(upbeat music) Let's sing. ♪ Oh sing choirs of angels ♪ ♪ Come sing in exultation ♪ ♪ Oh sing all ye citizens of heaven above ♪ ♪ Oh sing all ye citizens of heaven above ♪ ♪ Glory to God ♪ ♪ Glory in the highest ♪ ♪ Oh come let us adore him ♪ All right, good morning and Merry Christmas church family.

Happy Lord's Day. I know we're all excited this morning to come and to worship, to remember what Christ has done for us and to celebrate Christ and as Christ our savior, Christ the newborn King, who brings joy and peace to this world. So as we begin this morning with our service, let us come with gladness and with joy.

And so we're gonna start with the song Christmas Offering. ("Christmas Offering") ♪ Over the skies of Bethlehem appeared a star ♪ ♪ While angels sang to lowly shepherds ♪ ♪ Three wise men seeking truth traveled from afar ♪ ♪ Hoping to find the child from heaven ♪ ♪ And falling on their knees ♪ ♪ They bowed before the humble prince of peace ♪ ♪ I bring an offering of worship to my king ♪ ♪ No one on earth deserves the praises that I sing ♪ ♪ Jesus may you receive the honor that you're due ♪ ♪ Oh Lord I bring an offering to you ♪ ♪ Oh Lord I bring an offering to you ♪ ♪ I bring an offering to you ♪ ♪ The sun cannot compare to the glory of your love ♪ ♪ There is no shadow in your presence ♪ ♪ No mortal man ♪ ♪ No mortal man would dare to stand before your throne ♪ ♪ Before the holy one of heaven ♪ ♪ It's only by your blood ♪ ♪ And it's only through your mercy ♪ ♪ Lord I come ♪ ♪ I bring an offering of worship to my king ♪ ♪ No one on earth deserves the praises that I sing ♪ ♪ Jesus may you receive the honor that you're due ♪ ♪ Oh Lord I bring an offering to you ♪ ♪ I bring an offering of worship to my king ♪ ♪ No one on earth deserves the praises that I sing ♪ ♪ Jesus may you receive the honor that you're due ♪ ♪ Oh Lord I bring an offering to you ♪ ♪ Oh Lord I bring an offering to you ♪ ♪ I bring an offering to you ♪ (upbeat music) - All right, good morning.

Welcome to our annual Christmas service. And as you guys know, can see by the setup that we have a special presentation. We have choir, we have our children's ministry gonna come up and I know some of you guys came to see your nieces, nephews, grandchildren. So we'll let you know when it's time for you to take out your cameras and take pictures.

But obviously that's gonna be happening soon. Let me get to a few announcements before we get started. We have a mission team going out to South Korea in a few weeks and so they have a hoodie fundraiser going on and it's gonna be going on every Sunday until they leave in about two weeks, I believe, two or three weeks.

And so if you go outside, there's a table out there where you can purchase the hoodies and those funds will help support some of them that are going out to the missions. On New Year's Eve, we have a ping pong tournament that happens at 5 p.m. before we have our service at 11.

And so if you're planning to participate, please sign up. Today is the last day you can sign up. It is a doubles tournament. So you can go out there and sign up for that. And again, you don't have to be too skilled. You can just come and participate. So today is the last day to sign up, so make sure you sign up for that.

Again, today, after you go out, there'll be a table where you can sign up. Today, after the Christmas or after the service, if you go out to the courtyard, you'll see a table with a white tablecloth. There's some cookies on the table. And so Pastor Mark and some of our outreach team members are gonna be stationed over there.

So after the service, if you come and visited us as a guest and you have some questions and you want some clarification on certain things, if you could visit that table, then they'll be able to answer any kind of questions that you have. And so that table is reserved for us.

If you go out, again, as you're exiting, where all the planters are, that's where the table is. So please, we invite you to come and visit that table. And then finally, today is our last day that we're gonna be connecting for the Lottie Moon Christmas mission offering. And so if you are planning to give to the missions offering to support our missionaries overseas, please make sure you designate that as Lottie Moon missions offering when you give.

