O Come, All Ye Faithful

The scripture for today comes from Matthew chapter 2.

Matthew 2 · chapter mention

Starting in verse 1, we read,

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king,

behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem,

saying, Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?

For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.

When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

And assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people,

he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

They told him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet,

And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah.

For from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.

Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly,

and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared.

And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying,

Go and search diligently for the child,

and when you have found him, bring me word,

that I too may come and worship him.

After listening to the king, they went on their way.

And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them,

until it came to rest over the place where the child was.

When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.

And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother,

and they fell down and worshipped him.

Then opening the treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.

And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod,

they departed to their own country by another way.

This is the word of God.

Great. Thank you, Annabelle.

Well, let's pray together as we come to the passage.

Heavenly Jesus Christ,

this morning we want to see you.

We want to see something of your majesty and your glory,

but also your tenderness, your humility and your lowliness.

God, I pray that in this scripture,

and as we reflect on this hymn that we sang earlier,

that God, we will be drawn like these magi to once again,

we will be wise men and wise women of the 21st century,

to fall on our knees and to worship and adore you.

God, we pray, won't you open the eyes of our hearts

to come and see you for who you really are.

God, come and help us to see who you are,

who we are in light of you,

and help us, God, to align our lives with you, we pray.

In your wonderful and gracious name, amen.

Well, it's good to be back with you.

I was away the last few weeks,

and so it's great to be back.

And it's great to be doing this series

that Niels has kicked off the last two weeks,

Let Heaven and Nature Sing.

I hope you've joined us the last few weeks

as we've been looking at these wonderful Christmas carols.

Now, last week, Niels told you the story.

I don't know if you heard of how he became a Christian,

I think in his early 20s,

and suddenly these Christmas carols

that he had known and sang all his life

took on a whole new meaning

in light of becoming a follower of Jesus.

Well, my story is actually quite similar,

except it's quite different in another way.

I, too, in my early 20s,

discovered these Christmas carols

in a whole way that they became meaningful to me

in a way that they hadn't been before,

except the difference is I wasn't a Christian

that became a Christian.

I was a pastor that discovered the gospel.

And I know that sounds strange,

but I was a pastor in my young 20s.

I was a very bad pastor.

I was a very weak Christian,

a very immature Christian.

I don't know why anybody let me be a pastor,

but somebody did.

And I thought that I loved and trusted Jesus,

but actually I loved and trusted myself,

which meant that I was very self-righteous,

I was very self-opinionated.

And around this time,

God very graciously started to show me

the wonder of the gospel and the wonder of Jesus.

I started to get a glimpse of the depth of my sinfulness

and my self-righteousness,

of how amazing Christ was and the gospel was.

And I started to fall in love with Jesus,

which is a good thing for a pastor to do.

But around this time,

a friend of mine was planting a church

in Cape Town, South Africa,

where we were living.

And I thought I would be a good friend.

Their church had an outreach at Christmas time.

They had a carol service.

And I thought I'd be a good friend.

And so I went to this carol service

to go and support him.

His name is Stephen Murray.

The church is called Hope City.

And I sat through this carol service,

having kind of freshly understood Jesus and the gospel,

and I just cried my way through the service

as we sang these amazing songs

of Jesus and his incredible love for us.

And I remember I went home and I did two things.

I took the bulletin from that service

and I kept it on my desk for about two years.

For about two years,

I paged through the bulletin every now and then

and just reflect on these words.

And the other thing I did

is I went to iTunes Music Store.

Do you remember that?

Before the days of Spotify.

And I downloaded a whole lot of Christmas carols

and I burnt CDs for my mother-in-law

and all family members

and said,

you've got to listen to these carols.

They're amazing.

My point is that

Niels found the gospel

and these Christmas carols came alive.

As a non-Christian,

I as a pastor found the gospel

and these Christmas carols came alive.

