The Greatest Gift

Well, good morning and a very warm welcome to you all to our Christmas Club family service.

It's good to see so many of our young people here together today at the front.

It's great to have you with us and it was a great day yesterday at the holiday club.

I hope you all enjoyed it, those who were there.

And we're going to be following on with a theme from that today as well, thinking about

the time of year it is and the gift.

Gifts that we receive in Christmastime are special, but we're going to think today of

the greatest gift of all.

So we're going to come to that in a moment.

But just for your information, there's a few things on the notice sheet to highlight.

After the service this morning, the children are going to go out to the door to my left

here, going through into the hall.

And the hall is set up there for tea and coffee for everyone.

And the children are then going to lead us in some of the songs that they were learning

yesterday together.

So everyone's very welcome.

Please do stay behind for that.

If you can, there'll also be a slideshow of some of the pictures taken yesterday.

So you'll see pictures of some of the activities that they were involved in throughout the day.

So do stay behind for that if you can.

Just go through to the hall next door.

This evening, the YF meets in the MA Hall.

That's on this evening.

Friday the Free is on this coming Friday.

I'm just highlighting that as well because it's holiday time.

There may be families with children who maybe want to come along to that as well on Friday

between 12 and 3.

I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who was involved in the Christmas Club.

Not just yesterday, but in the days and months leading up to it, there was a lot of hard work

put into it.

Very practical ways.

People were organizing online sign-up sheets, printing sheets, baking, preparing all the crafts

and different things.

And then yesterday, so many people involved.

Too many people to mention, but just a thank you to everyone who was involved.

And especially we thank God that we're able to pray and that everyone can join in in praying

for it and continue to pray that everything that we do, the Lord would bless.

So thank you to everyone who was involved in that.

And today's service is a slightly different format to the usual.

So all the children, you'll have these question sheets.

There's some questions.

There's some activities.

There's all the singings we have and the readings are all in here as well.

So everything's in this booklet for you just to use going through.

There's some questions.

So when we go through to the hall, I'll maybe ask a few of you to see what answers to the

questions you put.

Because there's some questions.

I'm not sure what the answer is.

So you might have to help me out with that.

So I'll see what you put in the question sheet.

So the format's going to be slightly different.

And we'll be having readings and singings and a message at different points throughout

the day.

But we're going to begin by singing to God's praise.

We're singing in Psalm 100.

It's the Sing Psalms version.

If you have the psalm books, it's page 131.

Psalm 100.

We're going to sing the whole of this psalm.

The tune is Selma.

And it's a psalm that reminds us that together we come to praise the Lord as we come today,

not just here, but people throughout the world.

We lift our voices together to praise God.

So we'll stand to sing the whole of this psalm.

And we'll sing the whole of this psalm.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

