SPEAKER_00: Ministering to the heart of Western Arkansas's River Valley for over 165 years, welcome to Chapter and First, the Bible Teaching Ministry of Fort Smith's First Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_00: You'll find sermons and teachings from Pastor Greg, our ministry staff, and guest speakers.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Gary and Dixie.
SPEAKER_01: And we are grateful for that opportunity to have those Advent moments each week and read those through the course of the week.
SPEAKER_01: And we're going to spend a moment and read through the Christmas event together.
SPEAKER_01: And then after that, we'll have a time at the end of the service where we'll do some more singing and worshiping together, and we'll light the candles and all of that.
SPEAKER_01: But we wanted to take just a minute right here where we could talk about in a final way the meaning of Christmas and the joy of Christmas.
SPEAKER_01: We've been talking about the joy of Christmas all along, and what is a joy for us is that this time is a real time and it's built on the truth that Jesus came to be our Savior.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what the Bible tells us.
SPEAKER_01: You're in Luke 2, but just listen to this setup in Luke 1.
SPEAKER_01: Many have undertaken to compile a narrative about the events that have been fulfilled among us.
SPEAKER_01: And the author of the book of Luke is telling us listen, I am compiling a history of these events.
SPEAKER_01: He says, this, just as the original eyewitnesses and servants of the word handed them down to us.
SPEAKER_01: This is not a story.
SPEAKER_01: This is the eyewitness verified historical account of Jesus being born and coming to be our Savior.
SPEAKER_01: It's incredible.
SPEAKER_01: Now, Christmas time is a wonderful time for a lot of reasons.
SPEAKER_01: And we all love the make-believe parts of Christmas.
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of Christmas that's fun, is filled with joy.
SPEAKER_01: It's incredible.
SPEAKER_01: And there are a lot of stories that happen at Christmas time that we know are just that.
SPEAKER_01: They're stories.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, there's a moment, at least one moment, in every one of those Hallmark Christmas movies that you guys are binging where you go, okay, there's no way that would ever happen.
SPEAKER_01: Give me a break.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, come on.
SPEAKER_01: And there just aren't that many small towns in America that have toy factories that need to be saved in them.
SPEAKER_01: So you just know there has to be some make-believe involved in that, right?
SPEAKER_01: And then I had someone tell me this week that global warming was the result of the heat miser.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, come on.
SPEAKER_01: Some of y'all don't know who the heat miser is, right?
SPEAKER_01: And of course, my response to that, from all people who actually know Christmas movies and stories, understand that his brother, the snow miser, balanced all of that out, right?
SPEAKER_01: You guys got that.
SPEAKER_01: There probably wasn't still some magic in that old silk hat they found.
SPEAKER_01: Now I do believe that Snoopy did shoot down the Red Baron.
SPEAKER_01: Now, I do believe that.
SPEAKER_01: But the rest of those stories, I'm sure, are Christmas magic stories.
SPEAKER_01: They're things that we love to share, they're things that we love to tell, that we enjoy the make-believe and the imagination of that.
SPEAKER_01: But when we tell the message of the birth of Jesus, it is not an imaginative story.
SPEAKER_01: It is an actual historical fact.
SPEAKER_01: It occurred, it occurred as all of the eyewitnesses who were there testified that it occurred.
SPEAKER_01: We know that it is true because it was written and verified by historians like Luke, and they rooted it in the eyewitness testimony, and those who were preaching Jesus, like Peter and John and Paul, and they affirmed the truth of those as they preached the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: It is historically accurate, it is theologically accurate, and we can count on and depend the truth of what happened at the birth of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Luke then goes on to say, it seemed good to me, since I've carefully investigated everything from the very first to write to you in an orderly sequence, most honorable Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things about which you have been instructed.
SPEAKER_01: This was written to us so that we can know there are other Christmas stories, but what we share, what we preach, what we believed in is not a story, it is an event.
SPEAKER_01: And since it is a true event, it calls certain response to us during this Christmas time.
