SPEAKER_00: Thank you for sending Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for the word that became flesh, that made his dwelling among us.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for sending Emmanuel.
SPEAKER_00: God with us.
SPEAKER_00: And we declare today, he is a wonderful counselor.
SPEAKER_00: He is an everlasting father.
SPEAKER_00: He is a mighty God.
SPEAKER_00: And he is our Prince of Peace.
SPEAKER_00: We worship you this morning today.
SPEAKER_00: Say, Jesus, you are the reason that we are here.
SPEAKER_00: We give our lives to you.
SPEAKER_00: Response for you giving your life for us.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' mighty name and everybody say.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Church, can you put your hands together this morning?
SPEAKER_00: It's good to be in the house of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: The worship team of the choir's not done yet, but they're gonna take a moment.
SPEAKER_00: Can you put your hands together for them though while they do that?
SPEAKER_00: Just phenomenal.
SPEAKER_00: It's just absolutely hey, can I just say we got some talented people in our church?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, just if you're a guest today and you're wondering, did we hire out some people?
SPEAKER_00: No, we did not.
SPEAKER_00: God's good.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody say amen to that.
SPEAKER_00: Well, if you have your Bibles, grab those while you're standing, and we're gonna turn to God's Word together this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Turn with me to Luke chapter 2.
SPEAKER_00: And we are going to stand as we honor the reading of God's Word.
SPEAKER_00: Today we're going to look at the Christmas story a little more intently together today.
SPEAKER_00: Luke chapter 2, starting in verse 8.
SPEAKER_00: The word reads this way.
SPEAKER_00: And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.
SPEAKER_00: An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them.
SPEAKER_00: And they were terrified.
SPEAKER_00: But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid.
SPEAKER_00: I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all people.
SPEAKER_00: Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you.
SPEAKER_00: He is Messiah the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And this will be a sign to you.
SPEAKER_00: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.
SPEAKER_00: And then suddenly a great company of the heavenly hosts appeared with the angel praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth.
SPEAKER_00: Peace to those on whom his favor rests.
SPEAKER_00: When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.
SPEAKER_00: And so they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby who was lying in the manger.
SPEAKER_00: And when they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child.
SPEAKER_00: And all who heard it were amazed.
SPEAKER_00: All who heard it wondered at what the shepherds had said to them.
SPEAKER_00: If you're a guest today at Christian Life Church, I want to welcome you and share a habit that we do in response to the reading of God's Word.
SPEAKER_00: I say this is God's Word, and the congregation responds, we believe it to be true.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you believe God's word to be true?
SPEAKER_00: I believe it solicits a response.
SPEAKER_00: So, church, this is God's word and Amen.
SPEAKER_00: The title of my message this morning is The Sound of Wonder.
SPEAKER_00: Say that after me this morning.
SPEAKER_00: The sound of wonder.
SPEAKER_00: Turn to your neighbor and say, There is a sound of wonder.
SPEAKER_00: Turn to the other neighbors and say, There's a sound of wonder.
SPEAKER_00: Turn around to the person behind you and say, There's a sound of wonder.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, today we thank you for your word.
SPEAKER_00: Your word is a lamp unto our feet and a light into our path.
SPEAKER_00: It shows us the way to go and how to arrive there safely.
SPEAKER_00: And I pray, Lord, this morning that we would not just be hearers of your word, but that we would be doers of it in Jesus' mighty name.
SPEAKER_00: And everybody said, Amen.
SPEAKER_00: You may be seated.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Caleb.
SPEAKER_00: I have a question for you this morning.
SPEAKER_00: When was the last time your heart was gripped with wonder?
SPEAKER_00: When was the last time that you stood in amazement, in awe at something?
SPEAKER_00: When was the last time that your breath was taken away and you were left speechless?
SPEAKER_00: I believe the story of Christmas is a story of wonder.
SPEAKER_00: It's a story that stands in awe.
SPEAKER_00: It's a story of amazement.
SPEAKER_00: It's a story that can take your breath away if you're willing to look at it with fresh eyes, with eyes of wonder.
SPEAKER_00: So this morning, I want to I want to help us see the story with eyes of wonder.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to do that by taking us back a few years.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you remember what it was like to be six years old?