And then again, that offering will go to support our missionaries that we're supporting overseas, okay, through the IMB. Okay, let me ask the choir to come up. And as they come, I'm gonna pray for our offering once they begin to set up here. And then after they're done, the children are gonna come up and they're gonna do their presentation as well.

So let me get it. When a good number of them are here, I'll pray for the offering. Again, so if you have a physical offering, there's a box in the back. As you go out, it'll say offering. You can drop it off there. Otherwise, we'll give you a minute to give your offering.

Okay, let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for what this day means to all of us. Help us, Lord God, to give you our full heart, that we would worship you genuinely in spirit and in truth. Help us to understand what it is that you've given us so that we would respond appropriately, reasonably.

I pray that our singing, our giving, all of it, Lord God, may bring glory to your name. And I pray that the offering that we give now may be multiplied 30, 60, 100-fold, that greater and greater glory would come to you. We thank you, Father. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. (congregation murmuring) ♪ The first Noel ♪ ♪ The angel did say ♪ ♪ For us who sat in poor shepherds ♪ ♪ In fields as they lay ♪ ♪ In fields where they ♪ ♪ Lay keeping their sheep ♪ ♪ On a cold winter's night ♪ ♪ That passed so deep ♪ ♪ Noel, Noel ♪ ♪ Noel, Noel ♪ ♪ Born is the King of angels ♪ ♪ Of angels ♪ ♪ And let us all ♪ ♪ With one accord ♪ ♪ Sing praises to ♪ ♪ Our heavenly Lord ♪ ♪ That hath made heaven ♪ ♪ And earth among ♪ ♪ And with his blood ♪ ♪ Mankind has bought ♪ ♪ Noel, Noel ♪ ♪ Noel, Noel ♪ ♪ Born is the King of Israel ♪ ♪ Of Israel ♪ ♪ He is born, he is born ♪ ♪ The Son of God has come to dwell ♪ ♪ The King of kings and Lord of lords ♪ ♪ Emmanuel ♪ ♪ He is born, he is born ♪ ♪ Hope for all, now go and tell ♪ ♪ He has come to save the world ♪ ♪ We sing Noel ♪ ♪ Noel, Noel ♪ ♪ Noel, Noel ♪ ♪ The King of kings and Lord of lords ♪ ♪ Emmanuel ♪ ♪ Noel, Noel ♪ ♪ Noel, Noel ♪ ♪ He has come to save the world ♪ ♪ We sing Noel ♪ (audience applauding) (audience cheering) (audience applauding) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) , okay.

I thank you so much, Christmas Choir, for that beautiful song. I'll let us all stand together now, and I'll take a little bit of time, a moment to say hello to each other. Merry Christmas. (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) ♪ Oh, be faithful, joyful ♪ ♪ And triumphant ♪ ♪ Oh, come ye, oh, come ye ♪ ♪ To Bethlehem ♪ ♪ Come and behold Him ♪ ♪ Born the King of angels ♪ ♪ Oh, come, let us adore Him ♪ ♪ Oh, come, let us adore Him ♪ ♪ Oh, come, let us adore Him ♪ ♪ Christ the Lord ♪ Sing choirs.

♪ Sing, choirs of angels ♪ ♪ Sing in exultation ♪ ♪ Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above ♪ ♪ Glory to God ♪ ♪ Glory in the highest ♪ ♪ Oh, come, let us adore Him ♪ ♪ Oh, come, let us adore Him ♪ ♪ Oh, come, let us adore Him ♪ ♪ Christ the Lord ♪ ♪ Yeah, Lord, we greet Thee ♪ ♪ Born this happy morning ♪ ♪ Jesus, to Thee be ♪ ♪ All glory given ♪ ♪ Word of the Father ♪ ♪ Now in flesh appear ♪ ♪ Oh, come, let us adore Him ♪ ♪ Oh, come, let us adore Him ♪ ♪ Oh, come, let us adore Him ♪ ♪ Christ the Lord ♪ ♪ Christ the Lord ♪ ♪ We'll praise Your name forever ♪ ♪ We'll praise Your name forever ♪ ♪ We'll praise Your name forever ♪ ♪ Christ the Lord ♪ ♪ We'll praise Your name forever ♪ ♪ We'll praise Your name forever ♪ ♪ We'll praise Your name forever ♪ ♪ Christ the Lord ♪ Amen, please be seated.

