back to indexBerean Community Church Sunday Service 12/19/2021
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- Good morning, church family, Merry Christmas. 00:10:51.560 |
♪ Over the skies of Bethlehem appeared a star ♪ 00:11:03.560 |
♪ Three wise men seeking truth traveled from afar ♪ 00:11:27.640 |
♪ I bring an offering of worship to my king ♪ 00:11:35.640 |
♪ No one on earth deserves this praises that I sing ♪ 00:11:44.640 |
♪ Jesus may you receive the honor that you're due ♪ 00:12:11.640 |
♪ The sun cannot compare to the glory of your love ♪ 00:12:23.640 |
♪ No mortal man would dare to stand before your throne ♪ 00:12:42.640 |
♪ And it's only through your mercy Lord I come ♪ 00:12:47.640 |
♪ I bring an offering of worship to my king ♪ 00:12:55.640 |
♪ No one on earth deserves the praises that I sing ♪ 00:13:04.640 |
♪ Jesus may you receive the honor that you're due ♪ 00:13:19.640 |
♪ I bring an offering of worship to my king ♪ 00:13:24.640 |
♪ No one on earth deserves the praises that I sing ♪ 00:13:33.640 |
♪ Jesus may you receive the honor that you're due ♪ 00:14:07.440 |
As you guys know, this is our Christmas service. 00:14:17.060 |
and they're gonna do their annual presentation. 00:14:23.840 |
to do it before, and then you can take your pictures 00:14:30.400 |
But let me give a few announcements before we get started. 00:14:36.380 |
our annual Christmas offering that we will be using 00:14:48.840 |
to support the missionaries that are out there 00:14:51.840 |
And so if you guys can be prayerful about this. 00:14:54.400 |
So next Sunday, we will be collecting that offering 00:14:59.720 |
Again, we'll announce this again from the regular offering 00:15:02.460 |
so that we know that that is going to the mission's offering. 00:15:05.840 |
Next members session, it's gonna be a members meeting 00:15:19.140 |
And so second floor of the building, this building, 00:15:24.400 |
And so Pastor Nate is going to be in charge of that. 00:15:30.560 |
If you want to become a member, the next session 00:15:36.400 |
the last day to sign up is this coming Friday. 00:15:47.020 |
It's just an opportunity to come and meet different people. 00:15:50.000 |
And so if you haven't signed up, please do so by this week. 00:15:56.960 |
And then afterwards, we have a New Year's service 00:15:59.080 |
that will be taking place in this room at 11 p.m. 00:16:02.400 |
Okay, so again, if you haven't signed up for that, 00:16:05.440 |
And then lastly, our first Peter Bible study, 00:16:15.080 |
and even those of you who have been in the same home group 00:16:17.700 |
for many sessions, if you guys can help us sign up for that 00:16:21.980 |
because we do need to expand and move some things around 00:16:26.260 |
and make sure that we have enough small group leaders. 00:16:30.360 |
and you may end up staying in the same group, 00:16:32.500 |
we need you to re-sign up for that as soon as possible 00:16:35.420 |
because we need to make sure that we have enough groups, 00:16:43.100 |
And then again, the next session will be on January 19th. 00:16:46.680 |
Okay, all right, so let me pray for the offering. 00:16:49.920 |
And then those of you who are new to the church 00:16:52.760 |
or just visiting us, if you have a physical offering 00:17:02.560 |
we'll give you a minute to give electronically. 00:17:24.040 |
That all that we do would simply be an overflow 00:17:27.220 |
of the gratitude that we have for our salvation, 00:17:34.560 |
help us to give it to you as an act of worship, 00:17:39.920 |
and may it be multiplied for your use, for your kingdom. 00:21:32.440 |
♪ When will, when will the ransomed in glory ♪ 00:24:31.440 |
♪ While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains ♪ 00:25:33.360 |
♪ And wonders of His love, and wonders of His love ♪ 00:28:50.800 |
In the same region, there are some shepherds staying out in the field 00:28:57.800 |
And suddenly an angel of the Lord stood around them, 00:29:07.800 |
But the angel of the Lord said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, 00:29:10.800 |
I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all people." 00:29:15.800 |
For today in the city of David there has been born for you 00:29:41.800 |
This will be a sign for you, for you will find a baby wrapped in cloths, 00:29:50.800 |
