would choose to announce the birth of the king of the world,

the savior of the world, the news that the king of all the earth had been born.

If it were me, I would probably want to make it as big of a deal as I possibly could,

spread the news as far and wide as I possibly could, make it a big event,

make sure to invite all the most important people, all the most popular people,

all the most well-respected people I could possibly find.

But God doesn't think like I do.

And that's not what God did.

In our passage that was just read from Luke chapter 2,

Luke 2 · chapter mention

we see the events of the birth of Christ described,

the announcement that was made concerning the birth of the savior of the world.

Joseph, we're told in Luke chapter 2, verse 4,

Luke 2:4

he made the journey from Galilee to Judea to be registered along with his wife,

who, oh, by the way, was with child.

And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth,

and she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes

and laid him in a manger because there was no place for them in the inn.

This was a humble beginning for any child, much more so for this child.

You see, right from the very first breaths of Jesus Christ,

right from this very first entrance into the world,

we get a glimpse, don't we, of his character.

This child, although he is God Almighty himself, was humble.

Although he was king of all the earth, he was meek.

Although he was Lord of lords, this child was lowly and laid in a manger.

You may be familiar with the old hymn that goes something like this.

It says, infant holy, infant lowly, for his bed a cattle stall,

oxen lowing, little knowing, Christ the babe is Lord of all.

How would you announce the birth of this king?

We're told that this birth was not first announced to the richest or to the greatest.

It wasn't even announced to many people at all.

Rather, it was announced first to just a few lowly shepherds out in the field,

keeping watch over their flocks by night.

Verse 9, it gives us the scene.

It says,

An angel of the Lord appeared to them,

and the glory of the Lord shone around them,

and they were filled with great fear.

And the angel said to them,

Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

That, church, in a nutshell, is the gospel.

That is the message of hope that we have the privilege of believing and bringing out into the world.

It's good news of great joy for all people.

And just to drive that point home,

he brings that news first not to kings, not to rulers, not to the influential,

but to the lowest and lowliest and least influential of all peoples first.

And so it has come to us.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

This is good news of great joy for all people.

But you may wonder, why is this good news?

And what makes this good news worthy of this response of great joy?

And the answer, I believe, is twofold.

And it's found here in the response of this angelic chorus here in verse 14.

We're told that the angels, they suddenly burst into this chorus of worship,

this multitude of the heavenly hosts, is praising God, saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.

Taking that in reverse order here, two reasons.

The first reason why the birth of Christ is good news for great joy

is because this birth is the announcement of peace on earth.

Peace on earth among those with whom he is pleased.

This birth, the birth of this child,

is the beginning of the fulfillment of the plan of God

to reconcile sinners to himself.

See, this sinless child entered into a world of sin.

He would step into the place of sinners and live as they should have lived.

He was born to die in the place of sinners as we deserve to die for our sin.

He was innocent while we were guilty.

And because he was innocent, the grave had no hold on him,

and he would rise from the grave so that any who know him,

any who trust him, any who worship him,

can have peace with God.

As Paul says in Romans chapter 5, he says,

Romans 5 · chapter mention

Since we have been justified by faith,

that is, undeserving sinners like us,

unimpressive, nothing in our hands to bring to God,

declared righteous by simple faith in Christ.

Since we have been justified by faith in Christ,

we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

That's good news of great joy for sinners like us.

And what a gift it is to know that if you are in Christ,

then between you and God there is no longer distance.

There's no longer enmity.

There's no longer any rebellion.

There's nothing standing between you and him

because Christ has come to bring peace on earth

with those with whom the Lord is pleased.

I know that for some of you,

you don't necessarily feel that peace right now.

Christmas may be a difficult time for some of us,

a time of family tension,

a time when we remember those who used to gather

around the table with us who are no longer there.

And my prayer for you this season

is that regardless of your circumstance,

the God of hope would fill you with all joy and peace

in believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit,

you may abound in hope.

