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[0:00] Good morning everyone. Good morning Seanie. Good morning everyone. And Merry Christmas to everyone if I haven't seen you yet. Welcome to the service today.

[0:15] This is a special family service. Now you might say rightly every service is a family service and it is. Every service is a family service. But today it's good to have so many children.

[0:27] Children are going to be in with us for the whole service and so I'll be speaking very specifically to the children. But everybody is welcome and everybody will hopefully listen along and contribute. One or two intimations just before we begin. First to say that those who are visiting with us today, there's a few visitors, it's good to see you and if you're able to stay behind at the end it would be great to get a chance to meet with you and have a cup of tea and coffee and maybe a mince pie or something like that. The service this evening will be at 6pm. It's a garlic service and that will be conducted by Mr. Angus Mick Vicker.

[1:08] In the course of the week, Road to Recovery meets on Tuesday at 8 and the prayer meeting is on Wednesday at half past 7, both here in the community centre. And the service is next Sunday which will be New Year's Day. We'll be at 11 and 6 and both God willing will be taken by myself. The church magazine, the record, subscriptions are due and please impose 18 pounds in the envelope and put that in the offering plate if that applies to you.

[1:36] Three more things. One is to say thank you. We had a holiday club, Christmas outreach holiday club type thing here yesterday and on Christmas Eve I wondered if we'd have any children but we had pretty close on 40 children I think yesterday. And it was great to see so many, it was great to hear them so engaged with the Christmas story and I want to just say thank you to all who came and all who helped and all who contributed in any way and all who weren't present with us physically but I know were praying beforehand and during it. I pray that the Lord will bless that work.

[2:16] One, two other things. The leaflets that I'll leave on the desk here, pre-church youth camps, the leaflets have come through for the brochures. I know these things book up quickly so if you're interested in going to one of these take a click through and you can make your booking if it's of interest.

[2:34] Gordon, I think he's going to say just a brief word to give us an update on where things are at with the building. Good morning, Merry Christmas to everybody. Just to update that the section 75 agreement has now been signed by one set of the party that have to sign it.

[3:11] And our trustees now just have to sign it and that's us moving forward to the next stage. So section 75 has been agreed between the three sets of solicitors. It's now in the process of being signed and that brings an end to the discussions around the parking issue that we had to deal with in relation to moving forward for the purchase of the inn.

[3:36] So we now move forward to the next stage. I don't have coloured drawings yet following the agreement or the arrangements that you made with Andy but once we have these we'll have them on display for everybody to see.

[3:53] But again, we're moving forward. Continue to pray. Hopefully we'll have more news in the coming weeks but things are moving forward and we thank God for his blessing.

[4:04] And it's good to be able to stand here on Christmas Day and say we're taking another step forward and we're nearing the end of the process in this journey that we've been on. So continue to pray and Merry Christmas.

[4:17] Thank you, thank you, Gordon. Thank you, Gordon. When it came through, Andy, my brother-in-law, the architect, said that's a great Christmas present for us and it really is.

[4:31] So we're thankful to God for all that he's blessed us with thus far and another step that we're able to take. Thank you, Gordon, thank you, Gordon, also for all that he's done in terms of the negotiations and the paperwork involved with it all.

[4:45] Let us now worship God. We're here today and this is Christmas Day. This is the day that we remember the coming of Christ into the world. And we're going to begin by singing to his praise from 491 in Mission Praise.

[5:00] And all the praises will be on the screen. And we will be standing to sing and singing to pray tonight today. So the first hymn that we have is Mission Praise 491.

[5:13] Now come, all you faithful, joyful and faithful. Let's all pray together. Let's close our eyes and bow our heads and pray. Lord God, we thank you for this Christmas morning.

[5:28] And we thank you for the fact that we're here in this place with the desire and the intention to come and to worship you. We thank you that you are our God and that we are your people.

[5:43] We thank you for Jesus who came into this world, Father, so that we could be your people. We thank you that he came and he lived for us and he died for us.