SPEAKER_00: Anybody?
SPEAKER_00: Some of y'all got to think really, really hard.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you got to think really, really hard.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you are saying, I don't even have a clue what it was like to be six.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to think back and remember what it was like to be six years old on Christmas morning.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to think about the anticipation.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to think about the excitement.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to think about looking at those presents around the tree for weeks on end.
SPEAKER_00: And when mom and dad weren't looking, you ran over, picked up the present, and began to shake it to guess what was inside.
SPEAKER_00: Don't lie.
SPEAKER_00: You know you did it.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you did it?
SPEAKER_00: Say amen.
SPEAKER_00: Yep, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00: The rest of y'all are liars.
SPEAKER_00: You're going to hell.
SPEAKER_00: It's all right.
SPEAKER_00: You're in the right place at the right time.
SPEAKER_00: God's here to save your soul.
SPEAKER_00: We all, we all, we all did that.
SPEAKER_00: And and so it's Christmas Eve.
SPEAKER_00: And and you don't want to go to sleep, but you got to go to sleep.
SPEAKER_00: You go to sleep wired, you wake up early, and and then you're you're ready.
SPEAKER_00: You're you're bursting at the seams to descend upon that Christmas tree, but you pause for just a moment.
SPEAKER_00: The light is reflecting off of the ornaments.
SPEAKER_00: There's wrapping paper everywhere.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe maybe there's there's music playing in the background.
SPEAKER_00: And and before you tear into everything, you just pause to take it all in.
SPEAKER_00: And then all of the sudden, wonder begins to grip your heart.
SPEAKER_00: Your eyes grow wide, your heart begins to pound.
SPEAKER_00: Church, that is wonder.
SPEAKER_00: I want to take us back a few more years to roughly 2,000 years ago.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to imagine with me for a moment what it must have been like to be one of those shepherds on the hillsides of Bethlehem tending some sheep.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to imagine what it must have been like.
SPEAKER_00: You're you're minding your own business.
SPEAKER_00: It's just another normal night.
SPEAKER_00: It's cold, you're tired, you probably stink because you've been with sheep all day.
SPEAKER_00: This isn't, this isn't the the things of Hallmark Christmas cards.
SPEAKER_00: It's real life, and it's your job, and all you're doing is trying to stay awake long enough to keep the wolves away.
SPEAKER_00: You know, we're not real careful.
SPEAKER_00: We can approach Christmas the exact same way.
SPEAKER_00: It's just another December, it's just another day.
SPEAKER_00: It's the routine of the same thing over and over and over again.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe you've heard the Christmas story hundreds of times.
SPEAKER_00: And if you're not real careful, you can grow numb to it because of the routine of life has a way of deafening your ears to the power of the story.
SPEAKER_00: These shepherds are out just tending their sheep, they're minding their own business.
SPEAKER_00: The fire's crackling.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe the sheep are bleeding.
SPEAKER_00: And then suddenly, suddenly, out of nowhere, light bursts forth, and an angel of the Lord appears to you, and the glory of the Lord shines around you, and whatever you are thinking about, and whatever you were talking about previously falls by the wayside, and you're caught in rapture of the wonder of a moment, and then you hear a voice, unlike any voice you've ever heard.
SPEAKER_00: The voice of an angel that says, Don't be afraid.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna be honest with you, I would need that affirmation, and so would you.
SPEAKER_00: Don't be afraid, the angel said.
SPEAKER_00: I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.
SPEAKER_00: What is this good news that will cause great joy for all the people?
SPEAKER_00: Today in the town of David, a savior has been born to you.
SPEAKER_00: He is Christ the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And you'll find a baby wrapped in clothes and lying in a man.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine that moment for those shepherds that have been minding their business, stuck in the rut of life, doing what they've always done, and all of a sudden they're caught in a moment of wonder, an interruption of heaven into their life.
SPEAKER_00: They don't have a chance to catch their breath.
SPEAKER_00: They don't have a moment to process the word savior before the sky tears open.
SPEAKER_00: And the heavenly host appear.
SPEAKER_00: Ten thousand upon ten thousand angels have filled the night sky.
