Christmas Day Family Service
[0:00] Good morning. Merry Christmas. I wasn't so convincing, but we'll go with it. It's good to see you all this Christmas morning. I wasn't sure how many people would make it out on this Christmas morning, but it's good to see so many here in the building, and I guess that there's some watching online as well. A warm welcome. There's tea and there's coffee at the end. I was just doing the kitchen checking, so if you're able to stay, then you're welcome to stay. The service this evening will be a Gaelic service, and don't stress about the wee ones. Somebody said to me yesterday when I was speaking to them, one of their favourite parts of the service is hearing the babies, and I wasn't sure whether to say thank you or not. So this evening we've got a Gaelic service, and that's at 6pm, and Dan Madrig will be taking that service. In the course of the week, intimations will have Road to Recovery on Tuesday, as usual.
[1:01] It's a difficult time of the year for those who struggle with addiction, so pray on for them, and the meeting on Tuesday will happen as normal. Wednesday prayer meeting will be in person and on Zoom, and Duncan McKellar, who I think is here, or he's not far away, somewhere here. Duncan, there you are. Duncan's going to be taking the prayer meeting this Wednesday, so be encouraged to come to that.
[1:25] Services next Sunday, which will be New Year's Day. The morning service will be conducted by Gordon McLeod and the evening Duncan McPherson. I hope to be on holiday from Tuesday, no, tomorrow, 26th through for a week. And if there's any issues in the course of that, speak to one of the elders in the first instance, and Ian McRitchie from Graver is on standby in case there's the need for a minister.
[1:54] These, I think, are all the notices, so let's begin this time of worship, and we'll sing to God's praise praise in the carol 491 in the Mission Praise book, and the words will be on the screen in just a second.
[2:09] O come, all ye faithful. So let's stand to sing to God's praise in just a moment. O come, all ye faithful. O come, all ye faithful.
[2:36] Joyful and triumphant. O come now, O come now to Bethlehem.
[2:48] Come and behold him, born the King of angels. O come, let us adore him.
[3:00] O come, let us adore him. O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord.
[3:13] True God of true God, light of light eternal. He who abhorres not the Virgin's womb.
[3:30] Son of the Father, begotten, not created. O come, let us adore him.
[3:41] O come, let us adore him. O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord.
[3:54] Sing like the angels. Sing in exultation. Sing with the citizens of heaven above.
[4:11] Glory to God. Glory in the highest. O come, let us adore him.
[4:22] O come, let us adore him. O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord.
[4:32] O come, let us adore him.
[5:02] O come, let us adore him. O come, let us adore him. O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord.
[5:23] Let's bow our heads and let's speak to God as we come to him in prayer. O come, let us adore him.
[5:33] Let us adore him. Let us adore him. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day, for this Christmas day. We thank you for the wonder and for the joy that fills our hearts as we think back to that Christmas story.
[5:51] We think back 2,000 plus years in time to the historical events of all that happened in Bethlehem. We thank you for the baby being born. We thank you for the baby being born.
[6:03] And yet we thank you that that baby that was born was God the Son. The Son of God and yet the Son of Man. And we thank you that Jesus came to be the Savior.
[6:15] The one who would go to the cross to take away our sin. And we thank you that if we believe in him, we have the promise of everlasting life.
[6:29] It's almost, in fact, it is too big for our minds to be able to understand. But we pray that you would give us faith. That you would help us to believe these miracles, these supernatural things.
[6:44] We thank you that you are the supernatural God. The God who came from heaven to earth. To make it possible for us to get from earth to heaven.
[6:55] And we ask, Lord, that you would draw near to us in the power of the Holy Spirit. We pray that you would help us to see Jesus in the Christmas story. We pray that you would help us to hear your voice.
[7:08] We pray that we would know that you are God and that you are here with us. Because that's your promise, Lord Jesus. Where two or three meet together in your name. You said that you'll be here with us. So bless us, we pray.
[7:20] And we pray that you would help those who are struggling today. We pray for those who are sad. Who, at this time of year especially, are conscious of those who are no longer with them.
[7:32] And no longer with us. And as we miss people who have gone from this world into eternity. We pray for your comfort. And we ask that you would help those whose hearts are sad.
[7:44] And we thank you for the hope of the gospel. We pray for those who believe in Jesus. Though they die. When Jesus returns. They will rise back up.