And for both of us,

and our hope for you,

is that these carols,

they become anthems of grace

as we discover Jesus

in the story of Christmas once again.

Now, as a side note,

that's one of the reasons

why as a church,

we are always talking about Jesus

and the gospel.

Because whether you're a Christian

or you're not a Christian,

we all need to find the grace of God

in the person of Jesus.

And so we're constantly going on

about Jesus and the gospel.

Well, two weeks ago,

Niels kicked off with

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.

And last week,

we looked at Hark,

the Herald Angels,

saying,

this morning,

we're going to look at this carol,

O Come, All Ye Faithful.

And if you've got your bulletin,

you want to open it up,

you've got the words of the carol there

in front of us

and the words of our scripture reading

in the insert.

I want to encourage you

to have this open

as we look at these words together

this morning.

Now, this carol,

Come, All Ye Faithful,

it's a wonderful Christmas carol.

It's got wonderful truths in it.

It's a song that calls us

to join with countless men and women

from years gone by

and to come and worship

and adore Christ.

It's a song that calls us

to ponder the gospel message,

to reflect on who Jesus is,

to contemplate Christmas.

But really, at its heart,

what it does is it calls us

to worship Him.

It's a song that calls us

not just to sing,

but to truly adore Him.

And one of the things

that's interesting about this hymn

is that it's not directed to God.

You know, most of the songs

that we sing,

we sing directly to God

or about Him.

But actually, most of this hymn,

we are singing to ourselves.

Now, that might sound strange,

but that's something that the Psalms

sometimes encourage us to do.

Remember Psalm 42,

Why are you downcast,

O my soul?

Why are you in such turmoil within me?

Hope in God.

And this song follows on from that

and it's a song to speak

to our own hearts.

Martin Lloyd-Jones very famously said,

one of our problems in life

is that we listen to our hearts

more than we speak to our hearts.

And so this song calls us,

maybe you've had a difficult year,

you've had a difficult season.

And in a way, the song says,

Kevin, cold heart,

come, come to God.

Come and worship and adore Him.

It's a song to speak to our own hearts.

But it's also a song that

we speak to one another.

It's a song that when you come to church

and maybe you really don't feel

like coming to church,

maybe you feel a bit distant from God,

or like I said,

maybe it's been a really tough season.

And as you come and you hear

the worship and the praises

of those around you,

it calls us to worship God

and to adore Him together.

It's one of the great problems

of online church, right?

When you're sitting at home

with just you and your coffee mug

and you're struggling to worship.

Oh, and you come and you gather

with the saints.

Then you hear the saints singing,

come, come, let us adore Him.

Let us worship Him,

Christ the Lord.

It's also a song that calls,

it's also a song that calls us

to slow down.

Look at the second,

or the third line of the song.

It says,

come and behold Him.

The word behold is a,

it's a funny word,

it's a very Christian word.

It's not quite as funny as hark, right?

Hark is not the word,

the sound that angels make,

as Niels reminded us last week.

But behold is a strange word.

It's a word we don't use often

in English these days.

But behold really means

to slow down,

to contemplate,

and to ponder something.

It means to take the time

to really think deeply

about what is before you.

One of the problems with our age

is we're such a fast-paced world.

We've got so much data

and information flying at us

all the time

that we don't know how to slow down.

Someone says that culturally

we have a cultural ADHD

as a society.

We're just fast-paced all the time.

I don't know if you've ever

traveled somewhere.

Maybe you do a weekend trip

to Tokyo or Shanghai,

or maybe you're on a business trip

to Europe

and you've got one extra day

and so you want to go see Paris.

You've never been to Paris

and you've got to go.

And so you've got one day there

and you fly through Paris.

You do the Eiffel Tower

and you do the Louvre

and you take selfies

at the Eiffel Tower

and then you're in front

of the Mona Lisa.

I don't know if you're allowed

to take photos

in front of the Mona Lisa.

Are you allowed to,

Florence?