I'm so sorry, there's one more song. Will you all please stand again? ♪ In Christ alone my hope is found ♪ ♪ He is my life, my strength, my song ♪ ♪ This cornerstone, this solid ground ♪ ♪ Firm through the fiercest drought and storm ♪ ♪ What heights of love, what depths of peace ♪ ♪ When fears are stilled, when strivings cease ♪ ♪ My comforter, my all in all ♪ ♪ Here in the love of Christ I stand ♪ ♪ In Christ alone who took on flesh ♪ ♪ The fullness of God in helplessness ♪ ♪ His gift of love and righteousness ♪ ♪ Sworn by the ones He came to save ♪ ♪ Till on the cross as Jesus died ♪ ♪ The wrath of God was satisfied ♪ ♪ For every sin on Him was laid ♪ ♪ Here in the death of Christ I live ♪ ♪ There in the ground His body lay ♪ ♪ Light of the world by darkness slain ♪ ♪ Then bursting forth in glorious day ♪ ♪ Far from the grave He rose again ♪ ♪ Then as He stands in victory ♪ ♪ Since curse has passed its grip on me ♪ ♪ For I am His, He is mine ♪ ♪ Bought with the flesh and blood of Christ ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ No guilt tonight, no fear in death ♪ ♪ This is the power of Christ in me ♪ ♪ From life's first crisis to final breath ♪ ♪ Jesus commands my destiny ♪ ♪ No power of hell, no stream of man ♪ ♪ Can ever part me from His hand ♪ ♪ Till He returns, Lord calls me home ♪ ♪ Here in the power of Christ I stand ♪ ♪ No power of hell, no stream of man ♪ ♪ Can ever part me from His hand ♪ ♪ Till He returns, Lord calls me home ♪ ♪ Here in the power of Christ I stand ♪ - And now, please be seated.

(gentle music) (people chattering) (gentle music) (people chattering) (gentle music) (gentle music) (people chattering) (gentle music) (people chattering) (gentle music) (people chattering) (gentle music) (people chattering) (gentle music) (people chattering) (people chattering) (people chattering) (people chattering) (people chattering) (people chattering) (people chattering) (people chattering) (people chattering) (people chattering) (gentle music) (scribbling) - It was a quiet night in the fields near Bethlehem.

- Shepherds were watching over the flock under the starlit sky. - Suddenly, the angel of the Lord appeared. The angel said, "Do not be afraid, for I bring you good news. Today in Bethlehem, a savior has been born. He is Christ the Lord." The shepherds excitedly went to seek out the savior.

