FHCC
20241222 Worship
  • Christmas Candlelight Medley

  • Introduction

    What is the fanciest wedding you ever attended? Today’s text will describe a marriage that is grander than any royal wedding you could even imagine.
    What is the favorite wedding you ever attended? [Men, the correct answer is “Mine, of course”!]
    36 years ago this weekend I propose for my first, and (hopefully only) wedding. This one is til death do us part, and if she dies first, I don’t know if I have it in me to start over. Our wedding was just 46 days after the proposal so our celebration was limited to cake, punch, mints and nuts in the Church Fellowship Hall. No band, not DJ, no wedding party march, no toasts or speeches, I was in a hurry to start a honeymoon (that was a romantic weekend in the beautiful destination of Oklahoma City). Ann is still waiting for the Hawaii trip.
    You didn’t come to church to hear about my wedding, you came to think about a baby coming to our world. Would you be surprised if I told you the event we celebrate on Wednesday does not end with Magi giving gifts? It doesn’t even end with the Resurrection and Ascension. We saw last week that our eyes are on current and future victory, but there is a celebration that follows that victory.
    Jesus came not just to be born as a baby, but to bring peace and goodwill. He came in order to take a bride, and the joining of the Son of God to His Bride so that they can reign together eternally is what we celebrate this 4th Sunday of Advent
    Each baby is precious because he or she reflects God’s image. But each life is filled with hope of what that child will do and become. While it is rarely discussed in the nursery, we normally do not have to peel too many layers until we discover the hope of that child maturing and beginning a family of his or her own.
    The first 2 chapters of the Bible describe God bringing together husband and wife, and the next 2 the formation of the first family. The last 4 chapters of the Bible also tell of the marriage between the Son of God and His Bride, the Church, and a truly happily ever after.
    That wedding will be glorious and cause us to shout “Hallelujah”! Two weeks ago I had opportunity to watch my mom and sister and 120 other believers sing Hallelujah! to our victorious King, the Bridegroom. Before I share that celebration with you, join me in God’s Word as the Apostle John describes the coming attraction. {as a matter of decorum, since we will be observing video and not a live performance, you are not expected to rise}
    Play Revelation 19:1-9 and LBC Choir video.
    TRANSITION: If our friends were able to pull off the celebration of our wedding in just 46 days, can you imaging the celebration that God and His angel have been preparing for 2,000 years? In our culture most of the attention is placed on the Bride, but in the text just read all the guests shout Hallelujah to the Groom!

    Hallelujah for Justice (Revelation 19:1-3)

    The Word Hallelujah

    no other place in the New Testament do we see this word or this level of excitement, but here we see it 4x!
    Transliterated or Translated
    ἁλληλουϊά allelouia in Greek is just Greek letters put to sounds of a Hebrew word (like sushi is a words straight from Japanese that has been borrowed by English) we assign English letters to represent the sounds of the Japanese word. If we were going to translate the word we would use “raw fish” or “bait”
    Interestingly enough, whenever the Hebrew word occurs in the Psalms (23x), it is translated to “praise the Lord”, never just a transliteration (except in the CSB). see Ps 111:1; 112:1; 113:1
    we can read the word “hallelujah” and think we grasp the meaning, but that is different than being in Snyder family stadium seeing thousands raise their hands, quote “Wildcat first down” and hear the cats roar echo throughout the seats. Or being in Allen Fieldhouse (an experience I have never had in person) as the crowd begins slowly, “Rock Chalk...”
    Not just our ears to hear the sound of the word, or our minds to understand the meaning of the word, but to have our being stirred by the experience of thundering mighty crowd yelling “praise our God, the God of the Bible”

    All senses experience

    Have you experienced an autistic person who is on sensory overload?
    That is John as he observes this chapter
    v.1 he hears sounds
    v.3 he sees and smells smoke
    v.9 his touch is involved as he is commanded to write
    v.9b describes a meal so his mouth is watering as his tastebuds are activated.
    It is like going to a skating rink where you see the lights, hear the music, tie on your skates while smelling the popcorn.
    watching church online is not the same as participating in live worship, just like watching a concert or athletic event is different than being in the arena.
    As civilized people we prepare ourselves for a silent night or a soft white Christmas, enter the nursery of the Nativity, but the subdued must give way to celebration as the end of the Bible describes a loud, multi-sense, all-encompassing party of the relationship and reign of our Messiah. This is tailgating, homecoming, playoffs, and Championship all wrapped into one.
    The Victory we talked about last week is not only guaranteed, it is accomplished as all the opposition to God’s truth is judged and punished! We have reason to stand and shout “Hallelujah! Praise to Our God!”
    TRANSITION: this excitement is contagious and spreads throughout the atmosphere of heaven

    Harmony in Worship (Revelation 19:4-5)

