Well, I give you all a very warm
welcome once again to our annual carol service. The years go past
very fast and very quickly. Anyway, we're thankful to be
able to come here this afternoon to remember, more specifically,
the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Something we should, of course,
remember all the year, but it's good just to be able to remember
it more specifically. So we're here this afternoon
to remember the birth of Jesus. So let's pray for God's blessing
this afternoon. Great and ever gracious Lord
God, we give thanks that we're able to come together, thankful
for such an opportunity, and thankful indeed we are for the
birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we pray that every one
of us may realise the wonderful significance of it and the fulfilment
of it after so many years. And Lord, how encouraging it
is to us to know that the Word of God, which spoke of that way
back at the very beginning, came to pass. And so, Lord, here we
are this afternoon. We would desire to truly thank
Thee for that glorious birth, and we pray that be with us now.
and bless us as we sing those hymns and carols together and
read the Word of God. May it be a blessing to us. Hear
us then, gracious God, we ask it for Jesus' sake. Amen. Our first carol is, O come, all
ye faithful, joyful and triumphant, O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem. Come and behold him, born the
King of angels, O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore
him, O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord. The first carol. ? Be faithful, joyful and triumphant
? ? Come ye, come ye to Bethlehem ? ? Come and behold Him, come and behold Him ? O come, let us adore Him, O come,
let us adore Him, Let us adore him, alleluia. ? From his shepherds beside. ? So our first readings this afternoon
are taken from the Gospel of John. firstly in chapter one and then
in chapter three. And in these passages, we read
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word, who, though almighty God,
came to earth as a real man to be the light of the world and
to save from their sins all those that believe in him. So reading
from the Gospel of John, chapter one, and then from chapter three. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God. All things were made by him,
and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was
life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth
in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. There was
a man sent from God whose name was John. The same came for a
witness, to bear witness of the light, that all men through him
might believe. He was not that light, but was
sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light,
which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was
in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew
him not. He came unto his own, and his
own received him not. But as many as received him,
to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name, which were born, not of blood, nor
of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh and
dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son
into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through
him might be saved. So we'll now stand and sing together
our second carol. While shepherds watched their
flocks by night, all seated on the ground, the angel of the
Lord came down, and glory shone around. I'm standing to sing
the second carol. The angel of the Lord came down,
and for me shone a light. Then God, shatt'ring all my sin
and my sins, O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave? The joy they brought. All the angels praising God and
us bare, Dressed their joyful song. God's in the midst when I'm not
around to see. Our next reading is from the
book of Luke and chapter 1 and verse 26 to 35 and then verse
38. This is about when the angel
Gabriel came and told Mary that she'll be having a baby son who
is the promised Messiah, promised many thousands of years before.
So Luke chapter 1 verse 26. And in the sixth month, the angel
Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the
house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel
came in unto her and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured. The Lord is with thee. Blessed
art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was
troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation
this should be. And the angel said unto her,
Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with God. and behold
thou shalt conceive in thy womb and shalt bring forth a son and
shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great and shall be
called the son of the highest and the Lord God shall give unto
him the throne of his father David and he shall reign over
the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there shall be
no end. Then Mary said unto the angel,
How shall these things be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel
answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee,
and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore
also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called
the Son of God. And then verse 38, and Mary said,
behold, the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy
word. And the angel departed from her. We'll sing our next carol, which
is number three on the hymn sheet, Silent Night, Holy Night. All is calm, all is bright. The third carol. ? Let it rise ? Jesus, Lord at thy birth. Jesus,
Lord at thy birth. Our next reading is from Matthew
1, verses 18 to 25. Joseph is told why Jesus will
be born, to save his people from their sins. That's Matthew 1,
verses 18 to 25. Now the birth of Jesus Christ
was on this wise, when as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph,
before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy
Ghost. Then Joseph, her husband, being
a just man and not willing to make her a public example, was
minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these
things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in
a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take
unto thee Mary thy wife, For that which is conceived in her
is of the Holy Ghost, and she shall bring forth a son, and
thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people
from their sins. Now all this was done that it
might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet,
saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring
forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which being
interpreted is God with us. Then Joseph, being raised from
sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took
unto him his wife, and knew her not till she had brought forth
her firstborn son, and he called his name Jesus. Now we'll sing
the fourth carol on the hymn sheet. O little town of Bethlehem,
how still we see thee lie. Above thy deep and dreamless
sleep, the silent stars go by. Above thy deep and dreamless
sleep, the silent star. The first and best of all the
years of my life. ? Sleep there, O child of midnight
? ? The silent King, the silent King ? ? The wondrous King, the
great King ? God keep this world from sin,
and His holy, merciful Son. ? The home of the brave ? ? Listen
to us we pray ? ? God's love has set the land aflame ? ? With
holy host proclaim ? ? Ring, ring, the Christmas bells ? To the great works I excel, I
come to ask, Have I been lost? Have all they held dear? Our next reading is from Luke
chapter 2. We pick up the account where
Luke records how Jesus was born in Bethlehem and where the angels
came to the shepherds in the hills around Bethlehem. I want
to focus particularly today on what the angels said when they
met the shepherds. So Luke chapter 2. And it came
to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar
Augustus that all the world should be taxed or enrolled this taxing
was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria and all
went to be taxed everyone to his own city and Joseph also
went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea unto
the city of David which is called Bethlehem because he was of the
house and lineage of David to be taxed with Mary his espoused
wife being great with child and so it was that while they were
there the days were accomplished that she should be delivered
and she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling
clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for
them in the inn and there were in the same country shepherds
abiding in the field keeping watch over their flocks by night.