Yes?

Okay.

So you fly through all the sites

and you tick off

all your bucket list

but you've never actually

contemplated.

You've never beheld it.

I don't know if that's a word.

Beheld, is that a word?

You've never had a chance

to really contemplate

what is before you.

Here this psalm,

this hymn

calls us to slow down,

to behold Jesus.

To think about who it is

that we sing

and we worship.

It's one of the great things

about the Advent season,

about Christmas being

more than just a weekend.

If you've joined us

in this Advent season,

it's taking a month

to really slow down

and think about

and behold Him.

And when we do that,

when we see who Christ is,

we hear the angels,

we hear the shepherds

and the wise men

of ages go by

beckoning us

to come and worship

and adore Him.

But of course,

really what this song

is doing,

O come all ye faithful,

it's reenacting

the spiritual journey

of the very first

worshipers of Jesus.

I don't know if you

picked it up

in the scripture reading

that Annabelle did

for us this morning.

three times

in our scripture reading

it talks about

come let us worship Him.

In Matthew chapter 2,

Matthew 2 · chapter mention

if you've got the bulletin,

look at it,

look at verse 2.

The magi,

the wise men,

they come to Herod

in Jerusalem

and they say,

where is He

who has been born

King of the Jews?

We saw His star

when it rose

and we have come

to worship Him.

Come to worship Him.

That's what the song

is calling us to do,

to follow the footsteps

of the first

worshipers of Jesus,

the shepherds

and the magi

and to come

and worship

Christ the Lord.

And look at what happens

in verse 11

when they find Him.

It says,

going into the house

they saw the child

with Mary His mother

and what did they do?

They fell down

on their knees

and they worshipped Him.

They worshipped Him.

The song beckons us,

people of every nation

and culture,

ethnicity,

language,

tribe and tongue,

come.

Come let us worship

and adore Christ the Lord.

Now,

before we look into

what that means,

look at a couple

of other responses.

What are the other responses

we could have?

Well,

firstly,

notice Herod's response

to the words

of these magi.

what is Herod's response?

It's hostility,

right?

This passage

is famously referred to

as the passage

of the three kings,

right?

Because we've got

these three magi

that travel from the east.

It's a very bad description

because,

firstly,

we don't know

how many kings

there really were.

We just assume

there were three kings

because of the three gifts

that are mentioned,

gold and frankincense

and myrrh.

There could have been

two kings,

there could have been

17 magi,

we don't really know.

But the other problem

is they probably

weren't kings at all.

They were astrologers,

they were philosophers,

they were wise men

from the east,

probably from Babylon.

But here are some magi

and they come

and,

but really,

what this passage is,

is the tale

of two kings.

It's the tale

of King Herod

and the tale

of King Jesus.

And here you have

Christ the king

born and the wise men,

the magi,

they come

and they say,

we have come

from afar,

where is he

who is born

king of the Jews?

And what is Herod's response?

Anger,

hostility,

rage.

Look at verse 3,

it says,

when Herod heard,

Herod the king

heard this,

he was troubled.

It's one of

Matthew's

great understatements.

Herod wasn't

just troubled,

he was terrified.

Because here is somebody

who is going to

threaten his rule,

his claim

to the throne.

Herod has

worked hard

to eliminate

all the enemies.

He's on the throne.

He killed

one of his brothers.

Herod is

clearly on the throne

and here is somebody

who claims

to be on the throne.

Herod is

hostile

to Jesus.

Because Herod

grasped

what is at stake

if Jesus

really is the king.

If Jesus

is who he said he is

or who the magi

proclaimed him

to be,

it means he

needs to be

dethroned.

And friends,

for us,

we can feel the same.

Jesus comes

and he says,

I am heaven

and earth's

true king.

Come and

adore me.

Come and

worship me.

Do you know

what that means?

It means we are

not on the throne

of our lives

anymore.

