[0:00] Modern Art Survhabitude holds theд for the Ife When Kamala, her father Renaissance herself rings остав herself Good morning.
[0:44] This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day that the Lord has made.
[1:06] Let us rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day that the Lord has made.
[1:21] Let us rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day that the Lord has made.
[1:35] Shall we pray together? Dear God in heaven, we pray your blessings upon our gathering today. That we might worship you. That we might experience you. That we might know you better by coming here today.
[1:46] Bless us in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. And as we light our Advent candles this morning, hear these words from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 1, verses 18 through 24.
[1:58] This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about. His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph. But before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.
[2:10] Because Joseph, her husband, was faithful to the law and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
[2:34] She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel, which means God with us.
[2:53] When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him, and took Mary home to be his wife. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
[3:03] If you're able, I'm going to invite you to stand as we sing together. Hail to the Lord's anointed. Hail to the Lord.
[3:38] Hail to the Lord's anointed. Hail to the Lord's anointed. Hail to the Lord's anointed. Great David's greatest son. Hail in the time avoided.
[3:48] His reign on earth begun. He comes to break oppression. To set the captive free.
[4:00] To take away transgression. And rule in equity. He comes with succor speedy.
[4:13] To those who suffer wrong. To help the poor and needy. And bid the weak be strong.
[4:25] To give them songs for sighing. Their darkness turned to light. With souls condemned and dying.
[4:38] Are precious in his sight. He shall come down like showers upon the fruitful earth.
[4:50] Love, joy, and hope like flowers swing in his path to birth. Before him on the mountains.
[5:04] Peace the heralds. Peace the heralds. Peace the heralds. Peace the heralds. And righteousness in fountains. From hill to valley flow.
[5:15] To him shall prayer unceasing. And daily mouths ascend. His kingdom still increasing.
[5:28] A kingdom without end. The tide of time shall never. His covenant remove.
[5:41] His name shall stand forever. That name to us is love. The Lord be with you.
[5:54] David. If you use offering envelopes for your giving. The envelopes are out in the back of the sanctuary for you to pick up today. Thank you. Quick announcements to start us off.
[6:05] It's a joy that right after this service all of our children are going to be in an advent play. So you are welcome to come. Just stay where you are and have a wonderful experience of seeing a bunch of children tell the Christmas story through song and story.
[6:20] And the other joy I have is that we offer an opportunity for people who are experiencing different forms of mourning in this Christmas season.
[6:33] And we have what's called a blue Christmas service. And it's understanding that it's really difficult for some people at this time of year.
[6:43] If they're experiencing mourning through the loss of a loved one or through divorce or loss of a job or whatever it is. If there's something that is causing you to be in mourning and not in a good state, this service is for you.
[6:56] And it's on the 21st. It's a blue Christmas service. So we have a lot to be thankful for because God is with us always. And God is blessing us in so many ways.
[7:06] And I'd love to hear what you all are thankful for today. What's God doing in your life? Oh, I know he's moving in your life. Yeah. All of you have prayed for Iris G, the preemie, who's been in the hospital for eight or nine days.
[7:21] She's gone home. And then the other one, Adelina, the train is coming out. And the families want to thank you for those prayers. So thank you for prayers for healing. People are coming home. Amen. Yeah.
[7:33] Anyone else want to share? Oh, hey, Debbie. Yes, we do our Adventist play. We're so thankful for all the kids that are part of it.
[7:43] If there are any other kids who didn't make it yesterday but still want to just be part of it, we're leaving the service at 925 to be in the back of your prayer.
[7:54] And I hope all of you can join us. Thank you. Yeah. If you're a fan of AM Buffalo, Linda Pellegrino was out to visit us last week.
[8:06] And we'll be on AM Buffalo this Friday. So if you like that, you can come see it. Yeah, Bonnie. Yeah, my friend down here is a great boy. I have surgery.
[8:17] It's not really well. And he's up. I'm coming. So open-heart surgery went well and he's up and recovered already? Wonderful. Carol. What a joy.
[8:50] serving over 100 dinners to the homeless. It's a blessing to be able to serve in that way. Anyone else want to share? Okay, well, as we return our gifts, tithes, and offerings, please take some time to reflect on what God is doing in your life.
