Devotional Materials. Week Commencing Sunday 19th December 2021
Call to worship
‘Then the angels said to them, ‘’Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.’’ Luke 2:10
Our first carol reminds us of the Incarnation: “God of God, Light of light lo He abhors not the Virgin’s womb”. Jesus left the glory of heaven to come into this world as an unknown baby, born in a manger, a stable, because there was no room for him in the inn:
Carol
“O come, all you faithful, joyful and triumphant” (MP 491, piano)
From the Latin (18th Century) tr. Frederick Oakley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8dgI4-bVPU
Opening prayer
“We thank you for coming to us. We praise you Lord for your magnificent love shown to us. In becoming human, in order to save us- making us your own, sanctifying our lives and you will one day take us to be with you. We praise you for the generosity you have shown to us in entrusting yourself to us and sharing our vulnerability. We praise you for the courage and determination it took to empty yourself and allow yourself to be abused and killed to free us from sin. You are Immanuel, God with us.”
Carol
“See Him lying on a bed of straw” (MP 589, guitar)
Michael Perry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1UI5Ko34XQ
Reading Isaiah 9:2,6-7
9 2The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.
6For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given,
and the government will be upon His shoulders.
And He will be called
Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7Of the increase of His government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on the throne of David
and over his kingdom,
to establish and sustain it
with justice and righteousness
from that time and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.
Prayers
Lord, in a world where worry, not peace, prevails, stir up that good news again. This Christmas, make it real in our hearts. Never have we needed your joy and peace more than now. Thank You for the gift of Jesus, our Immanuel, the Word made flesh. Forgive us for forgetting—that your love never changes, never fades, and that you never abandon the purpose for which you came: to save us from our sinful condition, and to give us life eternal, the joy of relationship with a holy God. Your birth—and your death—sealed your promise to us forever.
For those whose hearts are battered by sorrow or broken relationships, for those whose lives know only conflict and confusion, for those whose bodies are tired and tested beyond their ability to endure this year—precious Saviour, draw them close to You. Let them know you are still the same Jesus who was born of a virgin, not in a hospital but an animal barn, laid in a manger of hay. You are still the One sent by a heavenly Father who offered not condemnation for our sins, but love and forgiveness—and daily, divine fellowship.
We not only need your peace and joy; Lord, we crave it. You’ve promised rest for the weary, victory for the battle-scarred, peace for the anxious, and acceptance for the broken hearted—not just at Christmas, but every day of every year.
Release the joy in us that’s been crushed by pride, wrong priorities, or world events. Tear down the strongholds that have held us captive far too long. Extinguish the flames of apprehension that rob us of a calm, quiet spirit. Show us again the beauty of that holy night so many centuries ago.
Your name is still called “Wonderful,” “Counsellor,” “The Mighty God,” “The Everlasting Father,” and “The Prince of Peace.” As Your children, we cry out for a fresh filling, and a new awareness of who you are. We choose by faith to make the “good news of great joy” a reality in our own lives, so others can see us as lighted trees of life, pointing to you this Christmas. We know one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that you are Lord. And we also know that peace on earth can only come when hearts find peace with you. Amen. (crosswalk.com).
Carol
“While shepherds watched their flocks by night” (MP 764, piano)
Nahum Tate
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnbUNCO_DhI
Sermon. “Unwrapping God’s Christmas Present. What’s in a name?”
Names are important because names have meanings and were often used to describe the person or the characteristics of a person. Google the meaning of your own name and see if it’s an apt description of you and your character. I looked up mine and conclude that I don’t live up to my name!
Luke 1:30: - An Angel came to Mary and said: - “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God. 31You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”
This was confirmed when an Angel came to Joseph 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. 21She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:20
What does the name Jesus mean? It means “God is salvation” a more appropriate translation is “God rescues” Jesus came to rescue us from the certain consequences of sin – death and separation from God.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Wages are something we earn, the just reward for something we have done, a gift is something we receive that is freely given, we cannot earn a gift the only way to obtain a gift is to receive it and accept it.
John 3:16:- “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. – Notice it does not say “will have eternal life” as if it is sometime in the future, it is immediate the moment we believe in Jesus our eternal life is guaranteed. Death in this life is not the end it is a transition into the new life Jesus has gone ahead to prepare for us. Like a caterpillar, the ugly old caterpillar apparently dies but it emerges into a beautiful butterfly no longer limited to the leaf it has spent its life munching on but with wings with the ability to fly in freedom
Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:6-8:- Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7We live by faith, not by sight. 8We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
Jesus said the thief on the cross “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
So, Jesus lives up to His name to everyone who believes in Him – God rescues for eternity.
But that is not the only name given to Jesus. Isaiah prophesied about 700 years earlier: - For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
When we believe in Jesus as the Son of God who died for our sins, when we accept God gift, we get the full package there are no optional extras, we are not just “rescued by God” but we get our own personal “Wonderful Counsellor”.
Since the pandemic we hear a lot about mental health issues and those seeking help but when we have Jesus in our life, we have a personal Counsellor who says I will never leave you or forsake you.
Sometimes we face a situation and do not know which way to take, Isaiah 30:21 tells us: - Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” – We have a personal guide if we learn to listen to, and obey His voice.
Psalm 73:24: - You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. – A full lifetime personal coach!
These are the promises of God and come with the gift God is offering us.