It means Christ

comes and asks us

to step off

the throne

to worship

and adore him.

But notice

the other

response here

is the religious

leaders.

How do they

respond?

Look at 2 verse 4

with me.

It says,

And assembling

all the chief

priests and the

scribes of the

people,

Herod inquired

from there,

Where is the

Christ to be

born?

And they told

him,

In Bethlehem of

Judea,

for so it is

written by the

prophets.

And you,

O Bethlehem,

the land of

Judah,

from you shall

come a ruler,

who will

shepherd my

people.

Here are the

very brightest

and the very

best of the

biblical scholars.

They don't even

need to go and

search the

scriptures.

They know the

scriptures.

Herod comes to

him and says,

Listen,

there's some

guys telling us

that the

Christ has

been born.

Where should

we find him?

And immediately

they rattle off

in Bethlehem.

So said

Micah the

prophet.

Here are the

very best

scholars.

They know

their Bible.

They're standing

before them

astrologers and

philosophers who

have told them

where the

Christ is.

And what do

they do?

They give the

answer and

then they go

back to their

books.

They go back to

their life as if

nothing has

happened.

The hostility of

Herod and the

indifference of the

wise leaders,

Christmas means

nothing to

them.

And friends,

for how much of

us is that,

are we similar?

we come,

we worship,

we sing the

songs,

we have the

great Christmas

feast,

we cut open

the turkey,

we open some

presents,

we come to

church on

Christmas Day,

but the day

following,

life goes back

to normal as

if nothing has

changed.

And Christmas

calls us to

handle life

differently.

Christmas calls

us to get on

our knees to

proclaim Christ

as the Lord.

Friends,

let's not be

like the

religious leaders

of Herod's

day,

who sing the

songs and do

the advent

calendars and

put up the

Christmas tree

and yet do

nothing about

Jesus.

Oh friends,

let's join the

wise men of

old and wise

women of old

who do what

Herod should

have done but

was too

insecure to do.

Who do what

the religious

leaders should

have done but

were too

indifferent to do.

Let's come

and worship

and adore

Him this

year.

Friends,

maybe you've

known about

Jesus all your

life.

You know the

Christmas carols,

you know the

Christmas story.

Friends,

have you ever

gotten on your

knees and

worshipped Him

and adored Him?

Have you ever

proclaimed Him

as Lord and

King of your

life and your

heart?

This Christmas

treat Jesus

differently.

Come and

worship and

adore Him.

Well, how do

we do that?

What does that

look like?

Well, let's

look at what

the wise men

do.

Look at what

they do in

our passage

here.

They come and

they find Him.

Verse 11,

it says,

they're going to

their house.

They saw the

child with

Mary, his

mother, and

they fell down

and they

worshipped Him.

The first thing

they do is they

get on their

knees.

They get on

their knees.

What does it

mean to get on

our knees before

King Jesus in

21st century

Hong Kong?

It means to

acknowledge that

Christ is the

King, that

Christ is the

Lord.

It's proclaiming

Him not just

as a wise

man, not

just as a

sage, not

just as a

prophet of

ages ago, but

to declare

Him our

King, our

Lord.

Christmas

reminds us

that Jesus

has the right

to tell us

what to do

with our

lives.

Jesus has

the right to

tell us what

to think, how

to behave, what

to do, because

Christ is the

King.

He is the

Lord.

He is the

one true

King that

gets to

direct our

lives.

Christmas

reminds us

not just of

Jesus'

lowliness and

His gentleness,

but of His

majesty and

His sovereignty

of His

Lordship.

Because here

before this

lowly King,

these three

Magi from

the East

bow down

lower still.

They proclaim

Christ the

King.

They get on

their knees.

But the

second thing

they do is

they offer

Him their

treasures.

Bowing down

before Him,

it says,

they opened

up their

treasures and

they offered

Him gifts

of gold and

frankincense and

myrrh.

