1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:25,000 We are glad to be here to worship this morning. We are excited to do that together as we come to the fourth Sunday of Advent, and as we think about God's love for us and light the angel candle, and we think of the angels proclaiming good news that will be for all people. 2 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:37,000 So, I'm going to have a word of prayer, and then we will stand and read from the 89th Psalm, and then spend some time together in worship. Let's pray. 3 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:53,000 Father in heaven, I thank you for your church. I thank you for your people. I'm so glad that we can gather this morning, that you restore, that you strengthen, that you guide, that you help, that you correct. 4 00:00:53,000 --> 00:01:02,000 And so, be with us this morning as we worship, that you would turn our hearts towards you. It's in Jesus' name that I pray. Amen. 5 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:13,000 Let's be standing as we read together from the 89th Psalm. 6 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:36,000 I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord forever. With my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations. For I said, steadfast love will be built up forever. In the heavens you will establish your faithfulness. 7 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:57,000 You have said, "I have made a covenant with my chosen. I have sworn to David my servant. I will establish your offspring forever and build your throne for all generations." This is the word of the Lord. 8 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:06,000 All right. If kids want to go back to line up to light the fourth candle. Well, I guess they're lighting all four, but... 9 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:25,000 All right. We're going to start by singing "Angels We Have Heard on High." 10 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:35,000 "Angels We Have Heard on High." 11 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:39,000 "Angels We Have Heard on High." 12 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:43,000 "Sweetly singing all the plains." 13 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:47,000 "And the mountains in reply." 14 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:51,000 "Echoing the joyous dreams." 15 00:02:51,000 --> 00:03:02,000 "Gloria in excelsis Deo." 16 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:14,000 "Gloria in excelsis Deo." 17 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:37,000 Shepherds, why this jubilee? Why your joyous strains prolong? What the gladsome tidings be, which inspire your heavenly song. 18 00:03:37,000 --> 00:04:00,000 Gloria in excelsis Deo. Gloria in excelsis Deo. 19 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:23,000 Come to Bethlehem and sing Him whose birth the angels sing. Come adore on them with me, Christ the Lord, the new home King. Gloria in excelsis Deo. 20 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:46,000 Gloria in excelsis Deo. Gloria in excelsis Deo. 21 00:04:46,000 --> 00:05:15,980 Thank you. 22 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:45,980 Jesus said, "Follow me." Let's pray. 23 00:05:46,000 --> 00:06:11,420 Hark the herald in the sea. Glory to the newborn King. Peace on earth and mercy mild. God and sinners reconciled. 24 00:06:11,420 --> 00:06:39,840 Joy for all ye nations, rise. Join the triumph of the skies. With the angelic hosts proclaim, Christ is born in Bethlehem. Hark the herald angels sing. Glory to the newborn King. 25 00:06:39,840 --> 00:07:08,260 Christ by highest heaven adored. Christ the everlasting Lord. Late in time behold Him come. Offspring of a virgin's womb. Veiled in flesh the Godhead sing. Hail the incarnate. 26 00:07:08,260 --> 00:07:36,680 Deity. Pleased as man with man to dwell. Jesus our Immanuel. Hark the herald angels sing. Glory to the newborn King. Hail the heaven born prince of thee. 27 00:07:36,680 --> 00:08:05,100 Prince of peace. Hail the son of righteousness. Light and life to all he brings. Risen with healing in his peace. Mild he lays his glory by. Born that man no more may die. Born to raise the sons of earth. 28 00:08:05,100 --> 00:08:26,520 Born to give them second birth. Hark the herald angels sing. Glory to the newborn King. 29 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:33,520 Amen. 30 00:08:56,520 --> 00:08:58,520 Amen. 31 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:28,520 Amen. 32 00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:46,520 All right, as we prepare to come to the table together, we're going to sing three verses of "O come, O come, O come, O come, O come, O come you well." 33 00:28:56,520 --> 00:29:26,500 O come, O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here, until the Son of God comes to the Son of God. 34 00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:56,500 Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel. O come, Thou rod of Jesse, free, Thine own from Satan's tyranny, from death to death. 35 00:29:56,520 --> 00:30:26,500 of hell, Thy people save. And give them victory, O other grave. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel. O come, Thou key of David, come. 36 00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:56,500 And open wide our heavenly home. Make safe the way that leads on high. And close the misery. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel. 37 00:30:56,520 --> 00:31:26,500 In Matthew, the first chapter, after listing the genealogy of Jesus, which oftentimes to us seems just a very long list of names that we struggle to pronounce, but through that list we see God's faithfulness oftentimes to very unfaithfulness. 38 00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:40,520 To outsiders, to those who struggled, to those who hurt, and through it all, you see God's redemptive promise coming through history to His people. 39 00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:50,520 And as Matthew writes, he gets the story with the birth of Christ and Joseph's reaction. 40 00:31:50,520 --> 00:32:01,520 And an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife. 41 00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:11,520 For a witch is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus. 42 00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:19,520 For He will save His people from their sins." And all this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. 