[5:56] And he rose from the dead so that we could have life that is everlasting. So that we who were lost and who are far away from you could find our way back to you through Jesus, the Good Shepherd.

[6:10] Help us, Lord, we pray on this Christmas morning to think much about Jesus. And to think much, Father, about all your love for us. And sending your Son into this world to rescue us, to save us, to make us your children.

[6:27] And so as we read and as we sing, as we think about all these things that we think about each year, we pray that we would realise again today, very clearly and powerfully, that you are the God who loves us.

[6:43] And you are the God who is calling us to trust you and to come close to you. We pray that you would help us in the service and all that we do. That as we read and as we sing and as we pray, and Lord, as we think about the passages that are read, we ask that you would work in our hearts and that you would clear our minds of everything that would take us away from thinking about you.

[7:08] And Lord, that you would help us to think about you. Lord, be near to us, we pray. We thank you that you promised that when we come together in the name of Jesus, you will be here. And we pray that we would know that you are here in the power of the Holy Spirit today.

[7:24] We pray for those who are struggling today. We thank you that we're comfortable here, that we feel safe, that we're warm. We pray for people who are struggling today. We pray for anybody who's out on the sea.

[7:37] As we hear the winds getting wild again. We pray for those who are on the sea. We pray for those who are travelling, that you would keep them safe, that you would be near to them. We thank you that you've told us in the Bible that wherever we are, even if we're at the far side of the sea, Lord, you are with us.

[7:54] And so we think of some of our own families who arrived on oil rinks and in different places in the world. And we ask that you would be near to them and that they would know that you are God and that you are close to them.

[8:06] We pray for those today who are having to work and we pray that you would help them in their work. We pray for those today who are struggling and who feel sad and who might feel lonely because they're at home just now in their room.

[8:24] And we ask that you would be very near to them. We thank you that Jesus is a friend who is closer than any other friend. And we pray for those who are lonely, that they would know that you are very close to them and that you are comforting.

[8:36] And we pray for those who feel sad because every Christmas and every New Year we are thankful for all the good things that you give to us. And we're thankful for all the family and the friends who are around us.

[8:49] But we always remember those who are not with us anymore. And Lord, we pray for those who are struggling and who are grieving because they remember those whom they loved and spent so many years with who are no longer in this world but who are in eternity.

[9:06] We thank you that when we are trusting in Jesus we don't die but we live forever. And we thank you that that gives us great joy and comfort as we think about those who are not here.

[9:19] We pray for those across the world today who are struggling. We see people in different cities and different countries where there's no peace. And children and men and ladies are struggling and they are sick and they are injured.

[9:34] And we see them on the TV. And Lord, we feel so helpless but we thank you that we can bring them to you in prayer. And so we do that now and ask that you would help them wherever they are, whichever countries where there is suffering.

[9:48] We pray that you would help. And Lord, we ask now that you would be with us in the rest of this day. Help us to remember Jesus as there are programs on the TV and on the radio, as there are services across the land as people come to church.

[10:03] Maybe for the first time in a while on Christmas Day we ask that you would be working through the Bible and the power of the Holy Spirit and that you would be drawing lots of people to see and to trust in Jesus.

[10:16] Take away, Lord, our sin we pray and help us. And we ask all these things. In Jesus' name. Amen. Boys and girls, have you got a big voices today?

[10:34] Or have you all been up since half past two in the morning? Are you all there, boys and girls, today? Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. Pardon?

[10:48] Merry Christmas. What about the people over there? They can't hear you. Merry Christmas. Okay, you got that?

[11:04] Tell me, boys and girls, what is your favourite time of the year? Louder, please.

[11:16] Christmas. Is that your favourite time of the year? Christmas? Yeah? What's your favourite day of the year? Christmas Day.

[11:28] That's the correct answer. Thank you. Tell me, what, tell me some of the things that makes Christmas such a good, exciting time for you? Alistair.

[11:41] Pardon? Presents, he says, from deep under the ski jacket. Who else put their hands up? Ailey? Santa. Lois?

