Broadway Christian Church ·Columbia, Missouri
Christmas Eve Worship ·December 24, 2007 – 8:30 p.m.
A Procession of Light
Call to Worship
Come away, come away, come tonight to Bethlehem. Come adore on bended knee, one whose birth the angels sing.
Come away, come away, from noisy celebration, to a place of quietness and peace. Come with wonder, come with awe. Let us take our place among sheep and cattle, shepherds and angels.
Sing with joy, praise God, for the time of promise has come. Sing the good news of Emmanuel: God-with-us! The Christ has come!
Come away, come away, come tonight to Bethlehem.
The Light of the Word
John 1:1-14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of everyone. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all people might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every person was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to all who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Meditation
Rick Frost
Thank you for being here tonight. It is so good to see so many of you here, who have come from near and far. Jan and I are so grateful to have all of our kids here. Just having them at our place has sort of lit up the place. I can tell you that.
Of course, we come to this place tonight to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Now, you probably know it was decided a long, long time ago to have this celebration right around the winter solstice. As you know, that is the longest night and the shortest day of the year. Why did we do that? Because we wanted everybody to get the message. Christmas is the celebration of God’s Light coming into the world in a brand new way.
The Creator of all that is came to the earth in human form to be, as Scripture said (we heard it just moments ago), “The light of the world.” The light that cannot be hid. A light that cannot be extinguished. A light that wants to light up, literally, the entire world. But more importantly, for us tonight, to light up your life. Because what happens to you, what happens to your life, is very important. It’s important because your life makes a difference to your Creator. When you become light, things change in this world.
Now, I know for some, 2007 has been a very dark year. There are people in this room who lost their job. There are people who have been laid off. There are people who have suffered serious financial setbacks. Some of you, in this room, have had relational crises with a spouse, with your kids, with your parents, with a boyfriend, with a girlfriend. Some people, in this room, have been through a divorce. There are people here tonight, who lost a loved one this year. There are folks sitting right beside you, who have had treatment for cancer or other diseases. Some of you have suffered an accident and had serious injuries. Maybe some of you are here tonight in just sort of a general funk, because of what is going on in our country right now, or more importantly, what’s not going on that needs to be going on. That should be going on. For some of you, it’s been a tough year. I’m sorry that has happened.
If that is you, I especially want you to hear what, I believe, the Spirit of the Living God wants you to hear. I believe the Spirit of the Living God has pushed, has pulled, has lured you here into this place tonight. Because I believe that, I want to make a guarantee to you tonight. I don’t make too many of those.
I want to guarantee that if you listen to what the Bible has to say, and if you will think seriously about what we are going to talk about in these next few moments, and if you will open your life to the light of God’s love, you will enter 2008 with a brand new level of brightness, and clarity, and understanding that you didn’t even think was possible when you walked in the door tonight. That’s my prayer for you.
Now, I realize that many of you came here for different reasons. Some of you are here because it is tradition. “It’s what we do on Christmas Eve in our family.” Some of you are here because it is a habit. When the doors open, you appear. Some of you are here because somebody begged you, dragged you, pressured you, hit you about the head and shoulders. You felt some sense of obligation.
I want you to know I really don’t care what brought you here, because I believe you are not here by accident. I believe God wants you to be here this night on Christmas Eve – 2007, because God wants to light up your life. God wants to shed some light on you, so that you can see what the Creator, Sustainer, Judge, and Redeemer of all that is, is really like. I believe that God wants to shed some light on you, so that you can see yourself a little bit better than you are seeing yourself right now. I believe that God wants to shed some light on you, so that you might be able to see around the corner a little bit into the future, better than you can see right now.
According to a national poll, most North Americans believe that Jesus was the Son of God, that Jesus Christ was God come to earth in human form. And that’s nice, and that’s wonderful. I’m glad everybody believes that. But I would ask you tonight, “Do you know why?” “Do you have any idea why?” “Do you know the reasons?” “Do you know why and what Jesus came to do?”
That’s what I want us to think about these next few moments. Once you understand what Jesus came to do, I think you are going to get really excited about Christmas, probably in ways you’ve never been excited before, because I think you are going to want to love God. I think you are going to want to know more about God. I think you are going to want to trust God, because it is going to make a huge difference in the way you do your life. When that happens, folks… When there is a difference that happens in your life, you make this world a better place. You have the power to make this world a better place.
I want to give you five reasons Christ came to earth. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.” To help you remember these five different reasons, I’m going to ask you to use the letters in the word “light:” L – I – G – H – T. It will help you follow along tonight.
