Christmas Eve 2025 • He Came to Save Us

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So now we're going to move into, honestly, the part of this service that I look forward to the most.

And so what I'd like to ask is if all of our kids, fifth grade and under, if you could make

your way down here and come in and hang out with me. Now, if you're a little nervous about coming,

don't be nervous about coming, because if you come down here, we got a little gift for you

at the end of this. And so you want to make sure that you can come and hang out with us. And parents

and grandparents, we're about to have a blast together. As I'm going to get to talk to your

kids about some stuff, and we can't wait to hear what their answers are. And we may use the

microphone for some of them. Well, hey, guys. Oh, y'all got to be better than that, all right?

Good evening. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. Hey, so how many of you really love Christmas?

Show me your hands. Show me your hands. Awesome. I'm going to ask you guys some questions about Christmas.

Is that okay? Not like trick questions, not hard questions, but questions about you with Christmas,

all right? So here's, what is your, one of your favorite things about Christmas?

Presents. That's a good, honest answer. That's one of my favorite things about Christmas too.

decorating the tree. Decorating the tree. Decorating the tree. Decorating the tree. Presence.

Spending time with your family. Best answer? Yeah. I know you see here all. Yeah?

Spending time with family and friends. Eating.

Tim Schultz. Tim Schultz's grandson, folks. What's that? Worshiping Jesus. Yeah, absolutely. What else?

What else? Do any of you have any like traditions, things that you like to do? Like maybe a certain

day that you bake cookies or do something like that?

Party all night.

Party all night.

The Bradbury party will be ending at about 8.30 so that we can wake up at 4 a.m. Right, Howard family?

Nice. Yeah. What else?

Wake up your parents super early.

Wake up your parents super early. Yeah. I mean, I think the best way to celebrate Christmas,

the best way is to wake up everybody as early as possible. All right? And then while they're like

preparing lunch, you get a nap. Right? And then we're good. What you got over here?

Do the golf cart ride? Yeah, that sounds like fun. And this is the perfect weather for it, right?

Because it's not too cold outside, right? Like we can all do that. Hmm? It's hot outside. It is.

It's like Christmas in July, right? Well, you know what my favorite thing? One of my favorite

things about Christmas? One of my favorite things about Christmas is tonight. I love being here with

you guys. I love coming and kind of having before we get into all of the presents and all of the

things. And Santa comes tonight. That's right. That's right. Yeah. And before all of that happens,

one of my favorite traditions that we started years ago, I want y'all, y'all look over and you see that

group of people over there that got all the white hair? That's my family, right? That's my family.

And so you see with the red vest there, that's my father-in-law, right? Mark, wait, there we go.

I'm going to talk about him later in the message, right? I'm going to talk about him a little bit.

You see right there, that's my mother-in-law. I call her Weezy. Her name's Kathy, but our kids

call her Nanny, right? And then you see behind her, Susan, give away, there you go. That's my aunt Susan,

right? We call her Susu, Susan. We just call her lots of things, right? And then right beside her,

that's my mom, right? Every gray hair in her head is because of my sister, right? Not because of me,

right? And do you see that guy beside her right there? Right there? That's my dad. That's my dad.

And God broke the mold after he made that man, right? Just a blessing that he is. But they get

to come over to my house after this is done, and we eat, and we eat a lot. And it's one of my favorite

aspects about Christmas is to get there with my kids, and my wife, and my family, and just sit down

and enjoy a meal together. What's some of your foods, favorite foods to eat around Christmas?

Oh, you've got to think about it. Come on. What do we got? What's that? Okay, crabs? Ham? Tim Schultz? Again, what you got? Food. All of it. All of it. Cinnamon rolls. Ooh. What's your favorite thing to eat? Cinnamon rolls? Pretty cool. Pretty cool. Well, I want to read you guys. Oh, I'm sorry. Gingerbread. Yes. Absolutely.

Well, as we talk about the favorite things about Christmas, I want to read to you guys and read to everyone. We're going to read the birth of Jesus as told by Luke in Luke chapter 2. And here's what I want you to listen for. As we read the story, I want you to listen for someone's favorite thing we find out in Luke chapter 2. All right? So y'all listen up to me, and let's read the story of the birth of Jesus. It says,

Luke 2 · chapter mention Luke 2 · chapter mention

It's in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Canerius 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 the 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 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.

And this will be a sign for you.

And you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.

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

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

And when the angels went away from there, 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 lion in a manger.

And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.

And all who heard it wondered what the shepherds told them.

And then here's the part.

Listen for this, okay?

But Mary, but Mary treasured all these things, all of them, pondering them in her heart.