[9:10] Look and see the many blessings you have received and rejoice. Mary, did you know that your baby boy would someday walk on water?
[9:52] Mary, did you know that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters? Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?
[10:13] This child that you delivered will soon deliver you.
[10:24] Mary, did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man? Mary, did you know Did you know that your baby boy will come a storm with his hand?
[10:45] Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
[10:55] When you kissed your little baby Then you kissed the face of God The blind will see The deaf will hear The dead will live again The lame will leave The lame will leave The dumb will speak The praises of the Lamb Mary, did you know Did you know that your baby boy Did you know that your baby boy Did you know that your baby boy
[11:57] Is Lord of all creation? Mary, did you know that your baby boy Will one day rule the nations?
[12:08] Did you know that your baby boy Was heaven's perfect land?
[12:19] The sleeping child you're holding Is the great, the great I am Ooh Ooh Ooh Thank you.
[13:35] Lord, we thank you for your goodness and your many blessings in our life. We give back to you as a reflection of our love, of our gratitude, and we pray that you will bless these gifts to be a transformative witness in this world, bringing light into the darkness.
[13:56] Bless these gifts, Lord, in your holy name we pray. Amen. Please be seated. I have a couple of prayer concerns to share with you.
[14:07] Please pray for Linda Canudala. She has been hospitalized. She's at St. Joe's Hospital and is in need of prayers for healing. Also pray for Ron Elman. He had his surgery, but he's not doing so great afterwards.
[14:21] So please pray for Ron and prayers for healing for him as well. Does anyone else have any prayer concerns you'd like to have lifted up today? Judy.
[14:31] Yes, Heather's father-in-law, Ray, has been very, very sick yet. So if we could lift him up and then Barbara also. The doctor said no hope, but Jesus said, by my stretch, you're healed.
[14:42] So we're going to focus on Jesus. Ray and Barbara. The Babcock family?
[14:54] Babiak family. Please pray for the Babiak family. Anyone else? Oh, Terry.
[15:04] Terry. So we're praying for healing for Bridget and Katie.
[15:35] So Bridget's having some spells and Katie needs the doctors to discern about her back. So please pray for both girls.
[15:47] Anyone else? Let's pray. Gracious and loving Lord, we come to you this day with open hearts, knowing that you are good, you are holy, and you love us, and you hear our prayers.
[16:02] The concerns on our heart, Lord, we lift up to you. We place them in your hands, knowing that you are a healer.
[16:14] And we pray that you will have healing upon the people, named the people on our hearts. We pray for complete healing in people's lives. We pray for physical healing, that people who are experiencing different kinds of diseases, that the disease will be cast out in the name of Jesus.
[16:33] We pray for pain to be gone. We pray for any of the different things that are going on in people's physical bodies, that there be complete healing.
[16:46] We pray, Lord, for people to have healing in their hearts. We pray for softened hearts, for forgiveness. We pray for discernment and wisdom.
[16:59] For any of the feelings of being unsettled, Lord, we pray for your peace. Give us your presence, Lord. Help us to experience you more.
[17:10] Lord, in times of trouble, in times of trouble, draw us close. Lord, we pray for families. We pray your blanket of protection over our families, and we pray you fill our families with your love.
[17:26] We pray for our families, that their focus may be on you. Lord, we pray for healing in our bodies and in our minds.
[17:40] Lord, we pray for healing of the minds, that anxiety and depression be cast out in the name of Jesus, that any oppression cease and people have clarity of mind, and people be able to see you and know you and discern your wisdom and know your way and move in your will.
[18:04] Lord, we pray for healing in people's minds. And we pray, Lord, for healing in people's hearts, for restored relationships, for things that have been broken over the years.
[18:19] Lord, we pray for healing, for people to come together in your name. And Lord, we pray that you'll give us a firm foundation on your word, a supportive community to hold us up when we don't feel strong, that we may all be empowered through your strength and guided by your angel wings.
[18:44] Lord, we pray thanks to you for what you're doing in our lives, and we pray that you'll open our eyes and our hearts to receive it more, know it more, proclaim it more. For it's your holy name that we rejoice in, and it's your holy name that we praise.