All new to earth belong

Adore the Lord with joyful hearts

And come to Him in song

Of that the Lord is God

He made us lost His own

We are the sheep for whom He cares

His people will follow

And God is mixed with praise

His courts with thankfulness

Your praises gladly sing to Him

His name forever bless

What God the Lord is good

His love is never true

His constant truth and faithfulness

Through every age and youth

Well we bow our heads in a word of prayer

Now let us pray

Our Father in heaven

We thank you for this day

We thank you for Sunday

As the Lord's day

A day when we are able to come

Together in this way of worship

And praise to you

We thank you Lord

That you have given us so many good things

We thank you for all the times of great joy

We enjoy together

As we think back even to yesterday

To our time in the holiday club together

We thank you for your peace and blessing upon us there

And for all who came along

And for all that was done

And for all the enjoyment that we had

And above all Lord

We thank you that as we come together in these ways

We come to hear of a precious Saviour

One who we pray will become more and more precious

To every one of us here

Today and in all the days ahead

That our love for our Lord Jesus

Would grow and blossom in all our lives

From the youngest to the oldest here

For we thank you that as we come

We come not looking to give praise to ourselves

Or to anyone else

But to come giving praise to you

As we have sung

We are to come and enter your presence

With joy and thankfulness

For all of the goodness that you have shown to us

For all the great and wondrous things that you have done

And so we pray today that as we turn to your word

As we thank you for it

As we thank you for the Bible

And for all that it teaches us

About who we are and who you are

It teaches us about the gaps that exist in our lives

And we don't know you

But we thank you that it teaches us too

For the way that that gap is filled

When we come to put our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ

We thank you for this time of year

And all the things that we enjoy

When there is so much activity around us

And in our own lives too

As we think of the schools

And all that is happening in them

With concerts and school meals

And pantomimes

And all sorts of things going on just now

We realise that it's a busy time of year

And we just pray your blessing on the schools

Upon the teachers and staff

And all the pupils just now

And as we look forward to the holidays this coming week

We pray that you will bless them

In their time off

And there will be a time to enjoy

Enjoy together with family and friends

But we realise too Lord

That this time of year

Is often a sad time of year for many

Many will feel lonely

Many will feel sad at this time of year

Because of different things going on

Or different things that have happened

In the past year or in the past years

And we do remember Lord

That we are to look out for one another

To encourage one another

To help one another

And we thank you that your word teaches us that too

That we are to pray for and to encourage one another

As often as we can

And so we thank you Lord

For the very fact that you are with us

That that is above all what we remember

At this time of year

That you sent your son into this world

You sent him as the greatest gift of all

And we pray that in everything else

That goes on in our lives just now

That you will help us to remember you

And to remember your great love towards us

To remember your son Christ Jesus

And to come and be able to call him

Our Lord and our God

Help us to trust in him

With all our hearts

So may you bless our time together here

And also as we go through to the hall later

We pray Lord that you will bless us

As we continue to worship you

And to praise you this day

For all your goodness to us

Remember us and all our families

All who we love and care for

And indeed even those we see as strangers around us

Lord we pray for you to bless us

And watch over us

We give thanks to you for all of these things

And ask it all in Jesus name

With the forgiveness of our sins

Amen

Well it's a special time of year just now

When there's so much activity going on around us

And it's a busy time of year

Hands up if you're feeling a little tired today

For a busy day yesterday

Most of the adults are putting up their hands

And some of the children as well

Because it is a busy time of year

There's a lot going on

There's a lot of activities going on

Even around us in school

There'll be busy things going on

When you have your Christmas lunch

You'll have your Christmas parties

Christmas concert

All of these things going on

And then even when you're at home

You're maybe sitting there

Looking out the window

To see if the postie or woodies

Or DRs appearing at the door

Seeing if they're bringing cards

Or presents to you

Because it's this time of year

And we exchange presents

And that's one of the most exciting things

At this time of year

Isn't it?

As we were thinking about yesterday

It's exciting when you see

Maybe under the tree

Lots of Christmas presents

Appearing

And you're beginning to wonder

What's inside them

Maybe you're starting to have a little peek

Just starting to open up the presents

Not just the young people

I know some older people

Who enjoy doing that as well

They start shaking the partials

Wondering what's in it

Or start just ripping a little corner

To see if they can see what's in it

And you'll be looking at things like this

Maybe there's these kinds of boxes

Appearing in your house

And under the tree

And you start wiggling it around

And wonder what's inside this

But is this the greatest gift

At this time of year?

We think of how often

We're asked that question

What do you want for Christmas?

Have you been asked that question?

What do you want for Christmas?

And do you have an answer for that question?

Maybe you've asked mum or dad

Or granny or grandpa

Or one of your friends

This is what I want for Christmas

This is what you could get me for Christmas

But is what do I want

The most important question?

Or is a more important question

What do I need for Christmas?

What do I really need in my life for Christmas?

And maybe it's not the gifts

That appear under the tree

I hope that's not what we think

Is the greatest gift of all

Because today I want us to think

About this special time of year

But to remember

It's not just about gifts

That appear under the tree

Or that come on the post

Or in the partial service

It's to remember

What God has given to us

The greatest gift of all

And what has he given to us?

Who has he given to us?

Do you want to answer that question?

Hands up if you want to answer that question

You can just shout it out

Go on then

Who has he given us?

Jesus

Isn't it?

Yeah?