43 00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:27,520 "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel and his king." 44 00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:39,520 So we wouldn't have to get a concordance or a dictionary. Matthew puts in parentheses, which means "God knows." 45 00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:48,520 And one of the great, earth-shattering messages that is found in the Advent story is that one is coming who would 46 00:32:48,520 --> 00:33:03,520 be with us, and He will save His people from their sins. And in this, we find that Jesus knows what it's like to walk where you walk. 47 00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:10,520 In fact, it starts in Matthew chapter 1 with the story of His family in this list of names. 48 00:33:10,520 --> 00:33:17,520 Jesus knows what it's like to come from a family that was difficult, filled with some case outsiders, 49 00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:25,520 sinful and broken, and He understands that struggle, that hurt, and that pain. 50 00:33:25,520 --> 00:33:31,520 And as you move through His ministry, you see that Jesus knows what it's like to have conflict within your family. 51 00:33:31,520 --> 00:33:39,520 At one point, the family of Jesus comes and tries to take Him home because they think He has gone crazy. 52 00:33:39,520 --> 00:33:46,520 Jesus knows what it's like to rejoice. He knows what it's like to have close friends. He knows what it's like 53 00:33:46,520 --> 00:33:54,520 to be tired, in fact, that you fall asleep in the middle of a storm. He knows what it's like to be in a storm. 54 00:33:54,520 --> 00:34:03,520 He knows your joys. He knows your sorrows. He knows what it's like to be betrayed by those who are closest to Him. 55 00:34:03,520 --> 00:34:15,520 And He knows what it's like to stand by the grave of the bread of John 11. He knows what it's like in the cross 56 00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:24,520 to suffer under the weight of your sin as He takes that brokenness out of Himself. 57 00:34:24,520 --> 00:34:30,520 And in the good news of the Gospel, it's not just that Jesus takes our sin, 58 00:34:30,520 --> 00:34:41,520 but all of the righteousness and all of His good choices and all of His goodness is given to us. 59 00:34:41,520 --> 00:34:50,520 And so when we think of God with us, I want you to understand that He understands your struggles and your burdens, 60 00:34:50,520 --> 00:34:57,520 and your joys and your sorrows that He has come to save you. 61 00:34:57,520 --> 00:35:07,520 As the angel says to Joseph in a dream, "She will bear a son, and we shall call His name Jesus, and save His people from your sins." 62 00:35:07,520 --> 00:35:24,520 Father, as we rejoice and take comfort and find peace and see hope, as we feel your love in these verses, that you are gone far, 63 00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:34,520 and through your Son you become, and He has been with us and near us, that we are saved from our sins, 64 00:35:34,520 --> 00:35:43,520 and still this truth, not just in our sins, but pour it neatly into our hearts, and may it also flow with us. 65 00:35:43,520 --> 00:35:55,520 May this meal be part of hate, and may we see the burden of sin, and may we see the burden of sin, and may we see the burden of sin, 66 00:35:55,520 --> 00:36:03,520 the promise of hope and restoration. I ask that you bless this bread and this cup, and in Jesus' name we pray. 67 00:36:03,520 --> 00:36:14,520 Lord, if you would partake with me of the bread that Jesus shared with his disciples, thank you for this. 68 00:36:14,520 --> 00:36:32,520 And if you would partake with me in the confidence of the blood of Jesus. And as we remember, we seek to proclaim 69 00:36:32,520 --> 00:36:42,520 the good news of Jesus until he comes again. We are in the fourth Sunday of Advent this morning. 70 00:36:42,520 --> 00:36:53,520 We are going to be talking, we've talked about hope and joy and peace, and this morning we will be talking about Advent love. 71 00:36:53,520 --> 00:37:01,520 And so I'm going to read our Scripture from 1 John chapter 4, and then we'll pray, and then we'll just 72 00:37:01,520 --> 00:37:12,520 dive right into it together. 1 John chapter 4, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love 73 00:37:12,520 --> 00:37:19,520 is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God, and anyone who does not 74 00:37:19,520 --> 00:37:26,520 love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among 75 00:37:26,520 --> 00:37:33,520 us, that God sent His only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love, not 76 00:37:33,520 --> 00:37:43,520 that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be a propitiation for our 77 00:37:43,520 --> 00:37:53,520 sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another." This is the word 78 00:37:53,520 --> 00:38:03,520 of the Lord. Father in heaven, take your word this morning and use it to open our 79 00:38:03,520 --> 00:38:12,520 eyes, to strengthen our hearts, and to call us into right living with you. We know that 80 00:38:12,520 --> 00:38:22,520 your word is powerful. It is transformational. May your spirit be at work to encourage and 81 00:38:22,520 --> 00:38:29,520 help those who are struggling, convict those who are walking in sin. That you would help 82 00:38:29,520 --> 00:38:40,520 us to see your love so clearly through your Son. Go on the cross, and take the wrath that 83 00:38:40,520 --> 00:38:51,520 was intended for us. In this, you saved us. It is in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So I think I can say this because all the 84 00:38:51,520 --> 00:38:56,520 kids are downstairs, and not because it's something that kids can't hear, but they probably wouldn't 85 00:38:56,520 --> 00:39:02,520 understand. But you guys all seem like you're old enough to understand that broken record. If you've 86 00:39:02,520 --> 00:39:07,520 ever played a record, which most of you probably have, right? It gets to that point in the record, and 87 00:39:07,520 --> 00:39:13,520 there's like a little scratch, and it just sort of starts repeating itself over and over again. And that 88 00:39:13,520 --> 00:39:20,520 broken record, it almost feels, as if you read these verses in 1 John chapter 4, that 89 00:39:20,520 --> 00:39:27,520 John is a little bit of a repeating, broken record. And there are two themes that just 90 00:39:27,520 --> 00:39:35,520 find themselves repeated over, one very clearly, the other woven through this text that John 91 00:39:35,520 --> 00:39:42,520 is making sure that we can see. The first one is this idea of love. In fact, not counting 92 00:39:42,520 --> 00:39:49,520 the word "beloved," John uses this word 11 times. He's "love, love, loves." 