[7:54] And live forever. We pray for those who are sick. Some who are at hospital. Some who are at home. Some who have been to hospital and had procedures. And are trying to recover.
[8:06] Some who are waiting for tests. And for operations. And who may be anxious as they wait. And we ask that you would help them. Those at home. Those in hospital. We pray for those in Harris House as well.
[8:18] And in Liverpool. That you would bless them where they are. We pray for those who don't have homes. We thank you that we're here. We're warm. We have homes that we've come from.
[8:29] We pray for those who are on the streets today. And who are cold. And who feel sad. And who don't have hope. We ask Lord that you would be near to them. And that through your people you would reach them.
[8:42] And that they would hear. And feel something of your love for them today. We pray for those in places where there's no peace. Especially Ukraine. And we ask Lord that you would bring your peace to these places.
[8:55] That you would work in the hearts of those who want to cause trouble and war. And Lord that you would bring peace. And we ask now Lord that you would help us. Help us to listen.
[9:07] Help us to understand. Help us to sing praise to your name. Be with each of us we pray. Those who believe. And who want to worship. Those who are not sure. About the whole message of the Christmas story.
[9:18] Help them to believe. Pray for any who might be not believing. We ask that you would touch their hearts. And that you would be with each one of us we ask.
[9:29] Bless the wee ones we pray. We thank you for their voices. Help them to grow up. To know you and to trust you. And we ask all these things in Jesus name. And for Jesus sake. Amen. Boys and girls.
[9:43] It's good to see you. How are you feeling today? Pardon? Are you feeling excited? Are you feeling good? Have you got smiles on?
[9:55] Yeah. Put your hand up. If you got a present this morning. Let's see your hands right up. Does anybody want to tell me about their presents?
[10:10] Come on Callum. You can come out if you want. But you don't have to. All right. Here you come. Yeah. That's it. You want to stand in the chair so everyone can see.
[10:21] Yeah. Okay. What did you get Callum? I got. What's it called again? A PS4. You got a PS4. Wow. And I got a PlayStation.
[10:35] And like what Johnny says. And I got a Tilly. You got a Tilly and a PlayStation. And what's that? A FIFA. FIFA 23.
[10:45] A football game. Do you think you'll beat your dad? Yeah. I think you probably will. Probably not your mum. But you'll beat your dad. Easy. Good job. Thank you. Who else has got any presents you want to tell me about?
[10:58] Do you want to come out and tell me? What's your name? No. You can just. Oh he's coming. Right. Out you come. I think I was hearing you already. Oh.
[11:09] I wonder what you got for Christmas. I wonder what you got for Christmas. What did you get? What's your. What's your name?
[11:19] Offa. Pardon? Offa. Oh. Nice to meet you. And you got. Buzz Lightyear. Buzz Lightyear. And that's from the Disney movie Cinderella.
[11:30] No. Toy Story is it? Toy Story. Excellent. And what did your sister get? Are you the sheriff?
[11:41] Does that mean that you're the boss of Buzz? No. I'm dressed as Buzz. I know. She's not really her boss. I know. I know. What's. Maybe Woody.
[11:52] You're Woody are you? Excellent. I'm Woody. Good. Woody says yee-haw. Good job. Yee-haw.
[12:03] Yee-haw. Yeah. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. We'll maybe have one or two more. Any more?
[12:13] Anyone else want to show me any other presents? No? Oh yeah. What? Emily. Emily. Out you come.
[12:23] What have you got? I've got a puppet. You've got a puppet? Wow. Has the puppet got a name? Freddy. Freddy. And does the puppet speak?
[12:36] No. No. Okay. Merry Christmas puppet. Good job. Maybe that's a good link to our point.
[12:48] I think I should just get straight to the point. Shouldn't I? Sometimes you get gifts. And you can describe what they're like. And you can tell us all about them. And you're excited to get them.
[12:58] And sometimes you get gifts. And they're so amazing. You just can't find the words. To just tell people what they're all about. It's a bit like the puppet. Freddy. I said.
[13:08] Has he got any words? He's got no words. He can't speak. And sometimes when we get something amazing. We're trying to find the words. To see how amazing it is.
[13:19] And we just can't find the words. It's like. And we might even say. I'm speechless. And you know. Do you remember Paul? Look how much progress she's making crawling now.
