But tonight, for the next 20 minutes or so, we're going to open up God's Word and look at the most wonderful, beautiful story that's ever given to mankind, which is, of course, the Christmas account. And I already used a word I try not to use, which is the word story. What we're going to be looking at is not a story. This is fact. It's historical fact. It's documented fact. In fact, it's one of the most well-documented things of all history. Tonight we're going to be talking about, of course, Christmas with this flavor, come and worship. Many of you, of course, if not all, know the account about the birth of Christ. In fact, for years and years, you probably have heard it. Most of you have heard it over and over and over your entire life. And even if you only go to church once a once a year for Christmas or maybe Christmas and Easter, you're probably familiar with the Christmas account. Now, of course, a lot of the folks here, you've been in church for many, many years. You're here virtually every week and are very familiar with this. But we want to put the right mood, if you will, into Christmas. When we think about what's coming and, of course, the young people and maybe a lot of the old folks as well, you're looking forward to, if you haven't already done it, a time where the family gets together. and you open Christmas presents, and it is, it's a joyous time, it's a fun time. The families get together, friends get together, and you share gifts. Well, why do you share gifts at Christmas time? Well, of course, it all goes all the way back to the time when Jesus Christ, God's Son, came down to this earth to provide the greatest gift ever given to mankind, which was the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. So as we think about some fun times that are probably yet to come for many of you, the gatherings that will be getting together. How about we put Christ first in Christmas as we think about the things that we'll be looking at over the next few moments, just to kind of give you the lay of the land for the rest of the service. I'll be speaking for about 20, 25 minutes. Then we're going to light all the candles. Where's Leah at? somewhere here, Leah, we'll be playing silently in the background. Once we get everybody lit, then we'll stand up and we'll sing all four verses of Silent Night, have a nice, beautiful candlelight time. And feel free to get your cell phones out and take a couple of pictures if you want to. So it's a great time and I trust you'll enjoy it. Father, I pray now that as we go into the word of God, as we open up the only book that's been given to mankind from you, I pray, Lord, that we take it serious what we're about to look at. Father, the greatest account, the greatest thing ever given to humanity was the coming of Jesus Christ to pay for our sins. And Father, it's through what Jesus started at this time we call Christmas, when God himself comes down from heaven, takes on the form of a human being, is grown up to adulthood to face death. Now, Father, that's not a pleasant thought to think about as we want to think about the beauty of Jesus, but that's why he came into the world, which was to save sinners. So, Father, I pray that as we look at this wonderful account over the next few minutes, that you touch our hearts. Father, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there's going to be people either sitting in this room, maybe some watching on the internet tonight, that if they were to die this very moment, they have no clue if they died, they go to heaven. And yet, Father, you've told us exactly how we can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that when we breathe our last breath, that we can be with you. So Father, for the Christians already in this room, would you excite them as we remember what Jesus did and as we think about worshiping him. And then for those that may never put their faith in Christ alone, might that happen this evening. So Father, we commit this night to you. Do what only you can do, please. Revive the saved and save the lost. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, as we go back and we take a look at what happened with Mary and Joseph in a couple, about two, three minute review, if you were here Sunday morning, of what took place in Israel, which is on the right, just a small map of it. We find Mary and Joseph are way up in Nazareth, 94 miles north of the place that God said Jesus had to be born at. Did you hear me? The place where God said Jesus had to be born. So God had to come up with a plan to get Mary and Joseph from Nazareth all the way down to Bethlehem. Well, as Trevor read a few minutes ago, there was a plan put together. And Quirinius said, listen, we wanna register everyone from the land that they are akin to, which meant that Joseph and Mary had to get on, if you will, the donkey or whatever they used. They had to trek 94 miles. As we said last Sunday morning, they didn't get in their SUV. They didn't get on a Greyhound bus or take an airplane. They got on an old donkey, started walking down the rough paths of Israel as they headed down to the place known as Bethlehem, 94 miles south. Whereas it was also read a few minutes ago, we know that when they finally get to that place called Bethlehem, that Jesus is born, God's son, God himself comes down from heaven and is born as to the Virgin Mary. Isaiah chapter seven verse 14 states that Jesus had to be virgin born. This is a key part. Why did Jesus have to be virgin born? And again, excuse me for a little review for the Sunday morning crowd, but Jesus had to be virgin born and here's why. Romans chapter five tells us wherefore is by one man, Adam, sin entered into the world and death by sin and so sin passed upon all men and woman for that all have sinned. Which the Bible tells us that the sin, if you will, the unfortunate sin nature is