[11:55] Not sure? Tell us some of the things that are exciting about Christmas. Presents? Santa? What? Jesus. Jesus, yes.

[12:06] And give me lots and lots of answers. Let's get our minds working and our tongues working. Alistair? Pardon? Putting up the Christmas tree.

[12:18] Harry? Snowing? Is it? It might be, I'm told the weather's going to get colder as the day goes on, you never know. Anna?

[12:30] Parties? What else? Anyone over here? Pardon? Family, yes, said Faragher. Other things you like about Christmas Day?

[12:41] Turkey. Turkey, says E&A, to be very honest. How about Brussels sprouts? Thank you, Salad. Ailey?

[12:54] Ailey? Spending time with your family, yeah. There's lots and lots of things about Christmas that make it so fun and so exciting for us.

[13:06] The first answer he actually gave me was presents. Has anybody brought any presents with him today? John, you showed me a present.

[13:17] Come and show us the present. Come on round here. Tell the congregation, what did you get? Stand on the chair. A watch? Stand on the chair so they can all hear you. A watch? Stand on the chair.

[13:28] Watch. Stand right up and then show us the watch. Nobody will steal it. What did you get for Christmas, do you want to? A watch. A watch. And tell us about the watch.

[13:39] What's good about it? Nothing. It's got a bar of it. Sometimes it's dangerous to ask a question.

[13:57] It's got barges on the face? No. No, it doesn't. What's it got on the face of it? Star Wars. Star Wars. It's got a Star Wars red and black watch.

[14:07] Does it tell the time? It's not that time already, is it? Okay, sit down. Amy, what do you have? Come and show us. Take the chair.

[14:20] You don't need the mic but you can have it anyway. What have you got there? A bracelet. A bracelet. Now what colour is the bracelet? Pink. Pink. Is that made out of little sweeties that you can eat?

[14:32] No. No? May I try one? No. A beautiful bracelet. Do you like our bracelet? Yeah. Yeah. Okay, thank you. What else have we got?

[14:44] Anyone else? Grace? You going to come out and show us? What have you got?

[15:01] Stand in the chair, Grace. Uh-huh. If it's not too... Do I know? Yeah. Okay. What have you got? Tell us. Saddle club horse.

[15:11] Grace has got a saddle club horse. And there's a figure on the horse called... Lisa. Lisa. Saddle club horse. And Lisa, can you all see that?

[15:22] Do you approve of that? Good stuff. Katrina, what have you got in your hand there? Are you going to come and show us? No? Okay, it's a secret. Anyone else want to show any more presents?

[15:36] Duncan, put your hand down. It's just the children. Anna? Okay. Okay. Come and show us. What have you got?

[15:51] A stationary holder. A stationary holder. So put all your stuff in so homework will never be a problem ever again. Okay. Lois, do you want to show us your present?

[16:04] No? She's too shy. She's got a present under her chair. This one as well. This is a nice present that we got. It was on the doorstep the other day.

[16:15] At the outside the hall. This is from a diva to all the children in the Sunday school. So, I don't think a diva's here today. But when you see her, it shouldn't say thank you for the present.

[16:27] I'll leave it over here just now. So, there's lots and lots of presents you've got. And lots of reasons to be excited.

[16:39] But is there reason that Christmas is so great? Is it just about our presents? It's not, is it? Stuff is good to get.

[16:52] It's nice to get presents. But it's not all about presents, is it? Stuff that we have. What's the greatest reason for Christmas being the greatest time of the year?

[17:07] Well, you're going to help us think about that in the rest of the service. But I think we'll sing before we get to that. We'll sing again. The words are on the screen.

[17:19] Mission praise 764. 764. While shepherds watched their flocks by night, all seated on the ground, an angel of the Lord came down and glory shone a light.

[17:34] This is the part of the Christmas story from Luke's gospel about the shepherds. So, back to our question.

[17:46] What is it that makes Christmas so great? There's four things. Four things that I want you to remember today.