And why do

they offer

these things?

Well, gold is

a gift for

kings,

proclaiming

Christ the

King.

Frankincense

was something

that was often

used in the

temple for

priests and

their priestly

service,

proclaiming

Christ as

the mediator

between God

and man.

Myrrh, we

find out later

on in the

Gospels, when

Jesus is being

buried, was

sometimes an

ointment, a

spice that

was given

at people's

burial.

And so here

the Holy

Spirit is

telling us,

they're proclaiming

who Christ

is, He's

the King,

what He's

going to do,

He's going to

mediate between

God and man,

and His destiny,

He's to die

on the cross.

But of course,

that wasn't what

the wise men

imagined.

They just came

and they opened

up their

treasures and

said,

Jesus, all

that we have,

all that we

are, belongs

to you, have

your way in

our life.

Friends, what

would it look

like for this

Christmas, for

us to get on

our knees and

say, Jesus,

everything I

have, everything

that I am, come

and have your

way.

In my work, with

my money, with

my relationships,

with my sexuality,

and my dreams,

and my ambitions,

Jesus, here are

the deepest

desires in the

lungs of my

heart, my hopes

and my fears,

Jesus, here they

are, I lay them

at your feet.

Come, come let

us worship and

adore Him, Christ

the Lord.

Really, what this

song is about, it's

reminding us what

Christmas is all

about.

It's so easy for

Christmas to be

taken over with

the gathering,

and the food,

and the

decorations, and

the carols

playing at home,

and our holiday

plans.

And yet, what

Christmas is all

about, it's about

Jesus Christ,

heaven and earth's

true King.

Come, come let

us worship and

adore Him.

Come let us get

on our knees, let's

open up the

treasures of our

hearts, let's say

Jesus, come and

have your way.

And why should we

do that?

Why should we

trust Him?

Well, look again

at our hymn that

we have in front

of us.

Because of who

Jesus is, look at

the second verse

Jeremy led us in

singing it this

morning, it's not

often a verse that

we sing, but

historically it's

there.

Look at what it

says, God of

God, light of

light, lo he

abhors not the

virgin's womb,

very God, begotten

not created, oh

come, let us adore

Him, Christ the

Lord.

Well, what does

all that language

mean?

Where does it

come from?

It comes from the

Nicene Creed.

The creeds were the

way that in the

ancient days the

church taught the

church theology.

A thousand years

ago not many people

could read, and even

if they could read

people didn't have

their own Bibles,

they were too

expensive.

And so the way the

people, the church

taught people theology

were they came up

with these creeds.

And so this language

is taken from the

creed, it's biblical

theology.

Who is Jesus?

He is God of

gods, very God.

Not just a great

prophet, not just a

wise man, the wisest

man that ever lived,

that's true, but more

than that, not just a

great moral teacher.

Everything that we

know about God is

found in Jesus

Christ.

He is the eternal

uncreated one.

A hundred trillion

years ago, here was

Jesus on the throne

of the universe, God

of gods.

He is forgotten, not

created.

Forgotten means he

is eternally

submissive to God

the Father, he

honors God the

Father, and yet

never was there a

point where he was

brought into existence.

Eternally uncreated

one.

Jesus is the

uncaused cause of

everything that exists.

God of gods.

So think about

that.

Everything that

exists has a

beginning and has a

cause that brings

that thing into

being.

And that thing has a

cause, and that

thing has a cause,

and that thing, and

ultimately you go back

a trillion years,

Jesus Christ is the

uncaused cause of

everything that exists.

He is God of gods.

He is light of

light.

He is the one who

brought light into

the world, light out

of nothing.

This is Jesus.

And yet, lo, that

means but, lo, he

abhors not the

virgin's womb.

It means as

glorious and as

majestic as he is,

he is not too

proud to come and

take on the form of

human nature, to be

born a baby, to be

weak and dependent

upon his mother,

born in the

backwaters of

Bethlehem, laying

in an animal's

feeding trough.