Jesus

That's what we were looking at

At the holiday club yesterday

The greatest gift of all

Given to us

Is Jesus

Because you see

With all the other gifts

We get at Christmas time

And indeed any other time

Maybe we get birthday gifts as well

You see

Jesus isn't just for Christmas

He's for every day of the year

But when we think of every gift

That we get

So often

What will happen to them

They will break after a time

Or they will grow old

And we lose interest in them

We just put them away in a box

Or very often

They just end up

Going into the scrap

We put them away

We forget all about them

But that's not what we are to remember

Or how we are to remember Jesus

The greatest gift of all

We should never grow tired

Of Jesus

Or think that he's not important now

He's not special now

Because he's always important

And he's always to be special for us

Because he blesses us in so many ways

He looks after us here

And he promises us

And all of us

That if we put our trust in him

It's not just for here and now

But forever

For eternity

As the Bible says

He sent us the greatest gift of all

A saviour

Who is Christ the Lord

That's the verses

That we're going to look at

Together today

Because when we read in the Gospel of Luke

We hear about the angel

And we're going to read this in a wee while

That we hear the angel saying to the shepherds

Fear not

For behold

Born to you unto this day

In the city of David

It's a saviour

Who is Christ

The Lord

And that's what's important

That's our greatest need

Somebody put it like this

If our greatest need

Was information

God would have sent us an educator

If our greatest need

Had been technology

God would have sent us a scientist

If our greatest need

Had been money

God would have sent us a banker

If our greatest need

Had been pleasure

God would have sent us an entertainer

But

Our greatest need

Was forgiveness

Forgiveness from all our sins

And so God sent us

A saviour

That's the greatest gift

That we're going to think about today

So we're going to read

In the Gospel of Luke

But before we do

We're going to say

The Lord's Prayer

Together

Now the Lord's Prayer

You find it on

The Order of Service

We're going to say

The Lord's Prayer

Together

Our Father

Who art in heaven

Hallowed be thy name

Thy kingdom come

Thy will be done on earth

As it is in heaven

Give us this day

Our daily bread

And forgive us our debts

As we forgive our debtors

And lead us not into temptation

But deliver us from evil

For thine is the kingdom

And the power

And the glory

Forever

Amen

Well we're going to turn to read

Our first reading

Well all the readings are going to be

From the Gospel of Luke

But we're going to spread the readings out

Into three parts

So our first reading is in Luke

Luke 2 · chapter mention

Chapter 2

We're going to read from verse 1

Down to verse 12

So you find this on your Order of Service

Or in your Bible

Around page 1032

Luke chapter 2

Luke 2 · chapter mention

Reading from the beginning

In those days

A decree went out

From Caesar Augustus

That all the world

Should be registered

This was the first registration

When Quirinius

Was governor of Syria

And all went

To be registered

Each to his own town

And Joseph

Also went up

From Galilee

From the town of Nazareth

To Judea

To the city of David

Which is called Bethlehem

Because he was of the house

And lineage of David

To be registered with Mary

His betrothed

Who 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

And in the same region

There were shepherds

Out in the field

Keeping watch

Over their flock

By night

And an angel of the Lord

Appeared to them

And the glory of the Lord

Shone around them

And they were filled

With 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 saviour

Who is Christ

The Lord

And this will be

A sign for you

You will find a baby

Wrapped in swaddling clothes

And lying

In a manger

And so on

And may God bless

That reading

From his word

Well the first part

Of our service

Just now

We're going to think

About the gift

That God has given us

The gift

Of a saviour

When we look

At these verses here

Especially verse

Verse 8

Down to verse 12

There we read

We're reading about

The shepherds

Who were out in the field

The night Jesus

Was born

And I'm sure

This is a story

You've all heard before

Or many of you

At least have heard before

And the danger

Of hearing

A story again

And again

Is that

You can think

Oh it's just the same

Old story

I've heard it all before

And you can become

Maybe bored of it

You say

I've heard all this

I don't want to hear it

But listen again

To what

Verse 10 to 12 says

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 saviour

Who is Christ

The Lord

And this will be

A sign to you

You will find

A baby wrapped

In swaddling clothes

And lying

In a manger

These are really

Special words

For us

This is a reminder

To us

Of such

A special day

When God

Sent his son

Into this world

And he was born

Into this world

And he was born

As a saviour

To the world

Somebody put it

Like this

We are to

Hear this

Clearly

So we are to

To listen

To this

Clearly

