13 Suddenly many other angels came down from heaven and joined in praising God. They said: 14 “Praise God in heaven! Peace on earth to everyone who pleases God.” 15 After the angels had left and gone back to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see what the Lord has told us about.” 16 They hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and they saw the baby lying on a bed of hay. 17 When the shepherds saw Jesus, they told his parents what the angel had said about him. 18 Everyone listened and was surprised. 19 But Mary kept thinking about all this and wondering what it meant. 20 As the shepherds returned to their sheep, they were praising God and saying wonderful things about him. Everything they had seen and heard was just as the angel had said. Title: "A Night to Remember" Introduction - Looking at the calendar, I see that this is the last day for a couple of things. It's the last English chapel before Christmas and the last English chapel time of this year of 2011! Can you believe this year is almost finished already? I can still remember the first classes of this semester so clearly! Well, Christmas is just around the corner and I'm sure you're all thinking about Christmas trees and presents from Santa... ha, ha! Or should I say "Ho, Ho, Ho!" I hope you've all been good boys and girls. If you have, then you'll hear the click, click, click of reindeer hooves on your roof on Christmas eve! But Christmas is more than just Santa, reindeer, Christmas trees and cakes. It's about the most important holiday in the Christian calendar, the birth of Jesus Christ. The birth of the Son of God is the greatest gift we could ever receive. And what can we give Him on His birthday? Let's see the examples of 3 sets of people who met the baby Jesus. 1. The Shepherds - Luke 2:8 ~ The first set of people we see are in our Bible passage that we just read, the shepherds. They were outdoor men, basically poor men who slept every evening beside their sheep. Then suddenly that evening, they woke up to find an angel standing there looking at them! He told them that the birth of the Savior of the world had just happened in the nearby, small town of Bethlehem. That Silent Night sky was then filled with SO MANY angels, singing the praises of God! The shepherds went right away and found the baby Jesus and his parents just as the angel had said. What present did they bring to offer to Him? They had brought their praise! This was all that they had for they were poor men. But they gave these praises from their hearts! And the Bible tells us that they went back to their sheep telling everyone about this amazing experience!
11 When the men went into the house and saw the child with Mary, his mother, they knelt down and worshiped him. They took out their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh and gave them to him. They had brought presents for a king! These were wise, rich men in their own far away countries. They believed that God had sent a star to show them where a new king was born. They gave of their riches to the baby, King Jesus!
26 and told him that he would not die until he had seen Christ the Lord. 27 When Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple... the Spirit told Simeon to go into the temple. 28 Simeon took the baby Jesus in his arms and praised God, 29 “Lord, I am your servant, and now I can die in peace, because you have kept your promise to me... 32 Your mighty power is a light for all nations, and it will bring honor to your people Israel.”... 36 The prophet Anna was also there in the temple... 37 ... Night and day she served God in the temple by praying and often going without eating. 38 At that time Anna came in and praised God. She spoke about the child Jesus to everyone who hoped for Jerusalem to be set free. This story happened about 1 week after Christmas. Simeon and Anna were faithful followers of God. They had been waiting and waiting for God to send a savior to Israel. Now they both offered the baby Jesus their gifts. They had brought the gift of a promise! The promise was that the baby Jesus would become the light of the world! He would become our Savior, our Lord and our King! Conclusion - Ah, Christmas is maybe my most favorite time of the year. People are happier and more peaceful than any other time of the year. We have all been taught that Santa or St. Nicholas will bring us presents. In fact, those presents come from the people who love us! And God too loves us. He gave us the greatest present of all, His dear son, Jesus Christ. In return, the shepherds gave Him their praises, the wise men gave of their riches to the newborn king and Simeon and Anna gave us all a wonderful promise for the future! This Christmas, what present will you give to Jesus on His birthday? May God bless you richly this Christmas as you place a present under the Christmas tree for the babe of Bethlehem, the Son of God. Closing Prayer - Dear Lord, we thank you so very much for this beautiful Christmas season, for all the sparkling decorations, for all the joyous music and for the gifts of love from so many of our friends and families. Thank you too dear God for sending your son Jesus to be born and live in our world. We hope and pray everyday that His promise will come true. Jesus, please be the bright light in our troubled world. Please become that beautiful light in each of our lives. Please help us to give our hearts to you, especially this Christmas. In your sweet and special name I pray, Amen. ✬ ❅ ✬ ❅ ✬ ❅ ✬ ❅ ✬ ❅ ✬ ❅ ✬
Thank you for coming to English Chapel today. May God give you a truly Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! ✫ ❆ ✫ ❆ ✫ ❆ ✫ ❆ ✫ ❆ ✫ ❆ ✫
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About This PageThis is my personal space to share my messages and thoughts about Hokusei English Chapel and the things that God brings in to my life. Archives
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