Here is Jesus,

majestic and yet

meek, awesome and

yet humble, born to

a virgin in the

backwaters of

Bethlehem.

And yet, friends,

don't let his

humility and his

meekness crowd out

his majesty and his

awesomeness.

Don't let the

lambs and the

sheep and the

fluffy will and the

fairy lights crowd

out his majesty.

Here is Jesus, God

of God, the light

of light, begotten,

not created, the

eternal sovereign God

of all creation.

Oh, come.

Come, let us adore

him.

Friends, this

Christmas, whatever

else you do, whether

you travel, whether you

have amazing meals,

whether you put on

the turkey, whether

you have tons of

friends over to your

house, the one

thing, let's do this

Christmas.

Come.

Come, let us adore

him.

Come, let us worship

him.

Come, let us join in

the wise men and

wise women of ages

come past.

Let's get on our

knees.

Let's open the

treasure chest of our

hearts.

Let's say, Jesus,

come and have your

way in my life.

Friends, if Christmas

is to be anything

significant, anything

more than just a

festival, more than

eating too much food

and spending too much

money, here is the

solution, to come to

Jesus Christ and to

worship and adore

him.

Friends, if you want

to find out what

Christmas is all

about, join the

faithful saints of

old.

Come, worship and

adore him.

Come, come, let us

worship him.

Come and behold him,

the king of angels.

Come, let us adore

him.

This is what this

song is all about.

But there is one

thing about this

song which is a

little bit troubling

to me and possibly

to you as well.

It is a great hymn.

It is a wonderful hymn

that we should sing.

But there is one

part that troubles me

and maybe it troubles

you as well.

It is the very first

line and the second

line.

Look at it with me.

It says,

Oh, come all you

faithful, joyful and

triumphant.

It's a wonderful

description of maybe

how we should approach

Christmas.

And yet, if we're

honest, how many of us

really resonate with

that?

Maybe here this morning

and you, as I said,

you've gone through a

difficult time.

Maybe it's been a

really hard year for you

this year.

And you feel like

there's one thing that

I'm not this morning.

It's triumphant, joyful.

Maybe, friends, you

don't feel very faithful

this year.

Maybe you've tried to

hold on to Jesus.

You've been buffeted by

the winds and the waves

and you feel like if

there's one thing that

I'm not, it's faithful.

Friends, come all you

faithful, joyful and

triumphant.

It's what we should be,

but it's not what we

always are.

How many of us could

be said, Monday to

Friday, at work, at

home, at university,

the deepest concerns of

our hearts are to long

to adore and worship

Him.

And what about the

final stanza?

Ye, Lord, we greet

you.

Born this happy

morning.

Yeah, that's wonderful

promise to what

Christmas is.

But, friends, if we

are honest, some of us

Christmas is not all

that happy.

Friends, for some of us

maybe you've lost a

loved one.

And as you come to

Christmas Day and the

build up to Christmas,

actually maybe your

heart is more carrying

grief or mourning as

you think about the

loss of maybe a

father, a brother, a

grandmother, a

daughter.

Maybe the anticipation

of Christmas is not so

joyful and rosy.

It's actually, it's a

time of sadness and

grief in your heart.

Friends, maybe you

carry deep shame for

something that's

happened and Christmas

reminds you of your

unfaithfulness.

And so, if you're a

follower of Jesus, we

carry this tension in

our hearts because, yes,

we want to come and

worship and adore Him.

That's where life is

found.

And yet there's this

trepidation because,

are we worthy?

Will Jesus really

accept us?

I mean, maybe, okay,

Neil, yes, sure, I can

understand that.

Jesus would accept

Him, okay, Justin,

Annabelle, sure, but

me?

God, am I worthy to

come to you this

morning?

And friends, if all

you hear is your

pastor or the worship

leader, Jeremy, saying,

come, all you faithful,

try harder, what

happens?