And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard as it had been told to them.

Here's what's remarkable to me about this story.

Here's what's amazing to me about what we read.

Is that we find out what Mary's favorite was.

It wasn't just the food.

It wasn't just the friends.

It wasn't just the family.

But it was all of it.

Every single piece of it.

And do you know why all of it was her favorite?

Because it's centered around Jesus.

So my prayer for you guys, and my prayer for us, is that in all that we do, from ham, to cinnamon rolls, to presents, to friends, to family,

that it would all be centered around Jesus.

Will you guys pray with me?

God, I thank you so much for tonight.

I thank you for the truth of your word and the Christmas story.

That while it talks about Mary and Joseph and angels and shepherds, wise men, governors,

or that the story is centered around Jesus.

And God, I pray that the truth of who he is and what he's done for us,

will be the center and the focus of our life.

God, I thank you for these kids.

God, I thank you for the excitement that they'll have tonight and in tomorrow.

And God, I pray that as they unwrap pretty packages, as they get gifts and presents, God, that they'll remember the presence of Christ.

And it's in Jesus that we pray.

Amen.

All right, kids, y'all come here real quick.

Come here tight.

Come here tight.

Because I'm going to tell y'all a secret.

I'm going to tell y'all a secret.

Okay?

You got to get closer.

You got to get closer.

It's okay.

Trust me.

After about five minutes, most of them aren't paying attention to me anyways.

All right?

So they're not going to hear at all what I'm about to tell you guys.

All right?

So when you leave and you go back, we got some candy for you.

All right?

And this is special Christmas candy.

All right?

So special Christmas candy means that you got to eat all the candy on Christmas.

Okay?

And so you're going to eat chocolate and sugar.

Right?

Right?

So y'all going to do that with me?

Are y'all good?

All right.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

100%.

All right.

So thank you guys.

Why don't y'all go by, get your candy, and then go find.

Any way you go, you'll see one of these people with the white bags, and they got your candy.

Sorry, parents.

I mean, is that one of those you should only say you're sorry if you're truly sorry, right?

That's not real.

That's not real.

Oh, Becca just told me that that apology is not real.

Man, I love you sharing your kids with us, and just the blessing and the joy that they are,

not just here on Christmas Eve, but every Sunday at our church.

And I love their answers, and I love their honesty, right?

Like, if you're here for Christmas, like, you enjoy getting presents.

We do.

I enjoy getting presents.

You enjoy getting presents.

We enjoy the food.

We enjoy the candy.

We enjoy the fun.

We enjoy all of the things that it is.

And if we're being honest, it is really hard at Christmastime to keep the focus on Jesus.

It's hard.

There's so many things around this time.

There's the parties.

There's the schedules.

There's the get-togethers.

There's the meals.

There's so many things competing for our heart, for our attention, for our time during this time of year.

But it's not just this time of year, is it, that it becomes hard to keep our focus on Jesus.

And so what I want us to do tonight is to make Jesus our focus, not just for this evening,

but in all of who he is, that Christ will be our focus, our meaning, our purpose, our passion, our pursuit,

because he's worthy of it all.

I'll just read one verse to you here in a moment.

We're going to read out of Matthew chapter 1.

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

But Matthew's gospel tells the telling of the birth of Christ through a little bit different narrative

and a little different way than what we see in Luke.

And instead, Matthew's gospel starts with something a little strange.

It starts with the genealogy.

It starts out with some different people that we're going to find out about Jesus and his family

and some of the characteristics about his family.

We'll give you a little sneak peek, a little insight into our family and what we like to talk about

and what we like to laugh at and have fun with.

My father-in-law has the ability to tell some really good stories, especially family stories.

How many of you have ever heard of, I'm born, raised my entire life except for six years in South Carolina.

And I did not know that there was a town in South Carolina known as Waterloo.

Have you ever heard of Waterloo, South Carolina?

A handful, a handful.

It's on Lake Greenwood.

It's on Lake Greenwood.

It's where my father-in-law is from.

And one of the things that my father-in-law likes to do even better,

one of the things that my kids like to do is to come and ask him about stories of people from his family.

And he'll tell stories of what it was like to grow up in Waterloo, South Carolina.

And he'll tell stories of people who've got nicknames that make us laugh and stories that make us laugh.

And it's fascinating to see the back story of where my father-in-law comes from and the family that he comes from

and to hear all of the stories that are there.

And we get to hear those.

What we learn about Jesus through reading through his genealogy,

we usually see the town that we focus on and the places that he's come from.

But when we look through the genealogy of Jesus, as told by Matthew,

we learn some very interesting things about Jesus.