Even if we have to

Put our hand up

To our ear

And say

What did you say

Can you tell me again

We are to listen

To what he is saying

Here

And then somebody said

We are to feel it

Powerfully

So we are to feel it

In our heart

To feel the power

Of God's word

To us

To see

Here is

The greatest

Thing that we need

And God has

Given us

This gift

The gift

Of our saviour

So we are to feel it

Powerfully

But as we come

To this word

We come prayerfully

Asking God

To speak to us

In a powerful way

And then they said

We are to go away

And ponder it

Deeply

So we are to go away

And we are going to

Think about

What do these words mean

This is a really

Special word

To us

God remembered

The world

God remembered me

And he gave

His son

For me

He sent him

Into this world

And this is

Good news

Of great joy

What's the best news

You've ever heard

I think Duncan Norman's

Best news

Yesterday was

Hearts won

They beat Celtic

That's the best news

That he'd heard

In a long long time

But other people

We hear good news

At different times

During the year

We maybe hear of

Somebody getting engaged

Or getting married

We hear of somebody

Having a baby

We hear of

Lots of different things

That make us happy

But what's the

Greatest news

You could hear

What's the best news

You could ever hear

Well the shepherds

Here

In Luke

They hear the

Greatest news

They could ever hear

Fear not

For behold

I bring you

Good news

Of great joy

A saviour

Is born

To you

Have you ever

Been afraid

Hands up

Have you ever

Been afraid

I'm sure

Lots of people

Have been afraid

I'm afraid

Of heights

Even up here

I'm looking down

I'm thinking

My knees are getting

A little bit wobbly

You're so

So far away from me

I'm so high up here

In so many ways

I'm really scared

Of heights

Some people are

Really scared

Of the dark

And you can imagine

What it was like

For the shepherds

Here when they were

Out in the field

At night

It was dark

And suddenly

There's this host

Of angels

All around them

There's all this singing

And light going on

Around them

And it's

They were afraid

And it was natural

For them to be afraid

We would all be afraid

If something like this

Happened to us

But look at what

They said to them

They said

The angel said

Fear not

Don't be afraid

I have good news

For you

A saviour

Is born

To you

And these words

A saviour

Christ

The Lord

There's three words

There that are

Really special

The first is

A saviour

He had a purpose

In coming

Remember yesterday

At the holiday club

There was a picture

Of a helicopter

Up on the screen

And there was this man

Coming down on the wire

To rescue someone

Because someone

Was in danger

Maybe they were

In trouble at sea

The boat was sinking

And they were

Needing rescuing

So this was like

A saviour

Coming for them

Well this is what

Jesus has done

For us

He's come down

From heaven

Come down

To earth

For us

For his people

To save us

So he's a saviour

He is Christ

It says here

The word Christ

Means he's been anointed

Earlier on this year

In May

We got a new king

King Charles

And there was a special

Ceremony for him

When he was crowned king

He was publicly made king

Over our nation

While Jesus

While Jesus

Was anointed

He was made king

Over all the world

Over all the people

He is the Christ

He is our king

And he is Christ

The Lord

He has authority

Over all things

He has power

Over all things

This is who we are to come

And see as our saviour

Not just anyone

In this world

But Jesus

He is the greatest gift

Of all to us

The gift

Of a saviour

There's another passage

In the Bible

In Ephesians chapter 2

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

And it speaks about

Our salvation there

It says

For it is by grace

You have been saved

Through faith

And this is not

From yourselves

It says

It is a gift

Of God

It is God's

Greatest gift

To us

A saviour

Who is Christ

The Lord

Well we're going to

To sing together

Now before we come

To our second part

We're singing

In Psalm 89

Psalm 89

We're going to sing

From verse 1 to 5

And the tune is

Done firm line

And again

It's a psalm

That reminds us

That we can ever sing

To God

For all his goodness

To us

God's mercies

I will ever sing

And with my mouth

I shall

Thy faithfulness

Make to be known

To generations

All

We'll sing

From verse 1 to 5

And we stand

To sing

To God's peace

Amen

God's mercies

I will ever sing

And with my mouth

I shall

Thy faithfulness

Make to be known

To generations

To generations

More

For mercy

For mercy

Shall be built

Said I

Forever

To endure

Thy faithfulness

To hear

Me

to David's born of high.

God, I see established shall

forever to remain.

I will to generations all

thy throne built and maintained.

The praises of thy wonders, Lord,

the heavens shall express,

and in the congregation

of saints thy faithfulness.

Amen.

We'll just read on some verses in Luke's Gospel,

chapter 2.

We're reading at verse 13.

Again, you'll find this on the order of service.

Just a few verses from verse 13 to verse 15

as we continue to see what happened with the shepherds.

