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Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP211218S
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00:12 [ "Joy To the World" begins ] 03:11 [ "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" begins ] 05:56 [ "What Child Is This?" begins ] 13:39 >> This is not a news flash, alright? 13:43 But we are all selfish. 13:49 I'm selfish. 13:51 And I'm looking at your beautiful faces behind those 13:54 masks, and I can't tell you're not -- you're not as selfish as 13:58 I am, but there might be a little bit of selfishness in 14:01 you. 14:03 You know why I know? Because we all look out for numero uno. 14:08 We're always looking out for number one. 14:11 Take the now former coach of Notre Dame University's Fighting Irish football team. 14:17 Mnh-mnh. Had an incredible winning season this fall with his boys, who 14:24 played their hearts out for coach. In fact, they were just hours 14:28 away from finding out whether they're going to be playing for the national championship. 14:32 What are those playoff games gonna be like? When the word leaked out after 14:38 the fact that their coach had boarded a private jet. Shh. 14:44 And flew to a clandestine meeting with the officials of LSU, one of their great football 14:51 rivals, Louisiana State University. 14:56 Yep. And there he signed a deal, before the season is over, 15:01 before they've even been placed in playoff contention, he signed a deal to become the new head 15:08 coach for the LSU football team. Ostensibly because he didn't want to risk losing this job 15:13 offer. Well, what was the job off for, Dwight? 15:16 Well, it was for $100 million. Over 10 years. If I do my arithmetic correctly, 15:24 that's $10 million a year. The highest, the largest college football contract for a coach in 15:30 the history of the game. 15:32 And some of his boys found out about it on the news. Like I say, we're all selfish. 15:38 I'm not talking just about the coach. I'm talking about me. 15:42 I'm talking about you. 15:46 We are faced with a pandemic of selfishness, and everybody here has been bitten by the deadly 15:52 virus of self worship. Numero uno. Which is why we're going to have 15:59 a hard time with what we're about to plunge into, I just know, because of our bent, huh? 16:03 We're going to try to grasp what we are about to read. It is stunning in both its 16:07 clarity and depth, but we're going to need to open up our minds to the Holy Spirit right 16:12 now, and so I'm going to pray with you now. Father, send the spirit, open 16:17 our very selves to what we're about to see in this unusual Christmas story. 16:26 We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. I say it's unusual because for 16:31 this advent season, we're tracking three of Paul's retelling the Christmas story. 16:36 Galatians 4 last time. Today, Philippians 2, if you want to find it. 16:40 Philippians 2. And next Sabbath, on Christmas day, the best comes last, and 16:43 I'll let you find out next Sabbath. Alright, Philippians 2. 16:46 So open you Bible, please, right now, Philippians 2. A little prison epistle. 16:51 And these are not new words. You've read them before, but maybe they'll have a different 16:57 hue and a glow about them by sharing them together in this season. 17:04 Alright, Philippians 2. Paul sets the table for the Christmas story by beginning in 17:11 verse 3, alright? So I'm gonna be in the New International version. 17:16 Philippians 2, we're gonna begin in verse 3. 17:20 "Do nothing," Paul writes. Keep in mind what we've just been talking about. 17:25 "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others 17:32 above yourselves. Not looking to your own interests but each of you to the 17:37 interests of the others." Wow. "In your relationships with one 17:42 another, have the same mind-set as Christ Jesus." And what mind-set is that? 17:48 Here is comes. "Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with 17:56 God something to be used to his own advantage. Rather, he made himself..." 18:00 What's that word? "He made himself nothing." Not numero uno. 18:04 He made himself zero. He made himself nothing. The New King James actually 18:11 renders that line, "He made himself of no reputation." Oh, that's hard for you and me, 18:17 isn't it? Come on. Whenever we do something, and 18:20 again, I'm talking about myself and I risk talking about you. But whenever we do something, 18:25 whether we give something or say something or think something or decide something or grab 18:31 something or gossip something, we do it always to our own advantage. 