transmitted through the father. So when Adam sinned, Ever since Adam sinned, every single human being, we have the sin nature. In fact, Romans 3.23 tells us that we've all sinned and come short of the glory of God. That is why we need Jesus. That's why we need him, because we're sinners. And he had to come to forgive us of those sins, not only to forgive, but to pay for those sins. Well, let's take a look at five quick things as we look at Jesus this evening. Worship Jesus, the creator, the creator of all things. As Trevor read a little bit earlier, the Bible says, Oh, come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord, our maker, for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. Now, if you go to kind of what is worship today, and many people, when we think about worship, especially in the Christian world, we think about going to a service and there's kind of praise, kind of music, and people kind of raising their hands and having their worship time. Nothing wrong with that. But that's not the worship the Bible's talking about. We're talking about worshiping the Lord himself. Every single time you find when somebody worships, In the Old Testament or the New, the person literally, when they have an encounter with the Lord, they fall on their face. They don't get up and jump and start waving hands and things. And again, nothing wrong with that in context. But here's what the Bible's talking about. When you come in contact with the Lord, you fall on your face in awe. It's God himself. When you come in contact with Jesus, people fell down, they grabbed his feet, they worshiped him. And may I say that we need to worship the Lord Jesus. We need to worship him in spirit and truth. Let us kneel before the Lord, our maker. And may I encourage you, if you're a Christian here, you know beyond a shadow of a doubt, if you die to go to heaven, there's times when you need to go in the quietness of your prayer closet and kneel before the Lord and thank him for who he is and worship him for all and what he is. He's the creator of all things. Colossians 1 tells us he, speaking of Jesus, is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, for by him, Jesus, all things were created. Folks, when you go take a look in your mirror tonight, I want you to think about who created you. You say, no, no, no, you've got it wrong. My mom and my dad came together and they created me. Well, I'm telling you, without the Lord being involved, you wouldn't be here. The Bible makes it clear. He created all things. He created you, and that's why He loves you. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things. were created through him and for him. And he, Jesus, is before all things, and in him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church. Now we're not talking about the local New Testament church here. We're talking about the church, the body of Christ. Two totally different but related ideas. There's many, many thousands and thousands of churches around the world. We're one of those churches. But what he's talking about here is the church that he's the head of, which we call the body or the body of Christ. Every single one of you that's put your faith in Jesus, you're part of, if you will, the body of Christ. He's the firstborn from the dead, and in all things he, Jesus, may have the preeminence or be put in first place. Well, second reason we should worship Jesus, He's the one who humbled himself as we started with the Christmas narrative a little bit ago. I want you to catch something that many folks don't catch, especially if you're not a Bible student. You often hear about the three kings, the wise men that come to see Jesus. And that narrative, quite frankly, has been distorted over the millennia. Matthew chapter two it says this, when they heard the king they departed and behold the star which they had seen in the east went before them till it came and stood over where the, much pay attention to the next two words. What are they? The blank child was. What's the word? Young, young. We're not talking about the baby Jesus here. The wise men did not come to the manger scene. In fact, it's a total misnomer, and I know there's even songs that have been written around it, but quite frankly, it doesn't fit the biblical narrative. When we're talking about the young child here, the original Greek here, and of course the Bible, if you're not familiar, was written in Koine Greek, the word young child is totally different than what we're talking about the baby Jesus. So based on the context, we're talking about approximately two years old when the wise men actually came and met up with Jesus and Mary. So they're following this star, and they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. So we're gonna give them the benefit of the doubt that there were three wise men or three kings. The Bible never tells us how many. The only thing it tells us is they brought three gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh, And therefore, many folks have come up with the conclusion, not necessarily a good conclusion, that there were only three wise men that came to see Christ. But beyond that, what we do know is that they did come. God put this star shining over where the young child was. And when they had come into the house, different than the manger scene. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and fell down. And what did they do? They didn't stand up and start saying, yahoo, here we are, we made it. Whatever. No, they fall down and they see Jesus. They recognize who Jesus is. Jesus is God's son. They recognize him as the sinless one. They recognize him as the one who would be the Messiah. And they recognize who Jesus is and what do they do? They fall down and they worship him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to him, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Bible also tells us about Jesus who humbled himself God says, listen, young folks, listen, middle-aged folks, listen, senior citizens, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. May I ask the question, was Jesus equal to God? Was Jesus God? Absolutely he was. and he came down from heaven. That's the concept here. Jesus is humbling himself. God himself, God himself, your creator, looked down at you and said, I love you. You say, well, why do you have to come down here? Why did God himself leave everything, the throne of God, if you will, come down to this earth? Why did he do that? That makes no sense to me. Well, it makes a lot of sense if you understand why he did it. Remember we just said about three times now, who created you? God did, and specifically in Colossians 1.16 it tells us that Jesus made all things. And Jesus looked down, and because Adam and Eve messed up way back in Genesis chapter three, and they sinned, and sin came into the world, that which God had made perfect now had sin. It was now corrupt. And God knew, and in Genesis chapter three, way back in the beginning of scripture, verse 15, God said, I've got a plan. And the first, if you will, prototype of the gospel is given in Genesis 3.15, where God says he is going to send one who will be bruised. His head will be smashed, if you will, Satan's head, but Jesus will be bruised. His heel will be bruised. What did that mean? It means that he would come down. He would go to the cross. He would suffer as no person ever suffered before to pay for our sins. And that's why we celebrate Christmas, because of what Jesus was going to do. Who being in the form of God, Jesus did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of man, and being found in appearance as a man, what did he do? He humbled himself. He comes as this cute, precious little baby. He grows up, though. The birth was just the start of God's plan for your salvation. And Jesus said, I'm going to tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to tell you why you should worship me. I'm gonna tell you why that I'm so much more than simply the little baby that was born in a manger. I grew up because I love you, and I'm gonna give myself for you, which he did some 2,000 years ago. He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore, God also is highly exalted in him and given the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow. worshiping Him, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Well, let's take a look what else Jesus did, why we should worship Him. He is the one who performed the miraculous to prove that He was God. All the miracles that Jesus did were to authenticate who He was. Well, let's just take a look at one or two very quickly. Matthew chapter eight, verse two, and behold, a leper came, a leper, filthy, unclean, cast out by the community. And this horrible leper, which was banned from society because of the horrible contagiousness of the disease, comes up to Jesus. And he looks at Jesus and, Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. Then Jesus put out his hand and touched him, saying, I am willing. be cleansed. Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. John chapter 21 verse 25 tells us, and there are also many other things Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. God talks about 33 specific miracles that Jesus did while he was on this earth. But this verse tells us, listen, of everything Jesus did, while he was alive for those 33 years. There wouldn't be a library big enough to hold all the books about him. What did Jesus do? He changed the water and the wine in Cana. Jesus cured the nobleman's son. He caused a great haul of fish to come in. for the disciples. Jesus cast out unclean spirits. He healed Peter's mother-in-law. He healed another leper. He healed a centurion's servant. Jesus raised a widow's son from the dead. Jesus stilled the violent winds in Galilee. Jesus cured two demoniacs. Jesus cured a paralytic. Jesus raised the ruler's daughter from the dead. Jesus cured a woman of blood issue. Jesus opened eyes of two blind men. Jesus loosed the tongue of a man who couldn't speak. Jesus healed an invalid man at the pool called Bethesda. Jesus restored a withered hen. Jesus cured a demon-possessed man. Jesus fed over 5,000 people with a couple of fish and a couple of loaves of bread. another miraculous thing that our Lord did. Jesus fed over 5,000 people. Jesus healed a demon-possessed girl. Jesus cured a deaf and mute man. Jesus fed, on another occasion, 4,000 people. Jesus opens another blind person's. Jesus cures a young boy who was plagued by demons. Jesus opened the eyes of a man born blind. Jesus cured a woman who had been afflicted for 18 years with a disease. Jesus cures a man of dropsy. Jesus cleansed 10 leopards at one time. Many of you remember this wonderful account when Jesus comes to the tomb of Lazarus. He'd been dead for four days. And Mary and Martha are very upset with Jesus. And they get in, literally, they get upset with Jesus and they, to be in our vernacular, they do a little chewing them out. They're like, Jesus, if you would have been here, our brother wouldn't have died. Now catch this. Jesus said, I did it for you. I'm not late, I'm just on time. By the way, Jesus is never late. He's always on time. Jesus walks up to the tomb of Lazarus and he said, pull that stone away from the tomb. And they said, no, no, no, no, Lord. And by the way, you never tell the Lord no. When you're gonna use the term Lord, you probably ought to do what he says. No, Lord, his body's gonna smell. It's gonna stink because he's been dead for four days. You know how hot it is in this area? Jesus said, no, pull it back. This is for my glory. It's for the glory of God. And they pulled the stone back and Jesus wept and his heart was broke. His friend had passed and he's seeing the