And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory
of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore or extremely
afraid. And the angel said unto them,
fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day
in the city of David as saviour, which is Christ of the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto
you. You shall find the babe wrapped
in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there
was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising
God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace,
goodwill toward men. And it came to pass as the angels
were gone away from them into heaven. The shepherds said one
to another. Let us go now even unto Bethlehem
and see this thing which the Lord which is come to pass which
the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste
and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. Our fifth carol now. is away in a manger, no crib
for a bed. The little Lord Jesus laid down
his sweet head. The stars in the bright sky looked
down where he lay, the little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay. And the last verse, the prayer
of the last verse, be near me, Lord Jesus. I ask thee to stay
close by me forever and love me, I pray. Bless all the dear
children in thy tender care, and fit us for heaven to live
with thee there. The Fifth Carol. O Lord Jesus, they can be sweetened. The stars in the bright sky,
the company laid, ? The cattle are lowing ? ? The
baby awakes ? ? Gladness, O Lord Jesus ? ? The crying remains ? ? I love thee, O Jesus ? Yes, Lord, in forever Thou hath
loved me, I pray. Our next scripture reading is
taken from Matthew's Gospel, chapter 2. verses 1 to 11. This is where the wise men coming
from the east to Jerusalem follow the star and come to worship
the child Jesus, giving him gifts. Matthew chapter 2, verses 1 to
11. Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem
of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came
wise men from the east to Jerusalem saying, where is he that is born
king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in
the east and are come to worship him. When Herod the king had
heard these things, he was troubled. and all Jerusalem with him. When he had gathered all the
chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded
of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem
of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet. And thou, Bethlehem,
in the land of Judah, but not the least among the princes of
Judah, for out of these shall come a governor that shall rule
my people Israel.' Then Herod, when he had brivily
called the wise men and inquired of them diligently what time
the star appeared, And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, go
and search diligently for the young child. When you have found
him, bring me word again that I may come and worship him also. When they had heard the king,
they departed. And lo, the star which they saw
in the east went before them till it came and stood over where
the young child was. When they saw the star, they
rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come
into the house, they saw the young child with Mary, his mother,
and fell down and worshipped him. And when they had opened
their treasures, They presented unto him gifts, gold, frankincense,
and myrrh. Now our next carol, carol number
six, As With Gladness, Men of Old. As with gladness, men of
old, did the guided star behold. As with joy they hailed its light,
leading onward, beaming bright. So most gracious Lord, may we
evermore be led to thee. The sixth carol. That may joy and gladness find,
Leading onward, leading right, Sadness, wretchedness, love,
and fear, They have all given to thee. Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of and the home of the brave. Day comes, day bright, day and
ev'ry day day bright. Heaven and earth in splendor
swell, and its star which does not fall. Well now, as God may help us,
we'll just give a short address on the verse which is on the
hymn sheet. And the verse is in Matthew the
first chapter and verse 21. And it reads, and she shall bring
forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save
his people from their sins. Well we already read this verse
and the surrounding verses this afternoon and you will probably
remember that it was an angel that came to Mary to tell her
this really very amazing news and it's the news which Israel
had been looking for for many, many years. Indeed, really, it
began when Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden and they
sinned and God came and spoke to Adam and Eve and told him
the seed of the woman would bruise the serpent's head. So that was
the verse or the words, no doubt, that Israel were relying upon
because they knew they'd sinned, they knew they'd disobeyed God,
And they knew they need to be saved. So therefore, they were
resting upon such a verse as that. But some 4,000 years had
passed. And after all those years, at
a time not known to man, a time known to God, this angel came
to Mary and told her such wonderful words. And she and thou shalt
court. Thou shalt bring forth a son,
and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his
people from their sins. Well, this was a very wonderful
occasion then, and it's never ceased to be a wonderful occasion. And it's good that we're able
to gather together today to remember the birth of the Lord Jesus.