Let’s start with the first letter.
L – Jesus came, first of all, to light up your mind.
Jesus came to light up our minds, and to let us know what God is really all about.
Have you ever had a flash of insight? That’s what’s called “enlightenment.” All of a sudden something you couldn’t figure out before, now suddenly makes sense. It’s like the lights come on. Things get clear. Now you get it. Now you understand.
I’m going to suggest the first blessing of knowing Jesus Christ is that confusion gives way to clarity in your life. People problems, decisions, goals, meaning, get a whole lot clearer. Why? Because the lights have come on. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.” He goes on to say, “I have come as the light to shine in the dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark.”
Folks, you and I both know there are tons of people who are in the dark as to what God is really like. Jesus came to show us – put a face on – the Spirit. That’s really important. Do you know why that’s important? Because you can’t love somebody you don’t know. You can’t trust somebody you don’t know. So, God said, “I want you to be clear about what I am really like.”
There are all sorts of distorted images and ideas out there about God. You can get such awful images in the movies. You get such terrible ideas in magazines, and seminars, and tapes. You can get distorted images and ideas from your friends, and even from your parents, sometimes. Even from your church. You can get it, sometimes, from art. You can get it, sometimes, from literature. Sometimes from music. Distorted. What you need is the truth.
In John 14, Jesus said, “Anybody who has seen me, has seen the Father.”
Anybody who has seen Jesus has seen God. Now, that’s a very arrogant statement. Don’t you think? Unless it happens to be true.
You can know a lot about God. You can know, for instance, that God likes variety. I love to do this in our congregation. Just look at the folks around you. This is variety, right here. OK? You can know that God is organized by the way the human body functions, or ecosystems operate. You can know a lot about the Creator. You can know that God is powerful, for instance. If you have ever been in a hurricane, or next to a volcano, or felt an earthquake, you know about power.
But there are some things about God that you will never know had God not come to earth to tell us through Jesus. Do you know what they are?
How do you know that God is a loving God? How do you know that God is a forgiving God? How do you know that God is a just God? How do you know that God holds God’s creatures accountable? How do you know that? How do you know that there is life after this life, that there is a dwelling place for those who love God? How do you know that? You see… You wouldn’t, if Jesus hadn’t come to show you. Jesus came to turn on the lights.
L – To light up our minds.
I – Jesus came to inform.
Jesus came to inform us about God’s plan, God’s purpose for our lives. The Bible says that every single one of you, and every person you know, has been awesomely and wonderfully made. No one is here by accident. You are here, and you have been created for a reason. There are, as you know, accidental parents, but there are no accidental children.
God wants you to know your purpose for being here. God wants you to know the truth about you. Jesus said, “I was born into this world to tell the truth” (John 18).
Do you ever get tired of people lying to you? Telling you what they think you would want to hear? Telling you lies to win your support? Sometimes even your friends, even your loved ones, won’t tell you the truth. Will they? They don’t want to upset you. They don’t want to rile you up. They just want to keep you quiet. They don’t want to be judgmental.
There is only one, you see, who will always tell the truth about you. The Spirit of the Living God revealed in Christ will always tell you the truth about you, no matter what. It may not be what you want to hear, but it will tell you the truth.
What did Jesus come to do?
L – To light up our minds.
I – To inform us of the truth.
G – Jesus came to guard and guide your steps.
In John 8, Jesus says, “I am the light of the world. Follow me, and you won’t be walking in the darkness. You will have light that gives life.”
God says, “I want to be a guide to your steps. I want to be your guiding light.”
Why? Because God can see further down the path than you can. Folks, you don’t know what’s around the corner. Do you? You are only one phone call away from a total change of life. You can’t see down the path. So Jesus said, “Follow me, and I will hold the light for you, because I can see further than you can. That way, you don’t have to worry about what’s down that path. Whatever it is, you don’t have to worry.”
That is huge, folks. That is huge when dark days come. You and I need a guiding light.
L – Light up our minds.
I – Inform us of the truth.
G – Be a guard and guide to our steps.
H – Jesus came to heal our hurts.
I’ve talked to hundreds, maybe thousands, of people over the years. I’ve discovered one thing. (Well, more than one, hopefully.) This is the one I want to tell you about. I have discovered that everybody has a hidden wound. Everybody. Everybody. Everybody has a hidden wound. Some people are really sophisticated. They hide it really well. Some aren’t so good at it. But everybody has a hidden wound.