93 00:39:49,520 --> 00:39:58,520 Love, love, love, loved, loved, loved, loved, love. Right? He's a broken record here about love. The second 94 00:39:58,520 --> 00:40:04,520 theme that you see sort of repeated over and over throughout these verses is not found in a repetition 95 00:40:04,520 --> 00:40:10,520 of a word, although there is a little bit of that, but in the truth that our love for others 96 00:40:10,520 --> 00:40:18,520 comes from knowing the love of God. And knowing not in some sort of cloudy theoretical 97 00:40:18,520 --> 00:40:25,520 way, but in a concrete way that moves us to action. What John is saying is that our 98 00:40:25,520 --> 00:40:29,520 knowledge and our knowing of God, and I don't think he's simply speaking in a head 99 00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:34,520 knowledge kind of way, but a head knowledge that is in our hearts that moves out 100 00:40:34,520 --> 00:40:40,520 through our actions, and this knowledge transforms how we live. And these two 101 00:40:40,520 --> 00:40:47,520 themes, when woken together, are transformational and they are life-giving. 102 00:40:47,520 --> 00:40:54,520 And so I want to take a moment this morning and to take a look at this transforming truth. 103 00:40:54,520 --> 00:41:00,520 And we're primarily going to be in verses 9 and 10 this morning. 104 00:41:00,520 --> 00:41:08,520 1 John 4:9 says this, "In this the love of God was made manifest among us that God sent 105 00:41:08,520 --> 00:41:16,520 his only Son into the world so that we might live through him." And I want to zoom in where 106 00:41:16,520 --> 00:41:25,520 John says that this, the love of God, was made manifest among us because this is a big deal. 107 00:41:25,520 --> 00:41:31,520 There's a temptation, and I think it's probably a universal one, and when I say universal one I 108 00:41:31,520 --> 00:41:36,520 don't just mean in this room for people who proclaim that they follow Jesus, but I think 109 00:41:36,520 --> 00:41:45,520 throughout the entire world there is a tendency to treat God like a combination law. And my first real experience 110 00:41:45,520 --> 00:41:51,520 combination law was as a freshman in high school, and I remember being so afraid that 111 00:41:51,520 --> 00:41:59,520 I would forget my combination on my lock and not be able to get into my locker, you know, 24, 35, 16. 112 00:41:59,520 --> 00:42:03,520 Like, it's still, like, I don't remember any other combinations from any time everywhere. 113 00:42:03,520 --> 00:42:10,520 In fact, I don't remember most people's names, but, right, I drilled that combination into my head. 114 00:42:10,520 --> 00:42:15,520 Then I got to college, and I didn't need a combination lock for a locker, 115 00:42:15,520 --> 00:42:21,520 but in our student center where our mailboxes were, you needed a combination to access those. 116 00:42:21,520 --> 00:42:26,520 And so every year you got a new combination, and it's a little tiny dial where you couldn't really see the numbers. 117 00:42:26,520 --> 00:42:31,520 And I remember it was either my junior or my sophomore year in college. 118 00:42:31,520 --> 00:42:37,520 I'm desperately trying to get into my mailbox. There was a piece of mail that I desperately needed to get, 119 00:42:37,520 --> 00:42:43,520 and I'm just running through, like, every combination I know to try to get that box to open up. 120 00:42:43,520 --> 00:42:50,520 And I think it's very easy for us to take this approach in terms of our relationship with God. 121 00:42:50,520 --> 00:42:56,520 And I think everyone, regardless of your belief in the God of the Bible, 122 00:42:56,520 --> 00:42:59,520 because biblically, everybody is a worshiper. 123 00:42:59,520 --> 00:43:04,520 Whether you worship God or you worship something else, all of us are worshipers, 124 00:43:04,520 --> 00:43:14,520 and we take this approach that there's some sort of combination that we can get in our life that will make everything work. 125 00:43:14,520 --> 00:43:22,520 If I can get everything to line up correctly, I'll find the peace, I'll find the joy, and the satisfaction. 126 00:43:22,520 --> 00:43:27,520 And whether you're using that combination outside of religion in this world, 127 00:43:27,520 --> 00:43:33,520 you're still worshiping, trying to find a combination that will lead you to joy, satisfaction, and peace, 128 00:43:33,520 --> 00:43:43,520 but also, Christians, we do the same thing. If I can get this to click right with God, then everything will be okay. 129 00:43:43,520 --> 00:43:49,520 And it's not a biblical idea in the sense that it's something that God can have us do. 130 00:43:49,520 --> 00:43:55,520 In fact, if you want an idea of what this treating God like a combination log looks like, 131 00:43:55,520 --> 00:44:03,520 in 1 Kings 18, there are the prophets of Baal, who are about to go before and fight against, 132 00:44:03,520 --> 00:44:07,520 sort of in this spiritual battle of worship, against the prophet Elisha. 133 00:44:07,520 --> 00:44:15,520 And if you know the story, the prophets of Baal come, and the goal was which God will send down fire and accept an offering. 134 00:44:15,520 --> 00:44:19,520 And so the prophets of Baal build an altar, and God does nothing. 135 00:44:19,520 --> 00:44:26,520 And they offer their calf and still nothing, so they begin to sing and shout and dance, and God says nothing. 136 00:44:26,520 --> 00:44:32,520 And Elijah in the corner goes, "Well, maybe he had to go out of town, or maybe he had to run to the bathroom real quick." 137 00:44:32,520 --> 00:44:35,520 And they just think, "God needs more intensity." 138 00:44:35,520 --> 00:44:40,520 And so in their worship of their false God, they say, "We're going to sing louder, dance harder." 139 00:44:40,520 --> 00:44:47,520 And they begin to cut themselves with knives, all in an attempt to find the right combination to get God to answer. 140 00:44:47,520 --> 00:44:53,520 And if you remember, by contrast, what happens with Elijah. 141 00:44:53,520 --> 00:45:03,520 He comes with his altar and his sacrifice covered in water, and he simply goes down in prayer. 142 00:45:03,520 --> 00:45:07,520 And God sends the fire to the altar. 143 00:45:07,520 --> 00:45:15,520 We have to be so careful of this danger of thinking that there's some way we can combine practices and actions 144 00:45:15,520 --> 00:45:21,520 in order to manipulate God, treating him as a combination. 145 00:45:21,520 --> 00:45:25,520 And I want you to see what John says about the love of God. 146 00:45:25,520 --> 00:45:29,520 He says that it was made manifest. 147 00:45:29,520 --> 00:45:35,520 That word manifest, it's not some kind of hippie word here, right? 148 00:45:35,520 --> 00:45:43,520 Or some guy standing in the mirror going, "I am strong. I am healthy. I am manifesting the life that I want." 149 00:45:43,520 --> 00:45:48,520 That's not what John is talking about here. 150 00:45:48,520 --> 00:45:54,520 In fact, this word manifest, its root is in the word for light. 