SPEAKER_00: Their worship has separated the physical from the spiritual, and they are erupting in worship.
SPEAKER_00: And these angels get a front row seat to this worship service, and they hear the heavenly host declare glory, glory, glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth.
SPEAKER_00: Glory, glory to God in the highest.
SPEAKER_00: Glory.
SPEAKER_00: What has caught the attention of these angels?
SPEAKER_00: They see what God is doing in the hidden corner of the world.
SPEAKER_00: They see that God, church, God, God has become man, that the word, the logos that John said has become flesh, that the creator of the universe who spoke it and it became is now lying in a feeding trough.
SPEAKER_00: And the angels can't do anything but say, Glory, glory, glory, glory.
SPEAKER_00: They're in awe, they're in amazement.
SPEAKER_00: Wonder has gripped their heart and it is erupted into worship.
SPEAKER_00: See, that's the point of wonder.
SPEAKER_00: Wonder doesn't God doesn't stir our hearts just that, just so that we can say, Wow, that was cool.
SPEAKER_00: Wonder is heaven's way of waking our hearts up so that worship can find a voice.
SPEAKER_00: See, when you really get a picture of the wonder of who God is and all that he has done, and all that he is doing, and all that he's going to do, when you get a picture of the wonder of God, you don't really have a choice.
SPEAKER_00: It it it when it gets in your heart, it will erupt out of your mouth in worship.
SPEAKER_00: As a matter of fact, if your worship is lacking, it's probably because your wonder is absent.
SPEAKER_00: Wonder isn't a destination.
SPEAKER_00: Wonder is a doorway to worship.
SPEAKER_00: I'm inviting you this morning to see with fresh eyes the wonder of the Christmas story.
SPEAKER_00: The angels have been raptured in wonder at their creator becoming man in worship.
SPEAKER_00: Just erupts.
SPEAKER_00: Down on the ground.
SPEAKER_00: These shepherds who are just trying to make it through another night are now wrapped in the same wonder.
SPEAKER_00: Their hearts are pounding, their hands are shaking, and they're looking at each other and saying, Did that just really happen?
SPEAKER_00: Did did did you just see what I saw?
SPEAKER_00: Did you hear what I heard is was in each one to the other?
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_00: And so after they have conferred with one another for a moment to affirm the reality of what they have just experienced, they have but one response.
SPEAKER_00: We gotta go see.
SPEAKER_00: I gotta go see.
SPEAKER_00: I gotta go check out what this angel just announced.
SPEAKER_00: We've gotta go find this child.
SPEAKER_00: We've got to go to the city of Bethlehem and find this baby that's wrapped in swallowing clothes and lying in a major.
SPEAKER_00: So the Bible says they say, let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I love this response.
SPEAKER_00: I love this response because it wasn't a theological debate about what God can do, about what God should do, or about what God's going to do.
SPEAKER_00: No, we just experienced it, so now let's go find it.
SPEAKER_00: There wasn't a whole lot of questions being asked.
SPEAKER_00: It was, God just showed up, so now let's go see what He is up to.
SPEAKER_00: And I love the reality that wonder doesn't just move us to worship, it also moves us to witness what has been told.
SPEAKER_00: See, wonder doesn't leave you frozen on the hillside, it moves you.
SPEAKER_00: It moves you to look more intently into what's going on.
SPEAKER_00: They've got to go and see what God has done.
SPEAKER_00: They get to Bethlehem and they find the child.
SPEAKER_00: But it probably wasn't all that they were expecting it to be.
SPEAKER_00: There was no palace.
SPEAKER_00: There were no guards.
SPEAKER_00: There wasn't a royal crib.
SPEAKER_00: Just a young, exhausted couple and a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying where animals eat.
SPEAKER_00: And yet somehow, in this very ordinary scene, the shepherds see something extraordinary.
SPEAKER_00: The sign for them is unmistakable.
SPEAKER_00: See, these shepherds that are on the hillsides of Bethlehem are not normal everyday shepherds.
SPEAKER_00: They're temple shepherds, they're shepherds that serve the temple in Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: Bethlehem to Jerusalem is only a couple of miles away.