[17:57] And the first thing I would like you to remember is the greatest problem. You weren't expecting that, were you?

[18:10] What makes Christmas so great? Well, the first thing that we have to remember is the greatest, I don't mean the goodest, I mean the greatest biggest problem that we ever had.

[18:23] You know, sometimes we get problems, don't we? And they're not great big problems. They're just weird problems.

[18:34] They're kind of fixable problems. Like, just imagine, Jono. Jono opens his present, and he opens it up, and it's a watch.

[18:45] And it's brilliant, this watch. It's got Star Wars on it, and it tells the time and everything. But then, when he takes it out of the packet, there's a problem.

[18:58] You know what the problem was? Maybe the problem was, the arm wasn't ticking. And the watch wasn't working.

[19:10] And we can imagine Jono saying, No! My watch! That's a big problem for a minute. But then, James looks at the box and he says, Ah, don't worry, it just needs a battery.

[19:27] So he goes into the drawer, and he gets out a battery, puts into the watch. That's the problem solved. It's the problem fixed. You know, there's some problems that we have in this world, and we can fix them.

[19:47] But there's some problems that we have, and we can't fix them. We can't solve them. And who is it that's going to do the first reading from Genesis?

[19:59] I think it's Anna that's going to do the first reading from Genesis. And Anna is going to tell us about a problem that happened at the very beginning in the Garden of Eden.

[20:13] Genesis chapter 3, verses 8 to 13. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

[20:31] But the Lord called to the man, Where are you? He answered, I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked. So I hid. And he said, Who told you that you were naked?

[20:44] Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from? The man said, The woman you put here with me, she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.

[20:54] Then the Lord God said to the woman, What is this you have done? The woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate. Thank you, Anna.

[21:07] So there is the story of the greatest problem that we ever had. And it came into the world almost at the very beginning with Adam.

[21:21] And God created this beautiful world, and he put them in this wonderful garden, and he said, This is yours to live in, and you can eat from any of these trees apart from one.

[21:33] I want you to trust me, says God. I want you to trust me, and to love me, and to do what I say. Did they do what he said?

[21:45] The serpent, the devil, came aloft, and he said, Don't trust God. That's a great tree to eat from. You take the fruit from that tree.

[21:56] And they listened, not to God, but to the devil. And they ate. And when they did that, sin came into the world.

[22:10] And when sin came into the world, Adam no longer ran to God, but he ran away from God. It was a big, big problem.

[22:22] And it was a big, the greatest problem we ever had, because Adam and Eve, and no one in this world, could fix it.

[22:35] So the first thing that we remember, what makes Christmas so great, is that it was the greatest problem. But thankfully, that's just the first point.

[22:46] And the second point is, there's the greatest promise. You know, we had a problem in the house this week. In one of the rooms, we had a television, and it was plugged in, and we thought it was going to work, and we switched it on.

[23:02] No picture at all. I couldn't watch any football at all. So I phoned up the TV people, and I said, The problem I have is that there's no picture on my TV.

[23:18] It won't work. And they said, No problem. We understand what's happened there. We'll send two men round there, and I promise you, I promise you, we will fix it.

[23:33] And so they arrived at the house, and Angus Glenn was in the house on that day, and they looked at the TV, and they looked at the cables, and they went, Hmm. What did the boss say?

[23:45] I said, The boss said, He promises you'll fix this. And they went, Well, I'm not sure that we can actually fix this. What we'll need to do, and he was looking at the wooden floor, we'll need to drill a hole, and cut out a section from the floor.

[24:03] And Angus Glenn was like that. And then we'll have to drill a hole through the wall of the house, and we'll have to drill a wall through the other hole. And I said, Just stop you there. Forget it. We're not going to do any of that.

[24:16] So there was this problem, and they made a promise to us, but their promise wasn't that great, because they couldn't keep it. You know, in the Old Testament, in the Bible, God looked at his people, and he saw that his people were wandering further and further and further away from him.

