Christmas Eve. 2010 The Big Trip 2-5

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.

Good Christmas Eve morning to you, my dear brothers and sisters. Today we are going to start different by starting with prayer and communion. As we go to the table of the Lord we want to go clean, so as I pray for the forgiveness of sins, it must be an "I" prayer and not a "We" prayer. So, please, pray it from your heart and in faith.

Dear Father in Heaven, I confess unto You this day that I am a sinner; I am now and always have been. I seem to mess up a lot, and I really do want to walk each day without the pain of sins. Please today forgive me of my sins and mess-ups and wash me clean again. Also, dear Lord, please help me repent, help me turn from my sinful ways and to live, walk, and do all things in the name of Jesus and do it to please Jesus, and no one else but Jesus. I thank You for cleaning me, and pray in the name of the one whose birth we are celebrating. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Luke 22:19 - And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you, do this in remembrance of me." (NIV)

Take now your bread and break and eat... It is the body of Jesus and it is broken for us.

Luke 22:20 - In the same way, after the supper He took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you." (NIV)

Brothers and sisters, this is the blood of Jesus, and it is standing ready to clean you of your sins...
Candlelight Communion Service this evening at The Bridges of Bent Creek and you, of course, are welcome... Service Time... 6.30PM

Also tonight at 11:00 PM in the Chapel of Hope Church on the Carlisle Pike, a Candlelight Communion service. Always very, very nice to go back in time, sit on the old hard wood pews and have a nice quiet communion service. I try and go there each year. Now let's get onto today's message.

The Big Trip 2-5: Luke 2:10 - But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a Baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying. 14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests." 15 When the angels had left there 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." 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger. (NIV)

Jesus has been born and the word is spreading. Today we have telephone, television, radio, text messages, Facebook, and also as they did back then, word of mouth. But what type of communication did we see here that we don't hear of much today? The word went out by the Lord's messengers, Angels of the Lord. And folks, that way is still used today. Also another way that God gets messages out today is also the same as back then, God will speak to your heart. So my first question of today, you will stop and answer that cell phone, even when driving, you stop and read the text messages coming in. You listen to the radio, but do you, I SAID BUT DO YOU LISTEN FOR GOD TO SPEAK TO YOUR HEART?

Here we find that the Shepherds who were in the fields nearby watching over their flocks were the first other than those at the manger to find out about the Son of God being born, and they came to see and then they would go off to tell others what they saw. While I am going to be writing about this next week, most of the manger sets we see and even those live nativity show kings at the manger and that is not from the Bible. Like I said, we will have more on that next week. I would think there would have been a lot of men and women gathered that night at the manger, even though the Bible does not really point it out, but using God-given common sense I would think that since the Inn was filled to a point that was so full that the birth of a new born baby had to happen in the barn, I would think that many, many of those coming to register to pay taxes would have come to the barn, and especially since the Star would be going up. And what about all those who traveled with Mary and Joseph, and most of all the other ladies, would you not think they would want to know and even help if needed?

So the shepherds came and looked, and would talk and share what they saw, they went off and told what they saw and all who heard were amazed... just amazed.

Dear Father in Heaven, Thank You for sending us Your Son, our Savior, and we are still amazed just as the shepherds were back in the day when Jesus was born. Amazing then, and Amazing now. Thank You for sending Him and thank You for cleaning the sins of all who asked today. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Now go forth and have a great, great Christmas Eve. and yes I will have a very short Christmas Morning message tomorrow. Share the blessings, share the word, share The Baby, tell others just as the shepherds did, and folks, when you became born again or when you do, you will really know what this Baby did for You... "BORN TO DIE, SO WE MIGHT LIVE." And everyone on line said --Amen.

Love ya, Pastor Dan.

Carry The Light Ministries, Inc.
16 Dewalt Drive
Mechanicsburg, Pa. 17050
Phones 717 691 8200 Pastors Cell Phone 717 991 0754