[13:32] She's getting good. Do you remember Paul? Boys and girls. Put your hand up if you remember who Paul is. Lois. Who's Paul? He's somebody who would tell people about Jesus.
[13:46] He was a messenger. He was an apostle. He would bring people messages about Jesus. And one day. Paul. He had a message that God had given him to deliver.
[13:58] And he was speaking to a church. Well he's writing a letter. To a church. In a place called Corinth. And he was talking about a gift that he'd received. And this gift was so amazing.
[14:09] And he loved it so much. And he was trying to find words. To say how much he loved this gift. And he just couldn't find the words. So he wrote something.
[14:20] Miriam you come. And tell us what he wrote. It's from 2 Corinthians. Chapter 9. And verse 15. If you want the long version of this. Come to the Gaelic in the evening.
[14:31] Because this is Dan's text for tonight. But Miriam. If you could read out this text for us please. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift. So Paul.
[14:42] Just stay here for a wee second. So Paul the Apostle. He's so thankful. He's so amazed. And he writes down. Let's hear it one more time. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift. Thanks be to God.
[14:53] Thank you Miriam. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift. Now what do you think Paul was speaking about? Any ideas?
[15:05] Do you think it was Christmas morning. And Paul had just got a new robe. Or do you think he just got a new pair of Nike or sandals. And he was really excited. Do you think he maybe got some new scrolls.
[15:16] And he had these papers and his pens. And he's thinking. I can't believe these scrolls. They're so exciting. What do you think the gift was that he was talking about? Michael. Jesus.
[15:27] And boys and girls. This is Christmas morning. And we're all very excited. And it's good that we are.
[15:37] It's right that we are. And we give gifts. And we receive gifts. But remember. That all the gifts that we give. And we get. They point us to the greatest gift.
[15:50] Of all. That was ever given. And what or who was the greatest gift of all? Can we hear you? Pardon?
[16:04] Pardon? Jesus. And now we're going to sing. About how this gift of Jesus was given to us. O little town of Bethlehem.
[16:15] Is the next carol. And we'll stand to sing to God's praise. O little town of Bethlehem.
[16:35] And still we see you lie. Upon your deep and dreamless feet. The silent stars go by.
[16:49] Yet in your dark streets shining. Is everlasting light. The hopes and fears of all the years.
[17:04] Charmating you tonight. For Christ is born of many. And governed all above.
[17:19] While mortals sleep. The angels keep. Their watch of wandering love. O morning stars together.
[17:33] Proclaim the holy birth. And praises sing to God the King. And peace to men on earth.
[17:47] How silently. How silently. How silently. The wondrous gift is given. So God imparts to human hearts.
[18:02] The blessings of his hand. No ear. No ear may hear this coming. But in this world of sin.
[18:16] Where meek souls will receive him. Still the dear Christ enters in. The holy child of Bethlehem.
[18:31] The holy child of Bethlehem. He said to us. He said to us. We pray. God stout our sin. God stout our sin. And enter in. Be born in us today.
[18:45] We hear the Christmas angels. The great glad tidings tell. O come to us.
[18:57] Come to us. Abide with us. Our Lord Emmanuel. A new world. We're going to sing one more carol just now.
[19:12] We'll stay seated to sing this one though. And it's the carol that we all love. Silent night. Holy night. Silent night.
[19:35] Holy night. Gives the world red from sight.
[19:46] Mary and Joseph in stable fair. Watch for a child beloved and fair.
[20:00] Sleeping in heavenly rest. Sleeping in heavenly rest.
[20:13] Silent night. Holy night. Shepherds first saw the light.
[20:27] Earth reserving fear on tone. Far and hear the angels soar.
[20:40] Christ the redeemer is here. Christ the redeemer is here.
[20:52] Silent night. Holy night. Son of God.
[21:03] God. Oh, how bright. Love is smiling from your face. Skies must now be out of pain.
[21:20] Savior, sin's to our Lord. Savior, sin's to our Lord.
[21:33] So boys and girls, the first thing we were thinking about this morning was the indescribable gift. Remember Paul. He's got this gift of Jesus and he can't find the words to say how amazing and how much he loves Jesus.
[21:50] So he says, thanks be to God for his indescribable gift. And the second point this morning, we just have three, is the incarnate God.