[19:01] In Jesus' name. Amen. Now let's hear from the word of the Lord. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[19:13] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[19:31] Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. This morning's scripture is from Matthew 1, verses 1-17. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nation, Nation the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David.
[20:17] David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife. Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram, Jehoram the father of Uzziah, Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Ammon, Ammon the father of Jeziah, and Jeziah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
[20:58] After the exile to Babylon, Jeconiah was father to Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel the father of Abahad, Abahad the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, Azor the father of Zodak, Zadok the father of Akim, Akim the father of Elihad, Elihad the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Mathan, Mathan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus, who is called the Messiah.
[21:40] Thus there were fourteen generations in all, from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile of Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.
[21:52] This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You know, Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen, But do you recall The most famous reindeer of all?
[22:29] You don't think I'm going to do the names like he did, do you? Our liturgists last night just bailed out and made Pastor Sherry read it.
[22:41] Why do we read these names? Why are they even in the Bible? What is this about when we have this, this one was the son of a, and this one was, and this one, and we'll kind of skip this over.
[22:55] The first time I read this in the Bible, I'm like, what? But they tell us a story. They tell us who we are, where we come from, and why it matters.
[23:10] Jesus is who we're talking about. For the next few months, we're going to go through and try to discern his life. And while he's not yet born, because we haven't come to Christmas Day, by looking at his lineage, we learn a lot of things about Jesus.
[23:28] By looking at our own lineage, we learn a lot of things. I don't know how many of you have done that, ancestry.com. I haven't done it. You know, there's things I just don't want out on the internet, for whatever it's worth.
[23:40] But I've been told things about my lineage, stories that I was told for years and years, about how we were royalty that ruled a valley in Alces Lorraine, between Germany and France.
[23:52] And for some odd reason, I never understood, one of my ancestors moved from Buffalo, New York. Now, why would anybody ever do that? When my mother passed away, I read a letter, and I found out why.
[24:08] You see, my great-great-great-great-grandfather was 56 years old when his wife died. So he went down into town, and he married the 24-year-old barmaid. And so the good people of Europe said, this doesn't do.
[24:22] Nobility doesn't do that here. You could do that over in that trashy place called America, but you can't do that over here in Europe. Get out of town. And so my great-great-great-great-great-grandfather and his new wife came to Buffalo, New York.
[24:39] And that tells me some things about myself. Who was Jesus? Well, in this genealogy, we have all sorts of people he's related to.
[24:50] Abraham, who was the founder of a faith that billions of people have followed. It says in verse 22 that this fulfilled prophecy his birth.
[25:02] He was also son of King David. Other kings are mentioned in here, but David was the one that was promised to have an heir that would rule on the throne forever. Destined to be a king.
[25:15] Destined to be a priest and the father of all faiths, Jesus. But in Luke, we turn there, and we see a few more names. The son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, son of Jared, the son of Mahalalalala, the son of Kenan, who started the center up in Lockport, the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of man, the son of God.
[25:49] See, genealogies tell us something. So when we trace everything back, we find out that Jesus is the son of God in some ways as Adam was the son of God, but in some ways more so because Jesus was destined for this from the very beginning of time.
[26:06] He was the son of God as Adam was born into this world in the beginning of creation. He's the son of God before creation. In the Gospel of John, it says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and all things were created through him.
[26:24] Jesus was on a mission from God. There was a plan of God, and we find that plan in many ways in this genealogy, that he's to be the Savior.
[26:41] You know, sometimes in my life, I feel like the great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandson of the barmaid. Somebody nobody wanted. Somebody pushed aside.
[26:53] Somebody who just wants to be considered okay by folks in the world. I know who I am. I know where I come from. I know what I've been. I know what I've done wrong.
[27:05] I know what I've done right. And sometimes I feel I don't measure up. But Jesus came on a mission from God to bring God into our world.
[27:18] Emmanuel, God with us. We call it the atonement to make ourselves at one with God by the grace of God himself. His birth brings us to God.
[27:32] That's what Christmas is all about. God being born, not in a little stable many, many years ago, but in our hearts today, in our lives. Why do we follow a God from 2,000 years ago?
[27:46] We don't. That's religion. We follow a living, breathing God that interacts with us, Jesus born to us. His name itself means God saves.