18:35 Don't we? Which, by the way, would be a classic definition of 18:39 selfishness. Doing things for my own advantage. 18:42 I'm numero uno. We can all speak Spanish, and we know the meaning. 18:49 We do it academically. We do it professionally. Come on. 18:54 Yeah, we got a colleague we work with, we teach with, whatever. He, she puts out a bit of 19:00 research, and we, "Mm-hmm, yeah, not bad." We take it apart a little bit 19:06 just to show that it's not that perfect. We just give a little hint now 19:12 and then. Why do I do it? By making you smaller, I'm gonna 19:17 make myself bigger. Yeah. Mm-hmm. And we do it with social media. 19:23 Mm-hmm. We get on social media, and we find this malicious, this 19:27 delicious piece of gossip about somebody else. Shoo -- we hit "forward." 19:36 And there it goes. Hopefully it makes me feel better than I do. 19:42 Come on, we do it financially. Sure, we do. All of us doing out best to 19:46 accumulate, in this season of pandemic, too, we accumulate as much as we can with seemingly 19:51 total disregard of those who need our money. Get this. 19:54 Who need our money more than we do. Do you understand that? 19:59 They need our money more than we need it. Oh! That's mine. 20:04 I'm protecting this. Numero uno. So where do we get this 20:08 sickness, huh? Where do we get this sickness called selfishness? 20:12 Selfishness is just a code word for self worship. Where did it come from? 20:17 Oh, that's not rocket science. You can figure that one out real quickly. 20:19 There's been somebody that's spent his entire life training you and me, teaching you and me, 20:24 infecting you and me to look out for number one. Somebody has been at it the 20:29 whole time we've been alive on this planet. Yep. 20:32 So when Paul describes Christ, who did not consider equality with God something to used -- 20:39 the old King James puts it this way -- "Christ, who did not consider equality with God 20:45 something to be grasped." Jesus didn't grasp this business of being numero uno. 20:50 But there was somebody in the courts above that grasped for that. 20:55 Said, "I want that for me." I will be like the most high. I will set my throne above the 21:02 stars of God. Who's that somebody? Lucifer. 21:05 Of course it is. He spent a lifetime, a very long lifetime, honing the virus of 21:14 the pandemic of selfishness. Lucifer. Of course, we should have known 21:19 it by his name. Isn't that right? Look at his name. 21:21 What's the middle letter in Lucifer's name? I mean, is this a coincidence or 21:25 what? Of course you can you can only do this in English. 21:31 What's the middle -- I hear some children. Boys and girls, what's the 21:36 middle letter in Lucifer's name? >> I! >> Alright, good. 21:39 Let me put another word up. What's the middle letter in "pride"? 21:44 What is it, boys and girls? >> I! >> I. 21:46 What's the middle letter in "sin"? >> I! 21:51 >> I. We have "I" trouble. All of us. 21:57 We knew that. 21:59 Yeah, that's how we got infected from the get-go. 22:03 By the way, here in the United States, we are on our way to a million cases of COVID-19, 22:10 in America alone. But I got another stat for you, even more stunning. 22:15 Here's the other stat. We are on our way on this planet to 8 billion cases of the deadly 22:23 virus of selfishness infected. 22:27 The numero uno. Wow. For that very reason, Paul 22:34 introduced us, what scholars say is probably the first -- well, if not the first, one of the 22:42 first Christian hymns sung during the time of the Book of Acts in those little house 22:46 churches. What we just read is the beginning of that hymn. 22:50 Why does he introduce the hymn? Because it contains the antidote to the deadly virus that is 22:56 killing all of us. That's why. And by the way, this little 23:00 Christmas story is actually a Christmas carol. That makes it a Christmas carol. 23:05 It's the first Christmas carol. It's singing about the birth of Jesus. 23:08 Let's read it again. So this is the preamble. "In all your relationships with 23:15 one another, have the same mind-set as Christ Jesus." Now starts the hymn. 23:20 Here it goes. "Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with 23:25 God something to be used to his own advantage." Rather, he made himself nothing 23:31 by taking the very nature of a slave." That's the word there. 