[24:40] Because it started in that garden, but the people just got worse and worse, and they got further and further away from him. And they got more and more into a big sinful mess.

[24:53] But God still loved them. And God came to them, to the prophets, and he made them a promise that he himself would come to the world and save them.

[25:09] And we're going to hear that promise now, that promise that was given to the people all that time ago. Natalie's going to come and read from Isaiah chapter 9, and verses 2, and 6, and 7.

[25:20] The people walking in the darkness have seen a great light on those living in the shadow of death.

[25:32] A light has dawned, for to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders, and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, Off the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end.

[25:54] He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.

[26:07] The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. Thank you, Natalie. That, what you heard there, Natalie read so well, that was, and that is, the greatest promise.

[26:21] It was the greatest problem, but then God loved his people so much that he gave them the greatest promise that ever was made, that someone, a saviour, would come from heaven to earth, earth, who would be able to fix the problem of their sin and ours.

[26:45] Here's a question for the boys and girls, and if the boys and girls don't know it, some of the big mature boys and girls from over there can maybe answer. How many years did the people have to wait for God before he answered and made good on his promise?

[27:06] He made them a promise a saviour would come and he would fix the problem of sin, he would save them. How long did they have to wait before the saviour came?

[27:16] Have a guess. How many years do you think? John Rory, how many years? A hundred years, good guess, but it's higher.

[27:30] What do you think? Caitlin? A thousand years, good guess, but lower. Anna? Four hundred years, higher.

[27:43] Bella? Bang on. After God made that promise, the people had to wait for seven hundred years before the one who would be the answer to the greatest promise that was ever made would come.

[28:00] God. And that's something that just makes me think, boys and girls, do you ever pray to God? Do you ever pray? You do.

[28:11] And do you ever pray, do you ever pray and you think, how come I'm not getting an answer to my prayer? Maybe you're praying for somebody who's your friend and they don't trust and they don't trust in Jesus, they don't believe in God maybe and you're praying for them at night time and you're praying, please help such and such to understand about Jesus.

[28:32] Please help them to understand and trust. Do you ever pray and you don't get an answer to your prayer? Yeah?

[28:43] Happens to me too. Do you know what to do when you pray and you don't get an answer to your prayer? Keep on praying and keep on praying because God hears and he answers our prayers.

[29:00] Sometimes he takes a wee while but God always keeps his promises and in God's time the one who was promised who was the one that was promised?

[29:14] Who was the one that was promised? The Saviour? Jesus. In God's time he came. And the boys and girls now are going to sing. They're going to sing about the one who came, the child in the manger.

[29:30] I think they're going to sing the first verse in Gala. Is that right? The boys and girls are going to sing the first verse in Gala and then we're all going to stand up and join in and the words will be on the sleeve.

[30:05] Gala... In the sea The people Lancaster sing achieve their fiddled Thank you.

[30:51] Thank you.

[31:21] Thank you. Thank you.

[32:21] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[32:55] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Silent night. Holy night. Scoops the world.

[33:07] Hed from sight. And so on. We'll remain seated for singing this one. And we sing to God. So boys and girls. The greatest time of the year for so many people is Christmas time.

[33:20] And what makes it the greatest time? Well, first of all, it was the greatest. Who can remember? Problem.

[33:32] There you go, Anna. Who got that problem? Yeah? So the first thing that makes Christmas the greatest time of year was the greatest problem.

[33:44] What's our greatest problem? It's called sin. It's called sin. It's called sin. Is there only some people that have that problem? Or does everyone have the problem? Everyone.

[33:55] Everyone has that problem. But God loved us so much that he didn't leave us with that greatest problem. He made us the greatest promise.

[34:08] And that promise we read from Isaiah. Of one who was going to come to this world. And he was going to save the people from their sins. You know, when we were singing a second ago.

[34:21] We were singing. And it said in the hymn. About how silently the gift of. How silently the gift is given.

[34:33] I think I read that somewhere. One of the carols. Maybe not that one there. But that takes us to the next point. There's the greatest problem. There's the greatest promise.