151 00:45:54,520 --> 00:46:02,520 And the picture is one of illuminating something that is in the darkness. 152 00:46:02,520 --> 00:46:09,520 The other day I was driving back from picking up groceries, and I'm coming down 522, and it was really dark. 153 00:46:09,520 --> 00:46:13,520 And I'm in the car going, "Man, these lights are not bright enough." 154 00:46:13,520 --> 00:46:18,520 And Rachel goes, "Hey, you are missing a headlight. You're like 50% of head." 155 00:46:18,520 --> 00:46:21,520 Not enough light, you can't see in the dark. 156 00:46:21,520 --> 00:46:30,520 And what John is saying when he says the love of God was made manifest is that it lit up the dark. 157 00:46:30,520 --> 00:46:34,520 But it's more than just light that shows us something. 158 00:46:34,520 --> 00:46:40,520 That word in this day was used in a different kind of way. 159 00:46:40,520 --> 00:46:44,520 In another sense, it was used to say grasp. 160 00:46:44,520 --> 00:46:48,520 The Word of God was made manifest, not just that you could see it, 161 00:46:48,520 --> 00:46:54,520 but that you could grab it, that you could hold on to. 162 00:46:54,520 --> 00:46:59,520 What John is saying is that the love of God came in a way that could be held on to, 163 00:46:59,520 --> 00:47:04,520 and I don't think he means just in a literal, sort of intellectual sense, 164 00:47:04,520 --> 00:47:09,520 that I could understand and hold on to this with my mind. 165 00:47:09,520 --> 00:47:13,520 Because she gave birth to her first Lord's son, 166 00:47:13,520 --> 00:47:18,520 and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in danger. 167 00:47:18,520 --> 00:47:28,520 The love of God is not just manifest intellectually in some kind of idea for us to wrap our brains around, 168 00:47:28,520 --> 00:47:34,520 but it is graspable to hold on to. 169 00:47:34,520 --> 00:47:40,520 What John is saying is that the truth that we need has been made known very clearly. 170 00:47:40,520 --> 00:47:44,520 You don't have to guess or formulate a hypothesis. 171 00:47:44,520 --> 00:47:48,520 You have the truth, you can know, and you can hold on to it. 172 00:47:48,520 --> 00:47:55,520 That's the one theme, this picture of knowing that runs under all of these verses. 173 00:47:55,520 --> 00:48:00,520 And now that second theme, the wonder of God's love. 174 00:48:00,520 --> 00:48:05,520 For us, sometimes we treat God's love as sort of a platitude, right? 175 00:48:05,520 --> 00:48:11,520 Those platitudes are phrases that are supposed to make us seem thoughtful or deep, but they don't really say anything, right? 176 00:48:11,520 --> 00:48:14,520 It's like, "Time heals all wounds," right? 177 00:48:14,520 --> 00:48:19,520 Well, maybe you just haven't been wounded hard enough to understand, right? 178 00:48:19,520 --> 00:48:23,520 Or, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." 179 00:48:23,520 --> 00:48:32,520 I don't know, my life experience has said that sometimes what you find at the end of that struggle is that you are weaker. 180 00:48:32,520 --> 00:48:38,520 The wonder of God's love is not some sort of platitude or conventional wisdom. 181 00:48:38,520 --> 00:48:40,520 It's something wonderful. 182 00:48:40,520 --> 00:48:46,520 The reason we struggle with the love of God, and oftentimes treat it as a platitude, 183 00:48:46,520 --> 00:48:53,520 is because the idea of love in our experience, and in many ways, has become diluted. 184 00:48:53,520 --> 00:48:58,520 It's like when our kids were very little, and we started giving them juice. 185 00:48:58,520 --> 00:49:01,520 It's like, we're not giving them straight juice, right? 186 00:49:01,520 --> 00:49:05,520 You take a little bit of juice, and they're sipping up, and then you add a bunch of water to it, 187 00:49:05,520 --> 00:49:11,520 so they get some of the flavor, but not all of the excitement and craving of the juice. 188 00:49:11,520 --> 00:49:18,520 And what has happened in the idea of God's love for us is that the idea of love in our world has become so diluted. 189 00:49:18,520 --> 00:49:26,520 It's been filled with other things that we have lost the impact of what is happening. 190 00:49:26,520 --> 00:49:30,520 If I was to ask you this morning, say, "What does love mean?" 191 00:49:30,520 --> 00:49:35,520 You might respond with, "Well, what do you mean by love?" 192 00:49:35,520 --> 00:49:37,520 Right? We can love a lot of things, right? 193 00:49:37,520 --> 00:49:39,520 I love puppies. 194 00:49:39,520 --> 00:49:41,520 Tacos this time of year, right? 195 00:49:41,520 --> 00:49:43,520 People going back home after they visit. 196 00:49:43,520 --> 00:49:45,520 Somebody says, "Do you want a cup of coffee?" 197 00:49:45,520 --> 00:49:48,520 And you go, "Man, I'd love one." 198 00:49:48,520 --> 00:49:50,520 I don't really mean anything about love, right? 199 00:49:50,520 --> 00:49:53,520 I'm just saying it's nice to have a cup of coffee. 200 00:49:53,520 --> 00:49:56,520 And we use the word in so many different ways. 201 00:49:56,520 --> 00:50:01,520 However, in John's day, they were a little bit more specific about love. 202 00:50:01,520 --> 00:50:07,520 And so they would talk sometimes and use a word specifically for romantic love, right? 203 00:50:07,520 --> 00:50:10,520 She is pretty. He's handsome. 204 00:50:10,520 --> 00:50:14,520 And this time of year, right, he's a lumberjack working on the family Christmas tree farm. 205 00:50:14,520 --> 00:50:19,520 She's the angry executive from the big city coming to bulldoze the Christmas tree farm. 206 00:50:19,520 --> 00:50:23,520 And they see each other, and then snow starts falling, and they kiss, and it's a Merry Christmas. 207 00:50:23,520 --> 00:50:26,520 And there's all this romantic love. 208 00:50:26,520 --> 00:50:35,520 Or I remember when I was younger, right, we used to, you know, boys versus girls on the playground, and we would run and play tag. 209 00:50:35,520 --> 00:50:39,520 And then there came a point where it's like, hey, it wouldn't be so bad if they caught us, right? 210 00:50:39,520 --> 00:50:45,520 There's this idea of romantic love. It's not what John's talking about. 211 00:50:45,520 --> 00:50:52,520 And then there is this love of sort of friendly love, right, where we like somebody or we have similar interests. 212 00:50:52,520 --> 00:50:56,520 They do something nice for you. You go, "Man, I like those people." 213 00:50:56,520 --> 00:51:02,520 There's family love that just often times sort of comes naturally, I guess maybe depending on your family. 