We don't, of course, know exactly when he was born, the day of
the year, or in actual fact, the year. But we do know it was
something like 2,020 years ago. So it was many, many years ago
that Jesus was born, and a wonderful fulfillment to prophecy. Why was it that Jesus had to
come? If Jesus had not come, what would
have happened to mankind? Well, mankind would never have
been saved. That means mankind would never
have had their sins forgiven. And that means mankind would
never have gone to heaven. So it was a very important occasion. And we should be thankful that
we can remember it now. I don't think we should just
concentrate on it just at this time of the year. It's relevant
all through the year. It's relevant all through our
life. And what a mercy it is, therefore,
that Jesus was willing to come. And if you look back and see
how he was born, we've sung about it, we've read about it. He was
born in a manger. He was born in the very, you
might say, worst circumstances. I mean, how many babies today
do you hear put in a cattle trough like he was? I'm sure even the
worst societies wouldn't want to have to do that. So we should
realize that Jesus came and brought himself right down to the very
lowest level so no one could say, ha, but I was born in a
worse situation than Jesus. Jesus humbled himself. And when you think of it, you
young people, try and imagine, it was the great God who had
created the world and all the universe. And now, as a little
babe in that manger in Bethlehem. It's wonderful, isn't it, to
think of that? To think how kind, how gracious God was. And the
reason for this was so that Jesus could come into this world and
then could come and indeed, as we read, save his people from
their sins. Mankind needed a saviour. And the hymn says, there was
no other good enough to pay the price of sin. He only could unlock
the gate of heaven to let us in. was only Jesus. And so as we think of the birth
of Jesus, let us think of the wonder of it and think that he
came not to live a wonderful life in a palace. That's how
the Jewish people, Israel, thought he would come as a great king,
a great ruler. When he did come as a ruler,
they didn't realize it. He came as a king. They didn't
realize it. They expected him to come in
natural majesty with crowns and golds and no doubt people waiting
on Him and everything. He came very different to that.
He came in a very, very humble way. And what was He doing? He was doing the will of His
Father and doing the will, by God's grace, of our Father, so
that He might procure that way of salvation, so that we today
can truly rejoice in this wonderful statement, for he shall save
his people from their sins. So the Word of God is very positive.
He shall. And of course we're thankful
for it today, after so many years. And we're told in Romans, the
Apostle Paul, he wrote to the Romans, in the fifth chapter,
the twelfth verse, he said this, Wherefore as by One man, sin
entered into the world. That was, of course, Adam and
Eve in the Garden of Eden on that sad, sad day in the history
of the world. And death by sin, because they
were told by God, in the day thou eatest thereof of that fruit,
thou shalt surely die. Well, they didn't die physically
in that day, they did die spiritually in that day, but they died of
course physically also at a later time, and death by sin. And so
death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. So we're
all on common ground, all realising that we've all sinned, and all
come short of the glory of God. But then, encouraging words we
can read in Hebrew by the same writer, The Apostle Paul in 9th
chapter, verse 26, we read, But now hath he appeared to put away
sin by the sacrifice of himself. What is a sacrifice, you young
people? I wonder if you really think
what a sacrifice is. Well, let me give a simple illustration. Just think, perhaps there were,
say, four of you children, and you wanted to go and buy an ice
cream and you went to a shop and there were only three ice
creams so you bought the three ice creams and then one of you
said well I'll go without you three can enjoy the ice cream
but I will go without now that person was giving a sacrifice
they were sacrificing they weren't pleasing themselves And they
did that which was good and honest. It was a sacrifice. They gave
up something. Well, the Lord Jesus, in a much,
much higher level, He of course gave His life as a sacrifice. He gave it. It wasn't taken from
Him. He gave it. And He gave it in
order that the price, the value of that sacrifice, the value
of his death was such that it would pay the price to free all
of his people from the tremendous burden of their sin. How wonderful
isn't it to think this great glorious Saviour who was born
in this humble stable in Bethlehem, who was the ruler of the earth,
the creator of all things, was willing to give Himself as a
sacrifice to save us from our sin. Now the reality is no one
who has any sin can ever go to heaven. That means all of us
who have sinned, we all have sinned, none of us can go to
heaven unless we are amongst those for whom Jesus died and
gave his life as a sacrifice to pay the price that God demanded