This will be a sign for you, for you will find a baby wrapped in cloths, 00:29:55.800 |
And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of hosts, 00:30:00.800 |
praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, 00:30:04.800 |
and on earth peace among men, with whom he is pleased." 00:41:00.800 |
All right, let's thank the kids and the teachers. 00:41:11.800 |
As they were up here, kind of reminiscing over our very first Christmas presentation 00:41:17.800 |
from our elementary department. And as long as you guys, our church was, I think, 00:41:22.800 |
probably no more than about 30, 35 people back then. And the first presentation was 00:41:27.800 |
to basically our family member kids, Nathan, Matthew, Jeremy, Zachary, Faith. 00:41:33.800 |
Isaiah obviously was not born. I don't think Faith was there yet. But I was just kind of 00:41:39.800 |
reminiscing and thinking about that. And Faith now is one of the teachers who kind of leads 00:41:44.800 |
the seed. So she was here helping out with the first. So, making me feel old. 00:41:51.800 |
But time has passed. Again, we, you know, just in the last, I think about six weeks, 00:41:57.800 |
we've had eight births at church. And so we have many more coming. So you are being 00:42:02.800 |
fruitful and multiplying, obeying God's creation mandate. And again, you know, one of the 00:42:09.800 |
things that we keep, we want to keep reminding our church is, as our children come into our 00:42:13.800 |
church, obviously they're pre-members of the church. And we want to make sure that 00:42:17.800 |
everything that we're building and laboring for is going to transfer up to the next generation. 00:42:22.800 |
You know, and it'd be tragedy for us to labor and to try to build a church and then 00:42:26.800 |
it gets disconnected with the next generation. So, you know, each one of these children are 00:42:30.800 |
the ones who are going to take the baton for the next generation to continue to be the 00:42:34.800 |
light in the generation that they're growing up in. And as you guys know, as our culture 00:42:39.800 |
is straying further and further away from Judeo-Christian values, that we really need 00:42:43.800 |
to pray for these kids who are up here because they're going to have it tougher than what 00:42:48.800 |
we had when we were growing up. So please continue to keep them in your prayer. 00:42:52.800 |
If you can turn your Bibles with me to Matthew chapter 1, we'll be reading from verse 21 00:43:10.800 |
"So she will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people 00:43:15.800 |
from their sins. Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through 00:43:20.800 |
the prophet, 'Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son and they shall 00:43:24.800 |
call his name Emmanuel,' which translated means God with us. And Joseph spoke from his 00:43:30.800 |
sleep, Joseph woke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and 00:43:35.800 |
took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a son and he called 00:43:42.800 |
Heavenly Father, we pray for continued grace as we celebrate the birth of Christ, Emmanuel. 00:43:56.800 |
Help us to understand the impact of what it is that we celebrate this holiday season. 00:44:02.800 |
Help us to know the meaning of Christmas, that not only for ourselves, but for all those 00:44:09.800 |
around us that we may be a good witness, the aurum of Christ. May your blessing be upon 00:44:18.800 |
Now that I have children who are a bit older, I am able to get legitimate gifts. 00:44:25.800 |
Where prior to every Christmas it was just one-way street. 00:44:30.800 |
So now they have their own jobs and they have money in their pocket, so each time they come 00:44:35.800 |
around they're asking, "What do you want? You want shoes? You want this? You want that?" 00:44:38.800 |
And so I'm actually benefiting from Christmas now. 00:44:42.800 |
I remember years ago, I forgot how many years, maybe about three years ago, 00:44:47.800 |
they asked, three or four years they asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I think 00:44:51.800 |
I told them I wanted shoes and they mustered up whatever money that they had and they bought 00:44:56.800 |