When they got to the stable, they found the baby wrapped in cloth lying in a manger. They were filled with awe and wonder the long-awaited savior had been born. They went back to tell everyone that they had seen the savior, and he will bring hope and salvation and joy to the world.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) ♪ Joy to the world ♪ ♪ The Lord is come ♪ ♪ Let earth receive her King ♪ ♪ Every heart prepare him room ♪ ♪ And heaven and nature sing ♪ ♪ And heaven and nature sing ♪ ♪ And heaven and heaven and nature sing ♪ ♪ Joy to the world, the Savior reigns ♪ ♪ Let all their songs employ ♪ ♪ Hearts filled and floods, hearts filled and flames ♪ ♪ Repeat the sounding joy, repeat the sounding joy ♪ ♪ Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat the sounding joy ♪ ♪ Joy, speak up, oh joy ♪ ♪ All will follow you where the Lord's love is at ♪ ♪ Joy, speak up, oh joy ♪ ♪ Rises in your soul, never lets me go ♪ ♪ He rules the world with truth and peace ♪ ♪ And makes the nations prove ♪ ♪ The glories of his righteousness ♪ ♪ And wonders of his love, and wonders of his love ♪ ♪ And wonders, and wonders of his love ♪ ♪ Joy, speak up, oh joy ♪ ♪ All will follow you where the Lord's love is at ♪ ♪ Joy, speak up, oh joy ♪ ♪ Rises in your soul, never lets me go ♪ ♪ Never lets me go ♪ (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) ♪ Joy, speak up, oh joy ♪ ♪ All will follow you where the Lord's love is at ♪ ♪ Joy, speak up, oh joy ♪ ♪ Rises in your soul, never lets me go ♪ ♪ Joy, speak up, oh joy ♪ ♪ All will follow you where the Lord's love is at ♪ ♪ Joy, speak up, oh joy ♪ ♪ All will follow you where the Lord's love is at ♪ ♪ Joy, speak up, oh joy ♪ (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) 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(upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - You know, I wanna read something to you.

It's gonna take about three, four minutes, but I wanna read this to you as I conclude my sermon because I've been looking for my journal probably for over 10 plus years. This is a journal that I wrote while I was out on the street for a few days. I think I shared with you in the past that there was a period where I thought when Esther and I first met that we were gonna be doing homeless ministry full time.

And so I wanted to go out on the street and experience what it was like, even if it was a short period of time, just to see what it is exactly that they needed. And so by God's providence, somehow I was looking for something else, and I found this journal.

So I wanted to read a portion of, and there's a point that I'm trying to make. So be patient with me as I read to you what I wrote down while I was there for a few days. On March 26th to March 28th, 1991, I went to stay among the homeless to see how they lived.

After feeding the homeless people, everyone left at 8.45 p.m. It was pouring rain that night. When everyone left, I stayed behind with one backpack containing a notebook, Bible, and a book to read. I stayed with four homeless friends that I made. They were laughing and amused that I would sleep with them.

They didn't think that I would be able to last one night. It began to really pour down around 9.30 p.m. Fernando fixed the blankets in such a way that five of us would be snuggled together in a small area with a small piece of blanket to cover all of us.

Angel, Fernando, Jorge, and another friend, Martin, had to sleep by himself because he came late. I didn't want to be too assertive in voicing my ideas or opinions because I didn't wish to offend anyone in their own home, in quotes. It wasn't as cold at first, but around 11 p.m.

the cold winds began to blow, and three of us shared one blanket, the one that I took out there for myself. I slept or tried next to Jorge. We were so snug I couldn't even move my arms. Every hour I looked at my watch and hoping that the time would pass faster.

It was a long, cold, rainy night. During the night I heard loud sirens many times, but the sounds didn't seem to bother any of the other guys. Angel woke up at 5.30 a.m. and woke up Jorge to a lady's home about three blocks away. It was raining very hard.

I was hoping that they would wait until the rain stopped, but they walked right through the rain. Jorge had to jump the fence to let Angel and I into the apartment complex. Fernando knocked on the apartment door. When the door opened, I saw several people sleeping in the living room.

Her name was Julia. She had three boys and a sister in that apartment. She was a petite Spanish lady who opened up her home for homeless people. As far as I could see, there were three homeless people sleeping there. There might have been more. The apartment had cockroaches everywhere.

After Julia finished praying, she came over to where we were and held our hands, and we read Scripture and prayed together. After prayer, one of the homeless guys made coffee for us. We sat there for about 30 to 40 minutes. All that time, Angel gave me his testimony. God seemed to be really working on him.

He has high motivation but low direction. What can you possibly do as a homeless person? We left the apartment around 8 a.m. in the morning. It was pouring even harder than earlier, but they walked right into it. I wanted to ask them to wait until it stopped raining, but I also wanted to know their life as they lived it, so I kept silent.