You feel either

unwelcome and

unwanted or you feel

like a fraud as you

fake your way through

singing the Christmas

carols.

So, is there any hope

for people like us?

Well, a couple of

years ago, a lady

called Lisa Clow,

who is a worship

leader and a singer

at her church, was

feeling the same

tension in her

heart.

She had gone through

a difficult year and

she arrived at church

one day to sing

Christmas carols and

she found herself

unable to sing.

And so, let's

listen to her story as

I read it to her.

She writes this.

She says, I was

struggling.

It had been a long

year and a half.

Finances were very

stressful.

I had miscarried twins

that year.

And on top of it, I

was battling a deep

relational bitterness

with somebody close.

My church was having

their annual Christmas

carol service and I,

for once, was not

singing that year.

I had told my church I

wasn't able to sing,

but what they didn't

know was that I was

too overcome with shame

to stand on the stage

before my church family

that year.

That Sunday morning,

I stood at my seat

as we began to sing,

O come all ye

faithful.

And the very first

line of the song

absolutely clobbered

me.

It hit me like a

giant wave of guilt.

Come all ye

faithful.

Joyful and triumphant.

I remember hearing

those words and

thinking, I have been

so unfaithful.

My joy has dwindled.

I am a triumphant

failure.

I didn't sing for the

rest of the service.

I drove home, my mind

still churning.

Is that really those

who are invited to

Jesus?

The faithful?

The joyful?

The triumphant?

If that's the case,

I am hopeless.

Later that afternoon,

I was reminded of

Jesus' invitation in

Matthew 11.

Come to me, all you

who are weary and

heavy laden.

And I will give you

rest.

Rest.

Rest found in Jesus.

Found in His death.

His resurrection.

Not my death and

resurrection.

That evening, I sat

down to write a song

for the weary, for the

broken, for the

ashamed, for myself.

Friends, I wonder if

you can resonate with

Lisa's sentiment.

Coming to the end of a

difficult year of

exhaustion, weariness.

What do you have to

bring to Jesus this

morning?

Maybe you hear the

words of the Magi that

bring their gifts and

you feel like, Jesus,

all I bring is my

shame, my failure.

I've got nothing to

give.

Jesus, do you even

want me as part of

your family?

The result of that

afternoon was Lisa

wrote a song and it's

on the back of your

insert.

I wonder if you can

turn and look at it

with me and we're

going to sing this

song in a few

minutes time, but I

want to just look at

these words together.

Come, all you

unfaithful.

Come, weak and

unstable.

Come, know that

you are not alone.

Come, barren and

waiting ones, weary

of praying ones.

Come, see what your

God has done.

Christ is born.

Christ is born.

Christ is born for

you.

Come, bitter and

broken.

Come with fears

unspoken.

Come, taste of his

perfect love.

Come, guilty and

hiding ones.

There is no need to

run.

See what your God

has done.

Christ is born.

Christ is born.

Christ is born for

you.

He is the lamb who

was given, slain for

our pardon.

His promise is our

peace for those who

believe.

So come, though you

have nothing, Christ, he

is our offering.

Come, see what your

God has done.

Christ is born.

Christ is born.

Christ is born for

you.

Friends, those of us

that are Christians this

morning recognize this

tension in our hearts,

this call of the

scriptures and the

gospel to come and

worship and adore him,

to bring our entire

lives before him.

And yet, if we're

honest, there's a part

of us that feels, if

I've got to bring my

best, who is worthy?

Well, will Jesus accept

me?

How can I come before

him when all I bring is

my shame, my guilt, my

failure, my unfaithfulness?

Friends, the message of

the Bible and the message

of Christianity is those

that, though we have

failed him, though we

fail to worship and

adore him, he has come to

us.

We don't come to him on

our terms and our

merits, we come to him

because he first came to

us.