[27:59] It's the same name as Joshua. From the beginning, God saves us. Saves us from the fact that we can't keep the rules. Saves us from the fact that we can't be perfect. Saves us from the fact that the world sometimes doesn't accept us and looks at us and says, you're not good enough.
[28:18] Sometimes I feel like the great, great, great, great, great, grandson of the barmaid who somehow, in some ways, was not good enough.
[28:29] And that's why I turned to Jesus, the Messiah. They were looking for somebody to save them from the Romans. We're all looking for someone to save us sometimes from our physical problems, whether we don't have enough money or we're struggling with our family affairs or we have problems in our relationships or we have difficulties at work or maybe other things, more political.
[28:55] But Jesus is here to save us from something more important, to save us from the brokenness in ourselves. It's interesting that Jesus, in Matthew chapter 9, says to us, go and learn what this means.
[29:08] I desire mercy, not sacrifice, for I have not come to call the righteous but sinners. Which doesn't mean God doesn't love people that do the right things. It doesn't mean that God doesn't want us to give our gifts to God.
[29:20] He's saying, if you think that it's about the religion, then you're missing the whole point. It's about mercy. It's about being changed because so many of us feel broken.
[29:34] All of the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names. They never let poor Rudolph join in any reindeer games.
[29:46] I don't know what reindeer games are. I really never quite understood that part of the song. But I know what it's like to be excluded. Anybody here ever been left out? You don't need to raise your hand.
[29:56] Left out? Last person called on the playground? Or even worse, the one that they say, I'm sorry, we don't need you. You can go home because you didn't measure up to the other ones.
[30:10] Rudolph had a red nose. That was his problem. Each of us sometimes feel that there's something about us that causes us to feel excluded, to feel like we're not part of the world everybody else has.
[30:26] We feel broken. And the genealogy of Jesus says that he is a savior, not for just the good people, not for just the people who seem to do everything right, but for the broken people as well.
[30:40] This genealogy is fascinating with the people that are included. We've got a con man. We've got a killer. We've got a mercenary. We've got an adulterer.
[30:54] They mentioned some women, and each one of the women mentions, makes an important point about some episode in the faith life of Israel. The woman Tamar, who had a child with her father-in-law, or the young prostitute, who saved the people from being caught when they were spying for Israel.
[31:22] And then there was Ruth, who was a foreign woman. She wasn't even an Israelite. Neither was Rahab. They were people from foreign countries that somehow made an important contribution to the life of Israel.
[31:39] But they were never really accepted. You can read it in the Bible and read through the lines how they look at them. And they don't look at them very well. And then we have Bathsheba, who's not even mentioned.
[31:52] Just that she was Uriah's wife. And if you read the story of David, you're really going to get a story about how the king really, really, really messed up. But they're all included.
[32:03] They're all included because the incarnation of God is open to everyone, no matter what our flaws, no matter what our brokenness, no matter who we are, whether we fit right or we don't fit right, whether we belong to this culture or we don't.
[32:18] We have the same situation in our own lives. I don't know about you, but I've got all kinds of strange people in my history. The hot-headed Scotchman.
[32:31] I've got the guy who belonged to the mob. I've got a governor. I've also got an illegal alien. I've got people that would probably not be accepted in this church and then others who would be given a seat of honor.
[32:50] By the way, some of you are feeling a little displaced because people started moving around. Sorry about that. I noticed that. Several people are in a different place today. That's kind of interesting. You're looking at this.
[33:00] Maybe you got your seat. Consider yourself lucky because everybody's moving today for some reason. God, you see, when he becomes with us, Emmanuel, he's no longer God out there.
[33:15] He's no longer a God we talk about. He's no longer a God of religion. He's a God with us. And he invites everyone, no matter who they are, to be a part of his community of faith.
[33:30] This church has a lot of diversity in many different ways. Maybe not as much as our world around us, our community doesn't. But we have people from high and low positions in our culture.
[33:43] We have people of different backgrounds, different races, people born here, people born somewhere else. And that's a good thing. It's a blessing. Because the more we have that, the more we reflect God, just like Jesus reflected that in his genealogy.