[22:01] The incarnate God. So it's the next point, Andrew. See the word on the screen there, the incarnate God. Does anybody know, I don't want to hear the answer, but does anybody know, boys and girls, what the word incarnate means?
[22:15] I didn't think you would because it's not the kind of word that we use very often, is it? So we're going to think about that in a minute. But first of all, I want to do something else with you.
[22:28] There's some gifts that we get. And when we get them, we say thank you very much, but we're not actually all that sure what they are. Lois, if you want to come out, please.
[22:41] With your gift, with your gift. I never told her about this and her face says it, doesn't it? So this morning, Lois got this gift for Christmas.
[22:57] And she got it and she said, wow, oh, thank you, that's amazing. And she went, what is it? Any ideas what it is?
[23:09] Katie? It's a printer, yeah. So this is a thing. And I don't quite know, I haven't figured out quite how it works yet. But you connect it to your phone.
[23:21] You can take a photograph and it prints out a wee picture. So we can get pictures, actual real life pictures like we used to have in the old days. Thanks, Lois.
[23:33] You can get an actual picture in your hand and it just develops in front of your eyes. So it's like some gifts you get and you're thankful for them, but you're not exactly sure what they are.
[23:46] And the more you look at them and the more you turn them around and the more you try to understand about them. I think she meant that I want to stay on the floor.
[23:57] It's okay. It's okay. The more you look at them and the more we try to study them, the more we understand. I was given this gift once. Any ideas what that is? Callum.
[24:23] Here you come Callum. This is too good to waste. This is too good to waste. Right there. So do you know what this is? Let's start again, will we? This has been opened since I last saw you.
[24:35] Callum, you're supposed to be listening. What's this? Well, my brother has it and it's in the van. Your brother has it and it's in the van.
[24:45] You press that and it's in the end of the button. Press that, yeah. Okay, yeah, you press that and then it'll go on and it'll turn red. Yeah, you press that and it'll turn.
[24:56] And it'll charge. It'll charge your phone? Yeah. Yeah, and it'll turn red. And what does it do? It plays music. And what were you saying about his girlfriend? Because he says, my brother was in the car and he's got a girlfriend and we're going to...
[25:11] No, we won't talk about the girlfriend, will we? But Callum, before you go, before you go, before you go, okay. So, you got almost all of it. You plug it into the car. It charges your phone.
[25:23] It turns red. It plays music. What's that about there for? You plug it in the whatever you call it. You plug it in the whatever you call it, yeah.
[25:35] But I want to tell you, you know something else? I didn't know this until recently. But see this here? That's also for braking car windows. It's designed for braking car windows.
[25:47] Oh yeah, I forgot that. You forgot that. You knew it. Yeah. Yeah. I didn't know it, but you knew it, yeah. Yeah. So, if you got stuck in the car, like the lock didn't work and you were trying to get out and you couldn't get out, you could take this, just go, bam, and it's designed so it'll smash the window so you can get out.
[26:06] So, anyway, that's... Thank you. You can go and sit down now. Thank you. Finally. So, this gift and that gift are the kind of things that the more you look at and the more you study, the more you can understand about what they are and what they do.
[26:26] And Paul was thankful for this indescribable gift that God had given him of Jesus. But the question I want to ask just now for a second is, who is Jesus?
[26:39] Because lots of people have that question. There'll be some people in this room today and they haven't quite understood. They're trying to figure out still, who is Jesus?
[26:52] And on the first Christmas, that's a question that Joseph had. Angels came to tell Joseph about this child Jesus who was going to be born to his wife-to-be, Mary.
[27:08] And Joseph was wondering, when the angels came down to speak to him, Joseph was wondering, who is this child? And Ailey's going to come now and read us about that first Christmas from Matthew chapter 1.
[27:24] And it's read from the point of view of Joseph and what Joseph was hearing and seeing. Thank you, Ely. Matthew 1, verse 18 to 23.
[27:37] This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. His mother, Mary, was pledged to be married to Joseph. But before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.
[27:49] Because Joseph, her husband, was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to the public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
[27:59] But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
[28:13] She will give birth to a son and you are going to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. All of this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet.
[28:27] The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son. And they will call him Emmanuel, which means God with us. Thank you, Ely. That was an excellent reading.
[28:38] Thank you very much. There's an escapist over there. You need to get up before you get her out the door. So, Joseph, boys and girls, are you listening?