214 00:51:02,520 --> 00:51:12,520 It's like the natural movement of our soul, or our kids, or our wife, or those people that we hold very dear and close to us. 215 00:51:12,520 --> 00:51:21,520 Kind of a, somebody described it as a quiet, abiding feeling within a man that rests on something close to him that he feels good about. 216 00:51:22,520 --> 00:51:29,520 But John is speaking about a love that goes deeper than all of these others. 217 00:51:29,520 --> 00:51:34,520 And at the heart of this love is the willingness to sacrifice for others. 218 00:51:34,520 --> 00:51:42,520 And I never thought, right, that a Disney movie would be a good example of love, right? Especially this kind of love. 219 00:51:42,520 --> 00:51:51,520 But our kids went through, like many kids did, right, the frozen epidemic where Frozen won, and it was, you know, let it go. 220 00:51:51,520 --> 00:51:56,520 The snowman, all of that. And it's a story where at the heart of it, it's all about love, right? 221 00:51:56,520 --> 00:52:02,520 She's freezing, and she needs to find true love. But what I love about the end of the movie Frozen, 222 00:52:02,520 --> 00:52:13,520 if you haven't seen it, our kids will probably watch it with you still, is that the end, the love that she's looking for doesn't come from romance, 223 00:52:13,520 --> 00:52:25,520 but it comes from a sister who's willing to sacrifice herself for her mother or sister. A sister who risks everything. 224 00:52:25,520 --> 00:52:33,520 It's a self-sacrificing kind of love. And that's the kind of love that John is speaking. It's a love that sets God's people apart. 225 00:52:33,520 --> 00:52:40,520 It's a supernatural love. It's a love that sacrifices. And if you want an example of this, 226 00:52:40,520 --> 00:52:49,520 sometimes it's easier to see examples biblically. In Luke chapter 10, there's this big debate and question. 227 00:52:49,520 --> 00:52:54,520 Somebody said to Jesus, "What's the greatest commandment?" He talks about loving God and loving his neighbor. 228 00:52:54,520 --> 00:52:59,520 And the guy, like many of us, wants sort of some limits on what he's called to do. So he goes, "Who is my neighbor?" 229 00:52:59,520 --> 00:53:07,520 So I know who I can love, and I know who I can hate, and it's all good. And so Jesus tells us this story, this parable. 230 00:53:07,520 --> 00:53:14,520 And the purpose of the parable, ultimately, is to answer the question, right, "Who is my neighbor?" And the answer is everybody. 231 00:53:14,520 --> 00:53:21,520 But in this parable, there's something else we see. We see what real love looks like. 232 00:53:21,520 --> 00:53:32,520 And in Luke 10, verse 30, we see this. "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers who stripped him, beat him, and departed, leaving him for dead." 233 00:53:32,520 --> 00:53:43,520 So this is not a good situation on a dangerous road, right? They don't just take your money. They don't just beat you up until you're almost dead, but they take all of your clothes. 234 00:53:43,520 --> 00:53:53,520 So not only is there physical hurt, financial hurt, right? You're left naked and beaten on the side of the road. There's some emotional hurt there as well. 235 00:53:53,520 --> 00:54:01,520 Verse 31 and 32, "Now by chance, a priest was going down the road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 236 00:54:01,520 --> 00:54:13,520 So likewise, a Levite, when he came to the place, saw him and passed by on the other side." And oftentimes we talk about how these guys who are supposed to be religious professionals, 237 00:54:13,520 --> 00:54:22,520 they end up walking by the guy on the side of the road, and maybe they didn't want to be unclean, or maybe they didn't want to get dirty, so they kind of go as far away and ignore the man's suffering. 238 00:54:22,520 --> 00:54:30,520 But I think there's another explanation as well. If this guy has been beat up, robbed, and stripped naked on the side of the road, 239 00:54:30,520 --> 00:54:39,520 that obviously means there's a gang of ruffians around somewhere that's doing that. And they're obviously operating in this location, 240 00:54:39,520 --> 00:54:50,520 and maybe this guy is just a trap for whoever stops to help to come along and attack him here. So there's not just their religious aspect or their pride, 241 00:54:50,520 --> 00:54:58,520 but there's also self-preservation. I don't want to end up by that guy, so I'm just going to keep on going. 242 00:54:59,520 --> 00:55:09,520 Then, in Luke 10, 33, what a Samaritan, a sword enemy, helped the Jews that worship God on a different mountain in a different way. 243 00:55:09,520 --> 00:55:17,520 As he journeyed, he came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 244 00:55:17,520 --> 00:55:24,520 There's a picture here of the enemy. He comes, and he sees the hurt and the brokenness. 245 00:55:24,520 --> 00:55:28,520 And he doesn't just see the problem or feel the problem, but what does he do? He does something about it. 246 00:55:28,520 --> 00:55:32,520 And he went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring oil and wine. 247 00:55:32,520 --> 00:55:36,520 So he goes and he soothes, but he also sanitizes. 248 00:55:36,520 --> 00:55:40,520 He set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 249 00:55:40,520 --> 00:55:44,520 The next day, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, said, "Take care of him. 250 00:55:44,520 --> 00:55:49,520 Whatever you spend, I will repay you when I come back." 251 00:55:49,520 --> 00:55:54,520 Notice what the Samaritan does. He gives up his resources, his oil and wine. 252 00:55:54,520 --> 00:55:58,520 Likely, his tunic as well, in binding of the wounds. 253 00:55:58,520 --> 00:56:03,520 He takes off his overcoat and rips it into strips to bind this man's wounds. 254 00:56:03,520 --> 00:56:07,520 He gives up his ride and his transportation, setting him upon his animal. 255 00:56:07,520 --> 00:56:09,520 He gives up his cleanliness. 256 00:56:09,520 --> 00:56:17,520 Have you ever cleaned up a cut on somebody, especially a man who's been beaten almost to death? 257 00:56:17,520 --> 00:56:22,520 He's given up his cleanliness. He gives up his rest as he takes care of him through the night. 258 00:56:22,520 --> 00:56:29,520 He gives up his certainty about his future resources by saying, "This whatever you need, I will repay." 259 00:56:29,520 --> 00:56:34,520 This is the kind of love that makes us go, "I don't understand." 260 00:56:34,520 --> 00:56:42,520 Why would you give up your stuff, and your clothes, and your ride, and your money? 261 00:56:42,520 --> 00:56:49,520 You need a quote before you sign over this contract. 262 00:56:49,520 --> 00:56:54,520 You see, the love we're talking about is not the kind where we're attracted to someone, 263 00:56:54,520 --> 00:56:58,520 or someone we like, or someone who is part of our family. 