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Dec 25, 2022

Christmas Day, 2022: Good things come to those who wait

Christmas Day, 2022: Good things come to those who wait

Passage: Luke 2:22-28

Speaker: Patrick Lafferty

Series: 2022 Advent: Waiting is the Hardest Part

We will hold a worship service at 10:30am on Christmas morning for those who are able to attend in person. Let's celebrate Christ's birth with a few worship songs and short devotional led by Pastor Lafferty. There will be no childcare, cafe, or classes on Christmas morning. *Please note: The balcony will be closed for the Christmas Morning Worship Service *Due to a water line break, there will be no water available. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Special Notice for Christmas Service: Water Interruption
Join us for worship on Christmas morning at 10:30am! However... Due to a water line burst, the water will be turned OFF in all areas of the building during the Christmas morning service on December 25. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Updated 12.25.2022 at 4:39am


Readings & Scripture

PREPARATION: I John 1:5, 7
LEADER: This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

ALL: If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

CENTRAL TEXT: Luke 2:22-38
Luke 2:22 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

Luke 2:29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
30 for my eyes have seen your salvation
31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.”

Luke 2:33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

Luke 2:36 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, 37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. 38 And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

CONFESSION OF SIN:

ALL: You came unto your own, and your own did not receive you. We who make gods out of the fleshly ask you, God in the flesh, to help us feel our soul’s worth as much as you do. To see one another as worthy of our selflessness. To believe what came to light on the day of His birth will come to completion on the day of His return. Forgive us for taking the road to nowhere when we walk outside of your wisdom. Help us to wait in faith, in hope, in love for what has no equal and no end.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON: Hebrews 2:14-18
LEADER: Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

ALL: Thanks be to God.

BENEDICTION: Lamentations 3:25, 26; Jude 20-22
LEADER: The LORD is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.

PEOPLE: It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.

LEADER: Beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God,

ALL: waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt.

QUOTES: 

 

  • Death, be not proud, though some have called thee 
    Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so; 
    For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow 
    Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me. . . .
    One short sleep past, we wake eternally 
    And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.
    - “    Holy Sonnets: Death be not proud,” John Donne
  • The message of Christ isn’t that you can’t kill me. The message of Christ is you can kill me and that’s not death. - Stephen Colbert
  • For me it is the virgin birth, the Incarnation, the resurrection which are the true laws of the flesh and the physical. Death, decay, destruction are the suspension of these laws. - Flannery O’Connor

  • Sister Grace Remington (hear the story behind the drawing!)

BOOKS / DOCS

SERMONS