Isaiah 12:2-5:- Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.” With joy you will draw waterfrom the wells of salvation. 4In that day you will say: “Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. 5Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. – We have something to sing about, we no longer need to be dominated by fear when we accept God’s gift.
Romans 8:35, 37-39 says: - Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ….
37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So, we have a Wonderful Counsellor but Counsel is useless if it not heeded. We also have a choice in any situation we face – we can trust Him or we can worry but we cannot do both. – If you are worrying, you are not trusting. If you are trusting you cannot worry
In this gift package of God’s gift, we also have a Mighty God. We sometimes sing: -
Ah, Lord God, Thou has made the heavens
And the earth by thy great power
Ah, Lord God, Thou has made the heavens
And the earth by Thine out - stretched arm
Nothing is too difficult for Thee
Nothing is too difficult for Thee
Great and mighty God
Great in counsel and mighty in deed
Nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing
Nothing is too difficult for Thee
or
God can do anything, anything, anything
God can do anything but fail
He can save, He can cleanse
He can keep, and He will
God can do anything but fail
But do we really believe this?
Ephesians 3:20 says: - Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Think about it as part of this gift we are given through faith in Jesus Christ, God can do more than our wildest imagination. We cannot even begin to imagine what God can do for us and in us but it is according to His power that is at work in us. What limits that power? What holds God back from doing for us and through us what He really wants to do? Our faith or lack of it. We limit God’s power at work in us because we do believe. Either we do not know His word because we do not make time to study it or if we know it, we reason it away in our own minds rather than just accepting it and literally believing what He says.
We have a mighty God, nothing is impossible for Him, He can do anything but fail, so what holds us back? – Fear
Everything we hear on the news, it seems, is to create fear. We have had Brexit, then the pandemic and climate change now it’s this new variant of the virus. Some people are literally crippled by fear and what might happen. Invariably the things we worry most about never happen!
Paul writes to Timothy, 2 Timothy 1:7: - For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
Some translation use the word timidity rather than fear but I prefer the word fear. This spirit of fear is something God has not given us so where does it come from?
Satan – it is an evil spirit intended to stop us from doing what God has called us to do.
What has God given us? Power, Love and a sound mind. Power to take authority over all that is evil and not of God, and to overcome all obstacles. Love in the same way God loves us, and a sound mind, not swayed by the fear of those around us but the ability to look beyond the lies of Satan and the scaremongers to see the truth and promises of God.
On the question of climate change, for instance, and all the fears that go with that, what has God promised? Genesis 8:22: - “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”
The next name in this package is Everlasting Father. Now this can be a problem for some people who have never known a father or a loving father. Some fathers are absent fathers, or bullying fathers, or drunk fathers or cruel fathers, and for those people, they have no experience or concept of a loving, caring father.
But a true father is one who loves, cares for, provides for, and protects his family. As an Everlasting Father, God loves, cares, provides and protects us not just for now but forever. And that is evident in His rescue of us through the gift of His Son who died to set us free.
Jeremiah 31:3: - I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. 4I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt,
Malachi 3:17: - “They will be mine,” says the LORD Almighty, “in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. 18And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.
The last name in this prophesy of Isaiah is Prince of Peace. People are looking for peace, relief from the stresses and worries of life, but so often they look for it in the wrong places. Some turn to alcohol or pop a pill to calm their nerves or help them cope in situations they are facing but it does not provide a long-term answer and often leads to addiction.
Solomon renowned for his wisdom wrote in Ecclesiastes:-“Meaningless! Meaningless!”. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”
Then as we read this book, he recounts how he denied himself nothing. He had the power, the wealth and the ability to have anything he wanted, and everything this life could offer and he did but, in the end, he found it did not bring complete satisfaction and concluded everything was meaningless.
In Ecclesiastes 3:9-14 he writes: - What does the worker gain from his toil? 10I have seen the burden God has laid on men. 11He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. 14I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him. – That was the conclusion of a man who had everything this life could offer.
But Jesus said: - Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (John 14:27)
John 14:1-6: - “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4You know the way to the place where I am going.”
5Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Nothing in this world can give lasting peace, but Jesus can. This is God’s present to you – Jesus – “God rescues” and with that comes a Wonderful Counsellor to guide you through every situation in life. A Mighty God – Able to keep you from falling and do for you immeasurably more than you can even ask or think. An Everlasting Father who loves you more than you can even imagine. And a Prince of Peace who can give you peace like nothing else ever can.
Have you accepted or rejected God’s gift?
If you have accepted it, have you opened it up and made full use of it or is it sitting, like so many Christmas presents, end up unused and forgotten?
Do you seek God’s counsel in His word and prayer every day?
Do you rest and trust in a mighty God or do you worry instead?
Do you bask in the love of an everlasting Father, knowing He loves you and will care for you?
Do you live in total Peace regardless of what is going on around you?
This is God’s Christmas present to you not just a baby in a manger but Jesus - God rescues.
Edwin Cottingham
…………………………………..
“From the squalor of a borrowed stable” (MP 1045, piano)
Stuart Townend
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Amv62K2f6yw
Communion
Carol
“Joy to the world!” (MP 393, piano)
Isaac Watts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzhCMwqn6OQ
Blessing
The joy of the angels, the wonder of the shepherds and the peace of the Christ child fill your hearts this Christmas time.
David Barnes 15/12/21