23:35 "Nature of a slave being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as 23:41 a man --" as a human -- "He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death." 23:47 And it goes even lower now. "Even death on a cross!" 23:56 Somewhere there in verse 7, somewhere in the heart of verse 7 is this capital "I" word that 24:03 we speak. "Incarnation." It's a Latin word. 24:07 "Carnal" in Latin means flesh. So enfleshment, incarnation. The enfleshment of God. 24:14 The word became flesh. The American writer Madeleine L'Engle, in her piece 24:21 "A Sky Full of Children", describes the mystery of the mystery of the incarnation this 24:25 way. It's a single sentence all the way through. 24:28 It ends with a question mark. It's a long sentence. But this very skillful writer, 24:33 here's how she asks the question. "Was there a moment, known only 24:39 to God, when all the stars held their breath, when the galaxies paused in their dance for a 24:45 fraction of a second, and the Word, who had called it all into being, went with all his love 24:52 into the womb of a young girl, and the universe started to breathe again, and the ancient 24:59 harmonies resumed their song, and the angels clapped for joy?" Was there a moment like that? 25:07 Wow, what did we just read? "He made himself nothing. There's that moment. 25:13 "He made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a slave, being made in human 25:20 likeness." Oh, holy night, the stars are brightly shining. 25:26 Shining where? On a hill. Not on a hill far away, but on a hill outside a little town of 25:33 Bethlehem. 25:38 And not only were the angels clapping for joy that night. They were singing for joy. 25:42 Are you kidding? And guess what. They did that whole pantomime 25:50 for a rag tag bunch of lowly, humble shepherds. There's got to be lesson in 25:59 there somewhere. I mean, we're talking about lowly shepherds. 26:03 Do you know that in the society of that day, the only rung in the social ladder lower than 26:10 shepherd is leper. 26:13 They're that low. 26:16 And they're squatting around this spark strewn fire. Starry, starry night. 26:29 And they're wondering, "When will messiah come and deliver us from the bottom rung of life?" 26:38 And, boom, the heavens explode in light and song, and we know the song -- "Glory to God in the 26:46 Highest." And on earth, peace, good will to all. 26:50 "Desire of Ages" actually describes this moment as the brightest picture ever beheld by 26:58 human eyes. Woke up this morning at 4:15. Our power went out last night. 27:03 You're lucky yours didn't. 10 to 10:00, it went out. 'Cause the clock was stopped. 27:09 10 to 10:00. Woke up at 4:15. As dark as dark can be. 27:14 I went down to have worship. Darker than dark. No light from stereo, no light 27:18 from the computer, no light from the printer. No light at all. 27:24 Can you imagine going from a starry, starry night. Dark that would be. 27:29 To the brightest picture ever beheld by human eyes. There will only be one picture 27:34 yet to come that will be brighter. And what do you suppose that 27:37 will be? When the same angels return with the same Christ child. 27:43 It will be the brightest. It'll be brighter than that one. Every angel in the universe will 27:48 be on hand. Oh, my. 27:50 All of that for a rag tag band of earthy humble shepherds. 27:54 Persons of a low station being granted such a high calling. 27:57 There must be a lesson in this somewhere. 28:00 Because maybe in its own sort of way that is the truth of 28:05 Christmas that Paul is capturing here. 28:08 The high calling of a low station. 28:11 The high calling of a low station, when men of a low 28:15 station receive the highest calling. 28:18 Or flip it around. When the God of the highest 28:21 station moves to the lowest station. 28:25 Either way, unbelievable. 28:30 Wesley Hill, in a wonderful piece, short piece titled "What It Means To Be God", writes that 28:35 there are two ways to read the Christmas carol, alright? There are two ways to read it. 28:40 Now, the first way is the way we all read it, and there's nothing wrong with the way we all read 28:45 it. And how is the way we all read it? 28:47 So let me put Wesley Hill on the screen. Here's the way we read it. 28:50 We just did. "The mighty Son of God, who, together with his Father, 28:54 brought creation into being, subsequently deigned --" he stooped -- "to become a lowly 28:59 human being." Yes, sir, that's the way we read it. 29:02 "The equivalent of a powerful monarch being reduced to a scuttling beetle." 