[34:45] And the third thing is. The greatest. What do you think? The greatest. The greatest. Now you guys got some great presents today.

[34:59] Tell me. One or two more presents that you got. You didn't need to show us. But what did you get? Jono, what did you get? Oh, Jono. Not Jono. Alistair. A remote control giant BB-8.

[35:21] What is that? Is that Hoover? Is that Hoover? Okay. That sounds very exciting.

[35:32] You can tell us about that afterwards. What did you get, Ali? A little bag with a mouse in it. Oh, don't tell Kenny first that.

[35:43] Who else got presents? John Roddy. What did you get? A Lego set. A Lego set. Good stuff.

[35:54] Caitlin? Pardon? Sylvanian families. What else? A Lego car.

[36:06] You got a Lego car. Wow. Bethany? A remote control car. A remote control car. Good stuff.

[36:17] There's some pretty. Katie? A Furby Connect. Another thing I would need help with. There's some pretty amazing presents there.

[36:31] But, boys and girls, you know the answer to this question. What or who was the greatest present that ever came into this world?

[36:42] Just all shout out. One, two, three. Jesus! Exactly right. And now we are going to have Ruth who's going to come.

[36:53] And she's going to read about how Jesus came into this world. Matthew chapter 1, 18 to 21. This is how the birth of Jesus Christ has been about.

[37:07] His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph. But before they came together, she was found to be with the child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph, her husband, was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to the public, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

[37:25] 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.

[37:39] She will give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. Thank you, Ruth, for reading that so clearly.

[37:53] So Jesus is the one who was and who is and who will ever, ever, ever be the greatest present ever to come into this world.

[38:11] He was and he is the saviour. And who did he come to save, boys and girls? Who did Jesus come to save? Yeah?

[38:23] Everyone. Everyone. Is there anybody whose life can get into such a huge, big, sinful mess that they're too sinful that Jesus just isn't able to save?

[38:34] No one. There is no one who can become such a big mess and have so many sins in their heart that cannot be saved by Jesus if they look to him in faith.

[38:51] Is that good news? How good news is that? Really good. Amazing. Amazing big news. Because all of us have sin in our hearts.

[39:02] All of us have sin in our lives. But if we look to Jesus and if we trust in him and if we say, Lord Jesus, please take my sin away and be my saviour, the Bible tells us that he will save us from our sin.

[39:23] And he will make us God's friends. In this world and then forever. We're going to sing about that now. Boys and girls are going to come out.

[39:33] And they're going to sing Away in a Manger. And you're all going to join them.

[39:44] They all look confused, but you can hear all of the words for this. We'll all stand and the words will be on the screen in just a second. Away in a Manger is our next praise. Let's all stand to sing.

[39:55] What? Mary had a baby. Mary had a baby. We're coming to that. Don't worry. After that, we'll sing Mary had a baby. So first of all, we'll sing Away in a Manger.

[40:09] And we'll all stand to sing. And then the boys and girls will sing Mary had a baby for us. Mary had a baby. In a manger, don't live for a death.

[40:34] The little Lord Jesus lay down His sweet head. The stars in the bright sky looked down where He lay.

[40:50] The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay. And the little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.

[41:03] The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay. But little Lord Jesus, no crying He waits.

[41:15] I love you, Lord Jesus. Look down from the sky. And stay by my side.

[41:27] Till morning is night. Hear me, Lord Jesus. I ask you to stay.

[41:40] Rose by me forever. And love me, I pray. Bless all the dear children in your tender care.

[41:57] And bid us for heaven to live with you there. Okay. The congregation could sit down.

[42:12] And the boys and girls could stay standing up. And Angus, you were right. We should have sung Mary had a baby first. Mary had a baby.

[42:46] Yes, Lord. Mary had a baby. Yes, Lord. The people keep on coming, but the train ain't gone.

[42:57] She laid him in a manger. Yes, Lord. She laid him in a manger. Yes, my Lord. She laid him in a manger. Yes, Lord. The people keep on coming, but the train ain't gone.