to deliver us from that wrath, that wrath to come. And so what
a wonderful thing it is to have such a saviour. We can imagine,
can't we, naturally, somebody saving somebody, perhaps fell
into a river or a lake or a canal and they couldn't swim and somebody
came along and saw them and perhaps dived in and got them out and
the person would say, well, you've saved my life. And that person
would have been their Saviour. Well, it's the Lord Jesus Christ
who saved the life of all His people. And what a good thing
it will be as we remember the birth of Jesus, realizing the
reason for it, to come into this world and die that you and I
might live eternally and that to be in heaven with Jesus forever. So tremendous thought, isn't
it, to realize that this is the wonderful objective of the birth
and the life and the death, the resurrection of our Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ. So we have these words here before
us this afternoon. And thou shalt call his name
Jesus. Jesus means Saviour. Jesus means Saviour. Don't forget
that. for he shall save his people
from their sins. And it'll be a wonderful theme
therefore this afternoon and indeed throughout this period
when we remember the birth of Jesus that the Holy Spirit opens
our spiritual eyes. You see we all have eyes, don't
we? All of us here thankfully can see. We're not blind naturally. We can see. And that's good. And we should be very thankful
to God who's given us sight. But the most important thing
is for God to give us spiritual sight. And that spiritual sight,
what will we see? We shall see this. We shall see
that we before a holy God are a sinner. We shall see that we
need to be saved from our sins. And we shall see that Jesus is
the only way salvation and what a blessing then if you and I
know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior and if we do it'll
be a very happy time it'll be a wonderful time because if we
know Jesus is our Savior then when we come to die it won't
be a sad it won't be a morbid occasion it'll be a happy time
because we shall then go and to be with Jesus and all the
angels and saints in heaven forever and ever. And of course, that
would never come about without the Lord Jesus Christ being born
into this world. And so let us praise God this
afternoon and thank him for such a great salvation. Thank him
for such a great saviour. Thank him for saving such a sinner
as you and I are. Well, may we know it. May the
Holy Spirit lead us into all truth as it is in Jesus. Bless
us with a realisation of what we are and may we come to the
Lord Jesus Christ and pray earnestly for forgiveness and pray for
the salvation of our souls. And the Word of God tells us,
if we confess our sins, we've all got sin. If we confess our
sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us, that makes us clean from all unrighteousness. So remember these few words,
which the angel spoke to Mary, and she shall bring forth a son,
and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his
people from their sins. Amen. Well, our last carol is the well-known
Hark the Herald Angels Sing. And you can just imagine it,
perhaps, the angels in heaven, as we read about when the shepherds
saw that wonderful host. And what a blessing it is if
you and I, in our hearts, can truly sing this carol this afternoon
and thank God for the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. So heart
the herald angels sing, glory to the newborn King, peace on
earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled. Joyful, all
ye nations rise, join the triumph of the skies, with the angelic
host proclaim, Christ is born in Bethlehem. The seventh carol. to sing, glory to the newborn
King. Peace on earth and mercy mild, good and stillness in all sight. Join the glory,
nations rise, join the ? Christ is born in Bethlehem ?
? Alleluia say glory to the King of kings ? Christ, our God, has left the
door, Christ, the everlasting Lord, at His infinite ? Church of God and Savior ? ?
Death is gone and day is here ? ? Jesus, Lord, we pray to thee
? ? Jesus, Lord, make our prayers heard ? Hail, all hail, O Prince of Peace! Hail, the Sun of Righteousness! Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home Most gracious God, we give thanks
for the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks for that
great and glorious salvation that he wrought out for all his
people. We're thankful this afternoon
if we have a good hope through thy grace of receiving that wonderful
gift of eternal life. Lord, we pray earnestly that
every one of us here may indeed know that, that wonderful gift,
the greatest gift that we can ever receive. And so, Lord, may
we have joy and thanksgiving in our heart unto our God. And so, Lord, be with us now
as we part. Watch over us while we are parted
and bring us all back together again in due time. And we pray
that thou would remember us for good. And now, may the grace
of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and the love of God our
Father, and the fellowship and communion of the Eternal Spirit,
rest and abide with us each, now and for evermore. Amen.