SPEAKER_00: And it was here on the hillsides of Bethlehem that lambs were born and raised for one purpose, and it was temple sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: And because these lambs had to be spotless and they had to be perfect, they had to be pure in order to be acceptable as a sacrifice in the temple.
SPEAKER_00: Shepherds of Bethlehem had developed some practices to protect the lambs from themselves.
SPEAKER_00: Upon a lamb being born, these shepherds would take cloths and gather them up in their arms and wrap them tightly around the lamb to ensure that it would not hurt itself or harm itself and as a result disqualify itself from its purpose.
SPEAKER_00: And once they had wrapped them in their cloths, they would then lie them in a manger.
SPEAKER_00: For the shepherds, this was an unmistakable sign.
SPEAKER_00: This was God's whisper to them that this child was no ordinary child.
SPEAKER_00: This child is.
SPEAKER_00: The Lamb of God that will take away the sins of the world.
SPEAKER_00: Wonder.
SPEAKER_00: Wonder from an angelic visitation.
SPEAKER_00: Wonder to the chorus of heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Wonder to seeing the God of the universe lying in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes as a picture of his future.
SPEAKER_00: See, what I would like for you to understand today is that wonder produces worship that always leads us to witness.
SPEAKER_00: And witness isn't just about seeing, it's also about telling.
SPEAKER_00: And so what do the shepherds do upon seeing this sign?
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says they go and tell everyone around them what they have seen, what they have heard, what they have experienced, what they have come to understand.
SPEAKER_00: And the Bible says now wonder has spread from the angels to the shepherds to Mary and Joseph, and now to all who had heard the story.
SPEAKER_00: I want to tell you this morning: wonder has the power to change lives.
SPEAKER_00: Wonder and who God is, and then all that he does awakens our worship.
SPEAKER_00: It propels us to seek and to know and to find and to share.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're here this morning.
SPEAKER_00: And you're saying, Pastor, it's really been a while.
SPEAKER_00: Since wonder has gripped my heart.
SPEAKER_00: It's really been a while since who God is and what God does.
SPEAKER_00: And it's been a while.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to know you're not broken.
SPEAKER_00: You're just really busy.
SPEAKER_00: You're caught up in the routine of life.
SPEAKER_00: You're normal.
SPEAKER_00: Life is loud.
SPEAKER_00: Life is filled with tax schedules and buzzing phones, and and sometimes we move past moments of wonder just because we've got to get to where we're going, and in the process, we miss the manger.
SPEAKER_00: But I want to challenge you this Christmas season to slow down.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you realize it or not, but revelation.
SPEAKER_00: Revelation has a speed limit.
SPEAKER_00: And it's rarely in a hurry.
SPEAKER_00: I want to challenge you to slow down just a little bit and look with fresh eyes at the wonder of God becoming man.
SPEAKER_00: The wonder of flesh.
SPEAKER_00: Being wrapped around divinity.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to look with fresh eyes again at a God who doesn't require you to come to where he is, but a God that comes to where you are to lift you out of your pit and set your feet on a rock solid foundation.
SPEAKER_00: There's no one like our God.
SPEAKER_00: Look with fresh eyes this Christmas season and a wonderful God.
SPEAKER_00: I believe that heaven is still singing.
SPEAKER_00: The question is, are we listening?
SPEAKER_00: I want to ask you to stand with me where you are this morning.
SPEAKER_00: I want to ask you the most important question that anyone will ever ask you in your life.
SPEAKER_00: And that question is this.
SPEAKER_00: Not do you know Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of people that know him.
SPEAKER_00: But are you in relationship with him?
SPEAKER_00: There's one thing to know about something, or to know about someone.
SPEAKER_00: It's something entirely different to be in relationship with them.
SPEAKER_00: And the invitation of our God isn't an invitation to information, it's an invitation to relationship.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus said, Come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and find rest.
SPEAKER_00: For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
SPEAKER_00: The invitation isn't just to know about, it's to come into relationship with.
SPEAKER_00: Wonder begins to grip your heart, your mind, your life, and it just spontaneously erupts into worship.
SPEAKER_00: Glory to God in the highest glory.