SPEAKER_01: It's why we've been talking all along through the joy of Christmas series we've been doing this month about the meaning of being in a relationship with God that happens because Jesus came to be our Savior.
SPEAKER_01: It's why we've built that Advent opportunity for you to share each day and focus and hear from the Lord and have some times that are spiritual in that moment.
SPEAKER_01: Because the fact that this is true calls us to certain responses.
SPEAKER_01: And as we read, as Luke says, the events that happened, we are told a couple of responses that I want to highlight for you today.
SPEAKER_01: So here you are in Luke chapter 2, and let's read the events that occurred at the birth of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says in Luke chapter 2, verse 1, in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole empire should be registered, and they were taking a census and a tax at the same time.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says this first registration took place while Quirenius was governing Syria, so everyone went to be registered, each to his own town.
SPEAKER_01: So you went home where you were born, where your lineage is, and that way they could make sure as best they could that they were tracking all of the people through all of the families in that census, and they could also make sure that all the taxes were paid and all of that.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 4, and Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line or lineage of David, and that's David the king, to be registered along with Mary, who was engaged to him and was pregnant.
SPEAKER_01: And Scripture there is very clear, it's affirming that when we talk about the virgin birth of Mary, it's affirming yet again that this was a fact, and so it's telling us that they are betrothed, but they are not yet married.
SPEAKER_01: While they were there, the time came for her to give birth.
SPEAKER_01: Then she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him snugly in cloth and laid him in a feeding trough, because there was no room for them at the lodging place or at the inn.
SPEAKER_01: In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock.
SPEAKER_01: Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you just can't imagine the shock in the night sky of this explosion of light, and angels, these beings that they have never seen before, and the sky opens up, and God prepares to speak to them.
SPEAKER_01: But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid.
SPEAKER_01: For look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all people.
SPEAKER_01: Today, a Savior, who is the promised Messiah, Messiah the Lord, was born for you, for you as shepherds, and for all those people.
SPEAKER_01: Kings were not born for the people in that day.
SPEAKER_01: But the King of kings and the Lord of Lords was born for all.
SPEAKER_01: And the angels tell them, look, because you are a part of so many people that God loves and promised a means of salvation born for you in the city of David.
SPEAKER_01: This will be the sign for you.
SPEAKER_01: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in cloth and lying in a feeding trough.
SPEAKER_01: And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host, with the angels praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on peace on earth to people he favors.
SPEAKER_01: When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Is it time to eat?
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: You would have said exactly the same thing they said.
SPEAKER_01: Man alive, can you believe that?
SPEAKER_01: Let's go straight to Bethlehem.
SPEAKER_01: Let's not wait.
SPEAKER_01: Let's go and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.
SPEAKER_01: They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph and the baby who was lying in the feeding trough, just as they had been told.
SPEAKER_01: After seeing them, they reported the message they were told about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherd said to them.
SPEAKER_01: But Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them.
SPEAKER_01: The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard just as they had been told.
SPEAKER_01: We know all of that to be true based on the testimony of Luke and the testimony of all those eyewitnesses that he interviewed and that he used in the compiling of this history of the theologians and the preachers of the day who were preaching the gospel just as Paul preached to the church in Corinth, and he wrote in that letter in 1 Corinthians 15, Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on the cross, just as it was written in the scriptures.
SPEAKER_01: And he carefully structured all of that and he put all of that together.
SPEAKER_01: And these eyewitnesses, many of them who formed the testimony that Luke wrote, they died for their faith or were imprisoned for their faith.
SPEAKER_01: So the credibility of their testimony to Luke and the credibility of the factual events that he is building this narrative on is without challenge.
SPEAKER_01: And since we know that this is a true event of history, it demands certain responses from us.
SPEAKER_01: So here I just want to look just for a moment at three things that we are called to do because of the truth of the birth of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: The first is to listen.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to listen, listen.
SPEAKER_01: In every event surrounding the birth of Jesus, when the angels came and spoke to Zechariah and to Elizabeth, when they came and spoke to Joseph, when they came and spoke to Mary, when the angels, as we just read, spoke to the shepherds.