[33:57] And this was shared purposefully. It's hard sometimes. Because we want to keep our children and our lives from being assaulted by somebody who does something wrong.
[34:09] And yet, we all know we all do wrong. Amen? So who do we protect them from? In the book of Acts, Jesus said, or God said, don't call anything unclean that I have made clean.
[34:23] See, the goal is not to remain sinners. The goal is not to remain broken. The goal is to be redeemed so that we can live a righteous life like Jesus' stepfather, Joseph, did.
[34:38] Joseph was a righteous man. And I can understand that. And sometimes, I feel like the great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandson of royalty. Sometimes, I do the right thing.
[34:51] And I often, for an example, will share with you some of the things I do wrong. I don't tell you all the worst of stuff. But I have to tell you, I don't feel like I live the worst of lives. I don't believe there's some kind of great scandal out there waiting to assault me.
[35:04] I don't feel I've done something so horrible that you'd be embarrassed to call me your pastor. I usually do the right thing. And when I do the wrong thing, it's usually because, well, I'm not always the smartest person in the situation.
[35:19] Anybody else ever have that? You say something, and you do something, and somebody points it out, and you go, what was I thinking? But sometimes, I feel like, you know, I come from nobility.
[35:31] I'm really not that bad a guy. I grew up in the church. I have an understanding of the rules. I try to keep them. And it's important to do the right thing. I'm not arguing to go out and do whatever you want and break the laws of God just because he'll forgive you.
[35:46] Joseph was a righteous man. He cared what people thought. He was descended from kings. I suspect he had a little sign he put out in front of the houses he built, built by Joe, you know?
[35:59] He was proud of his work. And he studied the scriptures. He was a person who we see went to Jerusalem, which was a hard journey because he felt it was important at least once a year to worship in the temple of God.
[36:15] He worshipped weekly. He knew his scriptures. He knew what was right. He knew what was wrong. And he had a simple dream, a dream that most of us can identify. He just wanted to have a halfway decent career and have a good family.
[36:28] And so he had picked out for his bride a young girl named Mary who he probably had known all of his life. I mean, Mary was a good girl.
[36:39] She really was. I mean, read the story about Mary. She was a good girl. Somebody he could be proud of as a man who did the right thing. She was kind of the person who did the right thing as well.
[36:52] She came from good family, which can be very important. Then she went away to visit her relative, Elizabeth. Right? He was fine with that.
[37:04] That's okay. Go visit Elizabeth. And when she came back, she had put on some weight and he thought, well, good. You know, she learned how to cook from Elizabeth. Not a bad thing, right? Until she said, I'm having a baby.
[37:20] You can imagine how his dreams just fell like broken glass, right? Shattered. What does this mean? What am I supposed to do with this? And she says, it's okay, Joe.
[37:31] It's God's child. Joe was a religious fellow. He loved God, but, you know, really. And even if he believed her, what do you do with this?
[37:48] Fortunately, Joseph had a dream in which God gave him the truth and he listened to that, but he could have looked back at his own genealogy. After all, Tamar was a young woman who had lost both of her husbands.
[38:03] The rule back in that day was that if a woman died, or a man died, rather, without having a child, his wife would become the wife of his brother. I want you to think about that, guys.
[38:15] Changes a few things, doesn't it? And if that one died, which is what happened, she became the wife of the next son.
[38:27] Judah only had three sons. So Judah wouldn't let her marry the third son. he thought she was a black widow and wasn't going to take a chance on his last child.
[38:44] So you can read the story because at this point if I go too much farther, it'll go beyond PG and I've got to be careful with this sermon, right? But read the story and you'll find out that Tamar, with a disguise, ended up having a child with her father-in-law who, when he found out she was pregnant, was going to have her disgraced, cast out.
[39:10] At least Joseph wanted to do it quietly and put her away, you know, without so much noise and fanfare, but if he had looked back, he would have realized that Judah was about to cast out his own grandchild, his own child, the heir to his world, because he didn't understand what God was doing.
[39:31] See, we can pursue righteousness and that's a good thing, but sometimes a pursuit of righteousness can get in the way of grace and we can find ourselves in such a world that we feel we have to be so full of judgment that we cast away what really is God's plan in our lives.