Christ has come to give peace on earth.

But friend, that's not the main point of the Christmas story.

There's a second reason here

why this birth is good news of great joy.

And it's this, it's that this birth

and all that it entails,

all that it brought to pass,

brings glory to God.

Glory to God in the highest.

Glory to a God who has promised

and who has fulfilled.

Glory to a God whose heart reaches out

to undeserving sinners like us.

Glory to a God who steps into his own creation,

who turns the ways of the world upside down

in order to redeem it,

to reconcile us to himself.

Isn't it just astonishing

for salvation to come in such a strange way,

in such a humble way,

for the King of Kings,

the Savior of the world,

the Son of God himself

to be wrapped up in swaddling clothes

and laid in a manger?

It's astonishing.

It's part of the wonder of Christmas

that because we couldn't bring ourselves up to God,

God himself has come down to us.

You know, no false religion sounds like this.

No made-up story would make their God

look so foolish

and so weak

and so helpless.

But you know,

God is glorified

and doing what only he can do

in a way that only he would do it.

For the foolishness of God

is wiser than men

and the weakness of God

is stronger than men.

See, this birth brings glory to God

in the highest

because it is his wise plan

to bring salvation

to all the peoples of the earth

and to create a redeemed people

for himself

who would praise the glory

of his saving grace

for the rest of eternity.

As Galatians 4 tells us,

when the fullness of time had come,

God sent forth his Son,

born of a woman,

born under the law

to redeem those

who were under the law

so that

we might receive adoption

as sons.

So friend,

when you consider

the point of this birth,

the point of

our salvation,

the point of our adoption

as sons and daughters of God,

I want you to think

of the glory

of God.

The point of all of this

is that God in the highest

would receive glory,

that his name would be magnified.

See, the end of peace with God

is praise to God.

That's why Christ came.

As we reflect on this incredible story

of good news

and great joy,

I just want to encourage you

to respond in a couple of ways

as we close here this evening.

One

is to just take a moment

and meditate

on peace with God.

Peace

with God.

Christ came

that by his blood

sinners

might have peace

with God.

And maybe you realize

as you reflect,

as you think on

these things

that you don't have

that peace.

peace.

You don't know what it's like

to have peace

with God.

What better time

than now

to call out to the Lord

in faith

and ask him

for that gift

of reconciliation

and peace

and to receive

that gift

of new life

in Christ.

What better time

than now?

Or maybe you

know that you have

that peace

with God

but you really,

if you're being honest,

haven't felt

that peace

in a while.

You're not walking

in the rest

and the joy

that it is

to know peace

with God.

You're stressed out,

strung out,

burnt out,

worn out

and you need

peace.

Let's pause

this evening

and reflect

on the peace

of God.

And the second way

I'd like us to respond

right now

where you are

is I want you

right where you are

to give glory

to God.

Give glory

to God

to him

who deserves

all praise.

Give glory

to him

who sent

his son

down to earth

for our sake.

Give glory

to him

who has adopted

us as sons

and daughters

of the living God.

So let's do that now

for a brief silent

moment of prayer

and reflection

as we close.

Would you bow

and let's do

those two things

as we respond.

Let's pray silently

where we are.

Let's pray silently

where we are.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Lord, we pray

the words

that we've already sung.

Come,

thou long-expected

Jesus,

born to set

thy people free.

From our fears

and sins,

release us.

Let us find

our rest

in thee.

Father,

we praise you

for the glory

of the incarnation

of Christ

that you sent

your son

to the earth

to redeem

sinners like us.

Father,

there's not a person

here who

is impressive,

who has earned

any favor with you.

We are all

like sheep.

We've gone astray.

But Lord,

you sent Christ

to us

to lay

our iniquity

on him.

Lord,

that we might

know peace

with God.

And to you

be all glory

and all the praise

and all the honor

and all the might

forever,

we pray in Christ's name.

Amen.

We're going to

conclude our time.