29:07 Wow! That's the right way to read it. In other words, he says, 29:13 "Despite sharing --" This is how we read it. Despite sharing equality with 29:17 God the Father, nevertheless Jesus the Son chose to give up that status for us." 29:23 Is that a correct way to read Philippians 2? It absolutely is. 29:26 We do it all the time. But Wesley Hill says there's another way to read this, and 29:31 I'd never seen this before. Let me share it with you. "But the original language is 29:36 ambiguous, and it's possible Paul might easily have meant something subtly different." 29:43 And you got to catch this. "Because Christ was in the form of God, therefore, he emptied 29:52 himself because God's character is self giving love all the way down, so to speak." 30:01 Now, what's he telling us? Here's what he's telling us. Christ shows the self emptying 30:06 because self emptying humility is the natural response of self sacrificing love, and God has 30:13 been self sacrificing love from stem to stern. He has always been self 30:18 sacrificing love, has he not? >> Yes. >> That is why God today is the 30:26 most humble being in this universe. He is the most humble being 30:31 alive. Phillip Yancey calls him "the shy God." 30:35 Oh, I like that. The humblest of all Gods is our God. 30:43 Jesus wanted to be close to us, and this was the only way his self emptying love could find. 30:53 So he comes this way. Highest calling of all, lowliest station of all. 31:02 And by the way, that's not only true at the cradle. That's true at the cross. 31:09 Because it gets even lowlier at Calvary. Makes you wonder, doesn't it? 31:17 Could it be we have been called to the same self giving humility and love? 31:22 Could that be? Maybe that's Paul's point. Maybe this is what Paul is 31:29 hoping we'll catch. Our high calling is to his low station. 31:37 Meaning our highest calling is to seek his lowliest station, just like Jesus. 31:43 That's it. Learn from me, come on. Boy, in this season of the 31:48 pandemic, this semester has ended and we're all -- we're just -- yeah, really. 31:55 Out tongues are hanging out. How do we even make it? We don't know. 32:00 We're worn, we're worn out. We need to hear the words of Jesus in Matthew 11:28. 32:04 And everybody knows Matthew 11:28. Come unto me, all you who labor 32:07 and are heavy laden, and I'll give you what? I'll give you rest. 32:11 But notice the next line. It's the next line. We need that rest. 32:14 Wonder if this is how to get that rest. Read this. 32:18 "Lean of Me," Jesus says, "For I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your 32:25 souls." My, my, my, my, my. Our high calling is to seek his 32:32 low station, meaning our highest calling is his lowliest station, just like Jesus. 32:39 That's it. That's how you get rest, by the way. 32:43 You take the lowliest station. That's how you get rest. You want rest? 32:48 Worn as we are after this pandemic, two semesters. Oh, please. 32:53 That's how you get it. That's the secret to inner quiet, to inner peace, to this 33:02 inside rest in the midst of this turbulent storm. 33:09 "Learn of Me, for I am gentle --" What is it? "I am gentle and humble in 33:13 heart." I want you to listen now to a psychologically inspiring 33:21 observation. The classic on the life of Jesus, "Desire of Ages." 33:26 This is something else. "In the heart of Christ, where reigned perfect harmony with 33:32 God, there was perfect peace." How do we know that? Well, just watch. 33:38 "He was never elated by applause, not dejected by censure or disappointment." 33:46 Guess what. We are the exact opposite of Jesus. 33:51 We are pumped when we have applause. We are elated with applause. 33:57 Of course we feign humility. "No, no, no, no, please, please, please, don't clap. 34:02 Just throw money instead." 34:05 We are pumped by applause. And we are dejected by criticism. 34:09 Somebody comes along and challenges you, somebody comes along and speaks a word. 34:13 "That's not good what you did." "I disagree with you." That cuts us to the core. Why? 34:18 Because you touched numero uno! And my life is spent defending numero uno. 34:23 And I'll not receive that from you. No, I will not. 34:25 Many marriages break up right there. Right there. 34:29 Neither one will back down, neither one. 34:34 Yep, numero uno wins. 34:38 And both numero unos are broken. You can't win. You cannot win with numero uno. 34:46 You see, self is our bottom line. That's what keeps us going. 34:51 And if self gets ruffled, oh, man, we get knots in our stomach, we get fear in our 34:57 hearts, we get pain in our thinking processes. Self is our bottom line. 35:04 Jesus wasn't. Hey, he was never elated by applause. 