264 00:56:58,520 --> 00:57:03,520 It's a love that makes people forget in a weird way, and you go, "Why would they do that?" 265 00:57:03,520 --> 00:57:07,520 Why would they risk it? 266 00:57:07,520 --> 00:57:13,520 And it's this love that should bring us to wonder. 267 00:57:13,520 --> 00:57:16,520 This is the love of God that was made manifest among us, 268 00:57:16,520 --> 00:57:21,520 that God sent His only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 269 00:57:21,520 --> 00:57:25,520 In this is love, not that we have loved God, 270 00:57:25,520 --> 00:57:30,520 but that He has loved us and sent His Son to be a propitiation for our sins. 271 00:57:30,520 --> 00:57:34,520 That it's become clear and graspable. 272 00:57:34,520 --> 00:57:37,520 John says, "God is the one who initiates this love." 273 00:57:37,520 --> 00:57:40,520 Twice he'll say, "That God sent." 274 00:57:40,520 --> 00:57:44,520 And it's not that the love of God in our life is in any way deserved. 275 00:57:44,520 --> 00:57:48,520 Right? When you look through the pictures, the SBCA posts, 276 00:57:48,520 --> 00:57:51,520 and you go, "Oh man, that's a cute puppy. I love that puppy." 277 00:57:51,520 --> 00:57:55,520 That's not what God is doing when He looks at us. 278 00:57:55,520 --> 00:57:58,520 It's not a love that's earned or deserved. 279 00:57:58,520 --> 00:58:05,520 If you zoom out to the larger passage you see in verses 7 and 8, 280 00:58:05,520 --> 00:58:08,520 that God is the source of this love, right? 281 00:58:08,520 --> 00:58:12,520 Not only does He give it, but He is the source. God is love. 282 00:58:12,520 --> 00:58:20,520 He's so exclusive of a source that you can't know love without knowing God. 283 00:58:20,520 --> 00:58:24,520 Not just a source, meaning that He has a lot of love, 284 00:58:24,520 --> 00:58:31,520 but love is so closely tied to God that you cannot separate it. 285 00:58:31,520 --> 00:58:35,520 In this, the love of God was made manifest among us. 286 00:58:35,520 --> 00:58:40,520 That God sent His only Son into the world so that we might live through Him in this love. 287 00:58:40,520 --> 00:58:48,520 Not that we have loved God, but that He has loved us and sent His Son to be a propitiation for our sins. 288 00:58:48,520 --> 00:58:55,520 The great love initiated by God. I want you to see the depth of this love right now. 289 00:58:55,520 --> 00:58:59,520 Verse 9, God sent His Son. 290 00:58:59,520 --> 00:59:04,520 I don't know if you've ever loaned something that was valuable to you. 291 00:59:04,520 --> 00:59:08,520 I remember our first dog. Her name was Rigby. 292 00:59:08,520 --> 00:59:11,520 And I remember the first time we dropped her off at the groomers. 293 00:59:11,520 --> 00:59:15,520 We'd had her for a couple months, and we dropped her off to get her nails clipped and get cleaned. 294 00:59:15,520 --> 00:59:19,520 And we sat in the car going, "Oh man, I hope she's okay." 295 00:59:19,520 --> 00:59:23,520 And I thought for a minute that was traumatic, and then I had kids. 296 00:59:23,520 --> 00:59:28,520 And I remember the first time we left them with somebody other than us. 297 00:59:28,520 --> 00:59:31,520 And we're going, "We really trust." 298 00:59:31,520 --> 00:59:36,520 "I know they raised us, but can they raise the grandkids?" 299 00:59:36,520 --> 00:59:40,520 Because you're giving Him something that's valuable. 300 00:59:40,520 --> 00:59:45,520 God sent His only Son. 301 00:59:45,520 --> 00:59:55,520 This picture of emotion and of value and of worth being given. 302 00:59:55,520 --> 00:59:58,520 Notice what the purpose is. 303 00:59:58,520 --> 01:00:02,520 That God sent His only Son into the world for what reason? 304 01:00:02,520 --> 01:00:05,520 So that we might live through Him. 305 01:00:05,520 --> 01:00:08,520 You say, "Great, there's a problem." 306 01:00:08,520 --> 01:00:13,520 Have you ever sang in the Christmas hymn, "I wonder as I wander"? 307 01:00:13,520 --> 01:00:20,520 Or, "I wonder as I wander out under the sky, how Jesus the Savior had come for to die"? 308 01:00:20,520 --> 01:00:22,520 Do you know what the next line is? For what? 309 01:00:22,520 --> 01:00:28,520 Poor, ornery people like you and like I. 310 01:00:28,520 --> 01:00:32,520 How can poor, ornery people be brought to God? 311 01:00:32,520 --> 01:00:37,520 And in verse 10, we see this, and this is love. 312 01:00:37,520 --> 01:00:51,520 Not that we have loved God, but that He has loved us, and He has sent His Son, His only Son, for the propitiation for our sins. 313 01:00:51,520 --> 01:01:01,520 That word propitiation, which seems like a big church word, means satisfying the wrath of God through a sacrificial offering. 314 01:01:01,520 --> 01:01:06,520 Or another way of saying it, maybe a little, it means paying the price for sin. 315 01:01:06,520 --> 01:01:16,520 And this word very clearly and very directly directs all of us to the wrath of God. 316 01:01:16,520 --> 01:01:19,520 Merry Christmas, tidings of comfort and joy. 317 01:01:19,520 --> 01:01:28,520 And not just the wrath of God, but that you and I deserve the wrath of God. 318 01:01:28,520 --> 01:01:37,520 Ephesians 2 says this, "Among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, 319 01:01:37,520 --> 01:01:45,520 carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and we were by nature children of wrath." 320 01:01:45,520 --> 01:01:49,520 And we need to understand a little bit of what we're talking about. 321 01:01:49,520 --> 01:01:58,520 The wrath of God is not because of any kind of sinfulness that's so common in our anger. 322 01:01:58,520 --> 01:02:02,520 God is not like us where he gets grumpy and starts snapping at people. 323 01:02:02,520 --> 01:02:08,520 God's pride is not somehow wounded and he gets snippy. 324 01:02:08,520 --> 01:02:14,520 Or like me in Costco, God doesn't get angry because he's self-centered. 325 01:02:14,520 --> 01:02:19,520 I was at Costco Thursday night. I was on a mission. I had a limited time. 326 01:02:19,520 --> 01:02:24,520 The kids were being awesome. We came in the door. We got what we needed. 327 01:02:24,520 --> 01:02:30,520 We headed down the outside aisle, and there's these people three wide across the aisle just taking their good old time. 328 01:02:30,520 --> 01:02:37,520 And I'm sitting there, and I'm just getting madder and madder because I've got 45 minutes until I've got to be back to the church. 329 01:02:37,520 --> 01:02:50,520 The reason I'm mad, right, is because I'm being human. That's not what we're talking about when we talk about God's wrath. 