    This unity is a foretaste of the perfect fellowship with Christ the believers await.
    What we read here is the communal aspect of worship. We each have heard the argument that a person can worship wherever he or she may be. During the Covid pandemic we were told that worship gatherings were “essential” but could be restricted for public health reasons. We read here and have experience ourselves that corporate worship has a dimension that is lost when one worships alone. I need the body to strengthen my shortcomings, I need you to thrive in ways that I lack.
    Although I have taken years of piano, organ and guitar lessons, you do NOT want to try to worship to my accompaniment. If left to me, you would not enjoy the brilliance of candles, bows, lights, garland boughs and wreaths. All who have tasted warm coffee this morning can thank somebody other than me. Parents of the youngest of our congregation should be overflowing with joy that I am here, and not in the yellow room right now. There is something beautiful about a body that comes together with each contributing his or her strengths to a shared experience focused on the glory of our God and the good of His people.
    These verses describe what we do when we gather each week on the Lord’s day (and this week we get a bonus opportunity on Christmas Eve)
    Call from the Elders
    Prompting (modeling) by the Choir
    Response the Church
    Friday afternoon my parents stopped by the parsonage on their way home from a funeral. My dad asked me a question that kind of caught me off guard. We have settled into the routine of empty nesters with our children and grandchildren normally hundreds of miles away. So when he asked “What are you Christmas Day plans?” I really didn’t have anything significant to say.
    TRANSITION: This was worlds apart from 50 years ago when I would set an alarm for 12:01 to go down to the living room to empty my stocking, then reset it for 7 AM just in case my sisters did not wake me on Christmas morning. Over time Christmas has diminished its...

    Hopeful Anticipation (Revelation 19:6-7)

    If you, like me, are not filled with anticipation for an annual holiday, perhaps an ultimate celebration still instills a level of hole.
    When we consider what this text actually says, we ought to celebrate like Buddy the Elf! For many of us, this idea has become old routine like the department manager, and we respond to those who are actually excited with the disdain of the guy to the right or the disbelief of the woman in the background.
    the calmness of the prophecy under the Old Covenant (advent wk 1), the guarantee in the New Covenant (advent weeks 2-3), becomes the Fulfillment in today’s description.
    If you are addicted to broadcast media as I am, you heard a level of celebration on Monday as a 90-day continuing resolution was being proposed. But the negotiators did not have the support of each of those who have a vote on the issue. It was not until the early morning hours yesterday that a bill was finally forwarded to the Oval Office for signature.
    This analogy breaks down a little because our guarantee does not come from flawed politicians, but from the sovereign God of the Universe. However, the final consummation does bring a level of celebration that is even greater than the guaranteed promise. Looking forward to that day needs to breed hope in us.
    TRANSITION: In addition to harmony and hope, there is a third adjective that describes the wedding in Heaven.

    Holy Preparation for the Celebration (Revelation 19:8-9)

    If I were invited to the Governor’s Mansion in Topeka to trim some bushes in the garden I would wear appropriate clothing. If I were invited to snake a drain in the mansion, I would wear different clothing and you can be sure it would include waterproof gloves! But if I were invited to attend a meeting with the Governor, I would put on an even different set of clothes.
    What does this Holy Preparation look like in our lives?

    Light to my path

    A Day is Coming! Each member of the Church must make herself ready and clothe herself!

    Lamp for my Steps

    Accept the Proposal – John 6:37
    John 6:37 ESV:2016
    37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
    If you have any desire at all of being at this wedding God has placed that desire in you. If you respond to that prompting, you will be received.
    Make yourself Ready – James 4:8
    James 4:8 ESV:2016
    8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
    drawing, cleansing and purifying are all part of the preparation.
    If you’ve ever been caught unready for a visit you will appreciate this story.
    A preacher was doing visitation and heard somebody in the house but nobody came to the door. He wrote on the back of his business card “Revelation 3:20”. The next Sunday as the woman of the house he visited was leaving she gave the business card back to him with a line through Revelation 3:20 and written in thick bold letters Genesis 3:10. If you want a good laugh, you’ll look up those references!
    Put on Proper Attire – Eph 4:22 & 24
    Ephesians 4:22 ESV:2016
    22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,
    Ephesians 4:24 ESV:2016
    24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
    I know that destination and theme weddings are making some creative gown choices for Brides these days, but the wedding we read about today is NOT in a park, it is not in a barn, it is not on the courthouse steps, it is in the presence of the God of eternity, and Rev 19:8 describes the clothing—fine linen, bright and pure, righteous deeds.

    Conclusion:

    Paul in Ephesians and John in Revelation both tell us that the proper thing for Christian people to do is put on righteous behaviors, not to live like the world.
    I have it on good authority that I am not being critical or judgmental as I call each of us to put on righteous behaviors. “Righteous” does not mean you are better than anyone else, righteous deeds meant that because Jesus was gracious to us when we did not deserve it, we can extend His “rightness” and grace to other undeserving neighbors and family. For your deeds to be gracious it requires 2 things: an undeserving person receives it; and, the expense was paid by another.
    In the days of this week we each have opportunity to spread God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense; or Gospel Rewards at Christ’s Expense.

      • Revelation 19:1–9ESV

      • John 6:37ESV

      • James 4:8ESV

      • Ephesians 4:22ESV

      • Ephesians 4:24ESV

  • Grace Greater Than Our Sin

      • Luke 2:14ESV

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