It may be something that happened long ago, something that was done to you, and it hurt you. Or it may have been something that wasn’t done but should have been done, and it hurt you. Or maybe it was a hurt you did to somebody else. You regret it. God knows you regret it, but it still hurts.
I want you to hear the good news tonight. No matter what it is… No matter what that hidden hurt is, Jesus Christ can heal it.
In John 12, Jesus says, “I didn’t come to condemn this world. I came to heal it. I came to save it, to heal it.” “Heal” and “save” are the same word in Scripture.
Folks, I get asked this question all the time. They say, “Can’t you find truth in every religion?” Sure you can. Of course, you can. There is truth in every religion. Now here is the problem. There are lots of times when I need more than the truth. Do you know what I’m talking about? I need more than principles. I need more than a Golden Rule to live by. There are times when I need a Savior. There are times when I need a Healer. I need one who can do for me what I, in fact, cannot do for myself. There is only one person, I know of, who ever promised to be my Healer, my Savior. His name is Jesus.
L – He came to light up your mind.
I – He came to inform you of the truth.
G – He came to guide your steps.
H – He came to heal your hurts.
T – Jesus came to transform your life.
In John 10, Jesus says, “I came to give you life.”
Now, he didn’t say, by the way, “I came to give you religion.” I want you to be very clear about that.
“I came to give you…” What? Life! There is a big difference. “I came to give you life in all of its fullness, all of its abundance.”
That means that (1) the Living God wants to give you a fresh start, whatever that fresh start might be for you. To wipe the slate clean. To forgive you of your past. So that (2) God can offer you abundant life, a meaningful life, something that has real purpose and significance right now, and (3) God says, “Someday I want to take you home. I want to give you the gift of eternal life. That’s my Christmas present to you.”
Wow!
Folks, everybody in this room knows you can’t live a spiritual life without spiritual light. You can’t do it. No light: no Spirit. So, here is the one thing that I wish to heaven somebody would have told me years ago. You don’t have to have all the answers to the questions in order to begin a relationship with God and to be a friend of Jesus. Granted, I have consciously sought, at various levels, to be a Christian over the past 50 years. I don’t understand it all. I don’t understand most of it. But that doesn’t keep me from a relationship with God and being a friend of Jesus. I don’t understand internal combustion, but it doesn’t stop me from driving a car. Duh!
Now, some of you have been very close to God in the past, but for a variety of reasons, you have moved away. You have been separated. You need to come back home. Some of you need to open God’s Christmas gift to you again tonight. It’s been a long time. The present is there sitting under the tree, and it needs to be opened. There are people in this room who have never, ever opened that gift. It’s been there, but they have never, ever opened it.
What I want you to hear is that you can do that right now, because I’m going to pray a very simple prayer in just moment. It is a prayer that, I believe, can literally change or transform your life, if you sincerely mean it in your heart – if you really mean it in your soul. So, I am going to offer that prayer. It is my words, and if what I say indicates anything about how you feel, I want you to close your eyes, and I want you to just say silently, “Me, too, God. Me, too.” Would you join me as we pray?
Dear God, I’ve heard a lot about you, but, quite frankly, I’ve never gotten to know you personally. I’ve never actually stepped over the line and accepted you, and your Son Jesus as my Lord, as my manager, as my leader, as my healer, as my savior. I want to accept that offer, Lord, that you have put out there for new life. I want to receive that gift of abundant life. I want that promise, that assurance of eternal life. I don’t know how yet, but I want to learn how to love you. I want to learn how to trust you. I want to learn how to follow you. So, I simply, humbly, and yet boldly ask you to please come into my life, and help me to start growing closer – just a little bit closer – to you. In your name, I pray.
And we all say together… “Amen.”
Charge for the Bearers of Light
Kim Ryan
We have come away. We have come away tonight to Bethlehem. We have come to a place of quietness and peace. We have come away, and in the sacredness of this time and place, the depths of this moment have taught us once more that we may acknowledge and celebrate the light of Christ. And once more, we may hold his light.
For just a moment we know that this light cannot be extinguished by the darkness. This light cannot be extinguished even by the darkness of a cross. Not even then. Not even now.
What is more, Jesus did not say, “You might be the light of the world. You could be the light of the world. You will be the light of the world.” No. Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. You are the light of the world. You are the light of the world.” So may we let our light shine so others might know that the darkness can never overcome this light, our light, his light. Amen.
Silent Night, Holy Night