[39:50] Joseph was about to cast out and cast away his own Savior. Think about that. Because that's actually what the nation of Israel did. They cast away their own Savior rather than embracing him.
[40:05] We don't want to do that. Even if we're feeling like we're doing a pretty good life and we're doing okay about keeping these commands of God and we're trying to do the right thing, we're never in a place where we want to push away grace because we need grace.
[40:19] All of us do. No matter how good you might be. Amen? Sometimes, you see, we face difficult decisions. You're all going to face them in life where it feels like there's not a good thing to do.
[40:34] There is a thing to do but we can't figure it out. He's either going to hurt Mary and cast away Jesus or he's going to be unfaithful to his religion and the rules and the laws that he's always known and risk losing the reputation that he worked so hard to build.
[40:55] It's a conundrum. This happens on every Hallmark Channel movie. Have you ever noticed this? I watched one with my wife last night and sure enough, they go through the movie and usually some new fellow appears in the movie and falls in love with this girl and there's often a dweeb boyfriend that's sort of cast aside and we're all going yeah and rooting for this couple to get together but just about 20 minutes before the movie ends they always run into some misunderstanding.
[41:33] Something where it looks like the fellow or the woman has done something terribly wrong and so hurtful that they will never be able to be together. We all go oh and it's always about 20 minutes before the movie ends.
[41:47] And then they wrestle around and they wrestle around until they come to the last three minutes. This is the truth.
[42:00] And in the last three minutes they the person who feels hurt finds out oh they were just doing something wonderful it wasn't a bad thing it was a good thing and they just didn't understand how it worked and then in the last minute they kiss and snow falls.
[42:21] Now you know every Hallmark movie that is ever on TV. Am I right? Say amen. Amen. You know it's gonna happen.
[42:32] You watch it and you watch it anyways. We all do. It's really just a remake of the story of Joseph and Mary isn't it?
[42:43] Isn't it fascinating? It's a remake of the story of Joseph and Mary. We can make the wrong decision for good reasons.
[42:55] We need to make sure that we always turn to Christ. In 2 Corinthians chapter 3 it says to us He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant. That's all of us.
[43:07] Not the letter but the spirit for the letter kills and the spirit gives life. It's not keeping the law in some exactude so as to be able to say I've done things right but to do what the spirit would teach us in our hearts and what we would understand is the purpose behind this which is to bring us to grace.
[43:30] Joe was faithful to his religion. He doesn't want to be seen as doing anything wrong. What would his family think? What would his neighbors think? What would everybody around him think?
[43:43] They need a paradigm shift. You know what a paradigm shift is? It's when what we thought was happening changes to something different. Poor Rudolph is being rejected by all the reindeer because he's got a red shiny nose.
[43:59] Then one foggy Christmas Eve Santa came to say Rudolph with your nose so bright won't you guide my sleigh tonight.
[44:11] Then all the reindeer loved him. A paradigm shift as all of a sudden the other reindeer saw that Rudolph wasn't some kind of weird reject he was actually the hero savior.
[44:30] Just like Matthew saw or Joseph saw rather excuse me it's in Matthew Joseph saw that Jesus wasn't a mistake he was the plan from the very beginning.
[44:46] It's hard to receive grace and it's hard to extend grace. True love is not an easy thing. But what we need to understand is that true love is about something so powerful that it's beyond what we normally think of.
[45:06] In the Bible it says that when a couple become married a man will leave his family and a woman leave her home and the two will become one.
[45:19] See I'm not the great great great great grandson of nobility and the great great grandson of a barmaid I'm the great great grandson of people that found a way to get beyond their worlds and find love.
[45:36] That's an amazing story that this man would give up his family lineage and this woman would give up her home to come and make a life in Buffalo and be people that created in some distance way me.
[45:55] And I know some of you were wondering you know why would a 24 year old barmaid marry a rich 56 year old bachelor nobleman but I need to let you know that they were married for 40 years.
[46:11] She passed away at 64 and he lived two more years to 98. Fascinating isn't it? Born in 1776.
[46:25] You see the truth is these people change who we are when we start to recognize where we come from and I know that I'm a product of both of those.