[28:53] Just a very short thing just now. I want you to answer my questions and try and help me to understand all this. So, Joseph, he gets this message from the angels, and what was he told about the baby?
[29:05] What was the baby's name? Miriam. Jesus. And what was Joseph told about this baby?
[29:16] His name would be Jesus. And what would he do? He would... He would... Tell? Save? He would save his people from their sins.
[29:32] And his name also... There was another name that was given to this baby. His name was Jesus. And his name was also... It begins with I. Emily?
[29:44] Emmanuel. And Emmanuel means what? Emily, I know you know this, because you told me last week. Pardon? God with us.
[29:56] And see that fancy word I told you a second ago. Do you remember the fancy word? What was it in... Put it back on the screen, Andrew, please? The word was...
[30:09] The incarnate God. Do you know what that word means? It's just a fancy word that professors use to speak about God with us.
[30:21] And that was the message that Joseph was given. This child that's coming, he's so special because he's Jesus. And he'll save his people from their sins.
[30:31] And his name is Emmanuel. Because this child is God. The incarnate God. Who came from heaven to earth.
[30:45] To be with us. That's an amazing thing. Now today, church is very full. And there's lots of people that I recognize.
[30:58] There's some people and there's some voices I don't recognize as well. Because you've got family with you. Because on Christmas Day, we want the people that we love to be close to us. To be with us.
[31:10] We can't always have it. But it's what we want. And on that first Christmas Day, God so wanted to be with the people that he loved.
[31:24] That he sent his son. God the son. Who came to this world to be with us. Because he loved us. And he wanted to save us.
[31:35] From our sin. We'll sing again now. And we'll sing the carol. O come, O come, Emmanuel. And we'll stand to sing this carol.
[31:46] Actually, I don't think we are. Is it Heart of the Herald Angels? Sing next, Andrew. Sorry, I got it wrong. It's Christmas morning. Heart of the Herald Angels. Sing. We'll stand to sing this carol.
[31:58] Heart of the Herald Angels.
[32:12] Sing. Glory to the newborn King. Peace on earth and mercy mild.
[32:23] God and sinners reconciled. Joyful all ye nations rise. Join the triumph of the skies.
[32:38] With the angelic hosts proclaim. Christ is born in Bethlehem. Heart of the Herald Angels sing.
[32:50] Glory to the newborn King. Christ my highest and adore.
[33:02] Christ the everlasting Lord. Late in time behold him come. Lord, the Lord. All the King of the Virgin's womb.
[33:15] Hail, Lord, the flesh and God and sea. Hail, the incarnate deity. Please does man with man to dwell.
[33:29] Jesus, the Emmanuel. Lord, the Herald Angels sing. Glory to the newborn King.
[33:41] Hail, the heaven-born Prince of Peace. Hail, the Son of Righteousness.
[33:51] Light and life to all he brings. Rest with me in his way. While he lays his glory by.
[34:05] For that man no more may die. Born to raise the sons of earth. Born to give them second birth.
[34:18] Hark the herald angels sing. Glory to the newborn King. Amen. So boys and girls, you've been listening really well.
[34:35] This is our last point. The indescribable gift. Who's the indescribable gift? Do you remember? Katie? Jesus. And Jesus is the incarnate God.
[34:49] He's God the Son who came to be with us in this world. But the question is, did this world, did everybody in this world receive the gift of Jesus and say thank you?
[35:04] I love him. I trust him. I want him to be part of my life. Did everybody receive Jesus? Michael's shaking his head. No, they didn't, did they?
[35:16] You know, sometimes, sometimes you give people gifts. And they don't receive them. Boys and girls, see when you see adults.
[35:30] Adults are funny when it comes to gifts, aren't they? Sometimes you'll see, you know, you'll see an adult. And one of their friends will come along. And they're coming for coffee maybe.
[35:40] They'll come to the house. And they'll say, oh, thanks very much for coming for, giving me the invitation for coffee. I brought some chocolates. And your mum and dad will say, oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
[35:51] Don't bring anything here. No chocolates. Put them back. And you're thinking, give us the chocolates. Come on. Come on. Adults are funny about it. They don't want to receive gifts. They'll say, oh, no, no, no.