unbelief of the people. And all of a sudden Jesus screams out, Lazarus, come forth. and Lazarus all bound up in those, what we would call grave clothes, manages to scoot his way up to the opening of the cave and get himself out. And Jesus said, listen, ladies, I did this to prove my glory. I did this to prove who I am. And I did this to show about the resurrection to come. Jesus opened the eyes of two more blind men. He caused the fig tree to wither and lose its fruit. Jesus restored the ear of the high priest's servant. Remember when the high priest's servants come and they're arresting Jesus and Peter pulls out a sword and he says, I'll fight for you, Jesus. Boom, he hits the high priest's servant's ear, cuts it off. And Jesus said, put your sword away, Peter. It's not time to fight. And Jesus puts his hand up and he heals the ear of the one whose servant had lost that ear. How about this for a miracle? Jesus is in the tomb. He's been dead for three days. He was beaten half to death, the cat of nine tails ripping His flesh apart. He carries a cross through the streets of Jerusalem. They take Him and they slam the big nails into His hands and into His feet. They put Him on the cross. They slam that cross into the ground. His body and every piece of it is jarred in horrific pain. And Jesus hangs on that cross, the one who was born that sweet little baby, Mary who had held that sweet little baby in her arms, the one that she had cuddled, the one that she had nursed, the one that she had cared for. And now she looks up and up on the cross is her son and her heart is broken. And she doesn't yet understand even at this point, all that Jesus is doing, not only for her, but for the sins of all people, including mine and yours. Jesus literally gives his life on that cross. The last words he said, we like this word here, the Greek word is called Tetelestai. Tetelestai, it is finished. and he bowed his head and gave up the spirit. What did he mean that it is finished? It is finished. All of our sins have been paid for. Every single sin of all people from all time, Jesus said, if you'd put your faith in him, it is finished. You belong to me and I will beyond a shadow of a doubt, take you to heaven. when you die. Well, number four, worship Jesus, the sacrificial Savior, as we just went through. Isaiah 53, and again, Trevor read a good portion of this. We'll look at three verses. The Bible says to us, all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him, wait a second, I mess up, you mess up. And God said, listen, yeah, you mess up. You're like that silly sheep that goes to the top of the cliff, if you will, not thinking he's about ready to take a walk over. Or just like a sheep that's gone astray. And Jesus said, listen, I did something to get you back. All we like sheep have gone astray. And Jesus said, I did something for you. I went to that cross. I was born a humble little baby. I lived a humble life. I lived a life of sacrifice. And I went to that cross just like a sheep that would give its life in the sacrifices of the Old Testament. Jesus was oppressed. He was afflicted. There's no doubt about that, what he went through. Yet he didn't open his mouth. He didn't say, stop! I'm not gonna put up with this, I'm God. I don't have to do this. I don't have to go through the torture. I don't have to go through the pain. I don't have to go from feeling separated from the Holy Father. But he said, I have to. Remember, and I like to go through this very quickly, the narrative in the Garden of Gethsemane, many of you remember it. Jesus goes into the garden with a couple of his disciples the night he's going to be betrayed. And his heart is heavy. Bible says that Jesus goes and throws, literally throws himself down on the ground and he begins to pray. And the Bible says that he's praying so hard that the capillaries in his body begin to break and he's sweating and blood is coming out with it because of the trauma that he's going through. And he looks up at the father and he said, if it's possible, Lord, let this cup pass from me. You say, well, I guess Jesus didn't want to die, did he? That must have been while he was so upset. No, that's not why he was so upset. He looked up at the father and he knew when he went to the cross, his own father would turn his back on him. For the time when all the sins of all mankind, when my sins and your sins were on the back of Jesus, and he took every one of them, God could not tolerate sin. And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, my God, my God, why have you? Forsaken me. His own father turns his back on his son for those moments while all the sin was being paid for through the death of Jesus. All we like sheep have gone astray. Jesus was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He, Jesus, was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. Isaiah prophesied, I will divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he, Jesus, poured out his soul unto death. He was numbered with the transgressors, the other two on the crosses, and he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. Apostle Paul tells us in being found in appearance as a man, He, Jesus, humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Finally, why should we worship Jesus? Because he's the resurrected Savior. Matthew 28 tells us, then the 11 disciples, after the death, burial of Jesus and his resurrection, he said, listen, meet me up in Galilee. He got the word out. The disciples start to head to Galilee. When the 11 disciples went away into Galilee, the mountain which Jesus had appointed, appointed for them. When they saw Him, they threw a party. When they saw the resurrected Jesus after they knew He had died, after they knew He had been buried, and after some believed that He had been resurrected, they come together and they see the One who is dead and is now