me a used pair of booster shoes. You know the Adidas? Ultra Boost. Booster, Ultra, whatever. 00:45:05.800 |
Right. It's probably one of the most comfortable shoes I had, but I would never wear used shoes. 00:45:11.800 |
But I wore it for a period because my children got it for me. It's the first time they were 00:45:17.800 |
able to muster up money and get me something and so I did my best to wear it as long as possible. 00:45:22.800 |
But you know when our children were younger, they would ask, "What do you want for Christmas?" 00:45:27.800 |
And I'm sure some of you parents can relate, you know, because we know they don't have resources, 00:45:31.800 |
they don't have money, and so typically what I would say is I want peace and quiet. 00:45:38.800 |
Right. And so they know that, "What do you want for Christmas?" It's like, "Well, only thing that you can afford 00:45:42.800 |
to give me that I'd want is peace and quiet." Well, how do you get peace and quiet? 00:45:47.800 |
Just be good to your brothers, good to your sisters, right? Because when the children are young, 00:45:53.800 |
so much of your energy is given to take care of your kids that any little help is going to be beneficial. 00:46:00.800 |
So we would say, "Okay." You know, it's half joking, but seriously, we say we want some peace and quiet. 00:46:05.800 |
Right. To be good to your brother, to be good to your sister. 00:46:10.800 |
Christmas is the only holiday where we celebrate someone else's birthday by giving presents to other people 00:46:16.800 |
other than the person that we celebrate. Right. Christmas is a day we celebrate the birth of Christ, 00:46:22.800 |
but all of our attention is given to our brothers and sisters and friends and family 00:46:27.800 |
and to make sure that they're well taken care of. And I think it's appropriate. 00:46:33.800 |
It's appropriate because God spends so much time and energy taking care of us. 00:46:39.800 |
What is it that you and I could possibly give to God that He doesn't already have? 00:46:43.800 |
He doesn't need finances. Right. There's nothing that we have that He doesn't already have in abundance. 00:46:48.800 |
But for us to join Him in taking care of His children that He cares for and loves. 00:46:55.800 |
And so this is a special day as we come together and celebrate Jesus's birthday. 00:47:00.800 |
But I want to make sure that we understand what it is that we are really celebrating. 00:47:05.800 |
And none of the things that you'll hear today is going to be anything particularly new. 00:47:10.800 |
How many Christmases that you've gone through. 00:47:13.800 |
But I think the depth and the impact of what it is that we talk about this morning is important for us to visit. 00:47:21.800 |
As Jesus was being prophesied that He was going to come, obviously He was named Jesus, Savior. 00:47:28.800 |
But He said the title that was given Him was a title that was prophesied in the book of Isaiah, 00:47:33.800 |
that His name would be Emmanuel. And Emmanuel basically means that He is God with us. 00:47:40.800 |
God with us. And it's important for us to understand what that means because as simple as that is, 00:47:48.800 |
and you've probably heard that word many, many times, sing it every Christmas. 00:47:56.800 |
So this morning I want to try to unpack this word Emmanuel and what does that have to do with Christmas. 00:48:04.800 |
First meaning behind the title Emmanuel is pretty obvious. 00:48:12.800 |
No surprise to any of you, right? You wouldn't be here if you didn't believe that. 00:48:18.800 |
But the impact of that meaning, you know, again, we live in a culture where that's being challenged, 00:48:26.800 |
Years ago I was out on campus at UCI trying to share the gospel and I met a UCI professor 00:48:31.800 |
who was challenging us and saying that Jesus never claimed to be God. 00:48:35.800 |
He claimed to be the Son of God. He claimed to be a God, but not God Himself. 00:48:40.800 |
At that time I wasn't versed well enough in scripture to be able to open the Bible and argue with Him. 00:48:45.800 |
And I remember going back to my professors at Biola asking, you know, can you help me to understand it? 00:48:51.800 |
And he opened up a few scriptures and it was crystal clear, but at that time I couldn't. 00:48:57.800 |
And I was looking, every time I go on campus I look for Him. 00:49:02.800 |