We learn that there are people in Jesus' family who were born in miraculous ways.

We learn that there are some people in Jesus' lineage and his family that did bold things for God.

Great men and women of faith who stood firmly on what they believed in spite of what it may or may cost them.

But Jesus' genealogy, the family tree that he comes from,

is not just filled with men and women who always got it right.

Because none of them did.

When we read through and we read the names and we know the history behind them,

we learn that there are people in Jesus' family who experienced great tragedy in their life.

We learn that there are people in Jesus' family who committed horrible crimes.

We learn that in Jesus' family that there were those who were evil and corrupt.

That this is the lineage that Matthew gives us about Jesus.

So the question becomes, why does God put this in there?

Why do we see this introduction into the birth of Christ by saying,

and this is who the lineage of Jesus is?

Well, there's a lot of reasons for that.

There's a lot of reasons.

And for time's sake, for us this evening, we don't have time to go into all of the reasons.

But I think what we can see from this, one aspect that we're going to look at,

is verse 1 tells us who Jesus is before even telling us,

or in spite of, the family and the world that he was born into.

A baby born like there had never been.

And there never would be again.

A man who came to live on this earth like none had ever lived,

and none will ever live again.

Born in perfection.

Born being perfection.

Born living in perfection.

In spite of the brokenness of the world.

So why don't you look with me at Matthew 1, verse 1.

Matthew 1:1

It says,

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ.

The son of David.

The son of Abraham.

And we see in this four things that point us to who Jesus is.

And a reason for us to gather in here to celebrate, to honor him, to worship him, and to thank him.

The first thing that we see here in this verse is his name.

The book of the genealogy of Jesus.

And what Matthew points us to with this is that Jesus is the Savior.

Jesus is the Savior.

The name Jesus means literally, the Lord is salvation.

Jesus in his name means salvation.

And this goes perfectly because when the angel appears to Joseph in Matthew 1, 21,

what he tells him is,

And you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save people from their sin.

You see, to save someone, to be their salvation means you have to save them from something.

And Jesus comes so that he can save you, and that he can save me.

Not because we're good, not because we're perfect.

But because he is good, and he is perfect.

And he comes to save us, specifically from our sin.

You know, it's not just the works of Jesus.

It's not just the words of Jesus.

It's the fullness of Jesus himself.

And that's why Jesus says in John chapter 14,

John 14 · chapter mention

He doesn't say my teaching is the way.

He doesn't say my works are the way.

Jesus, in response to what it means to go to heaven,

says, I am the way.

I am the truth.

I am the life.

Jesus is the Savior.

The second thing that it points out to us in this one simple verse

is that Jesus is the Christ.

Jesus is the Christ.

Christ means that Jesus is the chosen one, or the anointed one.

And what that means for us is that this is not of happenstance.

This is not of a moment.

This is not of a decision.

But it means that Jesus has been chosen.

When we look back at the Old Testament Messianic prophecies,

what we see in that, that Jesus came,

and that Jesus, in being the chosen one,

came and fulfilled all.

And he did.

To be the chosen one means that he would not just come as man,

but he would come fully as man and fully as God.

It's divine.

And he did.

To be the chosen one, to be the anointed one,

meant that he would come and perform miracles,

that he would come and that he would teach,

that he would come and heal,

that he would come and forgive.

And guess what?

He did.

Being the chosen one meant that he would come,

the Messiah,

that he would come,

that he would live a perfect life,

that he would die on a cross,

that he would rise three days later from the dead.

And guess what?

He did.

To be the chosen one,

to be the anointed one,

meant that he would ascend to heaven.

And he would send his spirit

to dwell on all of his followers.

And guess what?

He did.

And because he is the Christ,

because he is the Messiah,

because he is the anointed one,

the chosen one,

one day he will return.

And one day he will call all of his followers to himself.

And guess what?

He will.

He will.

Jesus is the Christ.

He is the Savior.

He is the Christ.

But also,

Jesus is King.

Jesus is King.

Jesus is the King,

not a King.

Matthew's Gospel tells us,

the book of genealogy of Jesus Christ,

the Son of David.

Jesus is not just simply a King.

Jesus is the King.

And 2 Samuel 7 tells us that his kingdom will come from David,

but be fulfilled by Christ in a different way than any other kingdom,

because God will establish his kingdom,

and his kingdom will be forever.

Kingdoms come and go.

Nations are born and they pass.

But the kingdom of God shall reign forever.

Because Jesus is the Son of David.

And unlike every other king,

and unlike every other king,

Jesus, being the King,

dies in order to make the kingdom possible.

He gives of himself.