[46:37] That's why some of you come from a working class background and you know I can talk your language you know what I'm talking about? Because I come from that world you know what I mean? That's just the truth and if you don't like it too bad for you.
[46:53] But some of you know that I also come from a middle class background and so I can speak the proper way and I know which fork to use and when to use it. You see don't be afraid is what the angel said.
[47:07] Don't be afraid to worry about what other people say. Don't be afraid of what someone might think. Don't be afraid of anything but God. Because the only failure you'll ever have in life is if you fail to receive the grace of God.
[47:25] Fear. Fear is a great motivator and we need to get beyond it. 1 John tells us that perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment.
[47:38] The one who fears is made perfect in love and you too can be perfect in love. love. We cast out our fears and we embrace a God that wants to embrace us.
[47:49] Emmanuel become one with us. His plan from the beginning. God is with us. Emmanuel O come O come Emmanuel and ransom blessed Israel.
[48:06] Israel. O come O come Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel.
[48:33] Israel and mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear.
[48:47] Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee O Israel.
[48:59] O come thou root of Jesse's tree and sign of thy people be before thee ruler silent fall all peoples of thy mercy call rejoice rejoice rejoice Emmanuel shall come to thee O Israel O come desire of nations fight all peoples in one heart and mind from dust thou brought us forth to life deliver us from earthly strife rejoice rejoice rejoice
[50:12] Emmanuel shall come to thee O Israel hope we hold this starlit night a king is born in Bethlehem our journey long we seek the light that leads to the hollering angel crown Emmanuel what what fear he felt in the silent age for hundred years can he be found what broken by a baby's cry rejoice in the hollow and major crown
[51:24] Emmanuel Emmanuel God incarnate here to Vir Emmanuel Emmanuel Emmanuel Emmanuel Praise His name, Emmanuel The Son of God, here born to lead Our crown of Lord's, what pierces brow And we bear this offering Exalted now, the King of kings
[52:25] Praise God for the heart of the manger now Emmanuel, Emmanuel God incarnate, here to dwell Emmanuel, Emmanuel Praise His name, Emmanuel Praise His name, Emmanuel Emmanuel, God with us
[53:40] And the genealogy shows that it's not just God with those who are perfect God with each and every one of us God says, welcome into my family No matter what kind of person you've been Doesn't matter what kind of mess you've had It doesn't matter Come to me with a repentant heart Be one of my children Welcome into my family And so as we prepare for a table of grace I invite you to a prayer of confession I invite you to a prayer of confession Lord, I am a sinner I need your grace Forgive my sins Open my eyes To your goodness To your mercy To your love Set me on your path Set me on your path To see others With your eyes In your love With your grace And in your mercy
[54:41] That I may walk In your way And proclaim your name For it's in Jesus' name we pray Amen Hear the good news Christ died for us While we were yet sinners This proves God's love for you and for me So in the name of Jesus Christ Your sins are forgiven In the name of Jesus Christ Your sins are forgiven Glory to God Amen And now as confident children of God Let's greet one another With the peace of the Holy Spirit Good morning, sir Good morning God bless you, sir Good morning Good morning
[55:42] Good morning Good disciple Good morning Good morning Good morning Good morning Thank you Good morning Good morning Good, Cha threw my house Thank you Hey, really?