I got soaking wet, especially my feet, as we walked close to one mile in rain to a Christian home that gave out food every Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Jorge decided to catch a bus to his friend's apartment. They didn't even have 50 cents for bus fare. Luckily, I had 50 cents in my notebook, which I was saving for the phone call I was going to make to get picked up on Thursday.

Next home we went to was packed with homeless people, maybe 50 or more. It was sort of scary to be among these people at first, but it didn't take long for me to get used to it. I felt like I was in a whole different world. After staying there for three to four hours, we left to a nearby park.

We sat there for another three to four hours just waiting. Waiting for what? I don't know. The life of the homeless is just a lot of waiting. The biggest problem is not food or shelter, but it is the feeling of hopelessness and emptiness. Santa Ana Civic Center will not open up to the homeless until 6 p.m., so Angel, Fernando, and I began to just walk around Santa Ana.

I felt like a little kid again. I had time, I had no worries, no problems, no responsibilities, at least for that moment. These two guys were no longer just homeless people that I hung around with. They began to become true friends. This made me happy and sad at the same time because I knew I had to go back and leave them behind a day later.

Fernando found $5, so he bought some bread and some beans to eat for dinner. It was so cold, I was very hungry. Every little thing seemed to be sweeter when you don't have too much of it. In the evening time, Fernando suggested that we go to a shelter provided by Salvation Army.

They come around on those days when it is extra cold. That day, it was very cold, around 7 p.m. The bus came and everyone got on. It was like a zoo. Everyone was pushing and shoving to get in after entering the bus. I realized that I was amongst a group of people that are familiar to a completely different life.

To them, fighting and cutting and killing are not that foreign. It is something that they are exposed to constantly and I was right in the middle of these people on the bus. I began to pray and it was the longest bus ride I have ever ridden. I slept in a shelter with about 200 to 300 other druggies, ex-convicts, alcoholics, and some who seemed perfectly normal.

Though this situation was not the most comfortable place, the place that I could be in, that night I slept like a log because I was so tired. I'll just stop there. Some of these things I completely forgot for years. As I was reading, it brought back memories of the few people that I met, but a few things that I learned that I would not have understood if I wasn't there.

One, when we see homeless people, we typically think that the biggest problem is they don't have shelter, they must be cold, they need food. During the short time that I was there, I realized that that was not an issue. There are many saints out in that area who are more than willing to open up their homes, and if it gets cold, immediately blankets come out, and they know where to go to food from Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, all the way to Sunday morning.

It's just a matter of them willing to go and walk a little bit to get there. The biggest problem, what I saw, was a sense of insignificance and hopelessness. When I asked them, "What's the hardest part "of being homeless?" I was expecting them saying, "It gets cold, "it's dark, it's not safe." What they said to me was, "Most people are pretty cordial.

"They're not rude to us. "Every once in a while, they'll hand us things for free." But it says, "Most people don't like to make eye contact "because they know they don't want us there." Whether we are inside the restaurant or outside just resting, as soon as somebody walks by, you could tell in their eyes they just don't want us there.

And the feeling of insignificance and emptiness is the hardest part, he says. I realized that shelter was not safe for most people. In fact, that night, I slept with 200, 300 people. I was sleeping right next to-- in the cots with somebody who was screaming in the middle of the night.

An alcoholic who was drunk was grabbed by my arms in the middle of the night, pulled him to himself. And I didn't feel safe. I had to move my cot up to the stage where no one else was. And I realized that if you were-- if you didn't struggle with those things, that a shelter is the last place you'd want to be, that it'd almost feel safer to be outside.

And that's something that I would not have known if I wasn't there, even though it was just a few days. But the biggest thing that I learned while I was out there was that the biggest problem of homelessness is no different than the biggest problem with all mankind. It was not physical, it was spiritual.

Their homelessness was not simply because they didn't have a home. They were not homeless people, they were people who just didn't have homes. Their biggest problem was that they were spiritually lost. Their wandering, I came back thinking, their need is no different than ours, that we don't solve their problem because we give them a warm place to stay, we don't solve their problem because we give them warm food to eat.