SPEAKER_01: Last uh two weeks ago, we talked about the man Simeon.
SPEAKER_01: And if you read on in Luke chapter 2, you'll find out when they took Jesus to do all the things that they're supposed to do in their religion and consecrate him and all of that, the Holy Spirit had told this man that he would see the Messiah, and then he sent him to the temple, and then he showed him the baby Jesus who was the Messiah.
SPEAKER_01: In all of those events, every person listened.
SPEAKER_01: They listened because God spoke to them.
SPEAKER_01: He spoke through an angel or he spoke through the Holy Spirit, but he spoke.
SPEAKER_01: And in this Christmas season, we need to be reminded that Jesus came because God is the God of love.
SPEAKER_01: And he wants to be in a relationship with you.
SPEAKER_01: He wants to speak to you.
SPEAKER_01: He wants to reveal to you the plans that he has for you and for your family.
SPEAKER_01: He wants you to know how to be saved, and he wants you to know the joy of that.
SPEAKER_01: And he wants you to know the good news of what it means to have your sins forgiven.
SPEAKER_01: He wants to walk with you in life.
SPEAKER_01: He is the God of love.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus said in the Gospel of John, for God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.
SPEAKER_01: When Paul is writing to the Roman church, he says, God demonstrated his love towards us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
SPEAKER_01: John wrote later in one of his letters in 1 John, not that we loved him, but he first loved us.
SPEAKER_01: And you need to listen because God wants to tell you how much he loves you.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus came so that we could be in a relationship with him, so that we could literally hear from the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: He would talk with you and guide you and walk with you through life.
SPEAKER_01: And if there was ever a time that we needed to listen, it's in Christmas.
SPEAKER_01: Now I know it's fun, I know it's exciting.
SPEAKER_01: I've already eaten 9,000 calories this weekend alone, right?
SPEAKER_01: I'm totally with you, right?
SPEAKER_01: We were thinking like how we dress for church this morning.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know that I can wear my sweats and you know baggy t-shirts and stuff at church.
SPEAKER_01: I know that we're doing all that.
SPEAKER_01: You're opening presents, you're so excited, there the tree is filled, you got all this going on, people are going, people are coming, people are driving, you're driving, all that's going on.
SPEAKER_01: But listen, if you're celebrating the birth of Jesus, you're celebrating the fact that the God of love wants to speak to you and to be in your life.
SPEAKER_01: He wants to speak to your family.
SPEAKER_01: He wants to talk to you.
SPEAKER_01: Every person stopped and listened.
SPEAKER_01: They listened.
SPEAKER_01: Now here's an interesting deal.
SPEAKER_01: For us, it can be shocking when God speaks to us.
SPEAKER_01: It can be an amazing thing when he steps into your life, or when he convicts you of sin, or when he gives you a new direction, or when he calls you to something.
SPEAKER_01: There's something in us because of our sin nature that often we recoil when God speaks to us, or we're afraid to listen to him because we think, oh, I know I got this in my life, and I know this is sin, and I know he's going to want to talk about that, and I don't want to deal with that.
SPEAKER_01: And you see that story here.
SPEAKER_01: When God, in the beginning of this part, when he sends Gabriel the angel in chapter 1, and he speaks to Mary, and he shows up in Mary's life.
SPEAKER_01: Mary's like, oh, an angel, this is scary, what's happening?
SPEAKER_01: And then he says, You're going to give birth, and she says, There's no way that can happen.
SPEAKER_01: I don't understand that.
SPEAKER_01: And yet, because she heard the loving voice of God and the loving message of God, she stopped and listened.
SPEAKER_01: The angel said, Do not be afraid.
SPEAKER_01: You have found grace in God's heart and sight.
SPEAKER_01: When the angels appeared to the shepherds, as we just read, man, all of this, and they're shocked, and they've never seen anything like this.
SPEAKER_01: And the Bible says they were afraid.