But of all the things that I can point out, to me the greatest and the most clearest place 00:49:08.800 |
where Jesus declares to be God Himself is Matthew chapter, sorry, in John chapter 5, 21 to 23. 00:49:17.800 |
"For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes." 00:49:25.800 |
That statement alone, where Jesus says, God has the power to give life and so do I. 00:49:32.800 |
That statement alone would have gotten stoned. 00:49:39.800 |
And He says, God has the authority and so do I. 00:49:42.800 |
In verse 22, "For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son." 00:49:48.800 |
Now if the first statement wasn't blasphemous enough, the second statement He says, 00:49:57.800 |
And then third, in verse 23, "So that all will honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. 00:50:03.800 |
He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him." 00:50:07.800 |
Do you remember how many times in the scripture where a prophet would declare God's word or they would perform miracles? 00:50:14.800 |
And they would bow down in honor of the prophet and the prophet or the angel in fear would beg them, 00:50:21.800 |
"Get back up! I'm a man, I'm a servant just like you. 00:50:25.800 |
If you worship me, you will be judged and I will be judged." 00:50:28.800 |
But Jesus here says, "If you do not honor me, you do not honor the Father." 00:50:33.800 |
And so He places Himself to be equal with God. 00:50:37.800 |
So any one of these statements would have been blasphemous enough because it was crystal clear. 00:50:42.800 |
And that's exactly how the Jews understood it. 00:50:44.800 |
Because they said, "We want to stone you, not because of the many miracles, 00:50:47.800 |
but because you being a mere man, claim to be God." 00:50:59.800 |
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." 00:51:04.800 |
You notice here He says the Word, in reference to Jesus, was with God, 00:51:13.800 |
So we see in the very beginning of the gospel, there is a statement of His Trinitarian relationship with God the Father, the second person. 00:51:21.800 |
Because He was with God, and yet He says He also is God. 00:51:32.800 |
When we say that Jesus is Emmanuel, it's declaring who He is. 00:51:38.800 |
Even in our wildest imagination, we can't create something bigger than God. 00:51:46.800 |
You know, like recently, we had all these Avengers movies coming out. 00:51:49.800 |
I know Spider-Man is very popular right now, but among the Avengers movies, about these superheroes, right? 00:51:55.800 |
We would ask our questions, just as a fun question, you know, what superhero would you want to be? 00:52:02.800 |
So if you're going to pick one, you're going to pick one with the most power. 00:52:05.800 |
Superman. Maybe Captain... Captain Marvel, right? 00:52:15.800 |
Well, in recent history, they came up with another character, not necessarily a superhero, 00:52:20.800 |
but a character that can demolish all other superheroes. 00:52:25.800 |
Thanos, which happens to mean in Greek, death. 00:52:32.800 |
If you have the five stones, that basically by clicking the finger, you can destroy half the world. 00:52:37.800 |
And all the powers of the other superheroes, imaginations of all the other superheroes, 00:52:47.800 |
Even in our wildest imagination, even with all the power that Thanos has, with all the stones, 00:53:00.800 |
So even in our wildest imagination, the most powerful being that was created by some of the most creative people in the world, 00:53:09.800 |
created a being that is a tiny little figure in God's creation. 00:53:16.800 |
To say that Jesus is God, we need to understand the gravity of what that means. 00:53:22.800 |
In Colossians 1.16, it says, "For by Him all things were created, both in heavens and on earth, visible and invisible." 00:53:31.800 |
Everything that you and I know of, plus the invisible world, 00:53:36.800 |
whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authority, all things have been created through Him and for Him. 00:53:42.800 |
I want to show you a video to illustrate, because sometimes it's easier to visualize. 00:53:55.800 |
I want you to see the gravity of what I'm talking about. 01:39:46.800 |
>> Church, let's rise together as we sing this last song.