35:07 I don't know what you're applauding about. This isn't me. 35:10 I do everything for my father. You want to thank somebody, thank him. 35:16 Oh, a demoniac is racing -- you remember this? The demoniac is racing at him. 35:21 This demoniac is gonna tear him to pieces, and Jesus has perfect peace. 35:26 Why? Because if it's my time to go, go ahead. 35:30 God will stop. God will stop this. Stop. 35:36 Pfft. That was it. Never elated by applause, dejected by disappointment, 35:41 danger. We don't have to live a life of fear. 35:46 We don't live a life of apprehension. We don't have to live a life 35:50 with a knot in the stomach. We can be just like Jesus. "Learn from Me," he says, boys 35:56 and girls. "Learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart." 36:01 Yep. Oh, and boy, here comes the psychological stinger now. 36:08 This is where the wisdom follows us, the next line. I'll put it on the screen for 36:12 you. "It is the love of self that brings unrest." 36:17 Now, you can get your PhD in psychology, and eventually discover that. 36:21 But it'll still be true if you believe it right now. 36:26 The reason we have unrest is because we're defending something. 36:32 My reputation. "I am somebody! Don't you ever treat me like I'm 36:36 a nobody." We have to have that. But it is a love of self that 36:45 brings that unrest. Get off your high horse, get off. 36:52 Just walk. Like everybody else. Just walk with me. 36:57 "Learn from Me." I'm gentle and humble in heart. You'll be fine. 37:03 It isn't about you anyway. "Everything's about me." That's why I called you. 37:08 That's why I gave you the gifts you have, because it's all about me. 37:12 And I knew your gifts would tell me the story of me the best. That's why I need you. 37:20 Once I step out of that "it's about numero uno" and into nothing, then I'm suddenly 37:28 something. When I get to nothing, I become something. 37:32 But when I try to protect my something, I end up with nothing. 37:38 It's upside down. That's what we're being told. Oh, but if ended right there, 37:44 I'd be sad. But no, no, no. Except I do need to say this. 37:48 That love of self stuff, that's why this self-driven culture of politics and entertainment and 37:54 competition is so ferociously deadly to our souls, because we watch it, we imbibe it, we feast 38:00 on it, and then the devil says, "Good, I want you to be just like that, you understand that, 38:05 boy? You just be like that, and you'll be fine. 38:08 Stick up for yourself, don't let them walk on you. Come on, get 'em back." 38:14 The love of self is why we have such unrest. If we feed on the narcissism of 38:22 politics and the self-adulation and self-worship of the entertainment and sports worlds, 38:27 we will become as dysfunctional as they. It is the love of self that 38:32 brings unrest. Is there any hope? Yes, there is. 38:36 Next line. "When we are born from above, the same mind will be in us..." 38:42 Oh, I love this. "The same mind will be in us that was in Jesus, the mind that 38:48 led him to humble himself that we might be saved." Keep reading. 38:51 "Then we shall not be seeking the highest place. We shall desire to sit at the 38:57 feet of Jesus and learn of Him." Begin you day at the feet of Jesus, and that's about the best 39:03 posture there is. Every day just begin at the feet of Jesus. 39:08 You have nothing to prove. 39:12 We already believe you are of great worth. Doing one more thing will not 39:18 change our minds. Doing one less thing will not make us think less of you. 39:23 And it's the same with heaven. You just live for me, girl, boy. You just live for me. 39:31 You'll be fine. Yeah. "Learn from Me, for I am gentle 39:36 and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." How did Paul put it in the old 39:40 King James? "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ." 39:46 That's what we want. If the highest calling of life is to take the lowliest station 39:51 of life, then what do we have to fret, what do we have to fear, for we have chosen Jesus? 39:58 Mind to be our own. >> Let's read it one more time, this hymn -- this great hymn, 40:05 that's -- it's introduced with one line -- "In your relationships with one another, 40:09 have the same mind-set as Christ Jesus." Now, here comes that Christmas 40:13 carol -- "Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to 40:18 be used to his own advantage." No, he did not. "Rather, he made himself nothing 40:24 by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 40:28 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death even 40:35 all the way down to death on a cross." You see, ladies and gentlemen, 40:41 brothers and sisters, it's not only necessary to kneel at his cradle. 