Their problem is like all mankind, where death reigns. They've experienced it at another level, but sometimes the deception is that because our bills are paid, because our children are sleeping in a warm house, that we think that we're better off. The Bible says all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

The only true life can be had when we're reconciled with this God. We are all separated from God, and in our separation are homeless and wandering from one stage of life to another looking for rest because that Sabbath that He brought us in at the creation was broken, and all of human history is striving, working, laboring, sacrificing to find that rest.

And Jesus said, "Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my work upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart." That invitation still stands today. Christ came and took on human flesh, emptied Himself of any glory and honor so that He can become a sympathetic high priest, so that we can draw near to Him, and so that we can come be reconciled to the only one that can give true life.

That is what we are celebrating today. So as we sing, as we worship, as we fellowship, let's fix our eyes upon Christ. Let's fix our eyes upon Christ, the author and the only perfect of our faith. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, I know many of us have been churched all our lives, or for many years, and we have gone through so many Christmases with our families, with our church.

And Lord, we wrestle that we do not spend this time of the year like the rest of the world. I pray that the weight of what it is that we celebrate would sanctify us, challenge us, rebuke us, strengthen us, that we may worship You in spirit and in truth, that the rest of the world will know that God Himself came and took on human form, emptied Himself of all glory, that He may become a bondservant to reconcile us to You.

And may glory, honor, praise, love, adoration, obedience belong to You and You alone. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's all stand up for the closing praise. ♪ ♪ ♪ Angels we have heard on high ♪ ♪ Sweetly singing o'er the plains ♪ ♪ And the mountains in reply ♪ ♪ Echoing their joyous strains ♪ ♪ Gloria ♪ ♪ In excelsis Deo ♪ ♪ Gloria ♪ ♪ In excelsis Deo ♪ ♪ ♪ Shepherds, why?

♪ Shepherds, why this jubilee? ♪ ♪ Why your joyous strains prolong? ♪ ♪ What the gladsome tidings bring ♪ ♪ Which inspire your heavenly song? ♪ ♪ Gloria ♪ ♪ In excelsis Deo ♪ ♪ Gloria ♪ ♪ In excelsis Deo ♪ ♪ ♪ Come to Bethlehem. ♪ Come to Bethlehem and see ♪ ♪ Christ, whose birth the angels sing ♪ ♪ Come, adore on bended knee ♪ ♪ Christ the Lord, the newborn King ♪ ♪ Gloria ♪ ♪ In excelsis Deo ♪ ♪ Gloria ♪ ♪ In excelsis Deo ♪ ♪ Gloria ♪ ♪ In excelsis Deo ♪ ♪ Gloria ♪ ♪ In excelsis Deo ♪ ♪ ♪ Let's pray.

Now the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, the eternal love of God the Father, was sent his only begotten Son, who though in very form God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but he emptied himself, taking on the form of a bondservant, as a form of a man, even to the point of his humiliation on the cross.

I pray, Father, that as we celebrate this day, that the impact of what you've done would sanctify us, magnify Christ, renew us, refresh us, that we may become more and more worshipers in spirit and in truth. May glory belong to Christ, and Christ alone this Christmas season. Amen. ♪ God sent his Son ♪ ♪ They called him Jesus ♪ ♪ He came to love ♪ ♪ Heal and forgive ♪ ♪ He lived and died ♪ ♪ To buy my pardon ♪ ♪ An empty grave is there to prove ♪ ♪ My Savior lived ♪ ♪ Because he lived ♪ ♪ I can face tomorrow ♪ ♪ Because he lived ♪ ♪ All fear is gone ♪ ♪ Because I know ♪ ♪ He holds the future ♪ ♪ And life is worth the living ♪ ♪ Just because he lived ♪ ♪ Joy to the world ♪ ♪ The Lord is come ♪ ♪ Let earth receive her King ♪