He gives of himself.

He gives of his body

that we'll observe within the bread

to establish himself as king.

To pay the price

for our sins

that we deserve.

He takes

and he pours out his blood.

Establishes the cup,

the new covenant of grace

that is found in Christ,

in Christ alone.

To make us innocent,

new,

and born again.

Instead of a king

calling his servants to him

to sacrifice for him,

Jesus says,

no, no, no.

I come and give of myself

so that you can come to me.

And then lastly in this verse,

what we see

is that as followers,

as believers,

we are his people.

The son of Abraham.

You see,

the covenant with David

was a covenant

for a king

and a kingdom.

But the covenant of Abraham

was the covenant

for a people.

And not just a people,

not just a nation,

but a family.

And God brings you and I,

not by birth physically,

but by adoption

through faith

in Christ alone

so that we are now

his people.

Sons and daughters

of the living God.

And all of this happens.

All of it.

Because Jesus came.

Because Jesus came.

We'll gather.

We'll eat food.

We'll open gifts.

And all of this

is possible

because he came.

For a day,

most of the world

will pause

and stand still

all because

he came.

And one day,

the Bible tells us,

every knee

shall bow

and every tongue

confess

that Jesus

Christ

is Lord.

And it all

is possible

because he came.

But see,

we can't tell

the story

of Christmas

without telling

the story

of Easter.

And all of this

is possible

because he came

and he lived

and he died

and praise God

he rose again.

One of my favorite

verses

in all the Bible

is found

in Matthew 20

Matthew 20:28

verse 28

where Jesus says

the Son of Man

came

not to be served

but to serve

and to give

his life

as a ransom

for many.

We're going to go

into our time

of response.

I'd like to ask

our band

or worship team

if they'll make

their way

to the stage.

Thank you.

And if you're here

this evening

I would ask you

to respond

to Christ tonight.

The first way

I want to ask you

this is Jesus

Christ

your Savior.

Is he your God?

Is he your King?

And if not

would tonight

would you put

your faith

your hope

and your trust

in him

that he would

save you

that he would

forgive you

and that in that

he would adopt you

and welcome you

into his family.

That there's no

greater gift

that you could

receive

than the free

gift of grace

that is made

possible

by Jesus Christ.

And the second way

is if you are

a follower

of Jesus Christ

would you prepare

yourself

for the partaking

of the Lord's

Supper

where we

come and

acknowledge

all that he

is

and all

that he has

done.

you know

I thought

about it

when someone

gives you

a gift

when someone

comes up to you

and says

you know

I've been

thinking about

you

I had you

in my mind

I had you

in my heart

and so I

went

and I gave

this to you

I bought

this for you

now I want

to give

this to you

what they're

looking for

in response

is not

necessarily

a gift

in return

but simply

a thank you

and how many

times

have you

and I

as the

recipients

of the grace

of God

and the fullness

of what that

means

we take

on an air

of

that we

deserve it

instead of

a heart

of gratitude

and so

would you

in response

thank him

for what he's

done for you

in bringing

salvation

would you

come to him

in confession

in the fullness

of his grace

to confess

your sin

before him

so that your

heart is

ready and

prepared

to partake

in the

Lord's

supper

and then in

doing so

would you

worship him

these are

not just

songs that

we sing

but they're

responses of

our heart

the gift

of Jesus

would you

worship him

would you

pray with me

as we prepare

to take

the Lord's

supper

together

God I

thank you

for tonight

the opportunity

Lord that we

have to

gather

the opportunity

that we

have to

worship

the opportunity

that we

have

to partake

in this

together

God if

there's

anyone here

who does

not know

you

well I

pray that

tonight

would be

their salvation

birth date

tonight

would be

the night

that they

confess

Christ as

Lord and

Savior

tonight

would be

the night

that they

admit that

they're a

sinner

who needs

to be

saved

that

tonight

would be

the night

that they

believe

in what

the truth

of scripture

says

God I pray

for every

one of us

who here

is a follower

of Jesus

Lord may we

take serious

with what

we'll do

here in a

moment

may we

confess our

sin to you

or knowing

that you

forgive

that you

forgive over

and over

and over

again

and the

freedom that

comes in

confession

and Lord

with everything

that we

think

with everything

that we

say

with everything

that we

do

God may

we

worship

you

God

would you

work and

move

in how

you do

and may

you be

glorified

it's in

Jesus name

we pray

that's it

for this

week's

message

be sure

to check

back next

week for a

new episode

and in the

meantime

you can

visit us

online at

willowridgechurch.org

or by searching

for Willow Ridge

Church on

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thanks again

for listening