Christmas Eve Service

“The Visitor: Behold Him Come”
Matthew 1:18-25, 2:1-12  - December 24, 2015

 

A long time ago , in a town called Bethlehem, not too far away…

 

Luke 1:28-32 NLT 
²⁸ Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!” ²⁹ Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.³⁰ “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! ³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.³² He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. 

 

Matthew 2:9-11 NLT 
⁹ After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! ¹¹ They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

 

“One tooth, one cavity, life’s cruel.”
“Cursed with Cancer , Blessed with friends”
“Macular degeneration, didn’t see that coming”  
“Lived like no tomorrow, tomorrow came. “
“Put my whole self in, shook about. ”
“I love my lady…and bacon.”
“I wrote it all down, somewhere.”
“Not a good Christian, but trying.”  

 

Jonah : “No. Storm. Overboard . Whale. Regurgitated Yes.”
Shadrach , Meshach and Abednego: “King was Hot. Furnace was not.”
Noah: “ Hated the rain, Loved the rainbow.”

 

Fives year-olds: Toys!  Toys!  Toys! What? Oh, Thanks.
Freshman in high school: “School good, Friends good, pimples bad.”
Raising our kids: “Diapers, Bottles, Sleeplessness. Totally worth it!
Present day memoir : “Hair’s Gray, Like Dad’s, Blessed Son.” 

 

Luke 1:28-31 NLT 
²⁸ Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!” ²⁹ Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.³⁰ “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! ³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 

 

Mary’s Memoir: “Manger. Pain. Joy. Cross. Pain Joy”  

 

Angel’s memoir : You have found favor with God.  

 

Matthew 2:9-12 (NLT) 
⁹ After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! ¹¹ They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  

 

Wise men memoir :“Found a star, worshiped THE STAR!” 

 

Luke 1:32  says  - NLT
³² He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. 

 

Ephesians 1:21 (NIV) 
²¹ far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

 

John 21:25 (NLT) 
²⁵ Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written. 

 

Behold Baby. 

Behold Savior. 

Behold King.  

 

Share your Memoirs:  cliff.herring@onlinecfc.com