SPEAKER_00: That he is God's Son, and that he has come to give his life so that we might have life.
SPEAKER_00: And all that we have to do is to confess with our mouth and believe in our heart that he is Lord and will be saved.
SPEAKER_00: So I want to ask you to bow your heads and close your eyes right where you stand this morning.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to ask you today, are you in a relationship with Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: Have you given your life to him and say, God, I'm gonna follow you all of my days.
SPEAKER_00: I recognize your sacrifice for all of eternity, and I want to respond in giving you my life.
SPEAKER_00: If that's you this morning would say, Pastor, I'd like to give my life to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: I would like to be in relationship with him.
SPEAKER_00: Would you raise your hand right where you stand because I want to pray for you today?
SPEAKER_00: If that's you, thank you, I see that hand.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, I see that hand.
SPEAKER_00: Hallelujah, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, I see that hand.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, I see that hand.
SPEAKER_00: Hallelujah, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, thank you.
SPEAKER_00: If that's you, don't be bashful.
SPEAKER_00: Just raise your hand right where you stand because God wants to save you.
SPEAKER_00: He wants to set you free.
SPEAKER_00: He wants to fill you with his love, with his power, with his goodness, his grace.
SPEAKER_00: He wants his wonder to fill your heart and your life.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the second question.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're here today and you say, Pastor, I've come into a relationship with Jesus, but I've not been walking with him.
SPEAKER_00: I've been choosing my own way instead of his way.
SPEAKER_00: And I recognize the time has come for me to come home.
SPEAKER_00: I recognize that I need to rededicate my life to him and start living for him rather than myself.
SPEAKER_00: And if that's you, would you just raise your hand right where you stand?
SPEAKER_00: Because I want to pray for you as well.
SPEAKER_00: Is there anyone this morning that would say that?
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
SPEAKER_00: I see that hand.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
SPEAKER_00: I see that hand.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
SPEAKER_00: I see that hand.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
SPEAKER_00: I see that hand.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
SPEAKER_00: Hallelujah, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: I see that hand.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
SPEAKER_00: All right, church, I want you to look at me.
SPEAKER_00: Between these two invitations, probably 25 hands have come up in our congregation today.
SPEAKER_00: Before we pray, we need to celebrate.
SPEAKER_00: There's 25 lives that are being changed because they're coming into relationship with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Church, this is the wonder.
SPEAKER_00: This is the wonder of God becoming flesh.
SPEAKER_00: So can everybody across the congregation just stretch your hands towards heaven and pray this prayer after me this morning?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, thank you for giving your life that I might have life.
SPEAKER_00: I ask you to forgive me of my sins, cleanse me of my unrighteousness, and I make a dedication today to serve you, to follow you, to walk after you.
SPEAKER_00: You are my Lord, and I surrender to you today.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' mighty name.
SPEAKER_00: And everybody said, Come on, church, put your hands together for lives change, transform the wonder of the Christmas story.
SPEAKER_00: Now to celebrate this, we're going to do something that we only do this once a year, and it's one of my most favorite things that we do.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to worship through candlelighting this morning.
SPEAKER_00: And if you would grab the candle that you were given when you came in this morning.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to begin with a single-lit candle, and it's going to spread across the room, and this dark room is going to be illuminated by the multitude of candles that have been lit.
SPEAKER_00: And I want you to understand this is symbolic and this is representative of what Jesus did 2,000 years ago.
SPEAKER_00: A single light shone brightly upon the sleepy town of Bethlehem and illuminated the darkness there.
SPEAKER_00: And for 2,000 years, Jesus has been illuminating the darkness, and I can testify today that darkness cannot overcome it.
SPEAKER_00: So as your candle is lit, I want you to share it with the person next to you as a witness of what you're going to do in 2026.
SPEAKER_00: God, light has come in us that we might share it with the world around us.
SPEAKER_00: Please, everybody, no movement.
SPEAKER_00: The room's getting ready to go dark.
SPEAKER_00: This is a holy moment.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we commit this time to you.
SPEAKER_00: God, we thank you for your light and your life that you have given for us.
SPEAKER_00: We give our lives back to you in response.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody said.