330 01:02:50,520 --> 01:02:59,520 You see, the idea of love must also include anger at sin and injustice. Think about our love. 331 01:02:59,520 --> 01:03:05,520 And what I've realized as I've got older, the things that make me truly angry, not just the stuff I complain about, which is a lot, 332 01:03:05,520 --> 01:03:19,520 or the dumb stuff I rant about, which is also a lot, but what makes me truly and deeply angry is the harming of people that I love. 333 01:03:19,520 --> 01:03:24,520 Somebody intentionally harms somebody that you love, and if you look at them, you're okay, whatever. 334 01:03:24,520 --> 01:03:33,520 I don't question whether you truly love that person. If the suffering and the hurt of those that you love does not make you angry, 335 01:03:33,520 --> 01:03:43,520 do you truly love? And what you find is that our sin has created untold amounts of brokenness and hurt. 336 01:03:43,520 --> 01:03:53,520 More than we probably know or can see. Just a small example, if you ever had somebody say something to you that hurts and just sticks in it, 337 01:03:53,520 --> 01:04:01,520 and years later you can remember that phrase, you wake up and it still hurts. It's been 15 years and it still hurts, and we have been on both sides 338 01:04:01,520 --> 01:04:09,520 of that, not just hearing that, but saying that. And the herder doesn't think about the person they're hurting very often. 339 01:04:09,520 --> 01:04:21,520 But our sin and brokenness is not just against our fellow beings. It's direct rebellion against God. The one who created all things, 340 01:04:21,520 --> 01:04:29,520 and by right of his power and might and righteousness and justice and the fact that he has created is the one who is allowed to set 341 01:04:29,520 --> 01:04:41,520 the standard, and we don't like it, and it makes us uncomfortable to think about the wrath of God. But God is rightfully angry at sin. 342 01:04:41,520 --> 01:04:57,520 You see, the Lord is God, and we are not. And I think frequently our anger and uncomfortableness of the wrath of God is because deep down we know it is deserved. 343 01:04:57,520 --> 01:05:09,520 But I have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The wages of sin is death. 344 01:05:09,520 --> 01:05:21,520 In our clearer moments, we understand our brokenness and our sin is not simply against those who are around us, but we have sinned and rebelled against Almighty God. 345 01:05:21,520 --> 01:05:41,520 And into this wrath of God. Righteous wrath against sinners. Listen to this. In this love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us. 346 01:05:41,520 --> 01:05:55,520 And sent His Son to be in appreciation for us. But you take that brokenness and anger, and we feel that resistance. 347 01:05:55,520 --> 01:06:05,520 Listen to what He says. God did not pour out His wrath on us, but on His Son. 348 01:06:05,520 --> 01:06:13,520 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 349 01:06:13,520 --> 01:06:26,520 He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities. Upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and by His wounds we are healed. 350 01:06:26,520 --> 01:06:39,520 All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned every one to His own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity or the punishment for us all. 351 01:06:39,520 --> 01:06:54,520 This is the love of God. And some of you have maybe only heard about God's anger at sin, but the good news of the Gospel is that poor, ornery people, broken by sin, 352 01:06:54,520 --> 01:07:05,520 that God sent His Son. In this, He loved us. Not that we loved Him, but He loved us, and He sent His Son to stand in our place. 353 01:07:05,520 --> 01:07:12,520 I think this is the love that we're talking about. She gave birth to her firstborn son, 354 01:07:12,520 --> 01:07:20,520 wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid into the manger because there was no room for Him in the inn. 355 01:07:20,520 --> 01:07:26,520 She will bear a son, and He will call His name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins. 356 01:07:26,520 --> 01:07:31,520 We call this to the place to be fulfilled, spoken by the prophet, the Holy Spirit. 357 01:07:31,520 --> 01:07:38,520 Our virgin will conceive and bear a son, and we'll call His name Emmanuel, which means God with us. 358 01:07:38,520 --> 01:07:43,520 And how does God with us save us? 359 01:07:43,520 --> 01:07:55,520 When they came to a place called gall, it was placed in the skull. They offered Him a drink mixed with gall, but when He tasted it, He was not drinking. 360 01:07:55,520 --> 01:08:02,520 When they crucified Him, they divided His garments among them by casting blonds. 361 01:08:02,520 --> 01:08:10,520 And when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished." 362 01:08:10,520 --> 01:08:29,520 He bowed His head to His feet. Our brokenness, our sin against others, our rebellion against God, paid for by the Son. 363 01:08:29,520 --> 01:08:39,520 Listening back around this week as I was writing this, and as I was thinking through and finishing things up, 364 01:08:39,520 --> 01:08:46,520 these are the words in the background: "It is finished. He has done it. Let your weary heart rejoice. 365 01:08:46,520 --> 01:08:56,520 Our redemption is accomplished. Raise a shout with ragged voice, and go bravely into battle, knowing He has won the war. 366 01:08:56,520 --> 01:09:08,520 It is finished. Lift your head and weep no more." In this, the love of God has made manifest among us, that God sent His 367 01:09:08,520 --> 01:09:19,520 Holy Son into the world, so that we might live. Think about what's being said. The love of God was made manifest. 368 01:09:19,520 --> 01:09:32,520 It becomes the propitiation for our sins, the clear picture of God's love for His people. In this word "manifest," we have this picture of it being held onto. 369 01:09:32,520 --> 01:09:46,520 What I would say to you this morning in this Christmas season is hold on. Remember Jacob in his pride and his self-reliance, and where does that come to the end at? 370 01:09:46,520 --> 01:09:56,520 In the middle of the night, in the middle of a scheme to not get killed with his wife and family, he wrestles with Jesus. 371 01:09:56,520 --> 01:10:02,520 And in all his brokenness, when we say, "I'm not going to let go, I'm going to bless you." 372 01:10:02,520 --> 01:10:12,520 Jacob holds on for dear life. Or maybe in your doubts and in your struggles, like Thomas. 373 01:10:12,520 --> 01:10:23,520 What does Jesus say? Thomas. My hands. He said, "Come touch and see. Grasp. Hold on in the midst of your doubts." 374 01:10:23,520 --> 01:10:28,520 Like the unnamed woman. We don't know who she was, but we know that she had been suffering for years. 375 01:10:28,520 --> 01:10:35,520 Who said, "If I can just grab a hold of his garment and grasp that." 376 01:10:35,520 --> 01:10:40,520 Like Mary in the garden, who clings to Jesus. 377 01:10:40,520 --> 01:10:46,520 And the passage is probably a little humorous where Jesus is in part saying, "Mary, you're not so tight." 