40:45 We must kneel at his cross. The cradle's not enough. The cradle only exists for the 40:53 cross. And the cross exists because of the cradle. 40:56 That's why the both of them go together. And by the way, He was not 41:01 only -- He was not only... in the lowliest station of life at his birth and at his death, 41:08 but everything in between, he was at that same lowliest station. 41:12 He never changed. Perfect peace. Rest in His soul. 41:18 No love of self. What's the solution for us? A few pages later, same book -- 41:25 I love this -- "Pride and self-worship cannot flourish in the heart that keeps fresh in 41:32 memory the scenes of Calvary." Isn't that good? That's worth taking home. 41:40 Yeah. It cannot flourish -- not pride, not self-worship -- 41:43 in a heart that keeps fresh in memory the scenes of Calvary. Guess what? 41:46 You have come to the perfect place and time today... to let this antidote pour over 41:54 your soul, and bring you that peace that only Jesus can give. Why? 41:59 Why today? Be today we go to the cross. 42:02 Never done this before. The cross at Christmastime? Yep. 42:04 The cross at Christmas. Why not? Cradle and cross. 42:08 Same truth. 42:10 He who is the highest station of all came down to the lowliest 42:15 station for the likes of you and me. 42:19 Wow. 42:20 It doesn't get any better than that, really. 42:22 This Christmas, what I want most is that peace of Jesus. 42:25 I want that rest. This has been a ragged semester 42:28 for all of us. I want that rest. 42:31 I want that perfect peace. The deliverance of Jesus from 42:34 the unrest of the love of self. 42:39 And if that's what you want, may I be the first to welcome you to the Lord' table. 42:45 There it is, ready to go. 42:50 By the way, the Lord's table was made out of the wooden cradle. It is constructed out of the 42:54 wooden cradle. 42:57 It is also fashioned out of the wooden cross. So, in the wooden Lord's table, 43:02 you have the cradle and the cross together in Christ. Yeah. 43:09 Oh, come, let us adore him. Oh, come. Let us adore him. 43:15 Oh, come, let us adore him -- Christ. I just love that carol. 43:19 Christ our Lord. Sing for us, now, please. 43:24 [ "O Come, All Ye Faithful" plays] 43:26 ♪♪ ♪♪ 43:38 ♪♪ >> Both: ♪ O come, 43:46 all ye faithful ♪ ♪ Joyful and triumphant 43:54 ♪ O come ye, o come ye ♪ To Bethlehem 44:05 ♪ Come and behold Him ♪ Born the King of A-a-angels 44:17 >> ♪ O come, let us adore Him >> ♪ O come, let us adore Him 44:27 >> Both: ♪ O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Loooord ♪ 44:37 ♪♪ ♪ Sing, choirs of angels 44:48 ♪ Sing in exultation ♪ Sing, all ye citizens 44:57 ♪ of heaven above ♪ Glory to God 45:07 ♪ Glory in the hi-i-ighest 45:14 ♪ O come, let us adoooore Him ♪ O come, let us adore Him 45:26 ♪ Chri-ist the Loooord ♪♪ 45:36 ♪ Yea, Lord, we greet thee ♪ Born this happy morning 45:46 ♪ Jesus, to thee ♪ be glo-ory given 45:59 ♪ Woooord of the Faaaather ♪ Now in flesh appearing 46:18 >> ♪ O come, let us adore Him >> ♪ O come, let us adore Him 46:29 >> Both: ♪ O come, let us adore Him ♪ 46:35 ♪ Chrii-ist the Looord ♪♪ 46:46 ♪ Amen ♪ Ameeeeeen 47:03 ♪♪ ♪♪ 47:16 ♪♪ >> Jesus had looked forward 47:25 eagerly to share the Passover meal with his disciples. 47:29 So, here they are, in the upper room. 47:33 But the disciples didn't understand what we now 47:37 understand. 47:37 You see, Jesus had not yet given his flesh for the life of the 47:42 world. And they didn't quite understand 47:45 everything he said. But they knew there was 47:48 something special about the moment. 47:51 It felt intimate and close. 47:56 And so, today, let's listen to Jesus himself speak to us 48:01 his words at the table to his disciples, 48:05 as Elder Lynell de Wind. will read for us some of the 48:08 Gospel of Mark -- after which, Elder Mordekai Ongo 48:12 will pray for us, giving God thanks for the emblems which we 48:16 will partake of today. 48:20 >> The reading today is from Mark 14, verse 22-26. 48:25 "While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks, 48:29 and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, 48:32 saying, 'Take it. This is my body.' 48:37 Then, he took cup, gave thanks, and offered it to them, 48:41 and they all drank from it. 