[36:04] I don't need to bring anything. And you're saying, oh, come on. Give us the chocolates. But sometimes people, they're giving gifts. And they don't want them. You know, you can probably look on videos online.
[36:18] And you'll see spoiled brats on Christmas morning. And they're giving a gift. And they'll say, I don't like it. I don't want it. This is not what I was wanting. I don't want this.
[36:28] Take it back. Sometimes that happens, doesn't it? And you know, the sad thing is, lots of people did that with Jesus.
[36:42] Jesus came into the world. And John tells us that lots of people, they didn't want Jesus.
[36:53] They didn't want to receive him. And Natalie's going to come now. So if the babies can talk, if the adults can stay quiet, just for Natalie's reading.
[37:05] We're going to hear from John chapter 1, verses 1 to verse 14. And boys and girls, this is the last reading. I'm going to give you a wee clue here. When John talks about the Word, he's talking about Jesus.
[37:18] Okay? So Natalie, you come and read this reading, please. John chapter 1, verses 1 to 14. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
[37:31] He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made. Without him nothing was made that had been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
[37:42] The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it. There came a man who was sent from God. His name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe.
[37:57] He himself was not the light. He came only as a witness to the light. Through light, that gives light to every man, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.
[38:11] He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
[38:22] Children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision, or a husband's will, but born of God. The Word became flesh, and made his dwelling among us.
[38:33] We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. Thank you very much, Natalie. You know, that's a bit of a sad reading, isn't it?
[38:50] There's amazing things in that reading, and there's wonderful things in that reading. But the sad verse in that reading is the verse where it says about Jesus that he came to his own.
[39:04] He came to his own world that he made. And he came to his own people that he loved. And many of them didn't receive him.
[39:17] Many of the people that God so loved didn't receive him. The greatest gift ever. And lots of people said, I don't want him.
[39:32] Take him away. I don't want him. I don't believe in him. I don't love him. I don't trust him. Let me get on with my life. Lots of people said that, and lots of people are still saying that.
[39:46] Lots of people say today, I like Christmas. I love the turkey. I love the food. I love the lights. I love the presents. But I don't want Jesus.
[40:02] And what I want to say, boys and girls, just to finish, is let's not make that mistake. But let's see and let's receive the greatest gift that ever came to this world.
[40:20] Jesus. Let's ask him to come into our hearts. Let's ask him to take our sin away. Let's ask him to make us, whatever age we are, children of God.
[40:36] And we're going to sing again now. And I think now what we're going to do is we're going to have the boys and girls come up and sing.
[40:49] So we're going to have two songs. And first of all, you're going to sing the song you've been learning in Sunday school. The angels sing.
[41:00] I think that's what it's called. And then we're going to hear you singing, A Way in a Mangel. So if all the boys and girls could come out the front, please. And we will listen to you singing the Christmas story.
[41:11] Do you think you can sing nice and loud today?
[41:28] Pardon? Do you think you can sing nice and loud? Pardon? Let's get your voices tuned up. Let's hear you singing this right out, really nice and loud, the Christmas story.
[41:40] Let's hear you singing.
[42:10] September. Let's see. Let's get your voices tuned.
[42:26] Jesus is born, see the shepherds come from hills afar. Hear the angels sing, Jesus is born, see the lights and follow the star.
[42:42] How sweet, thank God, this baby boy, who came from heaven to bring us joy. We give our presence, dream and bring Him, Jesus our Savior, our friend and our King.
[43:00] Hear the angels sing, Jesus is born, see the shepherds come from hills afar. Hear the angels sing, Jesus is born, see the lights and follow the star.
[43:17] Hear the angels sing, Jesus is born, see the shepherds come from hills afar. Hear the angels sing, Jesus is born, see the lights and follow the star.
[43:36] We give our presence, dream and bring Him, Jesus our Savior, our friend and our King. Thank you.
[43:49] Thank you. Thank you. Our name is Commodore fasting, we lack this! A team in學. Examples ofkenntnis chocolate, Whoa! We! The Renew it. The rez of Mar Además Happy Christmas is, dear Daddy and within the Crew, Jesus the head She is fromğasseot, A son of vec��� My accompany Sarahappelle stand beerIZER.
[44:12] Their�만break A. Chuka bean Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, the lint of our Jesus laid down His sweet head.
[44:28] The stars in the bright sky, looked at where He lay, the lint of our Jesus asleep on the face.