378 01:10:46,520 --> 01:10:51,520 Like, "I've got things that I have to finish." But she's not going to let go of Jesus for anything. 379 01:10:51,520 --> 01:11:01,520 And maybe the issue is not that you're not holding on, but maybe you don't think Jesus wants to be anywhere near you. 380 01:11:01,520 --> 01:11:06,520 There's an account in the Gospels where Jesus encounters a leper. 381 01:11:06,520 --> 01:11:17,520 Somebody who is an outcast, and who is far away from people, separated, contagious, and he comes to Jesus for healing. 382 01:11:17,520 --> 01:11:31,520 Do you know what Scripture says? It says that Jesus touched him. And I don't think that Jesus touched him like our kids touched the mealworms that were feeding their hamsters yesterday, where it's like, just kind of touch over here. 383 01:11:31,520 --> 01:11:43,520 I don't think that's what Jesus does to this leper who has no human contact. There's no human touch who hasn't been able to hold on to anybody. 384 01:11:43,520 --> 01:11:51,520 You know what Jesus does? He holds on to him. Let's pray. 385 01:11:51,520 --> 01:12:05,520 Father, we thank you for your grace and for your love and for your mercy. And we thank you for your justice that stands for what is bright. 386 01:12:05,520 --> 01:12:28,520 And we thank you that you sent your Son to take the justice that we deserved so that we might be part of your favor. Help us to hold on in our struggles, in our doubts, in our sickness, in our joys. 387 01:12:28,520 --> 01:12:39,520 But remind us in all of this, that you are really holding on to us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 388 01:12:39,520 --> 01:12:51,520 We're going to stand and sing a song we've been singing for a little bit, "I Set My Hope." And as we sing it, you probably remember, we set our hope on Jesus. 389 01:12:51,520 --> 01:13:00,520 But in this song, in each of the verses, there's a different picture of struggle and things that draw our hope away from Jesus. 390 01:13:00,520 --> 01:13:06,520 And so we want to sing that our hope is in Jesus regardless of our struggles. So let's go ahead. 391 01:13:21,520 --> 01:13:46,520 Joy that runs still deep. 392 01:13:46,520 --> 01:14:11,520 When this life of trials test my faith, I set my hope on Jesus. When the questions come and doubts remain, I set my hope on Jesus. 393 01:14:11,520 --> 01:14:38,520 When the questions come and doubts remain, I set my hope on Jesus. For the deepest wounds the time won't heal. There's a joy that runs still deeper. There's a truth that's more than all I feel. I set my hope on Jesus. 394 01:14:38,520 --> 01:15:05,520 I set my hope on Jesus. My rock, my only trust. Who set his heart upon me first? I set my hope on Jesus. 395 01:15:05,520 --> 01:15:32,520 Though I falter in this war with sin, I set my hope on Jesus. When I feel the fight and sink within, I set my hope on Jesus. Though the shame would drown me in its sea, 396 01:15:32,520 --> 01:15:59,520 and I drain the wave of justice. I will cast my life on Calvary. I set my hope on Jesus. I set my hope on Jesus. My God, my only trust. Who set His heart upon me first. 397 01:15:59,520 --> 01:16:07,520 I set my hope on Jesus. 398 01:16:07,520 --> 01:16:28,520 Though the world call me to leave, my Lord, 399 01:16:28,520 --> 01:16:33,520 I set my hope on Jesus. 400 01:16:33,520 --> 01:16:38,520 Though it offer all its vain rewards, 401 01:16:38,520 --> 01:16:43,520 I set my hope on Jesus. 402 01:16:43,520 --> 01:16:48,520 Though this heart of mine is prone to stray, 403 01:16:48,520 --> 01:16:53,520 Give me grace enough to finish, 404 01:16:53,520 --> 01:16:58,520 Till I worship on that final day. 405 01:16:58,520 --> 01:17:03,520 I set my hope on Jesus. 406 01:17:03,520 --> 01:17:08,520 I set my hope on Jesus. 407 01:17:08,520 --> 01:17:13,520 I run my only trust. 408 01:17:13,520 --> 01:17:18,520 You set His heart upon me first. 409 01:17:18,520 --> 01:17:23,520 I set my hope on Jesus. 410 01:17:23,520 --> 01:17:28,520 I set my hope on Jesus. 411 01:17:28,520 --> 01:17:33,520 My wrath, my only trust. 412 01:17:33,520 --> 01:17:38,520 You set His heart upon me first. 413 01:17:38,520 --> 01:17:43,520 I set my hope on Jesus. 414 01:17:43,520 --> 01:17:50,520 I set my hope on Jesus. 415 01:18:13,520 --> 01:18:19,520 We're going to have great joy on Christmas Eve, and so we would like to invite you to join us. 416 01:18:19,520 --> 01:18:31,520 There will be no Wednesday evening Bible study on Christmas Day. Also, the following week on New Year's Day, we will resume our Wednesday evening Bible study in January. 417 01:18:31,520 --> 01:18:39,520 So Christmas Eve service this Tuesday. Worship next Sunday. We are thankful that you're here. 418 01:18:39,520 --> 01:18:49,520 I'm going to pray, and I'm going to read a little bit of a few more verses than we normally do a prayer by Paul before we sing a chorus of Go Tell It on the Mountain. 419 01:18:49,520 --> 01:18:56,520 Father, thank you for Jesus. We thank you for grace. We thank you for the love that has been poured out. 420 01:18:56,520 --> 01:19:08,520 Help us as we consider and as we have moved through this Advent season to see the hope and the joy and the peace and love that are found in your Son. 421 01:19:08,520 --> 01:19:19,520 Both as we look back to his birth and as we look forward to his return. Give us the strength that we need. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 422 01:19:19,520 --> 01:19:23,520 Paul prays this for the church in Ephesians, the third chapter. 423 01:19:23,520 --> 01:19:30,520 "For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 424 01:19:30,520 --> 01:19:38,520 that according to the riches of you, he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 425 01:19:38,520 --> 01:19:46,520 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have the strength 426 01:19:46,520 --> 01:19:53,520 to comprehend with all the saints, all God's people, what is the breadth and the length and the height and the depth, 427 01:19:53,520 --> 01:20:01,520 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, and that you may be filled with the fullness of God. 428 01:20:01,520 --> 01:20:17,520 Go, tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere. 429 01:20:17,520 --> 01:20:24,520 Go, tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born. 430 01:20:24,520 --> 01:20:32,520 Go, tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere. 431 01:20:32,520 --> 01:20:39,520 Go, tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born. 432 01:20:39,520 --> 01:20:49,520 Go, tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born. 433 01:21:09,520 --> 01:21:39,500 God bless you. 434 01:21:39,520 --> 01:22:09,500 God bless you. 435 01:22:09,520 --> 01:22:39,500 God bless you.