So at verse 13 it says,

And suddenly there was with the angel

a multitude of the heavenly host

praising God and saying,

Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace among those

with whom he is pleased.

When the angels went away from them into heaven,

the shepherds said to one another,

Let us go over to Bethlehem

and see this thing that has happened,

which the Lord has made known to us.

And they went with haste

and found Mary and Joseph

and the baby lying in a manger.

So we're continuing to see

what's happening with the shepherds here.

They'd been afraid.

They'd heard these angels singing,

and now they're singing

a whole host of them together.

Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace among those

with whom he is pleased.

And here we see another gift

that God has given to us.

If we see Jesus as the greatest gift of all,

the gift of a Savior,

we see secondly here the gift of peace,

that peace that Jesus is able to give to us.

So I hope you're beginning to realize

that the greatest gift

isn't a gift found in a box like this one.

The greatest gift

is a gift we find spoken of

in the Bible,

the Word of God.

When God is speaking to us here,

he is reminding us

of all that he is able to give to us,

not just to the shepherds back in this day,

but to all God's people

down through all the generations,

he's able to give peace.

God's Word,

someone described it like a treasure chest.

A treasure chest is like a big box,

but it's usually locked, isn't it?

And you need a key

to get into the treasure box.

So how do we get into God's Word

if we think of it as a treasure chest

that is locked?

Well, the key to get into it

is faith,

to believe in what we are reading here

in God's Word.

Because it is through faith

we will begin to realize

that everything that God says to us

in His Word is true.

And that even when we live in a world

that so many sad things happen,

day after day we hear

of sad news

around us here

or in our country

or even in the world,

we are always hearing

of sad news,

sad things that are going on.

But the gift

that God has given to us

through Jesus

is the hope of peace.

Something that can often seem

so far away

for so many people

in this world.

And yet it's something

that God is promising us

through His Son,

Christ Jesus.

For example,

in another part of the Bible,

in a book called Romans,

it says this,

May the God of hope

fill you with all joy

and peace

as you trust in Him.

May He fill you

with all joy

and peace.

And that's what we were seeing

here,

the angels singing

to the shepherds,

Glory to God

in the highest

and on earth,

peace among those

with whom He is pleased.

God gives us

so many wonderful promises

in His Word

that are able

to give us peace

even when

there are sad things

going on.

Do you remember

a song that we were

learning yesterday?

We're going to sing it

through in the hall,

the song,

The Blessing.

Well, in that song

as we sang it,

it's actually singing

words from the Bible,

from the book of Numbers,

Numbers 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6.

The Lord bless you

and keep you.

The Lord make His face

to shine upon you

and be gracious to you.

The Lord lift up

His countenance upon you

and give you what?

What's the missing word

at the end there?

Give you,

anybody want to answer

that question for me?

The Lord give you peace.

Peace is what is in that song.

And that's the peace

that we look for.

Long before Jesus was born,

hundreds of years

before Jesus was born,

there was a man called Isaiah

who told us all about

the coming of Jesus.

Isaiah said,

For to you,

for to us,

a child is born.

To us,

a son is given.

And the government

will be on his shoulders

and he will be called

Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God,

Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace.

That is what he would give

to his people,

the Prince of Peace.

Jesus is the king

who came into this world

to give us peace.

Many years ago,

there was a king

in a place called Persia.

If you look it up on your maps now,

you won't find the place

called Persia.

But where it was,

you would see Iran now.

So it's in the Middle East.

And this king,

he was a good king.

And he was a wise king.

And he loved his people.

And very often,

he wanted to know

what was happening

in the lives of his people.

So what he would do was,

he couldn't go out

dressed as a king.

If he did,

everybody would see him

and know exactly who he was.

So what he used to do

was dress up as a beggar.

So he had dirty clothes,

torn clothes on.

And he'd go out

into the streets

and go and visit people

in their homes.

And this way,

he found out

what was going on

in their lives.

And one day,

he visited this poor man.

This poor man lived

in a cellar.

And he didn't have much food.

And all the food

that he had

was just little bits

of scraps

that he'd managed

to pick up.

But the king,

dressed as a beggar,

sat with him

for a time.

He ate a little bit

of his food with him,

the scraps that he had.

He spoke to him

in a cheerful way.

He tried to encourage him.

He spoke kind words to him.