[44:41] The castle of our Lord, the baby awaits, the lint of our Jesus, the Lord crying remains.
[44:57] I love You, Lord Jesus, look down from the sky, and stay on my side until the morning is nigh.
[45:11] Hear me, Lord Jesus, I ask You to stay. Close by me forever, and love me, I pray.
[45:24] There's all the dear children, fingers and our care, and fit us forever to live with You.
[45:36] Thank you very much, boys and girls.
[45:52] Excellent singing. Lovely carols. The first carol was written by a girl called Eleanor from Stornoway, a friend of ours.
[46:03] It's a lovely carol. It's not very well known. And the second carol is a lovely carol as well, Away in a Manger. There's only one line in that carol I don't like, because it's not in the Bible, and I don't think it's true.
[46:16] And it says, The little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes. So babies, relax. It's fine. There's nowhere in the Bible that says Jesus didn't cry.
[46:28] I'm quite sure He did cry. And so, but it's a lovely carol, and we love to hear the wee one singing it. We're going to sing. Now, well, no, we're not going to sing quite yet.
[46:40] We're going to pray before we sing. But again, boys and girls, thank you for singing. Thank you for listening. We heard about the indescribable gift, and that's Jesus.
[46:51] And He's the incarnate God. He's God with us. And we have the invitation to receive Him. He's the greatest gift ever. But we have to say to the Lord Jesus, Please come into my heart.
[47:05] And now ENA is going to sing, is going to pray, and pray for the wee ones before we sing our final carol. Thanks. Heavenly Father, we rejoice to be found in your house on this your day, and on this the day when we commemorate the birth of your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
[47:30] And Lord, our hearts are indeed filled with joy when we reflect on the story that we have heard again today, that this child came into the world so that we could have eternal life, so that He could eliminate our sins, pay for our sins on the cross, Lord.
[47:47] He was a baby that was born to die. But we thank you, Lord, that the story doesn't end on the cross. We thank you, Lord, that this Jesus rose from the dead, and He has ascended on high at this very moment, watching over us, hearing every word that we pray and every word we sing as we sing these carols.
[48:09] So, Lord, we thank you again that we are found worshipping our Saviour on Christmas morning. And in particular, we pray, Lord, for the wee ones that we see and the wee ones that we hear week in, week out.
[48:23] And, Lord, we pray for them. We pray that you would have your hand over them, that you would protect them, and that in these formative years of their lives, Lord, they would hear and understand that your love for them is a love that is an everlasting love, and that they would grow to trust you, and that they would grow to follow you, and that they would grow to serve you, Lord, and that in time, that they too would spread the good news that a baby was born in Bethlehem, and that baby was Jesus, who is the Saviour of the world.
[48:53] It's wonderful news, Lord, and we pray that as the day goes on, that whatever we're doing, as we spend time with our families, as we perhaps reflect on those who have gone home to be with you, we remember, Lord, that we have hope because of this baby, because of this child who was born.
[49:13] It was Jesus himself who said that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that those who believe in him would never perish, but have everlasting life. And it's remarkable that these words came out of the lips of Jesus himself, conscious and aware that his ultimate purpose was to offer himself as a sacrifice so that we could have a sinless, perfect, eternal life in glory with you.
[49:39] There are no words, Lord, that could ever adequately come close to describing how joyous and how wonderful that is. May we all know the peace and the reality of Christ as our Saviour today.
[49:53] It's in his name we pray. Amen. Amen. Let's sing our final carol this morning, In the Bleak Midwinter.
[50:03] We'll stand to sing to God's pleas. In the Bleak Midwinter In the winter, frosty wind made morn.
[50:25] Earth stood hard as iron, watered like a stone. Show I'd fallen so on snow, so on snow.
[50:42] In the faint midwinter long ago.
[50:53] But God told him nor else to stay. Heaven and earth shall free away when he comes to reign.
[51:11] In the faint midwinter, a stable place of ice. The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.
[51:30] Angels and archangels, we have gathered there. Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air.
[51:47] But his mother only in her maiden bliss. Worship the beloved with a kiss.
[52:05] What can I give him, who runs my young? If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb.
[52:22] If I were a wise man, I would do my part. Yet what can I give him in my heart?
[52:41] And I may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of God the Holy Spirit be with us all, now and forevermore.
[52:51] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.