SPEAKER_01: And if you and I had been there, we would have been in shock and awe and fear also.
SPEAKER_01: But the angel begins with the message because he wants them to hear, he wants them to listen, he wants them to understand that God is talking to them.
SPEAKER_01: He stops and he says, Listen, do not be afraid, because I bring you a message of great joy.
SPEAKER_01: Listen to me.
SPEAKER_01: So at Christmas time, we are called to listen because of the truth of Scripture and the reality of Jesus' birth.
SPEAKER_01: We're called to listen because God is the God of love, but we are called to listen because He is the God of salvation.
SPEAKER_01: They tell, the angel tells Mary in chapter one, your son will be the Savior.
SPEAKER_01: The angels tell the shepherds in chapter two, listen, today a Savior who is Messiah, the Lord, was born for you in the city of David.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says, if you read on and find that man Simeon again, that he, the Bible told him, You will see the Messiah.
SPEAKER_01: And then he called him, get up and go to the temple because I'm going to show you the Messiah.
SPEAKER_01: And Simeon said, You can take me home now because I have seen the Messiah.
SPEAKER_01: You see, this whole thing is about salvation.
SPEAKER_01: It's about the fact that sin has separated us from the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And because he is the God of love, he becomes the God of salvation.
SPEAKER_01: And because he wants that relationship with us and he loves us and he desires to be with us and guide us and forgive us and heal us and all of that, when he speaks to us, he speaks as the God of salvation.
SPEAKER_01: If you've never trusted Christ as your Savior, in just a moment, I'm going to give you a chance to do that.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because that's the whole reason Jesus came.
SPEAKER_01: It's the whole point of this event and why we're told in such specificity who he would be and why he'd come and those that identified him.
SPEAKER_01: And so listen, if you've never trusted Christ as your Savior, listen to the call of God and the message of salvation.
SPEAKER_01: If you are saved, brothers and sisters in Christ, listen, we don't get saved and then go on back off to whatever the dessert and the second helping of turkey is.
SPEAKER_01: When we are saved, we are now in that relationship and we know how much God loves us and we understand the truth of being forgiven.
SPEAKER_01: So we should always be listening to the one who saved us.
SPEAKER_01: What does he have for you in this new year?
SPEAKER_01: What does he want to do with your life?
SPEAKER_01: What is he trying to grow in there?
SPEAKER_01: Listen.
SPEAKER_01: Not only do we listen, but we need to trust.
SPEAKER_01: We need to trust.
SPEAKER_01: Everyone in this story trusted in the word and the work of God.
SPEAKER_01: When you go back and you read as Gabriel talks to Mary in the first chapter, she finally, after processing all of that, says, I am your servant.
SPEAKER_01: I trust you and do with me what you will.
SPEAKER_01: I love the picture of the shepherds here.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says, After the angels had spoken to them, this is one of my favorite things.
SPEAKER_01: It says in verse 16, after they've had this discussion, let's go see.
SPEAKER_01: They hurried off.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, wouldn't you?
SPEAKER_01: Oh my goodness, I've just seen these angels.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, good grief.
SPEAKER_01: All this has happened.
SPEAKER_01: Like, what are you waiting on?
SPEAKER_01: Drop your stuff and let's go.
SPEAKER_01: It's awesome to see that picture of them hurrying to follow and trust in the word of God that came to them.
SPEAKER_01: It's incredible to me, as we talked about a few weeks, to think about later on in chapter 2, this man, Simeon, when the Holy Spirit wakes him up at the dinner or talks to him at the breakfast table or whatever time of day it was, when he spoke to him, he said, Simeon, let's go to the temple.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to show you the Messiah, he's there.
SPEAKER_01: Man, you wouldn't be lollygagging around and trying to figure out what you're going to wear and what fit and do I look good in this now and all this kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_01: The Holy Spirit tells you the Messiah is over there, you're going to get up and go.
SPEAKER_01: Just put on a hat, get in a truck, and get there as fast as you can.