[56:04] Parlamento L 싶é Good morning Good morning처 Good morning Good morning Good then Good morning Good morning Love came down at Christmas Love, all love divine Love came down at Christmas And I know, I know that love is mine Love was in a manger In a cattle store And while angels suffered Love was born to be the king of all The shepherds heard the choirs of angels
[57:08] The wise and modest in light Found the wonder they were searching for And worshipped him that holy night Love came down at Christmas Love, all love divine Love came down at Christmas And I know, I know that love is mine And I know, I know that love is mine Amen God loved us so much That he sent Jesus
[58:10] And we know the end of the story too We know that he died for our sins And that we are invited to celebrate What God has done for us God has loved all people from the beginning of time And God will love us to the end When he returns And that's what we celebrate here at the table Christ invites us Everyone is welcome If you love God, repent of your sin And seek to live in peace As a disciple of Jesus Christ You're welcome to share in that love When you come You're coming to receive more of Christ To feel that Christ has been born in your heart again In a new way And to remember throughout the week That each and every day All we need to do is seek him
[59:13] To seek his love And it will be born in our hearts again Afresh The Lord be with you Lift up your hearts Let us give thanks to the Lord our God It is right To give our thanks and praise It is right And a good and joyful thing always and everywhere To give thanks to you, Father Almighty Creator of heaven and earth You formed us in your image And breathed into us the breath of life When we turned away and our love failed Your love remained steadfast You delivered us from captivity Made covenant to be our sovereign God And spoke to us through your prophets Who looked for that day When justice shall roll down like waters And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream When nation shall not lift up sword against nation Neither shall they learn war anymore
[60:15] And so with your people on earth And all the company of heaven We praise your name And join their unending hymn Holy, holy, holy Lord God of power and might Heaven and earth are full of your glory Hosanna in the highest Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord Hosanna in the highest Holy are you And blessed is your Son Jesus Christ Whom you sent In the fullness of time To be a light to the nations You scatter the proud In the imaginations of their hearts And have mercy on those who fear you From generation to generation You put down the mighty from their thrones And exalt those of low degree You fill the hungry with good things And the rich you send empty away Your own Son came among us as a servant To be Emmanuel Your presence with us
[61:17] He humbled himself in obedience to your will And freely accepted death on a cross By the baptism of his suffering Death and resurrection You gave birth to your church Delivered us from slavery to sin and death And made with us a new covenant By water and the Spirit On the night in which he gave himself up for us He took bread and he gave thanks to you He broke the bread And gave it to his disciples Saying take and eat This is my body Which is given for you Do this in remembrance of me And when the supper was over He took the cup He gave you thanks and praise And gave it to his disciples He said drink from this All of you This is the cup of my blood
[62:17] The blood of the new and everlasting covenant Poured out for you And for many For the forgiveness of sin Do this as often as you drink it In remembrance of me And so in remembrance of these Your mighty acts in Jesus Christ We offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving As a holy and living sacrifice In union with Christ's offering for us As we proclaim the mystery of faith Christ has died Christ is risen Christ will come again Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here And on these gifts of bread and wine Make them be for us The body and blood of Christ That we may be for the world The body of Christ Redeemed by his blood By your spirit Make us One with Christ One with each other And one in ministry to all the world
[63:17] Until Christ comes in final victory And we feast At his heavenly banquet Through your son Jesus Christ With the Holy Spirit In your holy church All honor and glory Is yours almighty God Now and forever Amen Now shall we pray together With the confidence of dearly loved Children of God The prayer Jesus taught us Our Father Who art in heaven Hallowed be thy name Thy kingdom come Thy will be done On earth as it is in heaven Give us this day Our daily bread And forgive us Our trespasses As we forgive those Who trespass against us And lead us not Into temptation But deliver us From evil For thine is the kingdom And the power And the glory Forever and ever Amen Will those who are serving
[64:19] Please come forward God Thank you.
[65:18] Thank you.
[65:48] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[66:00] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[66:12] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[66:24] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[66:36] Thank you. vor Fang Thank you.
[67:38] Thank you.
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[68:38] Thank you.
[69:08] Thank you.
[69:38] Thank you.
[70:08] Thank you.
[70:38] Thank you.
[71:08] If you're not staying for the Advent play, I would strongly recommend that you go out the exit that way and not this way. You could run into dozens of children.
[71:19] We hope that you'll join us in singing Jesus' name above all names. If you're able, I'm going to invite you to stand as we sing. Jesus' name above all names.
[71:36] Jesus' name above all names. Amen above all names, God is with us.
[71:55] Amen. God is with us. Son of God Prince of Peace Wonderful Counselor Lord of the Universe Light of the World You know, we do worry about what people say, what people think.
[72:52] We don't like to be excluded from reindeer games or any other kind of games. But the truth of the matter is, the Lord of the Universe, the God who created everything, the one who is and was and will be, thinks you're wonderful, has decided that in spite of your brokenness and your struggles and your problems, even if you're a barmaid, that God wants to be with you and live with you and dwell with you.
[73:24] So take that into this world with confidence and don't be afraid because God is with you. Go in his peace. Amen.