alive, and they fall down and they do what? They worship Him. Christian, do you worship Jesus? Do you love Jesus more than anything? Is He your all in all to you this evening? Is He everything? Oh, the gifts are wonderful. The Christmas trees are wonderful. The carols are wonderful. The things we do at church are wonderful. The family and friends are wonderful. The food is wonderful. All these things are wonderful, yet it all has to come back to Do you love Jesus more than anything in this world? Have you truly put your faith in Jesus? And if you're a Christian here, have you given your life to serve the one who gave all for you? Finally, we'll close with this. The Father loves the Son, Jesus said, and has given all things into his hand. Catch this now. He who believes in the Son, Jesus Christ, has everlasting life, and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life. But the wrath of God abides on him. Listen carefully and we're done. Many of you in this room can tell me if I asked you, is there a point in time when you put your faith in Jesus? You could say, Pastor Rich, I can tell you. I was sitting in church, or I went to a one, or my mom or my dad or somebody showed me something from scripture, and they told me that I was a sinner, Romans 3.23. They told me I didn't deserve heaven, Revelation 21.8. And they showed me that Jesus Christ, God's son, just like we did tonight, came down from heaven, died on the cross for my sins, was buried, and three days later rose from the dead. They showed me that or I heard that. And I put my faith in Jesus and I know tonight, beyond a shadow of a doubt, if I was to die, I'd be home with him because I've received that free gift of eternal life. There's some in this room, there's some maybe watching on the internet right now. And if I said, listen, do you know beyond a shadow of a doubt, if you go to heaven, you'd say, I'm not so sure. I hope so, I want to. All right, real quick and we're done. Listen. Where do you wanna go when you die? Let's be honest. How many here really want to go to hell when you die? You say, Pastor, that's pretty point blank. I need to be point blank right now. Because there's some folks, and I don't know who they are, if I'm not point blank, you may end up there, and I don't want that, neither does God. What's the answer? Listen carefully, two verses and we're done. The Bible says in Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, For by grace are you saved through faith, and it is not of yourself, it is the gift of God, not of our works, lest any person should boast. Some of you in here right now are saying, wait a minute, I've been told all my life I gotta work, I gotta be the best I can, I gotta try my hardest, I gotta go to church, I gotta be good to folks, and maybe if I'm good enough I can get to heaven. It's not what the Bible says. Did you hear me? It's not what the Bible says. Here's what the Bible says, and I'm gonna illustrate it. The Bible says, for by grace, God's free unmerited gift are you saved. Saved from sin, saved from the penalty of sin. For by grace are you saved through what? Through faith. and that not of yourself. It is the gift of God. Now wait a second. I held that out. What did he just do? And we didn't practice this, by the way. He's taken the book. It's a free gift. And I want him to take that gift. And he's just taken it. How much did he pay me? Nothing. What did he have to do? Simply reach out and take it. There's somebody in this room right now. You need to reach out and take that free gift. Let's take that free gift right now. Father, thank you for your love for us. Thank you for the scriptures. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for Jesus who came as the beautiful baby. And Father, we've just given the most important news ever given to mankind, that Jesus came into this world to save sinners. Right now, Lord, I pray the Holy Spirit might have freedom to move here and those watching tonight, right there where you are. I'm gonna ask you to do one thing. I'm not gonna tell you to do anything that's gonna embarrass you. I'm not gonna have you do anything at all. I promise you that, except one thing. Right there where you are, I would love for you by faith to receive that free gift of eternal life. Would you take it right now? If you died right now, do you know where you're going? You say, well, when I walked in here, I didn't know. But I understand that the Bible made it very clear that if I'd put my faith in Jesus tonight, in his death, burial, and resurrection, that I could go to heaven when I die. And yes, I'm receiving that free gift this very moment. Did you do it? Did you receive that free gift by faith? I'm gonna say a prayer of thanksgiving. The prayer's not what saves you. It's simply we're gonna thank Jesus if you trusted in him tonight. And maybe you'd like to pray silently along with me something like this. Dear God, I know when I turned this program on tonight or when I came into the auditorium tonight, I didn't know for sure if I died I'd go to heaven, but I just listened to the gospel from the Bible. And now I understand that the reason Jesus came as that beautiful baby was to die for my sins. And tonight I've put my faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Thank you for saving me and promising to take me to heaven when I die. Christian, we're gonna be dismissed in just a few moments. Would you worship Jesus? Would you make Him your all in all? Would you make Him more than simply the One that you know about and yes, you've trusted Him, which is wonderful, but would you consider making Him the Lord of your life as well? Would you worship Him? Would you put Him number one in your life? And might 2025 be the most powerful year of all for you as you serve the risen Savior? Father, bless all decisions made. We commit them to You and all God's people said,