And so, though we feel

bitter, and though we

feel broken, and though we

feel weary, and though we

feel exhausted, and though

we feel like we have got

nothing to give, when we

had nothing, Jesus Christ,

the eternal, majestic,

sovereign God, came to us

to bring us to God, to

save us, to reconcile us,

so that we have nothing

Christ came that we

might have him, the one

thing that we need, that we

may come to him.

Weak, unstable, frustrated,

weary, full of tears, shame,

those of us who feel a

triumphant failure, Jesus

has come.

Look at, we sang it

earlier, in the last

stanzas, word of the

Father, now in flesh

appearing.

What does that mean?

The Bible is the word of

God.

It is God's good word of

hope and gospel.

It's his word of grace.

But God did more than

just send us a prophet.

He did more than just

send us the scriptures.

He sent us his son.

The word of God, now in

flesh appearing, to tell

sinners and sufferers, like

you and I, that we are not

hopeless, because God

himself has come to bring us

grace.

Friends, do you feel like a

triumphant failure this

morning?

Christ is born for you.

Friends, do you feel weary

and worn out?

Christ is born for you.

You feel unjoyful, untriumphant.

Christ is born for you.

And friends, just consider

as we come to a close, who

the Bible recalls as the

first worshippers of Jesus.

Shepherds and Magi.

Shepherds and Magi.

Who were the shepherds?

They were uneducated,

unsophisticated,

unwealthy, the outcasts of

society, the very first

worshippers of Jesus, were

stinky shepherds from the

fields.

And who were the Magi?

Yeah, okay, they were

wealthy, they were

sophisticated, they were

upper class, but they were

Gentile pagan astrologers,

worshippers of the stars.

They came from Babylon.

They were the very people

that the Old Testament,

God's enemies.

And yet God comes to them,

says, come.

Come, worship and adore him.

Do you know what that

means?

It means there is no human

being in all of the world

that is unwelcome,

unwurdened to come and

worship and behold him,

if only we will trust in

Jesus.

And so look at, or think

about the angels' words,

the shepherds out in the

fields, and that's

faithful might.

Behold, I bring you good

news of great joy.

For all people,

religious and rebels,

sinners and sufferers

alike.

For unto you is born

this day, Jesus Christ

the Savior, Christ the

Lord.

And so come.

Friends, this Christmas,

whether you feel worthy

or unworthy, whether you

feel like a failure, or

you feel triumphant

success, this Christmas,

come.

Come worship and adore

him.

Come behold him, Christ

the Lord.

Come.

Come and worship him.

Let's pray together.

Lord Jesus, we marvel God

at the wonder of the

gospel, Lord.

God, it's utterly

astounding when we do

think and ponder who it

is that you invite to come

and worship.

That first Christmas

night, the shepherds.

A few months or years

later, the magi.

And still, God, thousands

of years later, you invite

sinners and sufferers,

unworthy rebels like us.

Those who are anything

but faithful, joyful, and

triumphant.

You call us, invite us

to come to you that we

might find life.

That we might find hope.

That we might find

promise.

Jesus, I pray this Christmas,

God, may we not miss the

call of Advent, the call of

Christmas, to come worship

and adore you and to find

life in your name.

God, I pray especially,

God, for those of us this

morning that feel

unworthy to come to you.

You, God, feel like maybe

this year we've walked away

from you.

You feel this year, God, we

haven't really walked with you.

God, won't you flood us with

your grace and mercy.

Won't you open our eyes to

see you for who you are.

And won't you remind us, God,

of the profound invitation of

Christmas to come and find our

hope that the Savior who is

born, the Savior in the

manger, Christ the Lord.

God, I'm Lord, пока you're

ATM.

Person, God, don't you

really promise to come and

don't you say well, God or

what?

I love you.

What thứ one is.

Basically love is to

H

grace to come and

see you in the

place to come, in

love.

God, pray to

you right, I'll

thank you, God,

for요.

You

and