SPEAKER_01: You want to be there because you trust what God has told you.
SPEAKER_01: The first act of trust that all of us make with the God of love and the God of salvation is to trust Jesus as our Savior.
SPEAKER_01: And then once you've accepted Him as your Savior, the rest of your life is a walk of trust when you listen to the Lord and the word He has for you, then you follow and believe in what He's asked you to do.
SPEAKER_01: When He wants to take something out of your life, when He wants to put something in, when He wants to guide you in a direction, you can trust His direction.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because He's the God of love.
SPEAKER_01: He's the God who saved you.
SPEAKER_01: You can trust.
SPEAKER_01: He wants to speak, but He speaks so that we'll listen and follow.
SPEAKER_01: I want to ask you a question.
SPEAKER_01: Just a moment.
SPEAKER_01: We'll move into a time of worship and we'll sing and light the candles and we'll do all of that.
SPEAKER_01: But if you've never accepted Christ as your Savior, that's just music.
SPEAKER_01: It's not worship.
SPEAKER_01: It becomes worship when you have realized that God loves you so much.
SPEAKER_01: He sent Jesus to live a sinless life.
SPEAKER_01: That Jesus lived a sinless life.
SPEAKER_01: He lived the same life in all the major issues that we do.
SPEAKER_01: Friends, face temptation, family, making a living, going through hardship, the physical body that we live in, all of those struggles.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus lived all of those things just like we do, with one major difference.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus never sinned.
SPEAKER_01: He would never have had to die as a human, as a man, because he had never sinned and there was no judgment to his life.
SPEAKER_01: And yet he voluntarily went to the cross because that was the plan.
SPEAKER_01: It was the plan from the beginning.
SPEAKER_01: They told Mary and Joseph, name him Jesus, because he will be the savior of his people.
SPEAKER_01: He told the shepherds, listen, a savior, Messiah the Lord, is born for you.
SPEAKER_01: He told Simeon, listen, you will see the Messiah, the Savior.
SPEAKER_01: And then he said, get up and go to the temple because the Savior is there.
SPEAKER_01: He is there.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus came to be the Savior.
SPEAKER_01: So in an act of love, we will never fully understand.
SPEAKER_01: He set aside his holiness as God and He took all of His self as a man and He went to the cross and He allowed Himself to die there under that terrible death, taking on the spiritual reality of all of the sins of all of us.
SPEAKER_01: He took the full wrath and punishment of God on the cross, and there he died so that his death could be a substitute for ours.
SPEAKER_01: So that he could take the punishment for God and offer us a means to allow his death to pay the price for ours.
SPEAKER_01: And then he rose again, conquering death and sin to offer us a life of eternity that had conquered death and sin.
SPEAKER_01: And the Bible tells us in order to be saved, in order to access that salvation and forgiveness, that the way that happens is if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
SPEAKER_01: So it begins with first trusting Scripture and the historical event that happened of the virgin birth, the sinless life, the death of Jesus, the resurrection, coming back from the dead, and conquering death and sin.
SPEAKER_01: It means trusting that that is true.
SPEAKER_01: And then it means trusting that the spiritual effect of that is Jesus came to do that for us.
SPEAKER_01: If you will believe in your heart God raised him from the dead, that's that trust in the historicity of Jesus and the facts that he is who he says he is and he did what he said he did.
SPEAKER_01: But here's what he says: if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and what that means is you acknowledge and trust that Jesus is the Son of God.
SPEAKER_01: He is the King of kings and the Lord of the Lords.
SPEAKER_01: He is the one who is the only one qualified to die for our sins.
SPEAKER_01: He is the one who conquered death and sin.
SPEAKER_01: And he demands our trust with all of our life.
SPEAKER_01: If you will confess that he is Lord, it means taking everything that you have been, that you are, and that you ever will be, and trusting all of that to him as the Lord of your life.
SPEAKER_01: You see, when you give your life to Jesus because he gave his life for yours, you don't own any more of your life.