And then,

after a time,

he left.

Well,

a few weeks later,

he went to visit

this man again.

But this time,

he decided

he was going to let him know

who he was.

So he said

to this man

sitting in the cellar,

Do you know who I am?

And the man said,

No, I don't.

He said,

Well,

I'm your king.

And the man was astonished

that this was the king

who was sitting with him.

And the king thought

as he spoke to him,

Well,

this man's now going to ask me

for some kind of gift.

Because the king

had everything.

So he was expecting

to ask for some kind of gift

or some kind of favor.

But what the man,

the poor man,

said to him was,

You left your palace.

You left all your nice clothes.

You left all your good food behind.

And you came here

into my home,

this dark cellar of a place.

And you ate my scraps

of food with me.

He said,

That is enough for me.

Because to me,

you have given yourself.

You gave yourself to me.

Well, that's what Jesus

has done for us.

He left heaven.

He left his father's side.

He left all of that glory behind.

The Bible says

he made himself nothing.

And he came to his people.

God sent his son

into this world.

And they would call him

Emmanuel,

is one word name given to him.

Which means,

God with us.

Just imagine that.

The king of glory,

the king of all,

has come to us.

To be alongside us.

To be with us.

Jesus himself

reminded his disciples

just before

he was going to be put to death.

He said in John 16,

I have said these things to you

that you may,

that in me

you may have peace.

Because in the world

you will have troubles.

But take heart,

he said,

for I have overcome

the world.

You see,

peace with Jesus

isn't that all our troubles

are going to go away.

But peace with Jesus

is that we know

that he is with us.

And again,

that's one of the greatest gifts

we can experience.

To know

God

with

us.

But that's the wonder

of his gift

to us.

That he has come

to be

with us.

And that is what we are to remember.

So we have the gift

of a saviour.

We have the gift

of peace.

And now thirdly,

we are just going to read

a few more verses

in Luke chapter 2

Luke 2 · chapter mention

and see a third gift

that he gives to us.

So we think of

the gift here

in Luke 2.

We are going to read

from verse 17

down to verse 20.

Again,

it's the shepherds

and their experience

here.

Here.

And when they saw it,

they made known

the saying

that had been told them

concerning this child.

And all who heard it

wondered

at what the shepherds

told them.

But Mary treasured up

all these things,

pondering them

in her heart.

And the shepherds

returned,

glorifying

and praising God

for all that they

had heard

and seen

as it had

been told them.

Well,

there's a third thing

I want us to see here.

A third gift.

And it's the gift

of praise.

We have the gift

of a saviour

and we have the gift

of peace.

And if we enjoy

these things,

what does that make us?

What should that make us?

It should make us

thankful

and giving thanks

to God

and praising

his name.

And that's what we see

the shepherds

did here.

They went

to see for themselves

what they had been told

by the angels

and they saw

Jesus

in the manger.

They saw him

just as they had been told.

And now

it says

they returned.

They come back

from seeing this

and it's changed them.

It's made such a difference

in their lives.

They're full of joy.

The fear that they'd had

when they first saw

the angel

that is gone.

Now they are praising

and glorifying God,

loving the Lord

for what he has done

for them.

You know,

it would have been easy

for the shepherds

out in the fields

to just stay

where they were.

To think to themselves,

we can't go

and see

this baby

that they're talking about,

this saviour

of the world

that God has promised.

we can't go

and see him.

You must have

to be really important

to go and see

this king.

You must have

to be really special.

We'd probably

just stay

where we are.

But that's not

what they did.

Imagine yourself

and it's Christmas

morning

and you're thinking,

I wonder if there's

presents

under the tree

for me.

Are you just going

to stay in your bed

and think,

oh, there's probably

nothing there for me?

Are you just going

to stay away

or are you really desperate

to see something?

To see what there is

for you?

If you're really desperate,

what are you going to do?

You're not going

to stay in bed.

You're going to get up.

You're going to rush down.

You're going to get

to the tree

and you're going

to pick up the box

and you're going

to open it

and see

what there is

for you.

Well, the shepherds

were so excited

by what they heard

that that's exactly

what they did as well.

They didn't hang about.

They didn't wait

to get a special invitation.

They were already told

that this gift

had been given

for them.

And so what they did,

they went

to see for themselves.

They did three things.

They responded.

Again, that is what

we have to do as well.