'This is my blood of 48:45 the Covenant, which is poured out for many', he said to them. 48:49 'I tell you the truth -- I will not drink again of the 48:53 fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it anew 48:56 in the Kingdom of God.' When they had sung a hymn, 49:00 they went out to the Mount of Olives." 49:04 >> Let us -- Let us pray. 49:07 Oh, Father, here we come to the table at your invitation. 49:14 We confess our sins. Oh, God, we have been engulfed 49:20 in the sinful scene of self-worship and pride. 49:25 We cannot overcome this on our own, but because of your love, 49:31 you were born, and you were willing -- took humility, 49:37 stooped so low to die for us sinners. 49:42 And so, here we come. We want to thank you, oh God, 49:46 for that majestic love. And as we come to the table this 49:50 morning, there is room for everyone. 49:54 And we pray and thank you that you will forgive us for our 49:59 sins, that you create in us clean hearts, oh, God, that, 50:04 when we leave here, we may be renewed... 50:07 go forth in faith, and trust in you, always, 50:11 forever praising your name. So, as we partake of these 50:14 emblems that symbolize your body and blood... 50:20 may you, alone, be lifted up. For we ask all this in the 50:25 loving name of Jesus Christ, our savior. 50:28 Amen. 50:29 ♪♪ ♪♪ 50:44 ♪♪ ♪♪ 50:59 ♪♪ ♪♪ 51:14 >> And so, Jesus took the bread, and he invited them to partake 51:19 of its life-giving power. Life-giving power because it 51:23 represented his broken body. And He said, "Take. Eat. 51:28 This is my body." 51:30 ♪♪ ♪♪ 51:42 And in the same manner... He took the cup. 51:47 And He said, "This is my blood of the Covenant, which is 51:52 poured out for many, for the forgiveness of sin. 51:57 Drink, all of you." 52:00 ♪♪ ♪♪ 52:14 As we have united around the table today... 52:19 we are reminded that we are brothers and sisters in Christ, 52:25 that we are members of one body. And so, I invite you to stand as 52:30 we sing stanzas one, four, and five of hymn number 140, 52:35 which will be on the screen. 52:38 ♪♪ ♪♪ 52:52 ♪♪ ♪♪ 53:07 ♪♪ 55:11 >> And now for the Benediction. May the God of Peace, who called 55:16 up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the Sheep, 55:22 through the blood of the Everlasting Covenant, 55:25 equip you with ever good thing to do His will, working in you 55:30 that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus, to whom be 55:34 glory forever and ever. Amen. 55:45 >> What is it about the holiday season that has given you the 55:47 greatest joy? Is it the time spent cutting 55:50 down the family Christmas tree at the local farm, 55:53 or maybe a special ornament placed on that lighted bough? 55:57 Or do you find joy in contemplating the profound 55:59 meaning of the carols we sing? Maybe Christmas joy is found in 56:03 the memories you make together with friends and family, 56:06 or the spirit of giving that surrounds this season. 56:09 As we reflect on these joys, let's always remember the great 56:13 light who guides us -- the one who brings joy and meaning to 56:16 life -- a loving father who is at the heart of all treasured 56:19 relationships, and the wonderful God who gave the ultimate gift 56:23 in newborn child. 56:25 Some of my joy this season comes in part from your letters, 56:29 your prayers, and your faithful giving of support to this 56:31 ministry, which reaches literally around the world. 56:34 If you've been blessed this year, I'd like to ask you to 56:37 join the many people who financially support this global 56:40 New Perceptions Ministry. 56:42 It's simple to do. Just call our free-number -- 56:45 877 -- two words - His Will. One of our friendly operators 56:50 will be happy to help you. You can also click the "donate" 56:52 link at the top of our website. Trust me, no gift is too small 56:56 for God to use to spread the good news of His love, 57:00 His sacrifice, and His future plans for our happiness. 57:03 Every gift, by the way, is entirely invested in our 57:07 mission to communicate God's good news to a generation who 57:10 needs the hope found in Jesus, which will bring them to joy 57:14 in life. So, once again, the number to 57:16 call is 877-HIS-WILL. 57:19 This season, my wish for you is that the Mighty God, 57:23 the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, 57:25 will be at the heart of the very best memories made together 57:29 with your family and friends. 57:31 ♪♪ ♪♪ 57:46 ♪♪ 57:58 ♪♪ ♪♪ 58:12 ♪♪ ♪♪ |
Revised 2021-12-29