SPEAKER_01: It is an incredible act of trust to give your life to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: You are trusting him with your future, with your heart, with your relationship, with your money, with your time.
SPEAKER_01: When I was a nine and a half-year-old boy, I trusted Jesus as my Savior.
SPEAKER_01: I took my life, everything I'd been, I was at that point, and everything I ever would be, and I gave it to him.
SPEAKER_01: And when I was 30 years old, he showed up in my life and he said, This career that you're enjoying, I'm gonna change that, and I want you to become a preacher.
SPEAKER_01: I said, I really don't want to do that, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And he said, Whose life is it?
SPEAKER_01: And when I was nine and a half years old, I trusted him with the Lordship of my life.
SPEAKER_01: But friends, I want you to know, hear me.
SPEAKER_01: If you will trust him with your life, he will do more with your life than you could ever imagine.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to bow your heads with me for just a moment.
SPEAKER_01: And in a minute, I'm gonna pray, and then we'll set up the worship and we'll close with worship.
SPEAKER_01: But right here in this moment, I want to invite you, if you've never trusted Christ as your Savior, to listen to the words of Scripture that He loves you and Jesus came to be your Savior.
SPEAKER_01: And I want to invite you to trust the Lord Jesus as your Savior.
SPEAKER_01: When we sing in a few moments, it can be worship and thanksgiving if you'll give your life to him.
SPEAKER_01: If you're watching online this morning, right there in your home, you may have your family around, you may be cooking Christmas Eve dinner or whatever.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, I want you to just stop for a moment and listen to the Lord tell you that he loves you and he has salvation for you.
SPEAKER_01: And I want you to trust him as your Savior.
SPEAKER_01: Again, it's a simple thing, but it is profound in its meaning.
SPEAKER_01: You recognize that this is not a story, it is true.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus was born to be our Savior, He lived to be our Savior, He died as our Savior, and He rose again so that He could save us.
SPEAKER_01: If you've never trusted Christ as your Savior, I want you just right there where you are, in your home, or if you're in the room, right here, just bow your heads.
SPEAKER_01: We're not going to do a come forward thing this morning.
SPEAKER_01: But here's what I want you to know.
SPEAKER_01: After the service is over, I'll be here at the front of the stage over on my left, and I'll want to talk to you, celebrate with you, pray with you, help you get started.
SPEAKER_01: But right there where you are, if you've never accepted Christ, I want you to trust him as your Savior.
SPEAKER_01: How do I do that, Pastor?
SPEAKER_01: Help me through that.
SPEAKER_01: It's very simple.
SPEAKER_01: We're going to follow what the scripture told us.
SPEAKER_01: In your heart and in your mind, I want you to just say this in your own words.
SPEAKER_01: There's no magic, it's not an incantation or something weird.
SPEAKER_01: It's just you talking to the Lord who has spoken to you.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I know I'm a sinner.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I know my sin has to be judged.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I believe that Jesus is exactly who the Bible says he is.
SPEAKER_01: And he came to save me.
SPEAKER_01: Ask him to forgive your sins.
SPEAKER_01: Now I want you to give him the keys to your life.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, it's yours.
SPEAKER_01: It's now yours.
SPEAKER_01: Trust him with it as the Lord of your life.
SPEAKER_01: And now I want you to close this way.
SPEAKER_01: If you've prayed that prayer, listen on the authority of Scripture, not because I said so, but because of what Luke said.
SPEAKER_01: Look, this is real.
SPEAKER_01: This is the truth.
SPEAKER_01: This is what happened.
SPEAKER_01: This is who Jesus is.
SPEAKER_01: And he promises to save you.
SPEAKER_01: And if you've prayed and asked him to be your savior, if you've trusted him with your life this morning, I want you to say, Jesus, thank you for saving me.
SPEAKER_01: If you're already a believer, listen, I want you to make a commitment that this Christmas season.
SPEAKER_01: Say, Lord, I hear you and I want to hear you.
SPEAKER_01: I know you love me, so talk to me, and I will listen.