When we hear this message

of a Savior,

it's not just to ignore it

and to push it away.

That's not for me.

It is.

This is the gift

of a Savior

given to the world,

to all who would

believe in Him.

So we are to respond.

The second thing

they did was

they rejoiced.

They gave praise

to God

for what He had done

for them,

all that they were seeing.

And then it says

they returned.

They went back

to their homes,

to their work,

but in a different way.

They were full

of rejoicing

in God.

They were full

of the joy

of the Lord.

Their hearts

were changed.

And that is what

we want

as we come

to see Jesus,

to see Him

as a Savior,

to see Him

as the one

who is able

to give peace,

that we would

see Him

as the one

who we can

give all our

praise to.

Yesterday

in the club

I asked a question.

What does God

want us

to give

to Him?

And one of the

answers that was

given

was a great

answer.

It was singing

that we are

to praise Him

in song.

And that's

what the shepherds

did here.

They went away

praising God.

The shepherds

returned glorifying

and praising God

for all that

they had heard

and seen

as it had been

told them.

Well, as we

come to hear

of the greatest

gift of all,

a Savior

who is able

to give us

peace,

today let us

all go away

from here.

Let us all

return to our

homes,

to our workplaces,

to our schools

this week,

to go to all

the concerts

or whatever

else you'll

be doing

this week,

hearing the

Christmas story

in different

ways,

but praising

God for His

gift of a

Savior to

us.

There's that

Christmas carol

in the bleak

midwinter.

We had it in

the club

yesterday.

I just want to

share these

verses again

because it

asks us,

what are we

giving to

God for all

that He has

done for us?

He doesn't

want us to

just give

money or

our time

to Him.

These are all

important things,

but listen to

what this verse

says.

What can I

give Him?

Poor as I

am.

If I were a

shepherd,

I would give

a lamb.

If I were a

wise man,

I would do

my part.

But what can I

give Him?

Give Him

my heart.

That is what

Jesus asks

of us.

That as we

hear about the

greatest gift

of all,

a Savior

given,

the one who

is able to

give peace,

the one who

we can go

away from

here today,

praising Him

for all His

goodness to

us,

we can give

Him our

heart.

And that

means believing

in Him

and trusting

in Him

and all

that His

word says,

every promise

that we have.

Because we

are told,

just as the

angel said to

the shepherds,

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.

Here it

says,

a Savior.

Our prayer

is that you

will be able

to say,

He is my

Savior

and my

Lord.

Let us

pray.

Our

Father in

heaven,

we thank

you for

all the

special,

precious

gifts that

you have

given to

us.

There are

so many

things that

we take

for granted.

There are

so many

things that

we maybe

even choose

to ignore.

But we

pray that

as we

hear of

the greatest

gift of

all,

a Savior

born to

us,

a Savior

who is

Christ the

Lord.

We pray

that we

will hear

and receive

that word

and delight

and praise

in it

and rejoice

in your

goodness to

us and

that we

would come

to give

your heart

to put

our trust

in you

for we

ask it

all in

Jesus'

name and

for his

sake.

Amen.

We're

going to

conclude by

singing once

more,

praising God.

we're

going to

sing in

Psalm 122

Psalms 122:6–9

verse 6

to 9,

three stanzas.

It's a

Scottish

Psalter

version.

Psalm 122,

the tuner's

St.

Paul.

Again,

this is a

wonderful

psalm that

we can sing

together just

now and

make it a

prayer for

ourselves as

well.

For the

peace of

God to

reign,

around us.

Pray that

Jerusalem may

have peace

and felicity.

Let them

that love

thee and

thy peace

have still

prosperity.

We'll sing

these three

verses.

We stand

to sing

to God's

praise.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

And let thy maid, thy palaces, cross-veved, dear retain.

Bound for my friends and brethren, saints, peace be in thee, I'll stay.

And for the house of God our Lord, I'll seek thy good always.

We're going to close in a minute with a benediction.

And after that, I'll go to the main door.

And the children, you'll be going out the door to my left here, going through to the hall.

And get yourselves ready and organized.

We look forward to hearing the songs that you were learning yesterday and seeing the pictures.

And everybody, again, is very welcome to come through to the hall for that.

We'll close with a benediction.

Now may grace, mercy, and peace from God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit rest upon and abide with you all now and forevermore.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.