[43:11] What did you call Him? Jesus. What did you call Him? Jesus, Lord. What did you call Him? Jesus. The people keep on coming, but the train ain't gone.

[43:26] The shepherds were watching. Yes, Lord. The shepherds were watching. Yes, my Lord. The shepherds were watching. Yes, Lord. The people keep on coming, but the train ain't gone.

[43:39] No idea she was watching. No idea what the sea is with heaven. No idea what of theução means.

[44:07] that was brilliant well well done so the last three bit boys and girls you've listened really well let me just check you've still got it the greatest time of year is Christmas what makes it so great well there was the greatest problem but God didn't leave us with a problem he made us the greatest promise and then he gave us the greatest Mary had a baby and finally I want to think about the greatest prospect you know what a prospect is it's just a fancy word for something that we look forward to something that we don't have just now but something that we look forward to and you know boys and girls for us today we've got lots of joy in our hearts

[45:15] Christmas is such a happy time and we enjoy Christmas but when I was praying earlier I was praying for people who struggle with Christmas because some people feel sad at Christmas time they feel happy but they feel sad at the same time because there are people who are around them that they love but there are people who are no longer in this world and who've died and they miss them and we can all think even in the congregation we can remember some people who who sat with us here not that long ago but they're no longer in this world and they've gone on from this world to eternity and we remember them today and we miss them but you know the wonderful thing the Bible tells us that there is the greatest prospect for people who have trusted in the Lord Jesus and the prospect that Jesus has promised to all his people is heaven he's promised that when we trust him he'll take away our sin and he'll come into our hearts and he'll live with us in this world but then when we go from this world he has a place that's prepared for us in heaven and boys and girls you're going to come out one more time out you come and you're going to sing to us a verse from Isaiah chapter 4 and we get a wee look into heaven when we hear about

[47:00] Isaiah 40 come forward Johnny the wind on the road and shall be new and strange they will rise up on waves like people they will rise up and love and weary they will rise up and love and love and praise I sign up your teacher to come who will wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength they will rise up on waves like people they will rise up feet they will rise up

[48:03] Michael Isaiah 30 30 30 on H 3 cam 3 4 6 6 4 4 P 3 1 3 4 Moon 4 5 thank you very much for singing that verse so beautifully to us a verse that we are reminded in that verse that those who wait those who hope, those who trust in the Lord their strength will be renewed and they will run and not grow weary and they will walk and not be faint, they will soar on wings like eagles, that doesn't really happen in this world but when we're trusting in the Lord Jesus even though we get weak in this world and we get tired and we struggle with our bodies as we get older we're thankful that Jesus has promised us the greatest prospect, that we will go to be with him in heaven where we will be free of all the sad and the sore and the suffering and we will be with him healthy and strong and near to him forever so greatest time of the year is Christmas the greatest problem is our sin the greatest promise that God made was Jesus the greatest present he ever gave us was Jesus and the greatest prospect that is promised and assured to all who are trusting in Jesus is heaven so let's thank him for that and pray

[50:04] Lord God we thank you again for this Christmas day we thank you for all that we have remembered that you promised Lord that you would be the saviour that would save us from our sin and we thank you that Jesus came to this world he was born into this world and we thank you that he lived the life that we could never live the life without sin we thank you that he died the death that we deserve to die he went to a cross to take our sin away from us he paid the price for our sin we thank you that the cross didn't hold him although he died he rose from the dead and we thank you that the promise of Jesus is that all who are trusting in him will never die but they will live forever thank you for the wonder of your good news help us to remember it today in Jesus name we pray amen we are going to sing to finish and we sing mission phrase 169 and the words are on the screen heart the herald angels sing glory to the new born king mission phrase 211 the words are on the screen also and I may the grace of our Lord

[51:27]  Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the fellowship the comfort of God the Holy Spirit be with us this Christmas morning and forevermore amen as we Кто the house or are on the experience of glory and the memorial and who is that the honor the av the and the island and and through