SPEAKER_01: And then tell the Lord you trust him for what he wants to do with you this year.
SPEAKER_01: Just make that commitment to him.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, we thank you that you have made it so abundantly clear how to be saved.
SPEAKER_01: And that you sent Jesus to be our Savior and you accomplished all of that for us in your love.
SPEAKER_01: And Lord, we trust you.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I pray that anyone here or watching online or television, they've accepted you as their Savior.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for speaking to them through your word.
SPEAKER_01: Those of us who are saved, we say, Lord, help us to hear you this Christmas season.
SPEAKER_01: We want to listen because we trust you and trust what you have to tell us.
SPEAKER_01: We thank you for salvation in Jesus' name and what that means to us today and all God's people said.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: And here's the third thing.
SPEAKER_01: We've talked about listening, we've talked about trusting, and finally, I want you to treasure or ponder the joy of Christmas.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what the Bible says.
SPEAKER_01: That's not a problem.
SPEAKER_01: Don't let it distract you.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to take a few moments and prepare yourself to worship.
SPEAKER_01: In just a moment, we're going to sing again together and we're going to worship.
SPEAKER_01: And hopefully what it'll do is it'll be filled with joy and the candlelights and all that'll be beautiful.
SPEAKER_01: And I want you to really concentrate on the words.
SPEAKER_01: Worship as you sing.
SPEAKER_01: Ponder and treasure the truth of salvation.
SPEAKER_01: And I want that to really set up for you and for your family the tone over the next few days in this coming week.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to make a commitment to have some time where you ponder the truth and the joy of salvation.
SPEAKER_01: I told somebody before the service this morning, I got a chance, and I told y'all mentioned a minute ago, I got a chance to feed my grandson this morning breakfast.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm sitting there and I've had my quiet time and he's woken up and I'm feeding, and my daughter says, Dad, would you feed him?
SPEAKER_01: Would you really be willing to do that?
SPEAKER_01: Like, really?
SPEAKER_01: Of course.
SPEAKER_01: Like that's what we do, right?
SPEAKER_01: And so I'm sitting there and I'm holding him and I'm feeding him and I'm looking at him and I'm thinking about the baby Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: He begins to groan and go and stretch that leg out.
SPEAKER_01: And I thought, I wonder if baby Jesus did that too.
SPEAKER_01: I thought, I wonder if baby Jesus smell like that?
SPEAKER_01: I'm pondering all those things, but it's such a joyous moment because as you just stop and take a minute to think, as a parent or a grandparent, how much God loves you as your heavenly father.
SPEAKER_01: I'm looking at little Killian, I'm thinking, he is depending on me for everything at this moment.
SPEAKER_01: I'm thinking, I am so dependent on my Heavenly Father for everything.
SPEAKER_01: And in the same way, one day he's going to be glad and know that I hold him in his arms, just like I know that God holds us in his arms.
SPEAKER_01: I think about the gifts as we're giving gifts.
SPEAKER_01: I wrapped a few gifts this morning and put them under the tree.
SPEAKER_01: And you think about the gift of salvation.
SPEAKER_01: And in all those moments, I want you to just stop and take a moment, whether it's by yourself or with your family around the tree as you read the Christmas story or as you talk at dinner in your quiet time, treasure in your heart these moments where you hear God speak to you and it and it connects you with the joy of what it means to be saved.
SPEAKER_01: When you're sitting there as a mom or dad and your house is loud and everybody's crazy and they're shooting nerd guns and knocking stuff off the counters and all that stuff that goes on.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to listen to the joy in your house and think that's the pleasure that our Heavenly Father takes when we fill his house together.
SPEAKER_01: So as we worship together this morning, as we close in this time of worship, I want you to ponder and treasure the joy of salvation.
SPEAKER_00: It comes because Jesus came.
SPEAKER_00: Send an email to contact us at fsfbc.org and let us pray for you and help you in any way we can.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to Chapter and First, the Bible Teaching Ministry of Fort Smith First Baptist Church.